Colombia: Elyx participates to several interesting workshops in Bogotá!

The adventure around the world is almost at an end and Elyx is invited again in Latin America to attend some interesting workshops in Bogotá, Colombia. The United Nations’ presence in Colombia is composed of 24 specialized agencies, programs and one regional commission, the CEPAL – The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. Among the UN agencies, there are the WFP, OCHA, UNHCR, UNICEF and UN WOMEN just to name a few. The UNIC Bogotá staff is glad to welcome our digital ambassador and it introduces Elyx to the first workshop of the day together with the UN colleagues from OCHA and some people from the general public.

Elyx participates to the workshop organized by OCHA on the CERF (Photo Credit: OCHA)

The workshop regards the CERF, which is the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund, one of the most effective way to support rapid humanitarian response for people affected by armed conflict and natural disasters. Elyx learns that CERF particularly differentiates itself from other emergency responses by the fact that it delivers grants to the situations most in need in the fastest way, in as little as 48 hours. CERF gains contributions from donors – mainly governments, but also, foundations, companies, charities and individuals – into a single fund with a $450 million annual target. The CERF has operated in Colombia, addressing several situations, such as communities affected by floods and in order to counter gender-based violence.

Elyx joins the workshop PAZ a la Joven with UNICEF (Photo Credit: UNIC Bogotá)

After, the UNICEF staff invites Elyx to participate to another interesting workshop about PAZ a la Joven, organized for 25 young leaders from schools and universities, who through different activities will reflect on the peace culture. Elyx is really curious about the conference and it tries to discover more on the role of UNICEF in the country. Throughout all 2015, in Colombia UNICEF has attempted to direct its efforts and funds mainly toward three aims: to give children and women access to micronutrients; to strengthen mine risk education programs and to prevent children recruitment by armed groups. Moreover, Colombia is the home country of the famous singer Shakira, who is UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador since October 2003.

Elyx knows more about the SIMONU Bogotá project (Photo Credit: UNIC Bogotá)

At the end of the day, Elyx is invited to attend one of the training sessions of the SIMONU- Simulasiòn de las Naciones Unidas project, hosted by UNIC Bogotá and organized by the Secretariat of Education of Bogotá. The SIMONU aims at forming and educating future active citizens, fully conscious of their rights and ready to change the world in which they live. This particular training session is about parliamentary procedures and it sees 30 young students who participate as delegates and presidents of commissions.

What a formative, but very interesting day! Elyx wishes to learn more, but there are still few countries to visit before the UNDay in New York and so Elyx flies again on its cloud toward another adventure. Adiós Colombia!

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