SWA Updtae

Student World Assembly Update
April 2005 | Volume # 1 | Number # 1

In This Issue

"Fighting for Our Souls"
April 9th, 2005

"The Crisis in Darfur, Sudan"
April 12th, 2005

"Global Perspectives on Women & HIV/AIDS" - April 13th,2005

HIV/AIDS Walk - Accra, Ghana

“Fighting For Our Souls"

On Saturday April 9th 2005, SWA members from the Ghana Region participated in a momentous Aids Walk which aimed to raise awareness about the epidemic and different prevention methods. The walk which was organized by the Ghana Region of the SWA and brought together 300 members from numerous SWA chapters. Educational packages and 3000 free condoms were distributed to interested people along the way. Members and participants were able to march through the streets and enjoy the event as well. We truly thank all the organizers of this extraordinary event and look forward to seeing similar events in the future.

For more information on the event and to view the photogallery visit the following link:

http://www.studentworldassembly.org/aids_walk_ghana.htm

http://www.studentworldassembly.org/Photogallery_GH_April_aidswalk/index.html

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Panel Discussion - Adelphi University, New York

“The crisis in Darfur, Sudan"

On Tuesday April 12th, 2005, the SWA Chapter at Adelphi University hosted a symposium on "The Crisis in Darfur, Sudan." The event brought together students and faculty members interested in the different dimensions of the ongoing humanitarian crisis in that troubled region of the world. Panelists at the event included Christina Munzer, Project Officer, Great Lakes Region International Rescue Committee, Michael Oppenheimer, Prof. of International Relations, NYU, and Jonathan D. Tepperman, Senior Editor, Foreign Affairs. The topic was chosen in accordance to the pressing global
issues of that chapter presented to the Student World Assembly.

For more information on the event please visit the following link:

http://www.studentworldassembly.org/adelphi_symp.htm

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HIV/AIDS Conference - South Portland Chapter, Maine
“Global Perspective on Women & HIV/AIDS"

On Wednesday April 13^th, 2005, the South Portland High School chapter held its "kick-off" event, entitled "Global Perspectives on Women and HIV/AIDS". The event coincided with other SWA awareness events (in New York, Canada
and Ghana) concerning this pressing global issue. The three panelists for the South Portland event brought together global expertise from Haiti, Canada and southern African countries. South Portland High School's principal, Jeanne Crocker, welcomed the participants, and chapter officers introduced SWA to the audience before the discussion. Panelists at the event included Julia McDonald, Executive Director of Maine AIDS Alliance, Noel Bonam of the HIV/STD Program, Shelley White, the HIV Care Programs Coordinator for the State of Maine. The panel discussion was followed by a reception catered by Portland restaurants, and laptops were set up for those attending, to facilitate their visit unto SWA's
website to post comments on the discussion forum.

For more information on the event please visit the following link:

http://www.studentworldassembly.org/aids_conf_portland.htm

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Our Mission
The Student World Assembly is a
non-governmental, nonpartisan organization created to represent students globally. It provides a deliberative assembly where students around the world can exchange views, vote on global issues through online discussion forums and in annual international conventions, and translate these views into meaningful actions.

Our Democratic Philosophy
True representative democracy offers a powerful instrument for addressing the vital social and political conditions that threaten our global future. The informed wishes of the people, conveyed through the collective voice of a democratic assembly, need to be heard in the decision- making processes. By giving students from the most remote to the more accessible institutions an equal voice, we are enabling all students to educate, participate and take action, and to begin thinking of themselves as global citizens.