Good News Agency – Year IV, n° 11
Weekly - Year IV, number 11 – 27
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 – Culture and education
Geneva, 18 June – Noting that four out of five people in
the world lack basic social security coverage, the International Labour Office
(ILO) announced today that it would spearhead a campaign to encourage countries
to extend social security to more of their citizens.
"Only one-out-of-five
people in the world today has adequate social security", said ILO
Director-General Juan Somavia. "What's more, half the world's population
has no social security coverage of any kind. We have the will, and now must
find the way, to provide more people with the social benefits needed to survive
and prosper."
The "Global Campaign on
Social Security and Coverage for All", is to be launched today during
the 91st International
Labour Conference currently taking place in Geneva. The campaign reflects a
global consensus on the part of governments and employers' and workers'
organizations to broaden social security coverage among working people,
particularly in the informal economy, and raise awareness worldwide about the
role of social security in economic and social development. The campaign will
seek to develop a broad partnership involving international organizations,
donor countries, social security institutions and civil society organizations.
(…)
http://www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/pr/2003/34.htm
Twenty-eight countries and the European Community sign tobacco treaty at
first opportunity
States from Africa, Asia,
Europe, Middle East, Oceania and South America represented
Geneva, 16 June - A range of
countries — both large and small, developing and industrialized — as well as
the European Community today signed the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
(FCTC), the only global health treaty produced in several decades. The treaty
opened for the first signatures at a ceremony held today at the Geneva
headquarters of the World Health Organization. (…)
As soon as 40 countries ratify
the Convention, it becomes law for those countries and thereafter, for other
countries that ratify it. Today’s signature does not yet bind countries to the
treaty, but is an expression of political support and of good faith to abide by
the principles it enshrines in the interim period until ratification.
Today's signatories, in the
order that they signed, were: Bangladesh, Brazil, Burundi, Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, the European Community, Botswana, Hungary,
Iceland, Islamic Republic of Iran, Italy, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Malta, Marshall
Islands, Mongolia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Palau, Paraguay, South
Africa, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Gambia. The European Community
signs as a regional economic integration organization. Its Member States that
wish to do so will sign and ratify the treaty individually. (…)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr49/en/
Treaty
on international trade in GMOs to become law
Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety will enter into force in September
Nairobi, 13 June - Palau has
become the 50th country to ratify the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, starting
a 90-day countdown to the agreement's entry into force.
Adopted in January 2000 by the
member governments of the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Protocol sets
out the first comprehensive regulatory system for ensuring the safe transfer,
handling and use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), with a specific
focus on movements of these organisms across national borders.
"The Cartagena Protocol
recognizes that biotechnology has an immense potential for improving human
welfare, but that it could also pose potential risks to biodiversity and human
health," said Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations
Environment Programme, under whose auspices the Biodiversity Convention was
adopted in 1992. "This new regime promises to make the international trade
in GMOs more transparent while introducing important safety measures that will
meet the needs of consumers, industry and the environment for many decades to
come," he said.
The Protocol deals primarily
with GMOs that are to be intentionally introduced into the environment (such as
seeds, trees or fish) and with genetically modified farm commodities (such as
corn and grain used for food, animal feed or processing). (..)
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=321&ArticleID=4039
Training course on the United Nations standards and norms in crime
prevention and criminal justice in law enforcement
Vienna, 13 June - The Second
Training Seminar Course on the Application of United Nations Standards and
Norms in Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Law Enforcement concluded
today. It was held from 10 to 13 June, and was attended by seven female and six
male police academy and training instructors from Central Europe and the Baltic
region. The course was convened as part of the implementation of ECOSOC
resolution 2002/15, and was organized by the Centre for International Crime
Prevention of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, in cooperation with
the Regional Delegation for Central Europe of the International Committee of
the Red Cross. (…)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2003-06-13_1.html
United Nations and European Commission join forces to curb corruption
Hungary
presents UN anti-corruption pilot project to EU experts
Vienna, 12 June - In a
workshop on preventing corruption, organised by the European Commission and the
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime - which runs the United Nations Global
Programme against Corruption (GPAC) - both institutions called for European
Union strategies to build integrity and transparency and to curb corruption
among current and future EU member states.
A national action plan to curb
corruption in Hungary was presented yesterday to participants of the one-day
workshop in Brussels within the framework of the European Forum on the
prevention of organised crime. The Hungarian anti-corruption strategy - worked
out as a GPAC pilot project - is intended to serve as a model for other
European Union countries including newcomers from the Central and East European
region. The anti-corruption measures aim at integrating national level
specifics with the EU regional requirements and the United Nations global
approach. (…)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2003-06-12_1.html
UNICEF and UNODC join forces to fight human trafficking
Vienna, 17 June (UN
Information Service) -- On 12 June the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
and the United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime (UNODC) signed a Joint Plan in which they pledged to join forces
to combat trafficking in persons.
Under this new agreement,
UNODC will work with the Government of Viet Nam to strengthen the legal and law
enforcement institutions. In particular, UNODC will focus its activities on
criminal justice aspects, investigation methods, prosecution and features of
organized crime. For its part, UNICEF will work with the Government to enhance
trafficking-prevention measures, improve child victims' and other at-risk
children's access to basic psycho-social services, facilitate the reintegration
of victims in their communities, and improve the Government's monitoring capacity.
(…)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2003-06-17_1.html
Day of the African Child, 2003: For each child, an identity
Birth
registration theme: 50 million born without legal documents in 2002.
A
continent celebrates its children; dozens of countries carry out events
New York, 16 June - UNICEF
offices in dozens of countries are set to celebrate the Day of the African
Child today, calling for the need to ensure all children are registered at
birth.
In 2002, 50 million newborns
were denied their right to a legal identity. Without a birth certificate,
children have no official identity, no recognized name and no nationality. In
later life, the unregistered child may be unable to apply for a passport or
formal job, open a bank account, get a marriage licence, stand for elective
office or vote. (…)
In honour of the Day of the
African Child, UNICEF offices are coordinating dozens of events. The day marks
a 1976 march in in Soweto South Africa, when thousands of black school children
took to the streets to protest the inferior quality of their education and to
demand their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys
and girls were shot down; and in the two weeks of protest that followed, more
than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured.
To honour the memory of those
killed and the courage of all those who marched, the Day of the African Child
has been celebrated on 16 June every year since 1991, when it was first
initiated by the Organization of African Unity. The Day also draws attention to
the lives of African children today.
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03nn52dac.htm
Malaysia:
Improving compliance with the law
13 June - The ICRC's regional
delegation in Kuala Lumpur this week organized a two-day seminar on existing
mechanisms to implement international humanitarian law and the possible need
for new measures. The meeting brought together 53 international law experts
from over 20 countries in the Asian-Pacific region. (…) In addition to their
discussion of existing and proposed measures by States to implement
international humanitarian law, the participants explored ways to encourage
compliance on the part of non-State armed groups.
This was one of a series of
five such regional seminars. Two were held recently in Cairo and Pretoria. The
remaining two will take place in Bruges, Belgium and Mexico City in coming
months. The seminars' findings will then be presented to the States party to
the Geneva Conventions, whose representatives will attend the 28th
International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent in early December.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5NGJCV?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
New "Marrakech Process"
Promotes Sustainable Consumption and Production on an International Basis
New York, 20 June - Agreement
was reached at an international gathering held in Marrakech this week on
mapping out a 10-year plan for improving patterns of production and
consumption, and turning international commitments on sustainable behaviour
into reality.
The new 'Marrakech Process'
will be an instrument to develop and implement the long-term plan which world
leaders agreed to at the 2002 Johannesburg Summit. It follows up on agreements
reached at the Summit to accelerate the shift towards sustainable lifestyles
that promote social and economic development for all. (…)
The meeting identified a number of key priorities for the framework plan, including the development of policies that integrate the economic, environmental and social aspects of sustainable behaviour. Strategies should include a mix of regulations, economic incentives and communication tools to change patterns of behaviour, and involve partnerships between government agencies, international organizations, private enterprise, and public interest organizations.
The Marrakech meeting was
organized by the UN Department of Social and Economic Affairs, in cooperation
with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP). It was chaired by the Secretary of
State of the Environment for Morocco and Ambassador for the Environment of
Sweden. The report of the meeting will be presented to the 12th session of the
Commission on Sustainable Development in April 2004 and UNEP's Governing
Council in February 2004.
For more information: mediainfo@un.org
Land
rights for poor people key to poverty reduction, growth – World Bank report
Secure
tenure and easing barriers to land transactions empowers poor people, improves
governance, in addition to economic benefits
Paris, June 19 - Strengthening poor people's land rights and easing barriers to land transactions can set in motion a wide range of social and economic benefits including improved governance, empowerment of women and other marginalized people, increased private investment, and more rapid economic growth and poverty reduction, according to a new World Bank report.
Land policies are at the root
of social conflicts in countries as diverse as Cambodia and Colombia, Zimbabwe
and Cote d'Ivoire. (…) Yet a growing number of countries are successfully
addressing land policy issues. The report, Land Policies
for Growth and Poverty Reduction, shows that countries as
diverse as China, Mexico, Thailand, Uganda, and some transition countries in
Eastern Europe, have begun to address land policy issues in ways that benefit
everybody. (…)
World
Bank approves $80 million to strengthen pro-poor programs in Bolivia
Washington, June 17 - The
World Bank today approved three loans totaling $80 million to Bolivia to expand
and protect vital anti-poverty programs.
Ensuring the financial
viability of social service programs, extending electricity, telephone and
Internet coverage in the countryside, and continuing the decentralization of
government functions to improve the delivery of services to the poor are the
lending programs’ main goals.
“With
these loans, the Government will be supported in its efforts to stabilize its
fiscal situation, strengthen safety and pro-poor social programs, and sustain
its commitment to existing reforms,” said Marcelo Giugale,
Director of the World Bank’s Regional Office for Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru and
Venezuela. (…)
Rural
poor in border areas to benefit from IFAD-backed development project in the
Dominican Republic
Rome, 12 June – Some of the
poorest people in the Dominican Republic will benefit from a USD 24 million
programme that will focus for the first time on the country’s border areas.
The programme will be
financed largely by a USD 14 million loan from the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) to the Dominican Republic. The loan agreement
was signed today at IFAD headquarters by the Ambassador in Italy to the
Dominican Republic, H.E. Pedro Padilla Tonos, and the IFAD President, Mr.
Lennart Bäge.
The border areas of the
Dominican Republic are home to many of the country’s extremely poor rural
people. The goal of the programme is to reduce poverty in the region, mainly by
strengthening the organizations of the rural poor, so that they are better able
to contribute to sustainable social and economic development.
Another important first is
that the programme will include measures to improve health and sanitation, such
as provide better drinking water pipelines, as ways to combat HIV/AIDS. (…)
With this programme, IFAD will
have financed six projects in the Dominican Republic totaling USD 62.1 million
in loans.
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2003/26.htm
UNCTAD, Netherlands and Switzerland join together to support the
national biotrade project in Bolivia
On 11 June, in Santa Cruz
(Bolivia), the Minister of Sustainable Development, Ms. Moyra Paz Estensoro,
announced the launch of the National Sustainable Biotrade Programme (PNBS),
aimed at helping to reduce poverty and foster sustainable development.
The Swiss State Secretary for
Economic Affairs, Mr. David Syz, confirmed that his country would contribute 1
million dollars to the programme, and the Ambassador of the Netherlands in
Bolivia, Mr. Wicher Willdeboer, promised 2.5 million dollars. This was the
climax of an intensive process involving the formulation of the PNBS, initiated
two years ago by the Department of Biodiversity in the office of Bolivia´s
Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and the Environment, together with the
UNCTAD Biotrade Initiative.
Bolivia is a country which
possesses great natural wealth. It is one of a group of countries known as
"megadiverse", which are considered to constitute a world power in
terms of their biological riches, since they contain some 70 per cent of the
world´s biodiversity. Bolivia also has some of the highest poverty indices in
the world. (…)
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=3663&intItemID=1634&lang=1
Hampered
by insecurity, CRS Relief activities continue in Liberia
June 18, Baltimore, MD, USA - With news of a ceasefire between
government and rebel groups spawning hope for a peaceful resolution to
Liberia’s crisis, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), working with its local
partner, Caritas Monrovia, continues to distribute emergency food aid to
thousands of displaced Liberians. In recent days CRS has distributed 100 metric
tons of food to more than 1,700 displaced families in Buchanan, Liberia’s
second largest city (…)
Fighting between Liberian
government forces and a collection of rebel groups, who control two-thirds of
the country, had intensified in the months preceding Tuesday’s ceasefire
agreement. The conflict has uprooted hundreds of thousands, including tens of
thousands last week alone. According to the United Nations, the conflict has
made nearly three quarters of the country inaccessible to aid groups. (…) CRS
has been working in Liberia since 1990, initially providing emergency
assistance after the start of the civil war. The agency continues to support
activities in areas such as health, agriculture, education and peace building.
Catholic Relief Services is
marking its 60th year as the official international humanitarian agency of the
U.S. Catholic community. The agency provides assistance to people in more than
90 countries and territories on the basis of need, not race, creed or
nationality.
http://www.catholicrelief.org/newsroom/news_releases/release.cfm?ID=166
Israel
and West Bank: ICRC extends emergency relief
Geneva , 17 June – The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has decided to extend its main
relief programmes for the Palestinian population of the West Bank to the end of
2003, at a cost of over 8.6 million US dollars. Under the previous budget,
emergency support for Palestinians affected by the Israeli closure policy was
scheduled to end in June. However, the ongoing violence and the stringent
security measures maintained by the Israeli authorities have left many
Palestinian households in dire need.
The organization's rural
relief and urban voucher programmes were started in the spring of 2002 after
renewed Israeli military operations exacerbated hardship in the West Bank, with
the movement of many Palestinian families being severely restricted and their
income thus drastically reduced. Under the rural relief programme, families
receive food and other basic items while the urban voucher programme provides
town-dwellers with coupons which they can exchange for goods in designated
stores. A recent independent study shows that both ICRC programmes have
achieved their target of helping some 300,000 people. (…)
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5NLC7S?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
Russia
makes a landmark pledge of food aid for North Korea and Angola
Rome, 13 June – The World Food
Programme today hailed its first ever donation from the Russian Federation, a
US$11 million contribution to the U.N. agency’s under-funded emergency
operations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea and Angola.
“This is a truly historic
development. With this substantial pledge, it is giving life-saving assistance
to millions of hungry people in two of the neediest countries on the planet”,
said WFP Executive Director James Morris. “We are delighted to welcome one of
the world’s great nations into our family of donors, and look forward to
developing a long-term partnership.”
The Russian government is
providing US$10 million for WFP’s 2003 emergency operation in the DPRK, which
is designed to feed 6.4 million of the crisis-ridden country’s most vulnerable
– mainly children, women and elderly people. The funds are to be used to
purchase some 40,000 tonnes of Russian wheat, with deliveries beginning in August.
While the DPRK operation has
suffered significant resourcing shortfalls over the past year, depriving as
many as half the targeted beneficiaries of vital supplemental rations, the
Russian contribution, and recent pledges by other donors, will enable WFP to
reach most of those deemed especially in need until October. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=2
Ethiopia:
drought-hit farmers receive emergency aid
Pre-famine
conditions in pockets of the country
10 June, Rome/Addis Ababa -- Drought-hit Ethiopian farmers have
received emergency agricultural assistance to help them prepare land for the
next planting season after months of devastating crop failure, FAO said today.
Years of acute drought in several
regions of the country, especially the south, have withered crops and left
farming households destitute and unable to feed themselves.
Pre-famine conditions are now
reported in parts of the East African country, and large numbers of children
are suffering from malnutrition. (…) An
estimated 12.6 million Ethiopians are now in need of food aid. FAO's emergency
agricultural projects, worth some $4.3 million, aim to help farmers cope with
the crisis now and manage better in the future.
These projects include
supplying seeds, feed, equipment, animal health services, farming expertise and
training in water management to boost the agriculture sector, which accounts
for 45 percent of the Ethiopian economy, and improve access to food. (…)
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2003/18548-en.html
On the eve of the 36th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting 16-17
June and the Tenth ASEAN Regional Forum 18-20 June 2003 the CCBL sent letters
to all of the embassies in Cambodia. They also enclosed a copy of the book
"ASEAN and the Banning of Anti-personnel Landmines 2002".
12 June - In the Basrah area, explosive ordnance disposal (EOD)
continues, and the activities are being recorded in the Information Management
System for Mine Action (IMSMA). Teams are continuing to report the
extraordinary nature of the operation as a result of the size of the caches and
munitions dumps in Basrah.
Meanwhile, the Area MACT in Basrah is providing daily landmine and
unexploded ordnance (UXO) safety briefings and operations. The Basrah MACT has also established a
victim monitoring system through 82 public-health centres in the Basrah
governorate.
The Government of New Zealand has deployed two New Zealand Army officers
as an in-kind contribution to the United Nations’ mine-action response in
Iraq. The officers will work as
liaisons in the Joint Force EOD Centre and provide a link between the Coalition
and the MACT on all mine-action issues in southern Iraq. (…)
http://www.mineaction.org/countries/_refdocs.cfm?doc_ID=1214
Decline of opium cultivation in the "Golden Triangle"
Vienna, 18 June - The Myanmar
and Lao PDR Opium Surveys for 2003 confirm the downward trend in opium
cultivation in the "Golden Triangle" (which also includes Thailand).
The surveys show a 24 per cent decline for Myanmar and a 15 per cent decline
for Lao PDR in comparison to 2002. Opium poppy cultivation is estimated at
62,200 hectares in Myanmar in 2003 against 81,400 hectares in 2002, and at
12,000 hectares in Lao PDR in 2003 against 14,100 hectares in 2002. Potential
opium production in Myanmar is estimated at 810 metric tons against 828 metric
tons in 2002.
"The vicious linkage
between opium and poverty is being broken. Until recently the elimination of
opium cultivation in the "Golden Triangle" would have been considered
impossible. It is now within reach. However, countries need assistance to
sustain legal activities and alternative crops. With the support of the
international community, an important and painful chapter of world drug history
is coming to an end " Antonio Maria Costa, the Executive Director of the
UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC),
said today at the launch of the surveys in New York. (…)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2003-06-18_2.html
UNODC launches radio campaign "Let's Talk About Drugs..."
Vienna, 18 June - To encourage
parents, grandparents, teachers, peers and other persons of authority to talk
to young children and teenagers about the dangers of drug use, the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) is launching a series of radio spots
as part of a year-long "Let's talk about drugs..." campaign.
The thirty- and sixty-second
radio spots are available for free in English, German, French, Spanish,
Russian, Arabic and Hindi, and are for unrestricted use by broadcasters. The
spots are available in MP3 format with and without music, and can be downloaded
from the Internet at www.unodc.org. All of the radio spots are also available
on CD.
"'Let's talk about
drugs...' underlines the need for children, families, peers, teachers and
communities to talk about drug abuse, admit that it is a problem, and take
responsibility for doing something about it," states UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan in his message for 26 June, the International Day against Drug Abuse
and Illicit Trafficking. (…)
http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/press_release_2003-06-18_1.html
WHO meets with food, beverage and producer Associations on diet and
chronic diseases
Industry associations
provide input to WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health
17 June - World Health
Organization (WHO) officials met today in Geneva with representatives of some
30 food, beverage and producer associations to discuss ways of working together
more effectively to encourage healthier diets and increased physical activity
worldwide. The meeting is the last in a formal consultation process to develop
input for the WHO Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health. This
process has included meetings in all six WHO regions with representatives from
81 of its Member States, as well as consultations with UN organizations and
other intergovernmental agencies, civil society groups and private sector
companies.
WHO is preparing the Global
Strategy for presentation to the World Health Assembly in May 2004, in response
to increasing Member State concern at the growing chronic disease problem.
Cardiovascular disease, cancers, diabetes, respiratory disease, obesity and
other noncommunicable conditions now account for 59 per cent of the 56.5 million
global deaths annually, and almost half, or 45.9 per cent, of the global burden
of disease. (…)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/2003/pr50/en/
MSF opens medical centres in 'critical' area of Baghdad
Brussels, 17 June - On Monday
June 16, MSF opened a second primary health centre (PHC) in Al-Ma'amil, in the
northeast of Sadr city, in the poverty-stricken outskirts of Baghdad. The first
clinic was opened on June 6 and, highlighting the desperate need for medical
care, by the end of the first afternoon it had already carried out 138
consultations and is currently conducting over 700 per week.
"The people living in
this deprived suburb, estimated to be around 300,000, are in a dire
state," explains recently returned head of Mission for Iraq, Pierre
Boulet-Desbareau, "for years this area of Baghdad has been used as a
rubbish tip by the rest of the city. Just as an example, during our assessments
we discovered that in one area over 10,000 people are living on a garbage dump
in metallic shacks. Access to medical care is virtually zero."
The 7-strong MSF team is
supporting the nearby 300 bed Al Thawra hospital by training nurses in key
areas such as administering injections, dressing and medical documentation. (…)
http://www.msf.org/content/page.cfm?articleid=B65BB2E0-C6CB-497D-A71A988E29D97E17
Routine immunization of children re-established across Iraq
210,000 newborns in last 90
days, all vulnerable to preventable diseases
Baghdad, 16 June – With
support from UNICEF, the Iraqi Ministry of Health has begun the process of
immunizing the country’s 4.2 million children under the age of five against
preventable diseases such as polio, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis, measles and
tuberculosis. The World Health Organization is also contributing to the
reactivation of the Iraq’s Expanded Programme of Immunization by
re-establishing the country’s vital disease surveillance system.
According to UNICEF, no child
in Iraq has been routinely immunized since the start of military action on 20
March 2003. (…)
UNICEF has been bringing
millions of doses of vaccines into Iraq to restart the country’s routine
immunization programme in partnership with the reactivated Ministry of Health.
The 25 million doses of vaccines were purchased through a $3.2 million grant
from USAID.
UNICEF has also been working
with health officials to repair Iraq’s cold chain system so that the vaccines
that are brought in can be properly stored. The $1.85 million rehabilitation
project was covered by funds from DFID (United Kingdom). (…)
http://www.unicef.org/newsline/2003/03nn53iraq.htm
(top)
Syria
plans renewable energy investment of almost $1.5 billion
16 June - With its demand for
energy nearly tripling in the past three decades, Syria has approved a plan
calling for investment of US$1.48 billion through 2011 to produce power from
environmentally friendly renewable energy sources.
The UN Department of Economic and Social
Affairs cooperated with the Ministry of Electricity in carrying out a
three-year project, funded by UNDP, to develop the plan. UNDP is working with
the ministry to organize a meeting of donor countries and organizations to
raise funds for implementation. (…)
About half the planned
investment will go for wind power, projected to supply 800 megawatts of
electricity. Solar energy is the second priority, and the plan calls for
installation of 16,000 solar power units in 1,000 villages. (…) Renewable
energy will fill about 4 per cent of the country's energy total needs by 2011,
according to the plan, and create 7,225 new jobs. It will likely reduce
emissions by 2.6 million tonnes a year of greenhouse gases that contribute to
global climate change. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2003/june/16june03/index.html
WWF
hails conservation successes at 55th International Whaling Commission
Berlin, Germany, 19 June – As
the 55th International Whaling Commission (IWC) draws to a close, WWF says that
after 55 years the conservation of whales, dolphins and porpoises (cetaceans)
has moved to the very heart of the Commission’s work.
A new resolution, the Berlin
Initiative, supported by a majority of governments, will enable IWC member
countries to tackle the full range of threats to cetaceans beyond commercial
whaling. These include by-catch, marine pollution, climate change, noise
pollution and ship-strikes. By-catch – entanglement in fishing nets – is the
biggest threat of all, causing the death of around 300,000 cetaceans each year.
In addition to this
breakthrough, efforts to undermine whale conservation were defeated. Japan had
sought a radical expansion of its current whaling programme to catch 150
Bryde’s whales and 150 minke whales each year for five years. Its proposal, put
forward in defiance of the 1986 global whaling moratorium, was heavily
defeated. Sharp criticism was also directed at Japan for their refusal to cease
whaling in the Southern Ocean whale sanctuary. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/press_releases/news.cfm?uNewsID=7561
Nokia
and WWF start environmental cooperation worldwide
18 June - Nokia and WWF have
signed an agreement to launch a series of discussions with stakeholders and a
new learning initiative for Nokia employees around the world. The agreement has
been signed for an initial term of three years. Nokia, together with WWF, will
implement a number of activities enabling employees to learn about
environmental matters.
Nokia and WWF will cooperate
in conducting training workshops and seminars on environmental issues for Nokia
employees, and facilitate active dialogue and exchange on environmental issues.
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/press_releases/news.cfm?uNewsID=7522
International effort results in new
tool to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from aluminium smelters
London, UK, Washington, DC and Geneva, Switzerland,
June 12 - The International Aluminium Institute (IAI), in association with the
World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the World
Resources Institute (WRI), today announced the development of new tools for
calculating greenhouse gas emissions from primary aluminium production. These
calculation methods will serve as a simple unified industry approach to greenhouse
gas emissions accounting. (…)
IAI and its member companies, with the support of the
US EPA, began developing the Aluminium Sector Greenhouse Gas Protocol in early
2002. It is based on protocols previously developed by WRI and the WBCSD, and
was peer reviewed and endorsed as conforming to their model, the Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Protocol.
"This process provides a
model for other industry associations developing sector-specific greenhouse gas
calculation tools," said Jonathan Lash, WRI president. (…)
http://newsroom.wri.org/newsrelease_text.cfm?NewsReleaseID=249
Time
for Action: Your Planet Needs You!
Young
Environmentalists from Across the Globe Meet in Russia to Agree on Actions for
a Better World
Nairobi, Kenia/Dubna, Russia,
11 June - An elite group of young people will be converging on the Russian town
of Dubna to share their passions for a greener, cleaner world and to draw up
action plans for realizing an environmentally-friendly future.
The Tunza International Youth
Conference will mark the next step in the United Nations Environment
Programme's (UNEP) growing campaign to enlist the enthusiasm, creativity and
vision of young people to deliver a more sustainable and fairer world. UNEP is
urging young people from across the globe, eager to make a difference and keen
to take action, to apply to be delegates at the Youth Conference which is
taking place between 25 and 27 August.
Klaus Toepfer, Executive
Director of UNEP, said: " We are looking for dedicated, imaginative young
people who share our vision that the environment is one of the keys to a
better, more prosperous and healthier world. Our new youth and children's'
strategy is called Tunza, the Swahili word meaning 'to treat with care and
affection'. We want to work with young people to spread this philosophy from
the Dubna conference, through concrete actions, to their homes, communities and
countries all around the globe".
(..)
http://www.unep.org/Documents/Default.asp?DocumentID=321&ArticleID=4036
World
Environment Day - Pakistan
UNIDO
and TetraPak launch recycling programme
Around the world, 5 June, World Environment Day
was celebrated, or observed, with street rallies, bicycle parades, green
concerts, essay and poster competitions in schools, tree planting, recycling
efforts, etc.. At the Vienna International Centre, the location of UNIDO's
headquarters in Austria, in addition to an exhibition of UNIDO's environmental
work, activities included a butterfly dance by an Indonesian folk group and a Digeridoo
performance.
UNIDO Pakistan and Tetra Pak Pakistan (a
joint venture between Pakistan's Packages
Limited and Tetra Pak International) celebrated the day by launching Proud Pakistanis Recycle. (…) From July
to December 2003, Environment Protection Agencies, planners, managers,
community representatives, municipalities, scavengers associations, NGOs/CBOs
and policy makers involved in the logistic of solid waste collection &
treatment, muncipal engineers, in short, anyone involved in waste management
technology, resource recovery and ultimate disposal of waste, will be invited
to recycling conferences in Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, Quetta and Sialkot. The
conferences will assist local officials develop cost-effective strategies for
solid waste management. (…)
http://www.unido.org/it/doc/11669
ADRA
Uganda receives $2.4 million to improve education
Silver Spring, Maryland, 16
June – The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Uganda has
received a total of $2.4 million through ADRA’s office in Denmark from the
Danish International Development Agency to implement a rural education project
in Karamoja, Uganda. The Karamoja Integrated Rural Education Project (KITENEP)
started in October 2002 and is the first of its kind in the region.
The KITENEP is a three-year
project that will renovate eight primary schools, construct one dormitory, 36
houses for teachers and staff, nine rain water systems, four demonstration
gardens, three community centers, and 200 adult learning centers. In addition,
200 teachers will receive training. (…)
According to ADRA Uganda, the
illiteracy rate in Karamoja is 88.5 percent.
http://www.adra.org/ADRANews/061603.html
Rotary Youth Leadership Awards
(RYLA), Rotary's training program for young leaders, emphasizes leadership,
citizenship, and personal growth.
Young adults from around the
world met at the International Rotary Youth Leadership Awards Convention, which
was held 29 May-1 June in Brisbane, Australia.
Eighty-five youths ages 18 to
30 were selected to attend the event, which was held in conjunction with the
2003 Rotary International Convention in
Brisbane. The young adults are outstanding youth leaders in their communities
and represent such diverse countries as Bangladesh, Philippines, and Scotland.
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