Good News Agency – Year VII, n° 4
Weekly - Year VII, number 4 – 24th
March 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.
It is an all-volunteer 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
Religion and spirituality – Culture and education
Bulgaria
joins the ADN Agreement
Geneva, 13 March -- Bulgaria ratified
the European Agreement concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods
by Inland Waterways (ADN) on 7 March 2006. This brings the total number of
Contracting States to 5, namely: Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, the Netherlands
and the Russian Federation. The ADN Agreement will enter into force once 2 more
States have deposited their instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or
accession. The ADN aims at increasing the safety of the international carriage
of dangerous goods by inland waterways and at preventing any pollution
resulting from accidents or incidents during the carriage, while facilitating
international transport and trade of such goods. (…)
http://www.unece.org/press/pr2006/06trans_p02e.htm
UN General Assembly establishes new Human Rights
Council by vote of 170 in favour to 4 against, with 3 abstentions
Council Elections Scheduled for 9 May; Inaugural
Meeting to Be Held on 19 June
15
March - United Nations Member States today overwhelmingly approved the
establishment of a new Human Rights Council, aiming to strengthen the world
body’s machinery to promote and protect fundamental rights, and deal with major
human rights offenders.
Adopting
a resolution by a recorded vote of 170 in favour to 4 against (Israel, Marshall
Islands, Palau, United States), with 3 abstentions (Belarus, Iran, Venezuela),
the General Assembly decided to set up the new Council to replace the
Geneva-based Commission on Human Rights, which has come under fire for
excessive politicization. (For details
of the vote, see Annex.)
Over
objections from the United States that the resolution did not go far enough to
exclude some of the world’s worst human rights abusers from membership in the
new body, the 191-member Assembly approved the text, which decided “members
elected to the Council shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion and
protection of human rights, fully cooperate with the Council, and be reviewed
under the universal periodic review mechanism, during their term of
membership”.
The
resolution calls for the election of new Council members on 9 May 2006, and an
inaugural meeting on 19 June. The
Commission, which postponed its annual meeting earlier this week, awaiting a
decision on the new Council in New York, will be abolished on June 16. The 47 members would be individually elected
by an absolute majority of 96 votes of the General Assembly’s members. If the Council members failed to uphold high
human rights standards, they could be suspended by a two-thirds majority vote
by Assembly members present at the meeting. (…) http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/ga10449.doc.htm
Unwto
and International Business Leaders Forum announce a new Human Rights Initiative
for the tourism industry
London, United Kingdom, 16
March - The World Tourism
Organization (UNWTO), a United Nations specialised agency, and the Tourism
Partnership of the Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF)
announced today a joint initiative on human rights, the Tourism and Human
Rights Initiative. The initiative will create a framework to assist the tourism
industry address human rights within their own business operations.
The Tourism and Human Rights
Initiative will recognise the UNWTO Global Code of Ethics for Tourism as the
overarching standard to guide the global activities of the project, to be
reinforced through the development and adoption of a specific set of human
rights principles for the industry, with appendices for individual sectors. (…)
These human rights principles
will equip participating companies with a tool to respond to the full spectrum
of human rights challenges confronting the industry, and specific sector
dilemmas. It will enable individual companies to benchmark their human rights
performance, and where necessary take steps to update or expand the scope of
existing human rights strategies.(…)
http://www.world-tourism.org/newsroom/Releases/2006/march/forum.htm
Campaign
launched against forced marriages
By Sanjay Suri
London, March 16 (IPS) - The
British government has launched a fresh campaign to curb forced marriages. The
new campaign follows the setting up of a special unit last year to prevent
forced marriages. The unit was set up after several reports of Pakistani girls
particularly being taken from Britain to Pakistan and forced into marriages
against their will. (…) ''We've had about 250 to 300 cases reported in the last
year,'' a Foreign Office spokesman told IPS Thursday. ''But we have reason to
believe there may be very many more cases.''
The new campaign has been
launched ''to let young people know there is help if they need it,'' he said.
''We also want to alert the adults that any attempt to force anyone into a
marriage is an abuse of human rights.'' The campaign will be run jointly by the
Foreign and the Home offices. (…) The campaign will involve a series of radio
and press adverts, TV fillers and poster campaigns. ''It will highlight the
difference between forced and arranged marriage, and make clear that forced
marriage is an abuse of human rights and a form of domestic violence,'' the
Forced Marriages Unit (FMU) said in a press note. (…)
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32529
Initiatives
to end sex trafficking: MEPs call for a launch of an Anti-Trafficking Day
15 March - MEPs reaffirm their
firm condemnation of trafficking in human beings, in particular of women and
children for sexual purposes. In a resolution adopted today, following up last
week's EP seminar on forced prostitution during sports events, MEPs propose
strategies to combat this ghastly problem. The European Parliament calls for a
European wide campaign to inform the general public and to reduce the
demand. MEPs also propose an
Anti-Trafficking Day to raise awareness on the issue of trafficking in all its
aspects.
The European Parliament urges
the European Commission and the Member States to launch a European-wide
campaign to inform and educate the general public and particularly sports
people, sports fans and supporters about the growing problem of forced
prostitution during big sports events. The campaign should provide the
necessary information, counselling, safe housing and legal aid to women and
children and other victims forced into prostitution. MEPs agree that media and famous people from the sports world
also have to be involved in the awareness raising campaign to positively
influence the changes in public mentality and behaviour. They also appeal for a
prevention campaign targeted at potential victims providing them with
information as to their rights and where they can obtain assistance in
countries of destination. (…)
MEPs
take a stand against racism in football
Brussels, 14 March - Members
of the European Parliament (MEPs) will formally adopt a resolution on tackling
racism in football at a press conference today in Strasbourg. A record 420 MEPs
have signed the resolution, which strongly condemns all forms of racism at football
matches, both on and off the field. It calls on all those involved in football
to do more to fight racism in the game and asks for tougher sanctions for
racial abuse.
The initiative for the
resolution was taken by five MEPs: Emine Bozkurt (European Socialists/Netherlands),
Chris Heaton-Harris (European People’s Party/UK), Cem Özdemir (Greens/Germany),
Alexander Nuño Alvaro (Liberals and Democrats/Germany) and Claude Moraes
(European Socialists/UK).
The five MEPs are actively
involved in the European Parliament’s Anti-Racism and Diversity Intergroup,
which promotes ethnic and cultural diversity within the European Parliament in
a coalition that rallies MEPs from different backgrounds.
The European Network Against
Racism (ENAR) holds the Secretariat of the Intergroup. ENAR members supported
the MEPs’ initiative by lobbying MEPs at national level to sign the Resolution.
The initiative was also supported by the Football Against Racism in Europe
(FARE) network.
http://www.enar-eu.org/en/press/2006-03-14.pdf
UNICEF
promotes actions to ensure birth-certificate for all children in Brazil
Every year 500,000 Brazilian
children are born and do not receive a birth certificate before their first
birthday.
Brazil, 14 March - With the
participation of the Special Secretariat for Human Rights, UNICEF launched
this Monday, March 13th, a campaign about the importance of realizing all
Brazilian children's right to a free birth certificate. (…).
With the campaign launched on
March 13th, UNICEF expects to contribute to Brazil's efforts to fulfil the
objective of reducing the under-registration rate to 6% by October 2006.
Although important progress has been made over the past three years, the most
recent data collected by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics
(IBGE) reveal that every year 500,000 boys and girls still fail to be
registered during their first year of life.(…)
On March 14th, the Globo TV
network – the largest in Brazil – will start broadcasting at the national level
a video on birth certificate produced in partnership with UNICEF.
With a 30-second duration, the
video recalls that every child has the right to a free birth certificate. In
order to be vaccinated, enrolled at school, or receive social benefits, a child
needs to have a birth certificate. Without it, children are more vulnerable to
exploitation. (…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_31609.html
Participation
of women in public life main focus of Tallawy trip to UK
Beirut, 17 March (United
Nations Information Service)-- UNESCWA Executive Secretary Mervat Tallawy is
slated to be the keynote speaker at a conference on the Political Participation
of Muslim Women in the UK and Abroad. The two-day event is co-hosted by the
All-Party Parliamentary Human Rights Group at the British Houses of Parliament
and the Barrow Cadbury Trust at the House of Commons on 21 and 22 March.
This conference aims to
initiate a dialogue between eminent international women from the Arab region,
as well as other areas of the world where there are significant Muslim
communities, British Parliamentarians and representatives from Muslim women's
groups in the UK. (…) A host of British
parliamentarians as well as Muslim and Arab women who have made great strides
on the regional and international levels will be taking part in this
conference. http://www.escwa.org.lb/
Canada
Makes New Contribution to Fight Sexual Violence in Democratic Republic of The
Congo
United Nations, New York, 10
March - The Government of Canada will contribute Can$15 million (US$13.2
million) to support efforts by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and
partners to fight sexual and gender-based violence in the Democratic Republic
of the Congo (DRC). The new contribution, announced by the Canadian Minister of
International Cooperation, Josée Verner, yesterday, is expected to directly
help thousands of victims of sexual assault in the country.
One of the 50 least developed
countries in the world, the DRC witnesses sexual and gender-based violence on a
large scale as a consequence of the civil war and recurrent conflicts. It is
estimated that hundreds of thousands of people have been affected.
In 2003, UNFPA and other
actors launched an initiative to address the country’s problem of sexual and
gender-based violence. In addition to working on preventing this kind of
violence, UNFPA and its partners provide victims with medical and health care,
psychological support, economic reintegration, and legal assistance. The
efforts also aim to raise awareness among leaders of the gravity of the
situation.
http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=757
Documentary
featuring CARE's work in Bolivia awarded Top Honors
Atlanta, GE, USA, March 10 - A
documentary featuring CARE's work to combat child labor in Bolivia has won a
prestigious award. "Bolivia: Precious Metals, Early Death," by
filmmaker John Goheen, garnered top honors from the National Press
Photographers Association at the Best of Television Photojournalism 2006
Awards. The winners were announced Friday, March 10, at the Poynter Institute
for Media Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Goheen's film profiles
impoverished Bolivian families forced to send underage children to work under
grueling conditions mining minerals and silver. Goheen interviewed children,
parents, and community leaders, as well as staff of the international humanitarian
organization CARE.
A documentary photographer and
producer who has won multiple awards, Goheen shot the film on location in
Potosi, Bolivia, in April 2005. According to CARE, an estimated 15,000 families
are involved in mining in Potosi and surrounding communities, among them minor
children working in life-endangering conditions. CARE is operating a four-year
project with funding from the US Department of Labor to combat child labor
through education and promote economic alternatives for youth.
Filmed in high definition,
"Precious Metals, Early Death" was broadcast on the World Report
program of the HDNet TV cable channel.
http://www.care.org/newsroom/articles/2006/03/20060310_bolivia_documentary.asp
3rd
Martin Luther King Week - São Paulo, Brazil, April 2 to 8
Organized
by: Palas Athena Association
The Durban Declaration on
racism and related intolerance, added to the legacy of Martin Luther King,
supply an agenda for human rights education and daily militancy: they expose
the intolerance, discrimination, and exclusion that are ingrained in our minds
and attitudes, making us blind to the acknowledgement of humankind’s common
origin and destiny, And yet, without such acknowledgement, it is impossible to
face racism and intolerance. The program is:
April 2, 17h – Opening
Session. Venue: Memorial da América
Latina – Auditório Simón Bolívar. April 3, 18h,
venue: São Marcos University. April 4, 18h - Fórum of the São Paulo Culture of
Peace Committee – a UNESCO Program. www.comitepaz.org.br
April 8, 10h to 13h - Peace
Wants Partners: Open public event at the Gandhi Square coordinated by the team
of the social-educational project of Associação Palas Athena.
Activities will be carried out
also in nine schools.
Nobel Peace Laureates and representatives of 20
million health care providers call on governments to fund the scale up of human
resources needed to fight TB
Initiatives launched to address training and education
needs in TB burdened countries
Geneva,
21 March – Nobel Peace Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Betty Williams
will today join forces with global healthcare organizations representing more
than 20 million health care providers in highlighting the need to provide the
necessary human resources to fight the growing TB threat in high burden
countries*. They are calling on governments to immediately commit to fund,
train and scale-up the health care workforce to combat TB and help prevent 5000 daily deaths from this curable disease.
(…)
According
to the Stop TB Partnership, it is estimated that US$250 million is needed every
year to provide technical assistance to countries to provide the training and
strengthening of TB control services to millions of care providers. To address
this, the International Council of Nurses (ICN), the International Hospital
Federation (IHF), and the World Medical Association (WMA) will be presenting
their new on-site and distance learning TB training programs for nurses,
hospital managers, doctors and laboratory technicians, which are being rolled-out
in the high-burden countries. The World Economic Forum and the International
Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies will outline their new
programs to introduce TB prevention and treatment into the workplace and
communities, so that workers and families can be diagnosed correctly and the
social stigma of the disease reduced. (…) Eli Lilly and Company has committed
$70 million to a ground breaking global partnership to fight multi-drug
resistant tuberculosis. (…)
http://www.stoptb.org/globalplan
Did
you know that half of the fish you eat comes from developing countries?
March 20 - On the one hand,
world trade in fish and fishery products is growing strongly and approached
US$70 billion in 2004 compared with US$35 billion in 1990. On the other hand,
fishing resources are becoming depleted. Thirty-seven percent of world fishery
production is now traded internationally. That is why the ongoing WTO
negotiations have such a large potential impact on developing country fisheries
and trade, especially the least developed countries (LDCs). For these
countries, fish represents their main food security. How can we maintain the
worldwide fish stocks to ensure that they last? How can we guarantee food
security for the LDCs, at the same time as developing a local industry,
creating jobs and providing exports? How can we supply the countries in the
North with the quality they require? How do we ensure that the sanitary and
phytosanitary standards of fish products do not prevent access to international
markets? These questions are at the centre of discussions at a workshop on WTO
and Fisheries organized by the FAO and UNCTAD on 20-21 March at the Palais des
Nations in Geneva.
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=6862&intItemID=1528&lang=1
Overfishing
alert system: a challenge for electronic communication
FAO-EU
meeting on new frontiers and projects in global knowledge exchange
Rome, 20 March - Working to
bring information closer to the people who really need it, is one of the aims
of a meeting at FAO headquarters from 20 to 22 March 2006, involving 65 experts
in the field of knowledge technology and communications from universities,
research institutions and industry partners across Europe.
Part of a Euro 14.7 million
four-year project largely co-funded by the European Union, for which FAO is
providing information from its access to global fisheries databases as a test
case, the meeting will discuss how computers can most usefully and rapidly
select from a wide amount of information only the exact information needed on
any given subject.
Organizers of the NeON project
(Lifecycle Support for Networked Ontologies) selected FAO’s expertise in global
fisheries information systems to help develop a warning system for depleting
fish stocks. The FAO case study will be one of two selected in different
sectors, fisheries and pharmaceuticals, and used by NeON to test a new approach
to compiling, sharing and disseminating electronic information. (…)
Using a grant of Euro 680 000
from the EU, FAO will provide not only access to its worldwide fisheries
information, but FAO information specialists will also be working side-by-side
with other technical experts to help develop the new systems.
New
Zealand: pay parity for early childhood education teachers
March 17 - EI affiliate NZEI
Te Riu Roa and the New Zealand Childcare Association/Te Tari Puna Ora o
Aotearoa have negotiated pay parity with principals and deputy principals in
primary schools for more than 400 teachers in leadership positions in 181 early
childhood education centres throughout New Zealand. “This represents another
step forward in the extension of pay parity to qualified and registered
teachers in the early child education sector,” says NZEI Te Riu Roa National
President, Irene Cooper.
In 2002 NZEI negotiated pay
parity for the country’s 1790 kindergarten teachers. Since then their salaries
have been rising each year and in July they’ll reach full parity with primary
and secondary teachers.
In 2004 the union negotiated
an extension of pay parity to a thousand teachers working in the early
childhood education centres, covered by the consenting parties’ agreement.
Their salaries have also been rising in yearly installments and they’ll achieve
full parity in July 2008.
Now more than 400 teachers,
who have leadership position in those consenting parties’ centres, have gained
pay parity with principals and deputy principals in primary schools. Their pay
will begin rising in July and they will also reach parity in July 2008. (…)
http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=129&theme=earlychildhood&country=newzealand
European Commission and IFAD join forces on
remittances to assist rural poor people
Rome,
16 March - The European Commission (EC) and the International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD) have launched a new initiative to alleviate
rural poverty in developing countries. The two organizations have established a
funding facility for innovative remittance services. They announced the
initiative today at the Conference on Migration and Development in Brussels.
(…)
According
to the World Bank, in 2005 global migrant remittances sent by formal financial
institutions totalled more than US$160 billion. The actual size of remittance
flows may be as much as 50 per cent higher, if unrecorded flows through
informal channels are included. Today remittances represent the second largest
inflow of foreign capital to developing countries, just behind foreign direct
investment.
Acknowledging
the UN agency’s experience in bringing financial services to rural poor people,
the EC has contributed Euro 4 million to IFAD. The money will be used to
establish a Funding Facility on Remittances and to support the second phase of
IFAD’s programme to promote savings and investments in poor rural areas in
Latin America and the Caribbean that receive remittances from migrants. (…) For
more information contact: Farhana Haque-Rahman, Chief, Media Relations, Special
Events and Programmes:
Construction
of social housing begins in Serbia
Belgrade, 14 March - An ambitious social housing programme
with significant funding from the Government of Italy and support from
UN-HABITAT kicked off in Kragujevac, Serbia on March 1.
Mr. Daniel Biau, UN-HABITAT’s
Regional and Technical Cooperation Division director oversaw the landmark event
in the presence of Mr. Velimir Ilic, the Minister for Capital Investments and
Mr. Alessandro Merola, Ambassador of Italy in Serbia and Montenegro. Also
present were the Mayor of the City of Kragujevac, representatives of the
Kragujevac City Housing Agency, and mayors of the other six Municipalities who
are set to benefit from the UN-HABITAT Programme. The premier site will see the
construction of the first 32 social housing units of a targeted 96, which is
benefiting from an Italian Government contribution of about 1.2 million euros
while the contribution of the City of Kragujevac is in land and infrastructure,
equivalent to approximately 30% of total costs. Construction of these
apartments represents a new step in the development of the social housing
system, carried on at Republic and municipal level with support of UN-HABITAT’s
Settlement and Integration of Refugees Programme in Serbia (SIRP).
The first public rental
apartments will be handed over to beneficiaries by the end of 2006, the same
year slated for the opening of other building sites in SIRP Municipalities. (…)
http://www.unhabitat.org/serbia_march2006.asp
96
governments recognize ‘essential role’ of agrarian reform and rural development in fight against poverty - Conference in Brazil wraps up with
declaration
10 March, Porto Alegre, Brazil
– Representatives of 96 FAO member countries participating in the International
Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD) which concluded
today in Porto Alegre, Brazil have recognized “the essential role of agrarian
reform and rural development to promote sustainable development” of the
planet. A declaration was released at
the end of the conference, which brought together 350 government delegations
and representatives of over 70 farmer- and civil-society organizations from
throughout the world.
During four days of talks,
high-level government representatives, international experts and civil society
representatives worked together to identify new opportunities for rural
development and to make concrete recommendations and proposals for action.(…)
In the declaration, signatory
governments committed themselves to developing mechanisms for dialogue and
cooperation to reinforce processes of agrarian reform and rural development at
national and international levels and to establish mechanisms for periodic
evaluation of progress in these areas. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2006/1000245/index.html
Japan
provides US$185m development loan to Sri Lanka
TamilNet, March 2 - Japanese
Government Thursday announced a new package of loan of US$185 million (Yen
21,560m) for three projects, Galle Port Development (US$125m)), Infrastructure
Development of Eastern Province (US$38m), and Tourism Resources Improvement (US$22m).
This 37th yen brings the total loan provided by Japan to Sri Lanka in the last
14 months to $370m.
Full text of the press
briefing held by the Japanese Ambassador, Mr. Akio Suda, follows:
Yesterday, I informed the
Government of Sri Lanka that the Japanese Government had decided to provide Sri
Lanka with a new package of the yen loan (to be lent by JBIC) amounting to \
21,560 million for three projects. On this occasion of announcing another
package of the yen loan, I would like to say a few words on Japan’s economic
assistance in relation to the socio-economic development and the peace process
of Sri Lanka. Japan, as the largest donor for development on the one hand and
one of the co-chairs of the Tokyo Conference on the other, is especially concerned
with both development and peace in Sri Lanka, and may be in a good position to
discuss what is needed to achieve development together with the peace of this
country. (…)
http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=17341
Increase
in aid for drought-stricken Somalia
Geneva (ICRC), 17 March – The
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is stepping up its emergency
operation to assist more than 1,200,000 drought-affected people in Somalia over
the next four months. Relief is being delivered to the most conflict-ridden
areas in the southern part of the country in order to avert a potential famine.
The ICRC has increased its estimated expenditure in Somalia for 2006 by 61%,
from 26,118,000 to 41,951,500 Swiss francs.
Severe drought following up to
four years of insufficient rainfall has resulted in acute shortages of water
and food, withered grazing lands, a sharp drop in cereal production and vast
numbers of dead cattle in the parts of southern Somalia that have been hardest
hit.
The drought has aggravated an
already appalling situation in humanitarian terms. In 15 years of internal
conflict, thousands of families have been forced not only to flee their homes
but also to endure lawlessness and cope without basic health and education
services.
In a crucial partnership with
the Somali Red Crescent Society, the ICRC will deliver aid at least until the
next harvest, in July, and may further boost its assistance if rains continue
to be scarce.
The ICRC has been working in
Somalia since 1977. It carries out over 300 water, health, agricultural and
veterinary projects in the country each year.
Caritas
plans to rebuild homes for Philippines landslide victims
Vatican City, 17 March–
Caritas Internationalis is calling for nearly 600,000 USD to rebuild homes
destroyed by the landslide on Leyte Island in the Philippines, where the entire
village of Guinsaugon disappeared under a torrent of rock, mud, and debris on
17 February. (…)
Caritas Philippines worked
alongside government and other agencies to bring immediate relief to the
victims, providing food, blankets, water, and other supplies to the thousands
of people seeking shelter in local churches and evacuation centres in
surrounding villages. Most of that aid was gathered from local donors and
distributed by NASSA, as Caritas is known in the Philippines.
NASSA is now working toward
getting the homeless back into permanent homes. The local Caritas organisations
are urging authorities to identify a suitable, safe building location for the
new housing. NASSA plans on building
150 duplex homes to accommodate 300 families, of a total of nearly 2000
families now living in temporary shelters.
Construction will begin as
soon as a site is made available. (…)
http://www.caritas.org/jumpNews.asp?idLang=ENG&idChannel=35&idUser=0&idNews=4060
Charity
shop volunteers raising DKK 15 million from second hand clothes
In
2005, DanChurchAid’s 3.700 charity shop volunteers made a profit of DKK 15
million (approx. USD 2.5 million). The money raised goes directly to DCA’s
international work of helping and being advocates of the poorest of the poor.
14 March - DanChurchAid’s 111
second hand shops and 3.700 voluntary workers have made a profit of DKK 15
million - one million more than in 2004. Children in Uganda whose parents are
infected or have died by HIV/AIDS are among those being helped by DCA’s income
from charity shops. “Lately we have experienced an increasing interest in
second hand clothes throughout Denmark – an interest inspiring us to open more
charity shops. (…) We experience a deepening interest from seniors who have
retired early and now wish to make a difference through voluntary work,” says
Bjarke S. Petersen, project manager and day-to-day head of DCA’s second hand
shops.
“The second hand shops are a
great asset for DanChurchAid and we are very pleased that the shops make such a
considerable profit benefiting the poorest population groups in the world. Many
of the charity shops also provide the settings for productive encounters
between different generations – senior and youth volunteers,” tells General
Secretary of DanChurchAid, Henrik Stubkjær. To make an even better result next
year DanChurchAid’s local second hand shops are always looking for new
voluntary workers.
Relief
to recovery: temporary schools and childfFriendly spaces
by Moussadiq Ali - World Vision
Pakistan Communications
As the process from relief to
return and recovery gets under way in quake-hit, rain-drenched north-west
Pakistan, World Vision has started to establish 52 temporary schools and five
new Child Friendly Spaces (CFS’s) in the remote mountainous areas of the
Saraash and Siran valleys.
Most of the infrastructure in
the Saraash valley of Balakot, and Nawazabad and Bassu area of Mandagucha in
the Siran valley, was completely destroyed in the October earthquake with
difficult road access to these remote areas
Richard Mukhwana, Child
Protection Officer for World Vision Pakistan said, “We have targeted about 80
schools for reconstruction and expansion purposes for which negotiation is in
progress with government officials. But for the time being, World Vision is
working on establishing 10 temporary schools in the Saraash valley and 42 in
Jabouri, Sachan Kalan, Nawazabad, Panjool, Mandagucha and Bassu areas of the
Siran valley.” World Vision is conducting livelihood, child protection and
education surveys in the Siran valley, while the distribution of non-food
relief items continues.
Home to some 10,000 people and
four tribes, the Saraash valley consists of Saraash, Saraash Moughal and Khait
Saraash. Some 400 people, primarily children, from 300 families lost their
lives to the earthquake in Saraash alone. (…)
http://www.wvi.org/wvi/news/latest_news.htm#Pakistan
Haiti
and Dominican Republic - A non-military solution
By Marcela Valente
Buenos Aires, Mar 16 (IPS) - A
proposal for producing energy from alternative sources along the border between
Haiti and the Dominican Republic could be a first step towards development for
Haiti. "The solution for the crisis in Haiti should come from within the
island" that Haiti shares with the Dominican Republic, Johanna Mendelson-Forman,
director of the United Nations Foundation's Peace, Security and Human Rights
Programme, told IPS.
The United Nations Foundation
was created in 1998 by U.S. media mogul Ted Turner, to support U.N.
programmes. Although Haiti remains the
poorest country in the hemisphere, solutions are possible, said
Mendelson-Forman, who was invited to Buenos Aires by the Woodrow Wilson
International Centre. She recommended a focus on development that sees
Hispaniola Island as a whole, noting that while the Dominican economy is much
more advanced, the government in that country is afraid that if Haiti
collapses, its failure would drag them both down.
On the Dominican side of the
border are plantations of Jatropha curcas shrubs, which produce the physic nut
(also known as Barbados nut), used to extract vegetable oil. The oil can be
refined into biodiesel, an alternative fuel that could help ease dependence on
costly oil imports, she said.
The idea, which has the
support of Germany, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP), and the private
sector in the Dominican Republic, "is a development alternative that could
also help restore the soil (in Haiti), which has been devastated by intense
deforestation," she explained.
That is because the Jatropha
curcas is a drought-resistant shrub that helps alleviate soil degradation,
prevents soil erosion and serves as a natural boundary fence or live hedge.
Brazil, which heads up the
international military mission in Haiti and has decades of experience producing
fuel alcohol (ethanol) from sugar cane, can provide assistance in the form of
know-how and experts, said Mendelson-Forman. (…)
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32534
The
ICRC sponsored film series, In the Path of Conflict, airs on TV
Washington DC., 10 March - The
ICRC and the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) are presenting In the
Path of Conflict, a humanitarian-themed film series airing on Washington DC's
UDC-TV Channel 98, starting March 13.
The series, made up of
fourteen films from across the world, addresses the devastating impact that
armed conflicts have on civilians, particularly women and children. In some ten
ICRC-produced films, people affected by war in the Congo, Rwanda, Cambodia, Sri
Lanka, and Afghanistan tell their stories in their own voices.
The films air on UDC-TV
Channel 98 at 9pm the weeks of March 13, 20 and 27 on Mondays, with repeats on
Wednesdays and Fridays.
China
sends police dogs to join UN landmine clearance mission in Lebanon
March 2 China will send two
police dogs to help locate landmines in Lebanon for the United Nations
Peacekeeping Forces' (UNPF) mission in the middle of March. "The dogs are
qualified to conduct overseas missions," said inspectors from UNPF's team
organization group here on Thursday, after conducting the examination of the
dogs in Kunming, capital of Southwest China's Yunnan Province. Kunming police
dogs were bred by Chinese scientists in the 1980s. The dogs will aid the
clearance of 182 landmines and road construction soldiers in the UNPF's mission
in Lebanon. "Within two minutes, these two Kunming police dogs sniffed out
two landmines buried 12 inches underground in an area measuring 30 square
meters," said one examiner from UNPF. "They've done an excellent
job."
China has actively taken part
in the UN's peacekeeping operations. It is the first time for Chinese police
dogs to join in the UNPF's landmine clearance mission, said Yang Yinghui, a
22-year-old trainer in Kunming Police Dogs Training Center (KPDTC). (…)
The center received a request
from UN in December, 2005 for the police dogs. "Our trainers immediately
carried out systematic training of landmine clearance," said Zhang Zhi, an
officer of the police dog training center. (…)
http://english.people.com.cn/200603/02/print20060302_247419.html
Canadian
Ambassador announces new Bosnian demining project for CIDC during ceremony to
hand over community land cleared of landmines in 2005
Bosanski Brod, 1 March -
Canadian Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Ms. Shelley Whiting,
participated today in a ceremony to handover certificates marking the
successful completion of demining activities near Bosanski Brod, a city on
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s border with Croatia. The certificates were presented
by the Bosnia and Herzegovina Mine Action Centre (BH MAC) to Mr. Vid Ivanovic,
Mayor of Bosanski Brod. The Government of Canada, through the Canadian
International Development Agency (CIDA) contributed $750,000 to the demining
work that was carried out by the Canadian International Demining Corps (CIDC),
a Nova Scotia-based charitable organization. Also on hand for the ceremony were
representatives of BH MAC and the United Nations Development Program, as well
as CIDC Chairman, Irving Schwartz, and Balkans Program Director for CIDC,
Oliver Mitrevski. (…)
The contribution announced
today for Ljubinje and the funding for the Bosanski Brod activities are in
addition to the previously announced $4.5 million Canadian Government
contribution to landmine action in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (…)
http://www.minesactioncanada.org/home/index.cfm?fuse=Home.News&ID=196
Mad
cow disease on the wane worldwide - Rapid rate of decline encouraging
Rome, 23 March - Cases of
Bovine Spongiform Encepalopathy (BSE) or “mad cow disease” worldwide are
declining, according to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). They
have been dropping at the rate of some 50 percent a year over the past three
years, the Organization said today. Amid the current international alarm over
avian flu, it is good news that the battle against another worrying disease is
being won.
In 2005, just 474 animals died
of BSE around the world, compared with 878 in 2004 and 1646 in 2003, and
against a peak of several tens of thousands in 1992, according to figures
collected by the Paris-based World Animal Health Organization (OIE), with which
FAO works closely. Only five human deaths resulting from variant
Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD), believed to be the human form of BSE, were
reported worldwide in 2005. All of them were in the United Kingdom – the
country most affected by the disease – where nine deaths were registered in
2004 and 18 in 2003.
Vigilance
still needed - Andrew Speedy, an FAO animal production expert, commented: “It is quite
clear that BSE is declining and that the measures introduced to stop the
disease are effective. But further success depends on our continuing to apply
those measures worldwide.” (…)
Minister
of Health and Family Welfare announces nation-wide immunization campaign in
response to polio importation
Rapid
response planned to protect Bangladesh's 18 million children under five
Dhaka, 16 March - The
Honourable Minister, Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, today announced that he will on 16 April kick-off a nation-wide
polio immunization campaign in response to the 8 March 2006 confirmation of a
polio case in the Chandpur district of Chittagong division. Two additional
campaigns will follow at four-week intervals.
The case - a nine year-old
girl who became paralyzed on 23 January - is the first reported case of polio
in Bangladesh since August 2000. On March 10, genetic sequencing of the virus
by the Global Specialized Polio Laboratory in Mumbai India, which tests all
polio samples from Bangladesh, showed that the virus is closely related to
viruses from western Uttar Pradesh in India. (…)
http://www.polioeradication.org/content/general/Outbreak_UpdatesBANG20060316.asp
Positive
news
regarding Chikungunya in Seychelles
Seychelles,
9 March - For the fourth consecutive week, the Seychelles Ministry of
Health and the World Health Organisation have reported a continual decline in
the number of cases of Chikungunya registered in the country. The latest
figures (from the week of February 28 to March 7) suggest that the
occurrence of suspected weekly cases of the virus has decreased by
some 65 percent since four weeks ago. Health officials in Seychelles are
aiming to bring down the number of new cases to zero within the next two to
three weeks. The consistent decline in the number of cases has been evident in
each and every district across the country, suggesting nationwide dissipation
of the virus.
Chikungunya
is a viral infection transmitted by mosquitoes, which typically brings about
fever, joint and muscle pain, a rash and occasionally, nausea and vomiting. The
illness is self-limiting and usually resolves within 4-7 days, but symptomatic
treatment e.g. painkillers and rest is recommended.
A
report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) liaison office in Seychelles
from last week confirmed the above results and indicated the downward trend was
expected to continue. According to the report: “The control measures have been
efficient in reducing case load in Seychelles. Success was due to government,
efficient partner mobilization and coordination and intensive public awareness
campaigns launched all over the country.”
On
March 8, the director general of the WHO, Dr Lee Jong-wook, stated publicly
that the media has over exaggerated the threat of Chikungunya, and that the WHO
would be putting forward a statement to reassure tourists planning to visit the
region.
http://go.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=11467725&src=rss/worldNews
ACDI/VOCA
and USPOULTRY team up to take on avian influenza
March 8 - ACDI/VOCA has signed
an agreement with The U.S. Poultry & Egg Association to provide technical
assistance to combat international avian influenza (AI) outbreaks. The two
groups will assist in recruiting U.S. poultry health experts who will provide
technical assistance to countries fighting AI. (…) USPOULTRY’s initial focus
will be developing a pool of poultry industry experts for rapid deployment to
foreign countries to assist with ever-growing AI prevention, diagnosis and
response needs. According to Krushinskie, over 70 individuals have indicated an
interest in participating so far, and several veterinarians have already been
deployed. These individuals will be trained in cooperation with USAID and other
responsible U.S. government agencies.
With funding from the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID), ACDI/VOCA sends approximately 400
experts to developing and transitioning countries each year to address
development problems related to enterprise development, agribusiness systems,
financial services and community development. (…) ACDI/VOCA is a private,
nonprofit organization that promotes broad-based economic growth and the
development of civil society in emerging democracies and developing countries. http://www.acdivoca.org/
UNAIDS Programme Coordinating Board: Call for
nominations of NGO Delegates 2007-08
Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, Europe & North
America. Deadline: 14 April 2006
The
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) has vacancies on the NGO
Delegation of its Programme Coordinating Board (PCB) for two-year terms
beginning 1 January 2007 and ending 31 December 2008, for the following
positions: Africa Alternate Delegate,
Europe Alternate Delegate, Latin America/Caribbean Alternate
Delegate, North America Alternate
Delegate. This represents a unique opportunity for committed activists and AIDS
advocates to make a difference to AIDS policy implementation in their regions.
The
position of NGO Delegates on the UNAIDS PCB is important to the effective
inclusion of community voices in the key global policy forum for AIDS. NGO
Delegates represent the perspectives of civil society, including people living
with HIV, within UNAIDS policies and programming. (…) Service on the NGO
Delegation is a non-paying post; it attracts no remuneration whatsoever.
Delegates are expected to allocate 10% of their time to PCB duties and tasks.
The Delegate’s organization is expected to facilitate and guarantee the use of
office space, communications systems and facilities to its representatives when
engaged in PCB duties and tasks. Nominations are invited from civil society
organizations, community-based groups and networks in any of the five regions.
(…) For further information: Ms Sally Smith, Partnership Adviser, Civil Society
Partnership Unit, Department of Policy Evidence and Partnerships, UNAIDS
(top)
22
March - World Water Day 2006: Water and Culture
Each year, a different United
Nations (UN) agency is selected to coordinate events surrounding World Water
Day (WWD) around the world, and a different theme is chosen to reflect the many
facets of freshwater resources. World Water Day 2006 will be guided by the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) under
the theme 'Water and Culture.'
We plan our cities near water;
we bathe in water; we play in water; we work with water. Our economies are
built on the strength of water transportation - and the products we buy and
sell are all partly water, in one way or another. Our daily lives are built on
water, and shaped by it. Without the water that surrounds us - the humidity of
the air, the roughness of the river's current, the flow from the kitchen tap -
our lives would be impossible. In recent decades, water has fallen in our
esteem. No longer an element to be revered and protected, it is a consumer
product that we have shamefully neglected. (…)
The theme 'Water and Culture'
of WWD 2006 draws attention to the fact that there are as many ways of viewing,
using, and celebrating water as there are cultural traditions across the world.
(…) Each region of the world has a different way of holding water sacred, but
each recognizes its value, and its central place in human lives. Cultural
traditions, indigenous practices, and societal values determine how people
perceive and manage water in the world's different regions.
As the UN's focal point for the
promotion of cultural diversity, UNESCO aims to preserve and respect the
specificity of each culture, bringing them all together and extending them in a
more interactive and interdependent world.
Events celebrating water
around the world are reported in the event calendar on the web site:
http://www.unesco.org/water/wwd2006/index.shtml
Landmark
children's meeting launches at 4th World Water Forum
The Children’s World Water
Forum (CWWF) is a landmark children’s meeting on water, survival and education,
taking place at the 4th World Water Forum in Mexico City from 16-22 March. Over
100 young water activists from over 30 countries across the world will meet
government ministers to discuss how children can help solve the world’s growing
water crisis. Many of these children have amazing stories to tell leading water
and hygiene projects in some of the word’s poorest communities.
Lack of safe water and basic
sanitation is a crisis for over 400 million children. Ordinary diarrhoea
sickens more children than any other disease, and kills more than 4,500 every
day. This deprivation also costs many children their education, particularly
girls. Millions of children will miss schooldays because of waterborne
illnesses or inadequate school facilities.
As children suffer, so do nations. Illness and low education rates cost
developing countries billions in lost productivity every year.
Finding solutions means
starting with children. Meeting children needs is the most certain way to
reduce the high cost of water deprivation worldwide – and children themselves
are already leading the way.
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_31599.html
Walk
for safe drinking water – 22 March
13 March - World Water Day,
designated as Wednesday, 22 March this year, is an ideal time to raise
awareness of a serious problem faced by more than 1 billion people (or 20
percent of the world's population): the lack of access to safe water for
drinking. An easy way to bring attention to this critical issue is by
participating in Walks for Water, which is held in conjunction with World Water
Day.
Everyone's help is needed to
find solutions to the problem of unsafe drinking water. "Without water,
nothing can live. Our food sources all need water, yet many people have little
knowledge of how critical our own water supplies can be," said Lou
Marciano, assistant Rotary International coordinator for the Water, Health and
Hunger Resources Group. The group was organized by RI President Carl-Wilhelm
Stenhammar as part of his emphasis this year on looking at the problem.
Rotary clubs around the world
are working on the water problem one community at a time, from the Dominican
Republic to Sudan and beyond.
In collaboration with
Starbucks, Ethos Water, and other leading nonprofits, Rotary clubs in 11 major
U.S. cities are helping to raise awareness and encourage people to participate
in Walks for Water on 22 March. Visit the World Water Day Web site for more
details.
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/programs/060312_waterday.html
ADRA
provides access to clean water in Darfur
March 16 - On February 28, the
Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) completed a water project that
provides improved access to clean water for 35,000 people living near the
capital of West Darfur, Sudan. ADRA has drilled 19 successful boreholes for new
wells and installed hand pumps for wells, providing better access to clean
water for families in the region. ADRA also rehabilitated 50 existing hand
pumps and trained more than 40 residents as hand pump mechanics. The newly
constructed wells are in community villages, public schools, mosques, and
governmental compounds. ADRA has also worked closely with WES, a local
government office for Water, Environment and Sanitation, UNICEF, and in
partnership with several other nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in the
region. (…)
http://www.adra.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6523&news_iv_ctrl=1141
World
Telecommunication Development Conference sets agenda to connect the world by
2015
Doha, 15 March - The Doha
Action Plan adopted by the World Telecommunication Development Conference sets
out a road map to implement the global objectives of harnessing the power of
information and communication technologies (ICT) to accelerate the pace of
development.(…)
The International
Telecommunication Union’s fourth World Telecommunication Development Conference
(WTDC-06) which met from 7 to 15 March at the Sheraton Convention Centre in
Doha, Qatar, attracted 969 participants attending, including 820 government
delegates from 132 countries and 4 representatives from Palestine, 93
representatives of public and private companies from 31 countries and 14 from
national telecommunication-related entities from 9 countries, and 38
representatives from regional and international organizations. In addition, 241
media representatives from 22 countries registered with 139 covering the events
on site. (…)
The Action Plan is based on a
mutually reinforcing strategy for telecommunication development to be
implemented at the global, regional and national levels. The Plan is based on
six programmes, five global initiatives, two cross-cutting activities and a new
regional approach where each region defined the framework of action for all
stakeholders based on agreed categories and region-specific priorities. The
Doha Action Plan offers a comprehensive package that provides the elements
needed to make an impact on the ground together with clear guidance for
achieving universal access. (…)
http://www.itu.int/newsroom/press_releases/2006/04.html
Conserving
biological diversity becomes a sacred quest
Curitiba/Nairobi, 18 March -
An international initiative to conserve ancient sacred sites is being launched
in the belief that these culturally important locations may be a key to saving
the world’s declining biodiversity. Experts have pinpointed several sites as
pilot ecosystems of global importance such as a site in Mexico’s Chihuahuan
Desert where it is said the sun was born, up to a network of skull caves in the
Kakamega forests in Kenya, revered by Taita and Luhya people. Other sites are
Mount Ausangate in the majestic Vilcanota mountain range of Peru, the ritual
area of Puntayachi in the biodiversity-rich Cayanpi region of Ecuador. A group
of islands in Guinea Bissau whose beaches and mangroves are used exclusively
for rituals. Sacred forest groves in the Kodagu District in India linked with
art and agricultural traditions.
The project, backed by
organizations including the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
indigenous peoples groups such as the Foundation created by Guatemalan Nobel
Prize laureate Rigoberta Menchu, has secured preliminary funding from a multi
billion dollar development fund, the Global Environment Facility.
Supporters, which also include
a wide range of conservation organizations, other United Nations bodies and
governments including Mexico, are now raising the over $1.7 million needed to
start action on the ground.(…)
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=471&ArticleID=5162&l=en
Better
business, brighter future: Developing community forestry in Peru
By Julia Cass
17 March - Traditionally, the
indigenous Shipibo-Konibo people living along the Ucayali River in the Peruvian
Amazon watershed grew corn, beans, yucca and plantains on the river’s banks and
hunted in the surrounding dense forests. But, their subsistence economy was
always precarious — a poor year for crops or fishing meant they went hungry —
and they were losing young people, who migrated to cities to find work. To make
matters worse, illegal loggers were cutting down trees on the Shipibo-Konibo’s
land, contributing to the near extinction of such hardwood species as mahogany,
endangering precious wildlife habitat, and ultimately, threatening a way of
life.
Today, through the efforts of
WWF and a Peruvian non-governmental organization, the Association for Integral
Research and Development (Asociación para la Investigación y el Desarrollo
Integral-AIDER), five Shipibo-Konibo communities are now managing their own
forests, harvesting the trees, and marketing the lumber following a long-term
plan that will sustain the forest and benefit the community.
In a considerable achievement
for a people with no previous business or forest management experience,
35,000ha of rainforest belonging to these communities are close to obtaining
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification. When that happens, it will be
one of the first rainforests in Peru to achieve the exacting FSC label that
certifies the use of strict environmental and social standards. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=62560
Hawaiian
swordfish fishery to close over high sea turtle catch
March 16 - Honolulu, HI, USA -
In an unprecedented but legally mandated action, the Western Pacific Fisheries
Management Council requested the Secretary of Commerce to shut down the
swordfish fishery before it exceeds its allowable "take" of
critically endangered loggerhead sea turtles. If 16 leatherback turtles or 17 loggerhead turtles are hooked by
longliners in a single year, swordfishing must be closed for the remainder of
the year. This year, 15 loggerheads have been killed so far. And this figure
only counts the fleet based in Hawaii under US jusristiction. The deaths caused
by international longling fleets is unknown. In May 2005, more than 1,000 ocean
scientists asked the UN to implement a international moratorium on longline
fishing in the Pacific Ocean to prevent the extinction of the critically
endangered leatherback sea turtle.
The fishery reopened in 2004,
after a federal Court mandated four-year closure, but with a requirement to use
a new hook technology that the government claimed would drastically reduced the
injury and mortality of sea turtles. (…)
http://www.earthjustice.org/news/display.html?ID=1130
2006 International Year for Deserts and Desertification: international
conference, Geneva
Within
the framework of the International Year for
Deserts and Desertification, the Swiss Agency for
Development and Cooperation (SDC) in partnership with the Secretariat of the
United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the Graduate
Institute of Development Studies (IUED) of Geneva is organizing an
international conference on desertification, hunger and poverty (Geneva, 11-12
April 2006 at the International Conference Centre Geneva (ICCG), 17, rue de
Varembé, CH – 1211 Geneva 20). International organizations, diplomatic
missions, academic institutes and non-governmental organizations working on
issues of environment, development and humanitarian aid, researchers from North
and South and students are invited to the conference. The draft programme of
the conference is available at:
http://www.unige.ch/iued/new/information/conferences/pdf/coll_IYDD_avril_06.pdf
ZERI Certification Training Course with Gunter Pauli
at Findhorn Ecovillage 17 to 26 June
“Gunter Pauli introduced the notion of industrial
clustering by promoting the principle of zero emissions and making it the very
core of the ZERI concept. Zero
emissions means zero waste. Taking
nature as its model and mentor, ZERI strives to eliminate the very idea of
waste.” Fritjof Capra
The
ZERI Certification Training is designed to provide a deep understanding of
systems thinking and the development of skills in using the ZERI methodology.
ZERI's emphasis is on meeting society's basic needs for food, clean water,
healthcare, shelter, clean energy, and a platform that generates jobs and
builds a society founded on a high quality of life. The ZERI production and consumption model makes sustainable
development possible by understanding and working in concert with natural
systems. It also shifts our concept of
industry as a linear process -where waste is an expected by-product- to a
concept of a system in which all by-products are used to stimulate further
production. ZERI is a system in which
the use of our natural resources (forests, lands, water, minerals, agriculture,
as well as our industrial processes) beneficially use all “waste” and emissions
outputs as input for some other production process that adds economic and
social value. (…) The ZERI Certification Training is an intense programme which
includes a total of 10 days divided into the 3 modules containing a rich
intellectual base that includes elements from systems thinking, economics,
biology, chemistry, organizational development, business practice and
industrial ecology. (…) http://www.zeri.org for successful projects internationally
http://www.zeri.org/initiative/ for educational initiatives,
http://www.scizerinm.org for ZERI projects emerging in
New Mexico
Tiny
bubbles in lake make people healthier
A
project to pump more oxygen into Carvins Cove aims to make the water cleaner
and tastier.
By John Cramer
Paul Gantzer will soon have
his doctoral degree in environmental engineering from Virginia Tech, but to
fishermen at Carvins Cove, he's the guy putting bigger fish on the ends of
their lines.
"They're not so sure what
I'm doing, but they just say, 'Oh, you're the guy with the bubbles,' "
Gantzer said, chuckling.
At the Western Virginia Water
Authority's Carvins Cove and Spring Hollow reservoirs, Gantzer oversees an
oxygenation project that is making the water cleaner, clearer and tastier,
meaning fewer treatment chemicals are used. The process, which puts pure oxygen
bubbles into the bottoms of the reservoirs, is healthier for people, fish and
the environment, Gantzer said.
A growing number of America's
reservoirs and hydropower facilities are using oxygenation to improve drinking
water, improve fish habitats and meet more stringent federal standards.
Oxygenation technology was
developed in the early 1990s at the Tennessee Valley Authority, the nation's
largest public power company. Discharged water from the agency's hydropower
dams was low in oxygen, causing fish kills, but the oxygenation process has
created a healthier downstream aquatic habitat. Oxygenation started at Spring
Hollow in 1997 and at Carvins Cove in 2005.
The system was designed by
Mark Mobley, a consultant who used to work for the Tennessee Valley Authority,
and has been operated since then by Gantzer, a water quality engineer for the
Western Virginia Water Authority. (…)
http://www.sej.org/news/index2.htm
WFP
lauds Pope's commitment to humanitarianism
Vatican City, 13 March - James Morris, Executive Director of WFP, has hailed His Holiness
Pope Benedict XVI’s deep personal commitment to the service of the poor and
hungry. (…)
“It is an honour and a
blessing to meet one of the world’s greatest humanitarian leaders, the leader
of one of the world’s great religious organisations – the Catholic Church,”
said Morris, head of the world’s largest humanitarian organization. “All of the
world’s great religions call on their believers to reach out to the poor, to
feed the hungry. The World Food Programme is profoundly grateful for the
extraordinary work that Catholic organisations and individuals perform across
the globe,” said Morris.
Together with WFP, Catholic
Relief Services help hundreds of thousands of people in Africa, Asia and Latin
America. The Daughters of Charity, who follow in Mother Teresa’s footsteps,
provide solace and aid to the poorest of the poor together with WFP in Cambodia
and Mozambique. WFP works with the Jesuit Refugee Service in its service of
people returning home to southern Sudan, and with people displaced by violence
in Colombia. The International Catholic Migration Commission was a valued
partner in Afghanistan, Albania and Pakistan. In addition, many hundreds of
parish churches, schools, convents and hospitals help WFP provide food to the
hungry. On 21 May, the Caritas movement will join WFP when we take to the
streets of the world’s major cities, including Rome, to ‘Walk the World’ in
solidarity with the hungry.
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2039
URI
multi-faith relief efforts + Peace Pole in Pakistan
by Fr. James Channan OP
The United Religions
Initiative in Pakistan made a successful 4-day trip to help the victims of the
earthquake in Muzaffarabad, Rawalpindi, Gohari and Mir Pur. It was a four days
trip. Some members had traveled 15 to 20 hours to reach Rawalpindi and
Mascaraed to help the survivors of earthquake. The trip started on 21st of
February as a group of 11 persons
gathered at Christian Study Center, Rawalpindi. (…) We started our
journey with a prayer next to the Peace Pole which was planted at Christian
Study Center on 18th of January. Our truck loaded with the following items such
as: quilts, bed sheets, mattresses,
pillows, pillow cases, shawls, Jerseys, jackets, socks, sugar, wheat flour,
cooking oil, washing powder, children' school bags, lunch boxes, colored
pencils and pens, soap, match boxes, candles, cups and plates etc. We had made
packages of all these items for 100 families. We offered these packages to the
following families:
10 Baha'i families in
Rawalpindi and Muzaffarabad; 30 Christian families in Muzaffarabad.
30 Muslim families in Gohari
and Muzaffarabad. 30 Muslim families in Mir Pur. (…) We shared with the recipients that all of the relief that these items are donated
by the generosity of the URI members in
USA, Pakistan and elsewhere. Part of the
donation was given by the Dominican friars, friends and benefactors as
well. (…)
A beautiful Peace Pole was
planted at Domal, Azad Kashmir, on 22nd of February in a grace-filled ceremony
with members of the United Religions Initiative MCC and WPPS. (…)
http://www.uri.org/Features/Features_Main/PAKRLF6.html http://www.worldpeace.org
Rebuilding
Aceh and Sri Lanka through Education for All
March 8 - Education
International is pleased to report that good progress is being made with the
development and rebuilding of schools in Aceh and Sri Lanka, the areas which
were destroyed by the tsunami of December 2004.
Nicolas Richards, Coordinator
of Education International’s Assistance Programmes Unit, recently returned from
a mission trip to the regions, where he was able to assess progress being made
by the EI/NOVIB Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme. “The progress is not just in
the construction of schools. Each building site is respecting the health and
safety of construction workers and labour standards are high. Women are also
working on the programmes and the programmes are having a positive impact in
the communities. Teachers have been involved through their unions. Parents and
students see the real progress being made as their schools are extended and
reconstructed.”
http://www.ei-ie.org/en/news/show.php?id=119&theme=solidarityfund&country=global
Visionary
Middle Schools
New
book looks at successful reform practices at three inclusive urban schools
March 3, Boston, MA, USA - What
are the best ways to educate an ever-more diverse adolescent student
population? A new book, based on four years of research, provides detailed
portraits of three urban middle schools in different parts of the country that
developed unique and effective local solutions responsive to students, their
cultures, and to school district and state mandates.
Visionary Middle Schools:
Signature Practices and the Power of Local Invention, written by researchers
Catherine Cobb Morocco, Nancy Brigham, and Cynthia Mata Aguilar of Education
Development Center (EDC), draws on lessons learned from in-depth case studies
of three urban schools. (…) http://main.edc.org/newsroom/press_releases/visionary.asp
Elisa
and Tina Turner: voices of the "Invisible Children"
Rome, 2 March - UN agencies WFP and UNICEF, together with the Italian Ministry
of Foreign Affairs' Department for Development Cooperation, have welcomed the
release of "Teach Me Again" by Elisa and Tina Turner, the theme song
of the film "All the Invisible Children". The film, a great success
at the last Venice Biennale del Cinema (Biennale Film Festival), will be shown
in Italian cinemas from 3 March, just ahead of its international release in
countries ranging from Germany to Brazil. The theme song and video, directed by
Stefano Veneruso and award-winning cinematographer Vittorio Storaro, can be
downloaded at http://www.messaggeriemusicali.it
Proceeds from the song, like
those from the film, will go to the All the Invisible Children Fund, a special
fund created by the Italian Development Cooperation to support joint WFP-UNICEF
projects designed to fight child malnutrition in Africa. (…)
http://www.wfp.org/english/?ModuleID=137&Key=2028
ADRA
participates in Reading Across America Day
March 8 - In celebration of
The National Education Association's (NEA) 9th Annual Read Across America day
on March 2, members of the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) staff
spent the afternoon reading and sharing the joys of reading with the children
of the Spencerville Adventist Academy in Silver Spring, Maryland. ADRA staff
members chose their favorite books from their childhood, read several stories,
and spent time talking to the children about the importance of reading. (…)
150 children took part in the
festivities ranging from Kindergarten to 6th grade. “We are so appreciative of
the time that ADRA spent with our students,” said Lisl Sukachevin, co-president
of the Spencerville Academy’s Home and School Association. A contest was also
held in each classroom to see who could read the most books, with prizes for
1st, 2nd, and 3rd place. (…)
http://www.adra.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6491&news_iv_ctrl=1141
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