I am glad to announce that the Earth Charter International will be hiring Jaana Laitinen to become the liaison and facilitator of our youth network from the beginning of February 2009. I am very happy that Jaana has accepted our offer and I invite you all to join me in warmly welcoming Jaana in her new position.

You should know that this is not a permanent position as we are still in a transition to see how this process of decentralization and task forces efforts in focus areas will unfold. Therefore her recruitment is only until the end of the year, we will evaluate the situation then.

As you might know, Jaana has been working in our office since September involved in many projects of the Earth Charter Youth Initiative from coordinating the Special Projects Fund to working on the ECYI Members' database. She obviously has a good understanding of the Earth Charter Youth Initiative and the priorities of Earth Charter International.

Jaana is finishing her thesis to accomplish her Master’s in Development and International Cooperation. She has a Bachelor’s in Social and Public Policy. Jaana is from Finland and has worked with Plan Finland in the past. She has been closely involved with AIESEC for many years as well as with UNIFEM, the Finnish National and European youth conventions. She will be a great help and an asset for all of us.