Good News Agency – Year V, n° 15
Weekly - Year V, number 15 – 3
December 2004
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 3,700
media in 48 countries, as well as to 2,500 NGOs and service associations.
It is a service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della
Buona Volontà Mondiale, NGO associated with the United Nations Department of Public
Information. The Association has been recognized by UNESCO as “an actor
of the global movement for a culture of peace” and it has been included as an
international organization in the web site http://www3.unesco.org/iycp/
International legislation – Human rights – Economy and development
Solidarity – Peace and security – Health
– Energy and
Safety
Environment and
wildlife
– Culture and
education
FAO
Council adopts right to food guidelines
Rome, 24 November - The
Council, the executive governing body of the UN Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), yesterday evening adopted Voluntary Guidelines that would
"support the progressive realization of the right to adequate food in the
context of national food security."
The adoption of the Right to
Food Guidelines comes two months to the day after the FAO Committee on World
Food Security endorsed them following some 20 months of often difficult, but
constructive negotiations.
According to FAO, the
Guidelines were conceived "to provide practical guidance" to help
countries implement their obligations relating to the right to adequate food.
This should improve the
chances of reaching the hunger reduction goals set by the 1996 World Food
Summit and the Millennium Assembly of the United Nations. Both agreed to cut
the number of hungry people in the world by half by 2015.
Unless people are moved off
the roles of hungry at a much greater rate than is currently the case, it is
very unlikely that the goal will be met, said FAO. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2004/51653/index.html
ICFTU
heads for historic changes at World Congress
Brussels, 23 November - Ahead
of its 18th World Congress (5th - 10th December), the International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) today outlined in greater detail its
plans and aspirations for the 5 day event and published its draft congress
resolutions which will determine how the international trade union movement
will operate in years to come.
Under the banner of
"globalising solidarity - building a global union movement for the
future", delegates will gather at the Congress in Miyazaki, Japan, hosted
by the ICFTU's Japanese affiliate RENGO, to debate and decide on issues of
historic importance. The Congress will feature notable speakers including
Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa and Finnish President Tarja Halonen -
co-chairs of the World Commission on the Social Dimensions of Globalisation,
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director General Juan Somavia and other
dignitaries.
Over 700 delegates from the
234 ICFTU-affiliated organisations will attend the Congress. A central issue in
the debate is the unification of the international labour movement to create a
new international trade union organisation. As outlined in the Congress theme
report
(http://www.icftu.org/www/pdf/Globalising%20Solidarity.pdf - 414KB),
presented by General Secretary Guy Ryder, a new organisation would bring
together the ICFTU and the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) as well as
democratic trade union centres which belong to neither of the two international
organisations.
The ICFTU represents 148
million workers in 234 affiliated organisations in 152 countries and
territories. ICFTU is also a member of Global Unions: http://www.global-unions.org
Russia’s
ratification of the Kyoto Climate Treaty “historic” says Kofi Annan
Nairobi, 18 November - In a
move underlining the vital links between the environment and global peace,
Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Andrey Denisov today formally handed
over the accession papers on ratification of the Kyoto Protocol to Kofi Annan,
Secretary-General of the United Nations. Mr. Annan said in a statement: “I
congratulate President Putin and the Russian Federation for their leadership in
making it possible for the Protocol to enter into force – as it will, 90 days
from tomorrow, on 16 February 2005. This is a historic step forward in the
world’s efforts to combat a truly global threat. Most important, it ends a long
period of uncertainty.” (…)
The Secretary-General also
said: “All countries must now do their utmost to combat climate change and to
keep it from undermining our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development
Goals. I therefore take this opportunity to urge those developed countries that
have not ratified the Protocol to ratify it and limit their emissions. The
Parties to the Climate Change Convention will have their next major meeting in
Buenos Aires from 6 to 17 December. I hope they will use that occasion to seize
the promising possibilities that have been opened up by this major development.”
Today’s short ceremony,
attended by Klaus Toepfer, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP), and Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner,
occurred as the UN Security Council was meeting in Kenya to discuss the
situation in Darfur, Sudan. It also underlined the importance of UNEP and its
African headquarters to world affairs. Scientists expect that Africa, which is
only responsible for just over 3 per cent of carbon dioxide and other
greenhouse gas emissions, is likely to be hit hardest by the impacts of climate
change.
In a statement, Russian
President Vladimir Putin said that Russia had not taken the decision to ratify
lightly, acknowledging that the Kyoto Protocol will have consequences for
“Russia’s social and economic development.” Nevertheless, he stated that a
thorough analysis of all the ramifications have concluded that the treaty was
vital for “the promotion of international cooperation.” (…)
Conde
de Barcelona International Prize awarded to Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement
At a ceremony presided by
Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain on 26 November, the Conde de Barcelona
Foundation awarded its International Prize to the International Red Cross and
Red Crescent Movement for its humanitarian work and its commitment to the
principles of neutrality and impartiality. His Majesty the King of Spain
presented the prize to the President of the International Federation of Red
Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Juan Manuel Suárez del Toro, and the
Vice-President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Jacques
Forster, in Barcelona's Palau de la Música.
The prize, which rewards
people and organizations whose work contributes to peace and forwards the cause
of international solidarity and cooperation, includes a gift of 60,000 euros.
The ICRC and the International Federation will use the prize to promote tolerance,
non-discrimination and respect for international humanitarian law. (…)
The Conde de Barcelona Foundation promotes
intercultural dialogue and communication.
World
March of Women: Campaign on Sexual Violence against Women
Montreal, Québec, Canada,
November 20 - The international Peace and Demilitarization collective of the
World March of Women launches a global
campaign on sexual violence against women in conflict situations and
militarized zones.
The campaign will begin on
November 25, 2004, International Day for
the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It will continue for a
year. In the first stage, from November
25, 2004 to May 24, 2005, groups that work with women victims of sexual
violence will inventory incidents of sexual violence against women in armed
conflict and militarized zones. They will assess the actions undertaken by the
government to provide justice to these women and prevent the phenomenon from
recurring; they will also carry out lobbying and public education campaigns
based on these cases.
The information gathered will
be made public on May 24, 2005 (International
Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament). This information will be used in a
publication to be distributed to the participating groups of the March as a
tool for national lobbying efforts. The data will also be used in the framework
of specific events like International
Peace Day, September 21.
The World
March of Women is an international feminist action network
connecting grass-roots groups working to eliminate poverty and violence against
women. The March is composed of 5500 participating groups in 163 countries and
territories.
www.marchemondialedesfemmes.org
UNICEF
congratulates media code of conduct on reporting on children's issues
Antananarivo, Madagascar, 20 November - On the occasion of
the 15th anniversary of the signing of
the Convention on the Rights of the Child, professionals from TV, radio and the print media in Madagascar
gathered together, after two days of
intense discussions, to sign a
code of professional conduct related to reporting on child rights issues. (…)
The three day seminar,
held just outside of Antananarivo,
the nation's capital, was organized
by UNICEF with
the support and facilitation of Mediawise, a noted international
training agency for journalists based in the
United Kingdom. In
addition to discussing questions of ethics, the seminar also
introduced participants to techniques and tools for better
reporting.
"You have incredible
power and with that power comes great responsibility," said Barbara
Bentein, the agency's
Representative, while addressing the journalists in
her closing remarks.
"Thank you for
your efforts in constructing a
code that is without precedent in Madagascar. I hope, in its light, you
will continue to
keep us all
on our toes in terms of our collective
responsibility to the Convention on the Rights of the Child,"
she added.
In addition to the
development of the code, one of the main highlights of the three day seminar was a session introduced
by eight young people, aged 10-14, who have started their own newspapers in
four different provinces of the
country. Not only
have these children succeeded in writing articles about issues
that concern them, but they have also, with the support
of UNICEF, conducted a mini-monitoring exercise on the portrayal of children's
issues in the print media. (…) UNICEF
intends to follow
up this seminar with provincial trainings to broaden
the discussion on the way reporting on child rights is conducted.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_24194.html
FAO
announces major review to boost support for MDGs
Rome, 26 November - The UN Food and Agriculture
Organization is to carry out a major review of its activities to ensure that
the Organization gives maximum support to achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals (MDGs).
Director-General Jacques Diouf
told the opening session of the FAO Governing Council meeting in Rome this week
that the Organization had to face the same challenges as the United Nations
itself with regard to the MDGs. (…) Diouf recalled that FAO's member
countries set a goal of reducing the incidence of chronic hunger in the world
by half by 2015 at the 1996 World Food Summit, and this aim was later enshrined
in the first MDG.
Elaborating on his remarks,
the Director-General said the changes to be made were aimed at ensuring FAO's
full involvement in the reforms taking place across the UN system, as well as within
multilateral development banks and bilateral organizations. They would help to
make FAO stronger, more effective, and more efficient within a relevant UN
system through a greater harmonisation and integration of activities and
resources at headquarters and in the field.
Germany
applies for ECLAC membership
The
European country cooperates actively with this regional United Nations
commission.
25 November 2004 - Today, the
Federal Republic of Germany formally requested it be admitted as a Member State
of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), a
United Nations regional commission whose headquarters is in Santiago, Chile.
(…)
Six other European countries
already belong to this regional commission: France, Italy, the Netherlands,
Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.
ECLAC is one of the United
Nations' five regional commissions. It was founded in 1948 to contribute to
Latin America's economic development, coordinate actions to promote and
reinforce economic relations among countries and with other countries around
the world. Its work later expanded to include the Caribbean countries and
another objective, that of promoting social development, was added. (…)
FAO
and US Peace Corps sign agreement to strengthen collaboration
Sharing
skills and knowledge to improve food security and living conditions of rural
people
Rome, 25 November - The UN Food
and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the United States Peace Corps signed an
agreement to enhance their collaboration and optimize efforts to help improve
the conditions of rural populations around the world.
Specific areas of cooperation
include food production, distribution and access, and support to the FAO
Special Programme for Food Security (SPFS) activities in low-income
food-deficit countries. The organizations will also team up on projects related
to small-scale irrigation; school gardens; natural resource, animal and plant
protection; women in rural development; and planning and management in the
agricultural sector. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2004/51682/index.html
First
Northeastern Social Forum, Recife, Brazil
– 24-27 November
For the last four days (24 to
27 November), civil society has taken to the streets of Recife. The first
Northeastern Social Forum is a truly innovative event in the most underdeveloped
and conservative region of Brazil.
More than 8,000 people,
including peace campaigners, feminists, gay rights activists, environmentalists
and representatives of charities and nongovernmental organizations have
gathered to discuss, debate and share their experiences of resistance to
neoliberal globalization.
A key feature of the Forum is
the organizers' determination to include representatives of the most excluded
sectors of the most excluded region of Brazil. Descendents of fugitive slaves have
travelled by bus for four days through this vast region, where feudal violence
against landless people is commonplace. Thousands have marched through the
streets of Recife to denounce violence against women in a region where the
culture of 'machismo' remains strong.
A key objective of the
Forum is to raise the visibility of the 'social question of the Northeast'.
Their slogan is "Another Northeast is Possible', but their debates
are consciously linked to the wider national and global picture. Another World
is Possible!
For more information and
pictures: www.forumsocialnordestino.org.br
North
Korea has bigger harvest, but millions still
need food aid
Pyongyang/Rome, 23 November -
Despite its best harvest in ten years, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea (DPRK) will post another substantial food deficit in 2005 and require
external aid to support more than a quarter of its 23.7 million people, two
United Nations agencies said today. A report by the Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) projected domestic
cereals availability in the 2004/05 marketing year (November-October) at 4.24
million tonnes, including milled rice and potatoes - a 2.4 per cent increase on
2003/04. However, it warns that insufficient production, a deficient diet,
lower incomes and rising prices mean that 6.4 million vulnerable North Koreans
- most of them children, women and the elderly - will need food assistance
totalling 500,000 tonnes next year. (…) WFP has provided the DPRK with almost
four million tonnes of food assistance, valued at $1.3 billion, since 1995.
http://www.fao.org/giews/english/alert/index.htm
UN
Launches International Year of Microcredit 2005 - Microentrepreneurs ring in
the year by opening stock exchanges around the world
18 November - The United Nations launches the
International Year of Microcredit today in an effort to build support for making
financial services more accessible to poor and low-income people. It will aim
to raise public awareness about microcredit and microfinance, and promote
innovative partnerships among governments, donors, international organizations,
non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academia and microfinance
clients.
The Year’s overarching goal is to provide greater access to credit,
savings, insurance, transfer remittances and other financial services for poor
and low-income households in order to move towards more secure livelihoods and
prosperous futures. (…)
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2004/nov/l62.asp
Message
by Kofi Annan, Secretary-General, United Nations, on the launch of the
International Year of Microcredit 2005
“Microfinance has proved its
value, in many countries, as a weapon against poverty and hunger. It really can
change peoples' lives for the better -- especially the lives of those who need
it most.
“A small loan, a savings
account, an affordable way to send a pay-cheque home, can make all the
difference to a poor or low-income family. With access to microfinance, they
can earn more, build up assets, and better protect themselves against
unexpected set-backs and losses. They can move beyond day-to-day survival
towards planning for the future. They can invest in better nutrition, housing,
health, and education for their children. In short, they can break the vicious
circle of poverty. If we are to reach the Millennium Development Goals, that is
exactly the kind of progress we need to make.
“Let us be clear: microfinance
is not charity. It is a way to extend the same rights and services to
low-income households that are available to everyone else. It is recognition
that poor people are the solution, not the problem. It is a way to build on
their ideas, energy, and vision. It is a way to grow productive enterprises,
and so allow communities to prosper.
“Where businesses cannot
develop, countries cannot flourish. Let us use this International Year of
Microcredit to put millions of families on the path to prosperity.”
FAO
introduces online learning centre for rural finance
Launch
of UN International Year of Microcredit 2005
Rome, 18 November - People
working in the field of rural finance now have access to online information and
training materials, which will help them provide better financial services, the
UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said today at the launch of the
Rural Finance Learning Centre (RFLC), an internet portal that provides access
to a large variety of resources and online training materials covering a wide
range of subjects related to rural finance. It has been created for use by
field practitioners, trainers, policy-makers, universities and donors.
"The challenges in rural
areas are characterized by long distances, poor infrastructure, highly seasonal
incomes and widespread poverty. Rural finance is about providing a range of
financial services for people in these areas, including savings accounts,
loans, insurance products and money transfers," said Geoffrey Mrema,
Director of the Agricultural Support Systems Division of FAO. The Learning
Centre gives FAO an excellent opportunity to promote capacity building in rural
finance, which will increase the availability of financial services in rural
areas and thus help people living there to improve their livelihoods. (…)
International
Conference on Volunteerism & Millennium Development Goals
The role of volunteerism in
helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is the theme of the
three-day International Conference on Volunteerism and the Millennium
Development Goals being held in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city, starting 5
December 2004, International Volunteer Day.
Hosted and organized by
Pakistan’s National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) and in partnership
with the United Nations system, in particular the United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, the
International Conference on Volunteerism and the Millennium Development Goals
will consider the actions needed to promote and advance volunteer contributions
as an essential ingredient to achieve the eight goals. (…)
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/development/mdg/mdg_pakistan.htm
ADRA
implements innovative agricultural technique in Brazil
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA,
17 November – In the semi-arid region of Bahia, Brazil the Adventist
Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is implementing polyculture, an innovative
agricultural method to improve crop production and increase the income of
families in the community of Uau· and surrounding areas.
Polyculture is a diversified
multi-crop farming practice that focuses on the interaction of crop components.
The technique matches plants that complement each other – one plant’s outputs
are another plant’s inputs. For example, in some of ADRA’s polyculture fields
in Bahia, cacti are planted in rows with other food producing plants to draw
water to those. (…)
The two-year pilot project,
funded by the ACCENTUS Charitable Foundation through ADRA Switzerland, will
train families in polyculture cultivation techniques, distribute appropriate
seeds and plants to implement the techniques, and provide technical assistance.
The project will be implemented in 10 villages and directly impact more than
1,000 people. (…)
A separate project funded by
the Government of Finland through ADRA Finland already provided polyculture
training to 200 families in Uau.
http://www.adra.org/ADRANews/111704.html
NetAid
launches poverty awareness training for youth
New York, 22 November - NetAid
announces the launch of the Global Citizen Corps (GCC), a new programme which
gives young leaders in the US the training and resources to raise awareness and
take action in the fight against poverty. GCC Leaders come from diverse
backgrounds, but are united by their passion and commitment to ending global
poverty.
The program will kick-off with
a day-long orientation on 20 November at NetAid’s office in New York City.
Throughout the day, students will engage in a series of workshops designed to
deepen their understanding of global poverty and help them prepare action plans
for the first Global Action Day at their schools, which will be World AIDS Day,
1 December.
Twenty-two outstanding GCC
Leaders have been selected from high schools in New York City and the northeast
of the country to participate in the GCC pilot. Additional students from
Georgia to Hawaii will take part in a GCC Field Correspondent programme,
setting the stage for national expansion beginning next school year. GCC Field
Correspondents will be supported by an online community and will receive Global
Action Day resources and activity packs via correspondence.
NetAid is a nonprofit
organization with some 80,000 members. Its mission is to mobilize people in
developed countries to make ending extreme poverty a global priority. It was
established in 1999 through a partnership between the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) and Cisco Systems.
http://www.worldvolunteerweb.org/dynamic/cfapps/news/news2.cfm?ArticlesID=739
First
American food aid sent through Libya for Darfur refugees in Chad
Al Kufra, Libya, 22 November – For the first time, the United
Nations World Food Programme is sending United States food assistance through
Libya, along a humanitarian corridor across the Sahara desert, to reach nearly
200,000 Sudanese refugees in eastern Chad.
More than 6,500 metric tons of
food for the refugees, who have fled attacks in western Sudan’s Darfur region,
arrived in the Libyan port of Benghazi in early November after a three-week
journey by ship from New Orleans. The first convoy of more than 350 trucks has
started the gruelling 2,800-kilometre trip from Benghazi across the rugged
Libyan terrain. (…)
Donated by the U.S.
government, the food includes sorghum, cornmeal, lentils, vegetable oil and
corn-soya blend. The shipment allows WFP to provide the 200,000 refugees with
almost all the commodities needed for their daily diet over a two-month period.
(…)
WFP has so far received just
over US$50 million of the US$71 million it needs for its operations in east
Chad until February 2005, leaving a shortfall of just under 30 percent.
To date, donors to WFP’s
operations in Chad for the Sudanese refugees from Darfur are the United States
(US$27.8 million), the United Kingdom (US$5.5 million), Germany (US$3.6
million), France (US$2.7 million), the European Commission (US$2.4 million),
Canada (US$1.7 million), Switzerland (US$1.4 million), Netherlands (US$1.1
million), Ireland (US$960,000), Norway (US$890,000), Australia (US$764,000),
Japan (US$405,000), Finland (US$249,000).
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=2
WFP
Welcomes Czech food aid donation for Albania
Tirana,
22 November 2004 - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) welcomed today
a donation of 239 metric tons of wheat flour, valued at over US$98,000, from
the Czech Republic, for impoverished communities in Albania. (…)
Since 1999, the Czech
government has donated over US$1 million in humanitarian aid to WFP. Most of
the donations have been directed to countries close to home, and struggling
with the legacy of post-communism, such as the Balkans and North Caucasus. In a
clear indication that the country intends to both diversify and increase its
donor potential, the Czech Republic made a financial contribution to WFP’s
emergency operation in Iraq last year. (…)
Albania, where 44 years of
Communist rule ended in 1990, is struggling to overcome widespread
unemployment, low income and an economy that is still largely dependent on
agriculture. WFP has been providing emergency assistance to the country since
1997, when the collapse of the pyramid financial schemes led to massive
economic upheaval. Two years later, it helped the country overcome the Kosovo
crisis when hundreds of thousands of Kosovars fled to Albania in search of
refuge. (…)
In Albania, WFP activities
focus on three areas: social sector assistance; communal forestry and pasture
management; and community asset building through food-for-work projects,
including construction of roads to remote villages and rehabilitation of
irrigation and drainage canals.
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=2
Liberia:
the ICRC helps farmers prepare for the next planting season
Monrovia (ICRC) : The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has begun distributing tools for
thousands of rural families in Liberia. This week, cutlasses are being
distributed to 2300 households in Lofa County (Salayea district), so that
fields can be cleared for the upcoming planting season.
"In addition to
cutlasses, farmers will receive tool kits for reconstruction and agricultural
needs, such as shovels, nails, hammers, hoes, axes, wheelbarrows and saws. The
ICRC will also provide the population with rice, beans, vegetable seeds as well
as blankets, mats, mosquito nets, buckets, clothing and soap." explains
Sarah Wilson, ICRC Relief Coordinator.
The ICRC plans to provide
tools and seeds to 65'000 families during the dry season in Lofa and Gbarpolu -
northwest and also in the southeast. Lofa – one of the most war-affected
regions of Liberia - was virtually empty when the ICRC moved back in October
2003, today over 25'800 families live there according to the latest ICRC
population assessment. Most of them are spontaneous returnees from neighboring
countries and displaced camps and people keep coming back. (…) The ICRC is
supporting persons returning to their homes in the north and south of Liberia
through the construction and rehabilitation of wells and the refurbishing of
health clinics through supplies and staff, thus facilitating the access to safe
drinking water and primary health care to the returnees.
ADRA
provides 9.9 million bread rolls to school children in North Korea
Silver Spring, Maryland, 23
November—The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) bakery school
feeding program in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has
produced and distributed 9.9 million calcium-enriched bread rolls in its second
year of operation. The bread rolls were supplied to nearly 21,000 children in
396 kindergartens as part of ADRA’s Kindergarten Nutrition Project. Each child
received a daily ration of two bread rolls.
To produce the bread, the
World Food Programme (WFP) supplied wheat flour, vegetable oil, dried skim
milk, and sugar. ADRA Switzerland provided yeast and salt. The rolls were
distributed to all kindergarten children in four counties within Pyongyang
Province and the two districts within Pyongyang City with the lowest nutrition
rates.
The local government organized
transportation of the bread rolls every three days to the counties within
Pyongyang Province through the local Flood Damage Rehabilitation Committee
(FDRC). Two trucks were used to distribute the bread rolls within the districts
of Pongyang City on a daily basis, six days per week. Each week, nearly 250,000
bread rolls were distributed. (…)
http://www.adra.org/ADRANews/112304.html
UN starts
clearing mines from Cyprus buffer zone
18 November – The United Nations Peacekeeping Force in
Cyprus (UNFICYP) today began a €2.5 million (euro) de-mining project in the
country's buffer zone. "Every mine removed leaves space for
stepping-stones to mark the path of peace and reconciliation," said
UNFICYP chief Zbigniew Wlosowicz in a speech at the launch the Landmine and
Ordinance Clearance Programme, which is being carried out by the UN Development
Programme (UNDP) and the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and funded by
the European Union. (…)
Mr. Wlosowicz thanked the EU
for its cooperation in freeing the buffer zone of mines, and said it would
"not be long before we see a similar launching ceremony in one of the
Turkish Forces minefield."
http://www0.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=12576&Cr=cyprus&Cr1=
IAEA
receives Berlin Peace Clock Prize for contributions to global peace, security
15 November - At a ceremony in
Germany this month, the IAEA was awarded the Berlin Peace Clock Prize in honour
of the Agency´s contributions to global peace and security. IAEA Deputy
Director General Werner Burkart accepted the award 8 November on the IAEA´s
behalf, describing it as a "great tribute" to the IAEA as the world´s
Atoms for Peace organization.
The prize was awarded by the
Berlin Committee for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization (UNESCO). Dr. Klaus Hüfner, the Committee´s Chairman, presented
the award to Dr. Burkart in Berlin on the eve of an historic day in Germany
that marks the fall of the Berlin Wall on 9 November 1989. The Berlin Peace
Clock was created by Berlin jeweler Jens Lorenz and first set in motion the day
the wall fell. (…)
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2004/peaceclock.html
Countries stand united in the
battle against landmines
In the run-up to the “Nairobi
Summit on a Mine Free World” which will be held in the Kenyan capital from 29
November to 3 December 2004
New York, 4 November - A
meeting of high-level representatives from 14 countries infected with the
scourge of landmines and the explosive remnants of war met yesterday in New
York to join forces in their common battle. “Today we unite as victims of these
terrible weapons that kill and maim our people. Our collective knowledge and will are key to freeing --once and
for all--our land from this legacy of war,” Ambassador Ismael Abraão Gaspar
Martins said. Mr. Martins is the
Permanent Representative of Angola to the United Nations, and chaired the
inaugural session of the Forum of Mine-Affected Countries – in short, FOMAC.
(…)
The convening of the forum
comes in the run-up to the “Nairobi Summit on a Mine Free World” which will be
held in the Kenyan capital from 29 November to 3 December 2004. The summit aims to review progress in the implementation
of the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention, and to chart the away ahead. The convention was opened for signature in
Ottawa, Canada, in December 1997, and 143 countries are now bound by it.
As a first concrete action,
the FOMAC agreed that the group should develop a unified position on the
declaration and the 5-year plan of action that is currently under negotiation
and expected to be endorsed at the summit. (…)
http://www.mineaction.org/countries/_refdocs.cfm?doc_ID=2085
Assistance
through the Trust Fund for Human Security for enhancing HIV resilience of
communities in Thailand
On November 24, the Government
of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance of a total of
1,031,009.10 US dollars (approximately 112 million yen) through the Trust Fund
for Human Security for the program "Strengthening HIV Resilience in
Thailand Mobile Populations Source Communities" to be implemented in the
Kingdom of Thailand by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
This project aims at
strengthening HIV resilience of people who move from rural communities to urban
areas mainly for seasonal and employment reasons, recognizing that people
increase their HIV vulnerability due to a) unstable social and legal status, b)
poverty and the lack of resources in communities, c) the lack of moral
constraints due to separation from families. (…)
The Trust Fund for Human
Security was established in the UN Secretariat in March 1999 by the initiative
of the Government of Japan, with total contributions of 29.0 billion yen
(approximately US$ 256 million) up to the present. The Trust Fund has assisted
numerous projects of UN agencies that address various threats against human
life, livelihood and dignity, from the perspective of Human Security.
http://www.mofa.go.jp/announce/announce/2004/11/1124.html
Caritas
Iraq sends relief to the people of Falluja
Vatican City, 19 November -
The embattled population of the city of Falluja, Iraq, received a large
donation of medicines and medical supplies from Caritas Iraq via an Iraqi Red
Crescent Society convey yesterday. Two vans adorned with banners reading
"The Catholic Church in Iraq, the Brotherhood of Charity" departed
from the Caritas Iraq headquarters in Baghdad for the Fallujah public hospital
accompanied by Caritas Iraq staff. Plans for an additional donation of medical
supplies and food are underway.
Caritas Internationalis is a
confederation of 162 Catholic relief, development, and social service
organisations present in over 200 countries and territories.
http://www.caritas.org/jumpNews.asp?idLang=ENG&idChannel=35&idUser=0&idNews=2461
WHO
awards million dollar contract for global treatment preparedness activities
Geneva,
18 November - The World Health Organization (WHO) is awarding a USD$1 million contract to a
global consortium of people living with HIV/AIDS and treatment activists to
help prepare people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) for antiretroviral treatment
(ART).
Following a competitive
process, the Collaborative Fund for HIV Treatment Preparedness consortium - a
programme created in 2003 to channel funds for community-based education,
managed by the US-based organization the Tides Foundation - was awarded the
contract through WHO's 'Preparing for Treatment' programme.
The WHO initiative supports
community-based treatment preparedness activities as part of the drive to
increase access to treatment and prevention in line with the "3 by 5"
target to get three million people living with AIDS on antiretroviral treatment
by the end of 2005. (…)
In implementing the million
dollar grant, the Tides Foundation-Collaborative Fund is supporting more than
30 networks of PLWHA around the world in treatment preparedness activities,
including treatment literacy projects and civil society advocacy initiatives.
(…)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2004/pr85/en/
World’s
children unite to take action on HIV/AIDS
Participating
worldwide in the “Lesson for Life”, over three million children learn about
HIV/AIDS and demand more support for children and young people affected by the
disease
New York, 18 November -
Millions of children around the world will participate in a Lesson for Life on
World AIDS Day (1 December) as part of a massive effort to educate children
about HIV/AIDS prevention and spur them, their communities and governments to
accelerate action on behalf of children and young people affected by the
HIV/AIDS crisis.
“Young people are at the
centre of the epidemic,” said Miquel de Paladella of the Global Movement for
Children (GMC). “They have a right to life-saving information that will help
protect them from HIV/AIDS and also have a major role to play in stopping the
spread of this devastating epidemic.”
In both formal and non-formal
education settings, the Lesson for Life gives children a leading role in
teaching others the facts about HIV/AIDS, and in taking action in their
communities to mitigate its impact. Providing a platform for children directly
affected by HIV/AIDS to share their experiences, concerns and ideas, the Lesson
for Life has been organised by the GMC, the world-wide movement of
organisations and individuals, including children, uniting efforts to build a
world fit for children. In all, tens of thousands of schools and other venues
in more than 50 countries will participate in the initiative. Children, young people,
youth groups and schools will use discussions, plays, dramas, and writing to
learn about HIV/AIDS and find ways to act on behalf of affected children. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_24172.html
Rotary
members worldwide unite to eradicate polio by the end of 2005
Role
of civil society vital in world's largest global health endeavor
By
Vivian Fiore
Evanston, IL, USA, November -
This month, more than 150 Rotary club members from the United States, Canada,
France, Denmark, Australia and the United Kingdom will join thousands of fellow
members and millions of other volunteers in India and West African nations to
help immunize children against polio. Through Rotary International, the fight
against polio has been largely driven by volunteers, over 20 million of them.
Rotary has contributed more than $500 million to polio eradication and
advocated with governments to provide additional funding. Never before have
individual volunteers and the influence of the private sector played such a
core role in a global public health effort. Great progress is being made. India
is very close to driving out polio, with only 77 cases so far this year
compared with 163 by the same date last year. Epidemiologists predict that
polio will be stopped in India and all of Asia ahead of the end-2005 global
target. (…)
Despite the progress in Asia,
much work remains in west and central Africa, which accounts for approximately
90 percent of the 885 polio cases reported this year. (…) In response to this
outbreak, 23 African nations are synchronizing mass immunization campaigns with
the goal of reaching over 80 million children in Africa's largest ever
coordinated health initiative for children. The first round of the campaigns
was conducted from 8-12 October and the second is scheduled for 18-22 November.
(…)
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). (…)
For further information visit www.rotary.info, www.rotary.org or www.polioeradication.org.
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/presscenter/releases/209.html
(top)
World
Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations establishes the first global
technical regulation for motor vehicle safety
Geneva, 18 November - More
than 20 nations have agreed on a new standard that will lead to safer vehicles
worldwide. This regulation establishes the first global international vehicle
safety standard. The new door retention standard is the result of three years
of intensive research, development and negotiations supported by the United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). On the horizon are many
additional standards that will regulate head restraints, motorcycle brakes, the
installation of lighting devices, vehicle window glazing and pedestrian safety.
(…)
Ultimately, the new global
standards, known as “Global Technical Regulations,” or GTR’s, will lead to the
adoption of best safety practices from all participating nations. In the end,
reduced design and engineering costs should mean lower production costs for
manufacturers and savings for consumers. (…)
http://www.unece.org/press/pr2004/04trans_p04e.htm
UN-Energy/Africa
adopts a two-year Work Programme
By
Yinka Adeyemi, ECA, 18 November 2004
UN-Energy/Africa – made up of seven
UN agencies, NEPAD and the African Development Bank - has adopted a two-year
programme of work which is aimed at developing energy infrastructure and
services in Africa. The work programme broadly covers energy access, rural
energy and efficient energy provision in Africa. (…)
To improve energy access and
contribute to poverty reduction, UN-Energy/Africa will assess the feasibility
of an African Rural Energy Development Facility, patterned after the African
Water Facility, the $680 million medium-term fund housed at the African
Development Bank which will be used to finance portfolios of water projects in
Africa.
The Group has also received
project documents on the first Regional Micro/Mini-Hyropower capacity
development and investment in rural electricity access in sub-Saharan Africa
and will facilitate the African Energy Ministerial Forum. Among projects still
in development are the African Energy database, African Power Pooling
Assessment and the African Capacity Building for Clean Development Mechanism,
the statement said.
Indingenous
communities in Colombia conserve ancestral territories
Buenaventura, Colombia, 26 November
- WWF is working with indigenous river communities in Colombia to develop
management plans for their ancestral territories.
WWF-Colombia, together with
the Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN), Defensoria del Pueblo, the regional
environmental authority for Valle del Cauca, and others have completed
management plans for 125,579ha of ancestral territories along the Raposo,
Mayorquín, and Yurumanguí rivers in Colombia's southwest Pacific Ocean region.
The plans are aimed at establishing the communities’ collective well-being by
providing economic, technical, and logistical support for the management plan's
implementation, and assisting the communities' capacity to conserve
biodiversity and improve livelihoods. (…)
The ancestral territories
included in the management plan are biologically diverse, hosting a range of
ecosystems that include mangroves, swamp forests, Mora woods, and Assai palm
stands, as well as humid lowland forests. It is also home to a high
concentration of species, including the puma (Panthera onca) and the Caiman
crocodile (Caiman cocodrilus). (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news.cfm?uNewsID=16634
New
dam monitoring network underway in Zambia
Itezhi Tezhi, Zambia, 25
November - A long awaited hydrological and monitoring network for Zambia’s
Itezhi Tezhi Dam is finally in place, following a three-year initiative to
improve water flows in the Kafue Flats. (…) Located in central Zambia, the Kafue
Flats wetland is a flat swampy area stretching 6,500km2 along the Kafue River,
from the town of Itezhi Tezhi in the west to the town of Kafue in the east.
Prior to the construction of the dam in 1972, the flats were once teeming with
wildlife, birdlife, and a wide range of plant diversity, with natural flooding
once providing many benefits to the people living in the area. The dam’s
operating rules have in the past affected wetland productivity with fisheries
experiencing reduced spawning areas. Traditional grazing areas for livestock
have been flooded at times when they should be dry, and crops have received
less nutrients once deposited by annual floods.
WWF, in partnership with
Zambia's Ministry of Energy and Water Development (MEWD), Zambia Electricity Supply
Company (ZESCO), have been working towards changing the dam’s operating rules
to replicate as much as possible the natural flooding regime of the Kafue River
without compromising the water needed for electricity generation. By installing
equipment to monitor meteorological and hydrological data — such as rain gauges
and water-level gauge plates — water releases from the Itezhi Tezhi Dam can be
better managed and flooding can be restored to a more natural pattern and help
re-establish the productivity of the flats. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news.cfm?uNewsID=16635
Indonesia's
gifts to the EarthBangkok, Thailand - WWF has recognized Indonesia's efforts to protect the country's rich and
diverse natural heritage as a Gift to the Earth.
24 November - The Indonesian
government has added 1.3 million hectares of protected areas through
establishing nine new national parks and expanding an existing one. The new parks
will protect a huge range of biodiversity, especially the endangered Sumatran
tiger, as well as rhinos, elephants, and orang-utans. The government is also
promoting collaborative management of protected areas following the issue of a
ministerial decree last month.
WWF has recognized these
efforts as a Gift to the Earth, the conservation organization's highest
accolade for a globally significant contribution to the protection of the
planet. (…)
Some of the newly protected
areas include Tesso Nilo, one of Sumatra's remaining lowland forests and home
to 60–80 elephants, and Sebangau, the largest remaining peat swamp forest in
Kalimantan on the island of Borneo and home to 2,500–4,500 orang-utans. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news.cfm?uNewsID=16730
UNA-USA Launches HERO: A UNA-USA
Campaign
HERO's vision is to bring a sense
of global commitment, a spirit of hope and an understanding of the scale of the
issues being faced by the UN by addressing two components of the Millennium
Development Goals: the fight against HIV/AIDS and the right to education.
The first line of defense against HIV/AIDS is
education. Education not only provides academic knowledge, but also helps
prevent HIV infection by increasing students' and teachers' awareness of the
virus and improving their life skills. But because of HIV/AIDS, resources are spread
thin and traditional social structures that provide for the needs of children
are dramatically weakened.
To help strengthen the ability
of schools-including students, administrators and teachers-as well as
communities to holistically meet the needs of HIV/AIDS-affected children,
UNA-USA is proud to launch the HERO (Help Education at-Risk Orphans and
vulnerable children) campaign.
The HERO (Help Educate at-Risk Orphans and vulnerable children) campaign
has four objectives:
Raise funds for community-based programs that provide basic education
and necessities to orphans and vulnerable children in AIDS-affected
communities.
Develop with UNESCO
educational materials for students and a training program for teachers of
orphans and vulnerable children.
Raise awareness in the United
States of the impact of HIV/AIDS on children in sub-Saharan Africa.
Build a global community in
support of basic education for African children.
Open
Hombroich Scientific Forum
Science And The Akashic Field - An Integral
Theory of Everything
3 - 5
December, Planet Life Academy, Event Hall Raketenstation Hombroic, Neuss –
Germany
On
the 3rd, 4th, and 5th of December an extraordinary Symposium is scheduled at the
Planet Life Academy: world-renowned scientists from Europe and the United
States come together to discuss the "integral theory of everything"
presented by Ervin Laszlo in his latest book.
Laszlo's
book is published in the United States in November under the title Science
And The Akashic Field: An Integral theory of Everything. It is being
published in Europe at the same time in Spanish, Dutch, and Norwegian editions,
with further editions scheduled for Japan, Russian, and China. The book
offers an introduction to the worldview that is now emerging at the cutting
edge of the physical, biological, and human sciences.
The
Symposium will discuss the origins and principal features of this worldview and
explore why and how it is arising in physics and in cosmology, in the
biological sciences, and in the new field of consciousness research and what
implications it holds for our knowledge of the cosmos, of life, and of
consciousness. The participating scientists
are to present their views in non-technical language and open the floor to
discussion by everyone present.
http://www.clubofbudapest.org/NEWS/n-0411-scientificforum.htm
The
Earth Education Academy developed a course integrating the Earth Charter
principles
12 October - The Earth
Education Academy in Denmark has developed an English language course, which
integrates The Earth Charter principles. The course will be attended by
students of many different nationalities and is a combination of intensive
English language lessons and intercultural dialogue and activities. It focuses
on: a) improving English and communication skills in an international
atmosphere with other young people from around the world; b) expanding
students’ horizons and giving them the opportunity to share and discuss their
dreams, thoughts and ideas for a future world; c) engaging them in an
openhearted dialogue of the universal values and principles for a sustainable
way of living as described in The Earth Charter. The values and principles of
The Earth Charter are a major topic in the communication exercises in the
English language lessons and play a central role in the discussions during the
entire course.
http://www.earthcharter.org/news/index.cfm?id_activity=612&actual=2004
* * * * * * *
* * * * * * *
Good News Agency is distributed free of charge through Internet to over 3,700 editorial offices of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations with an e-mail address in 48 countries: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, USA, and it is also available in its web site: http://www.goodnewsagency.org
It is a service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, a registered non-profit educational organization chartered in Italy in 1979 and associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations.
The Association operates for the development of consciousness and promotes a culture of peace in the ‘global village’ perspective based on unity in diversity and on sharing.
Via Antagora 10, 00124
Rome, Italy. E-mail: s.tripi@tiscali.it
* * * * * * *
(TOP)