The Junior 8 Summit did not end after the meeting with the world leaders on July 9th. Early in the morning on the following day, five delegations from Canada, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States left for L’Aquila for their separate meetings with the leaders of their respective countries. This time the leaders were meeting the whole team. The participants had some exciting stories to tell in the evening. The US team met with Barack Obama on a helipad from which he then flew off in Marine One and had many interesting pictures to share.
While they were travelling the remaining participants had a chance to learn more about the international perspective of children’s rights from the participants of the O8 Summit – Ombuds for Children meeting that took place in Sardinia, Italy in June 2009. The Summit brought together Ombuds for Children from all the G8 countries.
The Ombuds for Children discussed the consequences of two key crises facing children today – the global economic downturn and climate change. Since these two issues were also on the J8 agenda, the O8 delegates shared some of the research findings on how these problems affect children and young people. Climate change negatively impacts children's health, nutrition and livelihoods while the ongoing economic crisis results in increased school drop-outs, domestic violence and growing disparities among children.
That afternoon the participants went into the heart of Rome to Capitoline Hill (in today’s Rome better known asCampidoglio) for the official closing ceremony at the City Hall. J8 delegates had a chance to give a detailed presentation of the Rome Declaration and Action Plan and get some useful feedback from Antonio Gazzellone, City Hall’s Commissioner for Education Policy.
“Involving young people in decision making is extremely important, especially on a local level. In Rome youth representatives are often invited to participate in local council meetings in various municipalities,” said Mr. Gazzellone.
© UNICEF/2009/A. Muchnik
After the official part the J8 participants had a chance to walk around the museum of the Palazzo dei Conservatori and see the famous original statue of Marc Aurelius.
Friday’s highlight though was the cultural evening where each team had to tell something about their home country.The performances varied from singing and dancing to presentation of traditional snacks and rapping.
© UNICEF/2009/A. Muchnik
Saturday started off with an evaluation session and “blue sky thinking” where participants shared their lessons learned and ideas for follow up actions. The Summit’s last evening in Rome ended with a Buena Vista Social Club concert at the Auditorium where everyone had a chance to dance to unforgettable melodies.
