International Women's Day 2010This year's theme for International Women's Day will be launched under "Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All.". Uniterra has decided to harness the talents of its field volunteers in communications to produce and share a series of audiovisual productions showing different issues women face around the world. The videos, audio productions, photos and articles will bring you to a usually less-known world, where women from different countries will tell you how they live. We hope these productions will feed your discussions and activities around March 8th!
Join us in this adventure >>
Canadian Parliamentarians visit WUSC office while in mission to Botswana.
UNITERRA’s volunteers in Gaborone, Botswana, had the opportunity to exchange with a group of Canadian parliamentarians about their experiences, their successes and the challenges they are facing every day.Read more >>
¡Neither forgotten nor silenced!
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| By Élizabeth Desgranges |
Beginning in March, the National Union of Guatemalan Women (UNAMG), a Uniterra partner, will carry a Court of Conscience to denounce the sexual violence suffered by more than 1,500 women (mostly Mayan) during the internal armed conflict. The Court of Conscience is a symbolic act that will help restore dignity to the torture survivors and expose the guilt of the Guatemalan state which, according to proponents, has systematically used sexual violence as a weapon of war. This initiative also aims to urge society to commit to protect women from violence.
As a Uniterra volunteer, my duties include translating the testimonies of victims and experts. Subsequently, I support UNAMG as part of a research project designed to assess the impact of court awareness on women's lives.
Beginning of March, follow the results of the initiative on Elizabeth’s blog >> (in Spanish)
Local Committees have started their annual Symposia Series - don't miss it!
International Development Week is also the moment chosen by WUSC Local Committees to start their Symposia Series on campus.
See Symposia Series Calendar
For more info, contact campus@wusc.ca
International Development Week
Video ads on youth engagement… with Uniterra Eight young Quebecers who have been particularly engaged were profiled by AQOCI. See a sample below. (In French)
To watch all videos on youtube
Severine Garnier, President of WUSC Local Committee on the Université Laval campus in Quebec City, and active participant in the Uniterra campaigns. (In French)
Visit her Facebook profile within the AQOCI project
Kristell Savard and William Wilson, members of the Groupe de collaboration internationale en ingénierie de l'Université de Sherbrooke (GCIUS) which organize international development projects annually with Uniterra.
Visit their Facebook profile within the AQOCI project
Partners from Guinea participate in an internship in Quebec
Through its partnerships
Welcome to New Year of World.Wide. WUSC!
We hope that you are feeling revitalized after the winter break, and are looking forward to 2010 as much as we are. Read on to find out more about exciting overseas conference opportunities, film festivals, and WUSC’s new environmental commitments. Local Committee members, sponsored students, faculty advisors, and former SWB volunteers all share their amazing insights and reflections with WUSC in this edition of World. Wide. WUSC.
Interns win the 2009 prize “Forces Avenir”
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| Photo: GCIUS Team 2008 – Alexandre Pépin-Ross, William Wilson, Krystell Savard (back) Karine Beaulieu Desrochers, Stéphanie Lavergne and Simon Pelchat (front) |
“Since our departure, the nine ovens utilizing rice grain shells are still in use”, say the students, and they are not using anything else than rice shells as fuel. “The impact on the quality of life of the women and families as well as on the environment and the level of deforestation is concrete and immediate.” Accompanied by a grant of $15,000, the award underscores the quality of work that has been achieved in the past eight years by GCIUS and the people that it mobilizes. “There is much that remains to be done. We have started thinking that this award should be used as leverage to ensure the sustainability of our organization.”
Congratulations GCIUS!
Uniterra pays tribute to volunteers
For over five decades, Canadians have been traveling to communities in Africa, Asia, and the Americas in a spirit of solidarity, with their minds set on building a fairer, more prosperous world. Upon returning to Canada, these volunteers will tell you that they received more from the experience than they ever thought they could give in return. On December 5, International Volunteer Day, we want to tell everyone who got involved with Uniterra overseas or in Canada how much we appreciate your contribution. The joint efforts over the past several years have given great results and make a real and positive difference on the communities in which we work.
For all this, the whole Uniterra team says THANKS!
- Read the press release
- Read inspiring Uniterra volunteer stories under Volunteers/Testimonials and Leave for Change/Stories of corporate partners
- Take a look at their photos under Resources/Photo Gallery
- Read stories from other Global Citizens for Change
- E-newsletter from Global Citizens for Change, edition for International Volunteer Day
Photo: Marie Desilets