In spite of everything, a culture of peace is emerging in all fields of human endeavour
monthly, year 18th, no. 270 – 13th July 2018
Good News Agency carries positive and constructive news from all over the world relating to voluntary work, the work of the United Nations, non governmental organizations and institutions engaged in improving the quality of life – news that doesn’t “burn out” in the space of a day. It is distributed free of charge through Internet to media and editorial journalists, NGOs, service associations and high schools and colleges around the world.
It is an all-volunteer service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, an educational charity associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information It is a supporter of the Global Movement for the Culture of Peace. In the final report of the Decade for a Culture of Peace project (2001-2010) provided to the UN Secretary-General for presentation to the UN General Assembly, Good News Agency is included among the three NGOs that have been playing an active role in the field of Information through Internet.*
International legislation – Human rights – Economy and development – Solidarity
Peace and security – Health – Energy and Safety – Environment and wildlife
Religion and spirituality – Culture and education
Dear friends and readers of Good News Agency, starting from this publication we intend to mark for some news their special relationship with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set in the UN Agenda 2030.
The United Kingdom ratified the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse
20 June 20- This Convention is the first instrument to establish the various forms of sexual abuse of children as criminal offences, including such abuse committed in the home or family, with the use of force, coercion or threats. Preventive measures outlined in the Convention include the screening, recruitment and training of people working in contact with children, making children aware of the risks and teaching them to protect themselves, as well as monitoring measures for offenders and potential offenders. The Convention also establishes programmes to support victims, encourages people to report suspected sexual exploitation and abuse, and sets up telephone and internet helplines for children. It also ensures that certain types of conduct are classified as criminal offences, such as engaging in sexual activities with a child below the legal age and child prostitution and pornography. The Convention also criminalises the solicitation of children for sexual purposes ("grooming") and "sex tourism". With the aim of combating child sex tourism, the Convention establishes that individuals can be prosecuted for some offences even when the act is committed abroad. The new legal tool also ensures that child victims are protected during judicial proceedings, for example with regard to their identity and privacy.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/201
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
Parliament approves €500 million for schooling of refugee children in Turkey
04-07-2018 - MEPs said yes to continuing to pay the salaries of over 5,000 teachers, who so far have provided education to over 300,000 refugee children in Turkey. A draft amending budget was approved by Parliament on Wednesday to cover the first payment – €500 million, in addition to €50 million already earmarked in the Humanitarian Aid budget for this purpose – of a €3 billion extension of the Facility for Refugees in Turkey (FRT), in order to ensure that refugee children’s education can continue without being interrupted.
Morocco acceded to the Convention on Cybercrime
29 June 2018 - The Convention is the first international treaty on crimes committed via the Internet and other computer networks, dealing particularly with infringements of copyright, computer-related fraud, child pornography and violations of network security. It also contains a series of powers and procedures such as the search of computer networks and interception. Its main objective, set out in the preamble, is to pursue a common criminal policy aimed at the protection of society against cybercrime, especially by adopting appropriate legislation and fostering international co-operation.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/185
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
The European Union approved the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism
26 June 2018 - The Council of Europe has adopted this Convention to increase the effectiveness of existing international texts on the fight against terrorism. It aims to strengthen member States’ efforts to prevent terrorism in two different ways:
- by establishing as criminal offences certain acts that may lead to the commission of terrorist offences, namely: public provocation, recruitment and training
- by reinforcing co-operation on prevention both internally (national prevention policies), and internationally (modification of existing extradition and mutual assistance arrangements and additional means).
The Convention contains a provision on the protection and compensation of victims of terrorism. A consultation process is planned to ensure effective implementation and follow up.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/196
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
Canada ratified the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region
13 June 2018 - The Convention has been jointly drafted by the Council of Europe and UNESCO. It is designed to streamline the legal framework at European level and to replace in the long run six conventions adopted in this matter by the Council of Europe or UNESCO. The Convention aims to facilitate the recognition of qualifications granted in one Party in another Party. It provides that requests should be assessed in a fair manner and within a reasonable time. The recognition can only be refused if the qualification is substantially different from that of the host country - and the onus is on its educational institution to prove that it is. Each State, the Holy See or the European Union inform either depository of the Convention of the authorities which are competent to make different categories of decisions in recognition cases. Two bodies, namely the Committee of the Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education in the European Region and the European Network of National Information Centres on Academic Mobility and Recognition (the ENIC Network) are to oversee, promote and facilitate the implementation of the Convention. The Committee is responsible for promoting the application of the Convention and overseeing its implementation. To this end, it can adopt, by a majority of the Parties, recommendations, declarations, protocols and models of good practice to guide the competent authorities of the Parties. Before making its decisions, the Committee seeks the opinion of the ENIC Network.
https://www.coe.int/en/web/conventions/full-list/-/conventions/treaty/165
Clothing Brands need to step up and keep women safe in their factories
5 July 2018 - In a recent survey of experts, countries were ranked according to how safe they are for women. India came out as the most dangerous, followed by Afghanistan and Syria. Leaving aside the survey’s obvious challenges – including its attempt to use six measures to compare 10 very different countries – it paints a dire picture for women’s safety in the world. One area in which women everywhere face discrimination, inequality, harassment or violence in their everyday lives is in their workplace. Governments and corporations must contend with how to keep women safe when they are working. Globally, the #MeToo and #TimesUp movements have forced many companies to revisit their gender pay gap and anti-harassment policies. The momentum has spurred discussions for a new international labor standard that squarely addresses violence and harassment in the workplace.
https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/07/05/clothing-brands-need-step-and-keep-women-safe-their-factories//
News related with SDGs number 5-Gender Equality
Human Rights Council of Sierra Leone Establishes Human Rights Clubs In Schools
3 July 2018 - The Human Right Commission of Sierra Leone (HRC-S/L) with support from UNDP has on Thursday 7th June 2018, launched the Human Right and Peace Clubs in secondary schools on the Theme “Building a Center of Human Right in Schools” at the Conference Hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Tower Hill in Freetown. The purpose of the launching program is to strengthen clauses of human rights commission geared towards the New Direction in promoting education within the aspect of Human Right at schools.
http://cpnn-world.org/new/?p=13133//
Save the Children responds in solidarity and support of children at the U.S.-Mexico border
Nonprofit takes urgent action to protect migrant children and families fleeing violence in Central America
29 June 2018 Fairfield, Connecticut – Save the Children was founded in 1919 on the pioneering belief that every last child has the right to survive, learn and be protected. Today, we continue this work, advocating for children facing inhumane treatment and irreparable harm at the U.S.-Mexico border. Through all of the complexities of this crisis, one thing is clear and simple: we can and must do more to protect children and keep families together. In response to this crisis, Save the Children is announcing new and expanded efforts to support vulnerable children, including supporting programs here in the United States, strengthening family reunification efforts, programming to address root causes in Latin America and continuing to speak out against policies that are harmful to children. “Children and their families are fleeing unspeakable violence in their home countries and face a long and dangerous journey to the U.S. border, with the hope of a better life. No child should live with this kind of fear, with so little hope for the future,” said Carolyn Miles, President & CEO of Save the Children. “Simply put, our children deserve better.”
News related with SDGs number16-Peace,Justice and strong Institution
MoU may be good model on genocide reparations
22 June 2018 - Last week, the Ovaherero and Ovambanderu Council for Dialogue, 1904-1908, and the Botswana Society for Nama, Herero and Mbanderu signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The outstanding and striking aspect about this MoU is that descendants of genocide from Botswana are now activated as equals. “The parties…. agree to develop cooperation on the basis of equality, mutual cooperation and mutual benefit”, reads the second objective of the MoU. This means genocide descendants from Botswana are going to represent themselves and/or by their own leaders and on their own terms. Safe that the MoU is clear that this would be in the areas of cooperation between the two peoples. One needs to emphasise “peoples”, meaning genocide descendants from the two respective countries as opposed to cooperation with the Namibian or Botswana. This is a MoU the two governments have as yet to digest, and subsequently take a position on. Indeed from this understanding and perspective, this is a groundbreaking initiative that only but the most malicious doomsayers on reparations and/or restorative justice can scorn or oppose. This MoU indeed signals unity between and among descendants from within Namibia and in Botswana. Such has been long overdue and illusive. This is because those at the helm of the genocide movement have been overlooking the essence of constructive unity with their kinspeople in the Diaspora, despite claiming at every opportunity that reparations are for all and sundry.
https://www.newera.com.na/2018/06/22/mou-may-be-good-model-on-genocide-reparations/
News related with SDGs number 10-Reduced inequalities
Africa: 'Locally Rooted, Globally Connected - The Strength of Masimanyane' -
13 June 2018 - Masimanyane Women's Rights International, working on the continent, has been granted more than a million dollars in funds for their work in ending violence against women and girls. The organisation's rural network and strong footprint in the most marginalised communities has provided social support services to more than 135,000 women and girls who have survived rape, domestic violence and other forms of sexual assault. "Masimanyane Women's Rights International is honoured to be included by the Novo Foundation in their Radical Hope grant. We are proud to be one of only 19 organisations to be awarded this grant globally, and one of only four in Africa. This is a huge acknowledgement of the work that Masimanyane does in Africa, and beyond. Our strength lies in the fact that we are locally rooted, and globally connected. We look forward to growing a movement to end violence against women and girls," says Dr Lesley Ann Foster, Executive Director of Masimanyane Women’s Rights International. The group was successful in their application to the Radical Hope Fund from NoVo Foundation, which grants 19 organisations from among 1,000 "doing bold and transformative social justice work in the United States and around the world".
https://allafrica.com/stories/201806130646.html
News related with SDGs number 5-Gender Equality
Ecuadorian politician and poet becomes fourth woman to preside over UN General Assembly
5 June 2018 - The United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday elected Ecuadorean Foreign Minister María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, President of its upcoming 73rd session; only the fourth woman to hold that position in the history of the world body, and the first since 2006. She was the first woman to be named Permanent Representative of Ecuador in New York, after having served as Ambassador in Geneva.
https://news.un.org/en/story/2018/06/1011431
News related with SDGs number 5-Gender Equality
California - A public bank for Los Angeles? City Council puts it to the voters
California legislators exploring the public bank option may be breaking not just from Wall Street but from the Federal Reserve.
4 July 2018 - Voters in Los Angeles will be the first in the country to weigh in on a public banking mandate, after the City Council agreed on June 29th to put a measure on the November ballot that would allow the city to form its own bank. The charter for the nation’s second-largest city currently prohibits the creation of industrial or commercial enterprises by the city without voter approval. The measure, introduced by City Council President Herb Wesson, would allow the city to create a public bank, although state and federal law hurdles would still need to be cleared. The bank is expected to save the city millions, if not billions, of dollars in Wall Street fees and interest paid to bondholders, while injecting new money into the local economy, generating jobs and expanding the tax base. It could respond to the needs of its residents by reinvesting in low-income housing, critical infrastructure projects, and clean energy, as well as serving as a depository for the cannabis industry. The push for a publicly-owned bank comes amid ongoing concerns involving the massive amounts of cash generated by the cannabis business, which was legalized by Proposition 64 in 2016.
http://www.ethicalmarkets.com/a-public-bank-for-los-angeles-city-council-puts-it-to-the-voters/
News related with SDGs number 11-Sustainable cities and communities
FAO and UNESCO redouble efforts to achieve Sustainable Development Goals
New agreement on closer collaboration aims to accelerate progress on Agenda 2030
4 July 2018, Paris - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) have renewed their partnership to boost efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, including the goal of Zero Hunger. FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva and UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay today signed a new Memorandum of Understanding in Paris. Under the partnership, FAO and UNESCO have agreed to support the development of learning modules, teaching aids and practical sessions for agricultural secondary schools, universities and farmer field schools on food security and sustainable food systems. The agencies will also explore opportunities for nutrition education and healthy nutrition in schools. This builds on the joint work already being carried out in South Sudan's cattle camps, where literacy and numeracy training by UNESCO is incorporated into FAO's Pastoral Field School approach. This means young people can access a formal school curriculum as well as topics on livestock management and livelihoods' diversification. FAO and UNESCO will also develop a joint knowledge-sharing platform on the nexus between food, culture and peace, and develop special education projects in poor, rural conflict-affected areas. The two agencies in cooperation with international organizations, governments and large youth organizations will develop a global platform for young people to become champions of the SDGs in their local communities, and an international award will honour outstanding contributions. FAO will also continue work on the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems, and build on the existing cooperation with UNESCO's World Heritage Systems.
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1143982/icode/
News related with SDGs number 2- Zero Hunger
IFAD and GEF: Working together to boost the development dividend
25 June 2018, Da Nang, Viet Nam – By balancing higher yields and incomes with healthy ecosystems, a new report shows how the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), are benefiting millions of rural people in developing countries. The report, The IFAD-GEF Advantage II: partnering for a sustainable world, is being released today at the Sixth GEF Assembly. According to the report’s findings, IFAD currently facilitates access for governments to GEF funding in 24 countries, amounting to 32 GEF-funded projects with climate change as the dominant focal area, and utilising a budget of approximately US$161 million. An example of the synergies referenced in the report is found in Viet Nam, where an IFAD-GEF-Government partnership encouraged local communities to collaborate in devising payments for ecosystems services that offer them clear benefits and also contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. The report found that IFAD often amplified global environmental benefits flowing from GEF grants by adding its own financing, which increased impact and sustainability. For example, in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam, an IFAD grant designed to discourage local farmers from burning vegetation after harvesting or clearing land is building on an initial GEF project to protect peatlands.
https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/news-detail/asset/40339013
News related with SDGs number 13 –Climate action
Development of Kenya’s aquaculture sector could reduce rural poverty and tackle chronic malnutrition and food insecurity
22 June 2018, Rome– More than 35,000 rural households in Kenya will soon be eating better and earning more money thanks to a new financial agreement signed today by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Republic of Kenya in support of the country’s aquaculture sector. With some 10 million Kenyans suffering from chronic food insecurity and poor nutrition, the new agreement provides financial support to the Aquaculture Business Development Programme and related activities designed to promote fish production in an economically and environmentally sustainable manner in 15 target counties. The programme’s goals are to assist thousands of smallholder farmers in becoming profitable fish producers or village-level providers of support services within value chains in counties that already have aquaculture-related infrastructure, adequate water resources, marketing potential, and high poverty rates. The proposed approach blends public- and private-sector investments in the aquaculture value chain with community-wide initiatives that promote good nutrition and food security through education and better access to affordable foods. Since 1979, IFAD has financed 18 rural development programmes and projects in Kenya:these projects have directly benefitted more than 4.3 million rural households.
https://www.ifad.org/en/web/latest/news-detail/asset/40339050
News related with SDGs number 1-No poverty and number 14- Life below water
New programme to boost soil productivity and reduce soil degradation in Africa
Afrisoils launched on the margins of Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly
13 June 2018, Rome - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and its Global Soil Partnership launched today a new programme to boost soil productivity and reduce soil degradation for greater food and nutrition security in Africa. The Afrisoils programme aims to increase soil productivity in 47 African countries by 30%, and reduce soil degradation by 25% in the next ten years. Africa is the second driest continent, with nearly half of its surface made up of desert, and 40% of it affected by desertification. About 65% of the continent's farm land is affected by erosion-induced losses of topsoil and soil nutrients. If soils are severely damaged or lost, they are very difficult and costly to restore and rehabilitate. Faced with these challenges, despite progress in improving agriculture, Africa as a whole remains largely food insecure, directly affecting 70% of its population who rely on the little available land to grow food and make a living. The Global Soil Partnership Plenary Assembly (PA) is the main venue where all GSP partners come together to make important decisions about the global soil agenda. From land users through to policy makers, one of the key objectives of the GSP is to improve the governance and promote sustainable management of soils.
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1140216/icode/
News related with SDGs number 15-Life on land
Rotary and Ashoka collaborate to improve communities globally
1 June 2018 Evanston, Illinois — Rotary and Ashoka announced a new partnership that will promote opportunities for networking and collaboration between Rotary entities and Ashoka in countries around the world where they both have a presence and where collaboration is necessary to help address critical social and economic challenges. The collaboration may include Rotary members support of Ashoka fellows social entrepreneurship endeavors, development and implementation of Rotary Club or district sponsored projects and training or knowledge exchange between Ashoka Fellows and Rotary members with relevant expertise or country knowledge. During the one-year partnership pilot, Ashoka fellows may also help Rotary members develop innovative ideas to enhance Rotary club projects. Rotary members may, in turn, introduce Ashoka fellows to pivotal community members and provide support for social ventures through hands-on volunteerism and community empowerment. Rotary members develop and implement sustainable projects that fight disease, promote peace, provide clean water, support education, save mothers and children and grow local economies. Ashoka joins a list of Rotary service partners including, Habitat for Humanity the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, and the Peace Corps. (…)
https://www.rotary.org/en/press-release-rotary-partners-ashoka
News related with SDGs number 8-Decent work and economic growth
Japan secures food assistance for Gaza's families
4 July 2018, Ramallah - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomes a contribution of just under US$4 million from the Government of Japan to support some of the most vulnerable Palestinians living in Gaza. WFP will use these funds to assist 60,000 of the poorest and most food insecure people in Gaza with electronic vouchers they can use to buy nutritious and fresh foods at local retailers. A portion of the contribution will also be used to buy canned tuna to be included in the contingency stocks WFP keeps in case of emergencies. With unemployment at 49%, half of Gaza’s population faces poverty. Families have hit a breaking point and are taking extreme measures to cope with mounting difficulties, including skipping meals. Many have exhausted all their resources and rely on credit, support from friends and relatives to make ends meet. The Gaza strip is suffering an acute energy crisis which impacts all economic activities and affects the delivery of essential basic services. The crisis is exacerbating an already fragile humanitarian situation caused by eleven years of economic blockade, strict restrictions on trade and people’s movements, salary reductions for tens of thousands of civil servants and a slow post-conflict reconstruction process.
http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/japan-secures-food-assistance-gaza%E2%80%99s-families
News related with SDGs number 1-No poverty
WFP welcomes vital US$6.5 million USAID contribution, which restores full rations to refugees in Rwanda
3 July 2018, Kigali - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed a US$6.5 million contribution from the United States of America in support of Congolese and Burundian refugees in Rwanda. This contribution restores full food rations to these refugees and brings the total food and nutrition assistance provided by USAID/Food for Peace in Rwanda to US$10 million this year. The contribution comes at a critical time when WFP’s resources are being stretched to respond to the food needs of an increasing number of camp-based refugees. Refugees identified as particularly vulnerable in all camps continued to receive full rations of supplementary feeding from WFP through targeted safety net activities. Those who continued to benefit from full nutrition assistance included pregnant and nursing mothers, children under two years-old and malnourished children under five years-old, as well as school children, people living with HIV and tuberculosis patients under treatment. The USAID funding will empower WFP to buy locally produced maize grain, beans and fortified blended foods for malnourished children, as well as provide cash-based transfers. WFP will distribute in-kind monthly rations to Burundian camp-based refugees and provide monthly cash-based transfers to refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The United States is the largest donor to WFP humanitarian and development programmes in Rwanda, contributing US$16 million in 2017.
ADRA partners with World Food Program to help feed 85,000 refugees in Uganda
by Kimi-Roux James
19 June 2018, Silver Spring, MD – Thousands of refugees in Uganda will receive food assistance, thanks to a recent cooperation established between the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), the World Food Program (WFP) and the Government of Uganda, through the Office of the Prime Minister. The partnership, agreed upon in June 2018, will allow ADRA to provide food for more than 85,000 refugees currently settled in the district of Kamwenge, western Uganda. An influx of refugees is reported to increase as long-standing conflicts have forced many citizens from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan to cross over the Uganda border. An estimated total of 1.3 million refugees have remained in the neighboring country, according to a UNHCR 2017 report. (…) Since 1987, ADRA has forged a positive presence in Uganda creating long-standing relationships with up to 15 districts in Uganda. As a result of its deep-rooted network, ADRA collaborated with the WFP in food distribution between 1998, 2000, 2010, 2011, and again this year. ADRA has also been promoting school gardening initiatives in several refugee settlements, including Rwamwanja, Adjumani, and Bidibidi to help boost school feeding initiatives in select refugee hosting schools. (…)
https://adra.org/adra-partners-with-world-food-program-to-help-feed-85000-refugees-in-uganda/
Caritas and Pope Francis promote encounter with migrants and refugees
Caritas has launched a Global Week of Action for migrants and refugees as Pope Francis appeals for those forced from their homes.
18June 2018 – Caritas organizations around the world have kicked off a week of special events and shared meals to promote the strengthening of relationships between migrants & refugees and communities as part of the two-year Share the Journey campaign. Pope Francis began Refugee Week during his Sunday Angelus, saying that each of us is called to meet people forced from their homes and to ‘value their contribution’. Pope Francis also urged States to reach an agreement on the UN Global Compacts which focuses on humanity and responsibility. The Global Compacts for Migrants and Refugees, which will be signed by States in September 2018, are a global agreement to promote safe, orderly and regular migration. Citing World Refugee Day, which falls on 20th June, the Holy Father said we need to be close to refugees “so they can better integrate into the communities which receive them. In this encounter and in this reciprocal respect and support, there’s the solution to many problems.” The aim of the Share the Journey campaign is to promote the “culture of encounter” in communities around the world. Meals and events are taking place in dozens of countries across the world. Pope Francis launched the Share the Journey campaign in September 2017.
News related with SDGs number 10-Reduced inequalities
“Building peace from the inside out“ – course start in Jordanian refugee camps
3 July 2018, Jordania – A powerful „su“ fills the library container of Relief International’s educational centre in the Jordanian refugee camp Azraq. Once the sound of their voices had faded, the 18 participants of the course conducted by Berghof Foundation shake out their arms and legs in relief. The joint exercise helps the Syrian women and men to release straining and stressful emotions, feelings, thoughts and experiences. All participants are Syrians volunteers working for various international organisations. The course supports them in their oftentimes challenging work. They are active in the fields of education, child protection and psychosocial support under a cash-for-work scheme in both Azraq and Zaatari camp. Organised by the Berghof Foundation’s programme Peace Education & Global Learning in cooperation with Relief International, the 12-days course takes place for the second time in the two Jordanian refugee camps Azraq and Zaatari between April and October 2018. The course is held by Dagmar Nolden together with a team consisting of Prof. Dr. Hannah Reich and Prof. Dr. Vladimir Kostic. As part of the project “Nonviolent education in Jordan” the activity is supported with means from the cultural unit of the German Foreign Office.
http://cpnn-world.org/new/?p=13137
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
Syria: new measures taken by the Kurdish People’s Protection Units to stop recruiting children under 18
22June 2018 – Geneva Call welcomes the new measures taken by People’s Protection Units/Women’s Protection Units/Democratic Self-Administration in Rojava (YPG/YPJ/DSA) to address the violations of the Deed of Commitment protecting children in armed conflict signed with Geneva Call in 2014. Following a field monitoring visit in 2017, Geneva Call shared a confidential report on the respect of the Deed of Commitment with the leadership of YPG/YPJ/DSA at two meetings in April and May 2018. This report lists some confirmed cases as well as allegations of violations of the Deed and made some concrete recommendations to the YPG/YPJ/DSA to tackle non-compliance with their commitment. In an official response to this report, the YPG/YPJ/DSA admitted to committing a number of violations. They also highlighted the challenges they are faced with when attempting to implement their commitments. They reiterated their full conviction that all of their units must respect the pledge made. They also mentioned the implementation of new measures that will be included in their internal code of conduct (…) Geneva Call will pursue its humanitarian engagement with the YPG/YPJ/DSA and keep monitoring the implementation and respect of the Deeds signed with Geneva Call to ensure that children are no longer recruited or used by the YPG/YPJ/DSA.
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
Sri Lanka declares first district safe from landmines
20 June 2018 - In the wake of the country’s devastating civil war, which ended in 2009, Batticaloa in the east of the country, is the first district to be declared safe from landmines. This milestone was marked by a ceremony on 21st June 2017 overlooking Batticaloa Fort, attended by representatives from the Government of Sri Lanka, the US Embassy, the British High Commission, the Canadian High Commission, the Australian High Commission and the Japanese Embassy. It is an important step on the road to achieving a Landmine Free 2025.
https://www.maginternational.org/the-problems/mag-dispatches/sri-lanka-declares-first-district-safe-from-landmines/
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
100,000 children and adults receive safety training from Norwegian People’s Aid
by Hilde Sofie Pettersen
12 June 2018 – Educating children and adults in preparation for war and conflict. “Unfortunately, this training is very necessary. We hope it will save lives,” explains Henriette Westhrin, Secretary General of Norwegian People’s Aid. Since 2016, a total of 100,000 people in Syria, Iraq and Palestine have received training in Conflict Preparedness and Protection (CPP). The programme has been developed by Norwegian People’s Aid and is being implemented in partnership with local organizations and enterprises, including schools. The programme focuses on how to protect yourself against explosive weapons and how to prevent injuries and suffering in war situations. To date, most of the participants in the programme have been children (…) Just as with fire drills, these exercises are designed to teach people what they can do to help ensure their own safety, for example through evacuation, basic fire-safety and first-aid routines. (…) The Conflict Preparedness and Protection programme has been developed based on surveys of risk and public awareness of these matters in Syria and Palestine. Norwegian People’s Aid has prepared educational materials and trains local organizations and teachers as "safety instructors". The course reflects local conditions and uses games and theatre to get its message across (…) Norwegian People’s Aid has been committed to humanitarian disarmament and protecting civilians against explosive weapons for more than 25 years and has prioritised protecting life and health since its inception in 1939. https://www.npaid.org/News/News-archive/2018/100-000-children-and-adults-receive-safety-training-from-Norwegian-People-s-Aid
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
Destruction of 2,500 stockpiled anti-personnel mines in Western Sahara
30May 2018 – On 22 May 2018, Geneva Call monitored the destruction of 2,500 stockpiled anti-personnel (AP) mines by the Sahrawi Mine Action Coordination Office (SMACO) in accordance with Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment banning AP mines, signed by the Polisario Front in 2005.The event took place near Tifariti in the presence of representatives of the Polisario Front and of the international community. This marks the seventh such destruction since the Polisario Front signed the Deed of Commitment, bringing the total number of stockpiled AP mines destroyed to date to 17,954. This event came about following discussions with Geneva Call and a declaration made by the Polisario Front in 2017, announcing the destruction of all its remaining stocks of AP mines by the end of 2018. “2500 mines destroyed are potentially 2500 lives saved. Every effort to prevent new civilian casualties should be supported” said Catherine Hiltzer from Geneva Call, who was present at the destruction of the mines.
https://genevacall.org/destruction-of-2500-stockpiled-anti-personnel-mines-in-western-sahara/
News related with SDGs number16-Peace, Justice and strong Institution
ROTARY recognizes Canada’s commitment to polio
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada’s continued support for polio eradication celebrated at the 2018 Rotary International Convention.
29June 2018 – More than 25,000 members of Rotary clubs from 175 countries and territories gathered in Toronto, Canada this week for Rotary’s annual International Convention. On the convention’s final day, Justin Trudeau, prime minister of Canada, was presented with Rotary’s Polio Eradication Champion Award in recognition of his leadership and Canada’s contributions to polio eradication. In his remarks to Rotarians, Trudeau highlighted Canada’s continued commitment to working towards a world without polio, a world with gender equity, and a world where everyone has a chance to succeed. Rotary International President Ian Riseley presented the award to the Prime Minister, drawing attention to Canada’s recent pledge of C$100 million toward global polio eradication (…) The convention also featured a session highlighting the critical role women play in the global effort to end polio, including Rotary volunteers who have been involved in all aspects of polio eradication, such as immunization activities in the field, fundraising, public awareness, and advocacy. Thanks to an onsite virtual reality booth, attendees even had the opportunity to walk in the shoes of a volunteer immunizer in Uganda. Since Rotary launched its PolioPlus program in 1985, the efforts of millions of Rotarians worldwide have helped reduce polio cases by 99.9%. PolioPlus has become the largest internationally-coordinated public health initiative in history.
http://polioeradication.org/news-post/rotary-recognizes-canadas-commitment-to-polio/
News related with SDGs number 3- Good health and well-being
MSF hands over its Manzini project, while continuing activities in Shiselweni
25 June 2018, Manzini - Eight years after the medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) opened an emergency intervention in Swaziland’s Manzini region to help the Ministry of Health manage a dual HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) epidemic, as a mark of its success, the project is being handed over to national service providers. “As the original objectives of the project have been achieved, with the number of new HIV and TB infections going down significantly, MSF is scaling down its medical activities in Swaziland and will be handing over the Manzini project to the Ministry of Health at the end of June 2018,” said Audrey van der Schoot, MSF head of mission in Manzini. Since 2010, the number of new HIV infections (incidence rate) among adults in Swaziland has decreased from 2.5 to 1.4 per cent, while the number of people infected with HIV (prevalence rate) has decreased from 32 to 30 per cent. In terms of TB, the overall incidence rate decreased from 1,320 cases per 100,000 people in 2010, to 388 cases per 100,000 people in 2017. Meanwhile, the incidence rate of multidrug-resistant TB has dropped from 7 per cent in 2010 to 3 per cent in 2017. In 2013 there were 566 new drug-resistant cases, compared with 318 in 2017, indicating a 44 per cent decrease.
https://www.msf.org/msf-hands-over-its-manzini-project-while-continuing-activities-shiselweni
News related with SDGs number 3- Good health and well-being
10,000 Red Cross volunteers take part in Europe’s largest annual volunteer gathering
24 June 2018, Solferino, Italy– More than 10,000 Red Cross volunteers representing more than 60 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies from around the world have gathered in the northern Italian town of Solferino for an annual tribute to the events that led to the foundation of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The two-day festivities culminated last night in the Fiaccolata, a torch lit march that retraces the steps of the women of the town of Castiglione delle Stiviere in the aftermath of the bloody Battle of Solferino in 1859. These women provided first aid and care to the many wounded left laying on that battlefield, paying no attention to a soldier’s nationality, and laying the foundations for neutral and impartial humanitarian action. Swiss businessman Henry Dunant, inspired by the people he met in Solferino and Castiglione, sought to transform the devastation of the battlefield of Solferino into something positive and innovative – a global humanitarian network with the goal of helping those in need during times of conflict, and to change the nature of warfare. On Friday and Saturday morning, leaders from 35 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies took part in a session of the Solferino Academy designed to explore future humanitarian challenges and to consider how a global organization like the IFRC will need to respond. This meeting comes amid rising humanitarian needs around the world, fuelled by conflicts, increasing disasters, and the emergence and spread of new or forgotten diseases. “Next year, we will adopt a new Strategy 2030.“Our goal isn’t only to anticipate what those challenges will be, but rather to make sure that we are the kind of organization that can adapt to new demands, that can be agile in its thinking, and rapid in its response.” said Mr Francesco Rocca, President of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
South Africa: National Health Insurance Will 'Revolutionise' Health Care – SANCO
22 June 2018 - The South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco) says the introduction of the National Health Insurance (NHI) and Medical Schemes Amendment bills will "revolutionise" healthcare in South Africa. On Thursday, Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi presented to the public the two bills which aim to put in place a set of health-financing reforms to provide universal health coverage. Sanco appeared to agree with the minister's plan to ensure that the "rich will subsidise the poor, the young will subsidise the old, and the healthy must subsidise the sick". Sanco spokesperson Motlalepula Rosho said: "NHI will raise resources required to address inequalities while ensuring that all citizens access quality healthcare, which is currently the preserve of the affluent." She said opposition to the introduction of NHI was largely influenced by sections of the private healthcare sector and pharmaceutical companies that benefit from medical aid schemes. "Doctors who are servicing disadvantaged communities, who have curtailed claim rates from medical aid schemes as opposed to their counterparts operating from private healthcare facilities, will also derive equitable benefits from the proposed changes," Rosho emphasised. During his presentation, the minister explained that an NHI Fund would be established as a public entity, which will be governed by the Public Finance Management Act.
https://allafrica.com/stories/201806220116.html
News related with SDGs number 3- Good health and well-being
The day solar became UK’s biggest source of electricity
4 July 2018 - Solar and the UK are not words that are readily associated. But improbable as it may seem, solar power became – albeit briefly – the biggest power source in the UK last week – overtaking for the first time gas generation, and of course nuclear. There was zero coal power. At the time – 2.12pm local time on Saturday, June 30 – solar provided a little more than 27.7 per cent of the country’s electricity, benefiting from a heatwave that had swept the nation for nearly a week.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/the-day-solar-became-uks-biggest-source-of-electricity-49660/
News related with SDGs number 12-Responsible consumption and production
How 17 US States are working to fulfill their share of the Paris Climate Agreement
4 July 2018 - A year ago today, President Trump announced the United States would exit the Paris Climate Agreement. His decision drew harsh criticism from world leaders, CEOs and U.S. elected officials, both Democrats and Republicans. In the days that followed, hundreds of cities, states, businesses and universities pledged to do their part to uphold the Paris Agreement. Now, one year on, groups are looking to make good on that promise, a task made measurably harder by Trump’s ongoing efforts to dismantle federal climate protections. To that end, the 17 Democratic and Republican governors belonging to the U.S. Climate Alliance have announced a slate of new initiatives to fulfill their share of the U.S. commitment to the Paris Agreement, cutting carbon pollution by more than 26% by 2025.
News related with SDGs number 13-Climate action
India Offers 8 Gigawatts of Solar & Wind Capacity in late june tenders
3 July 2018 - India continues with its aggressive timeline to issue tenders and hold auctions for large volumes of solar and wind energy capacities. As per a pre-defined timeline to issue tenders, the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI) issued the largest wind energy tender and the first-ever hybrid solar and wind energy tender at the federal level late last month. SECI issued three tenders between June 22nd and June 30th, 2018, that offered a total of 8 gigawatts capacity in wind and solar power technologies. The first tender offered 2.5 gigawatts of solar-wind hybrid capacity. This is the first such tender, and the largest of its kind, in India history. (…) The second tender is the largest solar power tender ever issued in India’s history. SECI will offer 3 gigawatts of capacity in this tender. This is the third tender of its kind issued by SECI — it has already issued two such tenders with 2 gigawatts capacity each, with one of them already awarded at record low tariff.
News related with SDGs number 12-Responsible consumption and production
Finnish passengers to sing for their shuttle in electric taxi service
3 July 2018 - Finnish clean energy company Fortum has come up with a rocking new idea to showcase the clean and quiet face of electric vehicles, by asking passengers to sing along to tunes in return for a free ride in a shuttle. (…) The drivers of Fortum’s Singalong Shuttle, as it is called, are under strict instruction to refuse payment for trips around the festival by cash or credit card. Instead, the occupants get to select a song on the shuttle’s tablet and sing along karaoke-style. If they stop, the trip grinds to a silent halt. (…) With the intention of encouraging festival goers to participate in a sustainable, clean energy future, the energy provider has sponsored a series of electric vehicles made by BMW to transform them into a fleet of sustainable singing shuttles.
https://reneweconomy.com.au/finnish-passengers-sing-shuttle-electric-taxi-service-74765/
News related with SDGs number 13-Climate action
EBRD's first private renewable project in Morocco launched
July 3, 2018 - The inauguration of the Khalladi wind farm in Morocco today (6/29) marks the official launch of the EBRD's first private renewable project financed in the country. In 2015, the EBRD, the Banque Marocaine du Commerce Exterieur (BMCE) and the Climate Investment Funds' Clean Technology Fund (CTF) extended a loan of 120 million to the project company ACWA Power Khalladi, without state support. The funding went towards the development and construction of the wind farm, which began generating power in December 2017 and is now fully operational. The Khalladi Wind Farm is one of the first private renewable energy projects in the country developed under a renewable energy law that allows private producers to sell electricity directly to clients connected to the high voltage and medium voltage grid.
http://electricenergyonline.com/detail_news.php?ID=710214&cat=;141;88&niveauAQ=0
News related with SDGs number 12-Responsible consumption and production
Thank heaven for these 11 – EU biofuels effort kicks off in Sweden
1 July 1, 2018 - Swedish clean-tech company SEKAB E-Technology hosted the kick-off last week for the EU-funded project REWOFUEL in the Swedish town of Örnsköldsvik. The gathering included representatives from all 11 European companies and universities taking part in the project. REWOFUEL started on 1 June this year and will run for three years. The three-year project will demonstrate and evaluate the whole value-chain, to show how to best use wood residues from the forest industry to produce biofuels. The long-term aim is to start many new biorefineries across Europe, using wood residues from European forest and sawmill industries, as well as forestry industry, as raw material. The total project budget is 19,7 million euros or about $23 million.
News related with SDGs number 13-Climate action
Tanzania announces key assessment for Selous World Heritage site
27 June 2018 Manama, Bahrain – Tanzania has announced the launch of a vital Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) of the proposed Stiegler’s Gorge hydropower plant in the Selous World Heritage site at a World Heritage Committee meeting in Bahrain today. Plans to generate 2,100 MW of power from the Stiegler’s Gorge hydropower dam have been pushed forward by Tanzania’s government despite concerns over its environmental and social impacts. Crucially, the SEA is required under Tanzanian law, as stipulated in the Environmental Management Act 2004.Commenting on the announcement, Anthony Field, Global Campaign Manager at WWF International, said: “WWF welcomes the Tanzanian government’s commitment today to initiate the required Strategic Environmental Assessment. The move represents important progress, but it is crucial that the assessment is completed without delay to the highest international standards and is independently reviewed. It must also examine alternative, less harmful energy projects that could instead be pursued and cover the ecoregion in its entirety to secure the future of this wilderness site for generations to come.” The Tanzanian government’s decision to initiate the SEA comes as the World Heritage Committee adds the Stiegler’s Gorge project as a factor that puts the Selous on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage in Danger in recognition of the serious and irreversible impacts it could have. A World Heritage site since 1982, the Selous Game Reserve is one of Africa’s largest remaining wilderness areas and home to globally significant populations of elephants, black rhinos and wild hunting dogs. The World Heritage Committee recognized the anti-poaching progress that has been made in Selous, which has potentially stabilized the elephant population and shown that black rhinos are still present in the reserve. However, the committee agreed that this progress has been overshadowed by the proposal to build the Stiegler’s Gorge dam inside the World Heritage site. In January 2018, Audrey Azoulay, the Director-General of UNESCO, wrote a letter expressing her concern about the irreversible damage the project could have on the Selous. In their reactive monitoring mission report in 2017, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) said that the project is ‘fatally flawed’ because of its ecological impact. It called on the government of Tanzania to ‘permanently abandon’ it.
News related with SDGs number 15-Life on land
Norway and FAO will scale up innovative forest monitoring tool
27 June 2018, Oslo and Rome - Access to satellite data and cutting-edge geospatial technologies will be broadened thanks to deeper collaboration between FAO and Norway, whose International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) agreed to scale up an innovative FAO digital platform that helps countries measure, monitor and report on their forests and land use. The $6 million, three-year project, announced during the Oslo Tropical Forest Forum, will allow for boosting the power and reach of FAO's innovative forest monitoring platform, SEPAL (System for Earth Observation Data Access, Processing and Analysis for Land Monitoring). SEPAL allows users to query and process satellite data quickly and efficiently, tailor their products for local needs, and produce sophisticated and relevant geospatial analyses quickly. Together - with cooperating partners such as the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility - SEPAL will improve forest monitoring and contribute to REDD+ Measurement, Reporting and Verification (MRV), for countries progressing towards results-based payments for actions that reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) as well as foster the conservation and sustainable management of forests. SEPAL is at the forefront of Open Foris, a suite of innovative open-source technical tools, leveraging technical partnerships with Google and others developed by FAO's Forestry Department for countries to use. Open Foris software helps FAO support countries in their development of robust National Forest Monitoring Systems through survey design, data collection, analysis and reporting.
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1142131/icode/
News related with SDGs number 15-Life on land
Belize Barrier Reef removed from in danger list
26 June 2018 Manama, Bahrain – Belizeans and environmentalists worldwide are celebrating the removal of the Belize Barrier Reef from UNESCO’s List of World Heritage in Danger at a World Heritage Committee meeting in Bahrain today. The Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage site had been inscribed on the In-Danger list for almost a decade due to the threat of irreversible damage from harmful coastal construction and oil exploration, as well as the absence of a solid regulatory framework. Seismic testing for oil was permitted just 10 kilometres from the site as recently as October 2016, leading to a public outcry from Belizeans organised by a coalition of local civil society, including WWF, Oceana, Belize Tourism Industry Association, Belize Audubon Society and Belize Institute for Environmental Law and Policy. Local efforts were supported by an international campaign led by WWF. Belize’s government has over the last eighteen months put in place the necessary protections to secure the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System World Heritage site from immediate threats. A landmark moratorium on oil exploration in Belizean waters was adopted in December 2017. In June 2018, the government of Belize enacted critical regulations to protect the country's mangroves and committed to legislate the current voluntary moratorium on selling the public lands within the World Heritage site. As the main part of the Mesoamerican Reef, the world’s second largest barrier reef system, the Belize Barrier Reef has been recognised as a World Heritage site since 1996. Home to hundreds of species, the reef is also an important economic resource for Belize with approximately 190,000 people supported by incomes generated through reef-related tourism and fisheries.
http://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?330014/Belize-Barrier-Reef-removed-from-in-danger-list
News related with SDGs number 14-Life below water
FAO and UNHCR launch new tool to save forests in displacement-affected areas
20 June 2018, Rome/Geneva - The United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Refugee Agency (UNHCR) launched today a new handbook to help restore forests in displacement-affected areas, where heavy reliance on woodfuel puts forests and woodlands in jeopardy. An estimated 2.4 billion people - about a quarter of the global population - depend on wood as their main energy source for cooking. In areas hosting displaced populations, often with scant resources of their own, dependence on woodfuel is even more dramatic. More than four out of five forcibly displaced people worldwide use woodfuel for cooking and heating. This is the main driver of forest degradation and deforestation in these areas. FAO and UNHCR released the handbook Managing forests in displacement settings, which could be useful to all actors involved in forest management and plantation projects working to meet the needs of displaced and host communities. When needs are urgent the handbook recommends planting fast-growing trees, preferably indigenous, to generate an ongoing source of woodfuel, small construction items and fodder. The handbook also recommends planting trees for energy, timber, food and fodder, to generate income opportunities for refugees and host populations, help build their resilience, and reduce the environmental impact of displacement settings. The handbook stresses that forest management plans should also indicate who owns the right to harvest and who will benefit from the harvest of wood and non-wood products. The involvement of the local community is crucial as it helps build a sense of ownership, and ensure forest interventions are well managed.
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1129730/icode/
Religion and spirituality
(top)
Look at art for the deep connection between Europe and Islam
8 July 2018 - While politicians present it as alien, a new exhibition in Florence reveals historic exchange and dialogue with the east. The Adoration of the Magi is an early 15th-century altarpiece painting by the Italian painter Gentile da Fabriano. Housed in the Uffizi gallery in Florence, it is considered by many art historians as Fabriano’s finest work and as the culmination of the International Gothic style of the late 14th and early 15th centuries. Look closely at figures of the Virgin Mary and Joseph, and you will notice something odd. Their halos feature Arabic script. That might seem sacrilege in a Christian religious painting. Yet as a new exhibition in Florence, at the Uffizi and the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, sets out to show, such cultural and religious cross-dressing was common at the time. Entitled “Islamic Art and Florence from the Medici to the 20th Century”, the show explores “the knowledge, exchange, dialogue and mutual influence that existed between the arts of east and west”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/08/look-to-art-for-connection-europe-and-islam//
AMERICA/PERU - Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM) begin meetings regarding isolated natives
6 July 2018 -With the participation of members from Brazil, Ecuador and Peru, yesterday morning the Pan-Amazon Ecclesial Network (REPAM) began a meeting in the city of Puerto Maldonado, in Peru, to plan appropriate strategies to defend the rights of indigenous peoples in isolation.
According to Luis Ventura, of the Missionary Indigenist Council (CIMI) of Brazil, the objectives of the meeting are to share a diagnosis of the situation of each people, including the threats received, and the legal framework governing their rights. One will also see the working method for the acquisition and management of information on these peoples and the "concrete proposals for defence.The meeting, which will conclude on Sunday 8 July, will be attended by Catholic and lay missionaries, as well as researchers from the mentioned countries. According to a report sent to Fides, the indigenous people of Bajo Urubamba and Alto Madre de Dios will participate; the Machiguenga Indians of the Upper Camisea will also be present. According to Martínez de Aguirre, the representatives of the Yine and Harakmbut people will also participate.
News related with SDGs number 10-Reduced inequalities
Religious Structures Next Step in Iraqi Building Process
5 July 2018 - Aid to the Church in Need presented the charity’s 2017 activity report Wednesday in Rome.
VATICAN CITY — Since 2014, international charity organization Aid to the Church in Need has spent some 40 million euros ($46.6 million) funding relief and reconstruction efforts in Iraq, with the majority of support going toward basic needs such as housing. However, according to Thomas Heine-Geldem, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), now that the international community is chipping in to rebuild Christian villages destroyed when ISIS took over the Nineveh Plains in 2014, the organization's primary focus will shift from funding basic reconstruction to restoring religious structures such as churches and monasteries, many of which were desecrated and burned under ISIS rule. With nations such as Hungary, which has long supported for reconstruction efforts in Iraq, and the United States offering financial help, ACN can take a step back and focus on its “pastoral vocation,” Heine-Geldem said, noting how ACN was founded as a means of providing both spiritual and material help to Christians who are persecuted or living in poverty. The next stage in the rebuilding process in Iraq, then, will center “on the renovation of destroyed churches; there are many, destroyed seminaries and destroyed monasteries.
Jew, Christian, Muslim: 'See the Beloved everywhere'
26 June 2018 - Nothing in my uber-Catholic background (weekly Mass and confession, memorizing the Baltimore Catechism, strict nun teachers) could have prepared me to participate in a zikr at which Muslim, Jewish and Christian people chanted the name of God, while the imam sang a melodic line over the chant.
Some of the women draped in scarves swayed back and forth, we all felt held by the chanting, and I began to understand why it is a component of much of the world's worship. The dictionary definition of zikr is a form of remembrance "associated chiefly with Sufism, when the worshiper is absorbed in the rhythmic repetition of God's name or attributes."
Conference on Religions and Human Rights at UNOG: World Declaration on the Advancement of Equal Citizenship Rights
25 June 2018 - The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue in collaboration with the International Catholic Migration Commission, the World Council of Churches, the World Council of Religious Leaders, Bridges to Common Ground and the European Centre for Peace and Development is organizing the first World Conference “Religions, Creeds and Value Systems: Joining Forces to Enhance Equal Citizenship Rights.” The World Conference will be held on 25 June 2018 at the United Nations Office in Geneva Switzerland, under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince El Hassan bin Talal of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. It will be addressed by more than 35 world-renowned religious, political and lay leaders from the major regions of the world.
News related with SDGs number 10-Reduced inequalities
II World Forum on Urban Violence and Education for Coexistence and Peace: Madrid, 5-8 November 2018
9 July 2018 - The Forum will be held in the Spanish capital from November 5 to 8, 2018, with the aim of designing an integrated program capable of serving the expectations generated by this new edition of the Forum.The invocation of the Forum was announced by the mayor of Madrid and co-president of the Union of Ibero-American Capital Cities (UCCI), Manuela Carmena, attended by representatives of the various organizations and platforms that take part of the Organizing Committee. They shared expectations for the organization of the Forum, raising, among other challenges, how to establish Madrid as the permanent seat of the Cities of Peace Forum and turn it into an annual event on the international agenda. The need to open a space to measure the results of the first Forum and its impact on interpersonal violence in territories and cities was also analyzed, as well as a discussion on how local leaders can contribute to “saving lives” with public policies that promote education for coexistence and peace in cities and territories.
http://cpnn-world.org/new/?p=13142//
News related with SDGs number 4-Quality education
A virtual media and information literate city celebrating Global Media and Information Literacy Week 2018
3 July 2018 - It is finally here. The first Media and Information Literate (MIL) City celebrates Global MIL Week. Imagine your city not only transmitting information to you but also helping to enhance your information capacities by stimulating your critical thinking. What if your transportation system, health care system, local government authority, entertainment industry, and other city actors, all become social drivers and spaces of informal learning on MIL and without much effort on your part? Amidst the present outcry about disinformation, privacy and data protection, there are silent great waves of opportunities provided by today’s complex information and communication landscape. These include the waves of opportunities for diversity of voices, social engagement, lifelong learning dialogue, tolerance, countering hate and promoting peace. Global MIL Week 2018 acknowledges the challenges and equally seeks to unlock the sounds of these great waves of opportunities causing them to roar as great waves should. Global MIL Week will take place this year from 24 to 31 October. Its aim is to put critical thinking and people’s empowerment through MIL on the international development agenda as well as on the agenda of cities.
AVSI, EU and Oxfam together to bring education to 32,000 refugee children
28 June 2018 - AVSI Uganda and Luigi Giussani Institute of Higher Education are partners in a brand new project that aims to bring education in refugee communities in Uganda and South Sudan. According to a report by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, by mid-August last year, about one third of the people from South Sudan had been displaced from their homes, with 61% of them being children. The number of those entering had surpassed a million. Due to the displacements and disruption in the education system, humanitarian agencies estimated that 610,000 children and youth would miss out on education, unless special support was provided.
News related with SDGs number 4-Quality education
Pilot Fund demonstrates the value of social investment for the arts and cultural sector
26 June 2018 - The Arts Impact Fund today announces its fourth and final round of investments, demonstrating the value of social investment for the arts and cultural sector. The Fund has provided £7 million across 22 organisations in England, through four rounds of investment in three years. Launched in 2015, it was the first impact investment fund targeting social outcomes in the arts and cultural sector, anywhere in the world. The £7 million pilot Fund was established in spring 2015 to test the idea that there is demand for social finance in the arts and cultural sector, as well as credible business models that can generate cash to repay the investment. The bespoke finance offer made available by the Arts Impact Fund was designed to be used by organisations to become more financially resilient, in order to protect and develop their social and artistic impact.
News related with SDGs number 4-Quality education
FAO launches Open Access for all publications
18 June 2018, Rome - As of today, FAO will implement an Open Access policy, enabling maximal reach and ease of use for FAO knowledge products. FAO has been disseminating knowledge since its foundation in 1945, and its publications have been freely accessible in the FAO online Document Repository since 1998. The new Open Access policy goes a step further; not only ensuring that FAO's wealth of knowledge remains easily accessible to users around the world, but actively encouraging and providing a framework for the broader use, reproduction and dissemination of this material. In concrete terms, FAO will apply a Creative Commons 3.0 IGO license to all eligible publications and documents published on its Web site. The policy uses a license developed together with the World Intellectual Property Organization and other United Nations and international organizations and designed for international institutions - which have unique legal status - to allow unrestricted online access to expert research. With implementation of the policy, third parties can make use of FAO's published works in more and easier ways - reproducing them, using snippets, and adapting them for their own ends. Permission is not required for non-commercial use, as long as FAO is cited as the source of the material. The policy will particularly benefit member states, policy makers, researchers and others engaged in sharing information in support of resolving global hunger issues and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals - most of which require constant scientific input.
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/1141504/icode/
* * * * * * *
(top)
Next issue: 14th September 2018.
Good News Agency is published monthly (except August) in English, Italian and Portuguese. Past issues are available at www.goodnewsagency.org . Rome Law-court registration no. 265 dated 20 June 2000. Managing Editor: Fabio Gatti (fabio.gatti@goodnewsagency.org). Editorial research by Fabio Gatti, Isabella Strippoli, Elisa Minelli, Salvatore Caruso Motta, Chiara Damilano, Francesco Viglienghi, Carlo Toraldo, Andrea Landriscina, Nazzarella Franco. Webmaster, media and NGO coverage: Simone Frassanito (simone.frassanito@goodnewsagency.org)
Good News Agency is distributed free of charge through Internet to media and editorial journalists of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations, NGOs, service associations, high schools and colleges as well as over 26,000 Rotarians around the world.
It is an all-volunteer service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, a registered, not-for-profit educational charity chartered in Italy in 1979 The Association operates for the development of consciousness and promotes a culture of peace in the ‘global village’ perspective based on unity in diversity and on sharing. It is based in Piazzale degli Eroi 8, 00136 Rome, Italy. The Association is a member of the World Association of Non Governmental Organizations.
* http://decade-culture-of-peace.org/2010_civil_society_report.pdf - In section A - International Organizations, page 12, the Report says: ”Diffusion and exchange of culture of peace information via the Internet has become the major instrument for several international organizations, notably the Culture of Peace News Network, the Good News Agency and the Education for Peace Globalnet.”