http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/# What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#458595
Opening Session - Tuesday 19th August

Sarah-Jo Dawson - IYPF and IYPS organisaing committee

• Delegates from over 25 countries, including Engineers, IT professionals, Journalists, Educationalists etc.
• Idea of conference is to be really interactive - use all the keys skills and experience of delegates, develop peer-to-peer culture
• Having a more specific topic for the conference was considered but was decided to keep it more open to include all the varies skill of professionals in the network
• The teams feels that the geographical and skill breadth of young professionals involved means we can offer much to help

Professor Tony Ridley - Commonwealth Engineers Council, Patron of IYPF

• The Commonwealth Engineers Council has held meetings at the same time as CHOGM since 1997, when 25 young commonwealth engineers met hosted by CEC so that young engineers had an outlet to decision makers of the world - send a declaration to the heads of government
• Important to find potential political outlets in order to achieve what you wish to achieve
• CEC continued the tradtion of hosting young enginners every years in the same city as the CHOGM, and in 2001 young commonwealth professionals met. In 2001 IYPF was created from this Brisbane meeting
• 25 engineers has morphed into a network of young professional from over 100 countries and diverse backgrounds, but retains a focus on poverty, sustainability and advocacy
• 'Never be afraid to demand to be heard'

Cameron Neil - IYPF CEO

• IYPF was launched in 2001 to carry forward the dreams, ambitions and goals of the young professionals involved in the Summits
• Aims to keep people involved in making the world a better place after they leave university and join the real world of employment and families. Realise as you get older you colleagues and peers are doing increasingly amazing things - aims to tap into these skills and resources
• Together have impact to make significant impact on the world
• Theories of change, need Awareness, Action and Association - more powerful when working in a group
• The IYPS Dream. Signed by 120 delegates in 2001 to represent the world we want to live in
• The Summit outcomes - some documents - primarily about delegates getting what they want from the summit
• The Summit is kept intimate to give everyone a chance to interact and connect - get involved

--
Compiled by Susan Long, IYPS 08 Volunteer

Edited and published by Cameron Neil]]> Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:55:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#458595 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#342645
Highlights will include:

- Jeffrey Sachs on Young Professionals and the MDGs

- Dato Lee Yee Cheong on The UN Millennium Project and the subsequent report ‘Innovation: Applying Knowledge in Development’

- Young Professionals Panel Session: How can young professionals support the Millennium Development Goals?
Dr. Claire Wilson, JIVE project, UK Resource Centre for Women Into Science, Engineering and Technology
Sumita Sinha, Director of Eco-Logic chartered accountants and founder Chair of Architects For Change, the Equality Forum at the Royal Institute of British Architects
Dr. Samantha Lacey, Responsible shareholding analyst, Co-operative insurance (confirmed)
Mark Turner, Deputy Chief Executive, Mersey Basin Campaign

and much much more!

download it here:
http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/docs/

and see here for more http://www.iyps.org



]]> Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:54:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#342645 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#284651 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/docs/

you will find links to Summit information in:
- Italian
- Greek
- German
- Polish
- Spanish
- French



]]> Sun, 18 Nov 2007 05:28:00 EST http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#284651 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#280751
The 7th July 2007 marked the halfway point since the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG´s) were launched by the United Nations and the
target date of achieving these wide-ranging targets, covering
eradication of poverty, environmental sustainability and improved
global health, of 2015.

On that day, we formally announced that the third International Young
Professionals Summit, IYPS 2008, will be held from 19th to 22nd
August 2008 in Manchester, England and will have the theme "How young
professionals can help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals".


The aim of the Summit is to bring together young professionals for
networking, capacity building and information sharing around this
core theme and specific topics covered will include:
- Governance, economy and education
- Women and gender equality
- Healthcare and HIV / AIDS
- Environmental sustainability

You can learn more here: http://www.iyps.org.

The registration process is now open and applications close December
14 2007.

If you are a young professional passionate about making the world a
better place and taking positive action towards the MDGs, either
through your working life or in a voluntary capacity, you should
apply today! Even if you are not sure at this stage whether you can
make it, we encourage you to apply - you are under no obligation to
attend if selected!

Download an application form from this link:
http://www.iyps.org/iyps08/IYPS2008_Application_Form.doc]]> Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:16:00 EST http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#280751 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#249963 Join in the TIG Discussion on How Your Job impacts on the Millennium Development Goals

A new poll and discussion thread has been added to the IYPS2008 TIG Page. The theme is How Your Job impacts on the Millennium Development Goals. The poll, set up by IYPS2008 Communications Coordinator and IYPF Director Mariana Ballestero, asks IYPF members to say which Millennium Development Goal their job mainly contributes to achieving. Mariana then asks us to talk about what makes our work effective in helping to achieve the MDGs.

Go here to contribute: http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/discuss/thread/25063

Hopefully this will lead to an interesting and thought provoking discussion where we can - learn more about one anothers' roles as Young Professionals - find out about jobs which we may find interesting as future career moves - learn about who are the experts in different fields - find out about any overlaps between our jobs - start to network on multidisciplinary projects to achieve the MDGs ]]> Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:10:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#249963 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#249959 An application form has been sent out to anyone who has expressed an interest in attending IYPS2008 via our website. This should be returned by the end of November 2007 at the latest, but earlier if possible. You can download an application form here:
http://www.iyps.org/iyps08/IYPS2008_Application_Form.doc

In deciding who should attend IYPS2008, the organising committee will be looking for Young Professionals, aged 21 to 40, who are already or who will be able to make a significant contribution to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. We will also be trying to ensure a broad representation of delegates from different regions of the World, in different professions and across the MDG sector interests. By the end of this year, we will be inviting successful applicants to register for the event using an online registration process. Successful applicants may also apply to receive, in exceptional circumstances only, assistance for attending the event, and we will also send formal letters of invitation for relevant visas.

If you apply but are not accepted to attend in person, please do not be disappointed. We have had an exceptional response so far and places are limited. However, we will ensure there are lots of ways to get involved next August whether by watching webcasts of the speakers, getting involved in web blogs or attending local / regional meetings during the IYPS2008 event. Some people may even prefer this as a way of attending, rather than flying to the UK, as it will minimise carbon footprints. ]]> Sat, 15 Sep 2007 21:06:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#249959 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#249945 What does poverty look like globally now? Read the opinion piece below (an extract is included and you can read the rest online) for an insight in to 'The Bottom Billion' and how systems are keeping the Least Developed Countries in poverty.

What can we as young professionals do to make a positive difference for 'The Bottom Billion'?

This is one of the things we can discuss on October 17 as part of the Stand Up events being held globally and online. See here for more information http://www.iyps.org/iyps08/regional_local_events.htm.


Trade beats aid when it comes to helping poor
By Ross Gittins, for the Sydney Morning Herald, September 15, 2007

It no longer makes much sense to think of the countries of the world as divided into rich and poor. Globalisation has created a big category in the middle.

It used to be common to picture the world's population as 1 billion rich and 5 billion poor. The 1 billion rich are people in the 30 countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Today, however, it is more meaningful to think of 1 billion rich and 4 billion in countries that are rapidly developing and converging on living standards on the rich, leaving 1 billion in countries that are "falling behind and often apart".

This is the thesis of The Bottom Billion: Why the poorest countries are failing and what can be done about it, by Paul Collier. Collier's thesis is discussed at length in an article by Terry O'Brien in the Treasury's latest Economic Roundup.

See
here for the full text of the article.
]]> Sat, 15 Sep 2007 20:50:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#249945 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#243697 the globe will physically and symbolically "STAND UP" to communicate
their desire to fight poverty and to hold their governments and
leaders accountable for promises to end poverty by 2015.

STAND UP coincides with the International Day of Poverty Eradication
and the White Band Day of the Global Call to Action against Poverty.
It relies fully on citizen participation. Last year, more than 23
million people in 87 countries stood up and took action.

To ensure the inclusion of those not physically able to stand up, a
symbolic act of raising a hand, wearing a white band, or holding up a
banner with the "Stand Up Against Poverty" message will also be
counted.

7 July 2007 marked the half way point to achieve the MDGs. As the
information on the following pages show, there is a lot of progress
still to be made if we are to achieve the promise of these goals.

IYPF and the Millennium Campaign hope to have a strong political
impact reminding our leaders of their promise and telling them that
the world has stood up to publicly demand poverty eradication. The
achievement of the Millennium Development Goals should be regarded as
a political priority. There are no excuses for not achieving them by
2015.

To this end, the IYPF is calling on you to organise or join an
informal local, national or regional IYPF meetings of 2+ people as
part of Stand Up on (or around) October 17. At the event, the Stand
Up pledge will be read and discussions facilitated on how young
professionals can help to achieve the Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs). Organisers are asked to write up the discussions, a brief
report on the event and send it to the IYPS 2008 (www.iyps.org) team,
along with at least one digital photo. Our team will compile an
overall report to send to the Millennium Campaign. We will also the
report at IYPS 2008 to ensure more views are head during the event.
The pictures, event information and selected quotes will also be
incorporated in to future IYPF newsletters and on our website.

See a list of events already being planned here:
www.iyps.org/iyps08/regional_local_events.htm.

Stand Up for 1.1 billion people living on less than $1 a day.
Speak Out for the Millennium Development Goals.
Take an Action to make world leaders listen
Stand Up and be counted
Stand Up and be heard

If you decided to take a positive action and need more info about how
to organise an IYPF Stand Up Event, Contact Eddy Nicholas Ombudo
Orinda - MDG Coordinator (IYPS 2008) via eddyorinda@iypf.org.

Also, the Millennium Campaign has prepared an "Event in A Box"
containing useful information, tips and STAND UP materials which will
be available to download from the website www.millenniumcampaign.org.
The pack includes a flyer, brochure and set of logos to download.
These materials can be adapted and used for your event to produce
posters, banners, t-shirts, fliers, placards, etc.

]]> Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:59:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#243697 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#243695 the United Nations for the Millennium Summit. At the Summit, leaders
firmly committed to fight together against poverty and hunger, gender
inequality, environmental degradation, and HIV/AIDS, while improving
access to education, health care and clean water, all by 2015. These
wide-ranging commitments gave birth to the eight Millennium
Development Goals (MDG´s). The MDG´s are measurable - each one has a
set of targets against which progress can be assessed.

So six years ago leaders made a solemn promise to the world´s
citizens. Let´s take a look at each Goal and some of the specific
targets within those Goals to get a sense of where things stand on
these promises.

Goal 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

Fact: 1.1 billion people are forced to survive on less than $1 a day.

Target: The first goal aims to halve the proportion of people whose
income is less than $1 a day.

Progress: On current trends, this target will be met at the global
level by 2015. However, the target will be met largely because of
positive developments in Asia - in particular in India and China.
While this success should not be underestimated, there are regions
which are lagging and which will not make the necessary progress;
this is particularly the case for sub-Saharan Africa.

Fact: Over 800 million people - almost twice the population of the 25-
country European Union - suffer from chronic hunger, meaning they do
not get enough food to lead an active and healthy life.

Target: Goal 1 also aims to halve the proportion of people who suffer
from chronic hunger.

Progress: The percentage of the world´s population suffering from
chronic hunger has fallen somewhat in recent years. Modest progress
is being registered in the worst affected regions - sub-Saharan
Africa and South Asia. Nevertheless, the decline is slowing and is
not currently sufficient to ensure that we meet the target by 2015.

What is more, the fall in the proportion of people suffering from
chronic hunger has not been enough to prevent the actual number of
people suffering from hunger from increasing. Trends in East Asia
provide some reason for concern: after falling in the early 1990s the
absolute number of people suffering from chronic hunger is again
rising.

Goal 2: Achieve universal primary education

Fact: Over 100 million school-age children are not in school and over
100 million more children that are currently in school will leave
without learning to read or write.

Target: The second goal aims to ensure that, by 2015, girls and boys
alike will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.

Progress: There is some progress on getting children into schools.
Net enrollment ratios are increasing in the two regions which are
most behind, i.e. sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. However, there
is a need for more progress on keeping children in school. Neither
sub-Saharan Africa nor South Asia is on track to ensuring that all
children complete a full course of primary education by 2015. Other
regions are either close to universal primary education or are close
to making sufficient progress by 2015. However, there are individual
countries within even these more successful regions which are still
seriously lagging.

Goal 3: Promote gender equality and empower women

Fact: More than one in five girls of primary-school age around the
world are not in school.

Target: When a country educates its girls, its mortality rates
usually fall and the health and education prospects of the next
generation improve. The third goal aims to eliminate gender
disparities in primary and secondary education, preferably by 2005,
and in all levels of education by no later than 2015.

Progress: Unfortunately, the first of the Millennium Development Goal
targets - to eliminate gender parities in primary and secondary
education by 2005 - has already been missed. Gender gaps continue to
exist in all educational levels. Globally, more than one in five
girls of primary-school age are not in school compared with about one
in six boys. Of most concern are the wide gender gaps in primary
education in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where almost 80% of
the world´s out-of-school children live. In sub-Saharan Africa 42% of
primary school age girls are out of school compared with 38% of boys.
In South Asia the gap is wider with 29% of primary-school age girls
out of school compared with 22% of boys.

Goal 4: Reduce child mortality

Fact: Each year almost 11 million children under the age of 5 die in
developing countries, most of them from preventable causes. 11
million is more than the entire population of Belgium.

Target: Goal 4 aims to reduce by two-thirds the mortality rate for
children under the age of 5.

Progress: Though survival prospects continue to improve in every
region, at the global level progress has slowed considerably in
recent years. This means that we are far from making the necessary
progress to reduce under-five mortality rates by two-thirds by 2015.
According to the most recent data available, only 35 countries are
making enough progress. Sub-Saharan Africa - which is ravaged by
civil disturbance and HIV/AIDS - provides the most cause for concern.
This region has only 20% of the world´s young children but accounts
for half of the total deaths.

Goal 5: Improve maternal health

Fact: Death in childbirth is a rare event in rich countries, where
there are typically fewer than 10 maternal deaths for every 100,000
live births. In the poorest countries of Africa and Asia the ratio
can be 100 times higher.

Target: Goal 5 aims to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three-
quarters by 2015.

Progress: Despite the issue of maternal mortality having been high on
the international agenda for two decades, ratios of maternal
mortality have changed little in the regions where the most deaths
occur: sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia.

Adequate reproductive health services, family planning advice,
skilled attendants at delivery and timely referrals to emergency
obstetric care are all necessary to reduce maternal deaths. All
regions are showing some improvement in the proportion of deaths
attended by skilled health-care personnel. Nevertheless, only 46% of
deliveries in sub-Saharan Africa - where almost half of the world´s
maternal deaths occur - are attended by skilled personnel.


Goal 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Fact: Today, someone living in Zambia has less chance of reaching the
age of 30 than someone born in England in 1840 - and the gap is
widening. HIV/AIDS is at the heart of this massive reversal in life
expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa.

Target: Goal 6 aims to have halted and reversed the spread of
HIV/AIDS by 2015.

Progress: Globally, HIV infection rates continue to increase and the
number of people living with HIV has continued to rise from 36.2
million in 2003 to 38.6 million in 2005. This is despite the fact
that several countries report success in reducing HIV infection
rates.

The epidemic remains centred on sub-Saharan Africa. With just over
10% of the world´s population, the region is home to 64% of HIV-
positive people and to 90% of children (under 15) living with the
virus. Around 59% of HIV-positive adults in sub-Saharan Africa are
women. HIV prevalence rates in sub-Saharan Africa appear to be
levelling off at relatively high rates, but this apparent
stabilization reflects the fact that as new people acquire the virus,
nearly the same number die from AIDS.

While prevalence rates are lower outside of sub-Saharan Africa, the
number of people infected is increasing and so is the death rate. In
2005, there were almost a million new cases in South and East Asia,
where more than 7 million people are now living with HIV/AIDS.

Goal 7: Ensure environmental sustainability

Fact: In sub-Saharan Africa 300 million people lack access to safe
drinking water.

Target: Goal 7 aims to halve the proportion of people without
sustainable access to safe drinking water.

Progress: The share of people using drinking water from improved
sources has continued to rise in the developing world. This share
increased to 80% in 2004 from 71% in 1990. This means that the world
is currently on track to reach the drinking water target. However,
growing populations and wide disparities between urban and rural
areas within countries pose continuing challenges.

At a regional level, while there is progress in sub-Saharan Africa,
it is not yet on track to meet the target. Moreover, this is the
region with the worst disparities between rural and urban
populations.

Goal 8: Develop a global partnership for development

Fact: In 1970 almost all of the rich countries of the world promised
to provide 0.7% of their national income (GNI) in aid. Today - more
than 35 years later - only 5 countries fulfil this commitment.

Target: Goal 8 aims to create a global partnership for development
between rich and poor countries. In particular, rich countries are
committed to providing more and better quality aid, to enhancing debt
relief and to fairer trade rules.

Progress: Even though 21 of the 22 OECD donor countries signed up to
the 0.7% target for aid in 1970, in 2005 these countries together
provided only 0.33% of their collective national income in
development assistance! However, in May 2005, the more prosperous
European Union Member States - the EU-15 - recommitted to meeting the
0.7% target by 2015. These countries need to plan carefully to
rapidly increase their aid, and other countries should follow their
lead. However, without improvements in aid quality, increased aid
will not eliminate poverty. Yet donors are slow or absent in
operationalising aid-quality commitments.

In recent years, there have been enhanced global initiatives for the
cancellation of both bilateral and multilateral debt. While debt
relief is key to releasing resources for MDG-focused expenditures in
developing countries, it is important that debt relief is not used to
`artificially´ boost aid figures - as it counts in the official
definition of aid - and to divert funds away from the most needy
countries and individuals.

More than aid and debt relief, trade has the potential to increase
the share of the world´s poorest in global prosperity. Yet, rich
country trade policies continue to deny the poor this opportunity.
Remedying this situation requires a host of measures such as cutting
rich country agricultural subsidies and opening up rich country
markets to the exports of poor producers in developing countries.
Unfortunately, a key opportunity to do this was lost in 2006 when
talks on a new world trade agreement under the so-called Doha
"Development" Round of trade talks were indefinitely suspended.

]]> Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:58:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#243695 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#243693 page. The theme is "What skills do young professionals need, on top
of their professional skills, to be able to help to achieve the
MDG´s". Go here: http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/discuss/6369.

Are there projects you would like to do but you feel limited because
you don´t know how to organise an event or how to fundraise? Do you
struggle to use new IT systems like TIG? Does your not for profit
organisation need a website but you don´t know how to design it? Just
how do you write to government policy makers? Perhaps another IYPF
member can help you from their previous experiences. Capacity
building is a major part of what IYPF is all about, so we need to
start sharing our issues and experiences together.

Please answer our poll or join in the discussion, as we will be
trying to use your ideas to drive our skills sessions programme for
IYPS20008.

Sarah-Jo Dawson
IYPF President and IYPS2008 Project Manager

]]> Sun, 26 Aug 2007 20:58:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#243693 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#228327
· Write an article for the IYPF newsletter about one of the MDGs or your experiences working in one of the MDG areas, and send it to newsletter@iypf.org

· Join the IYPFs Young professionals and Millennium Development Goals network http://projects.takingitglobal.org/ypmdg

· The IYPF is currently looking for a motivated individual to join the IYPS2008 organising committee specifically working on the Young Professionals and Millennium Development Goals angle. Please contact brittjacobsen@iypf.org for more details

· Arrange a Stand Up Against Poverty event for IYPF members in your country / region for October 17th 2007 – see http://www.standagainstpoverty.org/. Please let us know on iyps2008@iypf.org what you are planning to do and we will coordinate this as an IYPF Global event.

· Join the IYPS Tig Blog http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421 and contribute to our current discussion and vote ion our poll “Young Professionals and the Millennium Development Goals” on the IYPS2008 TIG Blog http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/discuss/thread/24023


]]> Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:01:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#228327 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#228313
http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/ is the UN’s website which gives a good outline of the MDGs

http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/mdg2007.pdf is a halfway to 2015 progress report on the MDGs

http://www.millenniumcampaign.org is the campaign site for people wanting to support the MDGs

http://www.mdgyouthpaper.org/mdgyouthpaper.pdf is the paper on Youth and the Millennium Development Goals contributed to by IYPF members

http://www.takingitglobal.org/themes/mdg/ is a TIG Blog on the MDGs
]]> Sat, 07 Jul 2007 05:57:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#228313 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#227575 iyps2008@iypf.org www.iyps.org

Press Release for 7.7.7

"Next International Young Professionals Summit to be held in
Manchester"

The 7th July 2007 marks the halfway point since the Millennium
Development Goals (MDG´s) were launched by the United Nations and the
target date of achieving these wide-ranging targets, covering
eradication of poverty, environmental sustainability and improved
global health, of 2015.

On this date, the International Young Professionals Foundation, an
international not-for-profit network of young professionals run by
volunteers, is proud to formally announce the third International
Young Professionals Summit, IYPS 2008, to be held from 19th to 22nd
August 2008 in Manchester, England.

The aim of the Summit is to bring together young professionals for
networking, capacity building and information sharing around our core
theme of "How young professionals can contribute to achieving the UN
Millennium Development Goals " and specific topics covered will
include:
- Governance, economy and education
- Women and gender equality
- Healthcare and HIV / AIDS
- Environmental sustainability

The Project Manager for IYPS2008 is IYPF President, 35-year-old Sarah-
Jo Dawson from the UK. She says, "The MDGs represent a global call to
action against poverty and the protection of the planet. Young
professionals certainly have a lot to offer in meeting these
challenges and I am proud we are officially announcing IYPS2008 on
the midpoint day and using the MDG´s as the theme of our Summit next
year".

The week long Summit will be attended by young people from across the
globe, representing a wide number of professions from engineers to
doctors to artists. Each delegate will be already taking positive
action towards the MDG´s either through his or her working life or in
a voluntary capacity. "This is a fantastic opportunity for them to
share their experiences" says IYPF CEO Cameron Neil, from Australia,
"There will be a core number of delegates actually attending the
Summit, but we will also have on-line facilities so we can involve as
many young professionals as possible, from all around the world,
whilst limiting our own carbon footprint".

As well as discussing the Millennium Development Goals, attendees at
the Summit will have a chance to try their hand at environmental art
and conservation projects, hear about existing IYPF projects across
the globe, listen to motivational speakers on how to achieve change
and go on a trip to see some of North West England´s sustainable
development successes, supported by the Mersey Basin Campaign.
Members of the public will also get an opportunity to take part in
the event at the Global Change Fiesta organised as part of IYPS2008
on Thursday 21st August 2008.
]]> Thu, 05 Jul 2007 21:58:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#227575 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667 http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#219827
rasselchisango@iypf.org

I am certainly excited once again to be in touch with all of you amazing YPs from across the globe, both IYPF members and non-members. Here's hoping that I find you equally excited about our upcoming International Young Professionals Summit 2008 (IYPS 2008) in Manchester, England from the 19th to the 23rd of August 2008.As part of our commitment to making this Summit a holistic, responsive and comprehensive Young Professionals oriented Summit we are glad to offer you this opportunity to meaningfully contribute to the whole Programme Planning process.

Accordingly, please be advised that this Consultative Program Planning Process is guided by our vision and mission as IYPF (www.iypf.org) and follows on from our two previous far reaching Summits held in 2001 and 2004 where the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were a key theme (see www.iyps.org/iyps08/past_events.htm).

This consultative process also aims at ensuring that YPs attending IYPS 2008 get the greatest possible benefit from its the various sessions. Therefore your focused participation and contributions are invaluable. Our programme will have delegate registration and Summit Introduction on the 19th, the 20th-22nd as full discussion and workshop days, and an optional on the ground field trip on the 23rd.

We will therefore have 3 days to discuss the following proposed themes, which yet again are MDGs-centric, and how IYPF can support its members and other young professionals in helping to achieve them:
· Governance, economy and education under MDGs 1 2
· Women and gender equality under MDG 3
· Healthcare and HIV / AIDS under MDGs 4,5 6
· Water, energy, sustainable consumption and infrastructure under MDG 7

Emphasis will also be made throughout the summit to ensure that we use IYPF as a platform to achieve the MDGs that entails promoting a global partnership for development.

Over and above that we will certainly have as part of our final programme such items as the Global Change Fiesta, an equivalent to "Bush Yoga", Coaching sessions, skills workshops and a Field trip. As has already been expressed, we look forward to your passionate focused contribution as we strive to set up a really difference making final YPs oriented IYPS 2008 Program that we will all enjoy!

For more details on IYPS2008 please visit www.iyps.org.
]]> Sun, 17 Jun 2007 06:11:00 EDT http://events.takingitglobal.org/14421/blogs/#219827 -35.2833333 149.2166667 -35.2833333 149.2166667