Good News Agency – Year XI, n° 189
Weekly – Year XI, number 189 –
8th July 2011
Managing Editor: Sergio Tripi, Ph. D.
Good News Agency carries positive
and constructive news from all over the world relating to voluntary work, the
work of the United Nations, non governmental organizations and institutions
engaged in improving the quality of life – news that doesn’t “burn out” in the
space of a day. It is
distributed free of charge through Internet to 10,000
media and editorial journalists in 54 countries and to 3,000 NGOs and 1,600
high schools, colleges and universities. It is an all-volunteer
service of Associazione Culturale
dei Triangoli e della Buona
Volontà Mondiale, an
educational charity associated with the United
Nations Department of Public Information. The Association has been recognized by UNESCO as “an actor of the global movement for a culture of peace” and it is a
member of the World Association of Non Governmental Organizations.
International
legislation – Human rights – Economy
and development
– Solidarity
Peace and
security – Health – Energy and Safety – Environment and
wildlife
Religion and spirituality – Culture and education
Ban
welcomes five-party nuclear disarmament meeting
30 June – Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon has welcomed a meeting in
Five nuclear-weapons States
party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) – the
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38900&Cr=nuclear&Cr1=
UN
chief calls for specific steps to close gender gap in parliaments
“When women are included,
democracies thrive. And when women take their rightful leadership roles, all of
society benefits,” he said in a message to the forum delivered by Margot Wallström, his Special Representative on Sexual Violence in
Conflict.
Mr. Ban noted that although
more and more women are taking their place in governments, fewer than 10 per
cent of the world’s countries have a female head of State or government, and
fewer than 30 countries have met the UN target of having women comprise at
least 30 per cent of their lawmakers in national parliaments.
“We need to take specific
steps to close this gender gap. Experience shows that the democratic ideals of
inclusiveness, accountability and transparency are only achieved through laws,
policies and special measures that address inequalities.”
The Secretary-General stressed
that women’s participation should be supported at all times, and not just
during legislative elections.
Twelve
nations and European Union join UN protocol on sharing genetic resources
23 June – Twelve nations and
the European Union today added their signatures to a United Nations treaty on
the equitable sharing of the planet’s genetic resources in a ceremony at UN
Headquarters. Representatives from Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Sweden,
United Kingdom and the European Union signed the Nagoya Protocol on Access and
Benefit Sharing, which calls for “fair and equitable sharing” of the
utilization of genetic resources.
The protocol, adopted last
year in
The protocol envisages the
setting up of an international regime on access and benefit sharing of genetic
resources, which will lay down the basic ground rules on how nations cooperate
in obtaining genetic resources, according to the administrative offices of the
193-member Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), which drafted the
protocol. (…)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38828&Cr=treaty&Cr1=
July 1 – The ICRC has just
finished transferring people between
Some 650 people made the trip
from
27 June – The joint trial of
the four most senior surviving leaders of the notorious Khmer Rouge regime got
under way today in Cambodia at the United Nations-backed tribunal set up to
deal with the worst offences committed under the group’s reign. Ieng Sary, Ieng
Thirith, Khieu Samphan and Nuon Chea are all facing charges of genocide, murder, torture,
religious persecution and other war crimes and crimes against humanity over
their alleged actions when the Khmer Rouge was in power between April 1975 and
January 1979.
A five-judge panel at the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), sitting in Phnom Penh,
today began hearing preliminary arguments from lawyers for the four accused,
who were arrested in 2007 and indicted by the tribunal last year. (…)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38857&Cr=cambodia&Cr1=
24 June 2011 –
The ICC, which is based in
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38841&Cr=international+criminal+court&Cr1=
FAO land cover survey shows
just 4.5 percent currently used for farming
Rome/Juba, July 8 - As South Sudan celebrates its independence on 9 July
2011, the world’s newest nation faces many challenges in building a strong and
stable economy that supports the food security and livelihoods of its
population.
The UN agency has drawn up a $50 million Interim Assistance Plan (IAP)
for the agricultural sector that will build capacity in ministerial and state
agricultural extension offices, mediate to prevent conflict over water
resources and develop the livestock sector. The IAP will contribute to the new
government’s overall development plan for
FAO currently manages a $61 million emergency rehabilitation programme in South Sudan that has already helped 250 000
returnee and internally displaced households who fled their farms during the
conflict return to agriculture, as well as vulnerable households who are hosting
the returnees. The support offered includes training young people in Farmer
Field Schools and building administrative capacity.
Satellite view - In addition, as part of the Agency’s support effort to
the new nation, FAO recently carried out an extensive satellite land cover
survey that showed just 4.5 percent of the available land was currently under
cultivation. This data was then verified on the ground by local experts using
GPS. The survey was carried out with the support of the €20.6 million EU-funded
Sudan Institutional Capacity Programme: Food Security
Information for Action.
http://www.fao.org/news/newsroom-home/en/
FAO
Conference approves budget increase - hails Diouf’s
service to the Organization
The budget provides for full
implementation of the proposed programme of work as
well as the Immediate Plan of Action for FAO renewal. Recognizing the need for FAO’s programmes to be
financially protected, Members called on the Director-General to make
efficiency gains and one time-savings of $34.5 million beyond the the economies that he had already programmed.
The level of the budget and
its unanimous adoption was considered an expression of confidence in the
Organization by the Conference, which last week elected José Graziano da Silva, a national of
In addition, FAO expects some
$1.4 billion of voluntary contributions from members and partners over the next
biennium. The fact that such extra-budgetary resources exceed the regular
budget is further evidence of Members' confidence in the Organization, Diouf said in his closing speech to the Conference.
http://www.fao.org/news/newsroom-home/en/
July 1,
The three-year project
provides occupational skill training for approximately 6,000 refugees and
villagers in areas of barbering, beauty salon/hairdressing, small engine
mechanics, sewing/tailoring, child/elderly care, cooking/baking, and courses
for high school students. ADRA is working in partnership with the Office of
Vocational Education Commission (OVEC) of the Ministry of Education (MoE) to ensure the courses offered meet Thai educational
standards.
ADRA's training is
empowering refugees and villagers with marketable skills advantageous for job
security within
http://www.adra.org/site/News2?news_iv_ctrl=1141&page=NewsArticle&id=11400
USD
19.35 million IFAD loan to enhance food security in
IFAD’s project will
target the rural poor to improve their skills and use available natural resources
more effectively to improve sustainable
productivity and profitability for crop and livestock husbandry. In addition,
IFAD aims to improve the incomes of women and men producers through better farm
management and access to credit. The project has several innovative features
including the practice of mixed farming through complementary investments in
both crop and livestock production, and the creation of Farmer Support teams to promote
farmer-to-farmer knowledge exchange.
With this new project, IFAD will
have financed five
programmes and projects in
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2011/43.htm
EC,
FAO, IFAD and WFP join forces on food security and nutrition
New
strategic framework of cooperation signed
Rome, 27 June - The European
Commission (EC), FAO, the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) and the World Food Programme (WFP) have signed
today in Rome a new Strategic Framework of Cooperation to increase the capacity
of the international community to deliver effective, coordinated, timely and
sustainable support to food security and nutrition.
By joining forces, the four
partners are seeking to achieve higher collective impact on the world's food
security.
The Strategic Framework of
Cooperation defines the complementary roles of the three Rome-based UN
Agencies, putting emphasis on the coherence of their comparative advantages and
core mandates, enhanced through strengthened coordination and collaboration.
The Strategic Framework of
Cooperation highlights the key priorities for food security and nutrition where
all four partners will work together particularly on the basis of their converging
objectives and mandates. Finally, it will increase global awareness and
visibility of the partnership between the European Commission and the three
Rome-based UN Agencies in the fight against hunger. http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/80748/icode/
Diverse
coalition unites to protect poor people in budget debate
July 1 – At a critical
juncture in the deficit reduction talks a diverse coalition of over 40
prominent international and domestic NGOs have joined the leaders of dozens of
national faith organizations in calling on the Obama
administration and congressional leadership to protect programs benefitting poor and hungry people both here and abroad
from budget cuts.
In an open letter to
policymakers involved in defect reduction negotiations, these groups expressed
support for six principles first outlined by a group of faith leaders known as
the Circle of Protection coalition, saying:
"… Poor and hungry people
do not have powerful lobbies, but they do have the most compelling claim on our
national conscience and common resources. As people of conscience we have an
obligation to defend this claim in civic discourse, to join with others to
insist that programs that serve the most vulnerable in our nation and around
the world are protected.”
http://www.interaction.org/article/diverse-coalition-unites-protect-poor-people-budget-debate
Citizens
Bank and the Phillies announce Phans
Feeding Families initiative to fight hunger
Philadelphia, Penn., USA, June
30 (/CSRwire/ - /PRNewswire/)
- Citizens Bank and the Phillies today announced the
launch of Phans Feeding Families, a summer initiative
to raise money and collect food to feed the 900,000 people in the Delaware
Valley who are at risk of hunger each year.
To jump-start the program, the
Citizens Bank Foundation is donating $133,000 to provide hunger relief and
nutrition assistance to agencies serving eastern
Phans Feeding Families,
which begins today and culminates during the Sunday, July 31 Phillies vs. Pirates game, is designed to bring together
the Phillies community in support of hunger relief.
Among the many highlights, Phillies pitcher and Cy
Young Award winner Roy Halladay will be featured in a
Phans Feeding Families public service announcement
viewable at http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=16416201.
Giving
in
June 30 – Giving in
The rise in corporate giving
has been particularly fast, with Indian companies’ giving
increasing at a faster rate than their profits, according to the second
annual study of Indian philanthropy by the consulting firm Bain & Company. The
rate of giving in India remains well below that of the United States and Great
Britain, which the Bain study attributes to lingering distrust among wealthy
donors about nonprofit groups’ accountability and tax
laws that do not encourage giving.
Counterpart
provides urgent assistance to disaster-affected households in
Surami,
Flooding and landslides caused
by severe rains have killed several people in the Shida
Kartli region and blocked one of
The timely and efficient
response to the flood is being made possible by close collaboration between the
U.S. Department of State Office of the Coordinator for U.S. Assistance to
Europe and
http://www.counterpart.org/news/assistance-to-disaster-affected-households-in-georgia
Niamey (ICRC), 24 June – The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has distributed millet to over
27,000 people living in three towns in the Tillabéry
area of south-western
The operation was completed
today.
"The conditions in which
these people are living have deteriorated considerably following crop failures
and outbreaks of inter-community violence", said Jürg
Eglin, head of the ICRC delegation in
The distribution began on 14
June with support from local Red Cross volunteers. It will provide thousands of
families with enough food to last them till August. Most beneficiaries also
received millet seed.
In April, the ICRC financed a
community project in the same region to seed
The ICRC, a neutral and
impartial humanitarian organization, has been working in the Tillabéry area since 2009. It operates in close conjunction
with the Red Cross Society of Niger, which recently built new premises funded
by the ICRC.
http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/news-release/2011/niger-news-2011-06-24.htm
Building
back
Construction
project caps intensive job training program
June 16 – Haitian construction
students recently celebrated their successful completion of an earthquake- and
hurricane-resistant primary school in
REACH (Rural Economy Acceleration
in
ACDI/VOCA coordinated with
local educators, including the regional director for the department of
education, to choose the school construction project as a means of boosting
local livelihoods.
Already some REACH graduates
are gainfully employed, having taken jobs at MedAir, an emergency relief NGO that builds shelters for
victims of the 2010 earthquake.
Ban
stresses crucial role of science in addressing current global challenges
New York, July 1 -Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon today underlined the role of science and technology
in helping humanity to address global challenges such as climate change,
infectious diseases, terrorism, hunger, disaster preparedness and nuclear
disarmament.
In a <http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=5394>
message to the 59th Pugwash Conference on Science and
World Affairs that opened in Berlin, Mr. Ban thanked the organization for its
efforts over the past half a century to bring scientists and policy-makers
together to advance common interests in peace, security and human welfare
worldwide.
“Your efforts were especially
welcome during the Cold War in helping to end the nuclear arms race, and they
remain vital today as we continue to seek progress in nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation,” said the Secretary-General. “With active support from the Pugwash organization, along with determined efforts
throughout civil society and by concerned Member States, the potential for
progress in these fields is considerable indeed,” said Mr. Ban.
The Pugwash
Conference seeks to promote constructive dialogue on sensitive matters of
international security.
Landmark
meeting on Convention on Cluster Munitions held
At least 60 countries meet between 27 - 30 June 2011 for the first four-day “intersessional” meeting on the Convention on Cluster
Munitions to advance their commitments to a world free of cluster bombs.
It is deemed an intersessional meeting because it
takes place in between the required annual meetings of States Parties.
The purpose of the meeting is
to discuss and gain clarity on progress in implementing the Convention in time
for the 2nd Meeting of States Parties (2MSP), taking place in September in
http://www.stopclustermunitions.org/news/?id=3086
Ban
welcomes accord on
29 June – Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon today welcomed the agreement reached
between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement
(SPLM-North) on political and security arrangements for Blue Nile and
Under the Framework Agreement,
signed yesterday in the Ethiopian capital of
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38881&Cr=Kordofan&Cr1=
Mine
clearers in
DanChurchAid’s mine clearers help
civilians get rid of dangerous remnants of war in the war-torn Libyan city, Misrata.
23 June – All over Misrata there are unexploded mines, cluster munitions and
grenades, scattered during the acts of war which took place over the past
months. But for a long time, the mine clearers from DanChurchAid
have not been able to access the city for security reasons and because of a
lack of permissions. Permissions to enter the city have now been granted, and
even though there are still violent fights going on outside the city, the mine
clearing team has now started identifying and securing the dangerous weapons. In
order to perform effectively, the mine clearing team will soon start training
teams of local residents to search for and identify remnants of war so the mine
clearers can detonate them quickly.
The Ministry of Foreign
Affairs donates four million Danish kroner to DanChurchAid’s work, clearing away the dangerous ammunition
and remnants of war in
28 June - The extra money from
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs plus the million Danish kroner
that were recently donated from LEGO’s funds, give DanChurchAid the opportunity to hire more experts for the
clearing work and to educate a group of local mine clearers who can remove and
destroy the dangerous remnants of war.
http://www.danchurchaid.org/news/news/dangerous-ammunition-off-the-street
FoEME
brings largest delegation of Jordanian and Palestinian residents to the Israeli
Parliament in history calling on water issues to cease being held hostage to
the conflict
On June 21, Friends of the
Earth Middle East arrived to the Knesset early in the morning excited and ready
to engage with members of the Knesset and to urge action to be taken to
rehabilitate, protect and secure our shared water future. On Knesset
Environment Day, FoEME arrived with 42 participants
and staff, including 11 Jordanian, 11 Palestinian, and 11 Israeli residents of
the region to share their stories and demand that water cease being held
hostage to the stalled negotiations to members of the Knesset.
The residents told stories of the unequal
divide of water access, where Israelis receive 80% of shared water and the
Palestinians receive 20%. It is not
uncommon that water does not flow from taps in
This post was contributed by
Joshua Zuckerman, FoEME Social Media Coordinator in
Tel Aviv. Joshua is currently finishing his Masters of Arts in Coexistence and
Conflict.
http://foeme.wordpress.com/2011/06/27/largest-delegation/
Rotary
project “Improvement of Maternal Health – Prevention and Treatment of Obstetric
Fistula” (2005-2010) offers outstanding results in pilot rural areas in
July 1 - The latest issue of
the International Journal of Gynecology and Obstetrics (Vol. 114, Issue 1, July
2011) features an article about the Rotary project “Improvement of Maternal
Health – Prevention and Treatment of Obstetric Fistula” (2005-2010) and its
underlying system of quality assurance, established to contribute to UN
Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 4 and 5. By assessing and improving the
quality of structure and process in 10 selected hospitals in rural areas of Kano State and Kaduna State,
Northern Nigeria, within a continuous process of data collection and analysis,
causes of maternal and fetal mortality were identified and eliminated. The
result is outstanding: within two years the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in
those hospitals was reduced by more than 50%. The article can be downloaded at:
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0020729211001573.
Stakeholders regard this
project as a model to reduce maternal and fetal mortality and suggested to
scale it up in other states of
ADRA
combats cholera outbreak in
July 1 –
The agency's month-long
intervention will take place in four high-risk areas of Carrefour, and will
address the increasing challenges and needs of the population. ADRA's response includes the establishment of oral rehydration/hand sanitation points throughout high-risk
communities. These points will distribute oral rehydration
salts (ORS), a simple treatment for those suffering form dehydration, often
times as a result of cholera. The
points also serve to promote community awareness of the disease and teach
simple live-saving preventative methods.
http://www.adra.org/site/News2?news_iv_ctrl=1141&page=NewsArticle&id=11402
Chief
Minister Banerjee launches week-long immmunization drive in
June 30 – West Bengal Chief
Minister Mamata Banerjee
called upon parents and caregivers across the state to ensure that they
immunize their children against polio in a week-long immunization campaign
starting on 24 June and in all ensuing polio immunization campaigns, and help
eradicate the crippling disease once and for all from
Ms Banerjee
called upon the state’s health workers and parents to take the oath that they
would vaccinate their children “in every inch” of the state.
WHO National Polio
Surveillance Project Acting Project Manager Dr Sunil Bahl
said all of
Incoming Rotary International
Director of
http://www.polioeradication.org/Mediaroom/Newsstories/Newsstories2011/tabid/408/iid/124/Default.aspx
Global
grant project boosts malaria prevention and treatment in
by Dan Nixon
Rotary International News, 24
June - Last year, malaria claimed the lives of almost 750,000 people in
sub-Saharan
Called Bite Malaria Back, the
project is providing insecticide-treated bed nets, physician services, and
medications to help prevent and treat malaria. It is led by the Rotary Club of
Bamako-Amitié, Mali, along with the Rotary Club of
Capitol Hill (Washington, D.C.) and five others in District 7620 (District of
Columbia; part of Maryland, USA). Club members are working with Project Muso Ladamunen, a nongovernmental
organization whose goal is to end the cycle of poverty and disease in Yirimadjo. The Bamako-Amitié club
is helping to coordinate Rotarians’ role in the effort.
During its first three months
(February-April), Bite Malaria Back made possible more than 3,000 patient
visits at the
In June, Bite Malaria Back
completed a survey of every household in Yirimadjo,
which has more than 56,700 residents, and determined that over 22,300 bed nets
are needed. The Against Malaria Foundation has committed to support the
project, which will enable 21,500 bed nets to be distributed in July.(...)
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/110624_news_malariagrant.aspx
Project
HOPE deploys medical volunteers to
Global
NGO mobilizes
Millwood, Virginia,
Project HOPE is deploying more
than 20 health care professionals over the next nine weeks to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer (HAS), a 100-bed hospital in Deschapelles, deep in the Artibonite
Valley, where the initial cholera epidemic was first reported in 2010. HOPE has supplied medicines, medical
equipment and volunteer health professionals to HAS since shortly after the
January 2010 earthquake and during the initial cholera outbreak last October.
Each three-week rotation of
Project HOPE volunteers is comprised of two medical doctors and five nurses,
who will care for patients and train local health care professionals on the
diagnosis and treatment of cholera patients and the prevention of cholera among
hospital staff.
http://www.projecthope.org/news-blogs/press-releases/project-hope-deploys-medical.html
Save
the Children honors two midwives for lifesaving work
in
Amidst
global health worker shortage crisis, two extraordinary women receive award
from Save the Children and the International Confederation of Midwives
Madina Rashida, from
Catherine Ojo,
of
(top)
By Steve Leone, Associate
Editor, RenewableEnergyWorld.com
The announcement from the
Department of Energy will give investors federal backing and sets in motion
three installations totaling more than 1,300
megawatts (MW) of capacity to be developed by Arizona-based First Solar, which
plans to eventually sell the projects. The developments in the Mojave Desert,
June 30 - The U.S. Department
of Energy (DOE) released a new report showcasing numerous energy-saving
products and technologies, made possible through DOE research and development,
which are currently available in the market or projected to enter the
marketplace in the future. Because buildings consume roughly 40% of the
nation's energy, more than transportation or the industrial sector, improving
buildings with energy-saving products is one of the most beneficial ways to
reduce energy waste and greenhouse gas emissions. The report, titled Buildings R&D Breakthroughs:
Technologies and Products Supported by the Building Technologies Program (BTP), informs government professionals, architects,
designers, manufacturers, and energy efficiency advocates about DOE project
successes and next-generation innovations.
http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/news/progress_alerts.cfm/pa_id=565
First
Solar wins $4.5B in
June 30, (Bloomberg News) – First
Solar Inc., the world’s largest maker of thin-film solar modules, won $4.5
billion in conditional loan guarantees from the U.S. Energy Department for
three projects it’s developing in California.
First Solar’s
Topaz and Desert Sunlight projects, which will each have 550 megawatts of
capacity, and its 230-megawatt Solar Ranch project were each offered low-cost
financing needed to begin construction, the Energy Department said today in an
e- mailed statement. The agency must distribute all the funds before the loan
guarantee program expires at the end of September.
The Energy Department has
offered conditional loans or loan guarantees to 40 clean energy projects totaling $38 billion, including $16 billion for solar
energy projects. First Solar’s 290-megawatt Agua Caliente project in
First Solar said construction
on those approved today will add 1,400 jobs and that the more than 20 million
cadmium telluride glass panels used in the projects will be manufactured at
plants in
http://www.fa-mag.com/green/news/7826-first-solar-wins-45b-in-us-loan-guarantees-.html
27 June – A United
Nations-sponsored conference on the management of water resources in
The International Conference
on Water for Sustainable Peace in Darfur, sponsored
by the UN-African Union peacekeeping mission in Darfur
(UNAMID),
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38854&Cr=Darfur&Cr1=
Convention
on Environment and Human Rights crucial for ecological protection
New York, July 1 - Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon today lauded the world’s leading
international convention on environment and human rights as a powerful tool for
environmental protection and the promotion of civil rights, saying the
instrument also helped to combat climate change and air and water pollution.
“The Convention’s critical
focus on involving the public is helping to keep governments accountable,” Mr.
Ban said in a message to the fourth meeting of Parties to the Convention on
Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to
Justice in Environmental Matters – the so-called Aarhus
Convention.
Mr. Ban also pointed out that
the convention is building synergies through cooperation with other
international organizations, including the Convention on Biological Diversity
(CBD), the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the UN
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP). Collaboration with international
organizations such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe
(OSCE) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is also
yielding results, he added.
Asia-Pacific
States agree at UN meeting to cooperate on disaster risk reduction
New York, July 1 - Ministers
and senior government officials from 31 countries, meeting at a United
Nations-supported conference in Bangkok, have agreed to work more closely
together on disaster risk reduction and make it central to national development
strategies, the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(ESCAP) reported today.
The participants at a session
of the Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction, a subsidiary of ESCAP, “have asked
the UN to help promote regional cooperation to minimize the adverse
socio-economic and environmental impact of disasters,” the agency said in a
press statement.
Asia-Pacific countries which
are most vulnerable to nature’s fury have also agreed to speed up
implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) 2005-2015, which calls
for making disaster risk reduction a national development priority, ESCAP said.
Recurring and increasingly
severe natural disasters striking the Asia-Pacific region have become a serious
obstacle to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and slowed down the pace of economic development in
the region.
More
than 1000 new species found in
Final Frontier: Newly
Discovered species of
Added to the tally is an astounding 580 invertebrates and 134 amphibians, 2
birds and 71 fish, among them an extremely rare 2.5m long river shark.
“This report shows that
World’s
biggest cement producer fights climate change by cutting emissions and
developing energy efficient buildings
As part of its ongoing
partnership with WWF, Lafarge committed to further reduce its net greenhouse
gas emissions by 33 percent per ton of cement below 1990 levels by 2020. This
will be achieved by increasing the use of alternative fuels (such as biomass)
and the efficiency of Lafarge’s plants. In an innovative approach to
sustainability, the company also pledged to be part of the development of 500
sustainable buildings across the globe by 2015, and to advocate for ambitious
national and global climate change policies.
As part of its commitment,
Lafarge will work with its customers, architects, engineering companies,
designers and construction companies to develop new innovative technology
platforms and new construction systems, which will be used in the energy
efficient buildings.
Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle – efforts recognized in
By Jennifer O’Riordan
21 June – Ever looked at an
empty plastic soda bottle as you’re throwing it away and wondered where they
all end up? In
Students, teachers and parents
in the northern
These schools have been so
successful in the program -- called Educational Program for Environmental
Protection and Awareness -- that they were recognized for their commitment on
June 20, 2011. The program has taken off in over 30 urban and rural schools
within the Raxruhá municipality, and it is raising
awareness about environmental protection among some 3,200 students.
Counterpart co-hosted the
awards ceremony as part of the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID)-funded Community Tourism Alliance project, which encourages schools and
communities to reduce, reuse and recycle through a combination of environmental
education and solid waste management activities. (...)
Webinar: Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa - July 13, 10:00 am
Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko will address the
composition of the African Interfaith movement. The issue of peacemaking is
crucial for organizing communities because it is a common value shared by the
diverse religious traditions in
Rev. Dr. Ishmael Noko is currently the
president of Interfaith Action for Peace in Africa (IFAPA), a body that is
seeking to promote peace and stability in the context of
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing
information about joining the Webinar. System
Requirements PC-based attendees Required: Windows® 7,
Reserve your Webinar seat now at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/268171134
Yoga
can help Catholics connect more deeply with God, say practitioners
Washington (CNS), 1st
July -- Sister Margaret Perron, a Religious of Jesus
and Mary, trades her habit and rolls out her mat for Father Tom Ryan's yoga and
Christian meditation class at St. Paul's College in Washington. Carefully
choreographed yoga-prayers allow participants to "embody a prayer,"
Father Ryan tells his classes. He said that they may have been praying a prayer
their whole life, but by saying the prayer in conjunction with different
postures, they can more fully understand and appreciate the words they are
saying. Participants in Father Ryan's class go through a series of yoga poses
inspired by prayers as they pray and listen to traditional liturgical songs.
Sister Margaret was searching
for a new form of exercise when she learned about Father Ryan's class from a
friend. "It really spoke to me on the spiritual level," she told
Catholic News Service. Father Ryan, a Paulist priest
and author of several books that connect Christian spirituality to the body, is
one of the nation's foremost proponents of yoga as a tool for Christian prayer
and spirituality. http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20110701.htm#head3
The “European Heritage
Brussels, 7 July – The “European
Heritage Alliance 3.3.” was recently launched by more than 25 European and
International networks and organisations active in
the wider field of cultural heritage on the occasion of the European Heritage Congress
2011 organised by Europa
Nostra in Amsterdam.
These organisations and networks bring
together Europe’s civil society organisations,
historic cities and villages, museums, heritage professionals and volunteers,
(private) owners of collections of artefacts,
historic buildings and cultural landscapes, educators, town planners, etc. The
“European Heritage Alliance 3.3” thus represents a very large constituency
composed of tens of millions of
As first concrete steps of their joint action, the European Heritage
Alliance “3.3” decided to endorse the “we are more” campaign launched by the
Culture Action Europe in strategic partnership with the European Cultural
Foundation. This campaign urges the EU Institutions to allocate adequate
financial resources for culture - in particular through the future Culture Programme and Structural Funds - in the period
2014-2020.
Press contact: Louise van Rijckevorsel,
European Affairs, Europa Nostra’s
Brussels Office: lvr@europanostra.org
Ecovillages and
Sustainable Living Conference 2011 - July 7 to 11, Tamera,
Portugual
This conference will give
participants a deeper understanding of cutting edge developments of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN), focusing on GEN-Europe, Africa
and the
Ecovillages act as research
and training centres for sustainable development
within wider society. The hosting Ecovillage of Tamera serves as a living example and field of practice for
the themes of the conference. The themes of this year’s conference include:
•Collaborations for Sustainability
– Inspirations from the Global Ecovillage Network
•Widening networks for
Resilience – Broadening the concept of 'Ecovillage'
•Education for Sustainability
- GEN-Strategies
Ecovillage
Design Education – Gaia Education. Presentation
of the new two-year curriculum ‘Transition to Resilience – Learning Adventure
for Change Agents’. Children and Youth.
http://gen-europe.org/activities/gen-conference/index.htm
High-level meeting
of UN Economic and Social Council to focus on education
1 July – Making education
accessible for all will be the focus of a United Nations conference in Geneva
next week that will bring together representatives from governments,
international organizations, civil society and academia to discuss ways of
ensuring everyone has an opportunity to acquire knowledge. Delegates at the
High-level Segment of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) will discuss
how to accelerate progress towards achieving the goal of education for all and
look into ways of promoting sustained and inclusive economic growth, while
exploring policies that governments can pursue to achieve those objectives.
Nikhil Seth, the Director
of ECOSOC’s Office for Support and Coordination, said
in an interview with the UN News Centre. “In Latin America and the
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38914&Cr=ecosoc&Cr1=
Kenyan
lakes, Japanese islands and Australian coast added to UN Heritage List
New York, June 24 - The Kenya
Lake System in the Great Rift Valley, Australia’s Ningaloo
Coast and the Ogasawara Islands of Japan were today added to the World Heritage
List, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO) reported.
For more details go to UN News
Centre at http://www.un.org/news
Education
International welcomes the opening of new schools in rural parts of
The school is one of six
prototype Transitional School Structures, built to varying designs that are
being set up in
The Ghana National Association
of Teachers (GNAT) launched a handbook to prevent child labour
in
The opening remarks were made
by the Minister of Employment and Social Development Honorary E.T. Mensah, who discussed the government’s commitment to
eliminating child labour through an action plan and
parental accountability laws. The launch was chaired by Mr. Tom Badiako, who spoke about his mother’s experiences as a
victim of debt bondage. He also noted that the handbook helps clear
misunderstandings about child labour and will
hopefully turn child labour prevention into a matter
of social justice, not simply charity work. The General Secretary of GNAT
addressed the connection between education and child labour.
She noted that eliminating child labour would help
keep youth in school, saying, “When child labour
thrives, education suffers.” Furthermore, she reminded the audience that
eliminating child labour and promoting education are
written in the Ghana Constitution and therefore a national responsibility. (…)
The ILO/IPEC representative praised
Education and Youth Work for
Peace
World Day for Peace 2012 on
Youth for Global Peace
The Pope is dedicating the 45th World Day of Peace, January 1st 2012, to
the duty to educate the young in promoting peace and the common good. A
statement from the
The
The World Day of Peace has been linked to youth in the past: by Blessed
John Paul II in 1985 ("Peace and Youth Go Forward Together"), in 1979
("To Reach Peace, Teach Peace"), and in 2004 ("An Ever Timely
Commitment: Teaching Peace"). "Young persons must labour
for justice and peace in a complex and globalized
world," the communiqué affirmed. "It is therefore necessary to
establish a new 'pedagogical alliance' among all those responsible for the
education and formation of young people." The full text is available at: www.zenit.org/article-32614?l=english
http://storage.paxchristi.net/NEWSLETTER/2011-0347-en-gl-IS.pdf
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Next issue: 22 July 2011.
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