The Peace Gong, a children’s newspaper, has published a special issue on volunteerism. The special issues published as part of the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers has been published in association with the United Nations Volunteers. The Peace Gong is a media and information literacy initiative of the Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore Foundation, New Delhi. One of the main thrust of the initiative is to develop capacities of children to use the media for social concerns. Anant Vikas Trust, Mumbai was also a partner to help bring out the Special Issue.
Children from different parts of India and abroad wrote on different aspects of volunteering. Significantly, most of the stories were on volunteer initiatives taken by children themselves. The aim of the child reporters involved with The Peace Gong is not just to write on issues of which are socially relevant but also take up different volunteer initiatives in their communities.
The overarching message of the Special Issue of the Newspaper was encapsulated by Spandana Bhattacharya, a student of class XI in Kolkata, India and the Editor, “To ensure a global non-violent future, children should be encouraged to volunteer to build bridges of friendship amongst young people. Promoting children’s participation in community building will not only contribute towards trans-generational progress of the society but also lay the foundation of an active young citizenry who are aware of their rights and duties.”
Please read this special issue of the Peace Gong at: