Good News Agency - Year 11Th, No.179 - 12 November 2010

Good News Agency - year 11th, no.179 - November 12, 2010

Good News Agency

Weekly - year 11th, number 179 –12th November 2010

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 10,000 media and editorial journalists in54 countries and to 3,000 NGOs and 1,600 high schools, colleges and universities. It is an all-volunteer service of Associazione Culturale dei Triangoli e della Buona Volontà Mondiale, an educational charity associated with the United Nations Department of Public Information. The Association has beenrecognized by UNESCOas “an actor of the global movement for a culture of peace” andit is a member of the World Association of Non Governmental Organizations.

Contents

International legislation – Human rights – Economy and development – Solidarity

Peace and security – Health – Energy and Safety – Environment and wildlife

Religion and spirituality – Culture and education

International legislation

(top)

In Lao PDR, cluster bomb survivors hopeful key meeting will help to end suffering

The treaty’s historic First Meeting of States Parties is being held from 9-12 November

(Gemima Harvey)

November 8 - Vientiane is buzzing with activity before the historic First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention of Cluster Munitions begins this Tuesday, where states are expected to agree on concrete actions to implement the decade’s most significant humanitarian and disarmament treaty. The meeting will convene more than 110 governments and more than 400 civil society campaigners from around the world to decide a 65-point action plan for implementing the Convention in the coming years and encourage additional states to get on board the ban.

The treaty highlights the power of civil society working in collaboration with governments, the United Nations and international organisations to prevent more cluster bomb victims and future suffering. Lao PDR is the world’s most heavily cluster-bombed country and a fitting place for governments to commit additional resources to assisting victims and clearing contaminated areas. The Convention seeks to create a future without these weapons, giving hope to cluster bomb victims like Chanthava Pobuly from Savannakhet province in Lao PDR.

People suffer. Development is stalled. Now cluster munitions are banned under international law, but all countries need to heed to the call and get on board the ban to end the suffering caused by cluster munitions.

More information on COPE:

More information on the Ban Advocates:

Announcing launch of deed of commitment on children and armed conflict

November 2 - Geneva Call is pleased to announce the launch of the Deed of Commitment under Geneva Call for the Protection of Children from the Effects of Armed Conflict. This standard and universal instrument aims to provide Armed non-State actors (NSAs), which lack the legal capacity to become party to relevant international treaties, with an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to international norms protecting children from armed conflict.

This is the second such Deed of Commitment under Geneva Call. Its launch comes during the 10 year anniversary of the first – the Deed of Commitment under Geneva Call for Adherence to a Total Ban on Anti-Personnel Mines and for Cooperation in Mine Action with which to date, – 41 NSAs from around the globe have signed and substantially complied.

The new Deed of Commitment has been developed by Geneva Call following focused discussions with NSAs, and under the advice of an expert advisory group including participants from the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, UNICEF, the ICRC, the Quaker UN Office and international legal experts. As with the Deed of Commitment banning anti-personnel mines, the Republic and Canton of Geneva will act as custodian, and when possible, signings will take place in the Alabama Room where the 1st Geneva Convention was signed in 1864.

Opening door to Western Balkans

Soon citizens of Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina holding biometric passports will be able to travel to the Schengen area and stay for three months without applying for a visa. This is a result of the Justice and Home Affairs Council's meeting on 8 November, at which the ministers adopted an amendment of the regulation which lists third countries to which the visa-free regime applies.

To obtain the visa waiver for the Schengen area (which covers all EU member states except the UK and Ireland, as well as three non-EU members: Iceland, Norway and Switzerland) the two Balkan states had to fulfil a number of criteria, contained in the so-called "roadmaps" which they designed together with the EU member states and the European Commission.

The two candidates for visa-free travel had to carry out a number of important reforms, e.g. improve their capacity to fight organised crime and corruption, increase passport security and improve border controls. The European Union, which considers stability, peace and prosperity in the Western Balkans to be one of its highest priorities, helped to bring about these necessary changes and provided the requisite technical and financial assistance.

Human rights

(top)

International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women - November 25

Violence against women takes many forms; all are unacceptable violations of human rights.

Each year, for 16 days, bookended by the International Day to End Violence Against Women (25 November) and Human Rights Day (10 December), groups from around the world join together to speak out against gender violence. Because all too often, it is covered up or tacitly condoned.

This year's theme is one of empowerment: Commit. Act. Demand. We CAN End Violence Against Women. It reflects the fact that gender violence is increasingly being recognized as a stain on humanity and something that must and can be dealt with.

Universal Children's Day - November 20

One of the outstanding keynotes of our present time is the focus that is being put on children: the rights of children; the needs of children; the importance of considering children in every area of life. At a global level this is reflected in The Convention on the Rights of the Child, an international human rights treaty that is transforming the lives of children and their families around the world. Under the Convention all but two of the world's countries have agreed to meet universal standards, guaranteeing children the rights to survival, health, education, a caring family environment, play and culture...

Universal Children's Day is observed on different days in different countries. It is a Day to celebrate children and to empower the vision of an interdependent world of families, communities and nations in which the rights and needs of children are accorded the highest priority. 20 November marks the day in which the UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, in 1959, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in 1989.

Media Literacy Week explores gender representation in media

November 3 - The Canadian Teachers’ Federation (CTF), together with Media Awareness Network, a not-for-profit centre for media and digital literacy, have launched Canada’s fifth annual Media Literacy Week.The theme of this year’s activities, which begin on 1 November, is ‘Gender and Media’ and will be used to highlight the need for parents, educators and young people to talk about the ways that gender is portrayed in media and how this can influence young people’s perceptions of themselves and others.An online resource has also been developed and made available to help parents keep up with their children online and to work with their families to develop ground rules that everyone can live with.

Media Literacy Week has been promoting the integration of media literacy activities in communities, schools and families across Canada for the past five years. The week underscores the importance of nurturing critical thinking skills in young people that will help them understand and effectively navigate their media-rich world.

Education International Vice-President, Irene Duncan-Adanusa, welcomed the initiative by CTF, an EI affiliate, and acknowledged the importance of educating young people about stereotypes still attached to gender and the advantages and dangers brought by new information technologies.

Economy and development

(top)

Food Security and Agricultural Strategies: What Room for Multilateral Governance?

On 17 November at the Committee of the Regions, 101, rue Belliard, Brussels

Recent food riots, hyper-volatile agricultural prices and speculation on agricultural raw materials have reminded politicians that agriculture is not only a specific sector, but a strategic one. What are the objectives of the world’s major powers’ agricultural policies? What kinds of means are being implemented towards their achievement? What consequences do they have in terms of food security, environmental and geopolitical stability?

This one-day conference, taking place on the very day when Agriculture Commissioner Dacian Ciolos will be presenting the Commission’s communication on agricultural reform post-2013, will open a timely debate, raising new elements in the reflection on the future of agricultural systems throughout the world. Bringing together international actors to expose current challenges and exchange views on possible ways forward, the conference will explore proposals for the advancement of multilateral governance, taking into consideration the important role that the EU could potentially play in this field. To register, please send your name, position, and the name of your organisation, before 12:00 on Tuesday 16 November, to

The Madariaga - College of Europe Foundation is dedicated to promoting original thinking on the role of the European Union in an era of global change.

Africa crop tool launched

Interactive 43-nation guide on what to plant, when and where

Rome, November 11 - FAO has launched a quick reference calendar covering 43 major African countries that advises which crops to plant when, according to the type of agricultural zone from drylands to highlands. The web-based tool, developed by FAO experts, covers more than 130 crops from beans to beetroot to wheat to watermelon. It is aimed at all donors, agencies, government extension workers and non-governmental organizations working with farmers on the continent.

The FAO crop calendar is especially useful in case of an emergency such as drought or floods or for rehabilitation efforts following a natural or manmade disaster. As well as crops, it advises on tried and tested seed varieties that are adapted to the soil and climate conditions of each area.

There are 283 agro-ecological zones covered in the calendar, representing the vast richness and variety of the African ecology as well as challenges of land degradation, sand encroachment and floods. An estimated 50 percent of the global increase in yields over the past ten years has come from improving the quality of seeds. The other fifty percent has come from better water management and irrigation practices.

US$ 19.90 million IFAD loan-grant for economic empowerment of ethnic minorities in Viet Nam

Rome, November 9 - A new US$19.4 million loan and US$ 0.5 million grant from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam will increase the incomes of poor ethnic minority households in the DakNongProvince. The agreement for the Sustainable Economic Empowerment of Ethnic Minorities Project was signed today, in Hanoi, Viet Nam, by Vu Nan Ninh, Minister of Finance of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, and Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of IFAD.

The project will help to strengthen provincial institutions that will help to integrate the priorities of ethnic minority groups, particularly women within the Government planning process.

Under the project, joint liability groups will be established as the conduit for bank lending to individual members, along with training. The main focus of the project will be on minority livelihood development, rural financial services and in providing agricultural and value chain lending. Collective action will be crucial to the empowerment of people in order to help them overcome poverty; by setting up shared liability groups and savings and credits associations among poor ethnic minority women.

Over 31,370 households are expected to benefit. These households consist of indigenous and migrant ethnic minorities. The project activities will, in particular, involve women in the poorest communes of the DakNongProvince and low-income Kinh families. To date, IFAD has financed 10 projects in Viet Nam for a total investment of US$ 209.20 million directly benefiting 539,270 households. IFAD operations in Viet Nam

World Bank forms partnership for valuation of ecosystems

by Robert Kropp

SocialFunds.com talks with the World Resources Institute about the initiative to integrate the economic benefits of ecosystems into national accounting systems.

SocialFunds.com, November 3 - The momentum for integrated reporting by companies, or at least a form of accounting for ecosystem services in corporate sustainability reporting, received support on the macroeconomic level last week, when the World Bank announced the formation of the Global Partnership for Ecosystems and Ecosystem Services Valuation and Wealth Accounting. According to the World Bank, the new initiative intends to "give developing countries the tools they need to integrate the economic benefits that ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and coral reefs provide, into national accounting systems."

The World Bank initiative was announced at the The Convention on Biological Diversity meeting, held in Japan, where 193 countries met "to meet the unprecedented challenges of the continued loss of biodiversity compounded by climate change." The United States, which has signed but not ratified the Convention, was present as an observer.

The partnership builds upon the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB), a project hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Earlier in October, TEEB released its final report, which states, "The failure to account for the full economic values of ecosystems and biodiversity has been a significant factor in their continuing loss and degradation."

Hydroponic sector development in Lebanon

October 27 – ACDI/VOCA has won a $12 million, five-year Hydroponic Sector Development in Lebanon (HSDL) program to foster local economic growth. The innovative USAID-funded program will strengthen horticulture export market linkages and establish a vibrant high-value fruit, vegetables and flowers hydroponic sector.Hydroponics is an agricultural technique where plants are grown without soil in nutrient-rich water solutions or inert mediums like bark, coco peat and pumice.Lebanon’s varied climate—the country has nine growing areas due to multiple sub-climates and diverse environments—creates an opportunity for its greenhouse sector to become more competitive and access lucrative markets in Central Asia, the European Union and Gulf States.

Rural Poverty Report 2011

New realities, new challenges: new opportunities for tomorrow's generation

The Rural Poverty Report 2011 provides a coherent and comprehensive look at rural poverty, its global consequences and the prospects for eradicating it.

Since the last Rural Poverty Report was published by IFAD in 2001, there has been progress toward achieving the Millennium Development Goals. But 1.4 billion people continue to live in extreme poverty – and more than 70 percent of them are living in rural areas of developing countries, while the latest measurements show that 925 million of them are undernourished.

Young people and children make up the single largest group among poor rural people, and the Report emphasizes the importance of creating new and better opportunities for them – in particular, with a focus on expanding educational opportunities that specifically address the skills young people will need to succeed in the rural context.

Through extensive research by a team of international, regional and national experts in the field of poverty reduction – as well as through case studies and interviews with poor rural people themselves – the report provides unique insights into rural poverty around the world and how the livelihoods of the rural poor are changing. It explores the challenges that make it so difficult for rural people to overcome poverty, and identifies opportunities and the way forward to greater prosperity. And it highlights policies and actions that governments and development practitioners can take to support the efforts of rural people to overcome poverty.

Solidarity

(top)

Saint Lucia: Red Cross reponds to devastation caused by Hurricane Tomas

By Rodolfo Bergantino, IFRC, in Panama

November 5 - As Hurricane Tomas passed over the Antilles, it brought heavy rains and sustained winds of more than 90 miles to Saint Lucia. The hurricane has caused severe damage to hundreds of homes and public infrastructure such as hospitals, road networks, water pipes, and electricity and telephone cables. Official reports put the death toll at five, with five people are still missing.