Good News Agency – Year VII, n° 2
Weekly - Year VII, number 2 –
10 February 2006
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 (in charge) and
Elisa Peduto. 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 and to 2,800 NGOs.
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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
Environment and wildlife – Culture and education
Maximum levels set for dioxins
and PCBs in feed and food
Brussels, 3 February - The
European Commission has today adopted new implementing legislation setting
maximum levels for the sum of dioxins and dioxin-like Polychlorinated Biphenyls
(PCBs) in food and feed. Maximum levels for dioxins in food of animal origin
and all animal feed have been applicable since July 2002. However, due to lack
of sufficient data and scientific information at the time, no levels were set
for dioxin-like PCBs. Since 2002, new data on dioxin-like PCBs has become
available, and the legislation adopted today lays down mandatory limits for the
combined level of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs. From November 2006, any food or
feed in which the sum of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs exceeds these maximum
levels will not be allowed to be marketed in the EU.
The reduction of persistent
chemicals such as dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in the food chain is an
important part of ensuring the health and safety of EU consumers. (…) Dioxins
and PCBs are toxic chemicals that can provoke serious health effects such as
cancer, hormone disruption, reduced ability to reproduce, skin toxicity and
immune system disorders. They are extremely resistant to any degradation
process, which means that they persist in the environment and accumulate in the
food chain. (…)
Since 2002, new data on
dioxin-like PCBs has become available, and the legislation adopted today lays
down mandatory limits for the combined level of dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs,
based on World Health Organisation (WHO) toxic equivalency factors for these
substances. Food and feed operators have primary responsibility for ensuring that
the maximum levels are complied with, while Member State authorities must carry
out checks and report to the Commission on their findings. The Commission
intends to further review the maximum levels by 31 December 2008, with a view
to significantly reducing them further. (…)
Convention
for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage to enter into force on
20 April
20 January - Thirty States
have now ratified the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible
Heritage, adopted in October 2003 by the UNESCO General Conference, allowing it
to enter into force on 20 April 2006, that is three months after the 30th
instrument of ratification has been deposited. The Convention has been ratified
by: Algeria, Mauritius, Japan, Gabon, Panama, China, Central African Republic,
Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Republic of Korea, Seychelles, Syrian Arab
Republic, United Arab Emirates, Mali, Mongolia, Croatia, Egypt, Oman, Dominica,
India, Vietnam, Peru, Pakistan, Bhutan, Nigeria, Iceland, Mexico, Senegal and
Romania.
UNESCO Director-General,
Koïchiro Matsuura, welcomed the exceptionally rapid ratification of this new
instrument, which will enter into force in just a little more than two years
after its adoption by the General Conference. “This shows the great interest in
intangible heritage all over the world, whether in the countries of the South
or of the North, and the widespread awareness of urgent need for its
international protection given the threat posed by contemporary lifestyles and
the process of globalization. It was absolutely necessary to fill in the legal
void concerning this essential aspect of cultural diversity and to offer to
living cultures inherited through tradition adequate means of preservation,” he
said. This Convention completes the standard-setting instrument taken by UNESCO
to preserve the tangible heritage and aims to safeguard oral traditions and
expressions (including language as a vehicle of the intangible heritage), performing
arts, social practices, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices
concerning nature and the universe, as well as know-how linked to traditional
crafts. The States Parties to the Convention commit themselves to taking the
necessary measures to safeguard the intangible heritage present in on their
territory and to establish one or more inventories of this intangible heritage
with the participation of the communities and groups that create, maintain and
transmit this heritage. An international cooperation and assistance mechanism
is also included. (…)
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31424&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Ghana
Undergoes Landmark Peer Review
Addis
Ababa, 27 January - Ghana is the first African country to successfully complete the five
stages of the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM), after African leaders
assessed the country's performance and heard its feedback and action programme.
African heads of states, members of the APR Forum, conducted the peer review of
Ghana on 22 January on the sidelines of the AU summit in Khartoum. They
assessed the country's political, economic and corporate governance, as well as
socioeconomic development based on the final review report.
The final review report
submitted to the leaders listed capacity constraints, gender disparity,
corruption, lack of decentralization and land issues as the main governance
concerns in Ghana. Others problems included chieftaincy, unemployment, external
dependence, and brain drain.
But the report also identified
several best practices in Ghana worthy of emulation by other countries,
including success in consolidating democracy. It noted there had been three
successful elections and transfers of power since 1996, as well as unique
institutions for stakeholder dialogue such as an Annual Governance Forum, the
People's Assembly, and National Economic Dialogue. The report also commended
Ghana's contribution to regional peacekeeping.(…)
ECA's Executive Secretary,
Under Secretary-General Abdoulie Janneh, who attended the peer review in
Khartoum, noted that the APRM "is important for Africa's development and
it deserves ECA's full support". "The peer review of Ghana is an
important milestone for the improvement of governance in African
countries," he added.(…)
http://www.uneca.org/mdgs/Story13November05.asp
Remembering
is safeguard for future, Secretary-General says in message for first International
Day honouring memory of holocaust victims
27 January - Following is the text of the message by UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan for the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims
of the Holocaust, 27 January:
Today, for the first time, the
United Nations marks what will, from now on, be an annual observance: the
International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust.
There can be no reversing the unique tragedy of the Holocaust. It must be
remembered, with shame and horror, for as long as human memory continues. Only
by remembering can we pay fitting tribute to the victims. Millions of innocent
Jews and members of other minorities were murdered in the most barbarous ways
imaginable. We must never forget those men, women and children, or their agony.
Remembering is a necessary rebuke to those who say the Holocaust never happened
or has been exaggerated. Holocaust denial is the work of bigots. We must reject
their false claims whenever, wherever and by whomever they are made.
Remembering is also a safeguard for the future. The abyss reached in the Nazi
death camps started with hatred, prejudice and anti-Semitism. Recalling these
origins can remind us to be ever on the lookout for warning signs. As the
Holocaust recedes in time, and as the number of survivors dwindles, it falls to
us -– the current generation -- to carry the torch of remembrance and uphold
the cause of human dignity. The United Nations was founded as a reaction to the
horrors of the Second World War. Even so, the international community has too
often failed to stand up to mass atrocities. In recent years, we have taken
important steps to improve on that record, such as establishing the
International Criminal Court and agreeing on the collective responsibility to
protect. On this International Day of Commemoration, the theme of our
observance is “Remembrance and Beyond”. In that spirit, let us pledge ourselves
to even greater efforts to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity.
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2006/jan/l02.asp
Microfinance
crucial to alleviating poverty in forest communities
Basic
financial services can help families start their own small businesses
Rome,
27 January - Giving poor forest-dwellers
access to basic financial services is a key element in helping them improve their
living standards, according to a new FAO publication. The publication, Microfinance
and forest-based small-scale enterprises, funded by Norway, shows how
microfinance can help low-income households living in forest areas start up and
run their own small businesses. Such forest-dwellers frequently live in remote
areas where a lack of financial services is a major obstacle to developing
successful business activities.(…) Microfinance is a general term referring to
the provision of basic financial services such as credit, savings, leasing,
equity financing, insurance and remittance mechanisms by banks,
non-governmental organizations and credit- and savings cooperatives in both the
formal and informal financial sectors.
Microfinance and forest-based
small-scale enterprises includes a number of success stories, including one
from the Parbat District of Nepal, where 673 small-scale enterprises were set
up under a microfinance enterprise development programme, creating employment
in rural areas that depend on trade of non-wood forest products such as honey, allo
(traditional cloth made from nettles) and lapsi (a fruit used to make
drinks and candy). Some 669 of the businesses, or 99.4 percent of programme
participants, paid back their loans in full.(…)
FAO's new publication suggests
that in addition to their regular services, microfinance institutions should
provide business development counseling and support to small enterprises. It
notes as well that there is often a need to break social barriers that can discourage
rural people from approaching financial institutions for help.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000178/index.html
New
US$19.75 million IFAD programme to develop the informal dairy industry in Kenya
Rome,
25 January – Thousands of poor, small-scale milk producers and traders will
benefit from a new development programme in Kenya. It will strengthen their
ability to create and respond to market opportunities in the largely informal
dairy sector. The US$19.8 million Smallholder Dairy Commercialization Programme
will be financed by a US$17.5 million loan and a US$845,000 grant from the
International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was
signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by the President of IFAD, Lennart
Båge, and the Ambassador of Kenya to Italy, Anne Belinda Nyikuli.
Kenya’s
dairy sector is one of the largest and most developed in sub-Saharan Africa,
accounting for 3.5 per cent of the country’s GDP. (…) IFAD will work with the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries to
help dairy farmers, mobile milk traders and operators of small milk bars to
become more market-oriented. Over the next six years, the programme, targeting
the Nakuru central area and eight other districts in the west of the country,
is expected to lead to an increase in milk production, traded products and
income. Farmers and traders will get a better understanding of enterprise
skills and key technical services such as feeding, artificial insemination,
disease control or quality assurance.(…) This programme will ultimately aim at
improving the nutritional status and food security of the 24,000 households
that will participate.
With
this loan IFAD will have financed 13 investments in Kenya for a total of US$158
million in loan and grants.
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2006/04.htm
ECLAC launches web site for its 31st Session
24 January - Since yesterday, a new website on the
31st Session of this regional United
Nations commission is available through the portal of the Economic Commission
for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
This Session makes the main
decisions about ECLAC activities, bringing together technical and
ministerial-level representatives from ECLAC member states (42 countries
and seven associates) to debate major issues regarding the region's economic,
social and environmental development; review Commission activities during the
previous two years; and set priorities for its work agenda for the next two
years. The central theme of this meeting will be a debate on a more
solidarity-based social protection system. A special committee on population
and development, which is a subsidiary body of the conference, will deal with
the subject of international migrations. Some 200 government delegates and 100
representatives of specialized bodies within the United Nations system,
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and special guests are expected to
attend. (…)
World Social Forum:
satisfaction with an "Afrocentric" Meeting
Bamako, January 23 (IPS) - The
first phase of the World Social Forum (WSF), which ended Monday in the Malian
capital of Bamako, created a focus on "Afrocentric" issues that was
missing in previous forums, said coordinator Mamadou Goita. "Africanising
the issues was not deliberate. It just so happened that this is the first time
we have had a majority of Africans attending a WSF.
Usually there have been less
than 100 African NGOs (non-governmental organisations) at any of the other
WSFs.It was too expensive for most Africans to travel to Porto Alegre or
Mumbai," he told IPS. This year, things were different. "We had over
300 people from the rural areas of Mali alone, while another 8,000 came from
neighbouring countries. All of them participated in the forum and enriched the
discussions. This has never happened before," said Goita. (At the closing press conference for the
Bamako WSF, organisers tentatively put overall attendance figures for the forum
at between 15,000 and 20,000 delegates.) (…)
According to Goita, issues of
importance for Africa that came under discussion included female genital
mutilation, early marriage and illiteracy among girls. Similarly, the continued
occupation of Western Sahara by Morocco was given prominence, as was the
situation in conflict areas like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan. A youth forum set up at the Modibo Keita
Stadium gave young men and women an opportunity to interact with village elders
and other "older citizens" on issues that affect their lives,
including unemployment,immigration and education.
(…) http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=31874
New US$19
million loan to improve harvests and increase incomes of the rural poor in
Ghana
Rome, 20 January – A new development programme in Ghana will benefit small farmers,
traders and processors of roots and tubers.
Cassava, sweet potatoes, yams, cocoyam and other roots and tubers are
grown by the poorest Ghanaians and are crucial to their food security. The
US$27.7 million programme will be financed partly by a US$19 million loan from
the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The Government of
Ghana will contribute US$3.9 million.(...)
Root and tuber crops represent the mainstay of
Ghanaian livelihoods, providing more than 42 percent of the staple food supply
as well as sizable quantities of raw material for agro-industries. The
programme will improve the lives of the farmers, traders and processors who
depend on roots and tubers for their livelihoods, at least half of whom are
women. It will help them participate more fully in the marketing chain for
selling roots and tubers including negotiating prices and contracts and
improving bartering and marketing skills. Roots and tuber production will also
be improved. Through farmer-field forums, agricultural researchers and farmers
will meet to exchange information on cultivation practices and share their
experiences. Farmers will enhance their knowledge of new varieties of roots and
tubers, soil fertility management and pest control. (…) http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2006/03.htm
New US$26.5
million loan to make financial services available to rural poor people in
Pakistan
Rome, 18 January – Rural poor people who
have little access to credit and rural financial services will benefit from a
new development programme in Pakistan. The US$30.5 million Microfinance
Innovation and Outreach Programme will be financed by a US$26.5 million loan
from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan
agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome (…)
IFAD will work with the Pakistan Poverty
Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to help poor people, many of whom are women, gain
access to resources and financial services that will enable them to undertake
activities that generate income. The programme will support pilot projects to
test and develop new microfinance products and services such as livestock
insurance, equity partnerships, leasing arrangements, Islamic modes of
financing and other innovative financing systems that reduce debt burden,
minimize risk, promote asset creation and facilitate income generation. Local
lending institutions will be strengthened so they can expand their outreach and
provide better financial services in rural areas. (…) At least 180,000 rural
households are expected to benefit directly from the programme. IFAD is working
closely with the World Bank on the programme. With this loan IFAD will have
financed 20 programmes and projects in Pakistan for a total of US$361 million
dollars.
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2006/02.htm
Second Annual eCafé Ethiopian
Cooperative Coffee Competition Set
18 January - The 2nd Annual
eCafé Foundation Ethiopian Gold Cooperative Coffee Competition is scheduled for
February 20-24 at the central liquoring lab in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Judges
from six countries will rate nearly 200 coffees from five cooperative unions
representing Ethiopia’s top growing regions: Yergacheffe, Sidama, Kafa, Tepi
and Bench Maji. There will be awards for 12 washed and 12 unwashed coffees.
Besides being honored by the
judges, the winning coffees will be included in the eCafé internet auction
slated for April. Last year’s auction generated more than $187,800 for the
farmers, at an average price of $3.22 per pound, compared to the market price
of $1.30 per pound.
For the second straight year,
eCafé is working closely with ACDI/VOCA to administer the country’s coffee
competition. Since 1997, ACDI/VOCA has empowered Ethiopian smallholder farmers
by helping them form competitive, profit-oriented, professionally managed
cooperatives. Many of the co-ops have excelled at coffee production, and one
produced coffee last year that Starbucks named its eighth Black Apron
Exclusive™. ACDI/VOCA’s project has been funded by the U.S. Agency for
International Development. (…)
http://www.acdivoca.org/acdivoca/Acdiweb2.nsf/news/release1.18.06?opendocument
Villages of
Hope: The Ricemakers of Vietnam
IAEA Bulletin 47/1 - Thousands of kilometers
apart, near the northern and southern curves of Vietnam's S-shaped land, four
villages share a common bond. Thanh Gia near north Vietnam's Red River Delta
and Dong Tien in south Vietnam's ethnic uplands are villages of hope. So are
Bau Don and Cu Chi villages nearer the bustling economic centre, Ho Chi Minh
City. Village farmers there team with
scientists called "ricebreeders" to improve their harvests and
livelihoods. Working together, the farmers and breeders form a modern legion of
"ricemakers", helping to shape the future for 82 million Vietnamese
men, women, and children. For village
families, rice fills their lives and feeds their hopes and dreams. Life is hard
but looking up. Over the past decades, many families have almost doubled their
incomes. They still live on less than $2 a day, but are aiming for three. The
country’s per capita income is about $550 a year, and rising incrementally.
Though poor in income, the village families are
rich in impact - their work feeds a country, and more. In little more than a
generation, Vietnam has become one of the world's top rice producers. Today the
nation exports rice to Switzerland and two dozen other countries around the
world. Fears of food shortages have
given way to strategies for greater food security and markets. Through it all,
the Vietnamese remain among the world's most optimistic people. A 2005 UN
survey of Vietnam's households found that eight of ten families say their
living conditions are improving day by day.
Nuclear science is among reasons why fortunes are
turning. It is helping to accelerate the age-old process of plant breeding that
leads to better crops(…) Today more modern tools and methods accelerate
nature's way. Rice breeders often apply a process that includes the laboratory
irradiation of seeds and plant tissue cultures - usually called induced
mutation breeding - to alter plant traits and characteristics. Research yields promising
lines of new crop varieties - some that tolerate drought or poor soil
conditions, others that resist disease, and still others that meet quality
standards for export. In Vietnam, the best are screened and selected in field
trials at agricultural stations and in villages like Thanh Gia, Dong Tien, Bau
Don, and Cu Chi. The IAEA - through its technical cooperation programme,
scientific laboratories, and joint research division with the UN Food and
Agriculture Organization - has played a strong catalytic role in Vietnam and
other countries. Worldwide since the 1960s, plant breeders have won approval
for more than 2300 mutant varieties of crops, including nearly 440 varieties of
rice.(…)
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Features/Vietnam/villages_of_hope.html
Baltimore, February 3 -- Due
to poor rains in the autumn of 2005, the food security situation in arid and
semi-arid regions of northern and eastern Kenya is rapidly deteriorating, with
an estimated 2.5 million people in need of emergency food aid. Relief agencies
on the ground have reported high levels of malnutrition among young children
and their mothers.
The Government of Kenya, the
World Food Program and other relief agencies have already begun distributing
food relief to those most in need. Lutheran World Relief (LWR) is working on
behalf of the global aid alliance Action by Churches Together to implement a
response helping communities recover from the drought by increasing access to
water and providing farm tools, seeds and agricultural training to enable
people to grow drought-tolerant crops.
LWR has worked in Kenya for
approximately 30 years, with a focus on building sustainable rural livelihoods
and improving food security. Working with local partner organizations, LWR-ACT
will distribute farm tools and seeds to 2,000 of the most vulnerable households
in the Taita Taveta and Makueni districts, including many households now headed
by single parents, grandparents, or orphans due to a parent's death from
HIV/AIDS. Another 20,000 households will benefit from construction and
rehabilitation of wells and dams - largely built by community members
themselves as part of a food-for-work program - that will provide water for
both people and livestock, and allow community members to irrigate their crops.
(…)
http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=4768
Pakistan: Shelter for
earthquake victims
3 February -- The ICRC has just completed a series of distributions
of corrugated iron sheeting for 10,912 families affected by the recent
earthquake in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The material is being used to
build temporary shelters more suitable than simple tents.
At the outset of its
operations in the region, the ICRC realized that one of the greatest challenges
faced by the stricken population was to survive the harsh winter. In December
2005, it distributed corrugated iron sheeting, which is available on the local
market and can be used to build shelters that protect from the cold. A higher
degree of insulation can be achieved by adding a layer of grass between the
sheeting and the underlying wooden structure. Priority was given to vulnerable
families living in higher areas likely to be cut off by bad weather first.
By 31 January the ICRC had
delivered corrugated iron sheeting to 157 villages above the snowline in the
Neelum and Jhelum valleys. In order to reach these remote areas, the ICRC used
a fleet of nine helicopters that made 505 round trips from its logistics base
in Abbottabad and lowered the material in slings. Ten expatriate and local ICRC
engineers were involved in the distributions, which cost 1.9 million Swiss
francs, over a period of two months. The distributions were carried out with
the support of local community leaders, village heads, Pakistan Red Crescent
Society members and army personnel, all of whom helped to identify the most
vulnerable families in the villages. As a result of the operation, these
families are now in a better position to withstand the rigours of winter.
Angola, Huambo: NGO Roots of
Peace implements USD 12 million demining projects
2 February - - United States
of America non-governmental organisation (NGO) Roots of Peace will promote a
landmines clearance and economic project in Huambo province, amounted at USD 12
million, for a three-year period. The information was given by the NGO
chairman, Mário Salzmann who is in the country making a research and looking
for partnership for the project.
According to Roots of Peace
official, the programme will be implemented in partnership with the NGOs World
Vision and Halo Trust, that have already implemented agricultural and demining
projects in the region. Mário Salzmann
said that the project aims at continuing with the appeal made by the late
Princess Diana, when she came to Angola in January 1997, campaigning for a
world free from landmines. This work will guarantee better safety for people,
free movement from one place to the other, to guarantee the economic
reorganisation of the region and the transportation of farming goods to other
provinces, as well as to the country's capital.
The NGO, with its headquarters
in the State of California, USA, was founded in 1997 and aims at informing
people about the dangers of landmines, thus carrying on with the late Princess
legacy.
Since 2002, Roots of Peace, in
partnership with Halo Trust, helped to remove more than 100,000 landmines and
other dangerous and unexploded devices in Afghanistan with private funds from
the public.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/VBOL-6LMHCM?OpenDocument
Caritas announces creation of
new working group on Haiti
Vatican City, 1 February –
Representatives from Caritas member organisations, the Caritas Internationalis
(CI) General Secretariat, and the CIDSE network (Coopération Internationale
pour le Développement et la Solidarité ) agreed to set up a new Working Group
on Haiti during a January 2006 meeting at the CI General Secretariat in Vatican
City. The Caribbean nation, long plagued by socio-political turmoil and
violence, is one of the poorest countries in the world.
The decision to set up the
working group signals a long-term commitment by Caritas, Catholic agencies, and
Church entities to support Caritas Haiti’s work in addressing its country’s
social crisis. Pursuing lasting solutions to this crisis and promoting the
transformation of the country into a more just society based on solidarity are
among Caritas Haiti’s priority issues. (…)
In laying down its goals, the
Working Group agreed to strengthen partnership between member organisations in
working together for Haiti, to strengthen the capacity for coordination of
bilateral international cooperation, and to strengthen the capacity for
coordination of advocacy activities related to Haiti.
http://www.caritas.org/jumpNews.asp?idLang=ENG&idChannel=35&idUser=0&idNews=3932
Firstlogic
donates software to the United Nations
New York 1 February - The United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and the United
Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) today signed
an agreement with Firstlogic Inc., a global information technology software
provider that will supply data quality software on a pro-bono basis. This data
quality software, known as IQ8 and IQ Insight, will be used for data analysis
on forensic and financial records of United Nations programs in
tsunami-affected areas. The software will improve the quality of data analysis.
“The UN will benefit from this donation, which will help achieve high quality,
reliable, and complete data to better review financial records and take more
informed decisions about the delivery of humanitarian assistance in
tsunami-affected areas,” said Jan Egeland, the United Nations’ Emergency Relief
Coordinator. He also welcomed the
continued interest of the private sector in supporting the work of the United
Nations. “We know that the task of reviewing all the financial data coming from
programmes in tsunami affected areas is enormous,” said Joe Zurawski,
Firstlogic Vice-President of Global Alliances and Product Management.
“Firstlogic is very pleased to help the United Nations in its goal to achieve
high standards in accounting for the funds received for this disaster.”
http://ochaonline.un.org/DocView.asp?DocID=4173
IAAF
charity auction raises US$30,000 for UN agencies
Double
heptathlon world champion Carolina Klüft of Sweden and former Olympic sprint
relay champion Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas, both supporters of Athletics for
a Better World
Rome, 1 February - An online charity
auction of athletics memorabilia staged by the International Association of
Athletics Federations (IAAF) has raised over US$30,000 for WFP, the UN
Children's Fund UNICEF and the Food and Agriculture Organization.
More than 50 world-class athletes donated running
vests, bib numbers, statues and signed photos to the "Athletics for a
Better World" auction, which ran on the internet from 16-30 January. When
we first launched 'Athletics for a Better World', we did so with the confidence
that our sport's top stars would show that they cared deeply about creating a
better world by donating articles of personal value The highest bid was for the gold medal competition kit and bib
number which Double Olympic champion Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco wore when he
won the 1995 World Indoor 1500 metres gold in Barcelona, Spain - his first ever
global title. The kit was the last item on offer, and appropriately enough
raised more than any other individual item: US$3,406.98.(…)
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=1998
ADRA builds schools in Liberia
Silver Spring, Maryland, USA -
January 30 - The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is working to
revitalize the educational system in Liberia, helping to rebuild schools,
reconstruct kitchens for school feeding programs, and provide training for
kitchen staff in schools that were damaged or destroyed during the 14 years of
fighting in Liberia. (…) ADRA plans to renovate a junior high school in Sanniquellie,
Nimba County, benefiting 300 students. The damaged portion of the building
includes the roof, cracked floors, damaged ceiling, and windows. ADRA will also construct 12 kitchens for
schools in Nimba County. (…) The project is funded by ADRA International, and
is valued at close to $33,000. It will run from January until April.
ADRA is present in 125
countries, providing community development and emergency management without
regard to political or religious association, age, or ethnicity.
http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=4758
United Arab
Emirates to build 1,000 homes for Sri Lanka tsunami victims
Colombo, 27 January - The Red Crescent Society of the United Arab Emirates this week
signed two agreements with UN-HABITAT to provide funding for the construction
of 1,000 houses in areas of Galle, Trincomalee, Ampara and Kattankudy
devastated by the December 2004 tsunami killer wave. The agreements were signed
by Mr. Abdullah Al-Mahmood of Red Crescent Society, UAE and Mr. Lalith
Lankatillake, Regional Advisor of UN-HABITAT. The UAE Red Crescent Society
signed an agreement to provide 1.2 million US dollars to build 100 new houses
in Kattankudy, and 80 new homes in Galle. Another 220 houses, partly damaged by
the tsunami in Galle will be rehabilitated. Funding will also be provided for
the development of community infrastructure facilities in both Galle and
Kattankudy.The UAE Red Crescent Society signed a separate agreement to provide
3.2 million US dollars for 600 new homes in Kinnya in Trincomalee district, and
Saianthamarathu in Ampara district. The project will be implemented by
UN-HABITAT in partnership with the Muslim Foundation for Culture and
Development. (…)
http://www.unhabitat.org/uae.asp
FSD to clear unexploded
ordnance in support of WFP's programme in Laos
27 January - The Swiss
Foundation for Mine Action (Fondation Suisse de Deminage – FSD) signed a
Memorandum of Understanding with the Lao National Regulatory Authority for Mine
Action (NRA) to start a clearance programme funded by the Australian Government
in support of the World Food Programme's (WFP’s) Protracted Relief and Recovery
Operation (PRRO) in Savannakhet. (…) Under the agreement, FSD will undertake
community-based UXO clearance activities to support WFP's program in
food-insecure provinces.
WFP has been distributing food
under the PRRO in Central and Southern Laos since June 2004. The distributions
are aimed at households most at risk from crisis situations such as flood,
drought and chronic food insecurity. WFP has been assisting households in these
regions, through emergency operations, for over 29 years. (…)
The programme is funded as a
part of Australia's recent 5 year pledge of $75 million for global Mine Action
announced by the Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Mr Downer
in Vientiane during September 2005. As part of this pledge Australia will
provide $7.5 million for UXO activities in Laos over the next 5 years. FSD will
also continue to seek further funding to support WFP in other provinces
including Khamuaone and Saravan. (…)
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/fromthefield/fsdswiss/11383814799.htm
Canadian Landmine Awareness
Week will take place February 27-March 5
17 January - Canadian Landmine
Awareness Week will take place February 27-March 5th, 2006. This year we have a
fundraising target of $21,000. Our theme is Act Now! For a mine free world,
calling on the Canadian government and civil society to take immediate action
to build a mine-free world.
MAC has adopted four taglines
around which activities can be organized: No reservations, no exceptions, no
loopholes, no excuses. Each tagline is linked to messaging on a specific issue
of concern: namely, universalization of the Mine Ban Convention, mine clearance
deadlines, victim assistance and the role of Canadian leadership.
Universalization of the Ottawa
Treaty banning landmines is key to ensure that the emerging international norm
of a total ban continues to take hold, yet only 75% of the world’s countries
have joined the ban. Those that have must meet their obligations under the
treaty—including the clearance of all mines within 10 years. While the
challenge of fulfilling obligations related to survivor assistance is immense,
states and civil society must vigorously commit themselves to fully meeting the
needs of all those affected by mines. And finally, Canada must tangibly
recommit itself to global leadership on the issue, and dedicate a minimum of
one dollar per Canadian per year until a mine-free world is achieved. (…)
http://www.minesactioncanada.org/home/index.cfm?fuse=Home.News&ID=183
Landmine clearance
breakthrough
DanChurchAid introduces new mine clearance method
which is cheaper and more effective than previous methods.
16 January - In Angola
thousands kilometres of roads are not being used, and are thus effectively
closed off because of threat of landmines. The landmines cause victims and
create obstacles for the UN and NGOs in trying to assist many refugees and
internally displaced people returning home after the war. DanChurchAid has
developed a mine clearance system which can clear roads in a record time.
Seeing the system at work on
the Angolan roads is quite an overwhelming sight. The vehicle that is part of
the system was previously used during the riots in townships in times of
apartheid in South Africa. Now, mounted with large-loop detectors and equipped
with state of the art GPS system, it is being put to a good use – making Angolan
roads safe for civilian population.
Developed by DanChurchAid’s
deminers, the vehicle can trace landmines quicker, safer and faster than any
other known method. The technical name is WADS, Wide Area Detection System, and
it combines modern computer and satellite navigation with a cross-country
vehicle. (…)
Sudan – a year with the peace
agreement
The first anniversary of the peace agreement in Sudan
coincides with the fiftieth anniversary of the country gaining its independence
from Great Britain. Twenty-two of these years have borne the stamp of Africa’s
longest armed conflict. The fragile peace must be guarded.
By
Finn Erik Thoresen, Acting Secretary General, Norwegian People’s Aid
10 January - Today it is one
year to the day that the peace agreement for Sudan, the so-called Comprehensive
Peace Agreement (CPA), was signed in Nairobi. Norway, and the previous
Development Minister, Hilde Frafjord Johnson, played a central role in the
process which led to the agreement between the Sudanese government and the
liberation movement in the south of the country, the SPLM (Sudan People’s
Liberation Movement). A 22-year long civil war was brought to an end. Now a
six-year interim period will be followed in 2011 by a referendum on
independence for South Sudan.
Sudan has a population of
about 40 million people and is nearly five times the size of France. South
Sudan alone makes up a fifth of the entire country with about 8.5 million
inhabitants.
The peace agreement was
criticised for being negotiated without broad-based participation and in that
the SPLM leader, the now-dead John Garang, was self-willed and pushed through
his own ideas. An indisputable fact, however, was that there was peace. The
international community is acting as guarantor for the peace through, among
other things, pledges of massive economic support to the building up of the
country, particularly in the south. A commission, under the leadership of
Norwegian diplomat, Tom Vraalsen, is to monitor and report upon the extent to
which the peace agreement is or is not upheld, including where the
international community’s obligations are concerned. On the day of the
agreement’s anniversary, it appears that Vraalsen faces a demanding task in
relation to the following up of donor countries’ promises. (…)
http://apu.idium.no/folkehjelp.no/?module=Articles;action=Article.publicShow;ID=3118
PACT
Establishing Centre of Excellence in Tanzania
3 February - On the occasion of World Cancer Day
(4 February), the IAEA announced that its Programme
of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT) will establish its first
Centre of Excellence in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. This low-income East African
country has one of the continent's highest cancer rates and only one cancer
treatment centre.(…) The IAEA spends about $12 million each year for improving
cancer treatment in the developing world. Last year, it established the Programme
of Action for Cancer Therapy (PACT), to build partnerships with the
WHO and other organizations dedicated to controlling cancer. Much of the IAEA's
share of the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize Award has been dedicated to helping the
developing world deal with the dramatic rise in cancer that is overwhelming
limited health resources and equipment. (…)
The majority of cancers prevalent in Tanzania
today require radiotherapy treatment. PACT will establish its first Centre of
Excellence at the Ocean Road Cancer Institute (ORCI) in Dar es Salaam,
Tanzania. The ORCI estimates that each year there are over 20,000 new patients
with cancer in Tanzania. Currently, ORCI can treat only about 2,500 patients
per year - only a fraction of radiotherapy needs in Tanzania. To meet future
needs, Tanzania will need many more machines and a corresponding number of
doctors, nurses and technicians to operate them, according to PACT. The
additional cancer therapy system from MDS Nordion will allow the Institute to
treat another 1,000 patients per year. This is the initial step in building
PACT´s first Centre of Excellence.(….)
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/PressReleases/2006/prn200603.html
Angolan president inaugurates
hospital constructed with Chinese aid
Luanda,
Feb 3
(Xinhua via COMTEX) - Luanda General Hospital, built in Angolan capital of
Luanda, with Chinese government aid and constructed by a Chinese company, was
inaugurated on Friday in a ceremony presided over by Angolan President Jose
Eduardo dos Santos.
With a capacity to hospitalize
100 patients, the institution was built and equipped with the fund from the
Chinese government, estimated at 8 million U.S. dollars. The two-story hospital
covers an area of 800,000 sq.m. in a five-hectare plot. The medical ward will
have specialties such as otolaryngology, dermatology, pediatrics, neurology,
ophthalmology, physiotherapy, among others.
The construction works lasted
15 months and was constructed by the China National Overseas Engineering
Corporation.
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/SNAO-6LNP8L?OpenDocument
Northwest medical teams sends
1,500 team of volunteers
Portland, Oregon, USA, 2
February - Whether it’s a devastating hurricane, a brutal war or the crushing
despair of chronic poverty, Northwest Medical Teams has sent critically needed
medical volunteers to help people in desperate conditions for the past 27
years.
This Saturday, Feb. 4,
Northwest Medical Teams sends its 1,500th volunteer team—this time to Oaxaca,
Mexico, where medical care is nonexistent. Dr. Paul Stromberg, a Portland
surgeon with Eye Health Northwest, will lead a team of five volunteers to
Oaxaca. Team members, all of Portland, include Dr. Kevin McKinney, nurses
Shirley Soderberg, Diane Mattox and Phyllis Fletcher, and layworker Debi
Stromberg. The team will perform sight-saving surgeries for indigenous
villagers living in hillside shacks with no clean water, adequate food or
sanitation.(…)
Northwest Medical Teams began
its work in Mexico more than 20 years ago when it responded to the devastating
1985 earthquake in Mexico City. This year, 24 medical, dental and work teams
will help thousands of families with health concerns, education projects and
construction needs. The Mexican government reports that 75 percent of all
mother-infant deaths occur among Oaxaca’s rural population. (…)
http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=4767
Polio endemic countries hit
all-time low of four
Eradication drive enters new
phase with global roll-out of monovalent vaccines
Geneva/Evanston/Atlanta/New
York, 1 February – The number of countries with indigenous polio has dropped to
an all-time low of four, as polio eradication efforts enter a new phase
involving the use of next-generation vaccines targeted at the two surviving
strains of virus.
In 2006, monovalent vaccines,
aimed at individual virus strains, will be the primary platform for eradication
in all remaining polio-affected areas, announced the core partners in polio
eradication – the World Health Organization, Rotary International, the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and UNICEF – enabling the
eradication drive to hone in on poliovirus types 1 and 3.
This new phase was announced
alongside the confirmation that indigenous poliovirus has not circulated in
Egypt and Niger for over 12 months. This is the first time in three years that
the number of polio-endemic countries has fallen, leaving Nigeria, India,
Pakistan and Afghanistan as the only countries that have never stopped
indigenous polio transmission. (…)
In addition to mass
immunization with monovalent vaccines in the four endemic countries,
large-scale campaigns with these vaccines will need to take place in 2006 in
eight countries – including Somalia,
Indonesia and Yemen – to stop recently imported polioviruses. Critical to the
success of these campaigns is a US$ 150 million shortfall which must be filled
as rapidly as possible. The
eradication effort requires a further US$ 425 million for the 2007-2008 period.
The Global Polio Eradication
Initiative is spearheaded by national governments, the World Health
Organization (WHO), Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) and UNICEF. (…)
http://www.polioeradication.org/content/pressreleases/20060201press.asp
Azerbaijan: the ICRC supports
prevention and control of TB and HIV/AIDS
20 January - An international
workshop has taken place to encourage collaboration between prisons and public
health services for the prevention and control of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.
The international workshop on
"The prevention and control of tuberculosis (TB) and HIV/AIDS in prisons
and opportunities for collaboration between government health services"
was jointly organized by the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan and the ICRC.
Seventy representatives from the prison and public health sectors,
international and non-governmental organizations attended the workshop from 17
to 19 January at Baku's Park Inn Hotel.
The Deputy Minister of
Justice, Vilayat Zahirov, and the ICRC Medical Coordinator for Health in
Prisons, Dr. Hernan Reyes, participated in the workshop. Experts from Belgium,
Georgia, Russia, Switzerland, and Ukraine gave lectures and recommendations.
The workshop was designed to
contribute to a better understanding and dialogue between concerned
institutions leading to improved effectiveness and coordination between the
Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Health in the prevention and control of
TB and HIV/AIDS within the penitentiary system. (…)
Save the Children helping
families respond to avian flu threat
Banda Aceh, Indonesia, January
18 - Families in Aceh Province, Indonesia, who are still recovering from the
devastating tsunami of a year ago, have a new concern—Avian influenza.
And once again throughout the
region Save the Children is working to help children and families meet the
latest health challenge. (…)
In response to the growing
concern over the virus, Save the Children is working to protect both people and
poultry throughout Indonesia. The agency is playing a lead role among
humanitarian organizations and United Nations agencies in producing posters and
leaflets to inform consumers and poultry producers about how to identify and
report infected poultry and how to protect both humans and animals against the
virus. The agency is working closely with the government of Indonesia and its
key ministries in distributing the vital information. (…) In Aceh Province,
where Save the Children has assisted tens of thousands of families as part of
its tsunami recovery programs, the agency also is supporting hundreds of
poultry farmers in dealing with the virus threat.
The Indonesian government is
providing vaccinations for poultry. Any infected chickens are culled and
compensation is paid (approximately $1.50 per bird.) At present none of the
poultry producers supported by Save the Children have reported any bird illness
or death. (…)
Bangladesh - Sanitation
revolution begins in remote village
by Sagor Marandy –
Communications
The installation of low-cost
latrines and new hygiene practices have revolutionised sanitation standards in
the remote underdeveloped and underprivileged village of Meda of Phulpur
sub-district in Mymensingh district, located 122 kilometres north of Dhaka. The
village is located within World Vision Bangladesh’s Phulpur Area Development
Program (ADP), and contains 190 households. Villagers helped install 152
latrines in 2005, which has given the majority of households access to sanitary
latrines.
World Vision played a vital
role in building awareness on sanitation among the villagers, and as a result
locals have stopped their old practices and have developed an understanding of
better hygiene. A year-and-a-half ago,
only five per cent of people used sanitary latrines. Many people in the village
suffered from diarrhoea each year, and knowledge on hygiene and healthy
practices was almost nonexistent. (…)
World Vision International is a Christian relief and development organisation working for the well being of all people, especially children. Through emergency relief, education, health care, economic development and promotion of justice, World Vision helps communities help themselves.
http://www.wvi.org/wvi/news/latest_news.htm
India highlights new Ramsar
sites on World Wetlands Day
New Delhi, India, 2 February –
India has designated six new wetlands to the Ramsar Convention on Wetland’s
list of wetlands of international importance. The wetland areas include the :
Hokera Wetland and Surinsar-Mansur Lakes in the northwestern Himalayan province
of Jammu & Kashmir; Chandertal Wetland and Renuka in Himachal Pradesh;
Rudrasagar Lake in the northeastern state of Tripura; and Upper Ganga River in
Uttar Pradesh.
The Convention on Wetlands,
signed in Ramsar, Iran, in 1971, is an intergovernmental treaty which provides
the framework for national action and international cooperation for the
conservation and wise use of wetlands and their resources. There are presently
150 contracting parties to the Convention, with 1,585 wetland sites, totalling
134 million hectares, designated for inclusion in the Ramsar List of Wetlands
of International Importance. The designations, announced on World Wetlands Day,
bring the number of Ramsar sites in India to 25. (…)
WWF wants to see 250 million
hectares of global wetlands be protected and sustainably managed by 2010.
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=58200
Greenpeace plans
bigger presence in Africa
by Yinka Adeyemi
25 January - Greenpeace, the
international NGO, is undertaking a scoping study which, it hopes, will help increase its presence and work in Africa, John Van Mossel,
the project manager of the study group said today in Addis Ababa. Mr Van
Mossel, who had earlier visited South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya, met with the
Sustainable Development Division officials of the Economic Commission for
Africa (ECA). He said although Greenpeace was a global organization, with
offices in 38 countries, it does not have an office in Africa. Mr Van Mossel
said his data-collection mission in Africa would help estimate the potential to
achieve important change, define where Greenpeace could add value, analyse how
"traditional Greenpeace methods" could work in Africa and explore
alternative ways of working and networking. Contrary to popular opinions about
the public image of Greenpeace, he said the organization was “really committed
to non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems
and force solutions.” Greenpeace, he said, would like to establish a strong
governance structure through which it would engage “unassailable” African
leaders, and put more emphasis on education and information in its campaign. Mr
Van Mossel said Greenpeace would pay more attention to issues that were
important to Africa, such as water, forests, land and sustainable agriculture. (…)
Republic
of Korea, Unescap sign agreement to establish new Ict Training Centre
Centre to be first United
Nations office based in Republic of Korea
Bangkok, 31 January (United
Nations Information Services) – The Republic of Korea and the United Nations
Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific signed an Agreement
today in Bangkok to establish a new ICT training centre to be located in the
Republic of Korea.Known as the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for
Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT), the
institute will be the first United Nations office based in Republic of Korea.
Signing on behalf of the two parties were H.E. Yoon Jee-joon, Ambassador of the
Republic of Korea in Thailand, and Kim Hak-Su, United Nations
Under-Secretary-General and UNESCAP Executive Secretary. During the ceremony,
Mr. Kim noted that the APCICT will be located in Incheon City, “a vibrant area
that is also a hub of ICT business.” UNESCAP expects that APCICT will play a
leading role in its ICT work, and contribute towards the achievement of
Millennium Development Goal 8, Target 18, to make available the benefits of new
technologies, especially information and communications technologies, in
cooperation with the private sector.
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2006/jan/g02.asp
AEGEE-Europe is joining the
European Civic Forum
31 January - On January 14,
2006 AEGEE-Europe joined a European Civic Forum (Forum Civique Europeen).
(…) AEGEE-Europe has made a decision to
become involved in this initiative, as it fully reflects AEGEE’s values and
also the Year Plan Topic "Take Control- Democracy in Europe". (…) The
resolution AEGEE-Europe signed among others, calls for participation in the
animation of the European Civic Forum; encouraging meetings and participation
of the members in the organized initiatives by other members. Furthermore, it
asks to work in order to bring to foreground European civic dialogue, to carry
out information and awareness campaigns for European citizens, to organize
annual meetings to clarify and precise civic and democratic model that “we want
for Europe”.
European Civic Forum includes
around 50 national, European, regional and local associations from 16 different
European countries. Among other members of this young platform, there are ANO
pro Evropu, ARCI, Cafe Babel, Cap Magellan, Community Service Volunteers,
Democracy International, Foundacion Cives, Citizens Union Paremvassi, MRJC,
etc. Please find the full list of signing Organisations on the website, http://www.forumciviqueeuropeen.org/
AEGEE is one of the biggest interdisciplinary student associations in Europe; it is represented by 15.000 students, active in 241 academic cities, in 40 countries all around Europe, which presents amazing culture variety. AEGEE is a secular, non-profit organization, not linked to any political party. All projects and activities are based on voluntarily work of its members.
Choreography continues for
orphaned girls in Tajikistan
20 January - (…) Ten young ballerinas, with their smiling
faces and pink point shoes gliding through their newly-equipped dance studio,
are gaining confidence and poise while providing hope to their Dushanbe,
Tajikistan school's administration for a brighter future.
Six months ago, an employee of
Counterpart International volunteered to teach ballet to orphaned girls at
Boarding School-Internat #1, offering them an opportunity to enjoy the beauty
of dance. More than teaching just ballet techniques, Irina Wunder, a former
dancer herself, was also seeking to provide a creative outlet for the children
living in the school through exposure to an activity promoting self-esteem and
assurance. Following the debut performance on the stage of Tajik Opera House in
March 2005, the young ballerinas will now have an opportunity to continue
developing their ballet skills in their own newly-equipped room with dance
barres and mirrors.
Thanks to Counterpart
International, volunteers and supporters, the school proudly opened the ballet
room with a small ceremony on December 14, 2005. (…)
Wunder, the Counterpart
employee who initiated the program, studied ballet in the former Soviet Union
from 1979 to 1990 before directing a US State Department humanitarian
assistance program with Counterpart from 2003 until the summer of 2005. Currently stationed in Lima, Peru, she
serves as a consultant for the organization. Her initiatives target
underprivileged youth and provide support to creatively promote social and
economic incentives through exposure to performing arts.
http://www.counterpart.org/dnn/Default.aspx?tabid=49&metaid=G2LO3034-1f3
Opening of
Palestinian Women's Research and Documentation Centre
18 January -
The Palestine Women’s Research and Document Centre (PWRDC) was inaugurated
today in Ramallah by Zahira Kamal, Minister of Women’s Affairs of the
Palestinian Authority, and Pierre Sané, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO
for Social and Human Sciences. During the ceremony, held under the patronage of
Prime Minister, Ahmed Qureia’ (Abu ‘Ala), Zahira Kamal recalled that the joint
committee established by UNESCO and the Palestinian Authority considered the
creation of the Centre as a priority project. She also expressed the “hope that
the centre will become an important Palestinian institution, giving a voice to
Palestinian women at the regional and international levels.” The first of its
kind in an Arab country, outside North Africa, this institution will serve as
both a documentation and resource centre and as an observatory. It will be
devoted to research on gender equality and human rights with an emphasis on
women’s rights legislation, on the causes and consequences of poverty among
women, on violence against women and on their participation in political life.
(…) The programme, designed in 2004 in close consultation with the Palestinian
Authority, aims to promote education, culture, communication and science for
the benefit of the Palestinian people. (…)
http://portal.unesco.org/en/ev.php-URL_ID=31408&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
ICAF's First International
Cultural Figurines and Children's Puppets Exhibition
16 January - As part of the
European Children's Festival to be held in Munich right before the 2006 FIFA
World Cup, the First International Cultural Figurines and Children's Puppets
Exhibition will be held at Galeria Kaufhof am Marienplatz in Munich on May 26 -
June 9, 2006. Galeria Kaufhof and IDW GmbH Duisberg-Toronto are exhibition
sponsors.
The exhibition will showcase
global cultural diversity and unity during the European Festival, which is the
first regional event organized as a prelude to the World Children's Festival in
Washington, DC in the summer of 2007.
The exhibition will show how
children share and interpret their culture to gain other's understanding.
Children for this exhibition will make twenty figurines and twenty puppets. Two
figurines and puppets each will be made in Germany and the United States. The
other participating countries are: Austria, Bulgaria, Costa Rica, Croatia,
Ghana, Great Britain, India, Italy, Kenya, Korea (South), Mexico, New Zealand,
Nigeria, Pakistan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. (…)
The International Child Art
Foundation (ICAF) employs the arts to heal, inspire and unify children across
the globe while the World Bank has become one of the largest suppliers of
reconstruction and development assistance around the world.
http://www.icaf.org/news/newsfiles/200601160001.html
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