Good News Agency – Year VIII, n° 11
Weekly - Year VIII, number 11
– 14th September 2007
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 (in charge) and
Elisa Peduto. 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 and to 2,800 NGOs.
It is an all-volunteer 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
Human rights – Economy and development – Solidarity
Peace and security – Health
– Energy and Safety – Environment and wildlife
Religion and
spirituality
– Culture and education
Editorial - 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference: Climate
Change: How It Impacts Us All
Mairin Iwanka Raya: Indigenous
Women Stand Against Violence
A Companion Report to the United Nations Secretary
General's Study on Violence Against Women
“Mairin
Iwanka Raya: Indigenous Women Stand Against Violence” is a report of the
International Indigenous Women’s Forum (FIMI). It reflects FIMI’s efforts to
develop effective strategies to combat violence against Indigenous women, and
to bridge the gaps between the global women’s movement and the international
Indigenous women’s movement. The report puts forward an Indigenous
conceptualisation of gender-based on violence. It reflects the fruitful result of efforts by Indigenous women around
the world, highlights promising practices in research, political mobilization,
and community organizing, and describes future challenges to guarantee (...)
the right to a life free from violence. (...)
“Mairin
Iwanka Raya: Indigenous Women Stand Against Violence” unites generations of
Indigenous women from all over the world with a single purpose: to
strengthening [their] ability to stand against violence and win our individual
and collective rights to a life free of violence in all its dimensions.
http://indigenouswomensforum.org/vaiwreport06.pdf
Indonesia:
ICRC and Ministry of Law and Human Rights host joint seminar on Additional
Protocols
Jakarta, September 4
(ICRC) – To mark the 30th anniversary
of the adoption of the Protocols additional to the Geneva Conventions of August
1949, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Indonesian
ministry of law and human rights are hosting a two-day seminar on the
“Additional Protocols”. These Additional Protocols are key instruments of
international humanitarian law that aim to mitigate the impact of armed
conflict on civilians.
The seminar brings together
government officials, members of political parties, parliamentarians, military
personnel, police, academics and legal experts from different ministries for a
debate on how best to integrate key elements of IHL into national legislation.
Discussions will focus on such vital issues as the prosecution of war crimes
and limiting the use of weapons that cause unnecessary suffering. Georges
Paclisanu, the ICRC’s head of delegation in Jakarta, pointed out at the opening
ceremony how important it was to “entrench through ratification the existing
laws designed to protect people affected by conflict".
In addition to raising
awareness of IHL and promoting its implementation, ICRC activities in Indonesia
include making regular visits to people arrested in relation to conflict or
other types of violence, supporting physical rehabilitation services in areas
of conflict or tension and working with the Indonesian Red Cross Society.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/indonesia-news-040907
Hilton
Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million goes to Tostan
Hilton
Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million goes to Tostan, an African NGO changing the
lives of millions through innovative human rights education in local languages
Program
has led to shattering of cultural taboos – 2,600 villages have voluntarily
abandoned female genital cutting and child marriages
Women
of Senegal have announced 5-year initiative to be first African country to end
FGC
Los Angeles, August 12 –
Tostan, an organization that is empowering communities throughout Africa to
transform their lives through an innovative non-formal educational program,
teaching in local languages and with African oral traditions, has been selected
to receive the 2007 Conrad N. Hilton Humanitarian Prize of $1.5 million. The Conrad N. Hilton Foundation presents the
annual award, the world’s largest humanitarian prize, to an organization that
significantly alleviates human suffering.
“Tostan means “breakthrough”
in the Senegalese Wolof language and our distinguished independent prize jury
found that the organization has indeed achieved major breakthroughs, empowering
women and improving the lives of millions of people in nine African countries,”
said Steven M. Hilton, President and CEO of the Hilton Foundation. “Through Tostan’s Community Empowerment
Program, villages have reduced infant and maternal mortality, ended domestic
violence, improved community health services and nutrition, and provided
education for their children.
Micro-credit, environmental and income generating projects have mobilized
communities to work together to improve their lives.” (…)
Through Tostan’s 30-month
educational program, with human rights and democracy as its foundation,
participants learn basic literacy and math, health and hygiene, problem solving
and management skills. UNICEF has selected
Tostan as a model program to bring about social change across Africa. (…)
http://www.hiltonfoundation.org/press_release_details.asp?id=59
Latin
American and Caribbean countries approve Quito consensus
The
document reaffirms commitments to ensure women's political participation and
recognition of their contribution to the economy and social protection.
10 August - With the approval
of the Quito Consensus by 33 participating governments, the 10th Regional
Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean concluded yesterday in
Ecuador. Convened by the Economic Commission for Latin America and Caribbean
(ECLAC), the conference is the region's leading intergovernmental forum for the
analysis of public policies from a gender perspective. In the Quito Consensus,
countries agree to adopt all necessary affirmative action measures and
mechanisms, including legislative reforms and budgetary measures, to ensure the
full participation of women in public office and in political representative
positions, with a view to achieving parity in the institutional structure of
the State (executive, legislative and judicial branches, as well as special and
autonomous regimes) and at the national and local levels, as an objective for
Latin American and Caribbean democracies.
The document calls upon
countries to develop electoral policies of a permanent character that will
prompt political parties to incorporate women's agendas in their diversity, the
gender perspective in their content, actions and statutes, and the egalitarian
participation, empowerment and leadership of women with a view to consolidating
gender parity as a policy of State. (…)
IFAD’s Executive Board approves more than US$197 million in loans and
grants to combat rural poverty in 14 countries
Rome, September 13
– The Executive Board of IFAD approved almost US$164 million in loans and close
to US$25 million in grants to support development programmes and projects that
will improve the lives of poor rural people in 14 countries in Africa, Asia,
Latin America and the Near East. The Board also approved close to US$9 million
in grants to six international centres that conduct agricultural research and
development activities in rural regions of poor countries.
The 91st session
of the Board took place at IFAD headquarters in Rome from 11 to 12 September.
Western and
Central Africa to receive a US$5.7 million loan and US$15.0 million in grants.
Eastern and
Southern Africa to receive US$19.35 million in loans and a US$4.35 million
grant.
Asia and the Pacific to receive US$73.5 million in loans.
Latin America and
the Caribbean to receive US$18.46 in loans and a US$3.9 million grant.
Near East and
North Africa to receive US$46.8 million in loans and US$1.0 million in grants.
(…)
For more
information contact Farhana Haque-Rahman, Chief, Media Relations, Special
Events and Programmes f.haquerahman@ifad.org
ECLAC
and the Government of Sweden forge cooperation programme for 2007-2008
Activities
will aim to promote policy reforms that foster social equity and contribute to
poverty alleviation, among other issues.
September 6 - The government of Sweden, through its
development agency (SIDA), reached agreement with the Economic Commission for
Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) on a cooperation program for 2007-2008,
aimed at promoting the formulation of policies and measures aimed at fostering
poverty alleviation and strengthening social equity in the region, especially
in the poorest countries and among the most vulnerable social groups. (…)This
programme seeks to strengthen the existing cooperation relationship between
ECLAC and SIDA, through the establishment of a strategic alliance between both
institutions. Its general objectives include: promoting policy reform regarding
social equity and poverty alleviation; fostering capacity-building through
dialogue and the exchange of experiences among countries in the region and with
European Nordic countries; disseminating "good practices" with
particular emphasis on relevant experiences from European Nordic countries
which may be adapted to the Latin American reality. (…)http://www.eclac.org/cgibin/getProd.asp?xml=/prensa/noticias/comunicados/0/29760/P29760.xml&xsl=/prensa/tpl-i/p6f.xsl&base=/tpl-i/top-bottom.xsl
UN-ESCWA
Executive Secretary praises role of Islamic financial institutions in promoting
regional economic welfare
Beirut, September 5 (UNIS)
- UN-ESCWA Executive Secretary Bader Al-Dafa
today said, “the distinguished role Islamic financial institutions play to
improve the economic welfare of our society makes them unique among other
operating financial institutions.” Al-Dafa was speaking at the opening session
of “The Regional Forum on the Role of Islamic Financial Institutions in
Financing for Development” organized by UN-ESCWA in cooperation with the
Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB) on 5-6 September 2007 at the Manama Ritz Carlton
Hotel. (…)
The UN official said the world
body is paying special attention to achieving its Millennium Development Goals
(MDGs), which call for the alleviation of poverty in the world by 50 percent by
2015. “This is a challenging task for many developing countries, including
countries in the Arab world,” he noted. In this regard, Al-Dafa said that the
UN in March 2002 held its First United Nations Financing for Development
Conference in the city of Monterrey, Mexico. This Conference which was attended
by 50 heads of States and 200 high level officials was concluded by what came
to be known as the “Monterrey Consensus”, which identifies areas in which
efforts are to be intensified in order to mobilize domestic and foreign
financial resources for accelerating economic development. (…) http://www.escwa.org.lb/information/press.asp
Spanish
Government approves funds for development cooperation programme with ECLAC
Funding
for five projects aims to extend the benefits of economic growth to all sectors
of Latin American society.
August 31 (AECI) - The government of Spain, through its Spanish Agency for International Cooperation (Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, AECI), has awarded the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) financial resources for the "ECLAC Cooperation Programme: Policies and Instruments for the Promotion of Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean," to be conducted over the next 12 months. (…) The "ECLAC Cooperation Programme: Policies and Instruments for the Promotion of Growth in Latin America and the Caribbean" is designed to broaden the benefits of economic growth to among Latin America's productive apparatus and social sectors, strengthening the capacity of governments to evaluate, design and formulate policies and instruments to achieve more solid and less volatile economic growth.(…)
Farmers
and fishers in Comoros will benefit from new IFAD-supported programme that will
curb environmental damage
Rome, August 27 – A new US$7.2
million National Programme for Sustainable Human Development in the Comoros
will assist farmers and fishers to raise their incomes and food security.
Much-needed natural resource management practices will be introduced by the
programme to improve productivity for the 20,000 families living in poor,
environmentally fragile areas of the islands of Anjouan, Grande Comore and
Mohéli.
The National Programme for
Sustainable Human Development will be funded largely by a grant of US$4.6
million from IFAD. The programme is cofinanced by the Global Environment
Facility and the Comoros diaspora, which will contribute US$1.0 million and
US$1.2 million, respectively. (…) As a country with a high risk of debt
distress, the Comoros is eligible for IFAD grant assistance, which replaces
loans with grants for those countries considered unsuitable to sustain debt.
(…)
The programme will introduce a
system of terraces and ‘live fences’ in water catchment areas to help preserve
soil fertility and prevent silting. Over time these measures will also allow
the marine resources to regenerate. Land rehabilitation interventions will be
underpinned by the introduction of sustainable local land management practices
and environmental conservation. (…) Read more:
Rural poverty in
Comoros IFAD operations in
Comoros
UNESCAP
helps rural women to build up their businesses through the Internet
Regional
Meeting Takes Place in Bangkok 23 – 24 August
Bangkok, August 20 (UNIS) -
The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP) is working to establish a regional knowledge network of rural women’s
cooperatives which will enable women entrepreneurs to share their business
knowledge and experiences and market their products through the Internet.
A regional meeting is taking
place from 23 to 24 August in Bangkok. Around 30 participants representing
agriculture and cooperative ministries, organizations of rural women
entrepreneurs, cooperatives and cooperative unions, regional knowledge networks
and UN agencies are expected to attend the meeting. Participants will develop and
adopt a strategy for the creation of a regional knowledge network of rural
women’s cooperatives. They will discuss the implementation of a pilot model
e-business centre in a women’s agricultural cooperative. The meeting will also
serve to identify key training needs of women’s agricultural cooperatives to
build their capacity in entrepreneurship and in information and communication
technology (ICT) applications. Rural women’s cooperatives play a vital role in
fostering women’s entrepreneurship, women’s empowerment and rural development.
The proposed web-based knowledge network will enable women’s cooperatives
across the region to share good practices, experiences, and information for
business development, to strengthen entrepreneurial skills, and enhance marketing
of their products through the Internet. (…)
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2007/aug/n39.asp
UN
helps Cambodia in its bid to move toward an information economy
UNESCAP
held national seminar on internet governance
Bangkok, August 17 (UNIS) -
Cambodia recently announced a plan to shift the country from relying on
agriculture, garment manufacturing and tourism to a medium and high value-added
economy, with information and communication technology (ICT) being a key
sector. The country currently has one of the lowest rates of computer ownership
in the region. Internet penetration is also low due to the high-cost of
electricity and connection fees.
To help Cambodia realize its
ambition, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the
Pacific (UNESCAP) conducted a national seminar on Internet governance on 15 and
16 August in Phnom Penh, the capital. The event was organized in collaboration
with the National ICT Development Authority (NiDA) of Cambodia, with financial
support from the government of the Republic of Korea. (…)The roundtable pointed
out that Cambodia was at a critical juncture in ICT development. It could
benefit from the next generation network technologies (NGN) leading to a
knowledge-based economy if the current flows of aid and investment were used
productively in generating skilled labour and providing quality ICT education
for the youth and for small and medium enterprises. There is a risk of missing
the goal, however, if public goods and affordable ICT infrastructure fail to
materialize. UNESCAP was requested by the Cambodian government to provide a
follow-up to the meeting, focusing on policy on the convergence of various
technologies, and on e-government development.
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2007/aug/g33.asp
Cereals
production doubles in Afghanistan
Afghanis near cereals
self-sufficiency
Rome, August 6 - Afghanistan’s
cereals production has doubled in the six years since the ouster of the Taliban
regime, according to FAO’s latest production figures. Despite the continuing
tense security environment, FAO forecasts the country’s cereals output will
reach 4.6million tonnes in 2007, more than twice the 2001 level of 2.0 million
tonnes. This would represent a 700 000-tonne increase over 2006 production but
a reduction of nearly the same amount from 2005’s near-record of 5.3 million
tonnes.
On the basis of the harvest
forecast, Afghanistan may need to import no more than 700 000 tonnes of cereals
in the 2007/08 marketing season to cover its total requirements. Of this, 600
000 tonnes would come from commercial purchase on world markets, with the
remainder provided as food aid. This compares with total cereal imports of some
1.5 million tonnes at the start of the decade, of which food aid accounted for
more than 20 percent.
Afghanistan’s success with
cereals stems largely from several consecutive years of generally favourable weather,
but also from ongoing development efforts by a number of agencies and
organizations, including FAO, which employs 400 staff in the country. Current
projects include seed industry development, milk production, sugar industry
rehabilitation, market information systems, food security and nutrition, bird
flu prevention and poppy substitution.
(…)
IFAD's
rice irrigation project transforms Mandrare region of Madagascar
A
project supported by IFAD to rehabilitate rice production and develop more
efficient farming methods in southern Madagascar has transformed the Mandrare
basin from a famine-stricken region into a rice-exporting area.
The Mandrare basin is in the
driest area in the otherwise relatively fertile island of Madagascar. Before
the Upper Mandraré Basin Development Project got underway in 2001, Mandrare was
one of the country’s poorest regions. People suffered from recurring famine.
Farmers could not ensure an adequate supply of food and the economy of the
entire region was in disarray. “Before the Mandrare project, rice irrigation
had fallen into disuse, and very little rice was produced in the area,” said
Andrianiainasoa Rakotondratsima, the project manager. “The region was
completely cut off. It took about 12 hours to drive the 120 kilometres from the
regional capital, Taolognaro (Fort-Dauphin), to the inland basin, and the area
was shockingly poor.”
The IFAD-financed project
rehabilitated irrigation systems, restored roads and other infrastructure and
introduced more intensive farming methods. The second phase of the project
increased the number of communes and villages in the programme and introduced a
microcredit network, based on a similar, successful system in the north-east of
the country. “What is spectacular in
this project is the fact that the area can now export up to 25,000 tonnes of
rice to the whole southern region,” said Benoit Thierry, country programme
manager for Madagascar at IFAD. “Not only is it self-sufficient but it supplies
rice further afield.” In the course of a few years, the rice irrigation area
doubled, expanding from the initial 1500 hectares to 3000 hectares. It is
expected to double again under the current phase to nearly 6000 hectares, organized
in plots of 50 to 100 hectares. In normal weather conditions, when there is no
drought, one hectare of land can yield about three to four tonnes of rice -
against 1.5 tonnes before the project. (…)
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/africa/mdg/mandrare.htm
Boosting
farmer’s profits through better links to markets
Poor farmers in Tanzania are
using modern information and communication technologies like mobile phones and
even the Internet to get access to market information, and to learn how to
build better and more collaborative market chains from producer to consumer.
Market “spies”, known locally as shu shu shus, investigate prices and other aspects
of local markets, then use their mobile phones to report the information back
to their villages. Soon they might be using SMS to access Internet-based
databases of locally-relevant market information, so playing a crucial role in
the First Mile Project, an initiative linked to the Agricultural Marketing
Systems Development Programme (AMSDP).
AMSDP is a seven-year, US$42.3
million programme, funded in part by a US$16.3 million grant from IFAD. The
First Mile Project, funded by the Swiss Government, was launched in 2005 and is
now in its second phase. The First Mile Project is about how small farmers,
traders, processors and others from poor rural areas learn to build market
chains linking producers to consumers. (…) The First Mile Project has a built-in
sustainability strategy. Phase 2 will support the emergence of commercially
viable rural service providers that can use modern ICTs to provide marketing
services to small farmers. The focus will be on how to achieve sustainable and
reliable services along market chains in rural areas of Tanzania. (…)
Building on the experience of
the First Mile Project, IFAD is now working with FAO to support a Rural
Knowledge Network project for East Africa. IFAD has provided a grant of US$1.5
million to FAO over three years to implement the project. The Rural Knowledge
Network project will work with farmers and their organizations to build a
region-wide knowledge management process that responds to farmers’ demands and
generates and delivers information to meet their particular requirements in a
useful form.
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/africa/tza/voices/stanley.htm
Villagers
and aid workers alike benefit from census project in Niger
Poor villagers in the Aguié
area of Niger are discovering the many, unexpected benefits of keeping detailed
records of their households and assets. As part of a new databank system
introduced by IFAD in 2005, local people are developing a detailed census drawn
from 27,000 individuals in 22 villages. The growing databank gathers a range of
information, including the names of villagers, their status, the composition of
their households, the amount of land they cultivate, the livestock they own,
and how they rank themselves in terms of poverty. It is allowing project
managers to target their work more effectively while providing villagers with
jobs, food security and stronger village associations. It also helps them
pinpoint the real impact of development activities. (…)
The databank is an innovation
designed to support the IFAD-funded Project for the Promotion of Local
Initiative for Development in Aguié, based in the Maradi region. About 20 per
cent of the country’s population lives in this region of southern Niger: most
are small farmers who must battle drought, desertification, erratic rainfall
and depleted soils. One advantage of the databank approach is that the local
population participates fully, right from the start. Villagers take
responsibility for providing accurate information to build up the databank.
Local people are trained and paid to carry out the detailed census. Committee
groups meet every 15 days to update the records. (…)
http://www.ruralpovertyportal.org/english/regions/africa/mdg/mandrare.htm
ANERA
preschooler project continues despite challenges in Gaza
August 17 - Due to new
restrictions on entry points into Gaza imposed in June, ANERA (American Near
East Refugee Aid) has discovered greater challenges in working with
Palestinians in need. Border closings mean supplies can't come in, which has a
tremendous effect on the local economy. Contractors, for instance, can't work
when construction materials aren't available. Families end up suffering the
consequences, from the newly unemployed to the children who look to them for
support.
Despite these constraints,
ANERA remains committed to providing as much relief to Palestinians as
possible. One success has been the Milk for Preschoolers project. In
partnership with Islamic Relief, an international relief and development
non-governmental organization, ANERA alleviates alarming rates of malnutrition
by delivering daily rations of milk and fortified biscuits to preschoolers in
250 centers. Milk for Preschoolers was initiated by ANERA in February 2003 to
serve several thousand children around the region. As part of its continued desire
to serve impoverished Palestinians, ANERA will provide up to 25,000
preschoolers with a much-needed source of nutrition during the upcoming school
year. (…)
ANERA is a registered 501(c)3
non-governmental organization and a founding member of InterAction, a coalition
of over 160 US-based non-profits working to promote worldwide development. http://www.anera.org/projects/HEA_8_17_07_MfP_Summer_camps.html
WFP
food airlifted to victims of hurricane Felix
WFP
is also distributing food to thousands of people in Honduras and is assessing
damage from Hurricane Felix
Panama, September 5 - An emergency airlift of food aid from
WFP has arrived in the Nicaraguan coastal town of Bilwi (formerly Puerto
Cabezas) for distribution to hungry residents who bore some of the worst of
Hurricane Felix’s punishing Tuesday landfall. Because WFP has food stocks for
its long-term projects in the area, we were able to respond with unusual speed
Preliminary estimates by WFP indicate as many as 60,000 people were directly
affected in the northern Nicaraguan region where high winds destroyed or
damaged homes and commercial buildings. Despite these losses and the hardship,
humanitarian officials were relieved that Hurricane Felix did not cause more
damage during its trajectory through Nicaragua, Honduras and El Salvador. (…)
The food is enough to feed almost 900 people for ten days. Road transport has
been halted after a key bridge was washed away by the rain-swollen river. “We
are only able to deliver assistance to the affected areas by air, sea or
river,” said WFP Country Director William Hart. The airlift marked the second
emergency distribution of WFP food in the coastal region since Hurricane Felix
struck early Tuesday. An additional 70 metric tonnes of WFP food were
distributed on Tuesday in Bilwi and Waspam, just hours after Hurricane Felix
struck the area. (…) http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2628
Save
the Children responds to hurricane Felix
Westport, CT, USA, September
5- Save the Children is assisting many of the more than 70,000 children and
families that have been forced from their homes in Nicaragua as a result of Hurricane
Felix - a powerful storm that has put many communities in its path on the
highest possible emergency alert. (…) "We are very concerned for the
well-being of children and their families in Nicaragua and Honduras," said
Rudy Von Bernuth, who heads Save the Children's emergency response team.
"We have staff in both countries who are continuing to assess the
situation and respond to the urgent needs of children, including keeping them
protected and safe." Felix is the second Category 5 storm to strike Central
America in recent weeks and weather experts are worried its impact could rival
Hurricane Mitch, which killed an estimated 10,000 people across Central America
in 1998.
http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=5948
Hurricane
Dean aftermath: WFP assisting over 10,000 victims in Jamaica and Belize
Panama City, August 30 - As
victims of Hurricane Dean slowly try to rebuild their shattered lives, WFP has
announced that its emergency feeding operations are assisting about 10,500 of
the worst affected in Jamaica and Belize.
“While Hurricane Dean may have vanished from the front pages of the
newspapers, the reality of its destructive power remains for thousands of very
poor people who must begin to put their lives back together,” said Carlo
Scaramella, who is managing WFP’s regional response to Belize. “WFP’s emergency
food rations are a key first step that will ensure these people can begin the
process of rebuilding,” he said.
In Jamaica, a total of 5,500
people will receive complementary food assistance which will consist of a 450
kcal ration per day of High-Energy Biscuits (HEBs) for two weeks. The victims
are part of more than 30,000 people whose livelihoods have been affected when
200 km/h winds damaged housing, infrastructure and crops in the southern and
south-eastern part of the island. An additional 5,000 people in Belize will
receive a full daily ration which will continue for a period of two months and
which will consist of rice, pulses, vegetable oil, and HEBs. All of the
beneficiaries suffered a dramatic loss in their livelihoods means. The cost of
the emergency response is US$256,131 which will be paid out of WFP’s Immediate
Response Account – a special revolving fund that WFP can draw on to provide a
swift response to emergencies without having to wait for donor contributions.
In both cases, preparation before the storm and prompt action afterwards by WFP
regional emergency team enabled supplies flow quickly to those affected. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2618
Musicians
support World Leadership Awards
New York, August 28 – A former
Caribbean tennis champ turned steel pan player, and an international recording
artiste from the Republic of Georgia in the former Soviet Union will showcase
their musical genius at Counterpart International's 2007 World Leadership
Awards, to be held at Guastavino's in New York City on Wednesday September 19,
2007.
The New York-based Barbadian Adrian Clarke, equally proficient at
playing Davis Cup team tennis and beating the steel pan, will offer his musical
talent to support Counterpart International's awards which will recognise the
President of the Dominican Republic, Leonel Fernández; St. Lucia's Minister of
Tourism and Civil Aviation, Senator Allen Chastanet; Paxton Baker, Executive
Vice President and General Manager of BET J and BET Digital Networks, and
President of BET Event Productions; Public relations legend, David Finn,
Co-founder and Chairman of Ruder Finn; and the Caribbean's largest carrier Air
Jamaica, the national carrier of both Jamaica and Barbados. (…)
Tinatin Japaridze, an artist,
songwriter and journalist, was born in Tbilisi, the Republic of Georgia and is
currently completing her debut album. Her first single, “We the Peoples”,
inspired by the United Nations Charter and performed at the recent Caribbean
Media Exchange (CMEx) meeting in Puerto Rico, has already premiered on American
and British radio stations. A UN correspondent for Russian and American media,
Tinatin’s regular column and US radio show "United Nations Uncovered"
focuses on world events and global awareness of HIV/AIDS and the world’s
struggle against the epidemic.
Also supporting the Awards
will be virtuoso Jamaican jazz pianist, Monty Alexander who will present the
CMEx Cultural Award to BET's Paxton Baker. The award celebrates the
achievements of individuals who have enhanced and revitalized the cultures of
destinations. (…)
http://www.counterpart.org/Default.aspx?tabid=340&metaid=HA6N4232-e5f
Rotary
helps Cambodian children pedal safely to school
Japanese
delegation to arrive 17 August to help assemble donated bicycles
Tokyo, August 14 - For poor
children in developing countries like Cambodia, a simple used bicycle may
represent the most efficient and safest route to an education. Schools are
scarce in many parts of rural Cambodia, forcing students to walk long distances
under harsh conditions. Stifling heat, poisonous snakes, and abandoned
landmines are just a few of the hazards the children face. Fortunately, many of
the country’s most at-risk students soon will be able to get to school more
quickly and safely thanks to members of the Rotary Club of Shin Fuji, Japan,
which plans to provide more than 2,500 used bicycles to Cambodian
schoolchildren over the next three years as the latest effort in an ongoing
bike parts recycling project, Donating Bicycles to Children in Cambodia,
launched in 2005-06.
Satoshi Koyama, president of
the of the Shin Fuji Rotary Club, says the idea developed after the club
learned of a similar Rotary-supported project in Thailand, which involved
Japan’s Jitensha-Chushajo Seibi Center Foundation. The Rotary club contacted
the foundation and worked out an agreement for the Cambodia project, in
partnership with the Rotary Club of Phom Penh Metro. Over the past year, nearly
1,500 bicycles have been shipped to schools in Cambodia’s Kandal, Banteay and
Meanchey provinces. A 16-member Rotary delegation will arrive in Cambodia 17
August to assemble 460 bicycles from parts shipped in July. On 21 August, they
will present the bikes to children at Sakura School in Sihanoukville.
Koyama says the cost for each
shipment of 230 bicycles is about JPY 90,000.The Jitensha-Chushajo Seibi Center
Foundation pays to ship the bikes to Cambodia, and the Rotary clubs cover the
cost of delivering them to the schoolchildren. Koyama says contributions from
other Rotary clubs are welcomed.
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/presscenter/releases/2007/328.html
The
Africare Bishop Walker dinner, October 18: celebrating women's empowerment
Africa-wide
Africare will celebrate
Edwina’s triumphant journey and countless other examples of African women’s
empowerment at the 17th Africare Bishop John T. Walker Memorial Dinner:
Thursday evening, October 18, 2007, in Washington, D.C. The Africare Dinner is
now the largest annual event for Africa in the United States. The event was
first held in October 1990 in memory of the late John T. Walker, the first
African-American Episcopal bishop of Washington and the longtime chairman of
Africare's Board, who passed away on September 30, 1989.
This year’s theme, “women’s
empowerment Africa-wide,” will be exemplified by a salute to Africa’s first
elected female head of state: President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf of Liberia. At
the event, Africare will present President Johnson Sirleaf with the 2007 Bishop
John T. Walker Distinguished Humanitarian Service Award. Given each year at the
Africare Dinner, the award recognizes those whose work has had a significant
impact on raising the standard of living in Africa. Prior recipients include
former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, then President Nelson Mandela,
and other distinguished individuals such as Andrew Young, Dorothy I. Height,
Graca Machel, former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and philanthropists Bill
and Melinda Gates.
Proceeds from the event help
support Africare's mission of assistance to the people of Africa in the areas
of food security and agriculture, health and HIV/AIDS, water resource
development, environmental management, literacy and vocational training,
microenterprise development, governance, and emergency humanitarian aid. The
Africare Dinner is a top multicultural affair as well, embracing all races and
a wide array of cultures and nationalities from around the world.
http://www.africare.org/news/news_release/2007.08.30.Edwina.html
2007 Fall Conference for
Community Foundations – San Francisco, September 16-19
Eureka! Learn, Lead, and Grow
The
2007 Fall Conference theme, "Eureka! Learn, Lead, and
Grow," stresses the importance of advancing together and individually
the unique role of community foundations in being "partners of place"
as leaders, conveners and catalysts for positive community change.
In a short decade, community
foundations have risen to prominence in the field of philanthropy as
instruments for charitable giving, and for investing in people and places for
the benefit of diverse communities. From the small towns and villages of the
U.S. Midwest to the sprawling metropolises of the West and Atlantic coasts,
across Canada, Asia, Europe and beyond, community foundations are firmly
established as global enterprises that support new forms and avenues of
charitable giving that work within and across communities of interest and
place, and partner with donors and grantees to attain the goal of meeting some
of society’s most basic human needs. (...)
http://www.cof.org/network/content.cfm?itemnumber=8749&navItemNumber=4051
Choose
Peace – A benefit concert in support of NYDOP – New York, September 7
New
Yorkers for a Department of Peace (NYDOP) and All Souls Church - Peace Task
Force
September 11, 2006 marked the
100-year anniversary of when Gandhi launched a campaign of nonviolence that
gave birth to a movement. NYDOP, in
partnership with Arun Gandhi, the Peace Alliance and Sony Pictures,
commemorated the centennial by organizing: 100 Years of Nonviolence: Gandhi and
Sept. 11, 1906-2006. This September, Gandhi's legacy continues with Choose
Peace. September 11 represents a choice
point for human beings: we can continue to choose violence, or we can choose
proven strategies of prevention and peaceful conflict transformation. The Choose Peace Benefit Concert will bring
together artists, politicians and peacebuilders who support the Department of
Peace campaign and whose work would be enhanced by a future Department of
Peace. (…)
Speakers include Dot Maver ,
Executive Director of The Peace Alliance which spearheads the national
Department of Peace Campaign; NY City Council Member Robert Jackson who is a
co-sponsor of the city council resolution supporting the national legislation;
and Tina Allen , Spokesperson for Hour Children, an organization that provides
support for incarcerated mothers and ex-offenders. Host Rob Graydon produced and directed Satyagraha, a short
documentary about the 100 Years of Nonviolence.
NYDOP is a citizen
organization working to establish a cabinet-level, federally-funded, United
States Department of Peace that would promote nonviolent conflict resolution
including: prevention, education and training both domestically and
internationally.
www.nyc-dop.com/choose - Establish a U.S.
Department of Peace: www.thepeacealliance.org
China
offers Jordan demining equipment
September 6 - China on
Thursday handed over 30 mine detectors and 30 demining personal protective
equipment outfits to Jordan in Amman. A hand-over ceremony was held at the
Jordanian National Committee for De-mining and Rehabilitation (NCDR), which was
attended by Jordan's Royal Highness Prince Mired Bin Raad and Chinese
Ambassador to Jordan Gong Xiaosheng. Speaking at the occasion, Royal Highness
Prince thanked China for its donation and assistance to Jordan's demining
programs. NCDR's National Director Mohammad
Breikat noted that international exchange of expertise and collaboration is
essential to help Jordan overcome the challenges it faces in clearing its soil
of all landmines.
Landmines were planted in
Jordan in three distinctive periods: the 1948 partition of Palestine, the
1967-1969 Arab-Israeli conflict and the period surrounding the civil war of
1970.
The major remaining demining
task confronting Jordan is the 100- kilometer mine-belt running along the
Jordan-Syria border which contains 93 minefields, some 86,756 mines.
http://www.landmine.de/en.titel/en.news/en.news.one/index.html?entry=en.news.0ee6e9e651500000
Mines
Action Canada’s action toolkit to ban cluster bombs now online!
September 5 - This Action
Toolkit is meant to be a one-stop shop for all the information and resources
needed to get informed and take action to ensure that cluster bombs are finally
banned.
In this Toolkit, you will find
everything you need to take action at your fingertips, including:
• Ready-made presentations and
slide shows explaining the issue in easy to understand language;
• Downloadable fact sheets;
• Video footage demonstrating
how cluster bombs work and the impact they have on civilians;
• Sample article on the issue
and what we need people to do to help us to adapt and run in local newspapers
or newsletters;
• Posters to advertise your
own events and signal your commitment to helping ban cluster bombs;
• Mines Action Canada’s
petition to the Canadian government calling for more leadership and action in
the movement to ban cluster bombs to be handed over on December 3rd, 2007;
• Photos to make your own
posters and presentations;
• How-to guides for engaging
your MP, the media and organizing a public event or fundraiser; and
• Much, much more!
(…) http://www.minesactioncanada.org/home/index.cfm?fuse=Home.News&ID=296
The imperative of revitalizing
nuclear disarmament
On the 50th anniversary of the
first meeting of the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, a
distinguished group of 25 international specialists on nuclear weapons issues
convened to discuss the urgency of revitalizing nuclear disarmament in order to
free the world from the ever-present threat posed by nuclear weapons. Under the
auspices of the Pugwash Conferences and the Middle Powers Initiative, the
participants discussed a variety of measures that need to be taken by all
members of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in order to provide needed
momentum toward the goal of declaring nuclear weapons illegal and eliminating
them entirely.
Source: The Sunflower, September, www.wagingpeace.org/
To read more, visit: www.wagingpeace.org/articles/2007/08/24_imperative_of_revitalizing.htm
FAO
helps South Lebanon farmers return to work
Horticulture,
livestock production to resume on cluster-bombed sites
Rome, August 8 – FAO is to
launch a US$3.3 million programme in September to help smallholders in South
Lebanon resume farming after months of interruption caused by last year’s war
and unexploded ordnance. Many farmers in the area have been unable to go back
to their fields given the presence of an estimated more than one million live
Israeli cluster bombs left over from the hostilities. Over 200 people have been
injured or killed by the devices since the conflict ended. According to the UN Mine Action Coordination
Centre in Southern Lebanon, about ten percent of the cluster bombs have now
been cleared, allowing a resumption of farming activities in a number of
districts.
FAO’s early recovery and
rehabilitation programme will focus on the horticulture and livestock sectors
and is funded under the United Nations Lebanon Recovery Fund. Fruit and
vegetable farmers, most of whom are heavily indebted after losing their
harvests and being forced to remain idle for months, will be provided with
“aid-in kind,” – fertilizer, seeds and seedlings and with help to rehabilitate
their greenhouses. Livestock keepers
who lost their animals will be helped to re-stock, while measures will be taken
to improve productivity in affected areas. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000647/index.html
Camps
for Jews and Arabs (Muslims and Christian) in North America
Peace
camp stresses unity in diversity
August - There are those who
make things happen. There are those who watch things happen. And there are
those who ask, "What happened?".
This is about those who are causing
new relationships to happen - inventing their future - for Jews and
Palestinians. Not waiting for governments or "experts," these
cultural creatives hope their ideas will travel from North America across the
ocean to Jerusalem and beyond.
Most Palestinians and Jews
have never had an in-depth, sustained relationship, in the Middle East and
worldwide. This "big disconnect" allows them to maintain stereotypes
and dehumanize each other - staying at a distance, doing what they're doing to
one another at this moment.
Thus the urgent need for a
greatly enlarged public peace process to discover the "other" equally
human, equally excellent persons. (...) There is something magic about
"enemies" coming together in a safe place in nature, to discover the
humanity of the "other" and transform the nature of their
relationships forever. (...)
http://traubman.igc.org/camps.htm
Nelson
Mandela and Desmond Tutu announce The Elders
An
Historic Group of World Leaders
Johannesburg (South Africa),
July 18 - Out of deep concern for the challenges facing all of the people of
our world, Nelson Mandela, Graça Machel, and Desmond Tutu have convened a group
of leaders to contribute their wisdom, independent leadership and integrity to
tackle some of the world´s toughest problems. Nelson Mandela announced the
formation of this new group, The Elders, today in a speech he delivered on the
occasion of his 89th birthday. He was joined by founding members of the group,
Desmond Tutu, Graça Machel, Kofi Annan, Jimmy Carter, Li Zhaoxing, Mary
Robinson and Muhammad Yunus. Founding members, Ela Bhatt and Gro Harlem
Brundtland were unable to attend. (...)
Never
before has such a powerful group of leaders come together. Free from political,
economic or military pressures. The only agenda of The Elders is that of
humanity. And their only purpose is to ease human suffering in three essential
areas:
1. Offering a catalyst for the
peaceful resolution of conflict.
2. Seeking new approaches to
seemingly intractable global issues.
3. Sharing wisdom: reaching
out to grassroots Elders and to the next generation of leaders. Listening and
helping to amplify voices for good all over the world.
http://www.theelders.org/welcome/ http://www.theelders.org/elders/
Culture of Peace Initiative -
Invitation to post your events
WiserEarth
(www.wiserearth.org)
is a free and international online directory that links together the hundreds
of thousands of organizations worldwide working for Peace through social
justice and the environment.
This year, the International
Secretariat of CPI is delighted to offer an unprecedented opportunity, as we
build a global campaign for Peace on International Day of Peace, September 21st.
In preparation for Peace Day, we would like to invite you to use our new online
platform, WiserEarth, designed to help visualize the scope of the extraordinary
activities of Peacebuilders around the world. (...) The advantages of the CPI
platform on WiserEarth are many:
1. You can search among over
100,000 organizations, as well as events and resources, by location, keyword or
372 different areas of focus. You can also add organizations, events resources
and jobs under these same categories.
2. If you are a small
organization, WiserEarth can replace the need for your own website.
3. Since WiserEarth is
multilingual, information can be entered and read in your native language.
4. WiserEarth also offers free
postings for recruiting staff, volunteers and interns. (...)
Paste this link into your web
browser for easy access:
http://www.wiserearth.org/article/3f5802a0086e0932c53aeddf85ca96cb
http://www.wiserearth.org/article/31bee9ab1a32f8c3646393e20387faa1
Beyond Bullets & Bombs:
Grassroots Peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians
Edited
by Judy Kuriansky
“Beyond
Bullets & Bombs” is the new, definitive, most
comprehensive-yet book to describe diverse initiatives and people in the
citizen-to-citizen Middle East public peace process. It is a rich
resource for on-the-ground, relationship-building activists as well as students
and educators.
This August 30, 2007
publishing treasure is rich in graphics, tables, extensive contemporary
references, quotes, and inspiration. Above all, while based in real, successful lives of Jews, Palestinians and dedicated
others, it insists on fastening into literature and academia the living
principles that succeed in everyday life on Earth. (...)
Israeli Jews and Arabs, and
Palestinian Muslims and Christians, young and old, men and women, are
cooperating in grassroots people-to-people projects. Face-to-face,
shoulder-to-shoulder they are developing educational programs and creating
activities to bridge their differences.
“Beyond Bullets & Bombs”
showcases impressive and important
projects that deserve more support and world attention, and without which
governments alone cannot succeed.
In 40 captivating chapters,
experts tell intriguing personal stories interwoven with psycho-social models
and successful organizing principles - inspiring and instructing how people
living in hostile cultures can establish sustainable peace.
http://www.greenwood.com/books/printFlyer.aspx?sku=C9880
The International Day of Peace
Join
the worldwide movement to create a Global Ceasefire and day of peace and
nonviolence
September
21 - Last year more than 3500 Peace Day events took place in 200 countries
(including all 192 member nations of the United Nations) for a Culture of
Peace.The
International Day of Peace brought together more than 2000 organizations,
mobilizing what UNESCO has called The
Global Movemenr for a Culture of Peace. Peace is more than the absence of
war. It is about transforming our societies and uniting our global community to
work together for a more peaceful, just and sustainable world for all. http://www.internationaldayofpeace.org/
http://www.wiserearth.org/article/31bee9ab1a32f8c3646393e20387faa1
MSF
opens first HIV/AIDS clinic in breakaway region of Transnistria
HIV
prevalence in Transnistria is four times higher than in Moldova, according to
official statistics.
Tiraspol, September 9 - On
Wednesday, August 8, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) started to provide
treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS in the unrecognized breakaway region
of Transnistria, Moldova. MSF began enrolling patients before the Out-Patient
Department was actually finished and, in only four weeks, our doctors and
nurses, alongside the Ministry of Health personnel, have already seen over 90
HIV positive patients. As a consequence, 26 of them have been initiated onto
life-prolonging anti-retroviral treatment (ARV). (…)
Due to the international
isolation of Transnistria, its healthcare system and population has been
largely denied access to Moldovan government health funds/medicines,
particularly ARV treatment for HIV/AIDS. This is in spite of the fact that
Moldova is the recipient of funds to cover the whole population, including the
breakaway region, and that the prevalence of HIV in Transnistria is four times
higher than in Moldova, according to official statistics. (…)
Sébastien
Dubois: putting his talent to the benefit of landmine victims
September 7 - Sébastien Dubois
is a young industrial designer from Montreal who recently won a prestigious
international award in Copenhagen ($145 000 CDN), intended for young designers.
With the support of the Institut de réadaptation de Montréal and the assistance
of Prosthetist Orthotist (P&O) Daniel Normandin, Sébastien invented a
low-cost high technology artificial foot for amputees. This prosthetic
“energy-return” foot favours high mobility and is financially very accessible:
it costs only $10 CDN.
Moved by a strong social
conscience, Sébastien wants to put his technology for the benefit of people
with disabilities in developing countries, particularly for landmine victims.
With Handicap International, a project proposal was elaborated to reach that
goal. On the one hand, the project will enable the fabrication of the
prosthesis in developing countries by local P & O technicians and on the
other hand, it will facilitate easy access to this artificial foot by amputees
in those countries. Therefore, there is also an important technology transfer
component imbedded in this project. (…) Presently, Handicap International is
still trying to mobilize funds for this project.
In the future, the
organization hopes to pursue its collaboration with Sébastien Dubois in order
for people with disabilities of other countries to benefit from this
technology, particularly amputees of countries affected by landmines and other
unexploded remnants of war.
http://www.minesactioncanada.org/home/index.cfm?fuse=Home.News&ID=297
New
polio drive to protect Iraqi children
Immunization
campaign for over 4.8 million Iraqi under fives aims to reach all, including in
camps & conflict areas
Amman/Baghdad, September 2 –
Another massive effort begins today to deliver a critical vaccine to as many
Iraqi children under five years old as possible - 4.8 million children in total
- even in the country’s most insecure and remote areas. Almost 20,000
vaccinators will participate in the house-to-house drive, set to last five
days. Their goal: to reach as many of
Iraq’s under fives as possible with the oral polio vaccine (OPV), wherever they
live, traveling by boat, car and on foot. Teams will also be working in every
vaccination hospital and Primary Health Care Centre across the country. OPV
protects children against polio, a highly infectious and incurable paralytic
disease that mostly affects the young.
The current immunization
campaign is part of Iraq’s ongoing polio eradication effort, which has kept
Iraq polio-free since 2000, with support from UNICEF and the World Health
Organization (WHO). Conflict and insecurity have regrettably eroded Iraq’s
routine health services, making mass campaigns such as this critical to
maintain immunity against infectious diseases. But the challenges facing this
campaign’s organizers and vaccinators are greater than ever. During the last
campaign, in December 2006, only half as many children were immunized in parts
of Baghdad and Diyala, as against the national average of 91 per cent. Reaching
the most vulnerable and displaced children this time round is critical.(…) As
well as posing risks to vaccinators, Iraq’s ongoing conflict has placed
additional burdens on the “cold chain” network, which vaccines require to keep
them safe and effective. Electricity shortages and insecurity have particularly
affected the National Vaccine and Sera Institute in Baghdad - the central
storage facility for vaccines for the whole of Iraq. The polio campaign was
nearly delayed when access to the facility was compromised recently due to
increased security measures in the area. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_40773.html
World
Breastfeeding Week - Queen Rania opens Baby Friendly Hospital
Amman, August 29 – Her Majesty
Queen Rania Al Abdullah inaugurated Dr. Jamil Tutounji Hospital in Sahab, a
Baby Friendly Hospital on Wednesday as part of ongoing activities marking World
Breastfeeding Week. This brings the number of Baby Friendly Hospitals in Jordan
to six. “There is nothing more natural,
nothing more instinctive, and nothing more effective than breast-feeding.
Protecting her baby is a mother's first instinct and a mother's milk is the
most powerful vaccine there is against infectious and non-infectious disease.
That is why I am proud of UNICEF's efforts to raise awareness about the
benefits of breastfeeding,” said Her Majesty who is UNICEF’s Eminent Advocate
for Children. Research has shown that
neonatal mortality is reduced by 22 per cent when children are breastfed within
an hour of birth. This is very relevant
to Jordan since 70 per cent of infant deaths are attributed to neo-natal death,
thus reducing the latter will help reduce infant deaths and help Jordan achieve
its Millennium Development Goal 4 on child mortality. (…)
UNICEF support for integrated,
community-based health care includes the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding
and the agency works with partners, governments and communities to support
national infant feeding legislation and improve care before and after birth.
The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, now implemented in 171 countries globally,
is an accreditation process that requires a hospital to reach specific
standards related to the 10 Steps for Successful Breastfeeding. The 10 Steps Initiative includes helping a
mother begin breastfeeding within the first hour of life.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_40756.html
After
Indian court ruling, MSF hands over petition with 420,000 signatures to
Novartis
MSF
asks company not to pursue case
Basel, August 8 - The
international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
delivered a petition with over 420,000 names to Novartis corporate headquarters
in Basel today. Novartis lost a legal challenge against India's patent law on
Monday. (…)
Novartis challenged a
provision in India's Patents Act that makes it more difficult for companies to
receive patents on changes to existing drugs or combinations of drugs, claiming
that this was not compliant with WTO rules and with the Indian constitution.
The court rejected all of Novartis's claims. If the company had won, drug
patents would have likely been granted far more widely in India, restricting
generic competition. (…)
(top)
Rwanda:
renovated spring catchments open in Muhanga
September 6 - Renovation of 23
spring catchments was officially completed today in Muhanga, 70 km south of the
capital Kigali. The opening ceremony was attended by the minister of water and
mines, accompanied by the ICRC head of delegation, the governor of Western
Province, the mayor of Muhanga District, local authorities and people from the
Kiyumba, Kibangu, Nyabinoni and Rongi Sectors.
The ICRC and the Muhanga
District authorities launched the project in September 2006. It has given a
major boost to the living conditions of the 3,200 people living in the area.
"Improving access to clean water and improving sanitation are the key
objectives," said Tobias Epprecht, head of the ICRC delegation in Kigali.
The project has increased total water production capacity to 609 cubic metres
per day, with each spring yielding 26 cubic metres a day. This was a joint
project involving the local community, local authorities and the ICRC.
To ensure sustainable management
and efficient operation of the newly renovated system, the ICRC helped set up
monitoring committees in the four districts, and provided them with technical
and accounting resources.
Earlier this year, the ICRC
opened a water supply project in Kabaya and the organization plans to run five
further projects, covering all four provinces and the city of Kigali. Estimates
are that 63,000 people will benefit.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/rwanda-news-060907
ACDI/VOCA’s
MCA-Armenia water-to-market selects villages for training
August 15 - ACDI/VOCA’s $18.4
million Armenia Water-to-Market Activity (WTM), which is funded through the
Millennium Challenge Account-Armenia (MCA-Armenia), has announced the training
schedule for villages identified to participate in the project.
ACDI/VOCA and its partners
Arcadis Euroconsult and VISTAA Plus implement the WTM to accelerate the
transition of Armenian smallholder farmers to more profitable agricultural
production. This is done by introducing and encouraging best practices in
irrigated agriculture, fostering the adoption of improved water management
techniques, strengthening the post-harvest and processing enterprises linking
producers to their markets and strengthening the capacity of credit providers
to fund viable proposals in production and post-harvest activities. The
training programs within this activity will target 60,000 farmers over a period
of five years.(…)
http://www.acdivoca.org/acdivoca/PortalHub.nsf/ID/news_WTMannouncement8.15.07
ISES Solar World Congress 2007
– Solar Energy and Human Settlement
Beijing,
China, September 18-21
After the Solar World
Congresses 2003 (SWC2003) in Gothenburg, Sweden and 2005 (SWC2005) in Orlando,
USA, and the celebration of the 50th anniversary of ISES in the same year, the
International Solar Energy Society and the Chinese Solar Energy Society warmly
welcome you to the ISES Solar World Congress 2007 (SWC2007) in Beijing, China,
from September 18 to 21.
China with its huge population
and vast area, while in some parts still poverty-stricken and lacking basic
supplies such as water and electricity, is one of world's biggest producers and
consumers of energy. The economic miracle that has set the country on a
trajectory of unheard-of growth puts its energy industry in the difficult
position of having to face both insufficient energy supply and an ever more
ardent need to engage in environmental protection. There is no way out of this
predicament than to change the means of energy production, improve the
efficiency with which energy is used, and adjust the overall energy structure,
especially with a view to further incorporating solar energy and other
renewable energies. Within the frameworks of such a new system of sustainable
development, both economic growth and environmental protection will be
compatible. (…) (Source: Green Cross Italia, www.greencross.it)
http://www.swc2007.cn/english/indexEn.htm
VI
World Wind Energy Conference & Exhibition – 2 - 4 October, Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Argentine Wind Energy
Association (AAEE) and the World Wind Energy Association (WWEA) would like to
welcome you to the VI World Conference and Exposition of Eolic Energy,
organized for the first time in the American Continent. This conference will
unite national and international figures in the political and scientific areas
who will present during the three days of the event new technological advances
and special research techniques.
Argentina, as a result of its
vast wind resources, is in a privileged position with the conditions to install
2,100 eolic MW, 300 of them immediately, for the National Integrated Power Grid
without risking its normal functions on the Atlantic Coast of the Province of
Buenos Aires and other zones in Argentina. A new conference with current
challenges and novel themes of international interest; a contemporary
exposition with cutting edge technologies and updates.
(Source: Green Cross Italia, www.greencross.it) http://www.wwec2007.org.ar/
APEC
countries bolster UN climate change process
Sydney, Australia, September 8
– Leaders of the world's fastest growing economies attending the Asia-Pacific
Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit rejected attempts by Australia and the US to
bypass the United Nations in negotiations to reduce climate damaging emissions,
says WWF.
"The developing country
members of APEC have said clearly that the UN is the place where a new climate
change agreement will be struck,” said Greg Bourne, CEO of WWF-Australia.
"It is clear that Australia, the US, and Canada must commit to real
binding cuts in emissions to enable post-2012 negotiations in Bali to come to a
fruitful conclusion. Those leaders carry the responsibility for taking such
targets to Bali." In December this year, government ministers will meet in
Bali, Indonesia, at a meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate
Change to formally launch negotiations that will conclude in 2009 with an
agreement on new binding, deeper cuts in heat-trapping climate pollution.
"This APEC Summit made
clear that the UN framework is the right place to move towards deeper emission
reductions," said Diane McFadzien, international climate policy expert at
WWF. "The agreement expresses support to the most vulnerable countries to
adapt to climate change, but the financing can be agreed only through an
extension of the Kyoto Protocol."
According to WWF, negotiations
for a binding post-2012 agreement must be launched in Bali to conclude by 2009.
To keep warming well below the dangerous level of 2°C, that agreement will need
to ensure that global emissions peak before 2020, and that industrialized
countries reduce their emissions by at least 30% by 2020 from 1990 levels.
WWF expects leaders attending
a high-level climate change meeting on 24 September at the UN headquarters in
New York to welcome the formal launch of the Bali negotiations.
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=112960
World’s
first sustainable tuna fishery certified in US
San Diego, California, USA,
September 6 – The world’s first certified sustainable tuna fishery was
announced today, a move that could help save one of the world’s most valuable
fish — and the fishing industry that relies on it — from extinction.
The American Albacore Fishing
Association (AAFA) based in San Diego, California, has been officially
certified by the Marine Stewardship Council, an independent standard-setting
organization that ensures fish are caught according to strict methods that
avoid overfishing and bycatch (the unintended capture of other fish, seabirds
and marine mammals).
WWF sponsored the assessment
of the fishery, hailing the move as a hopeful sign for dramatically declining
tuna stocks, fishing livelihoods and food security.
“If we want our grandchildren
to have tuna on their dinner plates and in the sea, sustainable tuna fishing
practices must be adopted,” said Meredith Lopuch, Community Fisheries Programme
Director with WWF-US. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=112700
UN
Launches CDM Bazaar web-portal to serve clean development mechanism
Bonn (Germany), Nairobi
(Kenya) and Roskilde (Denmark), September 5 - The United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) secretariat and the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) announced today the launch of the CDM Bazaar , a
web portal designed to facilitate exchange of information among buyers, sellers
and service providers engaged in the Kyoto Protocol's clean development mechanism
(CDM).
Under the CDM, projects that
reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries and contribute to
sustainable development can earn certified emission reduction (CER) credits.
Countries with a commitment under the Kyoto Protocol buy CERs to cover a
portion of their emission reduction commitments under the Protocol. "The
CDM has seen exponential growth in number of projects, with strong interest in
developing countries for projects and in developed countries for CERs. (…)
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=516&ArticleID=5660&l=en
Pioneering
projects from Brazil, South Africa and Zimbabwe receive environmental
"life-cycle" awards
New
publication on life cycle management released at awards ceremony
Zurich, August 28 - Pioneering
new research to measure the environmental impact of sugar production in South
Africa, newsprint paper production in Zimbabwe and new approaches to assess
impacts on biodiversity in Brazil have been recognized today by a new award
from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). "UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Award" recognises work from
academics and private companies in developing and emerging economies who have
started visionary and innovative projects based on the "cradle to
cradle" or "life cycle approach". The "life cycle
approach" concerns the impacts on the environment of a product's
production, use and disposal. "The growing attention to life cycle issues
is a natural outcome of decades of UNEP work on cleaner production and
ecoefficient industrial systems," said Achim Steiner, Executive Director
of the United Nations Environment Programme. (…)
This year's winners of the new
UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Award include Kevin Harding and the Department of
Chemical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, for their assessment of
sugar production in South Africa, Charles Mbohwa and his team from the
Mechanical Engineering Department in the University of Zimbabwe for its earlier
research on the life-cycle of newsprint paper, and Danielle Maia de Souza and
the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina for their work on adapting
life-cycle approaches to measure the impacts of unsustainable practices on
Brazil's biodiversity. Three other
projects concerned with waste in Taiwan, chocolate production in Ghana, and the
creation of a "Brazilian Centre of Excellence on Life Cycle Thinking"
were recognized as runner-ups. (…) In the new publication, companies such as
Airbus, Nokia and Ford explain how it is possible to expand their business
while minimising the environmental and social burdens along their entire
product life cycles.
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=516&ArticleID=5655&l=en
The Bioneers Conference is a dynamic,
leading-edge forum, focused on practical and visionary solutions for restoring
the Earth’s imperiled ecosystems and healing our human communities.
Founded by Kenny Ausubel in 1990, Bioneers was conceived to conduct
educational and economic development programs in the conservation of biological
and cultural diversity, traditional farming practices, and environmental
restoration.
Our vision of environment encompasses the natural landscape, cultivated
landscape, biodiversity, cultural diversity, watersheds, community economics,
and spirituality. Bioneers seeks to unite nature, culture and spirit in an
Earth-honoring vision, and create economic models founded in social justice.
Restoration addresses the premise that "sustainability" is
problematic in the context of an environment that is already depleted. As Paul
Hawken has noted, sustainability is simply the midpoint between destruction and
restoration. The goal of Bioneers is restoration, addressing the interdependent
array of economics, jobs, ecologies, cultures, and communities.
http://bioneers.org/conference
http://www.wiserearth.org/event/view/c0947c82364410b146616486e74162ce
Towards
green villages: a workshop on how to make villages sustainable
New
Delhi, November 19-23
Why do some villages remain
poor despite execution of development programmes? Why are certain villages
prosperous? Why is the high growth in the Indian economy not translating into
prosperous villages? Why is the gross national produce (GNP) not an indicator
of real wealth? Why will the conventional development model not make villages
poverty-free? Why is the GNP an answer to sustainable villages? How is a
poverty line created? How can the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(NREGA) be used to eradicate poverty?
Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE), New Delhi, announces a five-day refresher workshop on how to
use the environment to eradicate poverty in rural India.
For more than two decades,
CSE’s campaigns and research have shown that India’s poverty is ecological in
nature. This means that to eradicate poverty, we have to regenerate our
ecology. Many villages have done this. CSE has been studying their experiences.
The refresher workshop seeks
to learn from these models and put in place a framework for sustainable
villages. This highly interactive course is designed to clarify the linkages
between environment and poverty, and to demonstrate its feasibility through a
two-day field trip to Laporiya, a village of pastoralists who have collectively
drought-proofed their village and created sustainable livelihoods. In addition
to experienced CSE staff, the course faculty includes eminent development
experts.
http://www.cseindia.org/misc/tgv_november07.htm
Women
and Climate Change
Changing
the Climate: Why Women's Perspectives Matter
It’s clear: climate change is
a serious issue. It will unquestionably affect everyone. But
women are the most vulnerable and the best poised to curb the effects of
climate change. And yet, they have remained invisible in these efforts. WEDO
announces a new fact sheet that draws the links between gender and climate
change and lays out why women need to be at the center of the climate
change debate and policymaking table. (...)
This resource and advocacy
tool is a must-read for anyone committed to making sure women remain a
part of the solution to curbing climate change. Inside you'll find
statistics, case studies of women on the ground, ways to get involved and
resources for action. (...)
“Women must be at the heart of relief efforts and the re-building of shattered communities.”
Noeleen
Heyzer, Executive Director of UN - Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM)
http://www.wedo.org/library.aspx?ResourceID=180
http://www.wedo.org/campaigns.aspx?mode=plantendorsements#gender
International Day of Prayer
for Peace - 2007
WCC member churches worldwide
are once more invited to pray for peace on 21 September 2007 or the closest
Sunday. The International Day of Prayer for Peace offers an opportunity for
church communities in all places to pray and act together to nurture lasting
peace in the hearts of people, their families, communities and societies. The
idea was proposed in 2004 during a meeting between WCC general secretary Rev.
Dr Samuel Kobia and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, and coincides with the UN
International Day of Peace. The Day of Prayer is one of the initiatives of the
WCC's Decade to Overcome Violence. Congregations worldwide are invited to pray
for peace - possibly using the same prayers - in all participating churches on
September 21 or the Sunday preceding it. To read more:
http://overcomingviolence.org/en/about-dov/international-day-of-prayer-for-peace.html
The World Council of Churches
(WCC) is the broadest and most inclusive among the many organized expressions
of the modern ecumenical movement, a movement whose goal is Christian unity.
The WCC brings together more than 340 churches, denominations and church
fellowships in over 100 countries and territories throughout the world,
representing some 550 million Christians and including most of the world's
Orthodox churches, scores of denominations from such historic traditions of the
Protestant Reformation as Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed,
as well as many united and independent churches.
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/index-e.html
This coming 21 September Christians from Congo to
the US, and from Colombia to Switzerland to South Korea will join in prayers
during the International Day of Prayer for Peace.
On that day, women at the
Socopao Limete Presbyterian Church in the Democratic Republic of Congo - a
country where a five-year war has claimed an estimated three million lives -
will meet for fasting and prayer. They will not be alone. The congregation of
the First Christian Church in Shelbyville, Indiana, US, will, too, pray for
peace on that day. In Colombia, the Ecumenical Network and the Evangelical
Council of Colombia are planning to participate in the initiative. So do a
small ecumenical prayer community of sisters in Switzerland and congregations
belonging to the peace fellowship of the Presbyterian Church of the Republic of
Korea.
These are but a few examples
of how Christian communities worldwide are responding to the WCC's invitation
to celebrate an International Day of Prayer for Peace on 21 September or the
Sunday preceding or following it.
For 2007, the WCC office for
the Decade to Overcome Violence (DOV) has made available prayer and liturgical resources developed in the
context of this year's DOV focus on Europe and its theme "Make me an
instrument of your peace". (...)
Religious leaders unite in
prayer on climate change
Greenland,
September 7 - Religious leaders united in a silent "prayer for the
planet" alongside a retreating Greenland glacier on Friday as part of a
widening spiritual drive to combat climate change. "In our small world we all need to struggle together,"
said Sofie Petersen, the bishop of Greenland, of the meeting of Muslims, Jews,
Buddhists and Christians aboard a cruise ship amid icebergs near Illulisat on
the west coast. (...)
Patriarch
Bartholomew, spiritual head of the world's Orthodox Christians, led a
two-minute silent prayer aboard the cruise ship in the iceberg-clogged fjord
during a symposium he is leading called "The Arctic: Mirror of Life".
(...) "This prayer is a recognition that we have spoiled the earth and we
now need to rectify this by changing our lifestyles," said Musharraf Hussein,
a British Muslim leader. "We seek the help of our creator to acquire the
strength and ability to make the necessary changes." (...). During the
prayer, which ended with singing by an Inuit choir, the loudest sound was the
lapping of water on icebergs in the fjord, participants said. (...)
http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkID=83796
Spirit
& Nature - Spiritual resources for sustainable living
Santa
Barbara (CA), September 14-16
“Spirit & Nature - Spiritual Resources for
Sustainable Living” will be held with the La Casa de Maria retreat center in
Santa Barbara, California. It is being presented by the
Spiritual Paths Institute along with Community Environmental Council (CEC), the
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI), La Casa de Maria, the Fielding Graduate
Institute, the Santa Barbara Interfaith Initiative, and the Santa Barbara
Ecological Education Association. The retreat will bring together environmental
activists, spiritual teachers, local clergy, educators, and the general public
to share the spiritual insights and practices that can provide a foundation for
environmentally sustainable ways of living.
Spiritual traditions will include Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism,
Islam, Judaism, and Native American. The program will provide a new lens
through which participants look at their work and help build new constituencies
for the environmental movement. This program is one of an ongoing series
of programs on the application of
spiritual values and experiences to the critical issues of our times. (...) This program will help create a
deeper sense of community, nurture those who are on the “front lines” of
environmental activism, and create new partnerships and alliances.
http://www.spiritualpaths.net/sitepages/pid1773.php
Studying for a
Unity-and-Diversity Ministry
August, Los Angeles, USA - For
the first time in human history, democracy is entering into the realm of
religion and showing itself as a way of life that includes diversity of faith
and the need for mutual respect between the religions of the world, as well as
between all aspects of life. (…) In
every community on earth, the spirit of democracy calls for a
unity-and-diversity center that gives visibility to the world’s religions and
spiritual movements, showing how each faith offers some aspect of the moral and
spiritual heritage of the human race.
(…)
To develop this new kind of
faith, a well-trained ministry is a necessary element. These ministers-in-training will study all
religions, as well as the relation of religion and science. It will help its candidates to explore all
areas of life in the search for unities and universals, as well as to develop
an appreciation for the uniqueness of each faith and each dimension of
life. Symbolically, this ministry and
these unity-and-diversity centers will stand at the center of community, being
a gathering place for people of all faiths and cultures.
As the various other faiths serve their particular congregations
with their important teachings and practices, the role of the
unity-and-diversity minister will be to help provide the openness and place of
understanding within which the universal community can come together and build
bridges that will sustain the global civilization and the quest for peace,
justice, and environmental sustainability for all peoples and all life.
If you are interested in
studying for this unique kind of ministry, you are invited to contact the
Unity-and-Diversity Fellowship and apply for its training program. It is possible to pursue this ministry
through classes in the Los Angeles area or online around the world.
Trascend: 11 Days of Global Unity
- September 11-21
We,
The World - Making A Difference For Life
“11 Days” is an annual promotion of peace, justice and environmental
stewardship that communities and organizations take part in around the world.
It culminates on September 21st, the U.N.
International Day of Peace (...)
“11 Days”
now annually includes more than 500 concerts, festivals, webcasts, and
many other activities, in over 60 countries around the world. By
combining artistic presentations, inspiration, consciousness-raising and
taking action, “11 Days”
embodies our strategy of Inspire,
Inform and Involve for moving humanity off the path of catastrophe and
towards creating a world that works for all.
http://www.wetheworld.org/wtw2/index.php4
http://www.wetheworld.org/11days2007/About%20We,%20The%20World.html
Culture
of Peace, Education, Arts - Sponsored by KIK Kulturel-Information-Koordination
Cosponsored
by The Ribbon International, Fundación Culture de Paz, Coalition for Peace
Action, and Communication Coordination Committee for the UN
New York, September 7 – In the
framework of the 60th UNDPI-NGO Conference, this workshop focussed
on how education and the arts can foster movement toward a culture of peace and
away from a culture of war by moulding lifestyles and mindsets to accommodate
the facts of climate change. War is destruction of life. UN-NGO partnerships
can create action plans to address climate change through cultural dialogue. In
the past NGOs have contributed to innovative solutions that once seemed distant
possibilities. Civil society should likewise foster a more democratic and
culturally-enriched world to address the issues brought about by war and by
climate change.
KIK was founded in Copenhagen
1980 at the second UN Women Conference. “Our Climate Change Project will
promote art and culture events (…) We
will focus on, how through education and the arts, we can bring awareness for a
culture of peace from a culture of war. We will look at how we best educate
people to use the principles of the Earth Charter for a well integrated focus on
ecology, social and economic justice and peace as we work together in building
a sustainable future.” KIK-Kuturel-Information-Koordination, Annelise Jarvis Hansen.
KIK@EVENTS.DK WWW.KIK-EVENTS.DK
UN commends Jordan for
educating Iraqi school children
Jordan, August 21 - With the new school year kicking off on Sunday in Jordan, the United
Nations refugee agency today praised the country for opening the doors of its
local schools to tens of thousands of Iraqi children who have fled war in their
homeland.
There are currently 750,000 Iraqi refugees - half are believed to be
children - living in Jordan, most of them having fled their homeland following
the outbreak of violence in 2003.
Until now, Iraqi children uprooted in Jordan could not receive
educations unless their parents had residency permits or paid fees. (...)
Iraqis will have until 15 September to take part in the registration
process, and the Jordanian Ministry of Education has said it believes at least
50,000 Iraqi children will enrol in schools nationwide.
Iraqi children will follow the same curricula as Jordanian students and
have access to the same school facilities. The programme is slated to include
primary, secondary and vocational training as well as non-formal education
where applicable. (...)
Late last month, UNHCR and the UN Children’s Fund joined together to
launch a $129 million education appeal to send 155,000 Iraqi refugee children
to school in Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon. The funds would be used to
provide prefab classrooms and buildings, upgrading water and sanitation in
schools and building new schools and additional classrooms. (...)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=23563&Cr=iraq&Cr1=
2007 Monterrey World Forum of
Cultures endorses the Earth Charter
Monterrey, August 15 - The organizers of the
Monterrey World Forum of Cultures 2007 endorsed the Earth Charter in a ceremony
on 3 July 2007. At this ceremony, leaders signed a commitment to use the Earth
Charter as a guide and ethical framework to decisions, in the development of
plans and policies, and as an educational guide. Othon Ruiz Montemayor, President
of the Council of the World Forum of Cultures, committed to promoting the Earth
Charter through various events during the three months of forum activities, and
in the framework of the National Earth Charter Meeting in Mexico, planned for
11 and 12 October 2007.
The ceremony was held in the Forum press room in
Cintermex. Participants included Fundación Monterrey; Othón Ruiz, President of
the Council of the Forum; Jorge Ángel Díaz, Director of Dialogues; and
Eliseo Garza Salinas, Director of Exhibitions. Representing the Earth
Charter were Mateo Castillo Ceja of the Earth Charter Council and Ministry of
Environment of Mexico, and Abelardo Brenes. Enrique Leff of the United Nations
Environment Programme, and Alberto Garza Santos, President of Fundación Mundo
Sustentable, also joined the ceremony.
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/
Transcend Peace University
(TPU)
The world's first on-line
peace university
TPU October Semester 2007
school features 22 online intensive courses, related to various spheres of
Peace studies, including a specialized Expert online course "Advanced course on Peaceful Conflict
Transformation - the TRANSCEND method", designed specifically for
middle to senior level experts and mediators. Start date: October 1st, 2007. End date: December 21st, 2007.
Applications are received until September 21st, 2007!
http://www.transcend.org/ http://www.transcend.org/tpu/index.shtml
The University of Washington Program
on Climate Change (PCC)
has established a successful framework to promote interaction and collaboration
among faculty and graduate students from a wide range of disciplines who share
an interest in climate science research. The Graduate Climate Conference (GCC)
extends this collaborative model, to provide a forum for graduate students
studying climate at institutions across the country.
The 2007 Graduate Student Conference (GCC) will bring together
approximately 60 graduate students for a three-day event. Through student
presentations, poster sessions and informal interactions, the conference aims
to provide a forum for discussion between graduate students in climate sciences
from a multitude of disciplines, including earth, atmospheric, biological, and
ocean sciences. The conference will allow students to take the lead in
presentations, moderation, and discussion in a conference early in their
scientific careers.
http://depts.washington.edu/uwpcc/ourprog/GradConf_2007.html
International
Peace Day Celebration: “Educating for Peace in Difficult Times”
Brazil,
Auditorium of the São Paulo Art Museum , September 21 at 7 pm
Education is a process that
always presents difficulties and problems, but certainly this necessary and
attractive task becomes even more important in the difficult and uncertain
times in which we live. Factors inherent to the educational process (as clashes
of values within or between the different segments of the educational
community), or external to it (such as social and cultural diversity, nihilist
relativism, loss of values, consumerism, social exclusion, urban insecurity)
are the obstacles we must face. (…) We
must strive to achieve a deep understanding of these obstacles in order to
challenge them ethically and educationally, constantly looking for the truth.
It must also be very clear that tolerant and ambiguous positions cannot not be
held in the face of violence, and less so in educational institutions. (…)
During this forum, which
celebrates the International Peace Day, we will launch the book Educating for
Peace in Difficult Times, by Prof. Dr. Xesús R. Jares, published by Palas
Athena Publishing House. -- Organized
by the São Paulo Culture of Peace Decade Committee
www.comitepaz.org.br - www.palasathena.org.br
UNESCO
Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007
This fifth edition of the EFA
Global Monitoring Report assesses progress towards the first EFA goal, which
calls upon countries to expand and improve comprehensive early childhood care
and education, especially for the most disadvantaged children. Such
interventions are crucial to improving children's present well-being and future
development. (...)
As the lead agency for
coordinating EFA, UNESCO carries a particular responsibility for placing EFA at
the forefront of national and international agendas. There are promising signs:
aid to basic education is increasing (...).
The findings of the 2007 EFA
Global Monitoring Report remind us there is no place for complacency. We have a
collective responsibility to ensure quality education for all, a responsibility
that begins by providing strong foundations for children in the first years of
life and continues through adulthood. Only by taking a comprehensive approach
that encompasses all the EFA goals and society's most fragile and vulnerable
members can this mission be honoured.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001477/147794E.pdf
Life-Link
Friendship-Schools Programme
A
choice among more than 50 concrete care and peace actions/projects that will
benefit your schools International Curriculum and promote a Global Classroom at
low price.
501 schools in 74 countries
(as of March 2007) profit from the peace education programme: ”Youth Caring and
Sharing Peace Actions at Schools World-Wide”. UNESCO now introduces the
Life-Link Friendship-Schools peace education program in schools in Arabic
countries. 50 UNESCO ASP schools in Lebanon, Iraq, Oman, Jordan,
Palestine, Egypt and 50 Life-Link
schools worldwide will join a first pilot
project Oct 07 - March 08, all performing two Life-Link Care Actions at
the schools: 1. Culture for Peace through Life-Link Care Actions, 2. Water for Life.
The Life-Link programme has
two interrelated parts:
1. Peace Actions (projects,
lectures). Youth, age preferably 12-19, in co-operation with teachers, and if
possible also parents and community resource people involved, perform one or
several ”2 hours” or part-day peace
actions as proposed in the Life-Link Manual.
2. School-Linking or
Partner-Schools collaboration. When your school and your performed action/s are
reported and listed on www.life-link.org in practice: Schools&Actions, you
can study if other schools in the world have performed similar peace action/s.
Search on the specific peace action/s of your interest such as Tree planting
(action 3:06) or Community Service (action 2:12). Your class/club/school might
be interested to contact other school/s in order to exchange protocols and
experiences on your specific peace actions of interest.
Life-Link Friendship-Schools
is an independent Non Governmental Organisation which aims to promote contact
and cooperation between young people around the world and their schools,
through active participation in shared projects, vital for our time (e.g.
Environment, Human Rights, Conflict Resolution and Constructive Collaboration).
The Life-Link philosophy is based on Natural and Social sciences and is neither
politically nor religiously aligned.
* * * * * * *
Editorial:
60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference, United Nations, New York, 5-7 September 2007
Climate Change:
How It Impacts US All
Lesley
Vann, Good News Agency Publisher’s Representative to the UNDPI
This 60th Annual DPI/NGO Conference reviewed scientific evidence on climate change, including its
consequences affecting indigenous peoples, water security, land use and the
politics of energy. The Conference highlighted efforts to reverse global
warming begun over a decade ago, when the majority of UN Member States passed
the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As the UN
has announced, this year’s Conference emphasised the facilitation of individual
action plans addressing climate change and its profound planetary impact. The
world is now equipped with a vast body of information, scientific, social and
political -- all pointing to the potential devastation of our planet. This
Conference addressed solutions, helping civil society consider best practices
for implementation. The goal of this
Conference was to build civil society’s knowledge of climate change into the
viable habits of everyday practice that ensure a better future; and to evoke
hope in the tremendous possibilities offered by civil society working in partnership with stakeholders
from all sectors.
More than 2,500 civil
society partners from 90 countries attended this Conference. United Nations,
government and NGO representatives as well as other experts made presentations
at plenaries, roundtables and mid-day workshops to review the latest scientific
evidence on climate change, including its impact. According to experts,
devastation can be avoided by acting swiftly and decisively at every level of
the decision-making process. The Conference highlighted interconnections
between climate change and other Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
Sustainable improvements in the environment are linked with root causes of
poverty and illiteracy. The international community’s ability to meet the MDGs
will continue to be challenged unless governments, civil society and international
organisations take action now.
The need to take
decisive action to curb and reduce the devastating effects of climate change is
now clear. The knowledge gained at this Conference is intended by the UN to
assist civil society in disseminating information, not just to agencies and
governments, but also to friends and neighbours – the ultimate fabric of civic
culture. The information received can help educate communities regarding the
importance of reducing carbon emissions, the necessity of encouraging conservation
and the search for energy-efficient alternative fuel sources. Contacts made
will equip NGOs with the skills to form effective partnerships and create those
viable action plans to carry their efforts forward. As the United Nations
reminds us daily – we are global citizens, and for the sake of generations to
come, we have the responsibility to harness concrete solutions, implementing
effective, meaningful measures. There is still time during this crucial period
to influence the present and plan for a safer and more sustainable future. As a
united front, civil society can create the historic “tipping point” needed to
transform our global emergency into a profound global opportunity for
effective, collective and collaborative action.
As the United Nations
has publicised, the Conference made possible a unique environment for dialogue
among civil society and international civil servants, UN experts, and leaders
from government and industry. Citing clear evidence that global warming was
real, mostly generated by humankind, and holding the potential to devastate our
planet, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said that tackling climate
change required a truly global effort that drew together governments, the
private sector and civil society in “one sustained push for change”. While
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had identified climate change as one of his top
priorities, “we also understand that this is not a challenge for the UN alone”,
said Ms. Migiro. The ramifications of how global warming will be addressed
carry grave implications for the future. She said this challenge presented a
remarkable opportunity to implement a new sustainable development process,
promote cleaner business, industries and jobs, make better and wiser use of
limited natural resources, and re-invest in depleted natural capital.
Those changes would not prove painless, but their discomfort was far outweighed
by the cost of not acting, she said, noting the Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change had suggested, “it will not cost us the moon to save the Earth”.
As little as 0.1% of global gross domestic product (GDP) might be needed
annually for the next three decades, “if we start to act now”.
In a keynote
address, Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), said 2007 was proving to be a pivotal year, and that people
of the world, galvanised by the Intergovernmental Panel’s reports, had finally
begun to ask their governments and leaders: “What are you doing about
this problem?” Moreover civil society had escalated its already active
involvement. The UN in tandem with civil society has picked up the
science on climate change and moved the discussion into the government arena,
establishing the UNFCCC. Achim Steiner noted that UNEP had set up the
Intergovernmental Panel of some 2,000 renowned scientists who had turned a
hotly contested ideological concept into a universally accepted basis for
action in 2007. “That is the (wrongly maligned) United Nations at work,”
he said. This Conference underscored the reality of the urgent call to
collective action resounding from the halls of the UN, governments and civil
society organisations worldwide. And the challenge to take another major step
forward would be again on the table of world leaders this December in
Bali.
General Assembly
President Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said that a comprehensive global
response to the climate change threat must be pursued within the rubric of the
international development agenda. It also required “a radical change of
behaviour and consciousness”. She said, “the United Nations is an
intergovernmental organisation, but it draws its strength and inspiration from
the support of civil society worldwide,” she said.
After the above
opening statements, several NGO representatives took the floor, including
Sister Joan Kirby, Chair, NGO/DPI Executive Committee, who said that “the tide
is turning and political leaders are responding here and around the
world”. She stated her hope that Conference participants would be
transformed into “conservers rather than users of the Earth”, and leave knowing
what they could do to respond to the challenge, equipped with the practical
tools to do so.
Renate Bloem,
President of the Geneva-based Conference of NGOs, urged NGOs to exert their
“soft power” to persuade governments to set goals to drastically reduce CO2
emissions. On an operational level, climate change should become an issue
for all NGOs. Climate change was not just an environmental issue, but also an
economic one -– an issue of food security, refugees and human rights and
development -- particularly since it had a disproportionate effect on the lives
of the poor.
Richard Jordan,
Conference Chair and Co-Chair of its Planning Committee, and representative of
the International Council for Caring Communities, urged participants to pause
for these three days and consider reasons for any lack of progress. He said this civil society Conference would
produce a Declaration, which he hoped would be a consensus document -- providing
a greater understanding of climate change and its impact, including a call to
action.
The Collective
Voice of Civil Society
Consensus
hallmarks this civil society Declaration.
The collective voice of civil society is being heard increasingly within
the halls of the United Nations – via this Conference, the Declaration that
will emerge, the dialogues and initiatives underway, and the UN’s growing
commitment to include NGOs as partners.
The MDGs in tandem
with emerging climate change initiatives are key areas for cooperation between
civil society and the UN System. These dialogues and global goals are evident
in the Conference themes and sessions. Conference participants attended
numerous multi-stakeholder roundtables.
Topics included “Climate Change: The Scientific Evidence; Indigenous
Peoples, Culture and Traditional Knowledge; Water Security; Coping with Climate
Change: Best Land Use Practices; The Economics and Politics of Energy and
Climate Change.” In addition to these roundtables, participants engaged in
similar Mid-day workshops. Over thirty student intern rapporteurs will
summarise workshop proceedings for the final Conference report.
Leverage,
accountability and solutions were emphasised. In addition to fundamental
climate stabilisation, this Conference identified leverage points for
equilibrating the planet, while transforming and evolving our organisations,
communities, and global civil society.
The Conference made clear that global commitment must emerge from
evidence of the gravity of climate change; and that civil society is operating interdependently with government, Member
States and the UN System. Thus civil society is influencing government
attitudes and planetary outcomes. With
increasing momentum, civil society, governments and the United Nations System
stand poised for collective action on behalf of the common good.
References and Sources:
http://www.un.org/webcast/ United
Nations Webcast, managed by Department of Public Information (DPI), features
the latest multimedia technologies, from live video streaming to audio packages
to searchable archives of meetings, briefings and special events taking place
within the United Nations. The site is updated continuously throughout the day
to maximise audience satisfaction. The UN’s DPI/NGO Executive Committee and its
Conference Planning Committee have made available this Conference to those in
attendance and to all who wish to watch its archived webcasts.
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