[Olpcaustria] UN DAILY NEWS DIGEST - 7 December (UN & Google & OLPC - Our Stories)

[Daniel Fuhry]

NEW UNICEF INITIATIVE ENABLES CHILDREN AROUND THE WORLD TO SHARE STORIES ONLINE

Young people from around the world will be able to record and share
their stories online in various languages thanks to a new project
launched today by the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF),
technology giant Google and the non-profit organization One Laptop per
Child.

Children will be able to record stories about themselves, their
families and friends in their own languages using laptops, mobile
phones and other recording devices. The stories can be shared through
the "Our Stories" website – www.ourstories.org – where they can be
found on a Google Map.

By making these stories accessible around the world, the Our Stories
project seeks to promote understanding of different countries,
cultures, religious traditions and languages, organizers said.

"Information technologies can help young people around the world learn
more about each other," said UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Veneman.
"Our Stories will promote dialogue across borders and cultures and
give young people a voice on a wide range of issues."

One Laptop per Child will provide children in developing countries
with easy-to-use, low-cost XO laptops to record their stories. "The XO
laptop is a tool for sharing and collaboration and this project is a
great way to build a global community," said Walter Bender, President
of Software and Content/COO, One Laptop per Child.

The Our Stories website will initially include stories collected by
Brazil's Museum of the Person and stories recorded for UNICEF by young
people in Ghana, Pakistan, Tanzania and Uganda. More stories from
around the world will be added to the site every month.

Elliot Schrage, Vice President of Global Communications and Public
Affairs for Google, hailed the new project, which he hoped "will not
just encourage better storytelling but better listening to stories."

Among leading figures that have already lent their voices to the
project are Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Queen Rania Al Abdullah of
Jordan and Ishmael Beah, UNICEF Advocate for Children Affected by War
and best-selling author, who have all recorded messages welcoming
users to the site and encouraging them to share their stories.
Source: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=24966
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKKvXvEpaOI