FEZANA youths at the UN

"Rebuilding societies emerging from conflict: a shared responsibility,” was the theme of this year’s conference between the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) and non-governmental organizations (NGO). An annual event between the UNDPI and NGOs, the three-day meet September 9 to 11, 2002 saw FEZANA’s UN team consisting of Tenaz Dubash, Homi Gandhi, Mitra Mehr, Jehan Panthaki, Behram Pastakia, Mehr Pastakia and Susan Karani making several contacts at the UN’s New York headquarters, notes Karani in an e-mail to Parsiana. Other Zoroastrians they encountered there were Rozy Rustomji and Jim Rustomji of the United Na-tions International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and Noshir Nalavala of the United Nations Development Program­me (UNDP).

Learning more about what Zoroastrians and FEZANA can do in terms of humanitarian work and UN sponsored projects, the FEZANA-UN team members were enthusiastic about "a youth summer program (which) allows high school and college/university level students to travel abroad to do humanitarian type work with the help of a grant,” writes Karani. Certain foundations are willing to provide such grants for a joint project with the UN, she adds. The FEZANA team is aiming to focus on India, "a safe place for youth to get involved,” which moreover would fall within the UNICEF mandate.

FEZANA, led by Dr Roda Patel, has already teamed up with the Children’s Program at the Gram Seva Trust Hospital in Gujarat. Patel may induct a couple of Zoroastrian youth interns for the summer of 2003, as per Karani’s report.