Good News Agency – Year IX, n° 16
Weekly - Year IX, number 16 – 19th
December 2008
Managing Editor: Sergio Tripi,
Ph. D.
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. It is
distributed free of charge through Internet to the editorial offices of 4,000 media in 49 countries and to 2,800 NGOs and 500 high
schools, colleges and universities. 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
94
Nations sign global ban on cluster munitions
More
likely to join treaty protecting civilians.
Oslo, 4 December - The new
international treaty banning cluster munitions, which opened for signing on
December 3 and 4, 2008, is one of the most important measures that nations have
taken to protect civilians from the deadly effects of armed conflict, Human
Rights Watch said today. By the close of the signing conference in Oslo, 94
nations had signed the treaty, which bans cluster munitions outright and
provides strong humanitarian provisions for their cleanup and assistance to
victims. (…)
The new treaty has a groundbreaking provision requiring states that join it actively to discourage other nations from using cluster munitions in joint military operations. Signatories include dozens of stockpilers and former producers and users of the weapon. Eighteen of 26 NATO nations, including the UK, France, and Germany, signed the agreement. Those signing included some of the most severely affected states, such as Laos, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, which made a surprise announcement that it was signing after a change of heart by President Hamid Karzai. The number of signatories is expected to increase quickly. (...) The agreement will become binding international law six months after 30 signatories have ratified it. Four ratified in Oslo: Holy See; Ireland; Norway and Sierra Leone. (…)
http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/12/04/94-nations-sign-global-ban-cluster-munitions
12 December - The United Nations human rights chief has
welcomed the General Assembly’s adoption of an important new instrument to
strengthen the protection of economic, social and cultural rights, stressing
that it gives a voice to victims of violations. “The approval of the Optional
Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
is of singular importance by closing a historic gap,” stated UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights Navi Pillay.
The Protocol,
adopted during the Assembly’s 10 December meeting commemorating the 60th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, will enable victims
to complain about violations of the rights enshrined in the Covenant at the
international level for the first time. Ms. Pillay stressed that the Protocol
provides a voice to victims of human rights violations. It also “makes them
better equipped to enlist the international community’s help to address their
plight.”
The Optional
Protocol will now be opened for signature during 2009 and enter into force once
it has been ratified by ten States.
http://www.unric.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21181&Itemid=42&lang=en
Scottish
climate bill could set global example
Edinburgh, Scotland, 9
December - The newly published Scottish Climate Change Bill has the potential
to become a world leading piece of legislation if it receives cross-party
backing from Scottish MPs, according to WWF-Scotland. The targets in the bill
include a 50 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and a cut
of 80 per cent by 2050. It also sets out measures to tackle shipping and
aviation emissions, as well as emissions from all six greenhouse gases, not
just carbon dioxide.
WWF-Scotland campaigners have
so far conveyed over 25,000 messages of support for the bill from around the
world and Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland, said: “It’s vital that
MSPs back strong measures already in the bill and work constructively to
improve it further.”
Scottish Climate Change
Minister Stewart Stevenson said: “As a government we are determined to have
carbon assessment at the heart of our decision-making. We are breaking new
ground with our carbon assessment project which will ensure climate change
impacts are considered in future budgets and spending decisions.” (...)
Scottish Green MSP Patrick Harvie said: “I believe it can be the foundation for
the most effective legislation yet delivered on climate change anywhere in the
world, but it still needs a lot of work.”
http://www.panda.org/news_facts/newsroom/news/index.cfm?uNewsID=152322
12 December - A vote in Brazil’s Supreme Court
on Wednesday upheld the rights of Indigenous Peoples in the reservation of
Raposa Serra do Sol on the frontier between Brazil and Guyana/Venezuela. The
vote is seen as a victory for all Indigenous Peoples across Brazil.
The Supreme Court’s vote is a milestone in the
thirty-year battle of the Makuxi, Wapixana, Ingarikó, Taurepang and Patamona
indigenous peoples for the recognition of their constitutional right to their
ancestral lands. (...)
Almaty, 10
December - Tajik journalists improved their reporting on human rights issues
thanks to a series of trainings organized by a local media association in
cooperation with UNESCO. Citizens’ complaints to
media regarding human rights violations increased in Tajikistan since September
2008, reported the Tajik Association of Independent Electronic Mass Media
Organizations (TAIEMM). (…) Some 35 journalists from independent newspapers, TV
and radio companies in Sogd and Khatlon regions, and in the capital of
Tajikistan, Dushanbe, followed the training in human rights which was organized
by TAIEMM with the support of UNESCO’s International Programme for the
Development of Communication (IPDC). (…) This training series was specifically
designed to give journalists practical knowledge and skills necessary for
television and radio reporting, preparation of articles and conducting of
interviews. (…)
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27880&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
10
December - The United Nations General Assembly today awarded its
top human rights prize to seven global advocates ranging from a Congolese
doctor who treats female victims of sexual violence, a nun who fought for
indigenous rights before her murder in Brazil, and the assassinated Pakistani
leader Benazir Bhutto.
The UN Prize in
the Field of Human Rights, awarded every five years, was presented at a General
Assembly ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
The winners are
former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour; United States
ex-Attorney-General Ramsey Clark; Executive Director and co-founder of
Jamaicans for Justice Carolyn Gomes; Denis Mukwege, co-founder of the General
Referral Hospital of Panzi in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC); Human
Rights Watch, represented by its executive director Kenneth Roth; Ms. Bhutto;
and Dorothy Stang of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who was murdered in
Brazil three years ago. (...)
http://www.unric.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21166&Itemid=42&lang=en
Genocide Prevention Task Force delivers blueprint for
U.S. Government to prevent genocide and mass atrocities
8 December - The Genocide
Prevention Task Force today released its final report on the eve of the 60th
anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of
Genocide. The report makes the case for why genocide and mass atrocities
threaten core American values and national interests, and how the U.S.
government can prevent these crimes in the future.
Jointly convened by the United
States Holocaust Memorial Museum, The American Academy of Diplomacy, and the
United States Institute of Peace, the Task Force began its work last November
with the goal of generating concrete recommendations to enhance the U.S.
government’s capacity to recognize and respond to emerging threats of genocide
and mass atrocities. “The world agrees that genocide is unacceptable and yet
genocide and mass killings continue,” said Madeleine K. Albright, former
Secretary of State and Co-Chair of the Genocide Prevention Task Force. “We
believe that preventing genocide is possible, and that striving to do so is
imperative both for our national interests and our leadership position in the
world.” Read More UN Convention
for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
http://www.usip.org/genocide_taskforce/news.html
Round-table on the political
participation of women in the Maghreb
26 November - UN-INSTRAW and
the Center for Arab Women Training and Research (CAWTAR) organized a National-
Round Table on the Political Participation of Women in the Maghreb, on
Wednesday, 26 November 2008, at CAWTAR headquarters in Tunisia. This will be
the third round table, following those that were held in Morocco and Algeria,
to be organized within the context of the joint UN-INSTRAW/CAWTAR project
“Strengthening Women’s Leadership and Participation in Politics and
Decision-Making in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia,” which was launched in June
2008 with funding from the Spanish Government. (...) This project contributes
to strengthening the integration of women in political life and in
decision-making process in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia - countries that
are considered to be open to women’s participation in those areas, having
asserted their willingness to promote women’s rights and having ratified the
most important international instruments and conventions aiming at the
achievement of gender equality in the exercise of political rights. (...)
United Nations Day for
South-South Cooperation - 19 December
By resolution 58/220 of 23 December 2003, the
General Assembly decided to declare 19 December, United Nations Day for
South-South Cooperation. This was the date on which the General Assembly
endorsed the Buenos Aires Plan of Action for Promoting and
Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries.
The Assembly also urged all relevant United
Nations organizations and multilateral institutions to intensify their efforts
to effectively mainstream the use of South-South cooperation in the design,
formulation and implementation of their regular programmes and to consider
increasing allocations of human, technical and financial resources for
supporting South-South cooperation initiatives. http://www.un.org/depts/dhl/events/south/index.html
Irrigation key for Africa’s food
security – Diouf Urges Global “Early Reaction Fund” for countries in crisis
Sirte, Libya, 15
December - Water management
is “a key element” in food security, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told a
ministerial conference on “Water for
Agriculture and Energy in Africa: the Challenges of Climate Change”
which opened here today. The conference is organized by FAO, as the Chair of UN Water, together with the Libyan Arab
Jamahiriya Government and in collaboration with stakeholders including the
African Union, the African Ministers’ Council on Water Development, the African
Development Bank and the Economic Commission for Africa.
During the three-day
conference ministers from 53 African countries will consider a “Blue
Revolution” programme designed to harness Africa’s largely untapped water
resources to its development. The conference aims at setting the scene for
moving from talk to action. The $65 billion, 20-year programme details the
irrigation and hydroenergy investments required in each country. (...)
http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/8954/icode/
Sri Lanka:
Community credit reduces risk for poorest
by
Patrick Fuller, International Federation in Sri Lanka
12 December - In the years
since the tsunami struck, most of the affected families along Sri Lanka’s
coastline have received some form of help to rebuild their homes and restore
their livelihoods. But it is not uncommon to find that humanitarian assistance
programmes have failed to bring lasting benefits to some of the poorest and
most marginalized families. One of the key obstacles has been gaining access to
loans and financial services via the commercial banking sector. The
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Sri Lanka
Red Cross Society (SLRCS) have stepped in to help some of these families via a
partnership with SANASA, a well respected Micro Finance Institution (MFI)
cooperative, with more than 800,000 members and 25 years of experience in Sri
Lanka. A four-year pilot project is beginning in the southern district of
Matara where 750 of the poorest families in the district will be provided with
access to SANASA’s micro-finance services. (…) Backed by the Swedish Red Cross
and Belgian Flanders Red Cross societies, the project aims to strengthen,
diversify and protect livelihoods in a way that is sustainable over the long term.
(…)
http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/News/08/08121202/index.asp
11 December - The
invitation to take part in the fifth annual Experiences
in Social Innovation competition, organized by the Economic
Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) with support from the
W.K. Kellogg Foundation, is now open. The deadline for application is 16
January 2009. The contest was originally set to end in 2008, but given its
positive results in identifying innovative ideas, it has been extended for
another year.
The 2008-2009
cycle follows four prior successful contests, in which a total of 4,400
applications have been submitted. Of
these, 60 have been elected finalists, from the following countries: Argentina
(8), Belize (1), Bolivia (3), Brazil (19), Chile (2), Colombia (9), Cuba (1),
Ecuador (3), El Salvador (1), Guatemala (1), Haiti (1), Mexico (1), Paraguay
(2), Peru (6), St. Lucia (1) and Uruguay (1). The competition
focuses on innovative initiatives in eight areas: community health, primary
education, youth programmes, income generation, corporate social
responsibility, volunteer work, rural/agricultural development and food
security/nutrition. (...) The four contest cycles have awarded prizes for a
total of US$268,000. (...)
USD 30.17 million loan from IFAD to
empower rural women and reduce poverty in the Mid-Gangetic Plains of India
Rome, 11
December - A
USD30.17 million loan to the Republic of India from IFAD will assist in
increasing the social and economic empowerment of rural women, giving them
greater access to microfinance and business development services.
The total cost of
the Women’s Empowerment and Livelihoods Programme in the Mid-Gangetic Plains is
USD52.47 million. The loan agreement was signed today in Rome by Shri Arif
Shahid Khan, Ambassador of the Republic of India to Italy and Lennart Båge,
IFAD President.
The Mid-Gangetic
Plains constitute India’s largest pocket of poverty in terms of population. The
rural economy suffers from acute population pressure, low crop productivity and
inequitable land tenure. Women experience deeper deprivation here than
elsewhere in India because of strong patriarchy and rigid caste divisions. As
well as increasing access to financial institutions, the programme will empower
rural women by establishing grass-root organizations and increasing their
participation in local government. (...)
India receives
more funding from IFAD than any other country in the world. To date, IFAD has
financed 22 programmes and projects in India, approving loans for a total of
USD595.3 million.
http://www.ifad.org/media/press/2008/57.htm
Rwanda:
food and nutrition interventions for PLWHA
2 December - ACDI/VOCA has won
a five-year, subagreement from Catholic Relief Services on the Ibyiringiro
project to support improved services available to people living with HIV/AIDS
(PLWHA) and orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in Rwanda. USAID and the
President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) program provides funding
for the project, which will address four main impediments to improving the
livelihood security and resiliency of households impacted by HIV and AIDS: a
lack of available resources to expand the quantity and quality of services to
PLWHA and OVC households already receiving food rations; a lack of strong
community-based organizations to consistently support PLWHA and OVCs;
insufficient economic opportunities for PLWHA and OVC households; insufficient
weaning food and targeted nutrition education to HIV positive mothers to
prevent the transmission of HIV to their infants after six months of exclusive
breastfeeding.
ACDI/VOCA will be primarily working
with local cooperatives in cooperative development, including training in
management, financial systems and governance.
http://www.acdivoca.org/acdivoca/PortalHub.nsf/ID/news_newprojectRwandaIbyiringiro
International Human Solidarity
Day - 20 December
International Human Solidarity Day was established by the General Assembly of the United
Nations in 2005 as an initiative in the fight against poverty. (A/RES/60/209)
International Human Solidarity Day is:
A day to celebrate our unity in diversity
A day to remind governments to respect their
commitments to international agreements
A day to raise public awareness of the importance
of solidarity
A day to encourage debate on the ways to promote
solidarity for the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals including
poverty eradication
A day of action to encourage new initiatives for
poverty eradication.
http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/social/intldays/IntSolidarity/index.html
Flood-stricken Papua
New Guinea receives UN assistance
16 December - The United Nations is sending a disaster assessment team
to Papua New Guinea after severe sea swells hit the northern shoreline,
affecting up to 60,000 people, according to government estimates. The
possibility of water-borne disease is one of the major health concerns and
timely and adequate water and sanitation assistance is required, the UN Office
for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said today. The
swells destroyed houses, food and water supplies. Main needs identified by the
government include water containers, tarpaulins, water purification tablets,
food rations and insecticide-treated anti-malarial bed-nets. The surge, which
damaged crops and led to the loss of gardening tools, hit eight provinces and
left some 34,000 people in need of immediate aid, according to the national Red
Cross. The six-member UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team
will arrive in Port Moresby, the capital, tomorrow to reinforce relief efforts
already undertaken by the UN country team.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29325&Cr=flood&Cr1=ocha
Democratic
Republic of the Congo: Red Cross launches campaign to reunite
conflict-dispersed families
Goma, 9 December (ICRC) -
Although North Kivu has been relatively calm in recent days, the ordeal is far
from over for families thrust apart by the armed conflict. To help them, the
International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the Red Cross Society of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo have launched a campaign to speed up
identification of children separated from their parents and family
reunification. (…)
The vast network of the
Congolese Red Cross is being used both to register stranded children and to
take the tracing requests of families having lost contact with their children.
The details are then broadcast throughout North Kivu on four local radio
stations three times a day. Explanatory posters are displayed in Red Cross
offices in the field and in various public places to inform the families about
this service. In addition, beginning this week the ICRC is going to display
photographs of lost children in areas with concentrations of displaced people -
schools, churches and child care centres, as well as camps for the displaced.
(...)
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/congo-kinshasa-news-091208
Caritas
aid efforts underway in Sri Lanka following Cyclone Nisha
5 December - Nisha has caused
severe damage in Jaffna and Vanni after the storm hit northern Sri Lanka on 25
and 26 November. In the Jaffna peninsula alone 338, 579 people were affected by
the cyclone, with 93,135 forced from their homes by the bad weather into camps.
Some 12,000 houses were completely destroyed and another 31,000 houses were
badly damaged.
Caritas is one of only two
international aid agencies allowed to operate in Jaffna and Vanni by the Sri
Lankan government. The local Caritas has already begun providing meals to those
made homeless through its network of diocesan centres. Caritas provided them
with clothes, mats and other immediately needed essential items. Cooked meals
were provided for five consecutive days. In Jaffna, Caritas is providing for
the relief and rehabilitation needs of 3000 families currently in temporary
accommodation. Caritas is also
providing non-food items in the Jaffna, cleaning all wells and giving people
shelter. Caritas is ensuring medical treatment is available to people in camps
with the help of Holy Cross sisters. (…)
Save
the Children expands assistance to children hurt by Zimbabwe hunger crisis
Westport, Conn., 2 December -
With a deepening food emergency threatening the lives and well-being of
millions of Zimbabweans, Save the Children is moving rapidly to reach
vulnerable children, expanding existing nutrition, food and other programs in
the country. The situation for children in Zimbabwe, where nearly one-third of
children are malnourished, is deteriorating. Nearly half of the country’s
population - about 5 million people - will be in need of food aid to survive by
the end of the year, according to the United Nations. Save the Children is
currently providing food assistance to 200,000 people and enabling families to
prepare for the future by distributing seed, small livestock and helping to set
up vegetable gardens. (…)
http://www.savethechildren.org/newsroom/2008/zimbabwe-hunger-crisis.html
Lebanese
and Palestinian children create their own space to play
Burghliyeh, Lebanon, 28
November - Yesterday, ANERA inaugurated a children’s park in the municipality
of Burghliyeh, a Lebanese and Palestinian community near Tyre. Motivation for
the park came from a series of fun, interactive meetings conducted by ANERA
over two months with small groups of children from Burghliyeh. The meetings
brought out, early on, the need for a safe, clean and open place for children
to play. They had been playing in irrigation ditches and cow pastures. (…)
The play area was the result
of a partnership between ANERA and the Association for Rural Development, with
funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development. Playgrounds for
Palestine, an American non-profit, helped in identifying the right playground
and negotiating a reduced price from a supplier in the United States. (…)
http://www.anera.org/newsResources/ANERABuildsaPlayAreaataGatheringinLebanon.php
Nalchik, Russian Federation,
12 December - Last month, on the International Day for Tolerance, roughly 150 volunteers
and children from eight regions of the North Caucasus gathered in Nalchik
for the first Congress of Young Peace Builders. The congress was organized by
UNICEF to bring together those who participate in UNICEF’s peace and tolerance
programme. (...) Congress activities also included peace and tolerance
trainings carried out by experienced volunteers. Other volunteers organized a
round table focused on the steps young people can take to bring peace to the
region.
In a declaration developed as
a result of the round table, volunteers hope to alert adults to the fact that
children and young people are most affected by the ongoing violence and
interethnic strife in the region. The declaration concludes: “We, the children
of the North Caucasus, are determined to do everything possible to achieve
peace and stability for our region.” (...)
UNICEF has been running the
peace and tolerance programme in the North Caucasus since 2005. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/russia_46830.html
MAG
signs Accord de Siège in the Republic of Congo
More
than 1,200 dangerous items destroyed since mid-October.
4 December - MAG has become
only the 56th organisation to have signed a comprehensive Accord de Siège with
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Francophony in the Republic of Congo. The
Accord will make it easier for MAG to operate in the country and carry out its
stockpile management and demolition activities. Working in partnership with the
Ministry of Defence and alongside the Forces Armées Congolaises (FAC), MAG is
carrying out Conventional Weapons Management and Disposal (CWMD) operations and
recently undertook a series of demolition activities.
A number of large Soviet
aircraft bombs were destroyed, along with other items of unexploded ordnance
(UXO) and artillery rounds. In total more than 1,200 dangerous items have been
destroyed since mid-October 2008 when the second phase of this programme
started. (…)
http://www.maginternational.org/news/mag-signs-accord-de-sige-in-republic-of-congo/
Europol creates network for
editors of law-enforcement magazines
The Hague, The Netherlands, 28 November - Europol
(European Police Office) launched a network for editors of law-enforcement
magazines during a seminar on 27-28 Participants from 18 EU Member States
discussed how best to cooperate amongst editors such as exchanging articles,
best practices and contacts, and promoting international law enforcement
cooperation at national and regional level. Europol offered the participants an
intense programme containing presentations, workshops and networking sessions.
The editors presented their own magazines and gave an impression of the broad
variety of information available to their readers i.e. the law enforcement
officers of their respective forces.
The outcome of the seminar will result in a
platform for editors to exchange information, ideas and articles being created.
Furthermore, the Corporate Communications Unit will update interested parties
through regular email notifications about new developments at Europol. (...)
The seminar for editors is intended to be a
recurrent event. Fostering external communication with the Member States and EU
partners is an important part of Europol’s Communication and Marketing
Strategy.
http://www.europol.europa.eu/index.asp?page=news&news=pr081128_2_2.htm
Burkina
Faso: 770 Red Cross volunteers assist in a yellow fever campaign
by Lazare Zoungrana, Burkina
Faso Red Cross
12 December - Kombissiri is a
traditionally quiet city 45 kilometres south of Ouagadougou, the capital of
Burkina Faso, but on this occasion there is an exceptionally large crowd in its
June 2nd Square.
On 28 November, the country’s
first lady Madame Chantal Compaoré visited to supervise a response and
prevention campaign against yellow fever. Two long lines stretched on hundreds
of metres under the strict watch of health officials dressed in white, and
volunteers from the Burkinabe Red Cross volunteers. All these participants had
the same goal - to immunize and be immunized against yellow fever, a virus that
broke out in the district of Ouahigoya some time ago.
The Burkinabe Red Cross has
come to assist in the fight against the virus which persistently circulates in
Burkina Faso. (…) On the spot, the Burkinabe Red Cross volunteers are
supporting the health officers. (…) For the Red Cross community health
coordinator, Dr. Maxime Yaméogo, the tasks that the volunteers have to deal
with are the same as in the 37 health districts nationwide where the risks of
catching yellow fever are high. (…)
http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/News/08/08121203/index.asp
Swiss
Rotarians stage National Polio Day
Rotary International News - 8
December - Swiss Rotarians used their creativity and numbers to join the
thousands of Rotary clubs who have raised funds for Rotary’s US$100 Million
Challenge.
More than 200 Swiss Rotary
clubs pooled efforts for Swiss National Polio Day on 13 September, raising
US$643,000. Some 13,000 Rotarians across districts 1980, 1990, and 2000
supported the event, with help from 16 Rotaract clubs and countless other
volunteers, including employees of Rotary International’s Europe and Africa
Office in Zurich.
Working with local political
leaders and regional health officials, Swiss Rotarians set up bright yellow
booths, decorated with a colorful sunflower design, on sidewalks and city
squares in 200 cities and villages across the nation. On the day of the event,
booth volunteers donned yellow vests used during polio immunization campaigns
to sell small packets of 10 sunflower seeds for 75 rappen (about 64 cents),
roughly the cost of a single dose of oral polio vaccine. (…)
This campaign was the first
stage of a strategic effort to promote polio eradication awareness in Switzerland
and Liechtenstein and raise US$830,000. More coordinated activities are being
planned for upcoming months. (…)
Adapted from Rotary Suisse Liechtenstein , the
certified regional magazine of Switzerland and Liechtenstein.
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/081208_news_swisspolio.aspx
The
Eastern Mediterranean region achieves measles goal three years early
Atlanta/Geneva/New
York/Washington, 4 December - Measles deaths worldwide fell by 74 per cent
between 2000 and 2007, from an estimated 750 000 to 197 000. In addition, the
Eastern Mediterranean region which includes countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan,
Somalia, and the Sudan has cut measles deaths by a remarkable 90 per cent -
from an estimated 96 000 to 10 000 - during the same period, thus achieving the
United Nations goal to reduce measles deaths by 90 per cent by 2010, three
years early. The progress was announced today by the founding partners of the
Measles Initiative: the American Red Cross, the United States Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United Nations Foundation (UN
Foundation), UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO). The data will be
published in the 5 December edition of WHO’s Weekly Epidemiological Record and
CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. (...)
http://www.unicef.org/media/media_46751.html
MSF responds to Zimbabwe’s cholera outbreak
MSF has emergency
staff on the ground in the most affected areas and has been sending vital
supplies to these areas.
4 December - MSF has been
treating cholera in Zimbabwe since the outbreak started in August and will
continue to care for patients throughout the country as long as is needed. The
outbreak has reached many provinces of the country but is at its highest levels
in Harare and its suburbs, where MSF has set up two cholera treatment centres at
the Infectious Disease Hospital and at Budiriro Polyclinic. To date, we have
treated about 4,000 patients in Harare and 1,300 in the Mudzi district at the
border with Mozambique. The patient numbers are stil high but have more or less
stabilized at a total average of about 350 admissions per day in Harare. (...)
MSF is also covering the rural areas south of Harare, and Masvingo and
Manicaland provinces, where scattered cases of cholera have been found in
several villages.
MSF teams are working alongside the Ministry of Health as much as possible and helping to train health workers to treat patients and to control future outbreaks. MSF has emergency staff on the ground in the most affected areas and has been sending vital supplies to these areas. (...) http://www.msf.org/msfinternational/invoke.cfm?objectid=026CEC2D-15C5-F00A-25690EACA7DA97A6&component=toolkit.article&method=full_html
Africare
and Abbott Labs celebrate World AIDS Day with documentary launch
Washington, DC, 4 December -
In recognition of World AIDS Day, Africare, together with Abbott Labs, hosted a
viewing and discussion of “Together We Can!” a documentary that aims to show a
comprehensive approach to HIV/AIDS through the inspiring story of Ophelia
Haanyama Ørum, an HIV/AIDS activist and author. (...) The documentary tells of
her experiences in both Africa and Sweden as a woman living with HIV/AIDS, her
personal battle with the disease and her journey from hopelessness to strength.
33 million people today are living with HIV. In 2007, 2.5 million people were infected and 2.1 million died of AIDS-related causes. Though the figures are high, the unified global AIDS response has brought significant progress towards slowing the spread of HIV. (…)
Africare is a leading non-profit organization specializing in African aid. It is also the oldest and largest African-American led organization in that field. Since its founding in 1970, Africare has delivered more than $710 million in assistance and support - over 2,500 projects and millions of beneficiaries - to 36 countries Africa-wide. (...)
http://www.africare.org/news/news2008/documents/WorldAIDSDay2008.php
USAID
and ANERA celebrate the completion of Rafidia hospital in northern West Bank
Nablus, West Bank, 4 December
- American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA) and the United States Agency for
International Development (USAID) celebrated on Thursday the completion of
extensive renovations to Rafidia Surgical Hospital in Nablus. USAID contributed
a total of $950,000 through ANERA’s Emergency Water and Sanitation (EWAS) program.
The event was attended by the Minister of Health Dr. Fathi Abu Moghli, USAID
Mission Director Howard Sumka, ANERA President William Corcoran as well as
other Palestinian and U.S government officials. Rafidia Surgical Hospital is
the largest in northern West Bank (...). The repairs done in Rafidia Hospital
improved the medical care for thousands of Palestinians, particularly those who
cannot afford medical care in private hospitals.
ANERA
is a leading provider of development, health, education and employment programs
to Palestinian communities and impoverished families throughout the Middle East
(…)
http://www.anera.org/newsResources/ANERAUSAIDRehabilitateaMajorWestBankHospital.php
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GEEREF clean energy
fund decides on first investment of €22 million to support projects in Africa
and Asia
Brussels/Poznań, 11 December -
The Global Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Fund (GEEREF) set up by the
European Commission to provide clean energy to developing countries and
economies in transition has decided on a first set of investments totalling €22
million. Contributing to the fight against climate change, the investments will
finance small-scale renewable energy projects in sub-Saharan and southern
Africa as well as in Asia. The announcement was made today by European
Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas at a presentation of the GEEREF at the
UN Climate Change Conference in Poznań, Poland.
“The GEEREF is creating a finance
platform to support the global fight against both climate change and poverty,”
Commissioner Dimas said. “Tackling both these issues together is at the heart
of the EU’s ‘shared vision’ for a global and comprehensive international
agreement on climate change that we are discussing here in Poznan and which
must be concluded by the end of 2009.” (...) Together the European Commission,
Germany and Norway have committed about €110m to the GEEREF over the period
2007-2011 and it is envisaged that further financing from other public and
private sources will be forthcoming. (...)
Brussels, 9
December - For the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA), the Renewable
Energy Directive, agreed today, confirms Europe as the leader of the energy
revolution the world needs. The target means that more than one third of EU
electricity must come from renewables in 2020 and wind energy will be the
biggest contributor. (...) “Today tomorrow changed. The
European Parliament and the Council have agreed the world’s most important
energy law” stated Christian Kjaer, EWEA Chief Executive. (…)
For the
first time, each Member State has a legally binding renewables target for 2020
along with a clear trajectory to follow. By June 2010 the Member States will
draw up National Action Plans detailing the ways in which they are to meet
their 2020 targets, which will then be submitted to the Commission for
assessment. They will report on how they are doing every two years. These
measures will lead to real progress in the 27 countries. (...)
EU
adopts new Safer Internet Programme: € 55 million to make the Internet a safer
place for children
Brussels, 9 December - The EU
will have a new Safer Internet Programme as of 1 January 2009. Following the
overwhelmingly positive vote on 23 October in which the European Parliament
expressed its support for the new Safer Internet Programme (IP/08/1571), the Council of
Ministers has adopted today the new Programme.
The new Safer Internet Programme covering the period 2009-2013 had
been proposed by the European Commission on 28 February 2008 (IP/08/310) to protect
children in the ever more sophisticated online world and empower them to safely
use web services like social networking, blogging and instant messaging. While
75% of children (aged between 6 and 17 years) are already online and 50% of
10-year-olds have a mobile phone, a new Eurobarometer survey published today
shows that 60% of European parents are worried that their child might become a
victim of online grooming (...) and 54% that their children could be bullied
online (...). The new Safer Internet Programme will fight grooming and bullying
by making online software and mobile technologies more sophisticated and
secure. From 2009-2013, the EU will spend € 55 million to make the Internet a
safer place. (...)
Greater
Mekong a biological treasure trove: more than 1000 new species discovered in a
decade
Gland, Switzerland, 15
December - Over a thousand new species have been discovered in the Greater
Mekong Region of Southeast Asia in just the last decade, according to a new
report launched by WWF. (...) While most species were discovered in the largely
unexplored jungles and wetlands, some were first found in the most surprising
places. (…) The region comprises the six countries through which the Mekong
River flows including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the
southern Chinese province of Yunnan. It is estimated thousands of new
invertebrate species were also discovered during this period, further
highlighting the region’s immense biodiversity. (…)
The report stresses economic
development and environmental protection must go hand-in-hand to provide for
livelihoods and alleviate poverty, and ensure the survival of the Greater
Mekong’s astonishing array of species and natural habitats. (…)
http://www.panda.org/index.cfm?uNewsID=152622
Good news to share about the
Earth Charter focus area on religion and sustainability
18 November - After several
months of research and development, ECI gladly presents the Earth Charter Guide
on Religion and Climate Change that is available for download on the EC
website. The Guide presents a three-step methodology for assessing the ethical
challenges of climate change aimed at gaining a macro-perspective on our
climate crisis, assessing the root causes of climate change and framing
inclusive solutions.
The Guide could be especially
useful in religious seminaries, theology and ethics classes, congregational
study groups and interfaith dialogues on the deeper dimensions of climate
change and global warming. (...) Download.
http://www.earthcharterinaction.org/
Week of Prayer for Christian
Unity - 18-25 January 2009
Christians throughout the world
will be praying “that they may become one in God’s hand” during the Week of
Prayer for Christian Unity 2009.
Traditionally celebrated between 18 and 25 January
(in the northern hemisphere) or at Pentecost (in the southern hemisphere), the
Week of Prayer enters into congregations and parishes all over the world.
Pulpits are exchanged, and special ecumenical worship services are
arranged. The liturgical material for 2009 is rooted in the experience of
the churches in Korea. In their context of national division the churches have
turned for inspiration to the prophet Ezekiel, who also lived in a tragically
divided nation and longed for the unity of his people.
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/upcoming-events/ev/se/article/1722/week-of-prayer-for-christ-5.html
In Tehran, a Christian-Muslim symposium affirms dialogue, criticizes media
Equal
participation and shared responsibility in society are at the basis of a
peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims, stated participants at an
inter-religious symposium in Tehran, Iran last week. They highlighted the value
of learning from each other’s faith and criticized “irresponsible media”.
The 13-14 December symposium on
“Religion and peaceful coexistence” was jointly convened by the Tehran-based
Centre for Inter-religious Dialogue of the Islamic Culture and Relations
Organization and the World Council of Churches (WCC).
A joint
communiqué summarizing eight points of agreement highlighted the co-existence
between Christians and Muslims in Iran, as well as the value of dialogue, which
“should not be confined to scholars and spiritual leaders,” and of “learning
about each other’s faith”.
The joint
communiqué states: “Peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims should
be based on their equal participation and shared responsibility towards society
and each other. This includes recognizing and respecting one another’s
religious and civil rights, and taking a common stand whenever the rights of
religious communities are violated and whenever irresponsible media try to
present a distorted image of any particular religion, offending its symbols and
followers.” (...)
http://www.oikoumene.org/en/news/news-management/eng/a/article/1722/in-tehran-a-christian-mu.html
Nomination of Josep Borrell as President of the
European University Institute in Florence, Italy
12 December - On
Friday 12 December Josep Borrell Fontelles was appointed President of the
European University Institute (EUI) by unanimous vote of all Member States of
the EUI. Former President of the European Parliament, Josep Borrell’s
nomination was confirmed at the conclusion of a selection procedure involving
top-class candidates from Europe and beyond.
Borrell will bring
to the EUI his vast experience in both academic and political fields: Professor
of Mathematical Economics at the Complutense University of Madrid, founder of
the Spanish School of Public Finance, he has held various other academic
positions and is author of numerous publications. Josep Borrell began his
political career as Spanish Secretary of State for Finance in the Eighties,
subsequently nominated Minister for Public Works, Transport and Environment.
Member of the Spanish Parliament, from 2004, he was elected Member of the
European Parliament (EP). Later the same year, he was appointed President of the
European Parliament. He is currently President of the Development Committee of
the EP.
Josep Borrell will
take up his position at the head of the European University Institute in
January 2010, at the conclusion of the mandate of the President in office, Yves
Mény. (...)
Walking
among the planets
by Peter Schmidtke
Rotary International News - 12
December - In Anchorage, Alaska, USA, you don’t need a telescope to look at the
planets - you can walk to them. The secret is a scale-model planet walk created
by the Rotary Club of Anchorage and amateur astronomer Eli Menaker. Interested
trekkers start in downtown Anchorage at a 3-ton model of the sun and encounter
each of the planets along a 10-mile route ending at a ski chalet. Every step
equals 186,000 miles, and heading to Jupiter from Earth is a little more than a
half-hour stroll.
Menaker introduced the idea
for a temporary walk to city officials in 2003 while a student at Service High
School in Anchorage. Before heading off to Middlebury College in Vermont, he
was approached by Anchorage Rotarians with the idea of making permanent planet
displays, as part of the club’s centennial project. “We ended up drawing from
people in different walks of life. We had fundraisers, we had engineers and
people with science backgrounds,” says club member Julius Brecht, an attorney
and former NASA physicist. The Anchorage club raised more than $620,000 to
enhance Menaker’s plan.
Menaker says his original Sun
was a circular tarp covered with yellow adhesive tape. “I quickly realized we
had to step that up,” he said. A local artist used over 2,400 ceramic tiles to
craft a 12-foot-by-6-foot hemispherical model of the sun and sculpted sunspots
to scale. Menaker wrote text describing the planets and consulted with an
artist and a contractor to configure the planet kiosks. Brecht and others
worked to create a digital display for the Sun station at the start of the
walk. “I told our committee that what would really add some zing would be to
make it interactive,” says Brecht. Rotarians designed the three-sided,
9-foot-tall Sun station with three screens on which participants can view
Native American sun stories and NASA images. (…)
http://www.rotary.org/en/MediaAndNews/News/Pages/081212_news_planetwalk.aspx
Entrepreneurship
education funding for Arab States
12 December -
Young people and educational leaders will benefit from new funding to improve
entrepreneurship education in the Arab states. UNESCO-UNEVOC’s International
Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training will sign a
funds-in-trust agreement with the StratREAL Foundation for a $275,000 four-year
project to develop policies and programmes that integrate entrepreneurship
education into learning systems in Arab States. (…) UNEVOC is UNESCO’s
specialist international centre for technical and vocational education and
training and leads UNESCO’s work with Member States on improvements to skills
development to increase the life chances of young people in developing
countries, countries in transition and countries emerging from conflict. (…)
http://portal.unesco.org/education/en/ev.php-URL_ID=58431&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
Copenhagen, 12
December - A number of resolutions addressing press freedom and media
development issues will be presented to the foreign ministers of the
International Conference of the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) member states later
this month. The resolutions came out of a conference
held in Kigali, Rwanda, from 24 to 26 November that brought together more than
100 representatives of the ICGLR of 10 of the 11 member states (...) According
to Ambassador Liberata Mulamula, executive secretary of the ICGLR, the role of
the media in the region is crucial. “Our region is still facing enormous
security challenges in Eastern DRC, Darfur, Central African Republic and in
northern Uganda. The media has to play an important role complementing regional
and international efforts aimed at resolving conflicts in our region,” she
said. (…) Freedom of expression, independent and pluralistic media are the
centre of this formula,” said Mogens Schmidt, UNESCO’s Deputy Assistant
Director-General for Communication and Information. (…)
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=27886&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.htm
Brussels, 11 December - The first Conference on
the EU’s flagship funding programme in the area of culture, the Culture
Programme 2007 - 2013, takes place on Friday, 12 December. The Conference will
present past and on-going project results from the current and previous EU
Culture Programmes. The aim of the event is to enable an exchange of experience
and good practices between cultural operators and programme beneficiaries.
The Conference consists of plenary sessions as
well as a complimentary exhibition where 35 projects will be showcased. Those projects
focus on 5 themes (...). Through the Culture Programme 2007-2013, the European
Commission encourages cooperation between cultural operators within Europe,
aiming to enhance the development of cross-border cultural cooperation between
creators, cultural players and cultural institutions of the participating
countries. A total amount of € 400 million is available for the Culture
Programme over the period 2007-2013, and 264 projects were funded through the
Programme in 2008. (...)
“Mobility
Matters” study offers a panorama on the mobility of artists and Cultural
Professionals in Europe
10 December - “Mobility
Matters”: Programmes and Schemes to Support the Mobility of Artists and
Cultural Professionals in Europe. Study directed by the ERICarts Institute for the European Commission.
Following an open invitation to tender launched in early 2008, the European
Commission selected the European Institute for Comparative Cultural Research
(the ERICarts Institute) to carry out a study. To this end, this institute has
worked together with a group of six key experts and 38 national correspondents.
(…)
http://ec.europa.eu/culture/news/news1831_en.htm
Rwanda:
Training in humanitarian principles and values
Kigali, 8 December (ICRC) - In
partnership with the national centre developing ways to introduce humanitarian
principles and values into new school programmes, the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC) is organizing a training course on the Exploring
Humanitarian Law (EHL) educational programme for 25 of the centre’s senior
staff. The course will be held in Kigali from 8 to 12 December.
The objective of this course
is to familiarize the 25 participants, all of whom are involved in programme
development at the national centre, with the content and teaching methods of
EHL,” explained Tobias Epprecht, the head of the ICRC delegation in Kigali.
Experts from the Seychelles will lead plenary and group sessions where
participants will be able to discuss which methods are most effective in
teaching humanitarian values in schools. The participants will later be given
the task of transferring what they have learned to teachers of political
education courses that include units based on EHL. (...)
http://www.icrc.org/Web/Eng/siteeng0.nsf/html/rwanda-news-081208
5 December - The prize-winning British children’s author and
illustrator Lauren Child has been selected as the latest Artist for Peace by
the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO),
the agency announced today.
The author’s
appointment comes in recognition of her commitment and support of Programme for
the Education of Children in Need and she will be formally inducted to the post
by UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura at a ceremony in Paris on 12
December. Under a partnership launched earlier in the year, Ms. Child and her
publisher, Hachette Children’s Books, agreed to donate three years of royalties
from her best-selling book That Pesky Rat to UNESCO’s Programme for the
Education of Children in Need. The funds will finance various UNESCO-supported
projects for children in need, such as those of the Renacimiento Foundation,
which works for street children in Mexico City. (...)
http://www.unric.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21045&Itemid=42
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Good News Agency is
published in English on one Friday and in Italian the next. Past issues
are available at www.goodnewsagency.org . Rome Law-court registration
no. 265 dated 20 June 2000.
Managing
Editor: Sergio Tripi, Ph.D. Editorial research by Fabio Gatti, Maria Grazia Da
Damos, Elisa Peduto, Azzurra Cianchetta. Editorial Secretary: Maria Grazia Da
Damos.
Good News Agency is distributed free of charge through Internet to 4,000 editorial offices of the daily newspapers and periodical magazines and of the radio and television stations with an e-mail address in 49 countries: Albania, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bosnia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, China, Costa Rica, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Holland, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, Venezuela, USA. It is also distributed free of charge to 2,800 NGOs and 500 high schools, colleges and universities.
It is an all-volunteer service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, a registered educational charity chartered in Italy in 1979 and associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations. The Association has been recognized by UNESCO as “an actor of the global movement for a culture of peace”. The Association operates for the development of consciousness and promotes a culture of peace in the ‘global village’ perspective based on unity in diversity and on sharing. It is based in Via Antagora 10, 00124 Rome, Italy.
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