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Greetings friends and colleagues. Welcome to another information and inspiration-packed edition of the IYPF monthly newsletter. Please pass this on to your colleagues and networks and invite them to subscribe to receive the newsletter directly each month. They can do so from the front page of our website.

So this month, we feature many stories from you in our network: about Global Youth Service Day (April 21-23) and International Women´s Day (March 8). We also have articles about Earth Day (April 22) and World Water Day (March 22). Tania, our Content Producer, has also issued calls to all in our network for articles on Fair Trade for our May newsletter, and World Environment Day for June. Send us details and reports on your events and stories and opinions on these issues. We want to hear from you and inspire others! Send to newsletter@iypf.org.


Internally to the IYPF, there is also a lot going on. We are well and truly into 2006 now: only two months until the end of the Financial Year and the half-way point through the calendar year. The Board Working Groups are taking shape, many of our new team members are getting into their tasks, and we have developed a Work Plan for the year. We are also recruiting more personnel, an ongoing task as we continue to expand our programs and consolidate our work. So if you are interested in joining our team, make sure you check out the
Opportunities page on our website and get in contact with our HR person, Britt, and let us know about you and your skills and interests! www.iypf.org/employment.htm.

We are also looking for your input and participation in the
development of a Strategic Plan for IYPF for the next five years.
Melanie Ashton, who is chairing the Strategy Working Group, has written her first column in this edition of the newsletter. This will continue each month, to update you on what is happening and also call for your ideas and comments. We want to make this an organisation that delivers what you need and want as young professionals, to help you make the world a better place. So please, get involved and send Melanie your thoughts!

Some other things to look out for in the coming months: launch of our Local Events Services, announcement of new IYPF Member Projects, and the release of the final IYPF Annual Report for 2005 and the final IYPS 2004 report.

As always, I wish you the best for the month ahead in your personal and professional journeys. Be courageous and instill hope for a better world in those around you.

Lastly, I want to share this quote with you. Those of you who read my blog (http://cjneil.tigblog.org) will be familiar.

"Nothing in the world is the way it aught to be. It's harsh. And cruel. That's why there's us. Champions. Doesn't matter where we come from, what we've done, suffered, or even if we make a difference, we live as though the world were as it should be. To show it what it can be."

Cameron Neil
CEO, IYPF
cameronneil@iypf.org