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South Africa: Nelson Mandela Children's Fund to Honour Madiba
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BuaNews (Tshwane)
14 May 2008
Posted to the web 14 May 2008
Gabi Khumalo
Johannesburg
The Nelson Mandela Children's Fund (NMCF) is hosting a series of events in celebration of the former President's birthday under the theme, "Celebrating a Children's Champion".
The Nobel Peace Prize Laureate will turn 90 this year with numerous local and international events set to take place in a build up to his birthday on 18 July.
In honour of Mr Mandela's legacy and his love for children, NMCF will be participating in provincial, national and regional discussion forums referred to as "Nelson Mandela Children's Fund Youth in Parliament."
Participants of the NMCF Youth in Parliament include children between the ages of 12 and 18, who attend school or involved in a community programme.
NMCF Chief Executive Officer, Sibongile Mkhabela said the NMCF youth in parliament are a series of interventions on leadership as witnessed through the eyes and minds of young people.
She said the forums will provide a platform for children to collectively identify and voice their issues and engage on matters in finding solutions as active participants in their socio-economic and political spheres.
"The aim of this is to promote human rights, children's rights and democratic principles in the lives of young people in Africa," Ms Mkhabela said.
She added that the NMCF is committed to nurturing leadership among children and the youth, therefore it is encouraging children to engage civic bodies on all matters affecting community life.
"We hope that resolutions from these forums will not only strength and influence our programmatic and developmental work but will also inform and influence government policy.
"At the end of the day the voice of the child will be heard and felt in society," she said.
To ensure diversity and greater intervention, nine provincial NMCF Youth in Parliaments forums and eight national forums involving Southern African countries including South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Namibia will be staged.
The regional Youth in Conversation forum will involve all participating Southern African countries.
The provincial series kicks off in Gauteng on 20 May 2008 and ends in KwaZulu-Natal on 5 June 2008.
The national series will start in Lesotho on 8 June 2008 and ends in Botswana on 22 June 2008, whilst the regional leg including SADC region countries will be on 9 July 2008.
Participants are expected to produce among others, self portraits on light canvases and banners reflecting children's messages on issues and concerns.
These would include 800 photos that display various experiences and social environments that children live in.
"A selected number of these will be enlarged and exhibited in each forum and at the Celebration.
"The Fund anticipates receiving 320 A3 size mixed media drawings or paintings on various themes, short stories on leadership, play performances, a song for Madiba and traditional and contemporary dances," said Ms Mkhabela.
The event forms part of activities planned towards the celebration of Madiba's birthday which will see people all around the globe having the opportunity to send their personal messages to Mr Mandela through SMS, MMS and via the web.
The main event, the 46664 concert, will be held at Hyde Park in London on 27 June.
The 46664 World Aids Day concert will be held on 29 November in Rio de Janiero, Brazil.
The 46664 campaign will unveil a range of silver, gold and platinum 46664 branded bangles in June at a special fund raising event in London.
Other activities include a series of six newspaper interviews in honour of Mr Mandela that would be published from March to July on the site www.nelsonmandela.org.
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Another highlight during the run-up to Mr Mandela's birthday is a visit by the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who will deliver the 6th Annual Nelson Mandela Lecture at Walter Sisulu Square in Kliptown, Soweto, on 12 July.
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