Much Cause for Satisfaction
Message on World Malaria Day, 2010
Two years ago, I called for malaria prevention and treatment programmes to be made universally available to at-risk populations by the end of 2010. This World Malaria Day brings much cause for satisfaction. In a very short time, the world has gone from simply trying to hold malaria at bay to the realistic goal of delivering effective and affordable care to all who need it. Furthermore, the scientific community has set a research agenda for developing the tools and strategies that will eventually eradicate malaria for good.
What the 缅北禁地Can Do to Promote Dialogue among Civilizations
Since conflict begins where dialogue ceases, it is essential to search for ways past political fragmentation and strive to find common ground for debate. Thus, the ideal of authentic dialogue among people belonging to different cultures and civilizations has never lost momentum or its driving force. It must just be adapted to an evolving political landscape in the current era of globalization.
Tracking Climate Change From Space
For centuries, rural communities in the high plateaus of the Andes have utilized water from melting glaciers that typify this amazing mountain range. But the retreat of these glaciers is forcing the communities to reconsider their livelihoods and ways to adapt. From a wider perspective, the melting of glaciers is an iconic warning to the larger cities in the Andes that rely on glaciers for potable water.
A Special Partnership With the UN: A Latin American Perspective
Latin America is the region in the developing world where democracy is now almost universal. Its roots, however, are weak. Latin America has a population of approximately 550 million people, of which about 44 per cent live under the poverty line and 18 per cent are affected by extreme poverty.
Commitment is the Key
The world is on a deadline. The clock is ticking, and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is a global priority for governments. There is no doubt that the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS, global warming, and disarmament has received more coverage recently. But one issue that affects all, yet still goes under the radar, is hunger. That is why I will be focusing on MDG 1: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger.
The Role of the International Criminal Court in Ending Impunity and Establishing the Rule of Law
The ICC contributes to the fight against impunity and the establishment of the rule of law by ensuring that the most severe crimes do not go unpunished and by promoting respect for international law. The core mandate of the ICC is to act as a court of last resort with the capacity to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes when national jurisdictions for any reason are unable or unwilling to do so.
The Struggle against Apartheid: Lessons for Today's World
The United Nations has been concerned with the issue of racial discrimination since its inception. The 缅北禁地General Assembly adopted on 19 November 1946 during its first session a resolution declaring that it is in the higher interests of humanity to put an immediate end to religious and so-called racial persecution and discrimination, and calling on Governments and responsible authorities to conform both to the letter and to the spirit of the Charter of the United Nations, and to take the most prompt and energetic steps to that end.
Indigenous Children - Their Human Rights, Mortality, and the Millennium Development Goals
The first effective attempt to promote children's rights was the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, drafted by Eglantyne Jebb in 1923 and adopted by the League of Nations in 1924. On 20 November 1959, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a much expanded version as its own Declaration of the Rights of the Child, with ten principles in place of the original five. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) was the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights, describing child-specific needs and rights. These human rights included civil, cultural, economic, political, and social rights, as well as aspects of humanitarian law.The UNCRC was signed in 1989, and entered into force in 1990. As of May 2010, it had 193 parties which had ratified, accepted, or acceded with stated reservations or interpretations, including every member of the United Nations except Somalia and the United States, which have only signed.
Securing our Future: A Decade of Counter-terrorism Strategies
Terrorism did not begin on 11 September 2001, but that terrible day did change the world. The attacks on the United States that claimed the lives of nearly three thousand innocent people showed us that terrorism had morphed into a global phenomenon that could cause massive pain and destruction anywhere. The magnitude of the attacks meant that no one could stand on the sidelines anymore. The fight had become global because the impact of terrorism was being felt everywhere.
Forests and Climate Change: From Complex Problem to Integrated Solution
Global warming has become everyday news, often featured in alarming statements by Heads of Governments, scientists or environmental activists. We now know that melting glaciers, erratic global weather patterns, droughts, raging wildfires and creeping invasive species of flora and fauna in new localities are all unmistakably the effects of climate change.
Improving 缅北禁地Responses to Humanitarian Crises
In the aftermath of the Second World War, the creation of the United Nations and documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Genocide Convention, the four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and their Additional Protocols, as well as concepts such as responsibility to protect (R2P), have transformed international law and the basis for how states must conduct international relations. Yet, as David Rieff, who has covered several wars and humanitarian emergencies, remarks in his book A Bed for the Night: Humanitarianism in Crisis, the murderous twentieth century remained just as murderous.
Health and the MDGs: The Challenges Ahead
In 2000, the international community endorsed the Millennium Declaration, which sets out an historic commitment to eradicate extreme poverty and improve the health of the world's poorest people by 2015.
Educate Girls, Eradicate Poverty - A Mutually Reinforcing Goal
There is no question that educating girls is a prerequisite for eradicating poverty. Education empowers and transforms women. It allows them to break the traditional cycle of exclusion that keeps them at home and disengaged from decision making. Education, especially higher education, can prepare women to take on roles of responsibility in government, business and civil society. Women make ideal leaders: numerous studies have demonstrated that they tend to allocate resources more wisely than men. For example, women spend a larger percentage of their income on food and education for their children. Thus, strengthening the economic and political role of women directly benefits the next generation. To provide an excellent university education for women is to make long-term investment in their and their children's futures.
Why Water Management Starts at the Local Level
Water is ubiquitous: it is essential for all forms of life and virtually all economic activities. The United Nations has declared that a human right exists for reliable access to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation which, along with other domestic purposes, accounts for about 7 to 10 per cent of all water use.
Stepping Up Efforts to Reach the MDGs: The Spain-UNDP Fund
There has been too little progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At present, 40 per cent of the world's population is living below the minimum sanitation threshold, two thirds of all illiterate people are women and over 65 per cent of the people affected by HIV/AIDS live in Africa.