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For Eddy Orinda just like for many youth in developing countries, words like “Yes, we are Highly Affected but we’re doing something!” are a motto, and he’s the one who produced this formulation.
Eddy’s wealth of experience, skill and ability to compare European (a.k.a “developed”) and African (“developing”) countries advance with MDGs is of particular interest for youth involved with MDG campaigning, and Eddy is more than willing to share.
Now, Eddy Orinda is a 27 year-old International student in Ukraine, originally from Kenya, an African country probably most affected by extreme poverty.
Having a great expertise in youth work in Africa as Co-Chair of the Board of Directors of Windows For Young People in Africa, Project Coordinator of the International Commission for Africa Project and in many other respected organizations - in Ukraine Eddy sits on the Organizing Committee of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for the All-Ukrainian Youth Summit of Ukraine.
Olexi: "Campaigning is essential for the success of the MDGs, could you compare the involvement of youth with the MDGs in African countries and in Eastern Europe (Ukraine)?"
Eddy: "Participation is a very relative thing when it comes to youth involvement with the Millennium Development Goals. Youth lack access to information about what the Millennium Development Goals are, let alone the significance of these Goals. In Africa, for instance, efforts of youth groups organized around civil society entities and governmental agencies are scanted and scattered.
People are doing things separately, which is good - some on the regional level, others on national and international levels. General youth projects in Africa were going on even before the MDGs were set up. It is happening because youth are very concerned about improving their lives.
Like in Africa there is a problem of youth ignorance concerning the MDGs in Eastern Europe, particularly in the former USSR countries [Ukraine, Russia, Georgia… – editor’s note] where the system of government operation is so bureaucratic. This leaves a great empty space in terms of government meeting its obligations to young people. This spreads to information access, support and funding for projects that young people would like to do within the MDG project. It spreads to youth organizing themselves around national youth policies that are not present in certain countries. Like in many parts of Africa, this is an issue that Ukrainian youth are facing today. So like I said, there is a huge gap between the government and what people are doing. And I particularly value programs of TakingITGlobal, which face this sort of challenge via concentration on information and personal development of young people.
When we are reducing ignorance we are improving opportunities of young men to improve their minds and therefore, by extension, to earn a livelihood from a certain skill that they may develop out of basic education from primary school."
Olexi: "The Kenyan community in Ukraine seems to have a number of great proposals as to intercultural cooperation with locals, especially on the MDGs?"
Eddy: "One of the major ideas behind the Kenyan community in Ukraine, which recently got off the ground, is to bridge the intercultural gap that exists between Africa and Europe. Recently I have been democratically elected to become president of the Kenyan community in Ukraine, and one of my key priorities is to find meaningful ways of partnership with organizations that are like-minded in spheres like MDGs, intercultural exchange etc."
Olexi: "How will your involvement with the UN Summit in Ukraine this year contribute to the establishment of an intercultural MDG dialogue?"
Eddy: "I think that involvement with the All-Ukrainian UN Youth Summit on MDGs this year will contribute greatly to bridging the gap that we seek to overcome. I appreciate the fact that the summit is opening to other resources and wealth of experience and ideas, which exist within other nationalities living in Ukraine. This will greatly enrich the value of developing a national youth policy framework for Ukraine.
There are a lot of opportunities that exist for Ukrainian and Kenyan young people to interact in terms of creating partnerships helping to meet the Millennium Development Goals. But there is a lot of prejudice about African youth as well as about youth from Eastern Europe; this is really a barrier to meaningful partnership. Thus, there is a need to demystify intercultural prejudice."
Olexi: "Eddy, what can be the contribution of developed European countries to the achievement of the MDGs in Africa and in poorer countries of Europe?"
Eddy: "Whereas in Africa the first and foremost Goal is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, I think that in European Countries, like Ukraine, the most important goal is the 8th – Development of a Global Partnership for Development. In this regard, there is a need for Europe to acknowledge that participation on the global arena is not the same, and therefore there’s a need to elevate the capability of African countries to participate. Europe could play a positive role campaigning for debt cancellation.
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Olexi
Ukrainian student, journalist and a planetary citizen. I invite you to take a look at Central's Europe largest state- Ukraine through Olexi-tinted spectacles. Somewhat approaching unbiased subjectivity :)
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Comments
MDGs are not enough Antony Felix O. O. Simbowo | May 7th, 2005
I think more should be expected from the developing nations themselves...
Without them working daily to better their own lives, no one will ever bother with them. MDGs alone will never solve their poverty problems...What with misgovernment, misrule, etc still reigning in some of the said countries...
MDGs are not manna...
Kids Can Make A Difference (KIDS) neil jay wollman | Sep 6th, 2009
Kids Can Make A Difference (KIDS) is an innovative educational program for middle school and high school students. It helps them understand the root causes of hunger and poverty and how they as individuals can take action.
KIDS has three major components:
►Teachers’ Guide: Finding Solutions To Hunger: Kids Can Make A Difference has provided over 5,000 classrooms, religious schools, after school programs and homeschoolers with tools to help young people to understand the causes of poverty and become informed and effective citizens, realizing their own capacity to change the world. Students learn about the pain of hunger; the importance of food; the inequality of its distribution; and the links between poverty, hunger, joblessness, and homelessness. They are then given the skills to take what they have learned into their communities.
►Website: The KIDS web site is rated one of the top 20 websites for educators by Educational World. The site provides news, a hunger quiz, hunger facts, suggested books, back issues of the newsletter, the table of contents, sample lessons, program notes from the teacher guide; and
►Newsletter: The three yearly issues highlight current hunger issues, showcase student initiatives, and feature teachers' experiences teaching the KIDS program and students' experiences making a difference in their community and world.
Contact KIDS at:
Larry Levine, Co-Founder
KIDS, 1 Borodell Avenue
Mystic, CT 06355
(860) 245-3620; (860) 245-3651 FAX
kids@kidscanmakeadifference.org; www.kidscanmakeadifference.org
KIDS is a project of WHY (World Hunger Year),
a leading advocate for community based
solutions to hunger and poverty.
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