Good News Agency

Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli
e della Buona VolontÀ Mondiale

Updated to December 31^st, 2015

The Association's activities have always concentrated on supporting and spreading the ideals of brotherhood, unity in diversity and responsibility for the common good; this through the instilling of new ethical and social values.

Since its constitution in 1979, all the activities of the Association have been planned and conducted by the administrative body and by its members and supporters on a voluntary basis and have been offered to the public at no charge. The Association has always been financed exclusively by the voluntary contributions of its members and supporters.

Since its constitution and until 2007, the Association has run in Italy the Triangles and World Goodwill service activities of the Lucis Trust – a registered educational charity associated with the United Nations, Department of Public Information – that serve the common good through quarterly newsletters highlighting the power of meditation and the energy of goodwill in world affairs.

Since 1966, the Association has especially intensified its voluntary work in awakening public opinion and in the school education field.

The co-Founder and President of the Association, Sergio Tripi, was, from October 1996 to February 2001, the Representative to Italy of the United Nations endorsed University for Peace, working in Italian academic circles as leader and point of reference of both organizations. During this period, significant academic agreements were reached with the Rome University "La Sapienza" and the University of Bari, and seminars were held on the theme: the United Nations and Peace Education.

In the three year educational program (1998-2001) held jointly with the University of Bari's Interdepartmental Center for Peace Research and the Regional Institute of Educational Research in Puglia on the theme "Education and Awareness", the President of the Association, also in his capacity of Representative of the UN endorsed University for Peace, conducted that part of the program relative to the United Nations and its specialized Agencies which, for the teaching staff in that area, significantly increased their knowledge of peace education.

As from June 2000 a new editorial initiative was launched intent on contributing to improve public opinion: Good News Agency, a news bulletin that the Association emits in Italian, in English and Portuguese and which carries news from the world of the UN, institutions, NGOs, service associations and volunteer groups. It is sent free through the Internet to more than 10 000 media and editorial journalists of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations in 54 countries as well as 3 000 NGOs and 1 500 high schools and colleges mainly in Italy (not to mention about 27 000 Rotarians in the world.)

The direct distribution of this monthly e-newsletter is multiplied by the fact that many NGOs and service groups forward our publication to those on their mailing lists and/or insert a link to Good News Agency in their web sites. Today, we estimate that the global distribution of the Good News Agency be well over 300,000 copies and on the increase, considering the spontaneous distribution that has been generated. The concept of good news, that is being registered by consciousnesses, has started to call media's attention.

Important Interviews have been included in Good News Agency: with former President of Costa Rica and Nobel Peace Laureate Oscar Arias; with former USSR President, founder of Green Cross International and Nobel Peace Laureate Mikhail Gorbachev; with former Director General of UNESCO and President of the Culture of Peace Association Federico Mayor; with FAO Director General Jacques Diouf; with philosopher of science and President of the Club of Budapest Ervin Laszlo; and other prominent people. With this series of interviews, as well as with editorials and other writings, the Association aims at spreading some deeper considerations on the problems and the opportunities of our time.

The campaign "Let's take Good News Agency to the Schools!" was supported in Italy by many Rotary Clubs, which introduced personally this newsletter to over 450 high schools. In synergy with some Italian Rotary Clubs and three Districts, nineteen school contests were run on the Millennium Development Goals or themes related to them. Some of these contests were supported by the Regional or Provincial school offices. Also, in synergy with some Rotary Clubs in Italy, some school conferences were conducted on the United Nations and their specialized Agencies.

Internationally, the school campaign is receiving meaningful and promising support from some Rotary Clubs in order to take Good News Agency to the schools of their territory.

In 2001, Good News Agency launched the Ethical Code of the Media, that stresses publishers' responsibilities to give voice also to the positive events which indicate in the world the response of humanity to the greatest problems of our time. The Code has been endorsed so far by one hundred-and-forty service organizations and prominent people including Dr. Oscar Arias, Prof. Ervin Laszlo, Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant to the UN Secretary-General, and several academic bodies and peace research institutes from all over the world.

In the final report of the Decade for a Culture of Peace project presented 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 via the Internet (2010_civil_society_report.pdf, from http://decade-culture-of-peace.org/.)