Winners of the Development Youth Prize 2008 - 2009 Get Ready to Visit Ghana

BRUSSELS, April 28, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- From 3 to 8 May, the 27 winners of the European competition "Development Youth Prize 2008 - 2009" and their teachers will make a trip to Ghana to discover development cooperation in the field. The study visit is the final award for a video and poster contest under the overall theme of "Human Development in Africa".

The winners of the Development Youth Prize are creative and committed students aged 16 -18, each from one of the European member states. Development Youth Prize, an artistic contest aimed at raising awareness on Africa and human development, stimulated them to think creatively about development and cooperation. Out of thousands of entries, their artworks were evaluated as the ones that best conveyed a challenging message. After an award ceremony ( http://www.dyp2008.org/ww/en/pub/dyp2008/news/interviews/award_ceremony.htm) in the framework of the European Development Days ( http://ec.europa.eu/development/services/events/EDD2009/about_the_event/intro duction_en.htm) in Stockholm, the winning students and their teachers are now getting ready for a study visit of Ghana.

"I have never been to Africa before. I am trying to find out information about Ghana, European Aid and development projects. I am certainly going to discover and see many new things, but also learn more about myself. This trip is a great opportunity!" says Ingrid A., the winner from Sweden. "I'm already planning what clothes to take, and how on earth to fit everything into my suitcase! I've been looking at what the weather will be like and stocking up on things like mosquito repellent, and booking an appointment with my doctor to get all of the required jabs. I think the Development Youth Prize is fantastic; I would never have had the chance to go to Africa otherwise," adds Julia F., another participant in the trip.

The group is expected to follow an interesting and busy schedule, including visits to secondary schools in Accra (Ghana) and excursions to several local cooperation projects, nursery schools, a market and a local artist gallery. After Ghana, the trip will continue in Brussels, where on 7 - 8 May the students and their teachers will have the opportunity to celebrate Europe Day, visiting the EU Institutions and meeting Andris Piebalgs, EU Commissioner for Development.

About the Development Youth Prize (DYP)

The Development Youth Prize is a school competition organized by the European Commission DG Development and managed by European Schoolnet (http://www.dyp2008.org).

About European Schoolnet

European Schoolnet (EUN) is a unique not-for-profit consortium of 31 Ministries of Education in Europe created in 1997. EUN provides major European education portals for teaching, learning and collaboration and leads the way in bringing about change in schooling through the use of new technology (see http://www.europeanschoolnet.org).

Contact: Maite Debry, Project administrator: [email protected] Tel: +32-2-790-7584

SOURCE EUN Partnership