April 30, 2010 - World Association of Soil and Water Conservation

CONTESTF AO International Art Competition - Biodiversityhttp://www.fao.org/climatechange/youth/60638/en/The Young Hands Together for Diversity International Art Competition is part of a worldwide youth educationinitiative on biodiversity to provide children and young people with useful information and help them participate inprotecting, preserving and improving biodiversity in their communities.The theme for the competition is “biodiversity” and what it means to young people around the world. Forexample, in their artwork, children and youth may explore the amazing variety of life on the planet, the richnessof ecosystems, the reasons why biodiversity is being lost, or the things people are doing to protect biodiversity.The winning artwork may be used to make the activity badges and logos for the “Young Hands Together forDiversity” initiative. All submissions will be considered for use in “Young Hands Together for Diversity” posters,publications and Tshirts and in other United Nations publications.The competition is open to children and young people between 6 to 20 years in three age categories: 6-10 years,11-15 years and 16-20 years. The competition was launched on 28 January 2010 and closes on 15 June 2010.We invite young people around the world to submit their biodiversity artwork. Last year there were 1,400 entriesfrom 46 countries around the world.The organizers of the competition are Bioversity International (BI), the Convention on BiologicalDiversity (CBD), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Associationof Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). The competition is an activity of the Youth and United Nations GlobalAlliance (YUNGA) and The Green Wave for biodiversity.▲ World Water Day – March 22, 2010WORLD DAYSFarmers as key actors for water quality in agriculture▲ 40th Anniversary of Earth Day – April 22, 2010For background information about Earth Day visit http://www .earthday.org/earthday2010 The Monsanto featureis at http://www.monsanto.com/features/earth_day.asp?WT.svl=2▲ World Book and Copyright Day - April 23By celebrating this Day throughout the world, UNESCO seeks to promote reading, publishing and the protectionof intellectual property through copyright.23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes,Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominentauthors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It was anatural choice for UNESCO's General Conference to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date,encouraging everyone, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewedrespect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress ofhumanity.The idea for this celebration originated in Catalonia where on 23 April, Saint George's Day, a rose is traditionallygiven as a gift for each book sold. The success of the World Book and Copyright Day will depend primarily onthe support received from all parties concerned (authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, public and privateinstitutions, humanitarian NGOs and the mass media), who have been mobilized in each country by UNESCONational Commissions, UNESCO Clubs, Centres and Associations, Associated Schools and Libraries, and by allthose who feel motivated to work together in this world celebration of books and authors.• Download the poster of the Day in high-resolution PDF for your printing and reproduction needs (2 Mo,42x27 cm):o Poster with text in English and Frencho poster - adaptable version11