Good News Agency – Year VI, n° 7
Weekly - Year VI, number 7 – 13
May 2005
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 NGO 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 in the web
site http://www3.unesco.org/iycp/uk/uk_sum_monde.htm
International legislation – Human rights – Economy and development – Solidarity
Peace and security – Health
– Energy and Safety
Environment and wildlife – Culture and education
Actors for change: The growth of human rights institutions
UN-ESCWA organizes
workshop on "Building a New Iraq: Women’s Role in Drafting the
Constitution"
Sixteen newly elected Iraqi
women parliamentarians participated in a workshop organized by the Centre for
Women at UN-ESCWA in collaboration with the Woodrow Wilson Institute for Scholars
on ““Building a New Iraq: Women’s Role in Drafting the Constitution.” Held from
3 to 5 May 2005, the workshop focused on analyzing international policies and
conventions on women’s rights. It stressed that improving women’s understanding
of the different constitutional and legal processes is the first step towards
drafting the New Constitution.
The workshop was facilitated
by consultants Chibli Mallat, law professor and director of the Centre for the
Study of the European Union, and Farida Bennani, university professor at the
Faculty of Law in Marrakech, Morocco. It included sessions on Family Law;
Prioritization of Legislative Issues for Iraqi Women; Review of Women’s Rights
in Selected Regional Constitutions; Recommendations for Iraq’s Family Law; Development
of Advocacy, Public Outreach and Civic Education Programs Towards Increased
Women’s Personal Rights in the Constitution, during these three days; Creation
of a Strategic Plan; Review of Constitutional Processes; and Study and
Discussion of Transitional Administrative Law (TAL). Executive Director of the
Iraq Foundation Rend Rahim Francke also joined the discussion on Transnational
Administrative Law.
The workshop ended with
recommendations on the Iraqi Family Law. It was an effort to involve women MPs
in the constitutional process, sharpen their negotiation and lobbying skills in
order to enable them to include Women’s Rights and International Conventions in
the New Iraqi Constitution.
European
Commission: €28.3
million in humanitarian aid for one million Palestinians
12
May - The European Commission has allocated €28.3 million in humanitarian aid
for one million Palestinians in the Occupied Territories and Lebanon. The aid
will provide food, water and sanitation services, employment opportunities,
health care, psychosocial support and protection for the poorest Palestinians
and those most affected by movement restrictions. Assistance will be channeled
through ECHO, the Commission’s humanitarian aid department (http://www.europa-eu-un.org/articles/en/article_4675_en.htm). Commented EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid Louis
Michel: “Despite the improving political climate, most movement restrictions
for people and goods remain in place. While it is crucial that humanitarian aid
does not become a structural feature of the Palestinian economy, international donors must continue to help meet the
urgent needs of the population.”
Scores of
CARE supporters convene on Capitol Hill
By Allen Clinton, CARE
Washington, D.C., May 6 - Some 200 CARE supporters
from more than 22 states gathered May 4 and 5 in our nation’s capital to meet
with members of the Senate and House of Representatives and voice support for
reducing extreme poverty.
At CARE's National Advocacy Conference, supporters
highlighted three key issues and urged bipartisan support in this battle that
directly affects 1.2 billion people living in the world’s poorest communities.
"Members of the House and the Senate will listen to constituents if you
speak up and communicate to them," says Jeri Rice, a Seattle resident and
first time participant. "Coming together to speak with one voice is a
powerful symbol that helps build support and momentum around this very
important cause."
The two-day program began on May 4 with workshops,
where discussions focused on challenges and opportunities for ending extreme
poverty; the triumphs and troubles for women in the developing world;
communicating effective advocacy messages; and group preparation for policy
maker visits. That evening, Andrea Mitchell, chief foreign affairs
correspondent for ABC News addressed the group, delivering an insightful
overview of the impact of domestic politics on international affairs.
The next day, the groups were well received by
their senators, congressional representatives and their staffs. (…)
http://www.careusa.org/newsroom/featurestories/2005/may/20050506_advoconf_pr.asp
Common ground in
southern Arabia: Humanitarians, academics and Islamic scholars debate
protection of war victims in sharia and humanitarian law
25 April - A seminar on the protection of war
victims in Islamic sharia and international humanitarian law was held by the
ICRC, the Yemen Red Crescent Society and Aden University in Yemen's southern
port city on the 24 and 25 April. (…) For two days, 40 Yemeni scholars,
academics, members of parliament and religious dignitaries listened to, and
debated, presentations on protecting human dignity in wartime under both
Islam's religious law and the Geneva Conventions.
Al-Habib Ali Zeynelabidin Al-Jifri, a well-know
young muezzin from a prominent family of traditional Islamic teachers in
Hadramout, set out how prisoners of war and civilians are protected in Islam,
which embraces the basic aim of international humanitarian law: preserving the
humanity of the individual. "It is obligatory," said Mr Al-Jifri,
"to translate the principles protecting war victims enshrined in sharia
and humanitarian law into practical reality."
Judge Hamoud Al-Hitar of Yemen's Supreme Court and
head of the Yemeni Human Rights Organisation, assured the ICRC of his respect
for its activities in Yemen and for its neutrality and impartiality,
particularly in times on internal conflict, and thanked it for convening the
seminar.
The participants concluded that this encounter,
the first of its kind in Yemen, had helped overcome misconceptions and that a
basis had been laid for joint efforts to spread knowledge of humanitarian
concepts and principles that Islam and international law have in common.
Afghanistan: 14 000 grain
silos to be distributed to farmers
FAO project training local tinsmiths in
silo production
Rome, 12 May - Around 14 000
grain storage silos will be distributed to farmers in nine provinces of
Afghanistan, thanks to a new FAO project funded by the Government of Germany.
The locally produced metallic
silos, with grain storage capacities ranging from 120 to 1 800 kg, will be
given to individual farmers, farmers' groups and cooperatives. The aim is to
help reduce post-harvest losses, improve grain quality, increase the income of
farmers by allowing them to sell grain during the off-season when prices are
more favourable, and enhance household food security. The $2.4 million project
will also rehabilitate or construct ten community storage warehouses in major
grain-producing areas of Afghanistan this year to encourage the
re-establishment of local grain markets.
Around 220 tinsmiths and
technicians in the country are currently being trained through the project in
an effort to build local capacity and improve the quality of local silo
production.
Region’s poorest
countries look to trade, debt relief, aid and ict to achieve development goals
UNESCAP Special Body meets
10-11 May in Bangkok prior to 61st Commission Session
Bangkok, 6 May – The Seventh
Session of UNESCAP’s Special Body on Least Developed and Landlocked Developing
Countries will meet in Bangkok from 10-11 May 2005 to consider trade, debt
relief and aid for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),
and information, communication and space technology for meeting development
challenges. (…)
The Special Body on Least
Developed and Landlocked Developing Countries discusses and makes
recommendations to the Commission on selected issues of importance to the least
developed and landlocked developing countries.
Of the world’s 50 least
developed countries, 14 are located in the UNESCAP region, as are 12 of the
world’s 30 landlocked developing countries. Four UNESCAP members - Afghanistan,
Bhutan, Lao People's Democratic Republic and Nepal - are considered to be both
least developed and landlocked developing countries. More information on least
developed and landlocked developing countries may be found on the UNESCAP
website at www.unescap.org/mdg/ldcindex.asp.
The report of the Special Body
is expected to highlight the concerns of the least developed and landlocked
developing countries in light of the United Nations Millennium +5 Summit which
will be held in New York in September 2005. The Special Body immediately
precedes UNESCAP’s 61st Commission Session, scheduled for 12-18 May at the UN
Conference Centre, Bangkok.
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2005/may/n20.asp
MarketPlace
promotes dignity not charity
12 May - At MarketPlace:
Handwork of India, over 480 Indian women artisans and their families represent
the model of self-sufficiency and national identity that Mahatma Gandhi felt
could be developed through cottage industries and craft development.
MarketPlace, a
non-profit fair trade organization, was born in the poor neighborhoods of
Mumbai (Bombay) in 1986 as a program to provide employment for low-income women
who otherwise had very few options.
With little education or training, these women faced many obstacles. (…)
At present, MarketPlace works
with 14 artisan-controlled cooperatives that make the intricate clothing and
home décor sold throughout MarketPlace’s catalog and website, as well as in
over 300 boutique stores throughout the US.
Working on the grassroots level, MarketPlace has tailored development to
promote self-sufficiency and sustainability rather than charity. Within the artisan groups, emphasis is
placed on democratic decision-making, on promotion from within and on every
artisan having a say and stake in the direction of the company.
Organizing the workers to
achieve financial security is only part of MarketPlace’s mission. Through SHARE, a non-profit organization
working with MarketPlace, artisans have replaced hopelessness with plans for
improvements. As they begin to change
the way they think about themselves and their future, they have also determined
to work for other improvements in their neighborhoods. Now community activists, artisans put to use
their newfound organizational and communication skills they so eagerly
embraced. Groups have taken on daunting
tasks such as providing basic health education within their poor communities,
attending workshops on women’s legal rights and forming social action
committees to tackle issues such as alcohol abuse and garbage collection. (…)
IFAD Executive Board
approves loans and grants totalling more than US$184 million to aid tsunami
recovery and combat rural poverty in 14 countries
Rome, 22 April – The 84th session of IFAD’s
Executive Board approved US$171.8 million in loans and US$12.5 million in
grants to improve the lives of rural poor people in 14 countries, as well as
aid tsunami recovery in the worst affected areas. (…)
There are 192 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty
eradication programmes and projects, totalling US$6.5 billion. IFAD has
invested about US$2.8 billion in these initiatives. Cofinancing has been
provided by governments, beneficiaries, multilateral and bilateral donors and
other partners. At full development, these programmes will help more than 100
million rural poor women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and
their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested almost
US$8.7 billion in 689 projects and programmes that have helped more than 250
million poor rural men and women achieve better lives for themselves and their
families.
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2005/24.htm
New Electronic Platform to
connect entrepreneurs from Asia and Africa
New York, 22 April - Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi of Japan today announced the launch of a new web site –TICAD Exchange –
to facilitate trade and investment between Asia and Africa. Coming online as
the 50th anniversary of the Bandung Conference of 1955 is underway in Jakarta,
Indonesia, the TICAD Exchange is a first step toward building a strong
interregional networking mechanism of Asian and African public and private
sectors. (…)
Koizumi also announced the doubling of Japanese
aid to Africa, now at 8.8 percent or US$529.9 million of its total Overseas
Development Assistance (ODA) budget. "In the three years to come, Japan
will double its ODA to Africa with grant aid continuing to be its central
feature," he said, adding that Japan will hold TICAD IV in 2008.
The TICAD Exchange network, which is now up and
running on the World Wide Web (http://www.TICADExchange.org), is developed and
managed by the TICAD Bureau of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
with technical support from the United Nations Industrial Development
Organization (UNIDO) through its UNIDO Exchange Programme. Sponsored by the
Government of Japan, it aims at improving a readily usable information base on
trade and investment to facilitate the identification of new business
opportunities, and providing an on-line facility for information exchange among
users. (…)
http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2005/april/pr22apr05.html
Former US Presidents
say $10 million in privately raised funds for tsunami reconstruction to include
adopt-an-island in Maldives
6 May – George Bush and Bill Clinton, the 41st and
42nd Presidents of the United States, announced that a private fund bearing their names has raised
US$10 million so far and will be used to target projects in four countries
affected by last December’s Indian
Ocean tsunami, including the United Nation Development Programme’s
adopt-an-island programme in the Maldives. The privately raised funds will go
to reconstruction projects already underway in Indonesia, Thailand, Sri Lanka,
and the Maldives – the four countries visited by the two Presidents during
their tour of region February 17-22 earlier this year. (…)
Presidents Bush and Clinton made their joint
announcement before a crowd of several thousand contributors to the
Bush-Clinton Houston Tsunami Fund.
A portion of the funds will help Adopt-An-Island
in the Maldives, a programme established by UNDP to allow businesses,
governments, individuals or organizations to directly support communities in
tsunami-stricken islands to rebuild. The proceeds from the Bush-Clinton Fund
will go to the United Nations Foundation to adopt an island on behalf of the
Bush-Clinton Fund, and will be used to improve an island’s water and sanitation
conditions and to reconstruct the island’s harbor and its government offices.
(…)
http://www.undp.org/tsunami/features060505.htm
New operation provides WFP food
aid to 550,000 Haitians
Port-Au-Prince, 5 May – For the next two years,
550,000 Haitians – the vast majority of them women and children – will be
guaranteed at least one nutritious meal every day, provided by the United
Nations World Food Programme (WFP).
In an effort to improve the nutritional status of
the most vulnerable, WFP today launched a new Protracted Relief and Recovery
Operation (PRRO), which will provide food aid to more than half a million
hungry poor Haitians for two years, at a cost of US$40 million. Seventy-six
percent of Haitians live on less than USS2 per day, while 55 percent live on
less than US$1 per day. (…)
A contribution of US$7.2 million to the new PRRO
has already been confirmed by the Government of Canada. (…)
The recovery component will use 85 percent of the
food resources and will comprise community nutrition activities including nutritional
education for malnourished children under five and anaemic pregnant and nursing
women, food assistance to people living with HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, and
food-for-recovery activities. The relief component, using 15 percent of the
food resources, will allow WFP to respond rapidly but adequately to emerging
needs, providing food aid immediately to vulnerable victims of natural
disasters or civil strife. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=2
UNICEF to
support US $90 million in rebuilding tsunami affected schools
Jakarta, May 4, 2005 - UNICEF will support the
Indonesian Government through Ministry of National Education by allocating US
$90 million to rebuild 300 destroyed primary schools and repair another 200
damaged schools in the tsunami devastated province of Aceh as well as Nias
island in North Sumatra province.
Construction is scheduled to start in mid 2005 and
end in 2007 in the most affected areas in at least six districts of Banda Aceh,
Aceh Besar, Nagan Raya, Aceh Jaya, Aceh Barat and Simeulue as well as in two
districts in North Sumatra, Nias and Nias Selatan.
The final quota of rehabilitated and constructed
primary schools for each district will be determined by the needs, including
the size of the school age population, as well as the availability of overall
financial resources from all committed donors and partners, including UNICEF.
In rebuilding the schools, the Ministry of
National Education, UNICEF and the United Nations Office for Project Services
(UNOPS), as the operational partner, will use and apply a “child friendly”
school design with the perspective of “education for all”. Disabled children,
for example, will have access to all parts of the school easily. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_26520.html
Helen Keller
International receives $300,000 tsunami relief grant from the Michael &
Susan Dell Foundation
Grant helps supply micronutrients
to Indonesian tsunami survivors to fight water-borne diseases
New York, April 28 – Helen Keller International (HKI) received a $300,000 grant from
the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF) for its project, “Tsunami Relief
Through Micronutrient Supplementation in Indonesia.” The 12-month project strives to safeguard the health of
approximately 250,000 children and 200,000 households affected by the 2004
tsunami by providing vitamin and mineral supplements.
This new grant will enable HKI
to reduce morbidity and mortality among Internally Displaced People (IDPs) by
assessing the population conditions and by providing vitamin A capsules and
zinc treatments, along with multivitamin and mineral supplements to complement
food aid. While some of these IDPs are
staying with relatives or friends, many of them are living in shelters of
varying standards and are in need of shelter, food, clothes, medical aid and
other assistance. (…)
http://www.hkworld.org/about/press_releases/MSDF.htm
Quick U.S.
response allows WFP to cancel ration cut in Darfur but funding still critical
Khartoum, 26 April – The United Nations World Food
Programme announced today that thanks to a rapid donor response, the agency
will not be forced to carry out expected ration cuts in May for close to two
million people living in Sudan’s western region of Darfur. The reprieve follows
WFP’s warning three weeks ago of impending ration cuts due to a lack of funds
which remains a concern.
As a last resort due to severe under-funding, WFP
had planned to halve the non-cereals part of the daily ration for general
distributions in Darfur in May. However, the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) Food for Peace has stepped in and redirected
to Sudan around 14,000 metric tons of non-cereals already on the high seas. (…)
WFP warned that despite this stop-gap measure for
the current non-cereals shortfall, the overall emergency operation in Darfur
still remains severely under-funded. Of the US$467 million WFP needs for the
Darfur operation, only US$281 million has been received, leaving a 40 percent
shortfall. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/index.asp?section=2
Deloitte and UNDP join forces for
tsunami reconstruction
United Nations, 22 April – Through its member
firms, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, one of the world's leading professional
services organizations, has begun providing 14,000 hours of pro bono advisory
services to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to help ensure that
tsunami reconstruction funds are used efficiently and transparently, UNDP
announced today.
The first Deloitte team recently began work in
Indonesia and will review UNDP reconstruction operations in affected areas. The
team will recommend methods to improve reporting, review existing control
mechanisms, and seek to identify opportunities to strengthen accountability.
Deloitte teams will also tour UNDP operations in the Maldives and Sri Lanka.
Deloitte firms in Australia, Canada, China, India,
Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and the United States are participating in this
landmark initiative. Deloitte teams will work with UNDP to review and advise on
opportunities to strengthen financial systems, processes, and procedures. Donor
governments have contributed more than US$112 million to UNDP for tsunami
reconstruction programs.
http://www.undp.org/dpa/pressrelease/releases/2005/april/pr22apr05a.html
New
Yorkers To Join 24-Hour Global Hunger Walk
- June 12
New York -- On June 12,
New Yorkers will join with tens of thousands of people around the globe in a
unique 5-kilometer (3.1 miles) “Walk-the-World” event to raise awareness of
hunger.
The
walk supports the work of the World Food Program which last year fed over 80
million of the world’s hungriest people.
Walk-the-World was initiated
two years ago by TNT the global provider of express, mail and logistics services. The event
takes place in the course of a 24-hour period in 24 different time zones.
Last year, more than 40,000 people participated in over 70 countries in a bid
to focus public attention on the plight of the world’s 852 million hungry
people and to call for action. (…)
Last year almost $1 million
dollars was raised, enough to feed 30,000 hungry children for one year at WFP’s
school feeding projects. (…)
Walk the World aims to focus
attention on the world’s hungry, in particular, to ensure that the 300 million
children in the world are fed. On average it costs $34 to feed a child
for a school year, or 19 cents a day. Adult participants are being asked
to pay a minimum $19, enough to feed 100 children for a day. Participants
under 12-years of age are being asked to contribute a minimum of 19
cents.
Walk the World, www.tnt.com
Second part
of Algeria's stockpiles destruction
Author: Gaetan de Beaupuis
Algeria, 29 April - Handicap International
Representative witnessed the destruction of the second part of Algerian
landmines stockpiles by the National People Army. On 8 and 9 May 2005 , Algeria
is holding a symposium on the implementation of the Convention, with ICBL participation...
On the 28th and 29th March 2005, Handicap
International was invited to witness the second operation of landmines
destruction in presence of members of the inter-ministerial Committee for the
follow-up and the implementation of the Ottawa Convention, one UNDP
representative and the Ambassador of Canada. During this operation, 30.000
mines have been destroyed by explosion, incineration, and crushing of fuses,
mine casing and wooden stakes, reels of trapping wire, on the military base of
Hassi Babah, then melting of metal bodies on the military base of Beni Mered
(logistical central base, 40 km away from the southern Alger).
The operation was carried out by the Algerian
army, with transparency, rigour and professionalism. (…) To this day, the
National People Army has destroyed 62% of its 150 050 landmines stockpile.
http://www.icbl.org/layout/set/print/news/algerian_stocks
Building
homes and hope in Iraq
Valuable vocational skills
complement a home reconstruction program in Erbil, Iraq.
Erbil, Iraq, April 28 – Iraqi villagers outside
Erbil, in the Kurdish northern part of the country, have more to look forward
to than just a new home as Spring approaches.
In a country with a 70 percent unemployment rate, the 800 families who
helped build their own homes in a recent housing reconstruction effort may be
able to turn these valuable skills into much needed value, such as jobs.
A year ago, Counterpart International met with
local leaders, elders, and community representatives to identify needs in the
war torn Qushtapa sub-district.(…) The organization was able to complement the
communities' decision to construct houses and their corresponding
infrastructure of water and sanitation systems and primary schools, by
providing technical expertise and training in self-built home construction and
community infrastructure development. Today, these 800 families from 39
villages are completing their new homes thanks to technical support that was
provided by Counterpart through some $5.4 million from the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Families also added local roofing materials
to complement UNHCR's building guidelines, making their houses more energy
efficient in this colder northern region of the country. (…)
Counterpart established a presence in Iraq in
2003. With critical support from the US Department of State, UNHCR and USAID,
the organization has successfully piloted, replicated, and refined its civil
society programs across the Middle East, the former Soviet Union, Central and
Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia and Africa.
http://www.counterpart.org/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=49&metaid=F5UO0628-ceb
Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation &
Post-War Rebuilding, Reconstruction And Resolution
A
Five-Days International Training Programme organised by TRANSCEND and the Peace
Action, Training and Research Institute of Romania, July 11 – 15, 2005
Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
9 May - Peacebuilding, Conflict Transformation and
Post-War Reconstruction, Reconciliation and Resolution (PCTR 2005) is designed
for practitioners, political leaders and policy makers, and organisations
working in areas affected by conflict, violent conflict, and war, as well as
countries and regions in post-war situations. Building upon experiences
in peacebuilding, conflict transformation, and post-war reconstruction,
rehabilitation, reconciliation and healing, and people-centred, participatory
development, from former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Colombia, Nepal, Somalia,
Nicaragua, South Africa, and the Middle East, as well as from the countries of
the participants themselves, the programme is highly intensive and practice-oriented.
PCTR is designed for advanced participants and
practitioners to develop skills and tools for implementation in practice,
addressing both the needs of the individuals taking part, as well as the needs
and challenges confronting the communities, organisations and institutions they
work within, both in the field and in their organisation, programme and project
design.
Flemish
government and UN launch women and AIDS programme in Mozambique
Maputo, 6 May - The Flemish Government and the
United Nations in Mozambique today announced the launch of a four year
programme to combat the growing feminisation of the HIV and AIDS epidemic in
Mozambique.
According to figures from the Mozambique
Government, an estimated 58% of people living with HIV and AIDS in the country
are women and girls and 75% of those living with HIV in the age group 15 – 24
are female. (...)
The programme, which will be coordinated by the
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), tapping on the strengths
of the entire UN System, the Government of Mozambique, international and local
NGOs, will identify gaps in the response to women and girls in Mozambique and
will support the development of an integrated national strategy with a
sustained advocacy campaign to highlight the situation of women, girls and
AIDS. (…)
http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
1.2 million children immunized in
West Bank and Gaza strip
Ramallah/Gaza City, 5 May - An immunization
campaign against measles, mumps and rubella was launched today for 1.2 million
children and young people in the West Bank and Gaza strip.
There have been several reported cases of mumps
and rubella among school aged children and university students respectively in
various locations in the West Bank and there is a high risk that mumps could
easily spread among school children.
All children must be protected against measles – one of the most
contagious diseases as well. Dozens of
school immunization teams will, over the next few weeks, conduct operations in
15 districts in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In addition, health facilities and mobile health teams will assist in
ensuring vaccinations from main cities to isolated villages. This campaign is
partly sponsored by the Government of Japan.
The campaign, led by Palestinian Authority
Ministries of Health, Education and Higher Education, UNICEF and United Nations
Relief and Works Agency, is joined by other UN agencies and non-governmental
organizations to make it a success. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_26557.html
First
global report on efforts to roll back malaria highlights progress and
challenges
Burden of malaria still worst in
Africa, but prevention and treatment reaching more people
Cairo/Geneva/New York, 3 May - More people are accessing prevention and
treatment services for malaria, sparking hope that the number of people who
become sick and die from malaria will begin to decline. However, challenges
remain to reduce the burden of the disease which still kills one million people
every year, most of those in Africa, according to the 2005 World Malaria Report.
The report, released today by
the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund
(UNICEF), finds that progress has been made in preventing and treating malaria
since 2000. It finds that more countries are introducing the newest medicines
to treat malaria, and that more people are receiving long-lasting
insecticide-treated mosquito nets through innovative new programmes. The report
analyzes malaria data collected through 2004 and represents the most
comprehensive effort ever made to present the available evidence on malaria
worldwide. (…)
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr17/en/index.html
Call to boost HIV/AIDS
awareness in Africa
Addis Ababa, 2 May -
Policymakers have reiterated the need for Africa to tackle HIV/AIDS by talking
frankly about the disease in a bid to educate people. The call follows a
meeting of ECA’s Commission on HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa (CHGA) in Casablanca
Morocco last week which drew over 100 participants. They discussed challenges
caused by the pandemic on the continent and came up with a set of
recommendations which will be presented to African leaders and policymakers
through a Final Report to be published later this year.
The report will look at five
specific areas including prevention and treatment, impact of HIV/AIDS on
gender, HIV/AIDS and youth, human capacity, and financing the response to
HIV/AIDS.
Participants agreed that to
mount an effective response, Africa must close the knowledge gap on HIV/AIDS
through a frank assessment of the situation in different regions and countries.
They also stressed that Africa
must take urgent action to stop people with HIV/AIDS from dying prematurely, and
to prevent healthy people from becoming infected. This should fit into
long-term planning for the continent. (…)
Laotian youth teach peers to
protect their reproductive health
EU-funded initiative reaches
remote villages and urban teens at risk
Phontong, Saravan Province, Lao People’s
Democratic Republic, 2 May — A visiting health education team has set up a
stage and loudspeakers, and the whole village has come to watch. A dozen
adolescents are sitting up front. They take turns before the microphone as a
moderator quizzes them about reproductive anatomy and disease prevention,
teasing them gently when they become embarrassed, and the crowd laughs.
One young-looking teenager, blushing but confident
in her answers, has a lively interaction with the trainer. Then she quietly
leaves the group and goes behind the stage to nurse her infant son.
Phetsone, 16, in many ways typifies the 15-24
target group that the educators, from the NGO Health Unlimited, aim to reach in
this rural area where sexual activity and childbearing often start at an early
age. Briefly married to a boy her own age, Phetsone is now divorced and lives
with her family. She tells a visitor that she wants to marry again, if she finds
a good man.
The educational activity is part of the
Reproductive Health Initiative for Youth in Asia (RHIYA), which operates in
seven countries with support from the European Union and UNFPA, the United
Nations Population Fund. (…)
http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=609
Polio
immunizations in India target 170 million children
By
Vukoni Lupa-Lasaga
29 April - An estimated 170 million children
received the oral polio vaccine during National Immunization Days launched
across India on 10 April. World Health Organization Director-General Jong-Wook
Lee traveled to New Delhi five days ahead of the event to demonstrate global
support for India's fight against polio. In the weeks leading to the NIDs, close
to 100,000 Rotarians and family members participated in advocacy and social
mobilization efforts to generate a high turnout. They also provided logistical
support during the immunization days to ensure that volunteers and vaccine were
in the right place at the right time. (…) Hundreds of Rotarians traveled from
Australia, Canada, the United States, and other countries to support their
Indian counterparts during the NIDs. (…)
Since January, the Global Polio Eradication
Initiative partners and the government of India have organized three massive
immunization campaigns. At least four more nationwide or regional campaigns
targeting polio-endemic areas in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are planned through
the end of 2005.
There is a heightened awareness of the stakes
involved for India, which is one of only six countries where polio is still
endemic. As a result, government officials, politicians, religious leaders, and
celebrities are lending their weight to the effort to rid the country of polio.
For example, Bollywood megastar Amitabh Bachchan and cricket star Sachchin
Tendulkar are now regular participants in social mobilization events. Popular
leaders such as Sonia Gandhi, president of the Congress of India (the ruling
party), launch NIDs throughout the country.
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/polio/050429.html
Helen
Keller International launches cataract program in Senegal
New York, April 28 – In collaboration with the
Ministry of Health and the National Blindness Prevention Program, Helen Keller
International (HKI) launched a new cataract program last week in Ziguinchor
(Casamance), Senegal. (…) The goal of HKI’s three-year program is to reduce
cataract blindness in the Ziguinchor region and to develop a model for
improving cataract surgery services that can be adopted by other health regions
in Senegal.
Cataract is the number one cause of blindness
worldwide and accounts for 50% of all blind adults. An estimated 20 million people are blind from cataract, and 100
million are in need of a cataract operation to restore full sight. (…)
Supported by the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID), HKI’s new program seeks to increase
awareness of and demand for cataract surgeries, access to eye health services,
and the ability of the health system to deliver quality surgeries at minimal
cost. (…)
http://www.hkworld.org/about/press_releases/CataractProgramSenegal.htm
UNAIDS and the Government of
India join forces to combat HIV in uniformed services
New Delhi, 28 April – Today, India’s Minister of
Defence, Mr Pranab Mukherjee, and Dr Ulf Kristoffersson, Director of the UNAIDS
Office on AIDS, Security and Humanitarian Response, announced the signing of a
partnership agreement committing both parties to work together to reduce the
impact of HIV and increase prevention efforts among military personnel,
particularly young men and women.With some 1.3 million active members in the
Indian military and 535,000 in the reserve, the partnership agreement has the
potential to affect a large segment of the country’s population. (…)
Uniformed services are particularly vulnerable to
HIV infection due to a number of factors, among them the young age of military
personnel. The majority are in the age group at greatest risk for infection,
the sexually active group under 24 years of age. During peacetime military
personnel are up to five times more likely to contract sexually transmitted
infections (STIs)—including HIV—than the civilian population. In times of
conflict this risk can be significantly higher. (…)
http://www.unaids.org/en/default.asp
(top)
Harnessing
the power of the sun to clean water
European Water Management
News, May 4 - Scientists in Scotland are leading research to develop new
technology that can harness the power of the sun to clean up polluted water -
while producing electricity at the same time. At the heart of the research at
Aberdeen University is a new type of fuel cell that is capable of using
sunlight to break down various pollutants in water and produces electricity as
a byproduct.
The results of a £1.2 million
three-year research initiative could eventually be used to treat water in third
world countries as well as provide cheap water treatment in the oil and gas and
water industries.
The research is led by
scientists at the university’s department of chemistry and school of biological
sciences and has attracted funding from the Department of Trade and Industry
and three industrial partners, Yorkshire Water, Scotoil Services, a North Sea
oil service company, and OpTIC Technium, a manufacturing technology company
based in North Wales.
Source: The Scotsman: http://business.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=457072005
Scientists unite in call for
action as global food demands threaten to outstrip world water supply
European Water Management
News, April 27 - While many of today’s rivers, lakes and groundwater reservoirs
continue to be overexploited, a new report launched today by leading scientists
at the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development warns that unless
steps are taken to improve the way water is managed, twice the world’s current
water consumption may be needed by 2050 to feed a global population of some 9
billion.
The scientists from the
Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI), International Food Policy
Research Institute (IFPRI), World Conservation Union (IUCN) and International
Water Management Institute (IWMI) said that the ambitious international
commitment to halve the number of people facing hunger have missed a
fundamental question: where is the water needed to grow the food to feed future
generations properly? The report, “Let It Reign:
The New Water Paradigm for Global Food Security” points out that
feeding the world is in many ways a daunting water challenge.
http://www.siwi.org/press/presrel_05_CSD_Food_Report.htm
San Joaquin
Air District and Public Health Advocates set clean air rule deadlines
New
regulations will control particulate matter sources
Fresno, CA, USA, 5 May - The San Joaquin Valley
Air Pollution Control District today announced a settlement that will ensure
the adoption of four new air pollution control measures in the Valley to
control particulate matter air pollution by the end of 2005.
The measures are required under the District’s
federally-approved 2003 cleanup plan for particulate matter. Under the plan,
approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in May 2004, these control
measures should have been adopted last year but the district missed the
deadlines. The 2003 cleanup plan was the result of prior litigation by the same
organizations after years of inaction by the District and EPA.
The District, recognizing its legal liability for
failing to promulgate these rules by the deadlines required by its own plan,
and the federal Clean Air Act, agreed to be bound by a court-endorsed consent
decree, filed today along with the lawsuit. The consent decree will not be
ordered by the Court pending a 45-day period within which the Justice
Department may submit comments on its terms, but neither the groups bringing
this suit nor the District expect the Department to have any concerns. (…)
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=993
Ben &
Jerry's and WWF launch climate change college
London, UK, 28 April – Ice cream makers Ben &
Jerry’s are seeking young people to stop the melt and help lick global warming.
Together with WWF and polar explorer Marc Cornelissen, the
internationally-recognized brand is launching the Ben & Jerry’s Climate Change
College in support of WWF’s international PowerSwitch! campaign.
The three-year initiative will see six young
people – aged 18-25 – each year become Climate Change Ambassadors after
graduating from the Ben & Jerry’s Climate College. Successful applicants to
the college will be fully trained through internships, workshops, and a visit
to the polar region to witness the issue for themselves and support ongoing
research into climate change. (…)
The project’s main objective is to help these
young people develop the practical skills to help fight climate change and
prevent the polar ice caps from further melting. This group of international
ambassadors will be recruited from the UK and the Netherlands. After completing
their college and field mission in 2006 the ambassadors will campaign and
spread the message with support from Ben & Jerry’s and WWF. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news.cfm?uNewsID=20152
Supreme Court
allows citizens to seek legal redress for harm caused by pesticides
Manufacturers'
attempt to lock courthouse doors fails
Washington, DC, 27 April - The United States
Supreme Court today upheld the right of people to sue pesticide manufacturers
to compensate them for injuries caused by toxic pesticides.
Patti Goldman, managing attorney for Earthjustice
in Seattle, was the principal author of the friend of the court brief submitted
by public health and conservation groups in this case arguing that pesticide
makers can be held accountable in court for pesticide-caused injuries.
Statement on today’s ruling by Patti Goldman:
“This decision is a victory for fairness to
individuals who are poisoned by toxic pesticides. This decision makes pesticide
manufacturers accountable for the harm their products cause and creates
incentives for those corporations to refrain from promoting dangerous
pesticides and to make sure their labels disclose and guard against the risks
posed by these products.” (…)
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=988
San Joaquin
Air District and Public Health Advocates set clean air rule deadlines
New
regulations will control particulate matter sources
Fresno, CA, USA, 5 May - The San Joaquin Valley
Air Pollution Control District today announced a settlement that will ensure
the adoption of four new air pollution control measures in the Valley to
control particulate matter air pollution by the end of 2005.
The measures are required under the District’s
federally-approved 2003 cleanup plan for particulate matter. Under the plan,
approved by the Environmental Protection Agency in May 2004, these control
measures should have been adopted last year but the district missed the
deadlines. The 2003 cleanup plan was the result of prior litigation by the same
organizations after years of inaction by the District and EPA.
The District, recognizing its legal liability for
failing to promulgate these rules by the deadlines required by its own plan,
and the federal Clean Air Act, agreed to be bound by a court-endorsed consent
decree, filed today along with the lawsuit. The consent decree will not be
ordered by the Court pending a 45-day period within which the Justice Department
may submit comments on its terms, but neither the groups bringing this suit nor
the District expect the Department to have any concerns. (…)
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=993
Sixth
Annual UNA-USA Model UN Conference - May 19-21, 2005
New
York Marriott Marquis and U.N.Headquarters, New York
This year's event will host
over 2,000 students at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel and UN Headquarters
in New York City from May 19-21, 2005.
UNA-USA's conception of Model
United Nations (Model UN) is based firmly on the realistic portrayal of UN
deliberations. Delegates will be expected to conduct extensive research on the
agenda topics, the country that they are representing and the United Nations
itself. In addition, students will be expected to faithfully represent their
country's positions, as do actual delegates to the United Nations. It is
through intense research into a country's culture and national interests that
students will be able to participate in a realistic simulation of the United
Nations. (…)
The UNA-USA Model UN
Conference offers support to every attending advisor. Prior to the conference,
each school will be given an advisor's guide and preparation materials. This
year, UNA-USA MUN is also launching a new partnership network through which
veteran advisors will be paired with novice advisors to address pre-conference
questions. During the conference, advisors will have the opportunity to
participate in workshops and attend lectures on current Model UN and
international issues. (…)
The
UNA-USA Model UN Conference is supported by a 125-member secretariat composed
of college students from across the globe. Undergraduate and graduate students
studying at world-renowned universities direct the committees and work
year-round to ensure a realistic and rewarding educational simulation.
IFAD,
UNIFEM and IDRC to co-sponsor regional “gender mainstreaming” conference in New
Delhi, 10-12 May
Rural
women in South Asia among the poorest people in the world
New Delhi, Monday 9 May - The
increased need to address gender inequalities in development projects will be
the focus of a three-day conference in New Delhi being jointly organized by the
International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations
Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and Canada’s International Development
Research Centre.
Gender inequality is the
primary cause of persistent poverty and the main reason why many developing
countries are off-track to meet the Millennium Development Goals.
The regional conference,
entitled “Development Effectiveness through Gender Mainstreaming,” will take
place on 10-12 May and assess the progress that has been made in poverty
reduction and gender equality in rural South Asia.
About two thirds of the
world’s 1.2 billion extremely poor people live in Asia; more than half of them
can be found in South Asia. Women represent the majority of poor people in
Asia, particularly in rural areas. This is largely due to the fact that rural
women do not have equitable access to the productive assets and services they
need to improve their lives.
The goal of the conference is
to promote development policies and programmes that can effectively reduce
gender inequality and rural poverty in South Asian countries. (…)
For more
information:f.haquerahman@ifad.org
Training HIV/AIDS orphans in
sub-Saharan Africa
Field schools fight hunger and poverty with farming
know-how and life skills
Rome,
9 May - AIDS orphans in Africa are being helped to improve their often
desperate living conditions by learning agricultural techniques in specially
designed schools, FAO said today.
To date, FAO has set up 34
Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools for orphaned children in Kenya,
Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia, targeting a total of around 1 000 young people.
Many of these children are not able to farm because their parents could not
pass on the necessary agricultural knowledge before dying of AIDS.
Of the estimated 34 million
orphans in sub-Saharan Africa, more than 11 million lost their parents to AIDS.
By 2010, it is estimated that up to 20 million children could lose one or both
parents to the disease. Children orphaned by AIDS and living in rural areas are
particularly at risk from malnutrition, disease, abuse and sexual exploitation.
(…)
FAO is working with the World
Food Programme (WFP) and other UN agencies, non-governmental organizations and
local institutions, to found the Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools for
children and young people in response to the growing numbers of AIDS orphans.
The schools aim to share agricultural knowledge, business skills, and life
skills with orphans and vulnerable children between 12 and 18 years of
age. (…)
San
Diego exemplary high school students awarded Annette I. Baughman scholarship funds by UNA-San Diego Chapter
$ 10,000 in college funds for outstanding achievement
in Model United Nations
San Diego, CA, USA, April 20 - The United Nations Association San
Diego Chapter (UNA-SD) congratulates San Diego high school
students Alexandra Berkowitz, Jason Raftery, and Michael Sullivan, for their exemplary academic performance and for serving as model
ambassadors in Model United Nations.
Students applied from eight San Diego schools, wrote essays “What the UN
means to me,” and the UNA-SD committee reviewed transcripts and interviewed the
students. The awardees
received a total of $10,000 through the UNA-SD Annette I. Baughman Scholarship Fund. Each student demonstrated exceptional writing
skills, knowledge of the UN and participated in Model United Nations (MUN), a
program where students learn about the United Nations through role play and
negotiation. The awards ceremony on April 23rd at the Mission Valley
Resort is part of the 2nd Annual San Diego High School Model United
Nations Conference. (…)
Model UN allows students to
step into the shoes of ambassadors from UN member states to debate current
issues on the organization's vast agenda - all in the interest of mobilizing
"international cooperation" to resolve problems that affect countries
all over the world. The insights they gain from their exploration of history,
geography, culture, economics and science contribute to the authenticity of the
simulation, create a lively and memorable experience, and provide students a
rich and well-rounded education. Student "delegates" in MUN prepare draft
resolutions, negotiate with supporters and adversaries, plot strategy, resolve
conflicts through negotiations, and navigate the UN’s rules of procedure.
Kubichan Communications –
Media Relations for UNA San Diego Charter - itsmejulie@gmail.com
* * * * * * *
“10 Stories The World Should
Hear More About”
In its continuing efforts to
draw attention to important international developments and issues that fall
outside the media spotlight, the United Nations Department of Public
Information (DPI) launched on 3 May
2005 a new list of “Ten Stories the World Should Hear More About.”
Good News Agency includes the
following story, which is emblematic of the progress in the field of human
rights. DPI will provide additional information about the stories, including
contacts for United Nations focal points for the respective issues, on the
special Ten Stories web page (www.un.org/events/tenstories). This site
can be also accessed through the UN News Centre portal, at www.un.org.news.
Actors for change: The growth of human rights
institutions
Defending human rights has a new tool in
its arsenal. More than 100 national institutions have emerged in recent years
to protect the rights of vulnerable groups. They are increasingly active in a
wide range of human rights causes, from the prevention of torture and discrimination
to conflict resolution.
The Story
What does an improved status of the Tsaatan minority in Mongolia have in
common with the rescue of child soldiers in Uganda, the probe into decades-old
cases of forced disappearances in Mexico or documents on the training of police
in Northern Ireland? All of these
examples reflect a promising trend -- a growing role and effectiveness of
national institutions for the promotion and protection of human rights.
“Building strong human rights institutions at the country level is what in the
long run will ensure that human rights are protected and advanced in a
sustained manner,” Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed in a 2002 report. And
that’s what -- away from the media spotlight -- appears to be happening.
Since the UN General Assembly unanimously adopted in 1993 the so-called
Paris Principles -- minimum standards concerning national human rights
institutions -- many countries have worked with the UN to establish or enhance
such bodies. What often goes unnoticed, however, is that these institutions,
already numbering more than 100, are increasingly active in a wide range of
human rights causes.
The Context
The
majority of existing national institutions can be grouped in two broad
categories: “human rights commissions” and “ombudsmen.” Less common, but no
less important, are the “specialized” national institutions which function to
protect the rights of a particular vulnerable group. Such national institutions are not set up to replace the UN human
rights organs or non-governmental organizations working in the same area. Their
role is complementary, and a strengthening of such institutions can only
enhance the effectiveness of both national and international human rights
machinery.
In
January 2005, the Independent Human Rights Commission of Afghanistan launched a
report, A Call to Justice. Thanks to
this bold initiative, for the first time Afghans were asked to express their
views on vital issues of peace, security and justice.
The
Danish Institute for Human Rights is creating a knowledge database to raise
awareness of the specific impact and consequences of anti-terrorism
legislation.
The
official probe into the forced disappearance of 532 people in Mexico during the
70’s and early 80’s had limited results until the Mexican National Human Rights
Commission intervened and was able to throw light on that tragic episode.
Established
as an outcome of the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement 1998, the Northern Ireland
Human Rights Commission has investigated and supported through courts key cases
on issues covering all political and religious viewpoints.
The
National Human Rights Commission of Mongolia has made a significant
contribution to securing the rights of the Tsaatans, the smallest ethnic
minority in the country, residing in an isolated mountainous area.
Despite
the challenges of working in conflict areas, the Ugandan Human Rights
Commission has investigated reports of recruitment of child soldiers and made
recommendations on their reintegration into society.
The
National Human Rights Commission in India has been making efforts to create an
environment in which economic, social and cultural rights could be better
promoted and protected.
For further information:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR):
Orest Nowosad, Coordinator, National Institutions Unit, Capacity
Building and Field Operations Branch, Tel: +41 22 917 92 23, E-mail: onowosad@ohchr.org
Useful web links:
Office of the UN High Commissioner for
Human Rights (OHCHR):
http://www.ohchr.org/english/countries/institutions/index.htm
National Human Rights Institutions Forum: http://www.nhri.net/
Minorities in Mongolia: http://www.nhrc-mn.org
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP):
http://www.undp.mn/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=20
Forced disappearances in Mexico: http://www.cndh.org.mx/Principal/document/portada.htm
Child soldiers in Uganda: http://www.uhrc.org/
A call for justice (Afghanistan): http://www.aihrc.org.af/pressreng28_1_05call.htm
Platform of knowledge by the Danish
Institute for Human Rights:
Economic, social and cultural rights in
India: http://www.nhrc.nic.in/
Peace process and national institutions in
Northern Ireland: http://www.nihrc.org/
Source: REUNIC www.runiceurope.org/italian/index.html
* * * * * * *
Next
issue: 4 June.
* * * * * * *
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)