Show the message that ending poverty is everyone’s business and join the human ring around the European Parliament in Brussels next Friday on 19 November at 12:30 CET. The Coalition of Social Non Government Organisations is organising this symbolic event which will see a human ring formed around the European institutions. The event aims to call on civil society, trade unions, Members of the European Parliament and citizens who feel concerned by the fight against povertyand social exclusion to request political commitment towards ending poverty and social exclusion. Anyone who believes that a credible response to the crisis, focused on solidarity and social justice is needed, should join the Human Ring! Find out more.

World leaders will be gathering next month to discuss the replenishment of the International Development Association (IDA) fund, the World Bank’s fund for the poorest countries that helps fight poverty in Africa. The World Bank want you to join this conversation submitting your video. The challenge is to answer the following question in a 2-minute video: If you were asked to advise the Bank on what to fund in your village, your town, your province, your state or your country to reduce poverty, what would you recommend and why? Videos must be submitted by Monday, 22 November 2010. For more information, please visit the World Bank web site.

Eka Kakulia from Georgia went in April 2010 to Latvia to work as an EVS volunteer at NGO Radi Vidi Pats. Below you can read about her experiences during her 6 months abroad:

It’s incredible how fast time can pass by. Especially when you are doing something great and exciting as your EVS project. Yes I’m volunteer but why I did it? It’s the most frequently asked question because I had nice life in Tbilisi (Georgia), full of happiness and love. I have wonderful friends, a good job which is creative, fun and offers different activities. Despite all of these I was crazy for an adventure, to live somewhere differently, challenge myself and feel like I am taking all opportunities that life gives. Then I heard about European Union initiative of the Youth in Action program I said why not?

For me it was some kind of experiment for refreshing my life but it’s most important and useful decision that I made to level up my personality. I left my family, my job, my friends and my usual lifestyle, but I never regretted about it, even just for a minute. I’m in Liepaja, Latvia since May 2010 as an EVS volunteer. My project can be described as 5 months full of joy, feelings, friendship, activities, adventures, experience, cultural shocks and tears (at the beginning because of homesickness, missing my family, my friends and at the end because of starting to think that it’s over, soon I will miss my friends in Liepaja with whom I have a lot of nice memories). Read the rest of this entry »

After more than one year of dedicated and hard working we are proud to announce the launch of the new version of YouthNetworks! YouthNetworks 3.0 is more efficient, effective and has many new options to communicate between each other. What has been improved? For example the possibility to add more information to promote your vacancies and events, the search functionality is improved, the user interface is much easier and much more improvements! Here you can see it for yourself. If you have any questions and/or comments about the launch YouthNetworks 3.0, you can reply to robert@noborders.eu or join us on the Skype question hour every friday from 1pm to 2 pm.

To promote the 2011 EU-China Year of Youth, a creative Logo and Slogan is being looked for. The call for ideas is addressed to all young people in the EU aged 18 to 35 years. The logo and slogan will be visible on all material related to the year. The logo/slogan shall be dynamic and capture the spirit of the EU-China Youth Year. It shall be original and the own work of the entrants. More information about how to participate in this creative call can be found here. Submission deadline: 14 November 2010.

The Dutch Arnica went in September 2006 for 10 months to Poland to do her EVS. She teaches English at a school in Gorowo Ilawekie. During her EVS she fell in love with a Polish guy, Rafal. She spent almost half of her time in Poland with him and during her last month she even stayed at his place. When she went back to Holland, Rafal decided to follow her. One day later he arrived in Holland and after one month he found a new job. Last August Arnica and Rafal even got married!

Arnica and her husband travel twice a year to Poland to visit Górowo. They also organised a Dutch culture project in Poland: “Holandia po Polsku”. During this project Polish people could for example watch Dutch movies with Polish subtitles or could paint Dutch wooden shoes.

Arnica: “Our life is just perfect. Without EVS and Youth in Action, this would never happened to me. I will never forget my EVS in Poland. I just have to look at my husband to remember that great experience.”

Do you also want to share a special EVS story with us? Don’t hesitate and contact anita@noborders.eu.

Assocation Juvenil Intercambia is looking for EVS candidates. Volunteers will participate in different activities:

• Youth information and raising-awareness campaigns about Europe and campaigns of promotion of volunteering.
• Promotion of intercultural participation and learning. (We manage an information desk in Malaga, Volunteers may help
• Giving information and counselling at an information desk in Malaga in which local youth are informed about European mobility programmes.
• Organise seminars and information sessions related with Europe and European Citizenship or YiA actions.

The organisation can offer volunteers different learning elements: such as how youth organisation works in Spain, different working methodologies with youth,.development of social and cultural skills and the Spanish language. Another learning element is related with the search and diffusion of youth information and with the use of new technologies, as the organisations work with web platforms, graphic supports, videos.

If you are interested, please fill in this application form. For more detailed information, please contact: info@intercambia.org. Deadline: 5 December 2010.

Searching for another EVS organization? Please visit www.youthnetworks.eu for more EVS vacancies!

We are very pleased to announce that the release date of YouthNetworks 3 will be on the 12^th November 2010. The new version of YouthNetworks will be more efficient, effective and has many new options to communicate between each other. It will be a big step forward. In order to have a swift launch, please read the following information very carefully:

The new version will be launched on the 12th of November 2010, on this day the community website will be down for maintenance. In the meantime you can continue using YouthNetworks as usual, because we will transfer all your data to the new version, except: the applications, the profile photos and the cv of a volunteer. On the 12th of November you will receive a re-activation email, which will allow you to create a new password within less than 30 seconds. So please make sure to backup the above points (cv and/or applications) before the 12th of November 2010.

If you have any questions, comments and/or concerns about the launch YouthNetworks 3.0, you can reply to robert@noborders.eu or call +31-(0)628421079 or join us on the Skype question hour every friday from 1pm to 2 pm.

The YouthNetworks team

Become a Member of the European Parliament and play the Try on the Treaty internet game, in which you can feel and act as a Member of the European Parliament. You can vote, propose your own resolutions, take part in the works of a chosen political group and parliamentary committee and respond to questions about Treaty of Lisbon. Every player collect points and the best players will win a weekend in one of the European capitals. Find out how to play the game. The game will last until 17 December 2010.

Has knowing other languages opened doors for you, made a difference in your life? How? The European Commission would love to hear your story on the advantage of knowing languages! So join the Tongue Stories competition. Send your contribution and inspire people to use different languages by telling a interesting and amusing anecdote. The contributions from competitors in the 31 participating countries will be published on the campaign website for public voting and the best stories will be rewarded with a free trip to Brussels. The competition and the public voting are open until 31 January 2011. Check out the terms and conditions of the competition for more info.

Interested in knowing more about languages in Europe? News, information on language policy, initiatives and much more are available on the Multilingualism website of the European Commission. Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth shares her own language story with you. Just as some celebrities as Bjorn Borg did.