WYA at World AIDS Day Forum

On December 1, World Youth Alliance was asked to present a short statement at a panel discussion held at the Economic and Social Council on the present situation in the world concerning HIV/AIDS on the occasion of World AIDS Day. North American Director Casey Downing and Director of Advocacy Rebecca Austen drafted the following statement, which Casey read at the event. Our position was well received by the panelists and the audience, and it is our hope that the international community and those present at the forum will remember to put the person at the center of policies when addressing this issue.


On the Occasion of World AIDS Day, December 1, 2009

The World Youth Alliance is a global coalition of over 20,000 young people from nearly 200 countries from the developed and developing world. Our mission is to promote the dignity of the person in policy and culture and to build solidarity among youth from every nation.

Recognition of human dignity requires treating those affected by HIV/AIDS as persons, with physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs, not simply carriers of a disease. Human beings who suffer from HIV/AIDS are mothers, fathers, brothers, aunts, friends, sisters, daughters, uncles, and sons. They feel the effects of the pandemic in diverse situations and in different ways. Any response to the HIV/AIDS situation, therefore, must recognize the real and underlying needs of the human person, in relationship with others, for integral development. We hope the international community will join us in affirming the dignity of the person in its response to HIV/AIDS.

The World Youth Alliance also affirms that family is the fundamental unit of society, wherein dignity, rights, and duties are first communicated. We believe that the family is the primary structure within which HIV/AIDS prevention begins, and care and support is provided. It is thus incumbent upon the international community to foster those conditions that support and nurture the family.

WYA at the International Bioethics Committee

At the end of November, I attended the 16th Session of the International Bioethics Committee (IBC) in Mexico City. The IBC, a committee of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), was created in 1993. It is composed of 36 bioethics experts whose tasks include promoting reflection, developing and supporting educational programming, and making recommendations on bioethical issues. The 16th Session addressed the topics of Social Responsibility and Health, the Principle of Respect of Human Vulnerability and Personal Integrity, and Human Cloning, and also heard Latin American perspectives in the field of bioethics.

As representatives of WYA, Lourdes Villanueva, the director of WYA Latin America, and I were present at the committee meeting in order to monitor the session, identify committee members who share WYA’s commitment to human dignity, urge the committee to maintain respect for human dignity in their programming and declarations, and network with other organizations and experts present at the session.

Listening to the presentations and discussions really allowed Lourdes and I to gain insight into the ideas held by the committee about bioethics. Much of the work done by the committee is excellent, as are their three existing declarations: the Universal Declaration on the Human Genome and Human Rights, the International Declaration on Human Genetic Data, and the Universal Declaration on Bioethics and Human Rights. Their declarations affirm their commitment to “respect for human dignity, human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Interestingly, however, the committee’s mandate is to consider and respect all ethical viewpoints. This was evident in the many presentations which stressed that bioethics should be regionalized. What was surprising was that although the committee often employs the language of “human dignity,” it does not have an understanding of what human dignity is. Their understanding that bioethics should be regionalized implied that each region should decide what is meant by human dignity and what constitutes acting in accord with human dignity.

In a session that included the topic of human cloning, the committee inevitably discussed the question of when human life begins. Unfortunately, although the committee had already stressed many times their respect for plurality of opinion, on this topic the overwhelming majority of the committee would have liked to dismiss the ethical controversy over research cloning by saying that, scientifically speaking, the pre-embryo is a mass of undifferentiated cells and cannot merit the same rights as a person. Thankfully, after the discussion went this way for a while, IBC committee member and president-elect Professor Donald Evans reminded the committee that “it is attractive to provide a purely biological description of when life begins, but we cannot avoid the ethical questions”: the IBC would be rightly accused of promoting a particular ethical viewpoint if it were to disregard the view that the pre-embryo is a mass of undifferentiated cells that is human life and adopt the view that the pre-embryo is only a mass of undifferentiated cells undeserving of rights.

As the IBC moves forward in its efforts to internationally ban human reproductive cloning, a technology that is almost universally opposed and that the committee unanimously views as an affront to human dignity, our hope is that the committee will maintain a consistent view of human dignity and work to ban all forms of human cloning, whether the clone is implanted into a mother’s uterus and allowed to grow to term, or whether the clone is used for research purposes.


Gina Fullam- United States
Committee Member
World Youth Alliance North America
21 years

World Youth Alliance Fall 2009

The experiences that I have had, and the people that I have met, has shaped me and changed me more then I could have imagined here at my time with WYA. I wasn't sure what to expect when I first arrived, all I knew was, WYA was something special, their mission important, and I wanted to be apart of it. During my time here, I have met many ambassadors and world leaders; I have been able to monitor meetings for upcoming UN Commissions, and work with young people from all over the world. I have been able to have a better understanding of why the people here sacrifice and work so hard just to get a little ahead. The world of politics and the UN, not to mention the idea of changing the world takes time and hard work, that you might not see the benefits of until much later.

I was one of the lucky interns of fall 2009 that was able to reap the rewards of hard work put in by our Director and multiple interns from the past. I was here for the North American DDD that was held at Yale University. This conference was a culmination of great speakers and other aspects, like art, that really portrayed human dignity. It would not have been possible without the hard work for years past of previous people.

That is the beauty of WYA, we are all striving for the same goal, to make people know and realize their worth and dignity, simply because they are human. I am working on a summer camp for high schoolers, that will teach them just that; and yet my hard work will be passed on to others to see the end result. But I will be grateful simply knowing I was able to help in some small way.

WYA has forever changed my life and the way I see the world, and I will always be apart of their work and the causes that are so dear to their heart.

By Christin Redfield

Intern from Colorado, USA.

MY FALL INTERNSHIP EXPERIENCE AT WYA NORTH AMERICA

As I was walking to the WYA Headquarters on the first day of the internship on September 8^th 2009, I had butterflies in my stomach. Many thoughts were going round in my head, will I bond with my fellow interns and staff? what is everyone like?, how will I be able to do my projects? and a lot more. I got to the WYA house and met everyone and since then, we have created a bond and friendship that is priceless. It is funny how all of us interns and staff at WYA New York office have different backgrounds and how those differences make the house an interesting place.

We were each assigned projects by The North America Director Casey Downing who is our immediate supervisor and it has been great working on them. Some were easier then others and sometimes it was hard but through encouragement from interns and staff I was able to complete my tasks.

It is now 3 weeks left before the internship ends. What I have learnt throughout this internship; I have actively participated the North America Decade of dignity and Development conference held at Yale University and at the International Decade of Dignity and Development conference held at the WYA headquarters.

I also took part in some 3^rd Committee at the United Nations, and I have been active at the working group on children without parental care, from the other interns, staff, from all the people I have met at all the events and parties, and from my family has been priceless. It brings a tear to my eyes when I think that we will be saying goodbye on 11^th Decemver 2009 but life is about taking all the experiences, learning through your mistakes and working on becoming a better person everyday.

Thank you Theresia(Austria), Maggie (Up state New York), Nicole (Guadalajara, Mexico), Amy(D.C), Christin (Colorado), and Louise (Belgium) we were the best fall 2009 interns and I already miss you even before we leave, and I’m also gratteful to the WYA staff, Casey, Maria, Kris, Aliah, Becky and Mary for the support and the advice and thanks Irene and Hezbon for the good communication from Africa.

Hannah Ondiek

Fall intern 2009 North America.

Nairobi Kenya

21 years.

The Working Group and WYA

This fall I have been attending meetings of the Working Group on Girls, (WGG) an organization made of up of all sorts of women representing different NGOs that all advocate for girls' rights.

World Youth Alliance strives to protect and promote the dignity of every person, particularly those whose dignity is systematically ignored and abused. At WGG, we research topics that impact girls directly and present our research and recommendations to state delegations, in an effort to make girls continually "visible" during UN proceedings.

One of the Working Group's primary goals is to encourage girls' participation in matters concerning them and their communities.

At our November meeting, five high school girls came to talk about how they are working on behalf of youth rights in their respective schools and towns.

In October, Dorchen Leidholdt, the director of the Center for Battered Women's Legal Services at Sanctuary for Families, spoke about her efforts to protect women who had been trafficked into New York.

I've learned so much at the Working Group and look forward to continuing to represent World Youth Alliance at WGG for the rest of my internship!

Amy Secrest - United States

World Youth Alliance Halloween Party

It was a cold October fall night, and the night was quiet. This was the quiet before the storm, on the eve of Halloween. while the rest of New York and especially the west village were preparing their costumes and houses for the festivities the next day, the staff and interns of WYA were getting ready to start the party early on the Upper East Side.

The rule generally being, work hard, play hard; and we had all been working hard so we decided our annual Halloween Party was in order. And we knew it wouldn’t be a party unless a disco ball, guitar hero and great music were involved.

The party was a huge success, involving many crazy costumes and even crazier dance moves. The social event was a way for WYA to let friends from all over the city be apart of WYA, hear what we are about, and also just to have some fun! There were drinks, food, and lots of dancing that lasted into the night and included the belting out of musical numbers by all.

Over fifty young people from all over New York and the surrounding areas came to converse and dance all night long. We had so much fun, the party was a huge success. Personal favorite highlights of mine were the belting out of ‘Don’t stop belivin’ by Journey, crazy dance moves by some fairies, pirates, and hippies, and the awesome disco ball that set the mood.

I think the party can be best summed up into one phrase and that is ‘Don’t stop beliven’…

By Christin Redfield

Photos by Hannah A. Ondiek

A night with George Weigel

World Youth Alliance North America was honored to have had Mr. George Weigel accompany us for an evening. The interns and staff, planned and prepared a special dinner for Mr. Weigel and WYA special guests!

The night started with introducing our guests to WYA and presenting our video and afterwards, we had the pleasure of hearing remarks by Mr. Weigel. Anna Halpine (WYA’s founder) and several of our board members thanked Mr. Weigel as very interesting questions and remarks by the guests arose.

The event was a memorable evening with the surprise of His Excellency, Archbishop Timothy M. Dolan. Who accompanied us, learned about WYA and bestow everyone in the house with a blessing.

It was another successful cultural event, where interns and staff got the opportunity to meet and share ideas with scholars, activists and local WYA members.

Thank you everyone for your support and we hope to see you soon!

George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a Catholic theologian and one of America's leading public intellectuals.

Nicole Chalita - WYA Mexico