Good News Agency – Year V, n° 8
Weekly - Year V, number 8 – 11
June 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
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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
4 June – A United Nations
Trust Fund has awarded the African nations of Benin and Niger $350,000 each to
help defray the costs of settling their border dispute at the International
Court of Justice (ICJ). The two
countries went to the Court in May, 2002 asking that it determine the course of
the boundary between them in the River Niger. They want the ICJ to spell out
which State owns each of the islands in that river, particularly Lété Island.
They are also seeking a determination on the boundary between Benin and Niger
in the River Mekrou.
The Trust Fund, which was set
up in 1989 specifically to encourage States to take their disputes to the ICJ,
has so far made grants to six countries. Taking a case to the ICJ can be
especially expensive for poorer countries. The trust fund grants are made on
the condition that the money is strictly used to defray those expenses
incurred. The grants follow the recommendation of a three-member Panel of
Experts – comprising the Ambassadors of Jordan, Mauritius and Singapore – to
approve the applications of Benin and Niger.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10957&Cr=Benin&Cr1=Niger
Biodiversity
for food security
Rome, 20 May 2004 --
"Biodiversity for Food Security" is the theme of this year's World
Food Day, to be celebrated on 16 October 2004, FAO announced today.
This year's World Food
Day/TeleFood campaign will emphasize the importance of biodiversity for
agriculture, food security and rural livelihoods, and especially for those
populations living in marginal and harsh environments. (…)
Biodiversity,
essential for agriculture and food production, is threatened by urbanization,
deforestation, pollution and the conversion of wetlands. (…) Reduction of
biodiversity entails a reduction of options for ensuring more diverse
nutrition, enhancing food production, raising incomes, coping with
environmental constraints and managing ecosystems. Recognising, safeguarding
and using the potential and diversity of nature is critical for food security
and sustainable agriculture. Global efforts to conserve plants and animals in
gene banks are vital, FAO said. But it is also important to maintain biodiversity
on farms and in nature, where it can evolve and adapt to changing conditions or
competition from other species.
The FAO's International Treaty
on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which will enter into
force on 29 June 2004, will play a crucial role in the conservation and
sustainable use of plant genetic resources and in future efforts to achieve
sustainable agriculture and food security. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/ media-office@fao.org
4 June – The number of asylum-seekers reaching the
world’s developed countries fell again in the first three months of this year,
continuing a downward trend documented over the past few years, according to
new figures released today by the United Nations refugee agency. The UN High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said a “spectacular decline” in the number of
Iraqis, Afghans and Russians – who are overwhelmingly Chechens – seeking asylum
led the way for a global fall in asylum claims. Between 1 January and 31 March
this year, there were 92,679 applications for asylum in the industrialized
world – a 16 per cent drop on the previous quarter and more than 25 per cent
below the same quarter last year. The latest data maintains a steady trend that
began in 2002. Last year, asylum-seeker numbers had already fallen to their
lowest levels since 1997.
UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond
told a press briefing today in Geneva that “this is the eighth quarter out of
the last 10 during which the number of asylum applications has decreased.”
Almost every one of the 29
countries measured by the UNHCR’s Population Data Unit reported sharp falls
from the last quarter of 2003, with Europe recording an overall slump of 18 per
cent, North America down 8 per cent, and Australia and New Zealand sliding by 7
per cent. (…)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10958&Cr=asylum&Cr1=
31 May – With rap music and
pinwheels, marches and solemn statements, numerous organizations across the
planet will mark the third World Day Against Child Labour on 12 June this year
with a specific focus on efforts to spare young people from working as
domestics, the United Nations Labour Organization (ILO) has announced.
As part of the commemorative
events, the agency will launch a new report in Geneva entitled, "Helping
Hands or Shackled Lives? Understanding Child Domestic Labour and Responses to
It."
The ILO says that most
children employed in other people's homes are “grossly exploited and abused.”
While the practice is sometimes rationalized as a “better” alternative for
children from poor families, the study recommends feasible and realistic action
to help these youngsters.
“It is vital that child
domestic labour, so often neglected because exploitation and abuse takes place
behind closed doors, receives attention,” said June Kane, the report's author.
“We have to remind ourselves that children are not just doing 'odd jobs;' they
are in a workplace – even if it is someone else's home.”
Among the global activities
planned to mark the Day are a rap music performance by children in Niger as
well as a special march in Brazil, the ILO said. Nepal will use the occasion to
launch a major social mobilization campaign to change general perceptions about
child labour.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10911&Cr=child&Cr1=labour
4 June - The International
Real Estate Federation (FIABCI) has given a new award, for improving the
quality of life of people living in slum areas, to Westlake Estate in Westlake,
South Africa, near Cape Town. It presented the René Frank Habitat Award 2004,
last week at its world congress in Houston, Texas. Named for the federation's
Deputy President, who spearheaded the award's creation, it represents a break
from the practice of honouring only major commercial real estate developments.
The award aims to highlight models for cities and countries worldwide. The
winner received a prize of US$15,000, sponsored by the National Association of
Realtors (NAR) of the US, which is to be distributed among the project's
community associations.
Over 40 per cent of city
inhabitants in developing countries live in slums, shanties, or simply on the
streets. Recent estimates put the number of slum dwellers at over 924 million,
about one-third of the world's urban population.
UNDP encouraged the
Paris-based federation to establish the award to raise awareness about the
Millennium Development Goals among its members, specifically a target of Goal 7
on environmental sustainability: achieving significant improvement in the lives
of at least 100 million slum dwellers by 2020.
The federation, created in
1949, is a multi-lingual organization serving real estate professionals in 70
countries. Among other partners supporting the new prize are UN-Habitat, the
Wall Street Journal and the NAR. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/index.html
Rome, 4 June - Poor farmers in
northern Namibia will benefit from a new project agreed by FAO and the
Government of Namibia to help develop the country's dairy industry, FAO said
today.
Northern
Namibia suffers from a high level of poverty and food insecurity. Agricultural
productivity is low and unemployment is high. Appropriate farming methods as
well as marketing infrastructure are needed. The aim of the FAO project is to
improve the income and livelihoods of livestock farmers in the northern region
of Namibia.
This will be done by training
farmers and others in improved milk production and in the collection,
processing and marketing of milk and value-added milk products. id experience shows that small farmers
can improve their earnings from dairy products by up to 50 percent when they
are directly involved in processing and marketing their own surplus milk. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2004/42710/index.html
Shanghai,
People’s Republic of China, 27 May - ore than 100 000 rural poor households in
two provinces of China will have better access to savings and loans through a
pilot programme to reform the country’s rural credit cooperatives. The reforms
will help gear financial services to the needs of the poor, especially women.
The USD 21.3 million programme
will be financed largely by a USD 14.7 million loan from the International Fund
for Agricultural Development (IFAD). A further USD 6.1 million will be
contributed by rural credit cooperatives and USD 409 000 by the Government of
China. (…)
Annual incomes of rural
households in the targeted provinces of Chongqing and Shaanxi range from USD 50
to USD 180 – less than a quarter of the country’s per capita average. One of
the major obstacles to eradicating poverty is the difficulty rural people have
in managing their limited assets and in gaining access to loans that they could
use to set up a small business to generate income. (…)
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2004/22.htm
Sudan:
cross-line operations reach 150 000 people in Nuba Mountains
Rome, 7 June -- Farmers in
Sudan's contested Nuba Mountains have received seeds, tools and construction
materials from FAO to rehabilitate agriculture and build dams, seedbanks and
community nurseries. Around 150 000 people on both sides of the conflict
between the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement
(SPLM) will benefit from FAO's agricultural rehabilitation projects in the
region.
FAO supplied timber,
cement, metal, wheelbarrows and watering cans by road from the government-held
town of Kadugli, through Joint Military Commission checkpoints in the border
town of Kauda, to farmers living in areas held by the SPLM. (…)
Farmers in SPLM and government
areas have also received farming tools produced by local blacksmiths and
groundnut, sesame, cowpea, maize and sorghum seeds, including early-maturing,
drought-resistant varieties introduced by FAO to reduce the risk of crop
failure.
Approximately 85 percent of
the population of the Nuba Mountains, which has been a zone of conflict and
civil unrest since 1985, is dependent on agriculture and livestock.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/ media-office@fao.org
Silver Spring, Maryland, 4
June -- The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) office in Bolivia
recently completed a three-month project in response to civil unrest and
violence in late 2003. The unrest left 70 people dead and more than 400 wounded
in the cities of El Alto and La Paz and the infrastructure severely damaged.
The project installed
"sanitary batteries" and playgrounds in 16 ultra-poor neighborhoods.
Each sanitary battery consists of six latrines and four showers. Each
playground includes two swings, a slide, and other equipment. In addition,
nearly 5,000 children that were psychologically affected by the civil unrest
received counseling and social activities services.
To ensure sustainability,
construction of the sanitary batteries and playgrounds was completed through a
food-for-work program. Food was provided to 2,000 parents who helped in the
construction and who worked with ADRA to clean up the 16 neighborhoods, which suffered
the most violence. The $116,000 project, spearheaded by ADRA, was in
partnership with the World Food Programme (WFP), the Embassy of France, the
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and Save the Children.
http://www.adra.org/ADRANews/060404.html
June 3 - An FHI (Food for the
Hungry International) team of staff and pastors delivered food packages to 60
families in Jimaní, the Dominican border town that received the worst damage
from recent flooding and landslides.
While some of the people aided
are in refugee camps, most of the food is helping those who are temporarily
sharing homes with host families. Local churches helped FHI identify homes of
both church members and non-members alike that were hosting flood victims. A
church in the Dominican capital of Santo Domingo donated the food distributed
in Jimaní, thereby allowing FHI to use cash donations for other purposes. (…)
FHI currently plans to
purchase and distribute cooking utensils to those who lost household goods in
the floods in Jimaní. Additionally FHI hopes to facilitate trauma counselling
for Jimaní's children. FHI is also assessing the flood effects in its current
work zones in Elias Piña and Monte Plata, where staff have reported pockets of
severely affected communities. (…) News of the flooding has brought financial
support from FHI partner offices around the world, including the United States,
Costa Rica and Korea.
Food for the Hungry International
(FHI) is a global partnership that is motivated by Christ’s love to meet both
physical and spiritual hungers of the poor.
http://relief.fhi.net/where_we_work/dominican_republic/index.htm
27 May - The first artificial
limb to be manufactured under a physical rehabilitation programme that the ICRC
set up last month for conflict victims in Nepal was recently fitted on a
patient under treatment at the Green Pasture Hospital and Rehabilitation Centre
in Pokhara.
The ICRC is supplying the
hospital with imported materials, components and equipment for manufacturing
artificial limbs, as well as training its orthopaedic technicians. The limbs
are produced by the hospital itself, which provides patients with the medical
and physical rehabilitation services they need and fits them free of charge.
The programme is being carried
out in close cooperation with the Nepal Red Cross Society, which is responsible
for identifying and registering patients.
Lithuania
destroys its last antipersonnel landmines and advocates for the regional
approach on landmines by hosting a two day conference
Author: Sylvie Brigot
June 1 - On 8-9 June
Lithuania, in cooperation with Canada, Germany and the Netherlands, will host
the first ever regional conference on landmines in Vilnius for North and
Eastern Europe countries. In addition to Lithuania, Belarus, Germany, Norway,
Sweden, and more recently Estonia have joined the Mine Ban Convention. Poland
and Ukraine are signatories and have yet to ratify. Other participants to the
conference will include Finland, Latvia and Russia, as well as Austria,
Netherlands, Italy and the United Kingdom.
On 7 June, Lithuania will
organise a ceremony during which it will destroy the last batch of its 3,925
antipersonnel mines stockpile. By destroying all its stock and by doing so far
ahead of the deadline imposed by the Convention (1 November 2007) Lithuania is
demonstrating its commitment to rid the earth of this weapon and fully comply
with its obligations.
In a region which counts the
biggest stockpiles of antipersonnel mines, it is encouraging that Lithuania
chose to destroy its stock before the first Review Conference of the
Convention, the Nairobi Summit on a Mine-Free World, scheduled on 29 November-3
December in Kenya. (…) http://www.icbl.org/
Sudan: Immunization Begins for Millions of Darfur
Children
New York/Geneva, 7 June – WHO
and UNICEF said today that an ambitious plan to vaccinate millions of children
against measles in Sudan’s troubled Darfur region began over the weekend.
The aid agencies say that they hope to reach 2.26 million throughout June, working
in a region plagued by violence, population displacement, and the approach of
seasonal rains that close large parts of western Sudan each year to vehicles.
“We have the potential to save up to 50,000 lives by preventing a measles outbreak
here,” said Carol Bellamy, Executive Director for UNICEF. (…)
The month-long campaign is
being led by the Sudanese Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization
(WHO) and UNICEF, in coordination with several national and international
organizations. Thousands of vehicles have been drafted-in to transport
heat-sensitive vaccines and mobile teams along dangerous roads throughout the
inaccessible region’s three provinces. (...)
Funding
for the campaign comes from the British Government’s Department for International
Development (£ 500,000), the US Government’s Office of US Foreign Disaster
Assistance (US$1 million), the Humanitarian Aid Office of the European
Commission (£ 1 million), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (US$500,000),
the Government of Italy, and the UNICEF Netherlands National Committee
(US$250,000).
For further information,
please contact: Angela Walker Sampson, UNICEF Communication Officer
By
Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga - Rotary International
2 June -
In its largest health undertaking to date in mainland China, Rotary District
3450, comprising Hong Kong, Macau, and Mongolia, is funding a project to immunize
one million newborn babies in poverty-stricken communities against Hepatitis B
within a decade. Raising the district's ongoing involvement with humanitarian
efforts in China to a new level, the HK$20 million (approximately US$2.6
million) initiative is a signal to the government and people of China that
Rotary is committed to exemplifying its motto of Service Above Self on the
mainland. In the past decade, collectively and individually, clubs in the
district have raised a total of more than US$10 million to support disaster
relief, education, health, environmental protection, and poverty alleviation in
China. (…)
According to World Health
Organization statistics, more than one third of the world's Hepatitis B
carriers live in China. About 127 million residents — roughly 10 percent of the
population — are infected. Each year, about 280,000 people die of Hepatitis
B-related diseases, principally liver cirrhosis and cancer. Immunizing newborn
babies is the most effective way to prevent the spread of this deadly virus. In
2001, then District Governor Johnson Chu and Liu Pei Long, director general of
China's health ministry, signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a
project co-sponsored by the government and District 3450. Over the next two
years, a joint committee of government and Rotary district officials
incorporated a company to implement the project, held workshops, made
feasibility studies in a pilot city, and met with local administrators.
The initiative took off in
2003 with the massive immunization of more than 60,000 babies in Handan, Hebei
Province, after an awareness campaign among doctors and parents. (…)
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/main/news02.html
21 May - The first ever centre
for Afghan children with cerebral palsy was officially opened in Kabul on 17
May. Financed by the Italian Red Cross and operated under the auspices of the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the centre is housed in the
Indira Ghandi Children's Hospital in the Wazir Akbar Khan district of the
Afghan capital. The cerebral palsy programme will initially run for two years.
In addition to providing physiotherapy to its young patients, it offers
counselling for families and training courses. Eight people are currently being
taught the special skills needed to treat children suffering from cerebral
palsy.
Close to 200 children have
been registered for the programme since it was launched in January 2004, and
the number is rising daily as word of the centre's existence gets around. Some
parents are bringing their children for treatment from as far away as
Mazar-i-Sharif and Kandahar.
Cerebral palsy is a motor
disorder caused by brain damage resulting from prolonged or difficult labour,
diabetes in the mother, a brain haemorrhage, or lack of oxygen during birth.
Very little is known about its causes in Afghanistan.
Even more important than
hospital treatment, which each child receives once or twice a week, is what the
children do at home. Counselling the families is therefore a major part of the
centre’s work. (…)
(top)
Bonn, Germany, 4 June – The
International Conference for Renewable Energies has set the stage for renewable
energy to be a major part of the world’s energy future, said WWF as the
conference draws to a close.
According to WWF, the
conference was successful in delivering an Action Programme for implementing
renewable energy, which includes a number of ambitious commitments. Developing
countries in particular are moving forward. Amongst the most ambitious commitments
were those from China, the Philippines, the Dominican Republic, and Egypt. (…)
An NGO analysis of the Action
Programme, however, shows that so far only about 20 of the 180 reviewed
proposals are truly outstanding. Among the commitments of industrialized
countries, only a few are noteworthy — such as commitments to increase wind
power and renewable energy from Germany, Spain, Denmark, and New Zealand.
The Political Declaration sets
forth a follow-up process with a monitoring system to ensure that the momentum
continues and governments and the private sector deliver on the commitments
made in Bonn. WWF will continue to urge governments, the private sector, and
international financial institutions to make commitments for renewable energy
and energy efficiency projects through its PowerSwitch! Campaign. The campaign
urges the power sector in industrialized countries to become CO2-free by the
middle of the century, and in developing countries, to make a significant
switch from coal to clean energy. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/other_news/news.cfm?uNewsID=13531
By
Claire Doole (Head of Press at WWF International)
27 May – (…) Stretching across
Spain’s southern-most tip, Andalucia is home to the world's first "olive
power plant". In 1995, an electricity plant in the town of Palenciana
became a global pioneer in using olives as a source of renewable energy. The plant turns olive residue into biomass
— a type of fuel generated from animal waste and plant material such as wood
and crops. This is then burnt to generate electricity and heat. The Palenciana
plant currently produces enough green electricity for 27,000 households, and
has since been joined by four others in the region. (…) Many believe that,
after wind power, biomass is the biggest renewable energy source that can be
exploited on a large scale.
According to a new report from
WWF and the European Biomass Association, 15% of electricity in OECD countries
— enough to supply 100 million homes — could come from biomass by 2020.
Compared to traditional power stations, this could cut CO2 emissions by about
1,000 million tonnes each year, an amount equivalent to the combined annual emissions
of Canada and Italy.
With most industrialized
countries struggling to meet commitments to reduce CO2 emissions, these figures
should be a huge incentive to promote biomass along with other renewable energy
sources. Spain, for example, agreed to limit emissions to a 15% increase over
1990 levels by 2012 under the Kyoto Protocol. However, the country’s CO2
emissions have already gone up by 40% since 1990. However, the biomass industry
remains underdeveloped in most industrialized countries. It supplies just 3% of
Spain’s total electricity consumption, while in most industrialized countries,
the figure is only 1%. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/features/news.cfm?uNewsID=13254
FAO calls upon countries to
stay vigilant - 50th anniversary of European FMD Commission
Rome, 10 June -- Europe
can consider itself almost free from the extremely contagious foot-and-mouth
disease (FMD), after centuries of devastating epidemics that have caused
tremendous losses, FAO said today, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
European Commission for the Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease in Dublin,
Ireland.
FAO called upon European
countries to remain vigilant against possible outbreaks and to continue their
support to neighbouring regions where the virus is still endemic. The risk of
introducing the virus through illegal trade remains high, the UN agency warned.
"Europe has made
remarkable progress against FMD over the last decades. Today, out of the 33
member countries of the Commission, 31 countries are free from FMD, while the
virus remains endemic in Turkey and Israel," said Keith Sumption,
Secretary of the Commission.
The Commission was founded in
1954, three years after a major pandemic hit France, Germany and many other
European countries with nearly one million outbreaks. The last major FMD
outbreak occurred in 2001, when a devastating epidemic affected the UK, with
outbreaks also in Ireland, France and the Netherlands. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/ media-office@fao.org
Progress
reported in implementation of international fishing code
Rome, 8 June -- A growing
number of countries are taking steps that will help conserve and restore the
world's oceans by bringing their fishing sectors in line with the FAO Code of
Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the UN agency said today. (…)
According to FAO, 52 of its
member countries report having fisheries management plans in place that incorporate
elements of the Code, including measures to promote use of selective fishing
gear, to prohibit destructive practices and to ensure that permitted
catch-levels reflect the state of stocks and allow depleted populations to
recover. Fifty countries are taking steps to make sure that their ships fishing
in the exclusive economic zones (EEZs) of other countries are properly
authorized and to better monitor foreign vessels operating in their own EEZs.
Forty-nine have implemented policies aimed at limiting accidental by-catch and
reducing discards. (…)
The Code of Conduct for
Responsible Fisheries -- drafted in 1995 by FAO and 170 countries during
extended negotiations --- is not binding, but by endorsing it governments
commit themselves to operating according to the Code's principles and
standards, a number of which are aimed at protecting ocean ecosystems and
marine animal and plant species.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/ media-office@fao.org
World Environment Day – June 5: Wanted! Seas and
Oceans – Dead or Alive?
Widely acknowledged as the most important event in the environment
calendar, World Environment Day "inspires action by governments, individuals,
non-governmental organisations, community and youth groups, business, industry
and the media to improve their environment, including clean-up campaigns, tree
planting, street rallies, exhibitions, green concerts, essays, painting and
photographic competitions, recycling efforts and much more".
This years’ theme (Wanted! Seas and Oceans – Dead or Alive?) asks
that we make a choice as to how we want to treat the Earth’s seas and oceans.
It also calls on each and every one of us to act. Do we want to keep seas and
oceans healthy and alive or polluted and dead?
responsible for the To celebrate this day in 2004, the Universal Forum
of Cultures – Barcelona 2004 has drawn up a program of activities in agreement
with Barcelona City Council, the Catalan Autonomous Government and the central
Government. The UNEP has decided that Barcelona should be the main venue for
the World Environment Day events, in response to the express request sent by
the Mayor of Barcelona to the Executive Director of the UNEP.
Among
various events, from June 11 to
June 14: Festival of the Sea, an event that
focuses on the sea and its culture. Each day of the festival will highlight
particular environmental issues.
http://www.barcelona2004.org/eng/actualidad/especiales/mediambient.htm
2 June – In an effort to limit
adverse ecological effects from the upcoming Athens Olympic Games, the United
Nations environmental agency today signed an agreement with the Greek
organizers to boost goals such as waste management, anti-littering and water
conservation. At the same time it said much more needs to be done to ensure
greater attention to environmental considerations at future Olympic Games.
“Athens 2004 have made environmental commitments in areas such as recycling,
public awareness and developing green spaces. We are sure that some of these
will leave a lasting and healthy legacy beyond this year's summer games,” UN
Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said. Noting the
Games are being organized in the “most difficult atmospheres of recent times
with heightened concerns about security,” Mr. Toepfer added that “this has
probably come at a price, and other considerations, including parts of their
environmental programme, may alas have fallen short of their initial
aspirations.” (…)
The Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) signed in the Greek capital calls for the Organizing
Committee to develop a compilation of ‘Environmental Challenges and
Achievements’ which will offer a detailed account of the environmental
perspective of all aspects of the Games – including a specific assessment of
the venues. (…)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=10934&Cr=&Cr1=
1 June - The Niger and Senegal
rivers that flow more than 2,200 kilometres through Mali offer vital resources
for development, but heavy rains often trigger floods, such as those during the
last two years, that take a toll on lives and property. The country also faces
threats such as droughts, livestock diseases and infestations of locusts.
One of the world's poorest
countries, Mali is all the more vulnerable because it lacks a disaster
prevention planning and management framework. To remedy this, the Government,
UNDP and other partners are helping the General Directorate of Public Safety
and local authorities to meet nature's challenges. The initiative was launched
recently in Koulikoro, an industrial centre that is vulnerable to flood damage.
It is a hub for rail, road and water transport on the Niger, north-east of
Bamako, the capital. Support for the two-year, $650,000 project comes from the
Government, local authorities, UNDP and other partners. They will coordinate
with civil society organizations, the Ministry of the Interior, local
communities and the UN country team to strengthen national rapid reaction
capabilities. (…)
The initiative will set up a
legal framework for managing disaster risks and strengthen the staff skills and
organization of the General Directorate of Public Safety and some of its
offices. Communities will get information and training on how to prevent and
respond to disasters, and local and regional authorities will get help in
disaster response planning. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/frontpagearchive/2004/june/1jun04/index.html
Rome, 1 June - New guidelines
for determining if a living modified organism (LMO) poses a hazard to plants
have been published by FAO. Some 130 countries adopted this unique
international standard on how to assess the risks of LMOs to plants. With some
LMOs there is a potential risk of introducing a gene that could cause a normal
plant to become a weed, FAO said. FAO published the guidelines two weeks after
the release of its annual report 'The State of Food and Agriculture 2003-04'
which calls for adequate biosafety regulations. (…)
The guidelines also cover
other LMOs that may be harmful to plants, such as insects, fungi and bacteria.
"Living modified organisms" are any living organisms that possess a
new combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology;
they are a subset of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Genetically
modified seeds, cuttings and tissue cultures are living parts of plants and
therefore LMOs.
The Interim Commission on
Phytosanitary Measures, which adopted the Guidelines in April, is the governing
body of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). This
international treaty helps to stop the spread of pests and diseases affecting
plants. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/ media-office@fao.org
UNA-USA Model United Nations Summit & Leadership Conference – New
York, 11 July
Every
summer, UNA-USA holds a Model U.N. Summit and Leadership Conference, bringing
together students and faculty advisors who share a desire to deepen their
understanding of Model U.N. The conference consists of workshops for novice and
experienced delegates, conference organizers, and advisors.
In Model U.N.,
students step into the shoes of ambassadors from U.N. member states to debate
current issues on the organization's vast agenda. Student "delegates"
in Model U.N. prepare draft resolutions, plot strategy, negotiate with
supporters and adversaries, resolve conflicts, and navigate the U.N.'s rules of
procedures - all in the interest of mobilizing "international
cooperation" to resolve problems that affect almost every country on
Earth.
This year's summit
is hosted by Seton Hall University's School of Diplomacy and International
Relations (40 minutes from New York City). Participants will spend a day at
U.N. Headquarters for seminars on U.N. issues. Fee per participant includes 5
nights lodging at Seton Hall, 5 breakfasts, 3 lunches, reservation for banquet,
day at U.N. Headquarters, Model U.N. Simulation at Seton Hall, and UNA-USA
materials. Please log on to our webpage for more information.
The Earth Charter keeps on spreading around the world
The World Youth Peace Summit
has partnered with the Earth Charter Youth Initiative
The Earth Charter Youth Initiative has been approved as a strategic
partner of the World Youth Peace Summit (www.wyps.org).
This is a major youth conference to be held in Nairobi in October 2004, which
plans to bring together 2000 selected youth from all over the world to discuss
matters of world peace with Nobel Prize laureates and distinguished political
and religious leaders. The focus of the Summit will be on peacemaking.
The City of Burlington, the
Global Community Initiatives, and the University of Vermont will host the
Sustainable Communities Conference. The event will be held in Burlington,
Vermont from July 14-18. The focus of the conference is to demonstrate the ways
communities around the world are using the principles of the Earth Charter,
Local Agenda 21, and other principles, highlighting the integration of
environmental integrity, social and economic justice, democratic processes, and
respect and care for the community of life. Information, registration, rooms
and many of the hotel reservations can be done on-line at www.global-community.org/conference
We, the World initiative
adopts the Earth Charter as their Declaration of Interdependence
This international initiative
will be inaugurated by We, The World on September 11 as part of a strategy for
building mass public awareness and involvement in the vitally important work of
peace and sustainability. This international celebration will include
festivals, live concerts,
coordinated civic actions, broadcasts, web-casts and public signings of the
Declaration of Interdependence, which will be represented by the Earth Charter,
the symbolic thread uniting all these events. For more information
please visit www.WeTheWorld.org/11days
A new
global ethical framework is needed to guide our decisions and actions ensuring
the common good. Use the Earth Charter as an instrument to understand and
achieve a more sustainable future
2 June - The English version
of EI's World Teachers' Day 2004 website has been launched! This year, visitors
to the site are able to download all customisable graphical material, send
electronic greeting cards, as well as search for information on activities
organised in their country. The official EI-WCT Joint Statement on World
Teachers' Day is also available on the site.
Visit the World Teachers' Day
2004 website today! www.ei-ie.org/wtd/
2 June - EI and WHO have
jointly produced another publication on their HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme. In
"Teachers Against AIDS", information about AIDS and the roles of
teachers, teacher unions, health and education ministries as well as
partnerships between international organisations are outlined as to how
teachers take up the battle for life in the EI/WHO HIV/AIDS Prevention
Programme.
http://www.ei-ie.org/main/english/index.html
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