Subject: UN Millennium Development Goals

Dear Members,

WA branch of Scouts Australia aimed to educate young Western Australians about the UN Millennium Development Goals and to provide them with a forum to discuss how they, and their parent organisations, might participate in the Youth of the World campaign.

The Millennium Declaration, unanimously adopted by the 189 UN member countries in 2000 - see http://www.un.org/millennium/declaration/ares552e.htm - revolved around 3 key themes:

- Peace, security and disarmament
- Development and poverty eradication
- Protecting our common environment

The 8 Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) identified to meet these pressing global issues were:

- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
- Achieve universal primary education
- Promote gender equality and empower women
- Reduce child mortality
- Improve maternal health
- Combat HIV-aids, malaria and other diseases
- Ensure environmental sustainability
- Develop a global partnership for development

In response to these goals, the World Organisation of the Scout Movement, in partnership with the United Nations, launched the Youth of the World campaign – see http://www.youthoftheworld.net/ - in order to:

- Mobilise young people (aged from 15-26 years) on the MDGs and encourage them to develop projects responding to the needs of their community.
- Develop educational resources enabling young people to acquire motivation, knowledge and skills regarding the MDGs and ability to develop projects.
- Support young people to use media or to create alternative solutions to inform, sensitise, mobilise other young people on a larger audience on the MDGs and issues regarding sustainable development and peace.

In the line with this, Scouths Australia would host a meeting in late November / early December (ie. post TEE and Uni exams) of interested young people aged in their late teens or early twenties, and representing a cross section of community interests, to facilitate networking and to initiate planning for a project (or projects) which will meet one or more of the Millennium Development Goals.

IMAWA has been invited by the WA branch of Scouts Australia to identify and nominate an enthusiastic young person/s, having a global perspective and the capacity to provide feedback and to enthuse others, to attend this meeting on behalf of our youth members.

All youth members and friends of IMAWA who wish to participate are requested to email imawa@iinet.net.au to confirm their interest.