Good News Agency – Year IV, n° 1
Weekly - Year IV, number 1 – 10
January 2003
Managing Editor: Sergio Tripi,
Ph. D.
Rome Law-court registration
no. 265 dated 20 June 2000.
Good News Agency carries
positive and constructive news from all over the world relating to voluntary
work, the work of the United Nations, non governmental organizations, and
institutions engaged in improving the quality of life – news that doesn’t “burn
out” in the space of a day. Editorial research by Fabio Gatti. Good News Agency
is published in English on one Friday and in Italian the next. It is distributed free of charge through
Internet to the editorial offices of more than 2,400
media in 46 countries, as
well as to 1,000 NGO.
It is a service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della
Buona Volontà Mondiale, NGO associated with the United Nations Department of Public
Information.
International legislation – Human rights – Economy and development – Solidarity
Peace and security – Health – Energy
and Safety – Environment and wildlife
Religion and spirituality – Culture and education
2 January - Parliamentarians from more than 20 African
and Asian countries meeting recently in Bangkok, Thailand, called for stepped
up efforts to adopt legislation and policies for equality between women and
men, one of the Millennium Development Goals.
Participants in the second
Africa-Asia parliamentarian forum on the role of legislatures in human security
and gender also advocated national budgets that support equity for women and
agreed to set up knowledge networks among parliamentarians and to strengthen
expertise on gender issues among lawmakers.
The event, together with the
first such forum in Marrakech, Morocco last March, will provide input on gender
issues for the Third Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD
III), scheduled for December. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/january/2jan03/index.html
Belarus
seeks alternatives to jailing lawbreakers
3 January - A recent national
conference at the legal faculty of Belarusian State University in Minsk, the
capital of Belarus, focused on legal reforms to reduce the number of
lawbreakers put in prison. Belarus has the third highest rate of imprisonment
per capita, behind only the United States and Russia, because the penal code
has mandated heavy sentences for relatively minor crimes, noted Neil Buhne,
UNDP Representative and UN Resident Coordinator. "As a result, people are
imprisoned longer than they should be, with little or no benefit to society,
and the cost of imprisoning so many is a heavy burden for the government
budget," he said.
The meeting was part of a UNDP
project to help the Supreme Court develop recommendations on legislation to
improve the administration of justice, and to organize workshops for judges on
major law enforcement issues. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
20 December - Border and
anti-trafficking police officers and prosecutors from 13 south-eastern European
countries have agreed to step up efforts against trafficking in people by
adopting a common law enforcement manual to strengthen action and coordination.
A recent meeting in Bucharest, Romania, brought together participants from
Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey, Ukraine and
Yugoslavia.
Most trafficking victims are
women and girls coerced or lured by promises of jobs and smuggled across
borders by criminal rings and forced into prostitution. Unlike "people
smugglers," traffickers exploit their victims after illegally bringing
them across borders.
About 120,000 women and
children are trafficked into the European Union each year, mostly though the
Balkans, according to the International
Organization for Migration. Traffickers take advantage of social
instability, weak law enforcement, and increasing poverty and discrimination
faced by women. Amounting to at least US$7 billion a year, trafficking in
people has become the third largest criminal business worldwide, after drugs
and weapons, according to Paul Holmes, former chief detective of the London
Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) vice squad, the manual's co-author.
The manual covers best
practices on investigative methods; regional legislation, procedures and
investigative capacities; and contact information on institutions and
organizations. It focuses on steps to protect victims' rights. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2002/december/20dec02/index.html
Eritrea/Ethiopia: Civilians repatriated
Asmara/Geneva
(ICRC), 28 December – On Saturday, 28 December, 154 Eritrean civilians were
repatriated from Ethiopia under the auspices of the International Committee of
the Red Cross (ICRC). They crossed the border at Mereb bridge, between the
towns of Rama, Ethiopia and Adi Quala, Eritrea. Five of the 154 were children,
who were reunited with their families in Eritrea. In the course of same
operation, an Ethiopian child was repatriated from Eritrea to be reunited with
his family.
The Eritreans were accompanied
on the first leg of their journey by ICRC delegates based in Ethiopia. At Mereb
bridge the group was met by Eritrea-based delegates before being placed in the
care of the Eritrean authorities. The Eritrea-based delegates had accompanied
the Ethiopian child to the same border checkpoint, handing him over to the
Ethiopian authorities. Volunteers from the Eritrean and Ethiopian Red Cross
Societies also took part in the operation, handing out food and water on their
respective sides of the border.
The ICRC will continue to
assist people affected by the recent armed conflict between the two countries
and will strive to ensure compliance with the rules and principles of
international humanitarian law, in particular the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5HBFBM?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
Côte d'Ivoire/Liberia: Lost children reunited with
loved ones
Geneva (ICRC), 20
December – The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has repatriated
nine Liberian children from Côte d'Ivoire and reunited them with their parents. The children were
living, unaccompanied by adults, as refugees in the Tabou area of southwestern
Côte d'Ivoire. The current conflict in Côte d'Ivoire made it an urgent priority
for the ICRC delegation in Monrovia to find the childrens parents in Liberia.
The recent fighting in western Côte d'Ivoire has further displaced many
unaccompanied Liberian refugee children registered by the ICRC before the
present crisis.
This year, the organization's
delegations in Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire have registered hundreds
of unaccompanied minors of Liberian nationality, that is, children who are not
being looked after by any member of their family. The children have been given
the opportunity to write Red Cross messages (brief personal messages delivered
through the Red Cross network) to their families in Liberia. Each has been
accompanied by a photograph.
The ICRC carries out a great
deal of cross-border tracing in behalf of unaccompanied children in West
Africa, reuniting them with their families when this is possible and when both
parties agree.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5GZN2X?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
African women's sexual and reproductive health and rights
conference "Prosperity through empowerment -- 4-7 February , Johannesburg,
South Africa
AMANITARE, the African
Partnership for Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights of Women and Girls,
is a Pan-African ten-year initiative of RAINBO (Research, Action, and
Information Network for the Bodily Integrity of Women). The Partnership's
mandate is derived from the outcomes of the World Conference on Human Rights
(Vienna, 1993), The International Conference on Population and Development
(Cairo, 1994) and The Fifth World Conference on Women (Beijing, 1995). Its main
aim is to build an influential social movement to institutionalise the
recognition of African women and girl's Sexual and Reproductive Health and
Rights as fundamental to their civil and human rights. The Partnership
currently boasts the active participation of 42 Partners from 16 different
countries spanning all sub-regions of the African continent.
Conference objectives: In an
effort to realize the Partnership's overall goal, AMANITARE is organizing a
Pan-African conference entitled, "African Women's Sexual and Reproductive
Health and Rights Conference: Prosperity Through Empowerment", that will
be held from 4th to 7th February 2003 in Johannesburg, South Africa. With its
forward-looking agenda, this conference will provide a rare opportunity to
bring together African Women's Health and Rights movement activists with policy
makers, researchers, health care providers, youth representatives, and the
media from all sub-regions of the African continent - creating a unique forum
for debate and creative strategising around Gender and Health in Africa. (…)
http://www.amanitare.org/home2.html
Rome, 18 December – The ‘Orissa
Tribal Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme’, a USD 91.2 million project
in the Republic of India will receive a USD 20 million loan from the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). A loan agreement was
signed today at the Fund’s Headquarters by H. E. Himachal Som, Ambassador of
India and Mr. Lennart Båge, President of IFAD.
The incidence of rural poverty
is high in Orissa which is the second poorest state in the country. The Orissa
Tribal Programme will cover eight districts in Western Orissa, where poverty is
highest in areas where tribal people live. On an average, households have
enough food through agriculture for a maximum of only six months in a normal
year. This is due to poor agricultural land productivity partly due to
pre-dominance of rainfed agriculture, relatively small landholdings, and
insecurity of land tenure.
The Programme is expected to
benefit approximately 75,000 households living in over 1000 villages. About 61%
of the total population are members of various tribal groups and 12% belong to
the so called ‘scheduled castes’. In this context, the Programme will adopt an
‘inclusive approach’ - targeting all households living in the participating
villages and hamlets in the selected micro-watersheds. As the tribal population
is the most disadvantaged among the social groups, their development has been
accorded high priority by the Government of India. This Programme thus reflects
IFAD’s response to the national priority. (…)
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2002/47-02.htm
E-Security and Knowledge
Economy
2nd UNECE Workshop on
E-Regulations, Geneva, 12 February
The United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe will hold the Second Annual Workshop on E-Regulations
focusing on the theme of E-Security and its Implications for the Development of
Knowledge Economy. The discussion aims to understand the extent of positive
correlation and negative externalities between these highly intertwined domains
and the potential role of governments, business community and international
organizations in ensuring the secure environment of the digital economy and
sustainable development of the Information Society. (…)
The workshop, which will be
held in collaboration with the European Commission, the European Forum for
Electronic Business and the University of Lausanne, aims to provide an overview
of pressing issues and approaches on e-security and the new challenges it may
bring to decision makers, stakeholders, and citizens of the Information
Society.
Prominent international speakers from both public and private
sectors as well as representatives from international organizations will be
invited to address major relevant issues and offer innovative considerations
over the future actions necessary to develop e-security tools and policies
positively correlated with the agenda of inclusion and diffusion of e-public
goods. This one-day event will contain four expert panels, namely: e-security
and knowledge economy, e-security technologies, e-security policy and
regulatory framework, and e-security and international organizations. (…)
http://www.unece.org/press/pr2002/02opa21e.htm
Safe
drinking water and child health targeted
23 December - Geneva -- The World Health Organization (WHO) has shipped
a first batch of 54 new Emergency Health Kits to Ethiopia to strengthen the
health sector response to the severe drought. Today, the kits arrived in Addis
Ababa ready for immediate secondary distribution.
Thanks to
funding from the Government of the Netherlands, WHO will be able to send a
total of 164 Emergency Health Kits to Ethiopia in the coming weeks. These kits
will provide 1.64 million people with basic health care supplies for a period
of three months. An Emergency Health Kit is one ton of essential drugs,
supplies and instruments, sufficient to support the basic health needs of 10
000 people. This first shipment comes only four weeks after Mr Meles Zenawi,
Prime Minister of Ethiopia, launched an international appeal for help to avert
a crisis that is threatening millions of people.
Poor rains between February
and May 2002 have caused an acute shortage of water in several parts of
Ethiopia. This year’s harvest is likely to be around 15 % less than the average
annual yield. The crisis can spell death for hundreds of thousands of people.
The Ethiopian Government expects as many as 14 million people, 20% of the total
population, to be at extreme risk by March 2003. (…)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/pr97/en/
Education
International thanks Swedish member Lärarförbundet for donation to the
Solidarity Fund
For the third consecutive year
Swedish member Lärarförbundet (Swedish Teachers' Union) is donating the money
saved for not sending Christmas cards to the EI Solidarity Fund. A total of 50,000 Swedish crowns (5487 euros)
will go to assist fellow member organisations in emergencies such as natural
disasters, famine, war, persecution or other life threatening situations, as
well as to development programmes such as providing them with internet access.
EI thanks Lärarförbundet for their generosity and hopes more members will
follow suite.
| Find out more about EI
Solidarity Fund |
http://www.ei-ie.org/main/english/index.html
General Board of the Church of the Brethren funds send more than $90,000
in aid.
New grants from
the General Board's Global Food Crisis Fund and Emergency Disaster Fund will
send more than $90,000 to support projects in the US and the Middle East.
Accounting for
more than half that total is a $50,000 allocation from the Global Food Crisis
Fund (GFCF). The large grant will support the work of the Middle East Council
of Churches in the ongoing aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War. The funds will be
used for community development programs including health and food security,
leadership training, and income generation for impoverished people. The funds
will be distributed to multi-denominational projects throughout the region. (…)
Two dozen
allocations have now been made from the Emergency Disaster Fund in 2002, and 14
from the Global Food Crisis Fund.
http://www.brethren.org/genbd/newsline/2002/dec2002.htm
American Cities Say "NO" to War in Iraq
Across
the US, City Councils - representing millions of American citizens -- pass
anti-war resolutions, with many more on the way.
Washington,
DC, USA, January 7 - At least 29 City Councils from Baltimore to Seattle, from
Philadelphia to Kalamazoo, have passed resolutions opposing war in Iraq.
Anti-war resolutions are pending in many more communities, from Chicago to
Houston and all points in between. Faced with crushing budget deficits, safety
concerns about urban terrorist attacks that might accompany a strike against
Iraq, and the prospect of their constituents fighting a costly and bloody war,
growing numbers of City Councils have passed public resolutions that express
mainstream American concerns about a possible war in the Middle East and its domestic
repercussions.
The effort to give voice to
millions of American citizens through these resolutions is being organized and
facilitated by Cities for Peace, a coalition that includes the Institute for
Policy Studies, the Education for Peace in Iraq Center, the National Priorities
Project, chapters of the American Friends Service Committee and other
grassroots organizations, student groups and faith-based organizations, which
are facilitating the drafting and passing of the resolutions. Similar resolutions
are being passed by student council bodies, faculty senates, major labor unions
and church boards around the country. (…)
Brussels, 8 January 2003, (
ICFTU OnLine) - In an appeal to United Nations Secretary General, Kofi
Annan, the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) has
welcomed the initiative of the French government, with the UN and the African
Union, to host round table talks between the Ivory Coast government and
opposition forces on 15 January.
As the death and injury toll
inside the Ivory Coast continues to rise, and thousands of people are forced to
flee their homes, the global trade union body is also pointing to the grave
threat to the security of neighbouring countries posed by the ongoing conflict,
which is also causing massive economic disruption throughout the region.
Ivory Coast is a major world producer of agricultural commodities, and workers from
several nearby countries depend on employment in Ivory Coast for their
livelihoods.
The ICFTU's Ivory Coast
affiliate, the UGTCI, is today holding a national meeting of union
representatives in the capital Abidjan, to bring further pressure on all sides
to stop the fighting and fully commit themselves to the process of dialogue to
resolve the conflict.
For more information, please
contact the ICFTU Press Department on +32 2 224 0232 or +32 477 580 0486.
The ICFTU represents 158
million workers in 231 affiliated organisations in 150 countries and
territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org
Agreement reached to
resume dialogue on people still missing since 1991 Gulf War
Geneva (ICRC), 19 December –
After years of constant effort, a formal agreement was concluded on 18 December
by all members of the Tripartite Commission under the auspices of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). This paves the way for a
resumption of the work of the Commission's Technical Sub-Committee.
The Tripartite Commission,
which is chaired by the ICRC, is made up of representatives of Iraq, Kuwait and
the other members of the 1991 Coalition (France, Saudi Arabia, the United
Kingdom and the United States). It was set up soon after the 1991 Gulf War to
ascertain the fate of the hundreds of civilians and military personnel
unaccounted for following the hostilities. The Commission and its Technical
Sub-Committee held sessions until 1998, when they were suspended.
As a direct result of this new
agreement, Iraq, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia have decided to meet within the
framework of the Technical Sub-Committee – also chaired by the ICRC – beginning
in January 2003. The ICRC is hopeful that this process will yield concrete
results, thus relieving the anguish of families who have waited all too long to
know what has happened to their loved ones.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5GYNRV?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
Author/Origin: SLCBL (saliyaed@sltnet.lk)
Colombo, Sri Lanka, 18
December - In January 2002, as a part of its advocacy events, the Sri Lanka
Campaign to Ban Landmines (Inter Religious Peace Foundation) launched a
“Citizens Anti-landmines petition” aimed at obtaining 2 million signatures from
citizens appealing to the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to accede to the
Ottawa Treaty, and calling upon the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to
stop using antipersonnel landmines. By November 2002, this initiative had
collected over one million signatures and represented a cross section of the
Sri Lankan society (including those in the LTTE controlled areas).
The GoSL and the LTTE
consented to giving 30 minutes of their time during the “peace talks” on 4th
December 2002 to enable the Sri Lanka Campaign to present the said petition (…)
At the presentation of the petition, Ven. Madampagama Assaji Thero (national
coordinator) reminded the parties of
the overwhelming appeal by the citizens of Sri Lanka to the GoSL to accede to
the Ottawa Treaty, and to the LTTE to renounce the use of antipersonnel
landmines. In the context of the LTTE renouncing the use of antipersonnel
landmines, Ven. Assaji Thero drew attention to the “Deed of Commitment” under
the “Geneva Call” process.
In reply, the chief
negotiators of the GoSL and the LTTE, Minister Peiris and Dr. Anton
Balasingham, respectively, explained that they were seriously considering the
renunciation of the use of antipersonnel landmines.
Opening for the
Gandhi-King Season for Nonviolence, January 30, United Nations, New York
Under
Secretary-General Olara Otunnu, the Special Representative of the
Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, will share his peace
education initiatives. Dr. Etienne Krug, Director of the World Health
Organization (WHO) Department of Injuries and Violence in Geneva will present
the WHO Report, Global Health and
Violence. Ambassador Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury from the Bangladesh Mission
will present the General Assembly’s Culture of Peace Program. Rev. Mary Omwake representing The
Association for Global New Thought (AGNT) will present an overview of the
Gandhi-King Season for Nonviolence.
The Gandhi-King
Season for Nonviolence, January 30 through April 4, is an international,
educational, media and grassroots campaign dedicated to demonstrating that
nonviolence is a powerful way to heal, transform and empower our lives and our
communities. For additional information
on the Season, please go to: www.AGNT.org
This
program is organized by the United Nations Department of Public Information,
The Office of the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and
Armed Conflict, The NY Task Force for the Gandhi-King Season for Nonviolence,
The Interfaith Center of New York, The Temple of Understanding, Pathways To
Peace, Association for Global New Thought and the M.K.Gandhi Institute for
Nonviolence.
For additional information
please contact Monica Willard, NY Season for Nonviolence Task Force, Interfaith
Center of NY, 212-685-4242 or 631-754-1008, MBWillard@aol.com.
Kinshasa, DRC, 20 December -
Even as it prepares to implement a peace accord signed earlier this week to end
Africa's widest war, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is mobilizing
its troops to combat an enemy potentially deadlier than the rebels it has been
fighting for the past four years. In an historic gathering earlier this month,
representatives of the highest levels of government - including the ministers
of interior, defense and health - sat side by side as they exhorted police and
military leaders to take decisive action to protect their troops, their
families, and the nation from the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS.
More than 100 senior military
and police officers participated in a strategy session on 3 December to define
steps to fight AIDS within their ranks and in communities across the DRC. The
meeting was organized by the Ministry of Health, in partnership with UNFPA, the
United Nations Population Fund, and the International Centre for Migration and
Health. Dressed in khaki and blue, the battle-hardened officers of the
Congolese Armed Forces and the Congolese National Police nodded in sad
acknowledgment as the ministers described how the epidemic was ravaging the DRC
and neighboring countries.
The unprecedented
participation of three ministers and dozens of top military and police leaders
in a technical health meeting is indicative of the priority now being given to
the fight against HIV/AIDS by the administration of President Joseph Kabila.
(…)
http://www.unfpa.org/news/2002/features/congo.htm
New $2.5 million grant from the Netherlands helps make
pregnancy and childbirth safer for women
United Nations, New York, 20
December – In an end-of-year show of support to women’s rights and reproductive
health services, the Dutch government announced this week an additional $2.5
million contribution to UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. The new
pledge follows a $2 million grant that the Netherlands allocated last July in
addition to its regular 2002 pledge. This brings the total Dutch contribution
to almost $55 million and makes the Netherlands UNFPA’s top donor for this
year. (…)
The latest grant from the
Netherlands is particularly vital in light of the loss of the 2002 United
States contribution to UNFPA. The U.S. Administration announced last July that
it would withhold $34 million - that had previously been appropriated by
Congress to UNFPA - based on false claims that UNFPA supports coercive abortion
in China. The decision was taken despite recommendations by a State Department
fact-finding team to release the funds.
Many of the 130 donor
countries supporting UNFPA have also stepped forward with additional funding,
outside their regular 2002 pledges. These extra contributions included nearly
$1.6 million from Belgium, $2.5 million from Canada, $700,000 from Denmark, $2
million from Finland, $400,000 from Germany, $200,000 from New Zealand, $2.2
million from Sweden and $4.7 million from the United Kingdom. The total amount
of extra funds from donor countries to UNFPA was $18.7 million.
The loss of the U.S. funds has
also prompted two American women, Lois Abraham of New Mexico and Jane Roberts
of California, to launch their own grass-roots movement to compensate for the
downfall. Their goal is to reach out to 34 million friends who would lend their
direct financial support to UNFPA. Information about the “34 Million Friends”
campaign has been sent out through e-mails to colleges, list-serves, club
memberships and others. As a result, UNFPA has so far received over $150,000
from men and women who care about family planning and reproductive health
services. (…)
http://www.unfpa.org/news/2002/pressroom/netherlands.htm
19 December - Haiti, beset
with the worst HIV/AIDS epidemic in the western hemisphere, is to receive
US$66.9 million over the next five years to strengthen prevention and treatment
from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS,
Tuberculosis and Malaria. The grant
is the first made by the fund in Latin America and the Caribbean. The fund,
based in Geneva, Switzerland, was established last year to mobilize public and
private resources against three of the world's largest killers, supporting
efforts to achieve the Millennium
Development Goals.
The initiative will provide
anti-retroviral therapy to more than 1,200 people living with HIV next year
through a pioneering approach that enlists community members to help ensure the
treatment regime is followed. It will also mount a large-scale awareness and
prevention campaign to reach more than 400,000 youth, together with distribution
of 15 million condoms.
Last year, 30,000 Haitians
died from the disease, and an estimated 250,000 people, half of them women, are
living with HIV -- about six per cent of those from age 15 to 49.
UNDP and the Fondation Sogebank, a private
Haitian organization, will manage the programme, which includes 17 projects to
be carried out by community groups and other partners. So far, the fund has
allocated $24.7 million for the initiative's first two years. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2002/december/19dec02/index.html
(top)
A new global classification and
labelling system for chemicals (GHS)
Geneva,
17 December - A new global system, that is able to protect people from the
mismanagement of chemicals, classify them according to their hazard and create
a labelling system based on pictograms universally understandable, has been
adopted last week in Geneva. This system is now available for worldwide
implementation.
Through the different steps
from their production to their handling, transport and use, chemicals are a
real danger for human health and the environment. (…) To face this danger,
Governments decided to harmonize existing communication systems on chemicals in
order to develop a single, globally harmonized system to address classification
of chemicals, labels, and safety data sheets.
The Globally Harmonized System
for the Labelling and Classification of Chemicals was adopted last week by the
UN Committee of Experts on the Transport of Dangerous Goods and the Globally
Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (CETDG/GHS), an
ECOSOC subsidiary body serviced by the UNECE secretariat, in Geneva after a
decade of efforts and cooperation amongst a broad number of countries and
organizations, notably the Committee, ILO and OECD under the umbrella of the
Inter-Organization Programme for the Management of Chemicals (IOMC). (…)
http://www.unece.org/press/pr2002/02trans07e.htm
Teamwork
needed to decipher environmental science
By J.R. Pegg
Arlington, Virginia, USA, January 8 (ENS) - A new internal report calls on the National
Science Foundation to embrace a more interdisciplinary approach to its work in
order to provide the public and policymakers with the information and tools to
address critical environmental challenges.
Advances in science have
expanded the horizons of what can be studied, the report's authors wrote, and
have created the demand for collaborative teams of engineers and natural and
social scientists to move beyond current disciplinary research and educational
frameworks.
The report, "Complex
Environmental Systems: Synthesis for Earth, Life, and Society in the 21st
Century," provides recommendations for the National Science Foundation's
next decade of environmental research and education programs. It was prepared
over the past two years by the foundation's Advisory Committee for
Environmental Research and Education and presented to National Science
Foundation (NSF) directors today at the foundation's headquarters in Arlington.
"Environmental
researchers and educators in the next decade have to be synthesizers,"
said NSF Director Rita Colwell. "This is not just another report."
(…)
http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-08-10.asp
Free
battery recycling offered to public agencies
Atlanta, Georgia, USA, January 7 (ENS) - Rechargeable
battery recycling will be made available to public agencies free of charge
under a new program from the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC).
The RBRC,
a non-profit public service organization dedicated to recycling rechargeable
batteries, announced Monday that any public agency that wishes to participate
in its Charge Up to Recycle!® battery recycling program may do so free of
charge beginning this month.
In 2001, RBRC omitted fees
associated with its community recycling program. Starting this month, the
program will be available at no charge to public agencies as well. This
includes federal, state and local governmental agencies, public hospitals,
police and fire departments, and military institutions.
Since RBRC lifted its
participation fees for communities, they have seen an increase in program
participation of 21 percent.
http://ens-news.com/ens/jan2003/2003-01-07-09.asp#anchor7
2004
Parliament of the World's Religions
The Council for a Parliament
of the World's Religions is excited to announce the selection of Barcelona,
Spain as the site for the 2004 Parliament of the World's Religions. (…)
Attendees of the Parliament will learn of the extraordinary reconciliation
process headed by governmental, educational, cultural, and religious
organizations to heal the historic wounds remaining from Spain's treatment of
Jews, Muslims and the indigenous peoples of the Americas. The 2004 Parliament
will be the first "official" multi-lingual Parliament of the World's
Religions. (…)
The 2004
Parliament, to be held in July 2004, will be the signature event of a 141-day
Forum of Cultures, co-sponsored by the Universal Forum of Cultures Barcelona
2004, with the support of UNESCO. The Universal Forum of Cultures, the first
ever of its kind, will take place in the northern seafront of Barcelona, in a
100 acre public park overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The Forum, grounded in
a commitment to constructive dialogue between cultures, will focus on three
core themes essential to human progress and development: the conditions for
peace, sustainable development, and ways to protect and promote respect for
cultural diversity. (…)
To learn
more about the Universal Forum of Cultures, visit their site at www.barcelona2004.org
The mission of the Council for
a Parliament of the World's Religions is to cultivate harmony between the
world's religious and spiritual communities and foster their engagement with
the world and its other guiding institutions in order to achieve a peaceful,
just, and sustainable world. http://www.cpwr.org/new/2004announce.htm
World premier of new music will highlight concert,
'gift to Dayton' from University of Dayton and Wright State University
Dayton, Ohio, USA, Jan. 3 --
More than 400 musicians from the University of Dayton and Wright State
University will take one stage Feb. 1 to make and mark history with a musical
gift to the city of Dayton -- a free concert featuring the world premier of a
new composition commissioned in honor of the 100th anniversary of flight.
In Sunshine and In Shadow,
created by award-winning composer Robert Jager around the text of three poems
by Paul Laurence Dunbar, will serve as grand finale to the concert, which marks
the first collaboration ever between the WSU and UD music departments. (…)
The
concert will also include a guest appearance by Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra
conductor Neal Gittleman and several numbers performed by student ensembles and
faculty artists serving as soloists, section leaders and conductors.
Approximately 200 students from UD will perform with the University's chorale,
orchestra, choral union, symphonic wind ensemble and Ebony Heritage Singers
gospel choir. Some 225 students will perform from Wright State's chorus,
orchestra, wind symphony, chamber singers and Paul Laurence Dunbar Chorale. (…)
http://www.udayton.edu/news/nr/010203.html
US
National Council for Science and Environment promotes collaboration with minority serving institutions
December
31 - How can the United States tap the full range of its scientific potential
when addressing conservation issues? This question motivates much of
the National Council for Science and the Environment’s work with the country’s
approximately 330 Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), and was the underlying
theme of a recent three-day workshop held at Tuskegee University.
The
Tuskegee workshop was organized by NCSE specifically to develop strategies that
will increase the role of MSIs in meeting the science and technology goals of
the Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS).
(…)
Minority Serving Institutions
play unique and critical roles in educating the next generation of scientists
and engineers. The schools with the top three enrollments of African American
graduate students in science and engineering are Historically Black Colleges
and Universities: Southern University A&M, Texas Southern University and
Howard University.
Similarly, the top four
schools, and eight of the top ten schools, for enrolled Hispanic graduate
students in science and engineering are Hispanic-Serving Institutions led by
the University of Puerto Rico and including Florida International University,
California State University at Los Angeles, University of New Mexico and
University of Texas at El Paso. (…)
http://www.ncseonline.org/Updates/page.cfm?FID=2285#_Toc29102597__Toc29102597
Aga
Khan underlines Kazakhstan’ vital role in Central Asia-- applies State Peace
Award to fund unique scholarship
Astana, Kazakhstan, 18
December – (…) The Aga Khan, who was on a short visit to Astana, received from
President Nursultan Nazarbayev the State Award for Peace and Progress. The
Award citation commended the Aga Khan for his “distinguished contribution to
strengthening peace and friendship with mutual confidence amongst peoples and
for vigorous activity aimed at the solution of humanitarian problems.” (…)
In Spring 2003, the
world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and his Silk Road Ensemble will perform and
conduct master classes in Kazakhstan as part of a Central Asian tour sponsored
by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. (…) The Music Initiative will help record,
preserve, and strengthen educational activity around traditions related to the
music of the peoples of Central Asia. (…)
The Aga Khan Development
Network (AKDN) is a group of private development agencies working to empower
communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve
living conditions and opportunities, especially in Central and South Asia and
sub-Saharan Africa. The Network’s agencies work for the common good of all
citizens, regardless of their gender, origin or religion and its underlying
impulse is the ethic of compassion for the vulnerable in society. Its annual budget
for philanthropic activity is in excess of US$200 million. (…)
http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=1185
Fifth ‘Horizon: Pave Peace’ on line anthology
is now available on the web
Horizon Pave Peace is an
electronic magazine founded and edited by Prof. Ada Aharoni. It is dedicated to promote Cultural Bridges
among people and nations, and conflict resolution through culture and
literature. Since its foundation in 1996, interest in peace culture has grown
and Horizon has constantly from its outset been a guiding vehicle to peace
researchers, educators and media. It provides conflict resolution conceptions,
alternative models of development, and the deconstructing of enemy images, as
well as international peace poetry and stories, and reports on peace
conferences and projects. It allows peace researchers, media and teachers, as
well as the public at large, to share their insights and experience into how to
spread alternatives to violence in a complex world of strife and national
conflicts. It also draws attention to the urgent need of a new objective trend
in the media, that reports on positive cultural developments instead of a media
that mainly focuses on sensational reporting of crime, violence and disasters
that inflate the negative aspects of society, and is a deformation of reality
and normalcy.
The
Future of Peace: On the Front Lines With the World's Great Peacemakers by author and
Buddhist teacher Scott A. Hunt, is a major contribution to the promotion of
peace. This book is filled with harrowing journeys, valuable lessons, and
enlightening conversations with the Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Hanan Ashrawi,
Aung San Suu Kyi, Oscar Arias, Maha Ghosananda, Thich Quang Do, John Hume,
Betty Williams, Mairead Maguire, Uri Avnery, and Shulamit Aloni.
"From
some of the most horrendous chapters in human history," writes Scott A.
Hunt, "these great leaders have emerged to show us a different path,
proving not only that cessation of war is possible, but that the removal of
hatred and violence from our hearts is possible as well ... they show us that
the promise of peace remains intact. It is to these people that we can turn in
order to replenish our encouragement, hope, and inspiration."
The
Author is an active member of many human rights, social justice, and
environmental protection groups, including: Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, American Refugee Committee International, The International Rescue
Committee, The US Association for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, The
Nature Conservancy, The World Wildlife Fund, Greenpeace USA, The Jane Goodall
Institute, Cultural Survival, and the American Himalayan Foundation.
Rotary’s
Open World Program
The Open World Program, operated by the Center
for Russian Leadership Development at the U.S. Library of Congress, is a
special program available to Rotary clubs in the United States. Designed to
give young Russian political leaders a firsthand look at the U.S. political
system and business and community life, the program also aims to promote
understanding and forge bonds of friendship between the two nations. Each
participating Rotary club hosts five Russian participants (four delegates and
one facilitator) and develops a program of study that allows the participants
to learn more about specific aspects of American life. Each program is based on
one of the eight civic themes.
During intensive short-term
visits, participants learn about the responsibilities of and the
interrelationships between the three branches of the U.S. government at the
federal, state, and local levels. The program also demonstrates how the private
and nonprofit sectors help to meet social and civic needs. To achieve these
objectives, participants engage in hands-on experiences, direct observation,
and substantive dialog with their U.S. professional counterparts.
Download the Open
World Brochure for a more comprehensive overview of the program’s goals and
objectives. For more information: www.open-world2002.gov.
* * * * * * *
Children and students are
graded for their performance and behavior. Why should not governments be graded
too for their performance? A yearly performance report should be produced by
the UN or by an outside organization
similar to Amnesty International.
A
Performance International can show for example:
·
the number of years a country has lived in peace with others,
·
violence statistics,
·
ratification of international treaties,
·
implementation of UN recommendations on a host of subjects (human
rights, labor relations, the environment, etc.),
·
disarmament, shifting of military expenditures to peaceful, productive
and social services,
·
demilitarization, etc.
Such a report would lead to a
lot of good in the world.
Robert
Muller, '5000 Ideas & Dreams For A Better World' - Idea 53, September 1994
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Good News Agency is distributed through Internet to over 2,400 editorial offices of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations with an e-mail address in 46 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Finland, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, USA, and it is also available in its web site: http://www.goodnewsagency.org
It is a free of charge service of Associazione
Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, a registered
non-profit educational organization chartered in Italy in 1979. The Association
operates for the development of consciousness and supports the activities of
the Lucis Trust, the Club of Budapest, the Earth Charter, Radio For Peace
International and other organizations promoting a culture of peace in the ‘global
village’ perspective based on unity within diversity and on sharing. Via Antagora 10, 00124 Rome, Italy. E-mail: s.tripi@tiscalinet.it
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