Good News Agency – Year VI, n° 11
Weekly - Year VI, number 11 – 9
September 2005
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 3,700 media in 48 countries, as
well as to 2,800 NGO and service associations.
It is a service of Associazione
Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, NGO 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 has been included in the web
site http://www3.unesco.org/iycp/uk/uk_sum_monde.htm
International legislation – Human rights – Economy and development
Solidarity – Peace and security – Health
– Environment and
wildlife
Religion and
spirituality
– Culture and education
Nurturing a Culture of Peace: an Interview with Federico Mayor
New
regulations for Mediterranean fishing take force
Safeguarding
deep-sea habitats and reducing by-catch to support productive fisheries
Rome, 5 September - New
fishing regulations aimed at safeguarding the fishery resources of the
Mediterranean Sea have entered into force today. The measures, jointly agreed upon by the 24 members* of FAO's
General Fisheries Commission for the Mediterranean (GFCM), are now to be
enforced at the national level by all GFCM members.
Among the new measures now in
force is a ban on towed trawl nets and dredges at depths greater than 1 000
metres. In line with what FAO calls
"the precautionary approach" to fisheries management, the ban aims to
protect fragile deep-sea habitats found on the sea bottom and the slow-growing
fish which live there -- themselves often an important source of food for other
commercially-popular fish species living at shallower depths.
Mediterranean countries are
also now requiring that trawlers use a minimum mesh-size opening of 40mm in the
"cod end" section of their nets in order to allow smaller, juvenile
fish to escape, thereby conserving breeding stocks. This measure should also
help to reduce accidental catches of non-target species.
GFCM members have agreed to
establish a centralized registry listing all ships over 15 metres long which
they have authorized to fish on their national registries. Any boat in that
size-class not listed in the registry will be deemed unauthorized to operate in
GFCM waters and subject to possible penalties under domestic laws of GFCM
members if observed fishing. (…)
* GFCM
members include: Albania, Algeria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, EC, Egypt,
France, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Libya, Malta, Monaco, Morocco,
Romania, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro, Spain, Syria, Tunisia and Turkey.
Membership is open to both Mediterranean coastal states as well as to countries
which fish in Mediterranean waters.
European
Conference on Poverty and Disability in Europe - Bucharest 20-23 October
The conference on poverty and
intellectual disability, organized by Inclusion Europe in cooperation with
Inclusion International and Inclusion Romania in the framework of the NFU
funded worldwide project on poverty and disability, will take place at hotel
Ibis Parliament, in Bucharest, on 21-22 October 2005. It is organized under the
auspices of His Excellency, Mr. Traian Bãsescu, the President of Romania.
The conference will bring
together representatives of families, governments and experts from different
fields from all over Europe. They will review the findings and analysis
following the research Inclusion Europe has undertaken with respect to the
status of people with intellectual disabilities and their families in relation
to poverty all over Europe. They will also explore potential actions to be
taken in view of improving the situation of people with intellectual
disabilities and their families living in poverty.
The participants will also
tackle issues as the link between low income, poverty and social exclusion,
policies against the unemployment of people with intellectual disabilities and
mainstreaming of intellectual disability in national, European and world policies.
(…)
http://www.inclusion-international.org/en/news/17.html
HIAS
initiative will help traumatized Sudanese refugees in Chad
New York City, August 31 -
Because of a shared concern for the plight of Sudanese refugees in Chad, the
Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS) and the Israel Forum for Humanitarian Aid
(IsraAid) have launched the Initiative for Sudanese Refugees in Chad. (…) The
initiative has received support from IsraAid coalition members B'nai Brith, The
American Jewish Committee and Ve'ahavta, the Canadian Jewish Humanitarian and
Relief Committee. (…)
The HIAS-IsraAid initiative is
intended to strengthen the refugees' psychological and social conditions and to
convey skills needed to survive and function in the aftermath of extreme
violence. Ultimately, the goal of the initiative is to prepare the refugees to
re-assert control over their lives and find opportunities for durable solutions
to their displacement, whether it is returning to Sudan, integrating with their
hosts in Chad, or being resettled to another country. (…) http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=4310
ILO
issues new publication on international labour standards
Geneva (ILO News), 30 August -
The International Labour Office (ILO) has issued a new publication that
provides a comprehensive overview of labour standards on issues ranging from
forced to child labour, freedom of association and collective bargaining,
equality at work and other key workplace concerns. "Rules of the game: a brief introduction to International Labour
Standards" has been prepared by the ILO's International Labour
Standards Department is written for a non-specialist audience and is designed
to raise global awareness of the standards. It discusses the importance of ILO
Conventions and Recommendations, and how they are applied and supervised.
Adopted by representatives of governments, workers and employers, the ILO's
international labour standards establish the international legal framework for
promoting social justice in today's global economy. (…) Rules of the game is available in English, French and Spanish. An
Arabic version is under preparation.
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2005/33.htm
Information and
communication technologies for employment creation and poverty alleviation
Beirut, 1 September (United
Nations Information Service) - The United Nations Economic and Social
Commission of Western Asia (UNESCWA) has published a study on Information and
Communication Technologies for Employment Creation and Poverty Alleviation that
is aimed at highlighting the various possibilities related to information and
communication technologies (ICTs) with regard to tackling employment creation
and poverty alleviation in western Asia.
The study targets policymakers
in the field of social issues from the private sector, non-governmental
organizations (NGO’s) and governments, particularly employment institutions and
social affairs ministries. It reviews case studies on alleviating poverty,
particularly among youth and women; presents an implementation framework and
modalities; and recommends policies and a number of priority projects for the
region.
According to the study, ICTs
serve as new tools for escaping from poverty, empowering impoverished
communities, and providing access to vital resources and information. (…)
Agriculture and intercultural
dialogue: October 16, World Food Day 2005 theme
'Agriculture and intercultural
dialogue' is the theme of this year's World Food Day, FAO said today. World
Food Day is celebrated every year to mark the day on which FAO was founded in
1945. This year's observance will be held on Sunday, 16 October, at FAO
Headquarters in Rome. It will be also observed in more than 150 countries.
The theme recalls the
contribution of different cultures to world agriculture and argues that sincere
intercultural dialogue is a precondition for progress against hunger and
environmental degradation. (…) With agriculture, intercultural dialogue takes
place at meetings and trade negotiations and every time an expert from one
culture shows another something new in the laboratory or field. (…)
FAO estimates that 852 million
people around the world remain hungry. At the World Food Summit held in Rome in
1996 and again at the World Food Summit: five years later in 2002, leaders
vowed to reduce that number by half by 2015. Moreover, the UN Millennium
Development Goals commit world leaders to reducing by half the proportion of
people who suffer from hunger, while ensuring environmental sustainability.
World Food Day provides an
opportunity at local, national and international levels to further dialogue and
enhance solidarity on these issues. World Food Day web site:
http://www.fao.org/wfd/index_en.asp
Serbia and Montenegro forest
and forest products country profile
Geneva, 23 August - Geneva
Timber and Forest Discussion Paper 40, Forest and Forest Products Country
Profile: Serbia and Montenegro continues a series of country forest and forest
products profiles, which provide general forest sector information for a
particular country. The forest and forest products sector in Serbia and
Montenegro, in common with many Balkan countries, was hard hit by the political
and economic upheaval that occurred in the region, and suffered severely as a
consequence.
There is now evidence to
suggest that Serbia and Montenegro may be gradually regaining its previous
export strength in many wood products. This is a welcome development and, if it
can be sustained, may bring the much needed capital for investment in
modernisation and expansion of capacity under the developing market economy.
This paper is intended for the
use of both domestic and foreign experts, as much of this information is little
known and not easy to collect. The paper contains data and analysis on the
forest resources, wood processing industry, trade, consumption, prices,
institutions and policies in Serbia and Montenegro.
http://www.unece.org/press/pr2005/05tim_p06e.htm
Southern
Africa: Agencies welcome EC donation for food aid
Johannesburg, 2 September
(IRIN) - Relief agencies have welcomed a US $5.4 million donation from the
European Commission (EC) to feed thousands of hungry people in Zimbabwe,
Lesotho and Swaziland in the coming months, but warn that more aid is needed.
"We still require $194 million worth of resources - we have practically
nothing for January through to March next year," said the UN's World Food
Programme (WFP) Regional Director, Mike Sackett. (…)
Without new contributions, WFP
will be forced to reduce distributions to many of Zimbabwe's most vulnerable
people next year, at a time when in-country food supplies are usually at
critically low levels and prices are beyond the affordability of the majority
of the needy.
The EC offer follows UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan's letter to 27 heads of state in early August,
raising the alarm for urgent funding to "avert a catastrophe" in
southern Africa, where more than 10 million people face food shortages.
Bilateral pledges from European Union member states, as well as the EC
donation, cover over 50 percent of the total food commitments in Zimbabwe.
The food relief agency said
the combined European contributions to WFP's regional appeal - $53 million -
were enough to cover the procurement and distribution of some 111,000 mt of
food for the region. (…)
American
humanitarian agencies have already sent more than $3 million to rebuild and
restock oncological hospitals.
Tblisi, Georgia, August 30 –
Approaching the National Oncology Center astride a hill with a panorama of this
ancient capital, the multi-story building looks a little worn in its austere
1970s Soviet architecture. As you get closer it looks a little shabby, and
inside crumbling cement stairways lead onto floor after floor of collapsed
walls, and dusty, lightless, corridors. But among the rubble there are enclaves
of clean, well-lit wards. These were largely rebuilt and stocked by American
humanitarian agencies. Counterpart International and the National Cancer
Coalition (NCC) are two American non-profits, along with the US State
Department, who are prominently thanked in shiny plaques adorning the rebuilt
wards. (…)
For further information, visit
www.nationalcancercoalition.org
http://www.counterpart.org/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=49&metaid=F9VM4441-a63
Caritas
continues addressing needs in food-insecure Niger
Vatican City, 20 August -
Caritas Niger (Caritas Développement Niger – CADEV), with the support of
several Caritas members, is working steadily to help ease the effects of
serious food shortages in Niger – where
upwards of 2.5 million people are at risk, vulnerable to starvation,
malnutrition, and disease. The combination of drought and last year’s locust
invasions has proved disastrous throughout the region, disrupting agricultural
activities and raising food insecurity to alarming levels. Although aid from
the Niger government, international organisations, and NGOs has helped, reports
from the country’s early warning system indicate that the food situation in
seven zones remains extremely critical. (…)
Caritas Niger has responded to
the crisis by distributing food to more than 1,200 highly vulnerable households (with households averaging seven
members), as well as implementing food-for-work programmes in the regions of
Agadez, Diffa, Dosso, Maradi, Tahoua, Tillabery/Niamey, and Zinder. More than
32,000 people in 134 villages have benefited from the food-for-work activities.
Attention has also been given to building up cereal banks and providing grain
for sale at reduced prices. (…)
http://www.caritas.org/jumpNews.asp?idLang=ENG&idChannel=35&idUser=0&idNews=3282
Free food distributions
continue in Niger
Large-scale distributions of
life-saving food aid continue in Niger, as WFP and its partners endeavour to
reach a total of 2.65 million people battling hunger under a first-round
general emergency distribution. As of 17 August, WFP had dispatched 1,600
metric tons of food aid to its non-governmental organisation (NGO) partners,
and distributions were underway by ABC Ecologie and HELP in Tillaberi, World
Vision in Maradi and PDR/ADM in Tahoua.
In total, WFP will dispatch
31,723 metric tons of food for 1.85 million people under the first round of
general distributions, while the government of Niger and the NGO Plan
International will reach a further 800,000 people.
In September, WFP will conduct
a second distribution to the 1.7 million most food insecure people, before the
harvest in October. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/english/?n=32&k=1801
New
Chinese aid for Maldives
Malé, Maldives, 15 August –
The Government of Maldives on Monday launched a project financed by the
Government of China that will provide half a million US dollars worth of aid to
two remote islands in the Maldives that were devastated by last year’s tsunami.
The money will be used to
rebuild and repair housing damaged on the islands of Dhaalu Vaanee and Dhaalu
Meedhoo, both about 150 kilometres from the capital Malé. The islands suffered
badly when last year’s December tsunami swept across the country, with 94
dwellings destroyed or seriously damaged between them. Much of the population
of 1,500 on the two islands was displaced, and nearly eight months later, many
are still living in temporary shelter.
“This is the first time that
China, itself a developing country, has provided aid for tsunami recovery for
the Maldives,” said Mr. Jianguo Shen, of UN HABITAT. The aid will implement the
new shelter programme for the two islands. “Although China has pledged over US$
20 million to tsunami relief across the region, it is unusual for the Chinese
government to be implementing projects through the UN.”
http://www.unhabitat.org/Tsunami/chinese_aid.asp
New
women and children protection section for Liberia’s police
Monrovia, Liberia, 1 September
– In a major step towards building a new protective environment for Liberia’s
children and women, a groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of a special
facility for the newly established Women and Children Protection Section of the
Liberian National Police (LNP) will take place here Friday, 2 September at
National Police Headquarters. (…) The groundbreaking will form part of the
official launch of the LNP’s Women and Children Protection Section and the
certification of 25 LNP officers who have completed a specialized three-week
training course in the handling and management of sexual violence, sexual
abuse, and gender-based violence cases. The newly trained police officers will
be assigned to serve in LNP Women and Children Protection Sections in six zones
here in the Liberian capital. The training, which began on 15 August, was
organized by the LNP with support from UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.
“Both of these actions are
‘firsts’ for Liberia: it's the first law enforcement facility intended to
protect the rights and needs of women and children and it's the first time
Liberia has a Women and Children's Protection Unit as part of its police force,”
said UNICEF Liberia Representative Angela Kearney. (…) The Women and Children
Protection Section of the LNP was established by UNICEF in collaboration with
the LNP and the UNMIL Civilian Police (CIVPOL).
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_28159.html
NGOs Create interactive website to discuss
2005 Summit of World Leaders at United Nations in September
New York, 17 August (DPI/NGO
Section) -- In
anticipation of the 2005 Summit of world leaders at the United Nations in
September, civil society organizations are voicing their views on how to
strengthen the Organization, as it confronts the challenges of extreme poverty
and global security. Non-governmental
organizations (NGOs) working with the United Nations have created a website at http://www.undpingoconference.org
that features an
interactive discussion area to debate issues that will be addressed at the 58th
Annual DPI/NGO Conference, entitled Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnerships and Renewal, scheduled to take
place at the UN Headquarters in New York from 7-9 September 2005. (…) The
online discussion area for comments, questions and answers will be available
before, during and after the Conference. (…)
To access the Conference web
site go to http://www.undpingoconference.org Other organizations can link to the
conference website and are encouraged to do so via the link provided on the
website. Questions about the website
and the Conference can be directed to dpingo@un.org
September 21: The
International Day of Peace
The International Day of Peace
provides an opportunity for individuals, organizations and nations to create
practical acts of Peace on a shared date. Use the International Day of Peace
annually to highlight the Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for
the Children of the World, 2001 to 2010. Established by a United Nations resolution in 1981, the International Day
of Peace was first celebrated September 1982.
When: Annually, 21 September - The International Day of Peace. Where: Wherever you are. Who:
You and all who care about building Cultures of Peace for the children of this
and future generations. Why: To
mark our individual and collective progress
toward building Cultures of Peace, and serve as a reminder of our permanent
commitment to Peace, above all interests and differences of any kind.
Individuals and
Nations, acting in concert, DO make a difference in the quality of our lives,
our institutions, our environment and our planetary future. Through
cooperation, we manifest the essential Spirit that unites us amid our diverse
ways. How: Through various paths to
personal and planetary Peace: Latest IDP
Fact Sheet (MS Word) (…)
This year, a major global effort is being made to ask
governmental leaders on every level to issue Proclamations and
Resolutions. In many cases, past Peace
Day Proclamations and Resolutions were obtained by individuals, families,
classes of students, and local organizations, simply by asking their leaders to
issue them. (…)
Send your activities for Peace Day to Pathways To Peace, info@pathwaystopeace.org
Festival For Peace – Assisi, Italy, 21 September
One of the major focal points for International Day of Peace will be the
10th Annual International Festival for Peace in Assisi. This year it will begin
on Peace Day and will include a 24-hour Vigil in Assisi’s oldest standing
church, Santa Maria Maggiore, and an International Day of Peace Conference.
Details at:
http://www.idpvigil.com/assisi.html and http://www.peacefestival.com/
Mine
ban education in south Sudan
Author: Pascal Bongard
Rumbek, Lake region South
Sudan, 25 August - In collaboration
with Geneva Call and the Kenya Coalition Against Landmines, the Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement/Army (SPLM/A), a signatory of the “Deed of Commitment for
Adherence to a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine
Action” (Deed of Commitment), started a series of regional mine ban education
workshops in south Sudan. The series is the follow up of a strategic conference
on the implementation of the Deed of Commitment organised by Geneva Call and
the SPLM/A in New Site in 2003. The firstworkshop took place in Rumbek, Lake
region, from 27 to 29 July 2005. (…) http://www.icbl.org/
Afghanistan
to vaccinate 7 million children for polio
September 2 (UN Wire) - The
Afghan Health Ministry, backed by UNICEF and the WHO, next week plans to launch
a polio vaccination drive reaching 7 million children. Four new cases of the
crippling disease have been reported in Afghanistan so far this year, but
UNICEF says, "The localised nature of the cases -- all have been
discovered in the southern border provinces -- indicates that Afghanistan is
winning the battle against the indigenous virus thanks to a massive drive that
has seen millions of children vaccinated each year in every community in the
country."
More than 16,000 teams of
vaccinators and monitors will move from house to house in every community in an
effort to ensure that all children are reached over the three day period from 5
to 7 September.
Adnkronos
International (Italy)
Indonesia Launches
country's largest-ever immunization campaign to tackle expanding polio epidemic
24 million children to be
immunized to prevent outbreak from spreading across Asia
New York/Geneva, 29
August - To combat Indonesia's largest
recorded polio epidemic, which now threatens a broad swath of countries across
Asia, on 30 August, 24 million children will be immunized during the country's
largest-ever mass immunization campaign.
Since March, 225 children have
been paralysed, due to a poliovirus imported into the country earlier this
year. Initially restricted to two
provinces on Java island (Banten and West Java provinces), the outbreak is
geographically expanding, recently infecting the country's capital Jakarta, as
well as Sumatra and Central Java. (…)
On 30 and 31 August, more than
750,000 vaccinators, health workers and volunteers, will go house-to-house and
work at vaccination booths across Indonesia to reach more than 24 million children
under the age of five years. With more
than 6,000 inhabited islands across the country, reaching every child will be a
challenge. The Indonesian authorities are working with hundreds of NGOs on the
ground, and have established a network of more than 500 mobile vaccination
teams to ensure that children travelling through transit points, such as train
stations, bus stations, airports and harbours, are not missed.
The polio eradication
partnership is urgently scaling-up both technical and financial assistance to
the Indonesia authorities. Leading the
civil society sector charge is Rotary International, which has raised more than
US$600 million for polio eradication since 1985. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_28108.html
Donation of three
million treatments of oseltamivir to WHO will help early response to an
emerging influenza pandemic
24 August - Today, the World
Health Organization (WHO) welcomes Roche's donation of three million treatment
courses of the antiviral oseltamivir to a WHO international antiviral
stockpile. WHO would use this stockpile to respond quickly to an emerging
influenza pandemic.
As part of its work to prepare
for, detect and mitigate the impact of an influenza pandemic, WHO is creating
an international stockpile of antiviral drugs for rapid response at the start
of a pandemic. In an agreement signed today, Roche has committed to providing
three million treatment courses (30 million capsules) of oseltamivir (Tamiflu)
to WHO, which would be dispatched to people in greatest need at the site of an
emerging influenza pandemic.
Oseltamivir could help to
reduce illness and death, and when combined with other measures, could
potentially contain an emerging pandemic virus or slow its national and
international spread. If it reaches the site of an outbreak quickly, an
antiviral stockpile could especially help people in poorer countries. (…)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr36/en/print.html
$5 Million worth
of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals will reach internally displaced people
in northern Darfur.
Washington, August 22 –
"The scale of the tragedy in Sudan is almost too huge to comprehend, but
we all have to do our best," said the head of a private development
agency. Dispatching his organization's
team to Darfur, Lelei LeLaulu, president of Counterpart International, said
Counterpart would start airlifting over US$5 million dollars worth of
pharmaceuticals and hospital supplies to the African nation. Counterpart will
also set up warehouses and logistical networks in partnership with Relief
International and other humanitarian and development organizations. "A lot of people horrified by recent
events in Sudan want to help and we plan to be ready to receive additional
contributions," said LeLaulu. (…)
Set up in 1965, Counterpart is
a non-profit humanitarian and development organization with projects it
operates directly or with partners in more than 60 countries.
http://www.counterpart.org/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=49&metaid=F9NL5046-4b7
Major
report stresses natural resources as path out of poverty
London and Washington, D.C.,
August 31 -- A report that challenges conventional approaches is released today
at a critical moment in the battle against poverty. The report, World Resources 2005: The Wealth of the
Poor: Managing Ecosystems to Fight Poverty, stresses the urgent need to
look beyond aid projects, debt relief and trade reform and focus on local
natural resources to address the crisis of poverty in all parts of the globe.
(…) The report finds that environmental organizations have not addressed
poverty and development groups have not considered the environment enough in
the past. The model presented in the report details how natural resources --
soils, forests, water, fisheries - managed at the local level are frequently
the most effective means for the world's rural poor people to create wealth for
themselves.
Dozens of case studies
detailed within World Resources 2005 demonstrate how local stewardship of
nature can be a powerful means of fighting poverty. Control over restoring
700,000 local acres of denuded forests and grazing lands was given by the
Tanzanian government to the Sukuma people and they now have higher household
incomes, better diets, as well as increased populations of tree, bird and mammal species. Ucunivanua
villagers in Fiji were given control by the government of clam beds and coastal
waters, and because of local restrictions placed on fishing, mangrove lobster
and harvestable clam populations have increased dramatically. In India,
community control over the watershed has led to a nearly six-fold increase in
the cash value of crops grown in Darewadi Village. (…)
http://newsroom.wri.org/newsrelease_text.cfm?NewsReleaseID=336
Black
rhinos in South Africa airlifted to new home
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, 1
September - Four black rhinos have been airlifted out of wilderness areas in
South Africa’s Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park in KwaZulu-Natal to form part of a
founder population of about 20 animals for the WWF/ Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife Black
Rhino Range Expansion Project. The project aims to boost numbers of the
critically endangered species by increasing the land available for their conservation,
and reducing pressure on existing reserves and providing new territory in which
they can breed quicker.
Black rhinos (Diceros bicornis
minor), which used to be the most numerous rhino species in the world, became
critically endangered following a catastrophic poaching wave in the 1970s and
1980s which wiped out 96 per cent of Africa's wild black rhino population in
just 20 years. At the lowest point, there were just 2,500 black rhino left.
Thanks to intensive protection
efforts by organizations like WWF and Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, that number has
gradually increased to around 3,600. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news.cfm?uNewsID=22819
Free
pc game on environment in 26 languages
Copenhagen, 25 August - Gamers
all over Europe can now play a pc game and learn about the environment at the
same time. The European Environment Agency in Copenhagen has launched the
Honoloko pc game in 26 languages. The game is available on the internet and
free to use.
Honoloko is designed as a
board game. While moving around on an island, the player is continuously asked
questions concerning his or her environmental behaviour. Points are awarded
depending on the choices made by the player. The game is targeted at the age
range 8 to 12. The objective is to raise awareness and promote a change in
behaviour. (…)
The Honoloko game is available
in the official EU languages plus Bulgarian, Icelandic, Norwegian, Romanian,
Russian and Turkish. It was developed jointly by the World Health Organization
Regional Office for Europe and the European Environment Agency. (…)
http://org.eea.eu.int/documents/newsreleases/honoloko-multilingual-en
Science
and religion explored
Cambridge, Massachusetts,
United States, 2 September (BWNS) -- The relationship between science and
religion was explored at the 29th annual Association for Baha'i Studies
conference, which took place here on the 11-14 August 2005. Attended by some
1,300 people, the conference explored everything from the role of inspiration
in scientific discovery to the value of prayer in healing. Presentations ranged
over the gamut of natural and social sciences, from neuroscience to quantum
mechanics, from philosophy to psychology.
More than 100 speakers
presented during the course of the four-day event. Participants came mainly
from the United States and Canada but also traveled from Australia, Austria,
Chile, China, France, Gabon, Germany, Haiti, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand,
Puerto Rico, Sudan, and the United Kingdom. The conference was organized by the
Association for Baha'i Studies--North America, one of 26 sister organizations
around the world that provide forums for scholars and students to exchange
ideas inspired by Baha'i principles.
Most presentations focused on
this year's conference theme, "Science, Religion and Social
Transformation." The Baha'i sacred writings explicitly uphold the
underlying harmony of science and religion, and many scholars sought to show
how these two systems are increasingly seen as complementary sides of the same
reality. (…)
http://news.bahai.org/story.cfm?storyid=387
United
Religions Initiative-MENA Regional Conference, Amman 26 – 29 September 2005
The United Religions Initiative is a global interfaith
dialogue network, which is committed to daily enduring interfaith cooperation.
The history of URI-MENA goes back almost ten years ago, during which Middle
Eastern and North African religious activists, from Muslim, Christian, Jewish,
and Druze backgrounds, have conducted many interfaith activities to promote
mutual understanding and peace in the region, to deepen and share their
religious and spiritual experience and to communicate their everyday life, and
a global human agenda, through their shared interfaith experience.
This year the theme of the conference will be
“Charity”, a concept that invites the meeting of the spiritual, the social and
the economic and questions the notion of ownership rights. How, in different
histories, different regions and different religious backgrounds, charity has
been socially and economically institutionalized and regulated? (…)
URI-MENA Coordinators:
mmosaad@uri.org ystolov@uri.org
Civil
Society Voices for Peace, Partnership and Renewal to be Heard at the 58th
Annual DPI/NGO Conference, 7 – 9 September 2005
A week before the 2005 World
Summit, more then 2,000 Non-governmental Organization (NGO) representatives and
other civil society partners from over 80 countries are expected to voice their
views on implementation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), peace and
security, human rights and strengthening the United Nations. They will meet from 7-9 September 2005 at
United Nations Headquarters in New York, during the 58th Annual DPI/NGO
Conference entitled Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnerships and Renewal.
The three-day gathering of NGOs is organized by the Department of Public
Information in cooperation with associated NGOs. (…)
The Conference aims to raise
public awareness of the Secretary-General’s report In Larger Freedom: Towards
Development, Security and Human Rights for All, which outlines the agenda for
the 2005 World Summit. Civil society perspective on peace and security,
development, human rights and United Nations reform will be the focus of the
Conference. (…)
In addition to seven plenary
sessions and three roundtables, there will be thirty Midday Interactive
Workshops sponsored by NGO partnerships and coalitions from around the world
with participation by governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil
society representatives. The themes of the workshops will focus on four
clusters of the Secretary-General’s Report: Freedom from Want (two sessions),
Freedom from Fear, Freedom to Live in Dignity, and Strengthening the United
Nations. The Conference will also provide thematic networking sessions for NGO
representatives. Other initiatives include media and exhibition projects that will
explore NGO voices in implementing the 2005 World Summit agenda. (…) For further information on the 58th Annual
DPI/NGO Conference, please visit http://unngodpiconference.org/
www.runiceurope.org/italian/index.html
Czech National Library to
receive UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize, awarded for the first time this
year
31 August - The National
Library of the Czech Republic will be awarded the first UNESCO/Jikji Memory of
the World Prize in recognition of its contribution to the preservation and
accessibility of documentary heritage on September 2. The prize giving ceremony
will take place in Cheongju in the Republic of Korea. The National Library was
selected from a short-list of seven, out of a total of 36, nominations to
receive the US$30,000 prize, funded by the city of Cheongju. (…)
The prize commemorates the
inscription on the Memory of the World Register of the oldest known book of
movable metal print in the world, the Buljo jikji simche yojeol. Printed in two
volumes in Korea in 1377 A.D., The Jikji contains the essentials of Zen
Buddhism. The first volume of the work is missing and the second is kept in the
Bibliothèque nationale of France. (…)
Created in 2004, the
UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize is given biennially to individuals or
organizations that have made significant contribution to the preservation and
accessibility of documentary heritage. It is awarded in an official ceremony
either in Paris or in the Republic of Korea on the occasion of the Jikji Day.
“Chasing the Dream” Youth
Photo Exhibit, New York, 12 August-28 October
United Nations, New York, 12
August - At a press conference held at United Nations Headquarters in New York,
two young people, whose work is featured in the photo exhibit “Chasing the
Dream: Youth Faces of the Millennium Development Goals” spoke of their
experiences overcoming poverty, HIV/AIDS, stigma and isolation. The exhibit,
which opened today, features photos that correspond with each of the eight
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The eight young photographers, each armed
with cheap, disposable cameras, detailed lives lead amid poverty and want in
such diverse settings as Brazil, Cambodia, India, Jamaica, Uganda, Morocco,
Ukraine and the Kyangwali refugee camp located in Northern Uganda. (…)
Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, Executive
Director of UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, gave the floor to UNFPA
youth adviser Kakenya Ntaya to speak in her stead, because, she maintained,
“youth should have a chance to speak for themselves”.
“Today the world has the
largest number of young people in world history. Fully half of the world’s
population is below the age of 25,” said Ms Ntaya, “It is simply not an option
to put the needs and rights of young people on hold or at the end of a list of
seemingly more pressing priorities.”
(…)
http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=658
2nd Annual GlobalMind Change Forum - September 23-25
A Positive and Sustainable Future through
Business
The second annual
Global MindChange Forum sponsored by the World Business Academy will take place
at the Fess Parker Resort in Santa Barbara California. This year's Forum will
reveal and support opportunities which will enable business leaders to create
business, societal, and personal prosperity as a response to a world increasingly
beset by budget and trade deficits, ethical lapses, rising interest rates,
escalating oil prices, and international turmoil.
Featured speakers
at the Global Mindchange Forum will be Ray Anderson, Chairman , Interface,
Inc.; leading advocate of Mind/Body Medicine, Deepak Chopra; Economist Hazel
Henderson Ph.D; Jeffery Hollender, President and CEO of Seventh Generation; and George Zimmer, CEO
of the Men’s Wearhouse which has again made Fortune’s 100 best companies to
work for in 2005.
This year the
Humanitarian Award is being presented
to Dr. Robert Muller, cofounder of the United Nations University for Peace in
Costa Rica. For 40 years, Robert worked
behind the scenes at the United Nations in support of world peace and
happiness. He ultimately achieved the post of assistant secretary general. In honor of the 60th anniversary of the
United Nations Robert’s book, Most of all
They Taught Me Happiness, is
being republished. Conference speaker, Deepak Chopra, author of The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success says: “Robert shows how to bring ourselves to our highest
bliss.” Visit www.RobertMuller.org for more information.
International
Understanding Through Education in the United World Colleges (UWC)
Through
international education, experience and community service, United World
Colleges enables young people to become responsible citizens, politically and
environmentally aware, and committed to the ideals of peace and justice,
understanding and cooperation, and the implementation of these ideals through
action and personal example. - UWC Mission Statement, www.uwc.org
“The extraordinary experience
I live everyday at the United World College of the Adriatic, one of the ten
colleges which are located all around the world, is an experience that goes
further than people can imagine. Living here I have experienced what
brotherhood is, regardless of gender, race, creed and culture. This year I met
two hundred students of eighty-six different countries and we have learnt to
live together sharing everything, our ideals and different believes, all we
are. Once a week a “focus” is presented by two or more people about their
coutries, about economic and political problems or about a specific interesting
topic. Moreover, “international weeks” take place through exciting
presentation, games, poetry, music, art and food testing section. Every day we
have the chance to change our mind becomig citizens of the world. That
experience made a very strong impact on my life, now I look at the world’s
future as to one humanity and I want to improve myself so as to give my
contribution in the changing the world. I have also had the opportunity to
start working in the social service with disable people for the first time in
my life, sharing with them the real meaning of love. I could not be happier of
the reality I am living. I hope more and more people will know about this
school. Step by step humanity is really going further on.” (Giulia Sardo, 17
years old, 1st year - Cagliari, Italy, wolf.gs@tiscali.it)
Exchange
your ideas on the Web: do it on a new site, on many topics
A new Web site, ideasfree.org, invites people to
share their ideas. The founder, Sam Butler, had the idea after talking
with Robert Muller, former Chancellor of the U.N. Supported University
for Peace in Costa Rica. Sharing of ideas is the most intangible yet effective
way to promote a new way of thinking, a new culture, a new opportunity of
expressing altruism thru the many ways of solidarity. Current categories
include solutions for day to day life, like ideas for inventors and ideas for a
movie, to the more idealistic, like ideas for contributing to and sustaining a
peaceful society, to the more ethical and philosophical, like ideas for unity
in diversity and cosmic unity.
Butler’s not-for-profit
objective is to provide a forum where people can offer their ideas to the
world. “Have you ever thought about giving an idea away free to the
world?” he asks on his site. “Maybe you have an idea that could be useful
to others, and you don't have the time and/or resources to develop it or to
follow through the many things that would have to be done to bring it before
the world." But, he adds, "Maybe if you give away an idea free, you
will be rewarded in some unforeseen way.”
www. ideasfree.org
* * * * * * *
AN
INTERVIEW WITH FEDERICO MAYOR
by
Sergio Tripi
(top)
Former UNESCO Director General
Federico Mayor is President of the Fundación Cultura de Paz. The Foundation has
just completed a global survey which “is being sent to the UN Secretary-General
for transmission to the General Assembly and its debate this fall at the
midterm of the International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-Violence for
the Children of the World. This survey provides the first comprehensive view of
the progress of the global movement for a culture of peace, since it was called
for in 1999 by United Nations Resolution A/53/243 ”.
The report shows that “The
advance of the culture of peace comes despite almost total neglect from the
mass media, according to most accounts from all regions. … “It is generally
agreed that systems of information exchange need to be greatly expanded in the
second half of the Decade. Important initiatives are already underway,
including those described in reports from the Good News Agency, the
Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research, the Peace Research
Information Unit Bonn, the Danish Peace Academy, Education for Peace Globalnet
and the International Coalition for the Decade…”
1. The ideal of peace has greatly evolved in
the last thirty years: from the concept of the impossibility of a victor in a
world war, clearly expressed by the Olaf Palme Commission on Disarmament and
Security, to the strongly inclusive concept based on unity in diversity of the
civil society of today. Do you think that the new values which are now emerging
indicate an ethical, concrete and far-sighted ideal of peace, or a utopistic
one?
F.M. - The new values,
as adopted by the United Nations in the Declaration and Programme of Action on
a Culture of Peace and Non-violence, are an ethical, concrete and far-sighted
ideal of peace, and at the same time, a utopian vision in the best sense of the
term. Great historical changes are always preceded by utopian
visions. Many ‘impossibles’ yesterday are realities today. We are
fortunate, as we enter the 21st Century, that the United Nations is able to
play a role in providing us with such a vision, especially since the UN
provides a universality that cannot be obtained in any other way.
The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace and Non-violence
is a worthy supplement to the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights. Like the Declaration of Human Rights, the UN cannot implement a
culture of peace by itself, but must rely on the mobilization of state and
non-governmental actors. For this reason, it is important that the UN has
called for a global movement for a culture of peace, bringing all of these
actors together around a common agenda.
2. The key element for a change which can no longer be
delayed is the will to share. At the end of the nineteen-seventies, the North-South
Commission, led by Willy Brandt, indicated to the world that the real enemies
of man – hunger, illness and illiteracy – could be completely defeated if the
developed countries decided to assign 0.7 percent of their GDP to the
developing countries. This objective is now being energetically reproposed. Do
you think that today there are better conditions which would make it possible
to realize it completely within an acceptable time?
F.M. - Hunger, illness
and illiteracy are solvable, but only on the basis of political as well as
economic reforms. Too often development aid has been provided in a way
that increases dependency and even exploitation. I have devoted a great
deal of my energy in recent years to efforts for structural reform of
international institutions in this regard. For example, the issues
examined at last year's UBUNTU forum included United Nations funding, the
decision-making processes of the international institutions and the link
between the UN, the Bretton Woods institutions (World Bank and International
Monetary Fund) and the World Trade Organisation. Changes are needed in
international law and in the concept of national sovereignty, as well as
greater democratisation. World economic and trade policies need to be brought
into line with human rights and employment.
3. The complexity of the problems and the
scarcity of allocated resources make one think that the commitments made in
Johannesburg on the Millennium Objectives for 2015 cannot be easily achieved
only by institutions. In the light of the research on the culture of peace,
just concluded by the Foundation of which you are the President, do you think
that the reference framework expressed indicates that civil society is playing
its part adequately?
F.M.
- The
findings of our recent survey of civil society initiatives for a culture of
peace have shown that civil society is far more active that usually
realized. Its efforts are largely unrecognized by the commercial media,
as well as under-estimated by academics and by the United Nations itself.
No doubt, the civil society can (and will) do more, but we must begin by
understanding what is already underway. Our survey is incomplete and, as
indicated by the summary document, "in view of the failure of the mass media
to provide news of the culture of peace, it is generally agreed that systems of
information exchange need to be greatly expanded in the second half of the
Decade".
4. In the Foundation’s research, among the suggestions to
the UN, the following one is included under Sustainable Development: “The
attainment of a Culture of Peace … can only be realized side by side with
meaningful Poverty Alleviation at grassroots community levels. Our advice,
therefore, is that as Peace and Poverty Alleviation are so intertwined, these
two must be carried in an innovative manner by the UN System.” In your view,
what could be an innovative and effective manner?
F.M. - The key is
democratisation. The Manifesto of the "World Campaign for In-Depth
Reform of the System of International institutions" calls for "
Democratic governance to help resolve the grave problems and challenges facing
the world.
- The eradication of poverty
and the promotion of a more equitable development model based on solidarity and
full respect for cultural, natural and gender diversity.
- World peace and security,
embracing human and environmental security, based on justice and freedom.
- Mechanisms enabling the
worlds' citizens and civil society organisations to be directly represented and
to take part in global decision-making processes.
The pursuit of these goals
requires a stronger, more democratic UN, placed at the centre of a consistent,
democratic, responsible, effective system of international institutions. More
specifically, we need to democratise the composition and decision-making
procedures of UN bodies to ensure that they operate effectively and
democratically, and to reform and integrate all other global multilateral
organisations (IMF, WB, WTO, etc.) into these bodies."
5. It is increasingly evident that public
opinion and the young constitute the two major factors to work on in order to
make the changes necessary for the diffusion of a culture peace. In the ‘old
continent’, your survey indicates that “organizations for the culture of peace
are growing in Europe… the leadership comes from civil society : education for
a culture of peace has been systematically introduced into school systems in
France, Greece, Spain, and in all teachers' training in Sweden.” Do you think that an increased evidence of
public opinion’s appreciation for a culture of peace will accelerate
understanding and commitment on the part of young people?
F.M. - Certainly,
public opinion is an important factor, and for that the media is key, as we are
emphasizing for the second half of the International Decade for a Culture of
Peace. But that is not enough, and we must have specific approaches that
engage young people. For example, this October at the United Nations the
Fundación Cultura de Paz is co-sponsoring two weeks of Youth Advocacy for the
Culture of Peace at the United Nations. We need to specifically engage
young people at every step of our plans.
6. Public opinion is leaping strongly into the
foreground as a real element which can ask for and obtain the necessary changes
for the construction of a solid culture of peace. To use a scientific analogy
which is dear to me, do you that that we are near to reaching – as the human
race – that ‘critical mass’ which is able to produce the necessary changes for
expressing a culture of peace?
F.M. - Yes, we agree
that in the final analysis history is made by the people. I like to dream that
the 21st century will be, at last, the century of peoples!.
7. In
2001, the second Forum of the Nobel Peace Laureates in Rome underlined that
“the modern system of the mass media is living an unprecedented crisis which
prevents it from giving to the people of the planet a correct and true picture
of the situation”. The Foundation’s global survey just concluded indicates that
“sharing of information is essential to development of the global movement…
especially in view of the failure of the mass media to provide news of the
culture of peace”.
Do
you think that an ethical code of the media, of which our Good News Agency is a
promoter, a code which underlines the responsibility of the media in the
information and balanced formation of public opinion, can be received by the
media to the point of accelerating their readiness to consider positive news as
worthy of as much attention as negative news?
F.M. - Unrestricted
freedom of expression – “free flow of ideas through word and image” - goes
together with unrestricted access to free information and balanced. The media
must play a key role in the develop of human consciousness, I have read the
Ethical Code of the Media that you have prepared and agree to be a
signatory. I am struck by the phrase that there should be a variety of
news which mirrors the components of reality, because I think of the commercial
media in much of the world today as a distorting mirror. If we look at
ourselves on the images of the television screens, we often see faces that are
distorted by arrogance, fear and hatred. Hands are shown holding pistols
and guns. We don't see ourselves as we really are. It's like the
distorting mirrors in the carnival shows.
8.
Apart from the ethical implications, what is the most important and urgent
element to address in order to establish the proper ground for the building of
a culture of peace: protection of security through the fight against terrorism,
or reduction of the ever increasing and alarming gap between rich and poor
countries?
F.M. - Of course we
need participatory democracy, physical security and alternatives to overcome
terrorism, but that is not enough. Humanity has the opportunity to change
the culture of war and violence, which has been dominant in most societies
since the dawn of civilization, to a new culture, a culture of peace and
non-violence. Such a transformation will change the nature of
relationships in every aspect of our lives, from the family to the state, from
the local community to the world community of nations.
9. After the G8 meeting in Scotland in July and
in a world which seeks to reduce the great danger of pollution, how much does the protracted lack of a signature
by the US of the Kyoto protocol weaken this global effort?
F.M. - The G8 - ‘We, the
powerful’ - cannot substitute for the UN - “We, the peoples”- because they are
a shortsighted ‘interest-driven’ group.
The world needs today an urgent shift in its present trends, guided by a
permanent attention to the succeeding generations. It’s inadmissible that the
leader country has not supported the Kyoto Protocol and not signed the
Convention of the Rights of the children particularly when it was a US President,
Franklin D. Roosevelt who mainly built up the United Nations System. However,
it is the responsibility of each one of us, of each organization, of each
country to begin the transformation toward a culture of peace and
non-violence. We cannot allow any single country or empire to dictate the
terms of our common future.
(top)
* * * * * * *
Next issue: 30th
September.
* * * * * * *
Good News Agency is distributed free of charge through Internet to over 3,700 editorial offices of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations with an e-mail address in 48 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, Lithuania, 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)