Good News Agency – Year IV, n° 10
Weekly - Year IV, number 10 – 13
June 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
Solidarity in Action: South-South Cooperation in
the Least Developed Countries
Peru ratifies International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources
Most Latin American countries have signed and will
ratify the Treaty
6 June, Rome - Peru has ratified the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, FAO
said on Friday. The country's Ambassador José Pablo Morán Val underlined the
importance of the Treaty for Peru, "It is fundamental to protect Peru's
indigenous varieties of our region and it will benefit our producers,
especially rural farmers who are responsible for having preserved these species
over the centuries," he said during the ratification ceremony.
Peru and the Andes are the cradle of plant
species fundamental to world food consumption, such as the tomato and potato.
Countries in the Latin American region
have preserved a breadth of biological diversity which has accumulated over
centuries and is key for the survival of future generations.
Peru's signature and subsequent
ratification of the Treaty "recognizes the importance of placing the
conservation and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources within a
multilateral framework which will benefit not only the Peruvian agricultural
sector but the world as a whole," said José Esquinas-Alcázar, Secretary of
FAO's Commission on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. (...)
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2003/19025-en.html
Berlin Declaration adopted by Global Parliamentarians
on Habitat
May 28, 2003: The Fourth
Global Forum of Parliamentarians on Habitat, which was held in Berlin on May
12- 14 2003, adopted the Berlin Declaration
calling on governments to increase financial support for the realization of the
United Nations Millennium Development Goal of improving the lives of 100
million slum dwellers by the year 2020. Governments were also called upon to
ensure the availability of predictable financial resources for UN-HABITAT to
strengthen its work on poverty alleviation.
Since its inception in
1987, and at all its subsequent major meetings including Habitat II in
Istanbul, in 1996, Cancun, Mexico in 1998, in Manila, Philippines in 2000, the
Global Forum of Parliamentarians has supported legislative change for
sustainable urban development and adequate housing for all. It has always been
a strong supporter of the Habitat Agenda and has advocated better urban
governance as a way of meeting the urgent needs of the urban poor. (...)
http://www.unhabitat.org/Berlin.asp
Vienna, 22 May (UN
Information Service) -- The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)
and the Ministry of Justice of Portugal have signed a new agreement regarding
the provision of assistance to the Portuguese-speaking countries for the
ratification of UN conventions and protocols against organized crime and terrorism.
The
UNODC's Centre for International Crime Prevention (CICP) has been provided by
the Ministry of Justice of Portugal with the translation of the Convention
against Transnational Organized Crime and the universal anti-terrorism
conventions and protocols. The Ministry of Justice is also planning to
translate and disseminate the new Convention against Corruption, to be
finalized by the end of this year, in Portuguese-speaking countries. (...)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2003-05-22_1.html
Geneva (ICRC) – On
8 May 2003, less than a year after independence, Timor-Leste has deposited with
the Swiss government the instrument of accession to the four Geneva Conventions
of 1949.
This
makes Timor-Leste the 191st State party to these treaties, which form the core
of international humanitarian law.
The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has been present in the country
since 1979 and is continuing its work in the fields of detention, missing
persons, international humanitarian law training for armed and security forces
and support for the government in the implementation of international
humanitarian law. The ICRC is also working closely with the International
Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to set up a Red Cross
Society in Timor-Leste.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5N9DGQ?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
Africa Economic Summit
2003: 11-13 June, Durban, South Africa
The World Economic Forum's
Africa Economic Summit is the region's premier gathering of leaders from
business, politics and civil society. After more than a decade of
public-private engagement in the Southern African Development Community (SADC)
region, the Summit is now a platform for dialogue and networking to marshal
private sector inputs in implementing the New Partnership for Africa's
Development (NEPAD).
http://www.weforum.org/site/homepublic.nsf/Content/Africa+Economic+Summit+20
Rome, 30 May - FAO is helping Eritrean farmers restore their productive
capacity through the distribution of cereal and legume seeds for the 2003
cropping season.
The drought of 2002 - the worst in ten years - severely weakened the
productive capacity of farmers and affected all regions, including Debub and
Gash Barka, which constitute the breadbasket of Eritrea. (...) Under its Technical Cooperation Programme (TCP), FAO
just launched a new US$400 000 project in Eritrea. The Organization will
provide technical assistance services and inputs to help rural communities
resume farming.
FAO will distribute 400 tonnes of cereal and
legume seeds to about 30 000 families. This will enable about 15 000 ha of
land to be cultivated, ultimately yielding about 12 000 tonnes of food worth
about US$5 million. The emergency provision of cereal and legume seeds project
starts in June 2003 and should end by January 2004. It complements the efforts
of a Swedish-funded seeds distribution project in the Debub and Gash Barka (...)
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2003/18563-en.html
ACDI/VOCA
wins Project in Iraq
Washington,
DC, 28 May - The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) today
announced the award of a cooperative agreement to ACDI/VOCA as part of the Iraq
Community Action Program (CAP).
The
CAP is designed to promote citizen involvement in community development efforts
at the grassroots level and to prevent and/or mitigate conflict by empowering
individuals across gender, ethnic and religious lines. ACDI/VOCA will act as
part of a collaboration of U.S. nongovernmental organizations that will promote
diverse and representative citizen participation in and among 250 communities
and benefit approximately 5 million Iraqis.
The
overall project will focus on community mobilization and cooperation, social
and economic infrastructure development, employment and income generation, and
environmental protection and management. All CAP initiatives will target
under-represented and "at-risk" groups, including women, youth and
minority groups. www.usaid.gov/iraq/.
ACDI/VOCA community action programs have
a history of success in challenging post-conflict environments such as Serbia
and Central Asia's Ferghana Valley. (...) ACDI/VOCA was founded 40 years ago to
empower people to succeed in the global economy. It has built communities and
improved economic performance in over 135 countries.
http://www.acdivoca.org/acdivoca/Acdiweb2.nsf/news/release5.28.03?opendocument
WFP
aid arrives for flood victims in Namibia
Johannesburg,
4 June - Trucks carrying 127 metric tons of urgently needed food have arrived
in Namibia’s Caprivi region where thousands of people have had to flee their
homes to escape the worst flooding in decades, the United Nations World Food
Programme said today. (...)
The food was dispatched from a WFP warehouse in southern Angola following
a request from the Namibian Government to provide assistance to 12,000 people
in 22 villages. The flooding occurred after a period of prolonged torrential
rainfall in the Democratic Republic of Congo burst the banks of the Zambezi
River downstream in the Northeastern part of Namibia. (...)
WFP Namibia staff are also currently undertaking a rapid assessment
mission in the region and will discuss with the regional authorities and
committees on the implementation of food assistance to the flood affected
people.
WFP has been providing food aid for refugees, mostly Angolans, in
Namibia's Osire and Kassava camps for the last three years. However, because
WFP's food stocks in the country will be exhausted by July, the agency is about
to launch a new emergency appeal for Namibia to assist the refugees in a phased
12-month repatriation programme. This operation is expected to cost
approximately US$1.3 million and donor contributions will be urgently needed.
Brisbane, Australia, 3 June - As part of Rotary's
20-year commitment to end polio by its 100th anniversary in 2005, the
humanitarian service organization today announced that its 1.2 million members
successfully raised over US$88 million; surpassing its original goal of US$80
million.
Last year, Rotary embarked on its second major
fundraising drive entitled, "Fulfilling our Promise: Eradicate
Polio," to help raise critically needed resources to purchase oral polio
vaccine, and to help cover operational expenses and poliovirus surveillance. (...)
The funds raised this year are in addition to the
US$500 million Rotary has committed to polio eradication since 1985, when Rotary
launched its first fundraising drive with the goal of US$120 million. By the
end of that campaign, Rotary more than doubled its goal and created its
PolioPlus program - the largest private-sector support of a global health
initiative ever. In addition, over one million men and women of Rotary have
volunteered their time and personal resources to help immunize more than two
billion children in 122 countries. (...)
http://www.rotary.org/newsandinfo/presscenter/releases/157.html
Beira, 2 June – The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today was
pleased to announce the arrival of Algerian-donated rice, boosting the agency’s
ability to scale up food aid for hundreds of thousands of drought-hit
Mozambicans. (...) This donation is part of a larger contribution of 33,000
tons of rice for WFP emergency operations in southern Africa. The overall
donation is the biggest contribution ever given by Algeria to WFP and marks the
first time the North African country has donated food through WFP for southern
Africa. (...)
WFP has been providing emergency food assistance to drought-affected
people in Mozambique since July 2002. The agency has just extended its
operation through June and is aiming to provide food for as many as 650,000
people who have been hardest hit by the natural disaster.
Despite funding and capacity constraints over the past year, WFP has
been able to reach some 340,000 people with emergency food countrywide.
However, WFP is working to expand emergency food assistance to areas hard-hit
by the drought as and when donations – such as the Algerian rice – arrive in
the country. The Algerian rice will be distributed to drought-hit families in
Tete, Sofala, Manica and Zambezia provinces. (...)
The remainder of the Algerian-donated rice, which was confirmed to WFP
in April, will be sent to the agency’s operations in Angola, Swaziland, Zambia,
Zimbabwe, Malawi and Lesotho.
Baghdad, 1 June - The Iraqi Ministry of Trade today began distributing
food brought to the country by the United Nations World Food Programme for the
first time since Iraq’s Public Distribution System was disrupted by the war in
March. Nearly 27 million Iraqis nationwide will receive their food rations from
44,000 distribution agents across the country this month.
So far, WFP has brought about 440,000 tons of food to Iraq to help
re-activate this vital social safety net in a country where 16 million people
are believed to be entirely dependent on monthly food rations after two decades
of wars and stringent economic sanctions. (...) Having maintained the food
distribution in northern Iraq, WFP has been able to return the three northern
provinces to the pre-war food security level in May.
The UN food aid agency will continue to bring enough food commodities
using available donor funds and re-negotiated contracts concluded under the Oil
for Food Programme to keep the monthly food rationing system fully operational
for the coming six months. (...)
WFP has 80 international staff members in Iraq to bolster the work of
more than 700 national staff who remained in the country throughout the
conflict. (...)
Ivory
Coast: feeding supplies in response to increasing malnutrition
Over the past
two weeks, MSF teams saw an increasing number of severely malnourished children
in the hospital of Man and a TFC was opened to save those most at risk.
Brussels/Man, 27 May - Medecins
Sans Frontieres (MSF) is sending 45 tons of specialised food, logistical
equipment and medical material to western Ivory Coast, in response to the
emerging life-threatening malnutrition.
(...)
The specialised nutrition for
the TFC consists of therapeutic milk and BP5 (high calorie biscuits with
increased nutritional value). The full charter includes medical material,
surgical kits, logistical equipment and water and sanitation material to be
used in the Regional Hospital, that has been re-opened by MSF in January 2003.
Since then medical teams have been providing about 5,000 consultations a month
and ensuring paediatric, surgical and maternity services.
http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=C50609BF-95F7-4E70-B517A282B860A8A9
4 June - With the
support of the ICRC, the Angola Red Cross has launched an awareness-raising
programme aimed at reducing casualties caused by mines and unexploded ordnance
(UXO) in two of Angola's most affected provinces, Bié and Benguela.
The second of two workshops organized under the
programme was held in Bié province last week and 40 Red Cross volunteers who
took part have now returned to their communities, where they will help the
local population find solutions to the problems posed by mines/UXO. The
workshop was also attended by ICRC staff based in Namibia and by
representatives of the Mine Action Centre in Zambia, who will start up
awareness-raising activities for Angolan refugees in those two countries. (...)
Since the first workshop held in March, mine-awareness
volunteers have visited some 50 affected communities in Benguela province to
collect information from the villagers about the location of mines/UXO.
Subsequently, the Angola Red Cross and the demining organization operating in
the area were able to remove the devices.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5N7FLT?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
Brisbane, Australia, 1 June - More than 16,000 Rotary
club members representing a cross section of business and professional leaders
from 113 countries and regions have turned the Brisbane Convention and
Exhibition Centre into a mini United Nations. Despite their political,
cultural, and historical differences, they are united by a common mission -
promoting peace, and building better communities through Rotary's vast
international network of volunteers.
"At a time when religious, ethnic and political
conflicts occur frequently around the world, Rotary's convention is very
significant," says Rotary International President Bhichai Rattakul, who
has made "Sow the Seeds of Love" as the theme for this year's
convention. "Rotary's spirit of community volunteerism encourages harmony
and rightful understanding among peoples who differ widely in blood, descent,
historical background, language, religious faith and economic conditions,"
says Rattakul. "It is no surprise that Rotarians from all over the world
overcome political, religious and ethnic differences everyday to pursue a
common goal of humanitarianism."
During the convention, a four-day mix of sessions,
workshops and hospitality, Rotary club members will focus on Rotary's
peace-related projects and programs, and discuss strategies on how to work with
governments and other non-governmental organizations on peace-related
humanitarian initiatives. (...)
http://www.rotary.org/newsandinfo/presscenter/releases/159.html
Rome, 28-May -
In Iraq the war is over, but the killing continues. Peace-time reports coming
in from this long-suffering country tell a tale of civilians injured and maimed
in their dozens – and often times killed – in the explosion of ordnance left behind by the recent war and the many
that preceded it. The country is littered with explosive remnants of war. No
place is safe. (...)
In the face of this emergency, indifference is not an
option. Action is needed now to prevent more deaths and suffering, and to allow
economic activities to start again and the Iraqi people to enjoy a true peace.
This means acting immediately to clear the land, removing landmines and
unexploded ordnance first and foremost from the most densely populated areas
and those of strategic importance for reconstruction and the delivery of humanitarian
aid.
With this need in mind, the Italian Campaign to Ban
Landmines is proud to stand by Intersos, one of its member organizations, in
its new clearance project in Iraq. The project will start in June 2003 and will
be carried out under the aegis of the United Nations in the central and
southern parts of the country. The initial duration of the clearing operations
is estimated at 3 months and the expected output is 450.000 sq. m. of cleared
land. Clearance will be inspired by humanitarian priorities and will be carried
out by two teams comprising personnel from Italy and Bosnia.
For further information, or to support the project,
please visit www.campagnamine.org
Moving Beyond Excuses
New ad campaign encourages Eastern European youth to
avoid risky sexual behaviour
5 June - HIV/AIDS
is spreading faster in Eastern Europe than it has anywhere else in the world.
But sophisticated young people in the region can give
any number of reasons for not wearing condoms to protect themselves.
"I'm embarrassed," admits one tough-looking
hipster. "I like it natural," says a guy in black with tattoos
running clear up his arm. "We trust one another," say young lovers,
holding each other close. Confronting such attitudes head on is the thrust of a
new ad campaign supported by UNFPA and produced by Population Services
International, a Washington-based social marketing organization. "What's
Your Excuse?" is the slogan of the campaign. Its tag line: "There is
no excuse. Wear condoms."
The campaign, aimed at 15-25 year olds, includes ads,
posters, t-shirts, television and radio commercials, and condom packaging. All
use dark, edgy photography and sexy, somber models. It was launched at a sports
and music event at Lake Ada, in Belgrade in April 2003, with some 100,000 young
people attending, and in Sofia, Bulgaria in May. It will soon reach Bosnia and
Herzegovina. Volunteers who distributed flyers in 11 cities during the launch
said they liked the campaign because it was grounded in the reality of young
people's experience and feelings. (...)
http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=326
Geneva, 3 June -- The United Nations' principal health agency today
honored the Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim for laying the foundation
stone upon which the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was built.
''Through this award I salute your wisdom and courage
in blazing a trail in global tobacco control that will empower countries around
the world to save lives and prevent disease,'' said Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland,
Director-General of the World Health Organization, handing over the
Director-General's Award for leadership in global tobacco control.
WHO's 192 Member States
recently adopted the FCTC, the organization's first treaty that will ban
tobacco advertising and promotion, curb smuggling, protect people from second
hand smoke and raise taxes on tobacco products. Amorim was the first chair of
the intergovernmental negotiating body that concluded the treaty. The Brazilian
led the group through the challenging initial stages of negotiations and
defined the parameters within which consensus finally emerged. (...)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr45/en/
3 June - The ICRC
and the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in Abkhazia last week signed a
cooperation agreement on limb-fitting activities. The agreement is valid until
the end of 2003 and will ensure continuation of joint efforts to provide
quality service at the Gagra prosthetic/orthotic centre. Cooperation will focus on maintaining the current level of limb-fitting
activities, ensuring that everyone who needs artificial legs, orthotic devices
and walking aids can use the centre in Gagra. The ICRC is gradually handing
over to the health authorities, and in 2003 the Ministry of Health and Social
Welfare will take responsibility for human resources, technical activities,
stock management and the patient database. The ICRC will continue to help fund
the programme, and to provide technical advice and training. (...)
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5N6B5P?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
MSF
opens free HIV/AIDS treatment clinic in China
"The
opening of this free clinic illustrates the willingness of Chinese authorities
to tackle a health issue that is still largely taboo in Chinese society."
- MSF spokesperson
Brussels, May 28 - Médecins
Sans Frontières (MSF) will today receive the first patients into its new
HIV/AIDS treatment clinic in Xiangfan city in the Chinese province of Hubei.
The clinic is one of the first in the country to provide treatment free of
charge to people infected with HIV, and offers hope to poor people who have
previously been unable to afford expensive charges for AIDS drugs. The project
is being run jointly with the Xiangfan Centre for Disease Control and will have
the capacity to offer treatment for up to 500 people. (...)
http://www.msf.org/countries/page.cfm?articleid=51C32EF0-0D58-4F49-AE61323AE2E087AD
(top)
UN Volunteers and digital power help India cope with
disasters
4 June - National UN
Volunteers in India are teaming up with UN
Information Technology Services (UNITeS) to help one million villages prepare for
earthquakes, cyclones and other calamities that claim lives and undermine
development.
The US$27 million disaster risk management programme
is scaling up recovery efforts by UN Volunteers in UNDP-supported programmes
after the 2001 earthquake in the western state of Gujarat and the "super
cyclone" that devastated the eastern state of Orissa in 1999.
National UN Volunteers working with UNITeS set up
online information booths in inaccessible villages in Orissa and trained local
people, including women with little or no education, to operate them. Villagers
and administrators can get data on market prices for farm produce and weather
warnings, and link up with district authorities. The project was a finalist in
last year's Stockholm Challenge, which honours pioneering information and
communications projects worldwide. (...)
The new programme, launched by the Ministry of Home
Affairs with UNDP support, will work with communities in 125 districts across
12 states to prepare contingency plans and train more than three million people
on local emergency task forces. Over 200 UN Volunteers should be in place by
the end of the month, according to Saroj K. Jha, who heads UNDP activities to help poor communities, which are the most
vulnerable, reduce the risks of disaster.
(...)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/june/4june03/index.html
2003 Dubrovnik Conference nn
Sustainable Development of Energy, Water and Environment Systems: 15-20
June, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Sponsored
by UNESCO, this conference is devoted to the ultimate goal of modern society:
sustainable development of energy, water and environment systems. The
Conference will focus on the following objectives, to: promote a new field of
sustainability science that seeks to understand the fundamental interactions
between nature and society; discuss sustainability and its relation to global
development; present and evaluate energy, water and environment system models;
present multicriteria assessment of energy,water and environment systems taking
into a consideration economic, social, environmental and resource use aspects.
http://www.dubrovnik2003.fsb.hr
The New South Wales Government
created the Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA) in 1996. It was
created to address the negative impacts of conventional power generation and
use by promoting and integrating sustainable energy as a key part of the NSW
power sector. Seda’s mission: deliverying greenhouse gas reduction, environmental,
economic and social benefits to the NSW community by accelerating the
transition to sustainable production and use of energy.
SEDA has recently published
its Corporate Plan 2003 – 2005, that is available at their website: http://www.seda.nsw.gov.au/pdf/SEDA_Corp_Plan_2003-2005.pdf
New Delhi, 6 June - Severe heat wave conditions in
several coastal south districts of Andhra Pradesh and adjoining coastal
districts of north Tamil Nadu since 20 May and interior parts of Orissa since
27 May are imperiling the lives of people in the region. Heat wave conditions
have also developed in parts of Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, eastern Uttar
Pradesh, Rajsthan, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh. The
maximum temperature recorded in Andhra Pradesh was 47.5 degree centigrade at
Gannavaran in East Godavari district on 22 May 2003 while in Orissa it touched
48.1 degree centigrade at Titlagarh on 3 June 2003.
In response to a Government request, UNICEF supported
the Government of Orissa by providing 3.5 million Oral Rehydration Salts
sachets, 5 million halogen tablets, and 2000 bags of 25 kg bleaching powder for
distribution in the affected districts.
UNICEF is working very closely with the health
department, women and child development department and the Relief Commissioners’ offices in the states and is assisting the state governments
in responding effectively to the heat wave situation.The severity of the heat
wave has been aggravated by the continuing drought in most of these states.
However, the heat wave will be contained soon due to the onset of the monsoon
rains. (...)
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03nn48heatwave.htm
Washington, DC, June 5 -- The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MA) – the most extensive study ever of the linkages between the world’s ecosystems and human well-being – will begin publishing its results starting September
this year.
The assessment, which was launched by UN Secretary
General Kofi Annan in 2001, will publish a series of four in-depth reports and
up to seven shorter studies intended for decision-makers in government, the
private sector, and civil society groups. The studies, to be released over two
years, will be published by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment through Island
Press. All the findings will also be available through the MA’s website, www.millenniumassessment.org. (...)
Some 500 scientists from 70 countries are working on
these reports, and hundreds more will provide expert review of the assessment.
Dozens of institutions throughout the world are contributing their expertise
and supporting an on-going dialogue between the scientists and decision makers.
The Millennium Ecosystem
Assessment (MA), is a 4-year, $21 million project. It was designed by a
partnership of UN agencies, international scientific organizations, and
development agencies, with guidance from private sector and civil society
groups. Major funding is provided by the Global Environment Facility, the
United Nations Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and the
World Bank. The MA Secretariat is coordinated by the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP). (...)
http://newsroom.wri.org/newsrelease_text.cfm?NewsReleaseID=248
Tree planting offers hope to parched communities in
Iran
2 June - Communities in an arid region of Iran are
planting trees to reduce soil erosion from severe summer winds, a step that
will also help reduce global climate change, since the trees remove carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere.
UNDP, with funding from the Global
Environment Fund (GEF), is working with the Iranian Forest, Rangeland and Watershed
Organization to support these efforts.
(...)
The project is in a watershed area south-east of
Birjand, in the eastern province of Khorasan. Eleven small villages in the
northern part of the area -- home to 9,000 people, including 3,000 who are
nomadic -- have traditional agreements on use of local resources. Tree
planting, to rehabilitate at least 9,000 hectares, based on negotiated
co-management plans, will build on these agreements.
Reducing soil erosion is a vital step in improving
agricultural productivity. Community organizations and civil society groups
will also encourage small business opportunities in handicrafts and other
fields. The project will offer job training and help set up a community-run
micro-credit facility to provide small loans. (...)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/june/2june03/index.html
New initiative to combat growing global menace of environmental crime
UNEP
launches "Green Customs" project to help customs officers beat
illegal trade in chemicals, hazardous wastes and endangered species.
Brussels/Paris/Nairobi, 2 June - Customs officers around the world are
getting some extra backup in the on-going battle to beat the multi-billion
dollar illegal trade in ozone depleting substances, toxic chemicals, hazardous
wastes and endangered species.
With a focus on training border guards to
better spot and apprehend criminals trafficking in "environmental
commodities," a new "Green Customs" web site is being launched
today (see http://www.unepie.org/ozonaction/customs/ ). The web site is part of an initiative to
help tackle the growth of environmental crime, one of the most profitable and
fastest growing new areas of international criminal activity. (...)
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=321&ArticleID=4017
UNEP helps spearhead great ape rescue mission
"Kano
Two" Gorillas Going Home Following Historic Deal Between Cameroon and
Nigeria
Lagos/Nairobi, 23 May 2003 - A pair of
Western lowland gorillas, among the rarest and most endangered species in the
world, will today jet out of Nigeria to a new life after being rescued from the
clutches of the illegal pet trade.
Brighter and Twiggy, who it is believed
were captured as infants in their native Cameroon before being smuggled over
the border to Nigeria and sold to a businessman in the northern city of Kano,
will be taking up residence in the world famous Limbe Wildlife Centre in
Cameroon. Their rescue and return home owes much to the courage and vigilance
of wildlife campaigners and Dr Imeh Okopido, the Nigerian State Minister for
the Environment. Once alerted to their plight and whereabouts, Dr Okopido took
action to confiscate the "Kano Two" as the gorillas have come to be
known. (...)
The United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), under its Great Ape Survival Project (GRASP), is co-funding the
repatriation with support from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. The Pan
African Sanctuaries Alliance is also helping to fund the mission. (...)
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=318&ArticleID=3988
Willis Harman Spirit at Work
Award honors companies leading emerging trend:
spirituality moving from personal into organizational programs
Five Organizations Honored for Pioneering Spirituality
into Workplace
San
Francisco, California, May 20 - What do Medtronic, Sounds True and the Times of
India have in common? They are pioneers
in a growing trend of highly successful businesses and institutes that
explicitly nurture spirituality within their organizational
initiatives. Each company is a recipient of the Willis Harman Spirit at
Work Award, which is today announcing this year’s honorees: Sounds True,
Memorial Hermann Healthcare System, SREI International Financial Limited, The
Times of India, and Windesheim University of Professional Education. (...)
“The awarded
organizations represent over 34,000 employees with businesses representing over
$600 million in revenue, said Cindy Wigglesworth, 2003 selection committee
chairperson of Willis Harman Spirit at Work Award. “The award honors the recipients for their spiritual policies,
programs or practices that explicitly nurture spirituality in their
organizations. Their leadership strives
to engage the gifts of their employees.
Their cultures strive for integrity, discipline, creativity, and
effective growth.”
The Award is named
after late visionary futurist Willis Harman, PhD (1919-1997). The Association
for Spirit at Work (ASAW) created the award in 2001. (...)
Experience Festival and The
World University of Consciousness - August 1st to 8th
outside Chennai in India.
The purpose of the festival
and the university is to explore the inexhaustible well of spiritual wisdom
residing in ancient cultures, a wisdom that this planet is so much in need of
right now!
What you can get an experience
of at the festival you can explore in depth at the world university. Topics
includes Enlightenment, Mysticism, Vaastu, Shristi - the art of parenting,
Ayurveda, Women's movement in a spiritual context, Yoga, the Maya calendar,
Kabbalah, Shamanism, Temazcal, Sufism and much more.
Each day participants can
choose between up to 20 different workshops and activities. In the morning
there will be guided meditations and yoga of different kinds. During the day
there will be numerous workshops, both theoretical and experiential, as well as
other activities. In the afternoon and evening: games, social gatherings and
rituals of different kinds.
The Experience Festival and
The World University of Consciousness are arranged as a joint venture between a
team of people in the west, with headquarters in Sweden, and the Golden Age
Foundation in India.
http://www.experiencefestival.com
New York, 2 June – The Government of Japan this week donated $10.2
million to UNICEF to support the reopening of schools across the country,
bringing its total contributions to UNICEF’s emergency relief efforts in Iraq to more than $15
million and making Japan the leading governmental donor to UNICEF’s appeal for Iraqi children so far. (...)
Reactivating the primary education system is one of
the most immediate needs in post-war Iraq. UNICEF has made getting children
back into a school an urgent priority.
Most of Iraq’s 8,500 schools need repairs or clean-up, and another
5,000 need to be built to accommodate all of Iraq’s 12 million school-age children. At present, a
shortage of safe school facilities and trained teachers force many schools to
operate on shifts. Poor hygiene and sanitation in primary schools is also a
serious concern; less than half of all primary schools have access to potable
water. (...)
Japan’s latest gift will support education, helping more than 1 million
children in three cities. About $3.5 million of donation will be used to help
rehabilitate 70 schools – 30 in Baghdad and 40 in the south of the country. The bulk of the
funds, some $6.2 million, will buy teaching and learning supplies. (...)
Other major donors to UNICEF’s relief efforts in Iraq include the United Kingdom,
the United States, Australia, Canada, and the European Union.
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03pr43japan.htm
UNESCO prize for Peace
Education awarded to Fr. Emil Shufani (Israel)
Paris, 28 May –
UNESCO Director-General Koichiro Matsuura has awarded the Organization’s 2003
Prize for Peace Education to Father Emil Shufani, the Arab-Israeli principal of
the Greek-Catholic St Joseph’s College, in Nazareth, on the recommendation of
the prize’s international jury. The jury, which met on May 26 and 27 declared
that: “his personal attitude and action have always been marked by dialogue,
peace and tolerance, and his constant desire to bring Arabs and Jews together.”
Fr. Shufani, born
in 1947, conceived project in 1988 for Education for peace, democracy and
coexistence, which he implemented at his school, where he has been the
principal since 1976. He has tried to bring Arabs and Jews together, for
example, by twinning St Joseph’s with the Jewish Lyada School in Jerusalem and
organizing pupil exchanges between them. (...)
Funded by the
Nippon Foundation, the $30,000 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education has been warded
since 1981 to encourage efforts to raise public awareness and convince people
of the need for peace. (...) The prize will be presented to the winners on
September 8 at UNESCO HQ.
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php@URL_ID=12590&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201
International Society for the
Systems Sciences: 47th Annual Conference
6 - 11 July, Crete, Greece
The
conference theme of "Conscious evolution of humanity: Using systems
thinking to construct agoras of the global village" was chosen to focus on
the challenges facing humanity as it transforms from "evolutionary
consciousness" to "conscious evolution," and on the role systems
thinking must play in constructing 21st Century Agoras in the context of
globalization. The main themes of the plenary sessions include: Reforms:
Complexity and Conflicts; Indigeneity: An Alternate Worldview; Intensive World
System Evolution: the New Imperative of our Shared Future; The Dilemma of Autonomy; Wisdom of the People.
An ISSS Board Meeting will be
hold at the conclusion of the Conference.
http://www.isss-conference.org
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Potential for
South-South Cooperation in the Implementation
of the Brussels
Programme for the Least Developed Countries
New York, 27
May 2003 – Extract of the Statement by Anwarul K. Chowdhury,
Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the Least Developed
Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States,
at the thirteenth session of the High-Level Committee on the Review of
Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (Tcdc)
Despite
professed attention of the international community during the past years, the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) continue to be marginalized in the global
development process. The Millennium Declaration, adopted in 2000 by the United
Nations General Assembly and the South Summit of the Group of 77 and China,
held in Havana also in 2000, reiterated the need for special attention to these
developing countries. It has been also widely acknowledged that supportive and
specially focused international policies could play a crucial role in reducing
poverty in the LDCs.
The population in the LDCs has risen to an
estimated 700 millions, about 11 per cent of the world's population.
Desperate poverty situations in these countries is known to all. External
resource flow to them still remains very inadequate. Their share in world trade
is less than one per cent.
In this backdrop, South-South cooperation
has the potential of playing a significant role in promoting sustained growth
and sustainable development for the LDCs. Based on the real developmental needs
of LDCs, South-South cooperation should be built as an integral part of the
international community's support to these countries in special need.
The Brussels Programme of Action (BPoA)
adopted in May 2001 by the international community affirmed the role that
South-South cooperation could play to draw on the expertise and resources
existing in other developing countries for the benefit of the LDCs. The BPoA
identified some important areas of cooperation that include building human and
productive capacity, technical assistance and exchange of best practices
particularly in areas related to health, education, trade, investment,
environment, training, transit transport cooperation and technology. The BPoA
also emphasized that South-South cooperation is not a substitute for
North-South cooperation but a complement and encouraged the use of triangular
mechanisms, which could ensure success of South-South cooperation through
financing by donor countries.
Information collected by UNDP's Special
Unit for Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries (TCDC) has indicated that the LDCs had cooperation
and assistance programmes with many developing countries covering a wide range
of activities. For example, in the case of Bhutan, it indicated that
South-South cooperation was focused on the development of infrastructure and
education; for Burkina Faso, it was in health and medicine; and for Senegal the
areas were agriculture and information services. (...)
Overall South-South cooperation from other
developing countries to LDCs ranged from health, capacity building, trade and
agriculture to economic infrastructure, debt cancellation and sharing of
technology. Some successful examples of South-South cooperation that LDCs benefited
from in recent years are identified below:
- A
good number of developing countries extended to LDCs low-interest funds,
establishing joint ventures and contributing to human resource development. In
2000, China decided over two-year period to reduce or cancel the debt
worth over $1.2 billion owed mostly by African LDCs. Also, last year, Morocco
decided to cancel the debt of the African LDCs.
- In
recent years, other developing countries had increased access to their
markets for LDC products. According to UNCTAD, the exports of LDCs to other
developing countries were 29.8 per cent of their total exports in 2000, against
62.5 per cent to developed countries. However, the share of their imports from
developing countries increased and was 48.6 per cent compared to 42.1 per cent
from developed countries. Morocco provided free market access to African LDCs
exports.
-
Since 1995, some developing countries (e.g. India, Malaysia, South Africa)
became important sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) for LDCs. (...)
- Reduction
of transportation costs and trade facilitation are offered by other
developing and LDCs transit countries to the LDCs and other developing
countries that are landlocked. Most transit neighbours of landlocked countries
are developing countries and they have numerous agreements related to transit
transport cooperation (e.g. Djibouti-Ethiopia, China-Mongolia, India-Nepal
corridors)
-
Malaysia provided training and consultative services during 2001 and
2002 to Cambodia, Lao P.D.R, Myanmar and Malawi, in project planning and
management, agriculture, poverty eradication and diplomacy. India has run
programmes on farming in Namibia and Senegal.
-
LDCs received benefit from three-way cooperation in the area of human-resource
development, such as Bhutan with Singapore and Thailand, and Burkina Faso
with Cuba and the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.
-
With a global estimate of 42 million (2002) people living with HIV, LDCs are
among the worst affected and domestic resources are woefully inadequate to
fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis simultaneously. Through
South-South cooperation, activists from LDCs came forward to share experiences
and established networks with activists from other developing countries on
management of HIV/AIDS programmes, with special attention to lowering the price
of related drugs.
There is indeed good potential for
expansion of South-South cooperation in terms of promotion of investment, trade
and technical cooperation in LDCs to achieve poverty reduction and sustainable
development. Increased regional cooperation and greater market opportunities
among developing countries in general, and with LDCs in particular, appear to
be key factors for the expansion of South-South trade. This will also enhance
the LDCs production processes and marketing skills and further equip them to
tackle the more demanding markets of the North. (...)
Effective utilization of preferential
arrangements is an even more serious problem for the LDCs because of the
weaknesses of their supply capacities. LDCs have difficulties in increasing the
rate of utilization of already available preferences accorded by developed
countries. This has, however, opened opportunity for another area of
South-South cooperation. LDCs existing market access has attracted interest,
particularly from investors from other developing countries in raising sales to
the US and EU markets. (...)
UN system organizations are continuing to
strengthen initiatives in favor of LDCs in the context of South-South
cooperation. In achieving food security, FAO Special Programme for Food
Security provides experts from developing countries to work with farmers in LDC
rural communities. By March 2002, 22 agreements related to food security were
signed between LDCs and other developing countries such as: Senegal-Viet Nam,
Ethiopia-China, Lesotho-India, Niger-Morocco, Bangladesh-China, Mali-China,
etc. One of them has been signed between two LDCs: Gambia-Bangladesh.
To strengthen investment cooperation among
developing countries, especially in favor of LDCs, UNCTAD created a technical
cooperation project called Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) negotiations. Up
to now, many agreements were concluded at BIT negotiations for LDCs.
International Trade Centre (ITC)
'matchmaking' programmes are of major significance in building partnerships
that benefit LDCs. The programmes enable enterprises in developed countries to
locate potential partners in developing countries, many being LDCs and through
a set of financial and technical arrangements engage them in the production and
distribution of specified goods and services.
As the economies of the developing
countries are becoming increasingly complementary, good cooperation prospects
exist between LDCs and other developing countries. Increased South-South and
triangular cooperation are important avenues that could effectively support the
development efforts of the LDCs. This in turn would contribute to further
implementation of the Brussels Programme.
chowdhurya@un.org www.un.org/ohrlls
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Next issue: 27 June.
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