Good News Agency – Year VIII, n° 3
Weekly - Year VIII, number 3 –
23rd February 2007
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
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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
Religion and spirituality – Culture and education
Green Cross International defends the
right to water at the Paris Conference for Global Ecological Governance
February - At the instigation
of the President of the French Republic, a conference for global ecological
governance was held in Paris on 2-3 February 2007 with more than 200
participants from 72 countries. The conference was concluded after the launch
of the « Paris Call for Action » by President Jacques Chirac. (…) There were 6 themed workshops at the
Conference and various ministers, scientists, heads of business, NGOs, and
worldwide celebrities participated according to their particular area of
expertise. The purpose of these workshops was to generate new ideas to tackle
the serious issues threatening our biosphere.
Alexander Likhotal, President
of Green Cross International, was invited to participate at the "Making
water a collective issue" workshop, which included water sanitation,
adaptation of water management to climate change, and water governance. The
event gave for Green Cross International the opportunity to share its
experience in terms of sustainable management of transboundary waterways and
resources, and to renew their call for the adoption of a legal framework
convention which would affirm and facilitate the implementation of the right to
water.
The « Paris Call for Action »,
above all underlines the urgency and seriousness of the situation, and calls
for the adoption of a universal declaration on environmental rights and duties,
which would guarantee a new human right for future generations: the right to a
healthy and protected environment. (…)
The signatories of the « Paris
Call for Action » will seek to put the environment at the forefront of national
and international politics, and commit to "promoting technological
development, more efficient organisational methods and behaviours concerning
energy, water and natural resources, and incorporating environmental
conservation costs into our economic systems. (…)
http://www.greencrossinternational.net/
UN
Commission on the Status of Women – 51st session, 26 February-9 March, New York
The fifty-first session of the
Commission on the Status of Women will take place from 26 February to 9 March
2007. In accordance with its multi-year programme of work for 2007-2009, the
Commission will consider “The elimination of all forms of discrimination and
violence against the girl child” as its priority theme. Based on this theme, an
online discussion was held from 14 August to 8 September 2006. DAW, in
collaboration with the UNICEF, also organized an Expert Group Meeting (EGM) on
this theme. The EGM was hosted by the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre in
Florence, Italy, from 25 to 28 September 2006.
The Commission on the Status
of Women is a functional commission of the United Nations Economic and Social
Council (ECOSOC), dedicated exclusively to gender equality and advancement of
women. It is the principal global policy-making body. Every year,
representatives of Member States gather at United Nations Headquarters in New
York to evaluate progress on gender equality, identify challenges, set global
standards and formulate concrete policies to promote gender equality and
advancement of women worldwide.
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/index.html
February 9 - On 1 February
2007, the EU Parliament approved a resolution asking the Indian government to
stop violence against Dalits, the approx. 165 million Indians living at the
bottom of the caste system. The resolution is a huge victory for the movement
against caste discrimination, which is now asking governments to place further
pressure on the Indian government to stop discrimination of casteless.
”We are happy for approval of
the resolution,” says Jonas Nøddekær, chairman of the Danish Dalit Solidarity
Network. “I see the resolution as a clear manifestation of the European
parliamentarians that the present situation is completely unacceptable, and
that a country like India, with one of the world’s highest growth rates right
now, must do much more to eliminate this discrimination,” says Jonas Nøddekær.
He hopes and expects that dialogue and cooperation will be established with the
Indian government to improve the conditions of the casteless. (…)
Brussels, 16 February - During
her visit to India, European Commissioner for External Relations and European
Neighbourhood Policy, Benita Ferrero Waldner, announced that the European Commission
is proposing substantial financial assistance to India over the next seven
years. An amount of €470 million should be available 2007-2013 to support the
implementation of the Joint Action Plan, notably economic co-operation and
sectoral dialogues, as well as help India achieve its Millennium Development
Goals in the Health and Education sectors. This represents a substantial
increase compared to funding provided in the past.
Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner
said in Delhi: "India is forging ahead. The EU wants to play its part in
the emergence of India as a more prosperous nation, playing its role on the
international stage on the key issues of our day. We are designing our package
to match India's own priorities - economic reforms and progress in health and
education – to cement still further the partnership that we are building
together."
The new Country Strategy Paper
for India 2007-2013 (€470 million in total – a yearly average of €67 million)
proposes to focus EU co-operation on the following priorities:
Mobilise EU funds to support
the implementation of the Joint Action Plan, notably economic cooperation and
sectoral dialogues – on issues ranging from tackling energy co-operation
climate change and other environmental concerns to promoting dialogue on
employment and social affairs - in order to help India address the most recent
challenges of its economic reform process;
Support India in achieving its
Millennium Development Goals in the Health and Education sectors, as for
example promotion of public administration reforms, decentralisation and
community empowerment, deepening school enrolment, enhanced quality education
and training of teachers.
For more information: http://ec.europa.eu/comm/external_relations/india/intro/index.htm
Self-employed
rural people will benefit from IFAD-supported US$25.3 million development
programme in Tanzania
Rome, 22 February - More than 300,000 households will take part in a new
programme to boost the business skills of self-employed people in rural
areas of Tanzania. The programme will increase the cash incomes of small and
micro entrepreneurs and improve their families’ food security. The US$25.3 million Rural Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprise Support Programme will be partly financed by a US$19.5 million loan
from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The loan
agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in Rome by Zakia Hamdani
Meghji, Minister of Finance of the United Republic of Tanzania, and Lennart
Båge, President of IFAD. The Government of Tanzania will contribute US$4.2
million to the programme. Irish Aid is expected to provide US$910,000, programme
participants will contribute US$225,000 and IFAD will provide a grant of
US$450,000.
The programme will focus on
reaching small rural businesses, particularly those run by women and young
people, said Samuel Eremie, IFAD country
programme manager for Tanzania.
http://www.ifad.org/english/operations/pf/tza/index.htm
Boosting
the commercialization of coconut water
Cold
preservation could help small farmers to gain market share
Rome, 21 February - In an
effort to boost the commercialization of coconut water by small farmers and
companies, FAO has published a training guide promoting a simple cold
preservation process that could increase sales of bottled coconut water. “The cold preservation process requires
little investment and skills, and it offers small entrepreneurs a chance to
enter the market of bottling coconut water of good quality,” said Rosa Rolle of
FAO’s Rural Infrastructure and Agro-industries Division. The process was developed
and evaluated in Jamaica, in close collaboration with the University of the
West Indies, the Coconut Industries Board and the Jamaican Scientific Research
Council.
To date, most coconut water is
still consumed fresh in tropical countries. Once exposed to air, and warm
temperatures, it rapidly deteriorates. Present commercial production of canned
coconut water has a drawback. Sterilizing the product using high temperature
and short-time pasteurization destroys some of the nutrients in coconut water and
almost all of the delicate flavour. The cold preservation process recommended
by FAO instead protects the natural flavour of coconut water. The process
involves filtration, bottling and rigorous temperature control. It allows
farmers to produce bottled coconut water that stays fresh from 10 days to three
weeks. This will help to meet demands from domestic retail markets. (…)
The cold preservation
technology is not protected by a patent and can be used by anybody.
New
US$22.83 million IFAD-supported programme to bolster agropastoral activities in
Northern Mali
Rome, 16 February – Over
20,000 people in the Kidal region of Mali will participate in a new programme
to promote agropastoral activities and improve living conditions. The US$22.83
million Kidal Integrated Rural Development Programme will be partly financed by
a US$11.34 million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural
Development (IFAD). The loan agreement was signed today at IFAD headquarters in
Rome by Ibrahim Bocar Daga, Ambassador of Mali to Italy and Lennart Båge,
President of IFAD. The Government of Mali will contribute US$2.7 million to
finance the programme. The balance of the funding will be provided by the West
African Development Bank (US$5.03 million), the Belgian Survival Fund (US$3.5
million) and programme participants (US$26,000).(…) There is potential to
develop Kidal’s agropastoral activities and the programme is designed to boost
incomes and living conditions for the region’s most vulnerable households, many
of whom are nomadic herders.(…)
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2007/14.htm
New
web site offers tools for implementation of right to food
Features
training materials, e-learning course, virtual library
Rome, 15 February – FAO today
announced the launch of an interactive web site on the right to food, providing
practical information for policy-makers, legal practitioners, civil society members,
UN staff, academics and the general public. Through the web site, users can
increase their awareness of the human right to food, access resources for
capacity-building at national and international levels, and find guidance,
methods and instruments to assist in implementation of the right to food at the
country level.
Resources include training
materials and an e-learning course, tools to raise awareness of the right to
food, and a virtual library containing manuals, technical papers, policy
briefs, case studies and publications. (…) The web site also features
information on the Voluntary Guidelines to Support the Progressive Realization
of the Right to Adequate Food in the Context of National Food Security. (…)
Development of the web site
was made possible with funding from the German government. To accommodate a
wide range of users, a low-band, text-only version is also available, and the
information can be downloaded to CDs and disseminated locally. (…)
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000495/index.html
Entrepreneurs
don't grow on trees
But
with a little help from FAO, poor families around the world are starting their
own small forest businesses
Rome, 13 February - An
innovative new approach from FAO is helping poor people around the world turn
trees into cash income - without felling the trees.(…)
Fruits, nuts, herbs and
spices, resins, gums, fibres -- all these non-wood forest products (NWFPs)
provide poor families around the world with food, nutrition and income. Indeed,
some 80 percent of the population of developing countries use such products in
one way or another to meet health and nutritional needs, according to
FAO.(…) That is why FAO's Forestry
Department established its Community-based Tree and Forest Enterprise
Development (CBED) Programme with funding from the Norwegian government. The
project helps poor communities set up, sustain and grow small businesses while
giving them incentives to better manage and protect their resource base,
allowing them to tap the wealth of nearby forest resources without depleting
them. (…)
All in all, ten
community-level businesses employing 239 people were established. Increases in
the incomes of participating households ranged from US$5 to US$70 per month --
15 to 50 percent more than they were making before.(…) And after pilot projects
have been established, FAO meets with policy-makers and planners to talk about
larger structural and legal bottlenecks that inhibit small-scale forest
enterprise development, with an eye to effecting reforms.
http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/field/2007/1000487/index.html
ILO,
UNDP to join forces to promote growth for decent jobs
Geneva, 9 February – The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the International Labour
Organization (ILO) have agreed to strengthen their collaboration and
partnership in a major new effort to bolster UN actions designed to reduce
poverty and create more decent work. ILO Director-General Juan Somavia and UNDP
Administrator Kemal Derviş signed the joint agreement here today in a
public ceremony. It is designed to promote inclusive economic growth with
social development to benefit the bottom 20 to 40 per cent of the population,
and bolster UN efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.(…)
The agreement is a direct
follow-up to the 2006 UN Economic and Social Council Ministerial Declaration on
decent work and full employment and a practical step towards the implementation
of UN system efforts to “deliver as one. The two agencies have already
identified a number of countries which offer the greatest opportunities for
combined support from UNDP and the ILO to work together towards making decent
work a central element in UN country programmes. The agreement is open to other
UN agencies and funds and programmes and will contribute to ongoing UN reform
efforts. The new partnership will give concrete expression to the requirements
of UN Resident Coordinators leading UN country teams in more than 130
countries, to be strong and effective advocates of the entire UN agenda. It
could also serve as a model for expanded interagency work, in particular for
the role and participation of specialized agencies in the framework of the new
Resident Coordinator system.(…)
http://content.undp.org/go/newsroom/february-2007/ilo-undp-jobs-20070209.en
UN
$2.35 million to Guinea from Global Emergency Fund
New York, 16 February - The United Nations has made $2.35 million
available from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) for urgent
humanitarian activities in the West African country of Guinea. The humanitarian
situation in Guinea has increasingly become a source of concern since 10
January 2007, when a general nationwide strike was launched. (…)
Fearing that the unrest could
provoke population movements, particularly among the refugee population living
in Guinea’s Forest region (Guinée Forestière), which numbers some 18,000
people, mainly from Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, humanitarian organizations
operating along the border are on alert and have been monitoring Guinea’s
borders on a continual basis. (…) The CERF funds are to be used for the
purchase of medicines and other medical supplies for the injured, as well as to
support essential telecommunications and a common humanitarian air service to
ensure access to more remote parts of the country, such as Guinée
Forestière. These emergency projects
will be carried out by the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United Nations
Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in collaboration with their non-governmental
partners. (…)
http://ochaonline.un.org/webpage.asp?MenuID=12607&Page=2349
Mozambique:
UN starts airlifting food to thousands of flood victims
15
February - The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has started rescue and
food delivery missions with a chartered helicopter in central Mozambique where
the worst flooding in years has forced some 85,000 people to flee their homes.
(…)WFP and its partners began distributing food aid this week to 2,000 people
in temporary accommodation centres in Caia district and to 6,100 people in
Mutarara district of Tete Province.
Heavy rains in central and
northern Mozambique and neighbouring Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe over the last
month flooded the Zambezi, Chire and Rivubue rivers, and officials estimate
that as many as 285,000 people may need food and other assistance for the next
few months in a worst-case scenario. (…) WFP and other in-country humanitarian
agencies will soon launch an appeal to support the Government’s efforts,
including food, air operations for rescue and delivery of relief supplies, and
telecommunications to facilitate coordination of the response. Some 40,000
hectares of crops have been lost at a time when they are in their peak growing
and development period ahead of the April/May harvest. So far this year,
flooding has also hit Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. WFP has
responded across the region, but faces a critical shortfall in funding for all
its operations in southern Africa, requiring $105 million through to the end of
2007.
Zimbabwe:
350,000 orphans, vulnerable children to benefit from new UN-backed plan
15 February - Some 350,000
Zimbabwean orphans and vulnerable children will benefit from a new
multi-million dollar partnership signed today by the United Nations Children’s
Fund (UNICEF), the Government and 21 non-governmental organizations (NGOs),
which aims to increase school enrolment, improve nutrition and provide health
care. (…)
The agreement, backed by more
than $70 million from donors over five years, enables the NGOs to fund and
support a further 150 community-based organizations, allowing the National
Action Plan to massively scale-up its help to communities.
Almost one in four children in
Zimbabwe, 1.6 million, are now orphaned and this number is growing. HIV and
AIDS have dramatically increased children’s vulnerability in recent years.
Economic hardships have added stress on Zimbabwean families who continue to
absorb 90 of the country’s orphans. As most orphans and vulnerable children
remain with their larger family, the agreement will ensure that the 171 NGOs
and community-based organizations can strengthen the capacity of families to
care for them, mobilize and support community based responses, and ensure
access to essential services, including education, health care and birth
registration. (…)
February 12 - The Adventist
Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) is continuing its assistance to Indonesia,
one of the countries most severely affected by the Indian Ocean tsunami of
2004. ADRA is currently working to rehabilitate and reconstruct schools in the
sub-districts of Aceh Barat and Aceh Jaya in West Aceh, which is located on the
northern tip of the island of Sumatra in Indonesia. ADRA is also providing
professional development and enhancement training courses to rebuild the
teaching skills of teachers in the targeted region.
“One of the most affected
sectors of this emergency was that of education,” said Wendy Brightman,
director for the ADRA Tsunami Response Operation based in Medan, Indonesia. “In
Aceh Barat, 36,000 students in 198 schools were affected. The Department of
Education reports that 70 percent of schools’ infrastructure was damaged. This
resulted in a disruption of the normal education program and services. The
impact of the disaster … extends to reduced teaching staff capacity. Therefore
it is important that ADRA revitalizes not only the physical infrastructure, but
invests in the professional development of the educators in the region as
well.”
In order to achieve its goal
of restoring efficient education services in the West Aceh region, ADRA is
rehabilitating and reconstructing four elementary schools. Each school will
receive furniture, educational materials and supplies, and professional
development and enhancement training courses for teachers and administrators.
Nearly 1,300 students, teachers, and administrators are expected to benefit
from the project.
The one-year school
rehabilitation project, valued at an estimated $745,000, is scheduled to be
completed in late 2007. (…)
http://www.interaction.org/newswire/detail.php?id=5643
Taiwan
Government provides funding for HKI's nutrition and health initiatives in
Burkina Faso
New York, February 7 – The
Taiwan government today announced its funding of the final phase of a three-year
$375,331 program with Helen Keller International (HKI) in support of HKI’s
efforts to combat malnutrition and blindness in Burkina Faso, one of the
poorest countries in Africa. In addition, the government approved new funding
for a three-year $300,000 project to fortify cooking oil with vitamin A,
another sustainable method to improve the health of children and mothers in
Burkina Faso. (…)
Vitamin A is crucial for
maternal and child survival, and vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a leading cause
of nutritional blindness. It is estimated that controlling VAD will avert over
20,000 child deaths per year in Burkina Faso alone.
Food fortification is one
strategy to combat VAD. The three-year project supported by the Taiwanese is
part of a larger regional initiative in West Africa operating in eight
countries. Fortifying cooking oil with vitamin A has proven to be effective,
widely-accepted, sustainable and low cost. This project will help reduce child
and maternal morbidity and mortality, while increasing the competitiveness of
locally-produced cooking oil.
Eating foods rich in vitamin
A, including orange fruits and vegetables and dark-green leafy vegetables, is
another method to control VAD effectively. The project supported by the Taiwan
government is being implemented in 23 primary schools in the province of
Komandjiari. (…)
http://www.hkworld.org/about/press_releases/Burkina_Faso_Taiwan.html
Jakarta, Indonesia, February 5
- CARE is distributing food and water purification solution to more than 15,000
flood-affected people in the district of Tangerang, Indonesia, after the worst
floods to hit Jakarta in five years. Entire parts of the city are underwater,
with the water levels reaching as high as six feet in some areas. More than
200,000 people have been forced from their homes and seeking shelter in community
centers, schools and mosques across the city.
"CARE works in the
Jakarta area, so our staff were able to respond immediately to this latest
disaster," said Gail Steckley, CARE's country director in Indonesia.
"Many of our staff are also among the families affected." (…)
CARE is providing 15,000
people with Air Rahmat, a locally-made water purification solution, and jerry
cans to keep the treated water free from further contamination. At the same
time, CARE is providing health education about the risks of contaminated water
and how to properly purify water before drinking. Starting Tuesday, CARE will
also begin distributions of food to up to 10,000 people.
The floods are the latest in a
string of disasters to hit Indonesia. Parts of Aceh, the site of the 2004
tsunami, were also flooded in December, 2006, and the government is currently
working to contain outbreaks of dengue fever that are being reported across the
country.
CARE has been working in
Indonesia since 1967, and operates a broad range of integrated projects in
disaster risk reduction, emergency response, environment and natural resource
management, health, livelihoods and water and sanitation.
http://www.care.org/newsroom/articles/2007/02/20070205_jarkarta_floods.asp
15 February – Just days after
launching a large-scale security operation to clean up one of Haiti’s most
notorious hotbeds of criminal gangs, the United Nations peacekeeping mission
has transformed the former crime boss’s headquarters into a free medical
clinic, with clowns to cheer up sick children.
“We are here to help the
Haitian people,” the commander of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti
(MINUSTAH) Brazilian contingent Claudio Barroso Magno Filho said. “And this aid
cannot be achieved if there is not first security and peace. That is why our
security operations are immediately followed by our humanitarian assistance.”
Until last Friday, when the UN launched a 700-troop-strong operation in the
Boston area of Cité Soleil, one of Haiti’s most crime-ridden neighbourhoods in
Port-au-Prince, the capital, Jamaica Base was the headquarters of the gang
chief named Evans, who used it to coordinate his activities in a country that
has seen a surge in extortion, kidnappings and the recruitment of children into
gangs.
Now, doctors and dentists from
MINUSTAH’s Brazilian contingent tend to local residents at what is today a new
community centre. At its inauguration yesterday, Raymond Jean-Baptiste turned
up with his seven-month-old daughter, happy for the free consultation. Clowns
came too, dancing with the children, and the Brazilian peacekeepers handed out
free footballs.
They also brought soup and
clean drinking water for Boston’s residents. (…)
http://www.un.org/apps/news/ticker/tickerstory.asp?NewsID=21579
Religious delegation going to
Iran to talk peace
A U.S. faith-based delegation is set to visit Iran Feb. 17-25 with plans to meet religious and political leaders in the hope of improving relations between the people of Iran and the U.S.
Philadelphia, PA, February 14
- Mary Ellen McNish, general secretary of the American Friends Service
Committee, is part of a delegation of 13 U.S. religious leaders that will visit
Iran next week (Feb. 17-25) to deepen dialogue between religious and political
leaders there in the hope of defusing tensions between the U.S. and Iran.
During the weeklong visit the
group is scheduled to meet with Christian and Muslim religious leaders, women
serving in the Iranian parliament, former President Mohammad Khatami and
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The U.S. delegation includes
representatives from the Mennonite, Quaker, Episcopal, Catholic and United
Methodist churches as well as the National Council of Churches, Pax Christi and
Sojourners/Call to Renewal in Washington, D.C.
The trip comes after 45 religious leaders met with Iranian President
Ahmadinejad for 75 minutes during his visit to New York, Sept. 20, 2006.
“Our primary goal is to engage
in dialogue with a variety of Iranians,” said Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
international program director, Ron Flaming.
The trip is being organized by MCC and the American Friends Service
Committee (AFSC), an international social justice organization based in
Philadelphia. The Service Committee is a co-recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize
for humanitarian work conducted on behalf of Quakers worldwide.
“We are making this trip
hoping it will encourage both governments to step back from a course that will
lead to conflict and suffering,” said McNish. (…)
Houmine Al-Tahta, Lebanon, 12
February – (…) Almost six months after the ceasefire that ended the conflict
between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon, UNICEF warns that unexploded ordnance
– including cluster bombs – remains one of the key threats affecting Lebanese
children and their families. The UN Mine Action Coordination Centre for South
Lebanon estimates that there are approximately 1 million unexploded munitions
left in the area, and it will take many more months – perhaps a year – to clear
all of them. As of end of January, more than 200 people had been injured or
killed by cluster bomb explosions since the ceasefire, including 70 children
and youths under 18 years of age, 7 of whom died.
Working with Lebanon’s
National Demining Office and other partners, UNICEF has made educating and
protecting children from unexploded munitions a top priority. Through awareness
campaigns, they learn how to identify bombs and landmines, and what to do if
they see one. Posters, banners, and TV and radio spots all help to spread the
message among children: Don’t approach, don’t touch and report to the
authorities.
The campaign uses a
child-friendly approach, incorporating crucial information into games, plays,
discussions and interactions. In one such activity, called "Game of the
Goose", children throw a large cardboard die, then walk a certain number
of paces down a paper path that is illustrated with various scenarios. (…)
http://www.landmine.de/en.titel/en.news/en.news.one/index.html?entry=en.news.0dd8a7a077830000
Angola
Press Agency (Luanda)
Huambo, Angola, February 8 - A
team to monitor the methods of demining, the security of sappers and identified
mine fields adopted by local operators will be set up this year in Angola's
central Huambo province. This was announced by the coordinator of the
provincial Commission on Landmine Action and Humanitarian Aid (CNIDAH),
Agostinho Njaka, who added that the team will work mainly on identified
"red" zones (highly mined zones), like the districts of Huambo,
Bailundo, Katchiungo and Tchicala-Tcholohanga.
He justified the creation of
such a team saying there has been significant delays in the monitoring of the
quality of cleared areas and those awaiting clearance, a task that will be
assigned to team members for the checking of the polices and strategies
designed by Angolan Government.
The source added that new
operators will be incorporated in the demining process this year, with a view
to facilitating the operation in other fields, in view of the priorities of the
local government, for the opening of new roads and farming fields.
According to a CNIDAH report
that reached Angop, some 2,968 landmines, including 2,915 anti-personnel, 53
anti-tanks mines and 1,110 unexploded ordinances (UXOS) were removed and
destroyed in 2006.
http://allafrica.com/stories/200702080936.html
Author(s):
Site Admin
February 6 - The journey began
on 10 December 2006 when three Colombians left Bogotá to bicycle to Ushuaia in
Argentina, in a bid to support the Colombian Campaign to Ban Landmines and to
draw international attention to their country’s extensive landmine problem.
John Rivas Medina, Edwin
Pedreros and Juan Guillermo Bohórquez will arrive at their destination in early
March. Throughout their journey they are stopping to disseminate information on
the devastating effects of landmines in Colombia.
Although the country is a
State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty, non-state armed groups continue to lay
mines and use other improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that harm local
populations, frustrate demining efforts, and impede production and economic
growth in some areas.
The men have already traveled
through Colombia, Ecuador and large part of Peru. While their trip itself is
attracting significant media attention, they have also been organizing a series
of side events including lectures and meetings with various social
organizations. Currently they are being given support by a mine victim
association in Peru and a group of Peruvian victims accompanied them when they
entered Lima. (…)
http://www.icbl.org/news/cycling
14 February - Among her first
major meetings of her term, WHO Director-General Dr Margaret Chan has convened
an urgent consultation on polio eradication on 28 February. After reviewing the
recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Polio Eradication, which concluded
in October 2006 that eradication was technically feasible in the remaining four
endemic areas, Dr Chan has examined the progress made since October in Nigeria,
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. She concurs with the findings that eradication
is feasible if enough children are vaccinated to stop transmission of the
virus.
Given that the Global Polio
Eradication Initiative is built on the complementary strengths of various
partners, of which WHO is the lead technical agency, Dr Chan has invited all
major stakeholders to the consultation to examine the collective capacity to
meet the remaining operational and financial challenges. (…)
Representation is expected
from: finance and health ministries, technical experts, as well as the office
of the head of government of the endemic countries; donors with investments of
over US$ 10 million; spearheading partners Rotary International, CDC and
UNICEF; political organizations such as the Commonwealth. The directors of the
three WHO regions which have polio: AFRO, SEARO and EMRO are also attending.
http://www.polioeradication.org/content/general/LatestNews200702.asp#MTG
EU
donation saves lives in Ethiopian child survival campaign
Addis Ababa, 13 February - A
dramatic coverage increase for a UNICEF- backed Child Survival initiative has
been achieved in Ethiopia. This was
made possible through a donation of €7,600,000 from the European Union. The
money funded The Enhanced Outreach Strategy (EOS) programme – a ground-breaking
project which has provided life-saving interventions for Tigray, Oromia, Amhara
and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR). Between October and December 2006, over 5.3
million children between six and 59 months old received vitamin-A supplementation
and nearly five million received de-worming treatment. Additionally, over 5.2 million were screened
for malnutrition and referred to WFP’s Targeted Supplementary Food Programme.
More than 840,000 pregnant and lactating women also received the same treatment.
(…) Thanks to the EU donation, two regional Emergency Nutrition Coordination
Units (ENCUs) were also revitalised in the Tigray and SNNP regions. These
facilities will monitor nutrition trends, and coordinate emergency responses
when and where they are needed.
Two new regional ENCUs are
planned for Amhara and Oromia regions, and should be ready for business by
spring 2007. Further EOS interventions are also scheduled between May and June
in all four regions. By the end of June, the second EOS round will be delivered
to more than 5.9 million children and 1.2 million pregnant and lactating women
in the four regions supported by the EU. EOS is a national programme aiming to
cover six basic low cost, high-impact child survival interventions for women and
children.(…)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_38292.html
Contact:
Vivian Fiore at +1 847-866-3234
Evanston, IL, USA, 8 February
- Nearly 100 volunteers from the United States and Europe will travel to India
and the West African country of Nigeria to immunize children against polio – a
crippling and potentially fatal disease that still threatens children in parts
of Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
These volunteers - all members of Rotary, a humanitarian service
organization that has made polio eradication its top philanthropic goal - will
work with local authorities and Rotarians to help administer the drops of oral
polio vaccine to every child under the age of five, deliver the vaccine to
remote villages and educate families on the importance of protecting children
against polio. (…) (The trips schedule, omitted here, is available
on the web site)
Nigeria and India are the
major strongholds of polio and among just four countries (including Pakistan
and Afghanistan) where the virus has never stopped circulating. World health experts recently announced that
a polio-free world now hinges on these four countries. Northern Nigeria
accounts for the majority of global cases having reported 1,105 in 2006 out of
a global total of 1,969 cases (data as of 7 February 2007). (…) India is the
other major hotbed for this disease, accounting for 666 cases in 2006 (…)
Rotary’s commitment to end
polio represents the largest private-sector support of a global health
initiative ever. In 1985, Rotary members worldwide vowed to immunize all the
world’s children against polio. Since then,
Rotary has contributed more than US$616 million to a polio-free world. Besides
raising and contributing funds, over one million men and women of Rotary have
volunteered their time and personal resources to help immunize more than 2
billion children in 122 countries during national immunization campaigns. Tremendous progress has been made in the
last two decades. To date, the number
of polio cases has been reduced from 350,000 children annually in the mid 1980s
to less than 2,000 cases all last year. Only 4 countries: Nigeria, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, are
still polio-endemic - an all-time low.
The Global Polio Eradication
Initiative is spearheaded by the World Health Organization, Rotary
International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the
United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). (…)
http://www.rotary.org/newsroom/presscenter/releases/2007/301.html
Kyrgyzstan, February – For
women in Batken, Kyrgyzstan, a new user friendly, non-invasive, family planning
method, CycleBeads™, will now be available thanks to Project HOPE and a brand
new partnership with the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation. The
agreement, for a $300,000 project, “Improving the Health of Women and Children
through Family Planning and Breastfeeding,” began in January.
The focal point of the family planning
component of the program is a string of 32 color-coded beads developed by the
Institute for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University. The beads,
representing the fertile and non-fertile days of a woman’s reproductive cycle,
offer women a low cost, natural alternative to family planning.
Project HOPE first introduced
the successful CycleBeads program in Jalalabat, Kyrgyzstan in 2005 with 200
sets of beads distributed. An innovative twist, to the generally accepted
Standard Days Method of family planning, the CycleBeads approach received
positive reactions from participants. (…)
Ukraine: In the Ukraine,
Project HOPE is the sub-contractor to the International HIV/AIDS Alliance on
Tract Agreement Number 3. The $150,000 award, which began in October 2006, will
be used to expand a school-based HIV and substance abuse prevention program
based on a life skills approach for elementary school-aged children said
Reister. “This is a good example of Project HOPE taking a model and expanding
upon it. It’s an extension of our Russian program but we added an HIV component
targeted toward younger children,” she said.
Uzbekistan: In addition,
Project HOPE’s Central Asia division in Uzbekistan is now offering a brand new
program concentrating on the Avian Influenza. Funded by the United States
Agency for International Development (USAID), Reister said, “Project HOPE is a
sub-contractor for this brand new program. We will be providing technical
assistance for farmers and veterinarians to teach them how to recognize Avian
Flu. Also we will work with the general population to educate them about the
Avian Flu and how to prevent the disease.”
New
US$29.85 million project for better water management in the Sudan’s Butana
region
Rome, 16 February – A US$29.85
million project for better water management in the Butana region of the Sudan
will enhance the ability of about 80,000 poor rural households’ to cope with
drought conditions. The Butana
Integrated Rural Development Project will be backed by a loan of US$24.8
million from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The
Government of the Sudan will contribute US$4.29 million and US$760,000 will be
provided by the people living in the project area. (…) The project will assist
rural people in five states that share natural resources in the Butana region.
In particular, the project will boost their incomes from livestock production
and other small businesses and at the same time ensure the sustainable
management of natural resources. It will also improve animal nutrition, access
to veterinary services and the organization of meat and dairy marketing.(…)
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2007/13.htm
Bali, Indonesia, 12 February –
An historic declaration to conserve the “Heart of Borneo” was officially signed
today between the three Bornean governments – Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia and
Malaysia. The tri-country declaration will conserve and sustainably manage one
of the most important centres of biological diversity in the world, covering
approximately 220,000 square kilometres of equatorial rainforests – almost a
third of the island.
“This is an historic occasion
which marks new collaboration between our three countries,” said MS Kaban, the
Indonesian Minister of Forestry. “This will put the Heart of Borneo on the
world stage as one of the last great blocks of forest in the world.”
The Heart of Borneo
Declaration, signed by ministers from the three South-east Asian countries at
an official ceremony held in Bali, is a lifeline for Borneo’s rainforests that
are threatened by unsustainable logging, forest fires and forest conversion for
plantations. Since 1996, deforestation across Indonesia has increased to an
average of 2 million hectares per year and, today, only half of Borneo’s
original forest cover remains.
The declaration also formally
ends the plans to create the world’s largest palm oil plantation in Kalimantan
along Indonesia’s mountainous border with Malaysia. The scheme – supported by
Chinese investments – was expected to cover an area of 1.8 million hectares and
would have had long-lasting, damaging consequences to the Heart of Borneo.
The island is home to 13
species of primates, 150 species of reptiles and amphibians, over 350 species
of birds, and around 15,000 species of plants, and continues to be the source
of many new discoveries – more than 50 new species were discovered last year
alone. (…)
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/index.cfm?uNewsID=93980
Environment
ministers rise to the challenge of globalization and UN reform
UNEP
Governing Council/Global Ministerial Forum rediscovers responsibility for
environmental pillar of sustainable development
Nairobi, 9 February - An
enhanced programme to reduce health and environmental threats from toxic
mercury pollution was agreed by 140 governments at the close of an
international gathering of environment ministers. The decision includes
developing partnerships between governments, industry and other key groups to
curb emissions of the heavy metal from power stations and mines to industrial
and consumer products. After two years, governments will gauge its success and
reflect on whether the voluntary initiative has worked or whether negotiations
should commence on a new international and legally-binding treaty.
The mercury decision, along
with 15 other key decisions, was made on the final day of the United Nations
Environment Programmes (UNEP) Governing Council/Global Ministerial Environment
Forum. Part of the new programme may mirror a successful UNEP-coordinated
partnership to clean up vehicle fuels in developing countries. In four years
this voluntary partnership, launched at the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in 2002, has phased out another notorious heavy metalleadfrom
petrol pumps across sub-Saharan Africa. (…)
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=499&ArticleID=5526&l=en
Branson
offers $25m climate prize
Scientists
must 'put their minds to it today,' he says of removing emissions
London, February 9 (MSNBC
staff and news service reports) - British tycoon Sir Richard Branson on Friday
announced a $25 million prize for a way to extract a billion tons or more of
carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year. The Virgin Group chairman was
joined by former Vice President Al Gore and other leading environmentalists as
he announced the Virgin Earth Challenge prize.
Branson compared it to the
competition launched in 1675 to devise a method of estimating longitude
accurately. It was 60 years before English clock maker John Harrison discovered
an accurate method and received his prize from King George III. "The Earth
cannot wait 60 years. We need everybody capable of discovering an answer to put
their minds to it today," Branson said.
Gore said the planet had a
"fever" that had to be taken seriously. "Up until now, what has
not been asked seriously on a systematic basis is, is there some way that some
of that extra carbon dioxide may be scavenged effectively out of the
atmosphere? And no one knows the answer to that," Gore said. (…)
Entries will be evaluated by
Branson and Gore, as well as NASA climate scientist James Hansen; James
Lovelock, who devised the Gaia theory of Earth's ecosystems; British
environmentalist Sir Crispin Tickell; and Australian paleontologist Tim
Flannery.
The winner will have to come
up with a way of removing one billion tons of carbon gases a year from the
atmosphere for 10 years — with $5 million of the prize being paid at the start
and the remaining $20 million at the end.(…) Experts agreed the challenge is
difficult, noting that while scientists have started to safely bury CO2
emissions before they reach the atmosphere, no one has captured them after they
are released.
Contest details are online at www.virginearth.com
UNDP
and UNEP cement their partnership with New Poverty and Environment Facility
Under
the venture, the UN partners take practical steps to help African nations
tackle climate change
Nairobi, 6 February – The
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Environment Programme (UNEP) cemented
the bond between fighting poverty and protecting the environment today by
launching the joint Poverty and Environment Facility in Nairobi during the
twenty fourth session of the UNEP Governing Council. The Facility, one of the
first concrete examples of UN Reform in action, is designed to help developing
countries to integrate sound environment management into their poverty
reduction and growth policies. It will play a central role in expanding the
UN’s environmental work around the world, with an emphasis on Africa and Asia.
(…) The strengthened relationship between the two UN bodies will be practically
applied across a wide range of issues. In a few months time , for example,
under the UNDP-UNEP Climate Partnership, five nations in Sub-Saharan Africa
will claim a greater stake in their environmental future with the help of a new
joint project designed to help poorer countries to navigate the Kyoto
Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The CDM is a market-based
mechanism that allows developed countries to earn emissions credits by
financing projects in developing countries that contribute to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. (…)
http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=499&ArticleID=5514&l=en
30 January - Green
Cross Sri Lanka is in the process of establishing a park at Wellawatta beach in
the Colombo district to be named the Green Cross Solar Park. This park will
have all the normal facilities and amenities for visitors including a canteen
and an information center, which will be lit by Solar panels that will be donated by Green
Cross Japan and its President Shoo Iwasaki. The Government of Sri Lanka,
through the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs, will provide some financial
assistance.
http://www.greencrossinternational.net/
Yachay
Wasi Environmental project in Peruvian Andes finally underway
An
environmental and sustainable development project of NGO Yachay Wasi
Recovery of the Circuit of
Four Lakes in the Peruvian Andes is finally underway after a matching grant by
Rotary Foundation in USA was approved in December 2006. Grant matches initial
pledge by a district of Rotary International, Australia in 2005.
This environmental and
educational project is geared to the recovery of the circuit of four lakes
located in the province of Acomayo, in the department of Cuzco, in the Andes of
Peru. These lakes are Laguna Acopia near the village of Acopia – native village
of Luis Delgado Hurtado, Co-founder and President of Yachay Wasi - , Lagunas
Pampamarca and Asnacocha near the village of Mosoqllaqta, Laguna Pomacanchi
near the village of Pomacanchi. The villagers and many smaller communities
located near these lakes rely on these waters. There are 36 Indigenous
communities living near these lakes with a 2002 estimated population of 25,518
inhabitants. The lakes are located at an altitude of 3600 meters. The
contamination of these lakes has been a growing problem over the past few
years.
The project has the goal to
clean the lakes waters and banks of these four lakes of existing solid trash
and to prevent further chemical contamination from modern detergents and
pharmaceutical discards; to recover the biological diversity, flora and fauna
representative of this important site; to educate and assist the communities on
ways to prevent future contamination, which will include building septic tanks
and laundry facilities in some villages.
As a result of this Rotary
Grant, the first phase of Project will start in March 2007.
The Rotary International Grant
will be managed locally by Rotary Club del Cusco in cooperation with Yachay
Wasi, Cusco which will implement the work.
http://www.yachaywasi-ngo.org/lakesproject.htm
Religion and spirituality
Congo Republic issues stamp
for World Religion Day
Brazzaville, Congo Republic,
31 January (BWNS) -- The Congo Republic this month became the second country to
issue a postage stamp for World Religion Day, an annual event commemorated in
dozens of cities and towns around the globe. The stamp was presented here on 20
January 2007 at a World Religion Day program that drew more than 250
participants from eight religious communities. (…)
The day is celebrated with
interfaith discussions, conferences and other events that foster understanding
among the followers of all religions. World Religion Day, which always falls on
the third Sunday in January, is traditionally commemorated a day early in
Brazzaville.
The new stamp from the Congo
pictures a globe surrounded by the symbols of 11 religions. Across the top it
says, in French, "God is the source of all religions." (…)
In Entebbe, Uganda, organizers
of the World Religion Day commemoration there announced that they had requested
their national postal service to issue a stamp for the occasion next year.
At their celebration this
year, hosted by the Entebbe Municipal Council, participating religious leaders
signed a declaration to form the Entebbe Inter-Faith Coalition. The signers
pledged to use "the unifying power of religion to instill in the hearts
and minds of all people of faith the fundamental facts and spiritual standards
that have been laid down by our Creator to bring them together as members of
one family."
Communities across Canada and
the United States also held observances for this year's World Religion Day, as
did Hong Kong and towns in Australia, Bulgaria, France, Luxembourg, New
Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and a number of other countries.
http://news.bahai.org/story/503
Two
new 2007 films for Jews, Palestinians, everyone
San Mateo, CA, USA, February
20 - Now available to you are two new videos -- DVDs to illustrate what it
looks like when diverse people – young
and old, even “enemies” Connect, Communicate, and Change. The principles are
universal, beginning with a new quality of listening in homes, institutions, communities
and nations. Because of the urgency on Earth, these DVDs will continue to be
gifted to whoever will use them.
1. Dialogue at Washington High
- DVD - 43 minutes. A Jewish and a Palestinian exemplar model on how to connect
with the "other" beginning with personal Story. Tenth grade high
school students then engage each other in dyads with a new quality of
listening. The diverse youth speak about their new way of communicating.
A 2007 film by the
Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group, San Mateo, California, USA.
Request DVD at http://traubman.igc.org/vidschool.htm
2. Peacemakers: Palestinians &
Jews Together at Camp – DVD - 83 minutes. The partnership of a
Palestinian-Jewish Dialogue and 85-year-old camp brings together in the
California mountains 140 Muslims, Jews and Christians of all ages, including
from Israel and Palestine. They discover one another and their ability to
communicate and cooperate in new ways. Back down the mountain, they hold a
public San Francisco event to tell the community about their struggles and
breakthroughs.
A 2007 film by the
Jewish-Palestinian Living Room Dialogue Group & Camp Tawonga, California,
USA. Request
DVD at http://traubman.igc.org/vidcamp.htm
World’s
sustainability experts on new free web channel
London, 19 February - A new
web-based video channel gives viewers the big picture on the environment with
hundreds of free, thought-provoking videos of global experts on a wide range of
subjects and a new focus on sustainability - with startling warnings,
well-informed commentary and practical ideas and solutions. Main features
include:
- world leaders offering
solution-oriented commentary on conflict resolution, inter-faith dialogue,
geo-politics, terrorism and global security;
- access to audio and video
downloads for offline use, education, advocacy, training and consultancy work:
- accessible content enhancing
understanding of long-term sustainability issues.
Big Picture TV offers a
growing archive of over 330 video clips - equivalent to 40 hours of free
content. Many clips are around 5 minutes in length, enabling visitors to hear
directly from world leaders without risking information overload.
London-based founder Marcus
Morrell says “in the face of an unprecedented environmental crisis, Big Picture
TV will help people see the world today in a broader and more positive context.
Problems such as climate chaos, rising sea levels and species extinction are
all too familiar but they are only half the story. The big picture is about
pragmatic solutions, recognising that the crises we face bring with them
opportunities to rethink, innovate and progress.”
Millions
of Iraqi children benefiting from UN-backed school supplies programme
15 February - Millions of
school bags, books, pencils and other essential learning materials are now
being delivered to Iraq’s primary schoolchildren thanks to a United
Nations-backed national school supply drive. The drive, organized by the Iraqi
Education Ministry and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) with support from the
European Commission, aims to reach all Iraqi primary schools, bringing basic
learning tools to millions of children aged 6 to 11.
“Iraq’s parents and teachers
have shown unshaken determination to educate their children through years of
deprivation, but the current terrible insecurity is testing many to the limit,”
UNICEF Representative for Iraq Roger Wright said, calling on the international community
to provide more support to protect the war-torn country’s education system
during the current emergency. “Iraq’s education system needs a great deal more
investment and attention to survive this time of crisis.” (…)
Mr. Wright acknowledged the great
commitment by the Government to prioritize education even under the most
difficult circumstances. In the last two years alone more than 159 damaged
school buildings and 800 school water and sanitation facilities have been
restored, 30,000 teachers retrained and basic school materials delivered
directly to Iraq’s children with the support of UNICEF and partners including
the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the
European Commission. “Schools are a symbol of hope to Iraq’s families,” Mr.
Wright said. “We must do everything in our power to keep Iraq’s classroom doors
open, welcoming and safe for children.” Materials will be distributed both
centrally from Baghdad and directly to local governorates, reaching even the
most remote schools. Supplies will arrive in classrooms in advance of the
second half of the school year. Baghdad classroom makes use of UNICEF supplies.
February 14 - The ICRC has
donated 50 textbooks on International Law to the Louis Arthur Grimes School of
Law of the University of Liberia. The textbooks will provide the law library
with educational material related to International Law.
This donation is part of a
framework whereby the ICRC intends to work with the law school for the
promotion of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), aimed at strengthening
educational initiatives towards international legal standards.
The ICRC hopes that the donation
will increase support to those teaching International Law, help implement the
principles and norms deriving from this branch of the law, and establish good
working relationships between the two institutions.
In addition, the ICRC intends
to undertake a number of academic activities with the purpose of disseminating
International Humanitarian Law, and fostering its respect.
These include incorporating
International Humanitarian Law into postgraduate curricula, organizing moot
court competitions, offering training on International Humanitarian Law, and
promoting the study of International Humanitarian Law by hosting seminars and
workshops.
Oxford
University seminar kicks off Earth Charter UK, Wangari Maathai as special guest
On 9-10 February, a special
seminar on "The Earth Charter, Past and Future" was held at Exeter
College, one of the oldest colleges at Oxford University. The Earth Charter UK
Trust was formally launched at this seminar to the music of New Orleans Jazz,
and with the powerful symbol of a special tree planting ceremony, whose special
guest of honor was Nobel Peace Prize winner, and Earth Charter Commissioner,
Wangari Maathai.
The planting of the tree was
also the first official contribution of Great Britain to the global United
Nations Environment Program "Billion Trees" campaign, which Prof.
Maathai has championed. And finally, Prof. Maathai simultaneously kicked off a
new lecture series, at Oxford University, sponsored by the Cambridge
University-based Center for International Sustainable Development Law (making
the series an example of Oxford-Cambridge institutional collaboration as well).
The tree was also, of course,
a tree -- a walnut whose purpose also was to replace an historic, 300-year-old
tree that had been the oldest and greatest in the Exeter College garden. The
old tree had died and had to be removed; the new tree is expected to last for a
further 300 years. The symbolism of this historic tree-planting heightened the
feeling that something wonderful had happened at Oxford.
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/
February 9 - Over 500
schoolchildren in Orwa, West Pokot and Lorongon, Turkana District, will benefit
from two new primary schools built by the ICRC. The ICRC started building the
school structures in May and completed them in December of last year. (…)
This is the second school
project that the ICRC has commissioned in the Turkana and West Pokot districts.
Following a chronic situation of inter-ethnic clashes, often over scarce
resources, the organization carried out an assessment in these areas in 2004 to
see where assistance was needed. It was found that students were learning in
abandoned buildings or under trees while many others had fled their homes and
were no longer going to school at all, as was the case in Orwa. Thanks to the
new school, many pupils and their families have now returned to their villages.
The ICRC constructed similar schools in Kainuk, Turkana and Ritten, West Pokot.
Both were inaugurated in October 2005.
Besides building schools, the
ICRC assisted families in both communities by providing seeds and tools to
farmers, by treating the livestock of pastoralists and by rehabilitating
shallow wells. The organization also holds regular discussions with community
leaders to raise awareness of humanitarian principles and to seek ways to ease
tensions in both areas.
Jerusalem: the Ministry of Education presents The
Face-to-Face Program for Coexistence
February 8 - The Face-to-Face
program held at Givat Haviva includes a two-day encounter between Jewish and
Arab high school students. About 2,000 students from Jewish and Arab
schools participated in this program in
2005-2006, and close to 4,000 students are expected to participate this year
An evaluation program that
studied the activity showed that after
it had been completed there was a decrease in negative stereotypes, more openness towards the other
side and recognition of the complexity of finding solutions that will
facilitate a joint future. (…)
The Face-to-Face program is
held at Givat Haviva and includes a two-day encounter between Jewish and Arab
high school students. The purpose of the encounter is to lay the initial
groundwork for a joint future based on mutual respect between Jewish and Arab
citizens by reducing the sense of alienation and mutual fear. In preparation
for the joint encounter, the students and teachers participate in a
uni-national clarification process at their schools. During the two-day
encounter, the students participate in workshops in mixed groups, which are
conducted by two facilitators – Arab and Jewish. (…)
The philosophy that guides the
Ministry in defining and implementing the policy is that the key to coexistence
is understanding the self-identity of every individual in the group along with
in-depth
understanding of another
culture. This is achieved by getting to know the culture and narrative of the
other, while accepting the uniqueness of each individual through listening,
respect and acceptance. To learn more about Face to Face ('MIFGASHIM') please
go to:
http://givathaviva.homestead.com/
ESCAP
Provides Training for TV Journalists to Raise Awareness of MDGs
Bangkok, 7 February –
Television broadcast journalists from 13 Asia Pacific countries began a
specialized training programme in Bangkok today, designed to enhance their
skills in reporting on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The
three-day session is organized by the United Nations Economic and Social
Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting
Union (ABU), with AsiaWorks Television providing the training. Participants
will produce feature length news items and public service announcements on the
MDGs upon their return. The finished pieces will be distributed by ABU across
its network of national broadcasters, potentially reaching billions of people.
The initiative is part of UNESCAP’s ongoing efforts to advocate the key
messages of its second regional MDG report, A future within reach.
http://www.unescap.org/unis/press/2007/feb/n03.asp
Luanda, Angola, February 1 -
February first has a special meaning for 60 girls in the Viana Municipality of
Luanda. They are the first of 180 girls
to graduate form a Vocational Training Program that was developed in 2006 to
address the educational needs of young girls victimized by a 30-year civil war—
one of the longest civil conflicts on the African continent. The overall aim of the project is to enhance
the self-esteem and self-reliance of young women in Angola. (…)
The vocational program is
organized into three phases: Phase one
includes three months of instruction for the girls in basic literacy, math, and
domestic arts—including Cooking, Decoration, Sewing, Flower Preparation and
Hairstyling. Outside these core course,
instructors focus on promoting life skills like goal-setting and healthy
relationships, as well as HIV/AIDS awareness and family planning methods. Upon graduation, the girls enter phase two
of the program with 45 day internships where they can practice and utilize
their specialized skills. Phase three
follows with a 15 day evaluation of their performance. The process will continue for one year until
180 girls have passed through the program. (…)
http://www.africare.org/news/news_release/angolagirls.html
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