Brussels, 05/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - The winners of the Ubuntu Prize for international voluntary service 2009 (given in acknowledgement of the quality of the voluntary service of young people) were announced at an official ceremony which took place on Wednesday 30 September at the Apartheid Museum in Johannesburg, South Africa. These are the "Durbanville Children's Home", South Africa; - the "African Information Movement", Ghana; "Sports and Youth", Togo; and the "Taita foundation", Kenya (special sustainability prize). The Ubuntu Prize, which is based on the African notion that human beings are interlinked and interdependent, stresses the role of international voluntary service by young people in reinforcing solidarity and cooperation between populations and civil society organisations, in the north of the globe as well as in the south. It is managed by a partnership of 10 organisations in Africa and Europe and enjoys the support of the European Commission in the framework of the "Youth in Action" programme. It brings together NGOs which are active and committed to voluntary service, in Africa and in Europe. Cooperation and reciprocity are central to the Ubuntu project, as is the requirement for strong and equal cooperation between the people and organisations of Africa and Europe, with the objective of tackling environmental problems. The prize will be awarded again in 2011. (I.L./trans.fl)