Press Release 6 / 2006-2008
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IBBY Central News
IBBY Secretariat
Zhang Wanlin has joined the staff at the IBBY Secretariat in Basel as Deputy Director of Administration. Wanlin, better known as Forest, was born in Harbin in the Heilongjiang Province of China worked for many years in Beijing becoming Vice President of Bridging Consulting Co. in Beijing in 2003 in charge of recruiting foreign teachers for Chinese universities and schools. He worked on the preparations for the 30th IBBY World Congress and became the Deputy Secretary General of CBBY in March 2007. We warmly welcome him to IBBY.
Membership
Four new National Sections have been established during the last year: two in Latin America and two in Africa-- Guatemala, Haiti, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
IBBY Projects
There are active IBBY Children in Crisis programme in Palestine, Lebanon and Colombia. A major project in Afghanistan and Tajikistan is in its development phase.
A new project will begin in Peru to help the children affected by the massive 2007 earthquake. IBBY Peru will lead the project by training people in the use of bibliotherapy. IBBY will support the project from its Children in Crisis Fund.
The 2008 IBBY-Yamada workshops will be held in Bolivia, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Malaysia, Nepal and South Africa. An IBBY-Yamada scholarship will be administered by IBBY Germany.
The IBBY Foundation is supporting a nationwide poster campaign in Pakistan to promote reading as a countermeasure to the insidious propaganda promoting violence and hatred that the children encounter daily.
New IBBY Partner
IBBY has agreed to enter into a formal partnership agreement with CODE (the Canadian Organization for Development through Education). We will work together in Africa and Afghanistan.
IBBY Congress 2008
The 31st IBBY world Congress will be held 7-10 September 2008 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The theme is History in Stories: Stories in History. Well-known plenary speakers include: Torben Weinreich (Denmark), Michèle Petit (France), Grete Haagenrud (Norway), Josefine Otteson (Denmark), Ana Maria Machado (Brazil), Ngarmpun (Jane) Vejjajiva (Thailand), Sharif Kanaana (Palestine), Ondjaki - Ndalu de Almeida, (Angola), Rukhsana Khan (Canada), Mats Wahl (Sweden) and Peter Sís (USA). The seminar sessions will follow the main lectures. Other events during the Congress will be the presentation of the 2008 Hans Christian Andersen Awards, the presentation of the 2008 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Awards, the 2008 IBBY Honour List, the IBBY General Assembly and the IBBY Open Forum. For more information go to: www.ibby2008.dk. IBBY will hold a one day workshop for its members the day before the congress focused on bibliotherapy and networking.
2 April: International Children’s Book Day 2008
Books enlighten; knowledge delights
This year’s sponsor is IBBY Thailand with support from the Siam Cement Company. The artwork and motto is by Thai National Artist Chakrabhand Posayakrit.
March 2008/ e.page