Nashwa Abdel-Tawwab takes the G8 Summit in her stride This year's G8 Summit featured a children's forum which, following an intensive week of video and face- to-face meetings, came up with recommendations for the world at large. The 64-delegate children's forum known as J (Junior) 8 culminated in a 40-minute meeting with G8 leaders in St Petersburg, where the summit was held. Composed of representatives aged 12-17 from G8 countries and video-conference associates representing the rest of the world, including Egypt, J8 marks a growing awareness on the part of the international community of the importance of a child's perspective. A UNICEF initiative, it gave voice to the voiceless in the more general bid to improve the world. "I think the leaders appeared to take us seriously, and were listening attentively and taking notes," observed the 13-year-old UK delegate, James Goodall. "Children are not usually listened to, but I think they will take some of our ideas and use them." For their part UNICEF Egypt's 11 delegates -- coming from all across the country -- took part in a video conference about education. "I was nervous," reports 14-year-old Mai Mohamed, from Port Said. "It was my first time in a video conference, and my first time with foreigners, but in the end I was very happy to express my opinion and also to understand the others' views." According to Rania El-Essawi, Assistant Project Officer Water, Environment and Sanitation, and UNICEF conference co-ordinator, Egypt was slotted in for education "because it tops the government's development agenda". During the two-hour conference, 12- to 16- year-olds proved "excellent and well-organised". Coming from public schools, she said, they are "fully aware of educational issues in this country". Some of them were already members of such community service groups as the National Council for Youth and the Children's Rights Group when they were chosen. According to 15-year-old Ahmed Hesham from Beni Sweif, addressing the J8 delegates, "we strongly believe education is not just learning to read and write but rather the foundation of everything especially the culture of peace. This is why I wonder why money is spent on arms and not on education. Why don't we promote instead of forcing peace?" It was the 15-year-old US delegate, Kelly Velasquez, who responded: "we should recommend that to the leaders but we should take into consideration the national security measures of each country." Issues like enrolment rules, absence, the quality of education on offer and equal opportunities were all brought up. Yasmine Abbadi declared, "we want education to be accessible, equal for everyone and of high quality," while 14-year-old Doaa El-Shabrawi from Sharqeya elaborated, "we want kids to be motivated to go to school and that can only happen through the teachers themselves. That's why teachers should be well trained and their standards upgraded so that they pass on their education skills to future generations." Luckily it was during the video conference with Cairo that Russian President Vladimir Putin decided to make a surprise visit to the J8. "I must be honest and admit that not everything promised regarding education has been fulfilled," he told the delegates. "But education is a top issue on the G8 agenda. Education is an important factor impacting world progress," Putin responded to a question about how G8 countries can help their developing counterparts. "It's especially a factor for economic growth, and the G8 has a number of initiatives to help developing countries with education." One such initiative, he went on to explain, involves a concerted effort to ensure equal access for girls, to facilitate full integration into society. "Only if there is peace and safety in the world can basic human rights such as education be fully guaranteed," he concluded. A communiqué bore the J8 recommendations to G8 leaders, and in it educational suggestions included various forms of aid, teacher training, exchange programmes and implementation of the Learning without Borders programme, in which children worldwide learn about ethics, peace and life skills as well as academic subjects. Besides the Global Industry Olympics, on the other hand -- a fund through which, in the Olympic spirit, every business in the world dedicates a portion of its earnings to the needy -- education was deemed essential. "When we worked on the G8 themes," said Canadian G8 delegate Kristina Abretti, during the final session with the G8 leaders, "we found that education is the key solution to all of our world's problems." Russian G8 delegate Tatyana Ushakova likewise concluded the youth presentations -- in which topics included, as well as education, issues like infectious diseases, energy security, violence and intolerance -- with a call for education that fosters values of tolerance and respect. For child delegates like Hesham, this was important: "the decisions concerning global issues taken by the leaders of the world's major industrialised nations might have a huge impact on the children's lives throughout the world. The UNICEF gave us the chance of a lifetime to express our thoughts and voice our ideas to world leaders. We just might force a change." The J8 was even seen as an improvement on last year's C8, held alongside the G8 Summit in Scotland, in which 16 children from eight of the world's poorest and richest countries presented recommendations for ending child poverty. Children make up a third of the world's population and as such are often the focus of the other two-thirds, but, seen as incapable of making a valid contribution to important debates, rarely are their own views taken into account -- something the UNICEF is determined to change. According to El-Esawi, "children have a unique perspective on all the issues under consideration but they have to live with the decisions made by today's leaders. It's vital that those leaders listen to a far-away voice they once had." Commenting on the importance of the summit, the J8's youngest delegate from G8 countries, Goodall, made a similar point: "the J8 Summit was important to me because I believe in the past we have exploited many of the poorer countries, yet have given nothing in return, and because of this, their economies are not as strong as ours. And I believe it's time to give something back to them, because it's not fair that we're so advanced, yet they're so far behind." As the J8's oldest participant, the 17- year-old German delegate, Janusch Krasberg, agreed: "we see the urgency in resolving all these issues because we want to build a better world, and so we want a say in decisions made now that will impact our future." For his part French delegate Xavier Attwell called for measures to end the stigma associated with HIV. He noted that the world has the means to eliminate other deadly infectious diseases, such as malaria and tuberculosis, while when it comes to AIDS, determination and finance are not as forthcoming. In her Upper Egyptian accent, with a moving smile, Shaimaa Hassan, a 13-year-old from Sohag, seemed to sum it all up: "sometimes I think if we ruled, problems would be solved quicker and easier. We don't like tears or fear. We just want to live happily ever after, the way every story should end, after all."
