Good News Agency – Year IV, n° 2
Weekly - Year IV, number 2 –
24 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 – Environment
and wildlife – Culture and education
New York - On 20 January, the
Security Council, in a meeting attended by 13 Foreign Ministers, called for all
countries to take urgent action against terrorism and to comply fully with
Council resolutions addressing this threat. In the declaration, the Ministers
appealed to States to take a number of steps to combat terrorism, including
becoming a party to all international conventions and protocols relating to
terrorism and cooperating in the prevention, investigation, prosecution and
punishment of terrorist acts. States must also ensure that any measures taken
to combat terrorism are in accordance with their obligations under
international law, in particular international human rights, refugee, and
humanitarian law. The Council stressed that continuing international efforts to
enhance dialogue and broaden the understanding among civilizations “will
contribute to international cooperation and collaboration, which by themselves
are necessary to sustain the broadest possible fight against terrorism.”
DPI/NGO Link, http://www.un.org/dpi/ngosection
Vienna, 10 January (UN
Information Service) - Further negotiations on a United Nations Convention
against Corruption will take place in Vienna next week (13 - 24 January 2003).
The fourth session of the Ad Hoc Committee for the Negotiation of a Convention
against Corruption will continue the second reading of the draft convention.
Discussions will focus on three key areas: private sector corruption, asset
recovery and the way the convention will be monitored. It is expected that the
second reading of the draft text will be completed.
The question of whether
private sector corruption should be criminalized under the Convention is one of
the difficult issues delegates will be addressed at the fourth session. There
is some opposition to including it in the convention because of concerns about
the possible negative impact on businesses in terms of restraining trade.
Recently the European Union agreed on a framework decision on the
criminalization of private sector corruption, which may have a bearing on the
negotiations at the Ad Hoc Committee. (...)
There are two more sessions of
the Ad Hoc Committee planned for 2003 and then the convention is expected to go
before the United Nations General Assembly for approval at its fifty eighth
session later this year. The General Assembly in its resolution GA57/169 has
approved the holding of a High-level Political Conference in Mexico for the
purpose of signing the UN Convention against Corruption in 2003.
http://www.undcp.org/odccp/press_release_2003-01-10_1.html
103
countries ask UNESCO to prepare an international convention against doping in
sport
Paris, 10 January
- The ministers and senior officials of physical education and sport from 103
countries today asked UNESCO to elaborate, with the United Nations and other
competent agencies, an International Convention against doping in sport.
Meeting for two days at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris for a Round Table of
Ministers of Physical Education and Sport, which finished this evening, 45
ministers and numerous senior officials of physical education and sport from
103 countries adopted a communique in which they called for sport to be given
its rightful place in education systems, for improved protection of young
athletes against the risks of high level sport, and to fight doping, notably
through the elaboration of an international instrument. (...)
They committed
themselves to "accelerate the preparation of an International Convention
against doping based on the Council of Europe's Convention against doping and
request UNESCO, in cooperation with the United Nations Organization, other
competent UN system agencies and the Council of Europe, in close collaboration
with other concerned bodies such as the International Olympic Committee, the
World Anti-Doping Agency and IICGADS (Intergovernmental Consultative Group on
Anti-Doping in Sport), to coordinate the preparation, if possible before the
Summer Olympic Games of 2004, and the adoption, if possible before the Winter
Olympic Games of 2006, of a universal international instrument for this
purpose." (...)
http://portal.unesco.org/ev.php?URL_ID=8725&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1042812206
Japan
backs protection of South Asian girls from trafficking and HIV/AIDS
17 January - Japan is
allocating US$1.03 million through the UN Trust Fund for Human Security for a
UNDP initiative to protect adolescent girls in South Asia more effectively from
trafficking and HIV/AIDS, and care for those so affected. The project will help
governments, civil society groups and communities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
India, Nepal and Pakistan increase such protection and care.
Uzbekistan:
Release more Human Rights defenders
New
York, January 10 - Uzbekistan should follow up the recent release of a human
rights defender by releasing many others still in prison, Human Rights Watch
said today.
On January 3, Yuldash Rasulov, a member of the Human Rights Society of Uzbekistan (HRSU), was released from prison under an amnesty announced last month. Rasulov, a human rights defender and practicing Muslim, had been sentenced to seven years in prison in a politically motivated trial in September. (...) Rasulov, who had helped people persecuted for their religious beliefs and affiliations, was convicted on charges of "attempting to overthrow the constitutional order" and distributing "extremist" literature. The evidence presented against him, however, showed only that he prayed five times a day and had listened to tapes on Islam commonly available in the mid-1990s. (...)
Four other members of HRSU remain in prison,
after being sentenced in 2002. (...)
http://www.hrw.org/press/2003/01/uzbek011003.htm
World
Bank assistance strategy for Colombia projects up to $3.3 billion in loans over
four years
Washington,
January 16 – The World Bank’s Board of Directors today discussed the new Country
Assistance Strategy (CAS) for Colombia, involving a lending program of up to
US$3.3 billion and significant analytical work through June 2006.
This amount of projected
lending is in the high-case scenario, assuming that the Government of Colombia
achieves key economic and social reforms, including public spending, taxation
and banking regulation, and the implementation of its Social Support Network
for the country’s poorest people (Red de Apoyo Social).
The World Bank’s new CAS is
based on the recognition that greater social and economic stability can be
achieved by increasing economic growth, reducing poverty and creating
opportunities for all Colombians. (...)
Africa: Third big table to
focus on mutual accountability – 18-19 January, Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa, 15 January -
Effective implementation of the new development cooperation agenda will be the
subject of the third Big Table, an informal consultation between Finance
ministers from several African countries and their counterparts from
Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) development
co-operation ministries, to take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 18 - 19
January 2003. (...)
The Big Table is an initiative
designed by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) to promote frank,
constructive dialogue between African finance ministers and their OECD
counterparts. The format and agenda are designed to allow for maximum interactive
dialogue, with no formal statements.
This year's discussions will
focus on approaches to monitoring the performance of Africa and its partners
towards meeting shared goals in the context of mutual accountability.
The notion of mutual
accountability is a hallmark of the New Partnership for Africa's Development
(NEPAD) and a manifestation of its appeal for a new "compact" between
Africa and its external partners. This compact calls for African countries to
undertake the political and economic reforms needed to place their economies on
a path towards sustainable growth. In turn, external partners would invest --
through aid, debt relief, and market access -- the resources needed to help
African countries in this effort. (...)
http://www.uneca.org/what_is_new_home.htm
Revision of the UNECE Trans-European North-South Motorway (TEM) project
standards and recommended practice
Geneva, 7 January - The UNECE-sponsored Trans-European North-South
Motorway (TEM) Project published the 3rd Edition of its Standards and
Recommended Practice containing motorway design, construction and operation as
well as newly required safety measures in motorway tunnels. (...) In the course
of the present revision, the UNECE European Agreement on Main International
Traffic Arteries and the 1997 update of the Highway Capacity Manual (US
Transportation Research Board Special Report 209) were taken into account.
In addition to these sources, the chapter on tunnels was revised basically
in order to incorporate the newly required safety measures in motorway tunnels,
including the recommendations of the UNECE Ad hoc Multidisciplinary Group of
Experts on Safety in Tunnels established in 1999. The topics covered are:
planning; design parameters; traffic regulation and safety; facilities;
environmental considerations; bridges; tunnels; and maintenance related to
design.
Although their primary application will be to the Trans-European
North-South Motorway, the Standards are available to other United Nations
member countries, which may find them beneficial for the formulation or
updating of their national standards. (...)
http://www.unece.org/press/pr2003/03trans01e.htm
New forms
of assistance for developing countries
Rome, 7 January -- For the
first time, a programme of decentralized cooperation has been signed by the UN
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the Italian government representing
a new kind of partnership between local authorities in Italy and in developing
countries to focus on food security and rural development.
Over the next two years an Italian trust fund of $2.3 million will launch pilot projects aimed at improving the lives of rural communities in a number of developing countries.
Representing a new approach to
fighting hunger and food insecurity, the initiative will enable FAO to work not
only with the central government but also with local authorities - at
municipal, provincial and regional levels - of both developed and developing
countries.
Italy's approximately 8000
municipalities, 100 provinces and 20 regions give some idea of the potential of
the new initiative whose objective is to mobilize the social, human and
financial resources of local Italian authorities to fight hunger and
malnutrition.
As civil society and local
authorities play an ever increasing role internationally in the fight against
hunger and poverty, decentralized cooperation establishes solid, cross-cutting
partnerships between organizations while encouraging active participation in
democracy and the mobilization of resources. (...)
http://www.fao.org/english/newsroom/news/2002/12740-en.html
The World Social Forum brings
together an international collection of representatives of people's
organisations, community organisations, popular movements and other civil
society groups. There will be five days of celebration, debate, and discussion
of concrete strategies and alternatives to current social and economic
policies.
This year's Forum will highlight five main themes:
Regional gatherings have also
been held - see, for example, www.wsfindia.org The event will
coincide with the World Economic Forum held at Davos in Switzerland.
Canadian Rotarians help
immunize nearly one million children against polio in Cameroon, part of
Rotary's global effort to eradicate polio worldwide by 2005
January 18, Ontario, Canada -
As polio still threatens children in parts of Africa and South Asia, Rotary has
made eliminating this crippling disease its top priority. In support of
this global endeavor, 32 Rotary club members from Ontario, Nova Scotia, New
Brunswick, Quebec and Alberta will depart Toronto for Cameroon on the evening
of Saturday, 18 January and will return on Sunday, 27 January. While in
Cameroon, the volunteers will help administer drops of oral polio vaccine,
assist parents in getting their children vaccinated, transport health workers,
deliver the vaccine to health clinics and recruit fellow volunteers during
Cameroon's polio immunization campaign on 21 January. The goal will be to
immunize children under the age of five against polio. (...)
In order
to eradicate polio by 2005, every child must be reached. Gaining access to
children in areas of civil unrest and upholding political commitment despite
the decline of the disease are the major challenges to a polio-free
world. Most critically, a funding shortfall of US$275 million is the
greatest threat to polio eradication, according to the World Health
Organization.
To help meet this funding
challenge, Rotary members worldwide have embarked on a major campaign to raise
US$80 million by 2003. (...)
The Global Polio Eradication
Initiative is spearheaded by the World Health Organization, Rotary
International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
UNDP
helps keep remittance lifeline to Somalia open
17 January - UNDP Somalia is
helping to keep open a crucial financial lifeline -- remittance companies
(hawala) -- that transfer US$750 million to $1 billion a year from Somalis
abroad to families and businesses in their home country. This is by far the
largest foreign currency infusion into the economy -- more than international
aid from all sources - and its shutdown would bring a major crisis. Somalia has
been without a central government and a commercial banking system since 1991
because of civil strife.
Following the closure of
Al-Barakkat, the largest Somali remittance company, after the 11 September
attacks, due to allegations that it was used by terrorists, other such
companies faced the threat of sudden closure. (...)
A UNDP Somalia study indicated
that the hawala companies remain an integral part of Somalia's economy because
they enjoy customers' trust, serve nearly the whole country, as well as Somalis
elsewhere, and are less expensive and far more efficient than other financial
companies. Traditional ties between extended families and clans reinforce these
advantages.
A UNDP Somalia team went to
the US, UK, Norway and the United Arab Emirates, meeting with governments and
financial institutions to emphasize the importance of the remittance companies,
while calling on the companies to comply with all international laws and host
government rules and regulations. (...)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
Ethiopia:
Helping the displaced
16 January - In the past few
days, staff and volunteers of the Bale branch of the Ethiopian Red Cross
Society, aided by ICRC personnel, have distributed emergency non-food relief
supplies to some 36,000 displaced people in Oromia region's Bale zone.
The aid recipients had fled
their harsh living conditions in drought-stricken Western and Eastern Hararghe
and Arsi. These lowland zones in Oromia region offer little arable land. In
Bale zone, many of them found shelter far from any health-care facilities. For
the time being, the Ethiopian government is providing them with medical care
and monthly food rations while at the same time looking for a durable solution.
The aim of the relief
operation was to alleviate suffering, especially of the many thousands of
women, children and the elderly who are particularly vulnerable so far from
their homes. Each family received blankets, cooking pots, soap, jerrycans and
tarpaulins. This is but one example of the many ongoing Red Cross activities
countrywide.
http://www.icrc.org/Web/eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/5HUCPZ?OpenDocument&style=custo_final
Senegal's
new national Goodwill Ambassador supports action against poverty and HIV/AIDS
13 January - Soccer star Aliou
Cissé, designated national Goodwill Ambassador for 2003-2004 last week by UNDP
Senegal, has pledged support for efforts to overcome poverty and stem HIV/AIDS,
both Millennium Development Goals. The Senegal Lions' captain, who plays with
Birmingham City in the UK, visited UNDP projects in Bambey, Senegal's poorest
department, noting that they help people make real progress with small-scale
investments.
USA: Internet group of 600,000 Americans finances controversial TV campaign
to pressure Bush administration to "let the inspections work"
January
16 - The landmark 1960's TV ad scene of a little girl in a field of
daisies is being recreated as part of a new controversial advertising campaign
to put pressure on the Bush administration against rushing into war in Iraq.
The new TV ad,
financed by more than 10,000 individual members of the Internet group
MoveOn.org, hits the airwaves today in 13 major U. S. cities. "Our message
is simple: 'Please let the inspectors do their job,'" says Eli Pariser of
MoveOn.org. "As long as the United Nations team is still hard at work
there's no reason to send in our troops and unleash forces that could escalate
into the overthrow of friendly governments or chemical and biological warfare
or even nuclear warfare." (...)
Leaders of MoveOn.org initially asked their
membership to contribute $27,000 to finance a modest ad campaign, but more than
10,000 members responded with donations averaging $35 each for a total of
$400,000. (...) The ad is airing on TV stations in Washington, DC, Los
Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Boston,
Minneapolis, Phoenix, Cleveland, Portland and Seattle. (...)
MoveOn.org
is a key player in Win Without War, a coalition of organizations, including the
National Council of Churches, NAACP, Sierra Club, NOW, and others, representing
millions of Americans who favor allowing the U. N. inspectors to finish their
work in Iraq.
http://www.moveon.org/news/press/release011603.html
January 13 – Professor Ada
Aharoni, President of IFLAC Pave Peace*, informed us that the Druze poet Fuaz
Hussein, from Hurfeish Village in the High Galillee, was the Guest of the Iflac
Dialogue, together with Reyad Amer, also from Hurfeish, a young labor
activist and staunch supporter of Amram Mitzna, on 10 January. (...)
A lively and fruitful dialogue
took place between the guests and the participants. It was good to
see that despite the Intefada, the suicide bombings, and the reprisals -
IFLAC Pave Peace remains a place of sanity, harmony and understanding between
the two nations and a bridge between the two cultures.
Fuaz concluded by saying, "Perhaps IFLAC is the model of relations between the two nations, for we all recognize the fact that early or late, due to necessity or to realization - we will reach co-existence of Israelis and Palestinians. Most of all we have to remember that cooperation begins and ends with human beings, and that mutual respect is the only key to harmonious relations. IFLAC in my view fulfills an important national function as a bridge, even though a narrow one as yet - between the two nations and the two rich cultures. "
*For
information on IFLAC: http://ada.up.co.il
Norway
backs media project for peace in South Asia
7 January - The Norwegian
Agency for Development Cooperation is providing US$500,000 for seminars, a
quarterly magazine and a web site for South Asian journalists and media professionals
on the role of media in promoting peace and human development. The UNDP Paragon
project will include a forum for Indian and Pakistani journalists and
parliamentarians to discuss peace and cooperation. Paragon is the UNDP Asia
regional governance programme.
TRANSCEND Peace University: a
dream coming true
Some welcoming words by Johan
Galtung, Rector, TPU
On February 3, 2003 TPU opens
with six 15-weeks courses, Conflict Transformation by Peaceful Means;
Nonmilitary Aspects of Security; Global Conflicts and Nonviolence;
Peace-building and Empowerment; Peace Journalism; The Roles of Arts in
Peace-Building. (...)
The general purpose so far is
to provide people who work for peace by peaceful means, development by
developmental means and environment by environmental means with more knowledge
and skills. Thus, at the present stage our primary concern is to be useful to
practitioners of all kinds and ages; including students. Later on TPU will also
launch more theoretical courses in peace, conflict and development theory,
preparing participants for MA and higher level, all the time combining our
on-line and on-site courses. (...)
We live in a world where
governments desperately defend their monopoly on violence, fighting wars by
belligerent means. And the NGO opposition is often limited to a language with
one word: NO! Important, but not good enough. We are among those who show both
government and non-governments that there are so many other possibilities, so
much that should, must, can be done.
Course in Peace Journalism and Progressive Media Through Radio
An
intensive 4-week course with optional Spanish component at the RFPI studios in
Costa Rica
Radio For Peace International
is an independent media voice broadcasting on short wave. The programs deal
with peace and conflict, human rights, social justice and the environment and
have been operating from Costa Rica for the last 15 years. RFPI is a non-profit
organization bringing independent news and information on vital issues of the
day to a world wide audience. All
proceeds raised from the course go straight back into the radio station.
RFPI has trained over three hundred independent
peace journalists who now work all over the world. The 4-week course includes
various subjects of the radio production and analysis of progressive and
independent media.
Session dates: session 1:
January 27th - Feb 21st; session 2: March 3rd - 28th; session 3: April
7th - May 2nd; session 4:
June 16th - July 11th; session 5: July 21st - August 15th; session 6: August 25th - September 19th;
Session 7: September 29th - October 24th.
Forty new countries given low cost access to health journals
17 January, Geneva --
Forty-three new countries were added to the list of eligible participants in
the Health InterNetwork Access to Research Initiative (HINARI) this week,
giving them online access to 2,200 high-quality medical journals at drastically
reduced prices.
The 43 countries, which all
have gross national products per capita of between $1,000-$3,000, join the 69
low-income countries (GNP/capita below $1,000) whose hospitals, medical schools
and research institutions already access the package for free.
The total value of the
publication package offered is in excess of $750,000. While the poorest
countries can access the publications for free, countries eligible under this
second stage will pay an annual fee of $1,000 beginning with a six month free
trial. Access for eligible institutions is granted through admission to a
portal maintained by the World Health Organization. The 28 participating
publishers are contributing the fees collected to a fund to train librarians
and researchers to make the best use of the vast amount of information now
being made available.
HINARI has been developed by
the World Health Organization and its publisher partners to support the health
sector in developing countries by enabling access to high quality, timely,
relevant scientific information at affordable prices. (...)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/releases/pr3/en/
Brazilian
consumers can now buy certified timber
São Paulo, Brazil, 17 January
- Last night's opening of a pilot retail shop which will exclusively sell
FSC-certified timber opens new possibilities for Brazilian consumers, as well
as for producers with certified forests and certified chain-of-custody.
The new EcoLeo shop in São
Paulo, Brazil, belongs to Leo Madeiras, a large retailing group in Brazil. The
store sells several species of Amazon native tropical wood, as well as pine,
eucalyptus and other timber from plantations, in the form of sawn wood, boards,
blades, plywood, MDF, and other products — all of which are FSC certified.
The FSC (Forest Stewardship
Council) seal provides a guarantee that forest materials and products come from
legal, sustainably managed forests. Socially, the FSC seal means that all
forestry activity is legal, that taxes and labour obligations are regularly
paid, that there is no forced labour or child labour, that all workers are duly
registered and enjoy all legal rights, that workers are well qualified for the
job, and that local and traditional communities are respected.
Environmentally, the practices
and technology required by FSC ensure the integrity and longevity of the
forest, as well as biodiversity conservation and all its associated values:
water resources, soils, landscapes, ecosystems and ecological functions, the
protection of threatened species and their habitats, fighting predatory
practices, and complying with environmental laws. (...)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/other_news/news.cfm?uNewsID=5390
Chile's
Coastal Range Road rerouted!
16 January - Good news for the
temperate Valdivian rainforest of southern Chile: on 11 January, the government
of Chile signed an agreement to redefine the routing of the Coastal Range Road
and establish mechanisms for the creation of protected areas along the
country's Coastal Range — home to the oldest and most diverse rainforest
remaining in southern South America. The agreement was signed with the Coastal
Range Coalition, an NGO group spearheaded by WWF that includes more than 12
institutions, ranging from indigenous groups to leading scientists, interested
in the conservation of the remaining temperate rainforest of the Coastal Range.
(...)
The agreement represents an
outstanding conservation result. Twenty per cent of the 200-km road that is
already under construction will be changed from a logging penetration road
(speed limit of 70 km/h) to a minimal environmental impact road (speed limit of
40 km/h). Additionally, the remaining 80 per cent of the road, currently under
study, will be routed outside forested areas (east of the range) and use
existing minor roads. Significantly, each segment will be subject to a full
environmental assessment, which is not required by law. Finally, the plan also
considers the establishment of protected areas, since less than five per cent
of the Coastal Range is currently under protection. (...)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/other_news/news.cfm?uNewsID=5381
UNDP
helps Haiti in disaster management
9 January - UNDP has helped
Haiti establish a national disaster management system that includes more than
90 local committees in high risk, low-income areas outside of Port-au-Prince,
the capital. It is allocating US$500,000 for a new phase covering 2003-2005,
and the European Commission and other donors have pledged support. Haiti is
prone to floods, droughts and earthquakes and hurricanes, one of the most
devastating being Georges in 1998, claiming nearly 200 lives.
About World Water Day 2003 (22
March 2003)
The goal for World Water Day 2003 is to inspire worldwide political and
community action and encourage greater global understanding of the need for
more responsible water use and conservation. The theme for this year’s event is
“Water for the Future”, calling on one and all to observe sustainable
approaches to water use for the benefit of future generations.
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP), the lead UN agency for World Water Day 2003, aims to work with
governments and key partners worldwide to plan events that achieve this end. It
is notable that World Water day, this year, coincides with celebrations marking
2003 as the International Year of
Fresh Water.
http://www.waterday2003.org/about-wwd.htm
UNESCO
Publishing brings out first free-verse Arab translation of Dante's 'Divine
Comedy'
Paris, 16 January
- The first-ever free-verse Arabic translation of The Divine Comedy, written by
Italian poet Alighieri Dante in 1321, has just been published. Until now, this
literary masterpiece had only appeared in Arabic in prose. The new translation,
from the original Italian and several French translations, is the work of
Iraqi-born French poet and literary critic Kadhim Jihad, who is a senior
lecturer at France’s National Institute of Oriental Languages and
Civilizations. It is co-published by UNESCO and the Arab Institute for Research
and Publishing (AIRP), based in Beirut (Lebanon).
The Divine Comedy
comprises 14,233 three-line verses (tercets) making up 100 songs, and divided
into three parts describing hell, purgatory and paradise. By transcribing this
long poem into free-verse (unrhymed verse without a metrical pattern), Kadhim
Jihad sought to safeguard its musical quality. “Arabic and Italian metrics do
not obey the same rules and it would be very difficult to do a translation that
kept to the original verse structure,” he said. “I chose free-verse tercets
because they got closer to the music of Dante’s words.”
In a long introduction
he points out that the Arab-Islamic world and The Divine Comedy are not
strangers to each other, even though Dante was a Christian and strongly
influenced by St Thomas Aquinas. (...)
http://portal.unesco.org/ev.php?URL_ID=8750&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1042812206
UNICEF contributes US$ 2.5 million toward free primary education in
Kenya
Nairobi, 15 January - UNICEF
announced today an immediate contribution of US 2.5 million dollars to urgently
support the Kenyan government's pledge to provide free and compulsory primary
education. The UNICEF funds - for use over the next three months - will benefit
450,000 girls and boys from grade 1 to 3 with learning and teaching materials
in eight districts and Nairobi. Specifically, UNICEF will provide education
kits, recreational kits, support the training of five thousand teachers, and
assist in the repair and rehabilitation of primary school classrooms and their
water and sanitation facilities.
"The new government's
education initiative is a milestone and we are heartened at the speed with
which the government has moved to fulfill its election promise and the
provisions of the Children's Act", UNICEF Representative Nicholas Alipui
said today.
On the heels of the
inauguration of the new Kenyan government and its announcement it would
immediately abolish fees at all government schools, some 1.5 million previously
out-of-school children turned up to attend classes. UNICEF said it is working
with the government to swiftly assess those children most in need, as a
priority. (...)
http://www.unicef.org/media/newsnotes/2003/03nn01kenya.htm
Timor-Leste
to become a member of UNESCO
Paris, 9 January -
The President of Timor-Leste, Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão, has announced his
country's intention to become a member of UNESCO in a letter to the
Organization's Director-General, Koïchiro Matsuura. President Xanana Gusmão
said in his letter: "UNESCO has long been a reference to peace-loving
peoples throughout the world. Accordingly, the time has come for Timor-Leste to
become a Member State of UNESCO in our overall process of integration into the
international community."
Mr Matsuura
welcomed the announcement: "I look forward to the imminent arrival of
Timor-Leste and to working closely with this, our newest Member State. I am
particularly heartened to see that Timor-Leste has taken the decision to join
our Organization as part of becoming a full participant in the international
community, so soon after acceding to independence. I also welcome the fact that
with Timor-Leste joining our Organization, and with the return of the United
States, we are just one step away from universal membership and I look forward
to the day when Singapore, the only United Nations Member State which is not in
UNESCO, will announce its return." (...)
Timor-Leste joined
the United Nations on September 27, 2002. UNESCO currently has 188 Member
States. That number will rise to 190 when the U.S. and Timor-Leste complete the
membership procedure, while the United Nations number a total of 191 Member
States.
http://portal.unesco.org/ev.php?URL_ID=8723&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1042812206
HM
Queen Rania to be Royal Patron of the Global Summit
on Peace through Tourism - February 5-8, Geneva, Switzerland
Under the patronage of Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah of The Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Second
Global Summit on Peace through Tourism will be held at the International
Conference Center Geneva (CICG) February 5-8. The Summit, being organized
by the International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) in partnership
with the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), is in support of the U.N.
Decade for Peace and Non-Violence for the Children of the World.
The Geneva Summit will feature
leaders of the Travel & Tourism Industry from different regions of the
world, as well as leaders in other sectors. (...) The aim of the Summit is to
continue "Building a Culture of Peace through Tourism" and to harness
the world's largest industry, Travel and Tourism, as a leading force for
Poverty Reduction.
The International Institute
For Peace Through Tourism (IIPT) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to
fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to
international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of
environment, the preservation of heritage, and poverty reduction, thus helping
to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.
The World Travel & Tourism Council is the
global business leaders forum. Members are chief executives from all sectors of
the industry. The mission of the Council is to raise awareness of the
industry's importance and to work with governments to create and implement
policies that can unlock the industry's potential to generate economic growth
and create jobs.
XXIII
World Congress of Poets, October 2003, Hangzhou, China
The XXIII World Congress of Poets will take
place in October 2003 in Hangzhou, China (l hour from Shanghai). All WCP's are
based on a pre-registration, and a VISA
is needed.
Write
for Invitation Letter to Mr. Zhong Guo-Miao,9E, Jingjing Mansion, No.2l6,
Daomao Alley, HANGZHOU 310003, ZHEJIANG PROVINCE, PRC, e-mail ndbexpo@vip.163.com
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Next issue: 7 February 2003
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