Good News Agency – Year V, n° 1
Weekly - Year V, number 1 – 16
January 2004
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. Editorial research by Fabio Gatti. Good News Agency
is published in English on one Friday and in Italian the next. It is distributed free of charge through
Internet to the editorial offices of more than 2,400
media in 48 countries, as well as to 2,500 NGO and service associations.
It is a free service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della
Buona Volontà Mondiale, NGO associated with the United Nations Department of Public
Information.
Human rights – Economy and development – Solidarity – Peace and security
Health – Energy and Safety – Environment and wildlife
Religion and spirituality – Culture and education
UN
helps Afghan refugees affected by Bam earthquake to leave Iran
13 January – Almost 400 Afghan
refugees, made homeless once more by the recent earthquake in Iran, returned to
Afghanistan today with help from the United Nations refugee agency and the
Tehran Government. The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
said 365 refugees who had survived the massive 26 December disaster in the
Iranian city of Bam arrived back in their homeland in a UNHCR convoy.
Iran's Bureau for Aliens and
Foreign Immigrants waived the usual repatriation fee of $4 per person for the
Afghans, who were processed and received landmine-awareness training at the
border. Once in Afghanistan, they went to their home areas in Kabul and the
provinces of Parwan, Balkh and Saripul, UNHCR said.
Among those in the returning
group were people mourning the death of relatives, including an eight-year-old
boy who had lost his parents and a sibling, people who had been injured in the
quake and others who had rushed to Bam to check on their families, UNHCR said.
Meanwhile, the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) today said Bam's date plantation and livestock
farmers were among the worst hit by the quake. (…)
Double
usual number of donors helping with Iran quake relief, UN official says
12 January – Iran has gathered
an unprecedented number of donors responding to a Flash Appeal for funds to
cover 90 days of humanitarian aid after last month's devastating earthquake,
the United Nations relief coordinator said today.
Though he did not yet know the
precise total contributed so far, the head of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jan Egeland, told a news
conference at UN headquarters that instead of the usual 30 donors, Iran had
gathered pledges from 60 countries, with generous contributions coming from the
Gulf Cooperation Council.
The Flash Appeal, launched
last Thursday by nine UN agencies and programmes, seeks $31.3 million,
earmarked for such needs in the hard-hit Bam area as shelter, food, water and
sanitation. Belgium convened a meeting of the donors earlier today.
Iran had cooperated in an
exemplary way with international rescue teams, Mr. Egeland said, permitting
some 1,700 workers from 40 countries to land without visas and, sometimes, even
without passports. (…)
Etiopia - Upsurge of grain production in the 2003 meher season
But 7.2 million people still
need food aid in Ethiopia
Rome, 14
January -- Despite
a good harvest, 7.2 million people still require assistance to meet minimum
food requirements in 2004, according to a joint report released today by two
United Nations agencies. Last year, 13.2 million Ethiopians needed food
assistance.
According to the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP)
report, "Well-distributed seasonal rains that began on time and continued
until late September/October in the main production areas resulted in an
upsurge of grain production in the 2003 meher season." Seed support
programmes helped ensure access to seeds in most regions and increased use of
improved seed and fertilizer also contributed to "the marked improvement
in yields over last year." National cereal and pulse production in the
meher season is forecast at 13.05 million tonnes, about 46 percent above
2002/03 and 11 percent above the last five years average. (…) Despite these
overall improvements, the report estimates that Ethiopia will still need 980
000 tonnes of food relief for 2004, compared with 1.8 million tonnes in 2003.
(…) The full report is available at::
http://www.fao.org/giews/english/alertes/sptoc.htm
Businesses
in Argentina mobilize to support the Global Compact
Friday, 9 January - Representatives
of leading Argentine businesses meeting recently in Buenos Aires agreed to
promote the Global Compact, the initiative by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
to encourage the private sector to help meet the challenges of globalization.
The event, organized by UNDP, introduced the Global Compact and focused on the
role that business, in cooperation with other sectors, can play in advancing
responsible corporate citizenship.
The Compact includes nine
principles related to human rights, labour and the environment. It aims to
bring businesses together with UN agencies, civil society and labour to help
create a more sustainable and inclusive global economy.
Ten of the 39 companies and
organizations at the meeting formed a group to promote the Compact (…) The group
will publicize the Compact's principles, arrange a meeting in March for
companies to endorse it, set up a document resource centre, web site and
secretariat, and organize seminars and workshops. Companies signing on to the
Compact will indicate what initiatives they plan to implement its principles.
(…)
IDA/IFC
African small business initiative begins with US$32 million Nigerian credit
Washington, January 8 –
Responding to the government’s request
for assistance in sparking greater bottom-up economic growth, the World Bank
has approved a US$32 million* credit to Nigeria for micro, small, and medium
enterprise development.
The project is the first to be
approved under a joint pilot program for African micro/SME development between
the World Bank Group's concessionary lending unit, the International
Development Association (IDA), and its private sector arm, the International
Finance Corporation (IFC), that was announced last June.
In keeping with the pilot
program’s operating strategy, Nigeria’s US$32 million in IDA funding announced
today will not directly finance firms. Instead, it will be used to strengthen
local financial and non-financial institutions that support small business so
they can operate effectively and sustainably deliver commercially-based
services in the market. IFC is expected to invest in some of the private sector
participants in the project. (…)
UN-HABITAT
launches important study on rental housing
The
report is available in hard copy and electronically.
7 January – As the culmination
of a two years research project UN-HABITAT has published a 250 page study
entitled “Rental housing: An essential option for the urban poor in developing
countries”. The study notes that despite the fact that a large proportion of
residents in cities and towns of developed and developing countries are
tenants, the number of governments actually trying to support rental housing
development is rather small. In fact, the important role played by the rental
sector is barely, if at all acknowledged in many national housing policies. A
major reason for this bias against rental housing is the general ideology that
homeownership is essential for housing development and that owners are better
citizens than renters.The study demonstrates that most of the arguments leading
to this bias against rental housing are highly flawed. (…)
http://www.unhabitat.org/rental_housing.asp
Madagascar
launches pro-poor initiative by business
Monday, 5 January - Prime
Minister Jacques Sylla recently launched a programme in Antananarivo,
Madagascar, to have international companies and local businesses promote
business activity to reduce poverty and help achieve the Millennium Development
Goals.
The launch of the Growing
Sustainable Business for Poverty Reduction Initiative drew 120 participants
from government, business, civil society, the UN system and the donor
community. UNDP Madagascar is coordinating the initiative.
"For my Government, the
public sector and private sector are complementary and contribute together to
development," said Mr. Sylla, noting that the private sector has an
important part in eradicating poverty and promoting human development.
"The role of companies goes well beyond the production and sale of goods
and services," he added. (…)
Rome, 19 December – Some of
the poorest people in Cambodia will benefit from a USD 19.6 million project
that will focus on agricultural investment and local development, including
building the capacity of the poor and their organizations to plan for their own
social and economic development. The project will be financed largely by a USD
15.5 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD) to the Kingdom of Cambodia. (…)
The project will target poor
communes that are particularly vulnerable to flooding and drought. It will
focus on strengthening the capacity of local communities and newly-elected
commune councils. Another important component will be agricultural development,
particularly though improved market-oriented on and off-farm production. It
will encourage diversification to reduce dependence on a single rice crop, by
promoting increased livestock production, especially of pigs and chickens, and
increased food production in homestead gardens. (…)
The project is also supported
by the United Nations World Food Programme and the Partnership for Local
Governance Project.
With this project, IFAD will
have financed 4 projects in Cambodia, totalling USD 38.84 million.
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2003/40.htm
CARE
and historic Nile Whitewater expedition to highlight lives of river dwellers
Nairobi, 7 January - CARE
International has teamed with an historic expedition to navigate the full
length of the Nile and draw attention to the people who live along the river.
The team of whitewater and African exploration experts will descend the White
Nile from Lake Victoria in Uganda to the Mediterranean Sea, the first such
attempt in more than 30 years. The “Settle the Nile” expedition is expected to
take five months. The launch date is 17 January 2004 in Uganda.
The river has an abundance of
historical, cultural and natural beauty mixed with astonishing stories of war,
famine and drought. With CARE, the rafters will meet the people who live along
the river and depend on it. The explorers will learn of the communities’ challenges
and what they are doing to improve their quality of life. These visits will be
highlighted in a documentary being made of the expedition. (…)
Lakeland
to celebrate shipment of humanitarian assistance to Moldova
Lakeland, Florida, January 10
-- Keeping up the holiday tradition of giving, residents of Lakeland in Florida
are finishing "wrapping" up a container load of gifts for shipment to
Belts, in Moldova.
On Saturday January 10, Counterpart
International will assist local organizers from the Lakeland Sister City
Committee for Belts, to pack a shipment of desperately needed medical
equipment, office supplies, and furniture. Brian Propp, Counterpart
International's vice president for humanitarian assistance, said the contents,
worth over $43,000, will be shipped and distributed by Counterpart
International to Moldova through funding provided by the United States
Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID). (…)
Counterpart has managed
humanitarian assistance programs in Moldova since 1994. This shipment of
humanitarian assistance is the third that Counterpart has assisted from
Lakeland to Belts through its Counterpart Communities Program, which seeks to
create a direct support network between US communities and those in developing
or transitional countries.
WFP
responds to flood victims in Haiti
Port-Au-Prince, Haiti, 2 January
– The United Nations World Food Programme, with the assistance of Oxfam and
Caritas, is providing urgently needed emergency food rations to thousands of
families affected by floods in northern Haiti.
A joint relief agency assessment team sent to evaluate the situation has
reported that families affected by the floods are already facing health threats
due to poor hygiene, while hundreds of households are relying on unsafe
floodwater for drinking and cooking. Due to already high malnutrition rates in Haiti,
the population is more vulnerable to outbreaks of diseases. (…) The joint
assessment mission concluded that some 24,875 people, or nearly 5,000 families,
are urgently in need of food. WFP is assisting these most vulnerable by
providing a one-month family ration consisting of 50 kg of rice, 10 kg of
pulses and 4.6 litres of vegetable oil.
Heavy rains which fell from
the 20 December to 23 December caused severe flooding and landslides in
northern Haiti. WFP immediately responded by providing emergency assistance to
2,000 families, borrowing 100 metric tonnes of rice and 9 metric tonnes of
vegetable oil from an already-existing operation to assist vulnerable groups in
Haiti. (…)
Iran:
ICRC provides relief supplies for earthquake victims
Geneva, 30 December – The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has donated a sizeable
consignment of relief goods to the Iranian Red Crescent Society (IRCS) in
support of its efforts to help the victims of last Friday's devastating
earthquake in Bam.
The ICRC cargo arrived on 23
trucks and has now been delivered to IRCS branches near the city. Supplies
included 1,500 family tents, 13,800 family food parcels, 11,000 blankets and
nearly 4,500 paraffin heaters. An ICRC-chartered plane is expected to land in
Iran later today carrying a further 32 tonnes of relief items, including 8,000
blankets and enough medical supplies to treat several thousand casualties. The
total value of the goods is approximately 800,000 Swiss francs.
The ICRC is also sending a
family tracing specialist with several satellite telephones to the city. He
will work with the IRCS to help survivors re-establish contact with their
families. (…)
Democratic
Republic of the Congo: Relief distribution in Nyabiondo
23 December - On 20 December
the ICRC completed a distribution of relief supplies (cooking utensils, hoes,
blankets, soap, jerry cans and clothing, including children’s clothing) for
7,700 families (around 38,500 people) in Nyabiondo, North Kivu. The supplies
will help families who fled their homes during the fighting and have recently
returned to the area gradually rebuild their shattered lives. They will also
improve hygiene and provide protection against the cold in this region of high
plateaux. (…) The supplies were distributed with the help of 60 first-aid
workers from the Masisi branch of the Red Cross Society of the Democratic
Republic of the Congo.
UNESCO
organizes meetings between Israeli and Palestinian journalists
19 December - Sixteen senior
media professionals from Israel and the Palestinian territories have agreed on
the need to be more sensitive in their reporting about one another’s side, and
welcomed the idea of giving editorial space to each other in their respective
media. At the close of a two-day meeting at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, they
further agreed to meet again, to remain in contact and to visit each other’s
territories. The meeting of seven Palestinian and seven Israeli media
professionals, as well as two working for Arab-language publications in Israel,
was opened on Dec. 17 by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura who said its
purpose was to “promote freedom of expression and at the same time to promote
dialogue, respect and tolerance.” (…)
Many points of view were
raised in the debate, reflecting differences within each camp, as well as
between them. At its close, the participants expressed a professional interest
in maintaining contact to be able to exchange and check information when
working on stories concerning each other’s side, and concurred on the need to
combat stereotyping, and to give fuller coverage of each other’s lives by
including reports about cultural events, for example.
They also said they wanted to
organize trips to Gaza and to the West Bank for Israeli journalists, and trips
to Israel for Palestinian journalists, whose mobility is limited by current
events. The media professionals furthermore agreed to meet again under the
auspices of UNESCO and to set up an electronic forum to maintain contact. (…)
Rotary
presents Polio Eradication Champion Award to India's Minister of Health and
Family Welfare
New Delhi, India, 4 January -
In recognition of her leadership and unwavering support of polio eradication,
Rotary International today presented Sushma Swaraj, India's Minister of Health
and Family Welfare, with its Polio Eradication Champion Award. Under Minister
Swaraj's leadership, the Government of India has made great strides in 2003 to
increase polio immunization coverage, particularly in the areas of Uttar
Pradesh and Bihar. This progress is partly due to Minister Swaraj's insistence
that the vaccination teams reflect the local community. In addition, Minister
Swaraj played a key role in securing critical political commitment. (…)
The award, presented by James
Lacy, Chairman of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, was
established in 1995 to recognize world leaders who have made outstanding
contributions toward the goal of eradicating polio by 2005. "On behalf of
1.2 million members of Rotary worldwide, I am honored to present this award to
Minister Swaraj," said Lacy. "As a result of her efforts, India has
seen a tremendous decline in polio over the past year, as well as an increase
in immunization campaign effectiveness." (…)
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/presscenter/releases/181.html
UNFPA
initiative raises awareness of fistula cases in Sudan
30 December - “Yes for
Prevention. No for discrimination” was the slogan of this year’s AIDS Day
commemoration by UNFPA in Sudan. The event, in early December 2003, included
public awareness and fund-raising campaigns and culminated in a much-publicized
football match between Khartoum’s two most popular teams. Sudan’s HIV infection
rate is estimated at 1.6 per cent nationwide.
UNFPA used part of the
proceeds of the AIDS Day football match to buy medical equipment and medicines
for Dr. Abbo’s Fistula Centre in Khartoum – the country’s only such facility.
Lack of appropriate medical services and skilled providers, along with
widespread ignorance of the consequences of fistula and of the possibility of
repairing it, are taking a toll on Sudanese women. Between 1994 and 2000, the
centre treated more than 700 women who suffered from this condition, the most
devastating of all pregnancy-related disabilities. (…)
Half
a million patients suffering from tuberculosis to get free life-saving
medicines
WHO
and Novartis sign agreement for 5-year donation to global TB drug facility
Geneva, 19 December - Half a
million of the world’s poorest tuberculosis patients are to benefit from free
life-saving drugs under an agreement signed today by the World Health
Organization (WHO) and the pharmaceutical company, Novartis.
Novartis will donate the drugs
to the Global Drug Facility, which is hosted by WHO and operated by the Stop TB
Partnership. The facility has supplied procurement support and medicines to 2.8
million TB patients in 65 countries since its launch. The drugs will be
provided over a five-year- period to countries scaling up TB control with
support from the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. (…)
Under the agreement, Novartis
will manufacture special patient kits containing fixed-dose combination tablets
in blister packs. The design improves patient compliance and greatly reduces
the risk of developing drug-resistant TB, which is far more costly and
difficult to treat.
The drugs will be supplied
free of charge to programmes using DOTS, the internationally recommended
strategy for TB control. More than 10 million people have been successfully
treated under DOTS since 1993, when WHO declared TB to be a Global Emergency.
29
Rotary members from Milano will travel to India to immunize children against
polio
Part
of Global Effort to Eradicate Polio Worldwide by 2005
Milano, Italy, December 2003 -
As polio still threatens children in parts of Africa and South Asia, Rotary has
made eliminating this crippling disease its top priority. In support of this
global endeavor, 29 Rotary members from Milano will depart for Calcutta, India
on Saturday, 27 December 03. While in India, the volunteers will help
administer the drops of oral polio vaccine to children, deliver the vaccine to
health clinics and recruit fellow volunteers during India's national
immunization campaign on 3-5 January. The goal will be to immunize every child
under the age of five against polio. (…)
India is one of three
countries in Asia and only seven in the world where the poliovirus continues to
circulate. According to global health officials, India continues to pose the
highest risk in Asia with 197 new cases so far in 2003. Along with Nigeria,
which is reporting 258 cases this year, and Pakistan with 88 cases, these three
countries contain 95% of the world's 587 new cases of polio in 2003. However,
great progress has been made in India this year following the 2002 epidemic
when 1,600 new cases were reported, representing a six-fold increase over 2001.
This progress is due to an increase in the quantity and quality of large-scale
immunization campaigns in 2003. (…)
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/presscenter/releases/180.html
(top)
European
Conference for Renewable Energy – Intelligent Policy Options
– Berlin 19-21 January 2004 –
Political aspects, market
developments and future prospects for renewable energy up to 2020 will be the
focus of the “European Conference for Renewable Energy - Intelligent Policy
Options”, which will take place in Berlin, 19-21 January 2004, as announced
today by the European Renewable Energy Council (EREC). (…)
The overall objective of the
Berlin conference is to increase the uptake of renewable energies in an
enlarged Union and beyond. The Berlin event is Europe’s regional preparatory
conference, decided in the framework of the Johannesburg Renewable Energy
Coalition roadmap of regional initiatives to foster the global development of
renewable energy and tackle climate change. The conclusions of the debate in
Berlin will result in a declaration that, together with the outcomes of the
other regional conferences (Africa, Asia and Latin America), will be delivered
to the World Renewable Energy Conference in Bonn, June 2004. (…)
The conference will bring
together key players from the public and private sector at national and
international level, including representatives of European institutions,
international, national, regional and local organisations, networks and
associations, experts and decision makers from the energy industry,
non-governmental organisations, consultants, project developers, universities
and other research institutions, financing institutions as well as local,
regional, national and international administrations.
http://www.erec-renewables.org/
Solar
power gift brings ray of sunshine to India’s rural poor
Mangalore/Basel, 9
January - Poor families in India are
being given a New Year renewable energy life-line as a result of a donation by
one of the world’s leading solar power companies.
BP Solar USA is donating over
a million dollars worth of solar modules to BASE (Basel Agency for Sustainable
Energy), who in turn are dispatching them to rural and semi-rural areas of
India where over 60 per cent of the population is without electricity. The
solar systems will be used for water pumping, lighting and for powering
telecommunications services including cyber cafes.
Virginia Sonntag-0’Brien,
Managing Director of BASE, which is a United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) Collaborating Centre, said: “ Lack of access to reliable and affordable
energy is one of the main obstacles to economic development in developing
countries”. (…)
Photovoltaic solar cells are
made of semi-conducting materials that directly convert sunlight into
electricity. The simplest photovoltaic cells power small devices such as
watches and calculators, while more complex systems can light houses and
provide power to an electrical grid. (…)
Syria
uses digital power to upgrade disaster preparedness
Tuesday, 6 January - Syria has
set up an online disaster management database in all 14 governorates and
trained 350 government staff on how to respond to natural and man-made
disasters. The project, implemented by the Ministry of Local Administration in
partnership with UNDP, comes after the the Zeyzoun dam in the north collapsed
in 2002, affecting more than 40,000 people. Although the Government responded
quickly, with support from UN agencies, the calamity highlighted the need to
upgrade disaster management.
The US$307,500 two-year
initiative began last April, and the partners are sharing the costs.
The database uses geographic
information systems (GIS) technology that combines data of many kinds —
including such features as roads and other transport links, buildings and local
institutions and population — to give a comprehensive overview vital to
coordinating disaster relief and recovery.
(…)
WWF-Pakistan
becomes ISO 14001 certified
Lahore, Pakistan, 12 January -
The head office of WWF-Pakistan in Lahore has been certified to the ISO 14001
standard for environmental management by SGS International. Part of WWF's mission
is to reduce pollution and wasteful consumption of natural resources. The
certification puts WWF's aims into practice by helping to create a culture in
which employees are encouraged to seek ways of minimizing the impact of their
office on the environment.
“This approach will lead to
considerable and continuous improvement in both economic and environmental
performance through reduced waste, improved understanding of procedures and
decreased costs,” says Hammad Naqi Khan, Director of WWF-Pakistan.
WWF-Pakistan's “Greening the
Head Office Initiative” started in March 2003, when staff were given an
introduction to Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and the ISO 14001
certification process. An EMS team was established, which developed programmes
for reduction of solid waste; minimization of paper usage; monitoring of
emissions and noise from vehicles and generators; elimination of fire hazards;
and efficient energy consumption at the head office. An Environmental Policy
was developed in consultation with top management, and will be followed by the
head office as well as WWF-Pakistan's six regional offices. (…)
Bangladesh
and India to conduct tiger census with help from UN agency
13 January – Bangladesh and
India have announced they will begin conducting a census of tigers tomorrow -
supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) - in the
Sundarbans, a fragile mangrove forest habitat shared by the two countries. The
tiger census is the first of a series of joint activities between the South
Asian neighbours under a cross-border initiative to protect the health of the
Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest.
The Sundarbans, which extend
north from the Bay of Bengal, is home to more than 6 million people and a
dwindling population of Bengal tigers. Its ecosystem is deteriorating because
of population pressures and poorly enforced environmental regulations in
Bangladesh and India.
The UNDP issued a statement
today welcoming the move by Bangladesh and India, describing it as an
"historic milestone in cross-border collaboration to protect globally
significant biodiversity."
This tiger census should also
be an improvement on previous attempts because it uses measuring methods
considered more accurate by those in the field. As part of the census, local
communities will receive training on how to help relocate "stray"
tigers into the wild and away from populated areas.
Annan
calls for action to combat rising Islamaphobia and anti-Semitism
13 January – United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan today issued a strong call for action to address
rising Islamaphobia and anti-Semitism, warning that complacency in the face of
intolerance amounts to complicity. Delivering the inaugural Robert Burns
Memorial Lecture at UN Headquarters in New York, Mr. Annan criticized those who
remain silent in the face of bigotry, saying “such passivity must not be
allowed to masquerade as tolerance.”
The Secretary-General noted
that Islamophobia – a new word for an old phenomenon – is one of the most
disturbing manifestations of bigotry today. Since the 11 September 2001 terrorist
attacks on the United States, “many Muslims, particularly in the West, have
found themselves the objects of suspicion, harassment and discrimination,” he
said, adding that too many people see Islam “as a monolith, and as
intrinsically opposed to the West.”
Contrasting this view, he
pointed out that Western and Islamic peoples have a long history of commerce,
of inter-mingling and inter-marrying, and of influencing and enriching each
other's art, literature, science and much else. “Despite a discourse of
centuries, caricature remains widespread, and the gulf of ignorance is
dangerously deep,” he warned. “It would be unconscionable to add any further to
the resentment and sense of injustice felt by members of one of the world's
great religions, cultures and civilizations.”
Mr. Annan also pointed to
anti-Semitism as “another dangerous hatred” that blights the world. He called
attention to the scars left by the history of persecution against the Jews,
adding that a recent upsurge of attacks shows this hatred to be “virulent
still.”
Addressing the broader
political context, he noted that in some cases, anti-Semitism could be a
byproduct of the escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict. “Criticism of
Israeli policies is one thing,” he said, “but it is quite another when such
critiques take the form of attacks – physical or verbal – on Jewish individuals
and the symbols of their heritage and faith.” (…)
E-9
Education Ministers reaffirm their commitment to Education For All
26 December - Education
ministers from the world’s nine high population countries - Bangladesh, Brazil,
China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan - have reaffirmed their
commitment to meet the basic learning needs of all their peoples and to work
more closely togeth-er to achieve the six goals set at the World Education
Forum held in Dakar (Senegal) in 2000.
The ministers were taking part
in the 5th E-9 Ministerial Review Meeting, which was held in Cairo (December
19-21) at the invitation of the Egyptian Government (…). The E-9 countries are
home to over 50 percent of the world’s population and account for 70 percent of
illiterate adults and more than 40 percent of the world’s out-of-school
children. (…)
In a declaration issued at the
close of the meeting in Cairo last Sunday, the education ministers outlined the
improvements in education in their countries, including increased enrolments,
improving literacy rates (especially for women), and greater access to Early
Childhood Care and Education (ECCE), which was the theme of the meeting.
However, they also acknowledged that they “still face a number of challenges,”
including poverty, “inequitable access to quality services […] for
disadvantaged children, particularly girls”, funding constraints, and a lack of
planning and coordination, especially for ECCE. To face these challenges, the
education ministers committed themselves to “revitalise and realign the E-9
Initiative” in light of developments since the World Education Forum, and to
broaden their partnership “to include key international actors, civil society,
and corporate/private sector”. (…)
The Jewish
Arab Center for Peace at Givat Haviva: a renewed upsurge in activity
The month of December 2003 saw
a positive upswing in the activity of the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace at Givat
Haviva, an education, research and documentation center founded in 1949. The
campus is located in the northern Sharon Valley (east of Hadera), Israel..
At the Institute for Arabic
Studies, courses in Arabic for beginners and advanced students are held.
Programs in the Arabic language for high school students were held for 11th
and 12th graders of the “Ramot Hefer” school and for 9th-12th
graders at the “Blich” school in Ramat Gan. Plans are currently being made for
an “Arabic Day” for Jewish schools. A number of encounters were held between
Jewish and Arab youth in December. Outstanding among these was the Goals of
Peace project, held in cooperation with the Football Association for the
Israeli Children, which encompasses soccer in cooperation with Maccabi Tel
Aviv, computer studies at Givat Haviva, bi-national facilitation at the
Jewish-Arab Center for Peace, and the digital stories experience.
A course for Financial
Officers in Arab Local Authorities has opened, in cooperation with the
Follow-Up Committee of the Union of Arab Local Authorities in Israel. Face-to-Face encounters for students at Tel
Aviv University began in December. A program is currently being developed to
expand activity both on the Tel Aviv campus as well as at other universities.
CTC (Children Teaching
Children) continues operation in the Reali High School and Elementary School in
Haifa and otherplaces. The project includes facilitation and lectures on the
subjects of democracy, identity, tolerance, stereotypes, bi-national encounters
with pupils from a counterpart school in the area, discussions on current
affairs, and leadership training.
U.S.
Fund for UNICEF Project: Teacher Training in Afghanistan
The current project for which
Delta Kappa Gamma has partnered with UNICEF is funding for teacher training in
Afghanistan. Afghanistan's education system is in a state of virtual collapse.
Aside from the war damage to the country, the Taliban regime barred girls from
the classroom and prevented the majority of teachers, who are women, from working.
As an international women's organization dedicated to excellence in education,
an opportunity exists for Delta Kappa Gamma to become a key partner in
improving the education of hundreds of thousands of Afghan children.
Members of The Delta Kappa Gamma
Society International are invited to join the U.S. Fund for UNICEF to support a
partnership in education which includes a compelling training program for
educators in Afghanistan. UNICEF has been entrusted by the Government of
Afghanistan and the Ministry of Education to play a major role in the
reconstruction of the national educational system. (…)
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society
International, established May 11, 1929, in Austin, Texas, is an international
honor society of over 150,000 key women educators in fourteen countries.
The Delta Kappa Gamma Society
International promotes professional and personal growth of women educators and
excellence in education.
http://www.deltakappagamma.org/
"Changing
Hands" Exhibit & Symposium
A unique exhibition,
"Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation, 1: Contemporary Native American
Art of the Southwest," will be opening at the Fuller Museum of Art in
Brockton, MA, January 17, 2004, through March 21, 2004, showing the work of
nearly 90 artists in a variety of media. In conjunction with the exhibition, on
January 31, 2004, there will be a Native American symposium, with American
Indian leaders, activists, and artists. Sessions will include a walkthrough of
the exhibit with Dawn Low, Fuller Museum of Art director of education, and
presentations by Linda Coombs, associate director of the Wampanoag Indian
Program at Plimoth Plantation (a workshop on Wampanoag weaving), and Dr. Ella
Sekatau, Narragansett medicine woman and ethnohistorian, speaking on
"Lifestyles of the Alogonquin People."
As coordinator and cofounder
of Black Mesa Weavers for Life and Land, Carol Halberstadt will be
participating in the symposium with a presentation entitled, "Unbroken
Rainbow: The Real Sheep, Navajo Survival and Continuity on Black Mesa."
For more information, see
http://www.fullermuseum.org The Fuller Museum of Art
http://www.culturalsurvival.org/
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Good News Agency is distributed free of charge 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 47 countries: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, USA, and it is also available in its web site: http://www.goodnewsagency.org
It is a service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, a registered non-profit educational organization chartered in Italy in 1979 and associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations.
The Association operates for the development of consciousness and promotes a culture of peace in the ‘global village’ perspective based on unity in diversity and on sharing.
Via Antagora 10, 00124
Rome, Italy. E-mail: s.tripi@tiscali.it
* * * * * * *
(TOP)