Good News Agency – Year III, n° 1
Weekly - Year III, number 1
– 14 January 2002
Managing Editor: Sergio Tripi,
Ph. D.
Rome Law-court registration
no. 265 dated 20 June 2000.
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.
Good News Agency is
distributed through Internet to over 2,400 editorial offices of the
daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television
stations with an e-mail address in 46 countries.
International
legislation Health
Human
rights Energy and safety
Economy
and development Environment and wildlife
Solidarity Culture and education
UNICEF welcomes signing of two
conventions on children by South Asian leaders
Kathmandu / New York, 5
January 2002 - UNICEF today welcomed the signing of two important conventions
on the trafficking of women and children and child welfare by seven South Asian
nations. Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka
signed the conventions this week at a summit of South Asian leaders in
Kathmandu, Nepal.
UNICEF Executive Director
Carol Bellamy congratulated the South Asian leaders for addressing children's
and women's issues at a time when their nations are grappling with the dual
threats of war and terrorism in the region. She welcomed their commitment and
said that lasting peace and stability could not be achieved without respect for
human rights, including the full rights of children and women. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/02pr01.htm
Geneva/Rome, 20 December - The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) are to convene a
Global Forum of Food Safety Regulators in Marrakech, Morocco on 28-30 January
2002, the two agencies announced today.
The Marrakech Forum is the first global event bringing
together senior food safety regulators to exchange information on approaches
towards and experiences with food safety. The issues involved are of potential
importance to public health and the international food trade. The Forum will
also stimulate science-based public consultations, and help build food safety
capacity, particularly in developing countries.
FAO and WHO organized the Forum at the request of
member countries that urged the organizations to coordinate consultations among
food safety regulators on urgent food safety issues. The Forum is also a
response to the G-8 communiqué at Okinawa calling for "periodic
international meetings of food safety regulators to advance the process of
science-based public consultations." (…)
http://www.fao.org/WAICENT/OIS/PRESS_NE/PRESSENG/2001/pren01101.htm
(top)
United Nations: Unit created
for internally displaced persons
Nairobi, 10 January (IRIN) -
The United Nations has set up a unit to deal with internally displaced persons
(IDPs). "The new unit has been created to respond to the severe crisis of
internal displacement around the world," Kenzo Oshima, Under-Secretary-General
for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said on Tuesday.
The UN estimates that about 20 million to 25 million
people throughout the world have been displaced within their countries by
man-made disasters, and another 25 million by natural disasters. "These
populations require the support of the international community to meet their
urgent humanitarian needs and find durable solutions to their
predicament," the UN stated.
The unit - to be headed by
Kofi Asomani, Director and Special Coordinator on Internal Displacement - will
have its head office in Geneva with a liaison function in New York. (…)
High Commissioner for Human
Rights announces publication of Declaration of World Conference Against Racism
We can now get down to
business of implementing the anti-discrimination agenda, High Commissioner
states
3 January - United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson announced today the
publication of the Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference
against Racism, which clears the way for the implementation of measures adopted
in Durban, South Africa, last autumn.
“The anti-discrimination
agenda the World Conference gave us is now a living, breathing document”, the
High Commissioner said. “With this agenda in our hands, we can regain the
momentum created by the Conference and get down to the business of making the
commitments made at Durban a reality. I cannot think of a better way to start
the new year”.(…)
http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/NewsRoom?OpenFrameSet
Mauritius supports women's equality in national budget
2 January - With the support of Prime Minister Sir
Aneerood Jugnauth, Mauritius is ensuring that women's equality is reflected in
the national budget and economic policies.
Mauritius began integrating a gender perspective in
the budget process in 2000 through staff training and gender analyses of
budgets in several ministries with support from UNDP. Subsequently, the
ministry of education and the ministry of social security produced such
analyses for the 2001-2002 national budget.
Gender analyses examine the ways that budget
allocations affect women as well as men, girls as well as boys. Steps can then
be taken to ensure equality in areas ranging from training and employment
programmes to family policies. (…)
The UN Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM), a UNDP
affiliate, is calling on all governments to incorporate gender analysis in
their national budget processes by 2015. Efforts to do so, underway in over 40
countries, were discussed at a UNIFEM conference in Brussels in October.
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
West Africa: ECOWAS to enhance
stability, integration, fight trafficking
31 December - Regional
stability, integration and a pledge to combat trafficking in human beings were
some of the goals stated at the 25th ordinary summit of the Economic Community
of West African States (ECOWAS), held on 20-21 December in the Senegalese capital,
Dakar.
The West African leaders
condemned the activities of illegal armed groups, particularly those operating
within the Mano River Union (Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone), an ECOWAS
source told IRIN. They expressed support for the work of UN humanitarian
agencies in the region, but called on the entire international community to
contribute to bringing peace to West Africa, and in particular conflict
countries, the source added. They also approved the formation of a second West
African Monetary zone that will include Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria, Sierra Leone
and The Gambia to take effect in 2003. In 2004, ECOWAS plans to merge this new
monetary area with the existing CFA zone and create a single currency. [The CFA
(Communaute francoafricaine) zone comprises the region's former French colonies
except Guinea.]
Leaders also decided to set up
special police units to combat trafficking in humans beings, usually women and
children. They agreed that special training would be provided for police,
customs and immigration officials, prosecutors and judges. (…)
Africa: UN funding for human
rights projects
31 December - Community human
rights initiatives in over 20 countries, nine of them in sub-Saharan Africa,
are to receive small grants of up to US $5,000 from the United Nations, the UN
Development Programme (UNDP) and the Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights, UNDP announced on Monday. UNDP said the project, which began in
1998, supports activities that can have a significant local impact. It cited
the example of an organisation called Liberia Prison Watch, which used its
grant to monitor human rights in prisons and create awareness about the rights
of detainees among members of the criminal justice system.
The project is now entering a
new phase during which grants will be awarded to Burkina Faso, Burundi,
Comoros, Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea, Liberia, Madagascar, Sierra
Leone, Tanzania, and various countries outside sub-Saharan Africa.
(top)
New project will support economic rebuilding in
Somalia
10 January - UNDP has launched a project to
help authorities in Somalia rebuild economic institutions after years of civil
strife and economic crisis.
The initiative will quickly set up a system to
legitimize financial remittance services offered by Somali money transfer
companies and eventually bring them under internationally established banking
rules and regulations. It will also gather economic statistics and establish
indicators to help formulate economic policy. And the project will carry out
household surveys to collect socio-economic data useful to Somali authorities,
the private sector and development agencies. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
DRC:
Belgium to fund infrastructure rehab projects in capital
Brussels, 7 January (IRIN)
- Belgium will finance infrastructure rehabilitation projects totalling US
$1.8 million in various neighbourhoods of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Belgian foreign aid office announced on
Wednesday.
In the neighborhood of
Kimbanseke, $251,877 will be invested in the reconstruction of the sewerage
system and the repair of roads and bridges, while some $489,950 will be used
for the rehabilitation of the St. Joseph primary school. In Ndjili, some $193,972 will be spent to
rebuild the St. Vincent de Paul professional training centre and buy teaching
supplies. Another $464,942 is earmarked for a professional training school and
community centre in the Mont Gafula neighborhood. In the commune of Mpumpu,
$461,625 will be used for repair of road damage caused by erosion. (…)
Eddy Boutmans, Belgium's state
secretary for development cooperation, said that Belgium donated $35.9 million
in 2001 for development projects in the Congo. The money was channeled through
NGOs, UN organisations, bilateral cooperation, humanitarian aid and educational
cooperation.
http://www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/index.html
DRC:
EU to release renewed developmental aid
Nairobi, 7 January (IRIN) -
The European Union has committed itself to releasing US $108 million in
developmental aid to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an EU humanitarian
source told IRIN on Monday.
Following the decision taken
in December 2001 to resume developmental aid to the Congo, the EU would release
the funds from the European Developmental Fund at the end of January, the EU
source added. The money was, however, dependant on the continuation of the
peace process, he said. (…)
http://www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/index.html
Cuba's urban farms offer
quality produce and new opportunities
7 January - Cubans are farming
in towns and cities. The ministry of agriculture and its scientific institutes
are helping 300,000 urban farmers grow vegetables and fruits, and raise small
animals to satisfy consumers' increasingly discriminating tastes.
The Government decided several
years ago to encourage food production by private producers and cooperatives in
urban areas, where three out of four Cubans live. The farms range from small
plots to large fields.
UNDP allocated US$200,000 in
mid 2001 to support this endeavour, in which many women participate, providing
a big boost for irrigation systems. UNDP provided an additional $100,000 for
seeds for fast growing varieties of crops to help farmers replace harvests lost
when hurricane Michelle devastated the central part of Cuba in November. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
Nigeria to reschedule more
debt
2 January - Nigeria is to sign
a debt rescheduling agreement for over US $3 billion with Germany, Switzerland
and Austria. This follows an agreement reached between Nigeria and the three
countries at the 4th Debt Bilateral Rescheduling meeting.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200112200340.html
U.S. Congress Appropriates $34 Million to UN
Population Fund for 2002
United Nations, New York, 21 December -
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) today warmly welcomed the decision
by the United States Congress to increase support to UNFPA in 2002. The House
of Representatives and the Senate this week appropriated $34 million to the
Fund. This year the United States gave UNFPA $21.5 million. (…)
UNFPA is the world’s largest
international source of population assistance. Since it began operations in
1969, the Fund has provided about $5 billion in assistance to virtually all
developing countries. The United Nations General Assembly has thanked the Fund
for creating awareness of population issues, providing systematic assistance to
developing countries, and helping to improve the quality of human life.
http://www.unfpa.org/news/pressroom/2001/usfunding.htm
(top)
Ethiopia: Over 17 million
helped by government aid agency
Addis Ababa, 10 January (IRIN)
- More than 17 million people have received aid over the last five years,
according to an Ethiopian government aid agency. The Ethiopian Social
Rehabilitation and Development Fund (ESRDF) says it has set up over 3,000
projects countrywide. (…)
According to end of year
figures - following the completion of the ESRDF's five-year programme - US$ 133
million has been spent helping people. All development projects run by
the fund must come from the community which must also provide ten percent of
the cost. (…)
The ESRDF is now turning its
attention to four specific areas of the country where it says the need is
critical, although all 11 regions of Ethiopia have received aid from the fund.
Gambella, Afar, Somali Region and Benshangul-Gumuz are now the target areas for
the next five-year programme that starts in January 2003. (…)
Central African Republic-DRC:
UN agency transfers CAR refugees
Nairobi, 9 January - The UN
refugee agency has begun to transfer refugees from the Central African Republic
(CAR) to a new location within the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A total of 306 refugees were
transferred on 8 January from Zongo on the Congolese-CAR border to a new
location 45 km due south, in Mole. Further transfers will take place until the
camp reaches its maximum initial capacity of 5,000, a spokesman for the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, Paul Stromberg, told IRIN on Wednesday.
Wells have been dug,
classrooms for children completed as well as health and distribution centres,
he said. At the end of December 2001, UNHCR had transferred kitchen utensils,
jerry cans, blankets, soap and plastic sheeting to the site and the
newly-arrived refugees have received materials with which to build individual
shelters, he said. (…)
DRC:
WFP plans to continue assistance to war-affected
Nairobi, 7 January (IRIN) -
The World Food Programme (WFP) plans to continue aid to war-affected
populations in the Democratic Republic of Congo's Equateur Province, the UN
agency reported on Friday in its latest emergency
report. The populations include some 29,000 internally displaced persons
(IDPs) in the northwestern town of Mbandaka, many of whom fled from Congo's
Oriental, northern Equateur and eastern provinces three years ago.
WFP cancelled most of its
distributions planned for December 2001 due to low food stocks, the agency
reported. One of its barges, which left the capital, Kinshasa, for Mbandaka on
14 December with 500 mt of food, arrived in the town on 30 December. Another
barge bound for the same town should depart Kinshasa by 15 January, the agency
said.
In collaboration with the UN
Food and Agriculture Organisation, WFP said it intended to provide seeds and
food rations for 10,000 vulnerable persons in the Bokungu area of Equateur for
the current agricultural season. Meanwhile, at least 15,000 vulnerable families
and IDPs have been registered in Basankusu in Equateur, it added.
Despite insecurity and limited
access to beneficiaries, WFP continued to operate in North Kivu Province (…).
http://www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/index.html
BP Foundation aids action against poverty in East
Timor
3 January - The BP Foundation is partnering with UNDP
and Save the Children Federation to help raise living standards in East Timor.
The BP Foundation, an affiliate of BP, the global energy company, last month provided
US$95,000 for two projects.
The first, supported by a US$20,000 grant, is the UNDP
participatory poverty assessment, which will gather data from local communities
to identify and finalize development strategies to help reduce poverty.
The second project, aided by a US$75,000 grant, is a
microfinance programme in Dili, the capital, run by Save the Children. It will enable loans and cover start up costs and
some operating expenses. The programme helps create viable small businesses and
aims to reach the most disadvantaged communities, especially women and
children. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
Return of 2,400 Somali
refugees leads to closing of third camp in Ethiopia
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 2 – The repatriation of
thousands of Somali refugees from Ethiopia has continued at a steady pace,
reflecting a more stable situation in parts of the east African country and
leading to the closing of three of eight refugee camps. Two convoys last week
repatriated 2,412 people from Ethiopia's Daror camp to northwest Somalia,
bringing the total number of refugees who returned home in 2001 to 50,216. The
latest returnees received a nine-month food ration, plastic sheeting and
blankets to help them restart their lives.
The Daror complex, which
includes health clinics, schools, water systems and generators, and which once
hosted 50,000 refugees, will be handed over by UNHCR to the local community.(…)
WFP
achieves record food deliveries into Afghanistan
Islamabad, 31 December – The
United Nations World Food Programme today announced that it has delivered an unprecedented
116,000 metric tons of food into Afghanistan during December. This is more than
twice the quantity of food delivered by WFP last month bringing the total
amount of food dispatched into Afghanistan since October to some 200,000 metric
tons.
This record level was reached against a backdrop
of extraordinary security problems, treacherous roads and snowed-in
communities. The food was delivered by barge, truck and plane from Pakistan,
Iran, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.
“This success is due to the dedication of the
WFP logistics staff in the region who have been working around the clock to
make sure we pre-position enough food in Afghanistan before the winter sets in”
said Ramiro Lopes da Silva, Special Envoy of WFP’s Executive Director for the
Afghan crisis. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/newsroom/press_releases/index.html#
DRC: WFP assists victims of
heavy rain
28 December - The World Food
Programme (WFP) has distributed 48.7 mt of emergency aid to 3,000 victims of
November's heavy rainfall in Mbandaka, the largest town in the province of
Equateur, northern Democratic Republic of Congo. "It was imperative that
WFP intervene because the victims had lost all their possessions," Odette
Kishabaga, the head of the agency's sub-office in Mbandaka, said. The aid,
distributed on 21 and 22 December with help of the National Red Cross,
consisted of 30-day individual rations of maize flour, vegetables, oil and
salt. Local authorities are sheltering many of the homeless in the town's
former main prison, with many women and children sleeping on the bare floor.
(…)
Your leftover foreign currency
can save lives!
UNICEF and the international
airline industry have for years teamed up to give passengers a convenient way
to help the world's children. Through the Change for Good® programme,
established by UNICEF in 1987, millions of passengers have donated their
leftover foreign coins and notes to UNICEF-assisted programmes that help
children obtain health care, clean water, education, nutrition and protection
from violence and abuse. To date, over US $31 million has been raised.
The conversion to the euro
currency by 12 European countries in 2002 has created an unprecedented
opportunity to raise even more funds for the Change for Good® programme -- both
in the air and on the ground. With the introduction of the euro in Austria,
Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the
Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, the old currencies will be unusable by the end
of February 2002. However, even after that date UNICEF will still be able to
convert these currencies into life-saving efforts in more than 160 countries. (…)
[Participating
Change for Good® airlines: Aer Lingus, Air Mauritius, Alitalia, All
Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Asiana Airlines, British Airways, Cathay
Pacific, Crossair, Finnair, Japan Airlines and QANTAS.]
http://www.unicef.org/noteworthy/changeforgood/
(top)
Cape Verde: Protecting babies
against Hepatitis B
Abidjan, 10 January - The
health authorities in Cape Verde have now included Hepatitis-B among diseases
for which babies are vaccinated. The hepatitis vaccinations started on 1
January and target infants under the age of one year, UN Children's Fund
(UNICEF) reported.
The introduction of the
hepatitis vaccine is being funded by a grant of US $207,000 provided to Cape
Verde through UNICEF by the Italian government, a UNICEF source told IRIN on
Thursday. The grant covers the period 2001-2004, the source said. Under the
programme, children received the first of three doses within seven days of
their birth. Follow-up vaccinations are administered one month and six months
later.
The Hepatitis-B virus is
spread when blood or other body fluid from an infected person enters the body
of a person who is not immune. An infected mother can transmit the virus to her
baby during birth.
Botswana using Brazil's model to help teachers stop
HIV/AIDS
4 January - Botswana is turning to Brazil to reinforce
its strategy against HIV/AIDS, demonstrating that South-South cooperation is
more than a slogan.
The Brazilian response to the HIV/AIDS scourge has
impressed experts, who have urged other countries to copy it. Botswana, with
one of the world's highest rates of HIV infection, is doing just that. More
than one third of its adults are infected, according to the Joint
UN Programme on HIV/AIDS, while the rate in Brazil is less than 1 per cent.
As in Brazil, school offers a critical opportunity for
young people in Botswana to learn about HIV/AIDS and how to protect themselves.
The new project, scheduled to start in February, aims to widen that opportunity
by enhancing teachers' ability to talk to students about sex and sexuality
comfortably in the classroom. The African Comprehensive HIV and AIDS
Partnership, the United Nations Foundation and UNDP are funding the initiative.
The project will develop interactive television
programmes to help teachers facilitate classroom discussions on potentially
sensitive HIV and AIDS issues. It will help break down cultural barriers
preventing teachers and parents from talking to children openly about sex and sexuality.
(…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 3 January 2002 - A group of
16 Canadian Rotary club members from the Toronto area will travel to the West
African country of Nigeria where they will assist local members in their
efforts to vaccinate every child under the age of five against polio. Despite
rising civil unrest in Nigeria, dedicated Canadian Rotary volunteers will still
go forward with this humanitarian journey. (…)
The group will leave Toronto for Nigeria on 8 January
and will return 17 January. While in Nigeria, the volunteers will administer
drops of oral polio vaccine to children, assist parents in getting their
children vaccinated, transport health workers, deliver the vaccine to health
clinics and recruit fellow volunteers during Nigeria's National Immunization
Day (NID).
Since Rotary made eradicating polio its main
philanthropic goal in 1985, it has contributed US$16 million to polio
eradication efforts in Nigeria, US$140 million to eradicate polio throughout
the African continent and US$462 million worldwide.
Significant progress has been made toward eradicating
polio in Nigeria. So far this year, 27 cases of polio have been recorded,
compared to 638 cases last year. Nigeria's 2,611 Rotary club members can take
credit for much of this success as they have volunteered during NIDs for more
than a decade. During the January NID, members of Nigeria's 153 Rotary clubs
will be out in force to ensure that every child is reached. (…)
http://www.rotary.org/newsandinfo/presscenter/releases/116.html
Global Fund planners to make recommendations to
new Board
The group responsible for establishing the new Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has completed its work and is ready to hand
over its recommendations to a newly formed Board, which will meet for the first
time in late January 2002.
Some key decisions: the Fund's Secretariat will
be based in Geneva, its board will include an equal number — seven seats each —
of donor and developing country governments, and two NGO and two private sector
donor seats.
(top)
Iceland’s clean energy
revolution
2 January - With a new,
government-approved plan to become the world's first hydrogen-based society,
Iceland is emerging as the protagonist of the clean energy revolution.
The nation plans to end its dependence on fossil fuels (and hence on foreign
energy sources) through the use of fuel cells, which combine hydrogen and
oxygen to produce energy, yielding water as a harmless byproduct. With
much of its power coming from hydroelectric and geothermal sources, Iceland
already leads the world in renewable energy; now that same clean energy will be
used to power fuel cells and create an entirely eco-friendly energy loop.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/sci/tech/newsid_1727000/1727312.stm
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/best/best102000.stm#ice?source=daily
Nigeria: Indigenous off-shore
oil field starts work
31 December - Nigeria's first
offshore oil field came on stream over Christmas in the southeastern state of
Rivers, Nigerian TV reported on Tuesday. The Okono oil field, one of two deep
offshore fields discovered by Nigerian engineers in 1983, has now been completed
with the drilling of four wells, state television said. It has facilities to
store up to 200,000 barrels per day and process another 20,000 per day. The
commissioning of this oil field marked the beginning of Nigeria's own
production of offshore crude oil, the television reported. The other Nigerian
offshore oil field, Okpoho, is expected to come into service in the next 18
months.
International effort to pin
point some of the world's best solar and wind power sites gets underway
Nairobi/Paris, 18 December - A pioneering
project to map the solar and wind resource of 13 developing countries is
launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
Experts are convinced that the
project, called the Solar and Wind Energy Survey Assessment (SWERA), will prove
that the potential for deploying solar panels and wind turbines in these
countries is far greater than is currently supposed
Klaus Toepfer, Executive
Director of UNEP, said: "While the costs of renewable energies like solar
and wind have been tumbling in recent years, obstacles remain to their
widespread deployment particularly in developing countries. One of these is the
uncertainty about the size and intensity of the solar and wind resource. The
SWERA project aims to bridge this knowledge gap so potential investors can
know, with a great deal of accuracy, the locations where they can secure a good
and reasonable return. If we can accelerate the deployment of renewable energy
we can not only bring down the costs, but also help in the fight against global
warming and poverty.” (…)
(top)
Iran: Women’s action against
pollution
4 January - These days, press
coverage of the Middle East is all bombs and burkhas, but Victoria Jamali is
fighting a very different battle. The Iranian woman cofounded one of her
country's most active nonprofits, the Women's Society Against Environmental
Pollution. Now, along with colleagues at the University of Tehran, she is launching
Iran's first environmental law program. U.S. environmentalists have
called Jamali an Iranian John Muir. She is leading Iran's movement
against severe water and air pollution (cities like Tehran must close their
schools in the fall, when air pollution is most severe); against threats to the
country's wildlife (such as the rare Persian cheetah); and against the general
lack of environmental regulation in her society.
http://www.eugeneweekly.com/coverstory.html
Friends of the Earth launch
programme to recognise ecological debt
2 January - Extraction of
natural resources, unfair trade rules and the disproportionate pollution by
industrialised countries have all contributed to the ecological debt. This adds
another vast layer of obligation from the industrialised countries to the Third
World. The Friends of the Earth initiative aims to stop the increase in
ecological debt and restore areas affected in developing countries.
http://www.foei.org/campaigns/EcologicalDebt/indexdebt.htm
The Amazon wants to decide its own future
In Belem,
organizations from nine countries are to hold the most important preparatory
meeting for WSF II. The Pan-Amazonian Social Council will be an opportunity for
the destiny of the forest, which is essential to any world project, to be
defined by the peoples that live there.
In an auditorium at Pará Federal
University (UFPA), the MST, the Indians of Bolivia and the government of
Venezuela (which is about to embark on land reform) are to discuss access to
land in the Amazon. Nearby, the Concerted Action Movement of Amazon Women
(MAMA) and hip hop groups from Amapá State will be giving voice to the a
cultural diversity of the region’s population groups. Colombian trade
unionists, student movements from various countries and European intellectuals
are building opposition to Plan Colombia. A jumbo workshop is to debate the
pillage of biodiversity from the point of view of the indigenous peoples and
those who are fighting for sustainable development of the forests. The above is
a small sample of the vast mosaic of ideas that will inform the Pan-Amazonian
Social Forum, in the town of Belem (Pará), from January 23 to 25 next year.
Organized by social movements from nine Amazon countries, supported and give
safe harbour from the outset by Mayor Edmilson Rodrigues, it has already drawn
participants and speakers from all over the world. As it is to take place only
a week before the World Social Forum, some of its supporters are spreading a
tempting suggestion, both in the Amazon and in other countries: Go to Porto
Alegre via Belém! (…)
Visit the official site of the meeting.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/other-words
(top)
UNESCO Director-General visits Afghanistan
Paris/Islamabad, January 10 - UNESCO Director-General
Koïchiro Matsuura will visit Kabul on January 11 to offer UNESCO’s support to
the Afghan administration in its work to rebuild the country. Mr Matsuura is
undertaking the journey to take stock personally of the Afghanistan’s immediate
and longer-term needs in education, culture, science and communication. (…)
UNESCO will support
Afghanistan in its reconstruction and development work which will, inevitably,
take several years. The Organization will focus on assisting in the creation of
an efficient education ministry, the improvement of teacher training, and the
development of curricula and textbooks not only for primary schools, but also
for secondary, technical and higher education. It will also launch a major
community radio programme to provide basic education for populations which, for
nearly 25 years, have been kept out of all types of educational systems, women
in particular. (…)
http://www.unesco.org/opi/eng/unescopress/2002/02-01e.shtml
The Volunteers' Odyssey
A
game combining the pleasure of taking part in a quiz with the discovery of
voluntary action
The Volunteers' Odyssey© is part of the
2001 UN International Year of Volunteers and is financially supported by the
United Nations Volunteers and the Belgium Government, and closely collaborates
with the European Service of Volunteers of the European Commission.
The Volunteers' Odyssey© is a televised game presented on a short version made
of 49 programmes eight minutes long and on a long version consisting of seven
programmes 52 minutes long. The Odyssey is produced in three different language
versions: English, French and Spanish. The participants are seven teams of
three film students from 18 to 28 years old coming from different countries.
(…) Prospective International collaborates with a director and a producer for
each language version and coordinates the whole project. Governments, supporting
entities, TV channels, sponsors as well as the teams' members officially
launched the Volunteers' Odyssey during the Volunteer's Day of the
International Year of Volunteers, December 5, 2001, from the Prospective
International Internet platform whose address is http://www.3-1416.org
Brussels Action Plan - Women's
Leadership in the Reconstruction of Afghanistan
27 December – (…) The Brussels
Action Plan (…) emerged from a consultation that UNIFEM co-organized with
the Government of Belgium from 9-11 December 2001. The consultation provided
nearly 40 women - including women from within Afghanistan, and Afghan women
living in Pakistan, Iran and the West - to discuss their hopes and plans for
re-building the country with nearly 40 donors, representatives from UN agencies
and NGOs. For your convenience, the Brussels Action Plan, as well as the
Declaration from the Afghan Women's Summit (which also took place
in Brussels from 4-5 December and was organized by Equality Now, the Feminist
Majority Foundation, the European Women's Lobby and other international women's
organizations in collaboration with UNIFEM) could be found on the UNIFEM web
site: www.unifem.undp.org/afghanistan/. Together, these two documents provide
the beginning of a roadmap that Afghan women are creating to guide future
leadership and work to achieve their rights. (…)
European Network for Peace and
Human Rights Launch Conference
A conference to launch the
European Network for Peace and Human Rights will take place from 31 January to
1 February in the European Parliament in Brussels. The aims of the
conference are:
o To explore closer
cooperation among European peace movements to develop full spectrum resistance
to the deployment of "son of star wars", the militarisation of space,
and the expansion of NATO at the expense of the United Nations, all of which
are part of the military gameplan known as "full spectrum dominance".
o To
re-establish the habit of large-scale, combined and united action across frontiers and at every level,
which defeated the installation of theatre nuclear missiles in Europe in the
1980s.
o To
appeal to public opinion and the organizations of civil society to defend
international agreements restricting missiles and nuclear, biological and
chemical weapons.
o To establish the European
Network for Peace and Human Rights as a permanent presence.
o To define practical projects
which can translate these general objectives into appropriate action.
For more information on
attending the conference, please contact:
Bertrand Russell Peace
Foundation, Russell House, Bulwell Lane, Nottingham NG6 OBT,
England - http://russfound.org
Source: Sunflower, January 2002 - Nuclear
Age Peace Foundation
Symposium on Best Practices in
Humanitarian Information Exchange
5 -
8 February 2002 Geneva, Switzerland
Over
the past five years, there has been a tremendous increase in the humanitarian
community’s use of new information technologies such as the Internet, web
sites, database applications, and geographic information systems. But how have
these technologies actually improved humanitarian operational effectiveness and
enhanced inter-organizational coordination? What impact has the proliferation
of systems and the overload of information had on the humanitarian community’s
ability to retrieve and use essential information for operations and
decision-making regarding humanitarian assistance?
These key questions will be
addressed at the Symposium on Best Practices in Humanitarian Information
Exchange, hosted by the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA), on 5 - 8 February in Geneva, Switzerland. The purpose of this
symposium will be to challenge the assumptions made about humanitarian
information and decision making, to discuss lessons learned, to compare various
models and systems, to evaluate best practices in humanitarian information
management, and to identify emerging technologies and approaches that may
improve operational effectiveness and better facilitate information exchange
among organizations. The symposium will be a forum for the frank exchange of
ideas and experiences. (…)
http://www.reliefweb.int/symposium/concept.htm
Three outstanding women will
open Conference on Conflict Resolution Through Culture
III IFLAC International
Conference, London, 14 to 17 March
2002
Member
of Knesset Dahlia Rabin, Deputy Minister of Defence, and daughter of the late
Peace Leader, Yitzhak Rabin, will be opening the Conference, together with the
British Member of Parliament Louise Ellman, and Palestinian leader Saida
Nusseibeh, and inaugurating the London
Chapter of IFLAC – The International Forum for the Culture of Peace. The conference, jointly organised by IFLAC
(Haifa), the Spiro Ark (London), and the Moshe Sharett Educational Center
(Jerusalem) will
bring together academicians, specialists, writers, poets, peace researchers,
media, and women leaders, from a broad range of fields, to discuss the impact
of the social dimensions of Conflict Resolution through cultural bridges, and
its key roles in the development, definition and construction of identity in
the Middle East and in other conflicted areas.
Themes
to be examined and discussed at this conference by participants will include:
national and cultural identity in an era of globalisation; women and peace; the
communications revolution and social change, and the importance of the creation
of a peace culture and a peace media.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IFLAC_USA
http://tx.technion.ac.il/~ada/home.html
Restore the Earth! Conference – Findhorn, Scotland, March 30-April 5
Preparations are well advanced for the
Restore the Earth! Conference next Easter (March 30-April 5), jointly hosted by
Trees for Life and the Findhorn Foundation, dedicated to highlighting and
catalysing positive steps to return the planet to sound ecological health
sooner rather than later.
The Conference will include a call for the
21st century to be dedicated to restoring the earth’s polluted and
fragile eco-systems. This declaration will reverberate outwards to all world
leaders as organisers seek to persuade the United Nations to adopt it and
prioritise the healing of our wounded eco-systems.
conference@findhorn.org , www.findhorn.org/restore , www.restore-earth.org/conference.html.
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