Welcome to International Year of Co-operatives 2012!
It is Our Time to Shine!
The United Nations has designated 2012 the International Year of Co-operatives in recognition of the important contribution of co-operatives worldwide to social and economic development. Join us in 2012 to celebrate our achievements and increase public awareness of our socially responsible business model. 2012, it's Our Time to Shine!
Watch the videos and learn more about IYC 2012.
Visit www.australia2012.coop
Video developed by Webgirl Consulting (www.webgirlconsulting.com.au)
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Secretary-General's message on the International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action
New York, 4 April 2012 - International Day for Mine Awareness and Assistance in Mine Action - April 4
United Nations mine action programmes make an invaluable contribution to post-conflict recovery, humanitarian relief efforts, peace operations and development initiatives. They prevent landmines and other explosive ordnance from causing further indiscriminate harm long after conflicts have ended, and help to transform danger zones into productive land. Mine action sets communities on course toward lasting stability.
In Libya, mine action personnel have responded to the threat posed by landmines, cluster munitions, and the lack of secure ammunition storage areas. Thousands of explosive remnants of war have been secured or cleared from schools, roads or residential areas, and tens of thousands of people have received risk education.
Over the past year, mine action operators have also been assisting in stockpile management in Albania, Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The recent disaster in Congo Brazzaville, where an arms depot exploded, is a tragic reminder of the need for such management.
On this year’s International Day for Mine Awareness, we are “lending our legs” in a campaign to show support and compassion for survivors. Working closely with national authorities and non-governmental organizations, the United Nations is implementing mine risk education and victim assistance in more than 40 countries, teaching communities how to live safely in contaminated areas, and assisting survivors with disabilities to obtain access to the full range of services and rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
I thank all who contribute to international mine action. I also commend the 159 States that have agreed to be bound by the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Convention, those that have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, and the 110 that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
On this International Day, I call for universal adherence to these important treaties and for increased support for mine awareness and mine action. Landmines and explosive remnants of war hamper development and endanger lives. Let’s eliminate them together for a safe sustainable world.
United Nations mine action programmes make an invaluable contribution to post-conflict recovery, humanitarian relief efforts, peace operations and development initiatives. They prevent landmines and other explosive ordnance from causing further indiscriminate harm long after conflicts have ended, and help to transform danger zones into productive land. Mine action sets communities on course toward lasting stability.
In Libya, mine action personnel have responded to the threat posed by landmines, cluster munitions, and the lack of secure ammunition storage areas. Thousands of explosive remnants of war have been secured or cleared from schools, roads or residential areas, and tens of thousands of people have received risk education.
Over the past year, mine action operators have also been assisting in stockpile management in Albania, Côte d’Ivoire and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The recent disaster in Congo Brazzaville, where an arms depot exploded, is a tragic reminder of the need for such management.
On this year’s International Day for Mine Awareness, we are “lending our legs” in a campaign to show support and compassion for survivors. Working closely with national authorities and non-governmental organizations, the United Nations is implementing mine risk education and victim assistance in more than 40 countries, teaching communities how to live safely in contaminated areas, and assisting survivors with disabilities to obtain access to the full range of services and rights enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
I thank all who contribute to international mine action. I also commend the 159 States that have agreed to be bound by the Antipersonnel Mine Ban Convention, those that have joined the Convention on Cluster Munitions and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war, and the 110 that have ratified the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
On this International Day, I call for universal adherence to these important treaties and for increased support for mine awareness and mine action. Landmines and explosive remnants of war hamper development and endanger lives. Let’s eliminate them together for a safe sustainable world.
Friday, 30 March 2012
World Autism Awareness Day - 2 April.
Secretary-General's Message for 2012
Autism is not limited to a single region or a country; it is a worldwide challenge that requires global action.
Although developmental disabilities such as autism begin in childhood, they persist throughout a person’s life. Our work with and for people with autism should not be limited to early identification and treatment; it should include therapies, educational plans and other steps that lead us towards sustained, lifelong engagement.
Reaching out to people with autism spectrum disorders requires global political commitment and better international cooperation, especially in sharing good practices. Greater investments in the social, education and labour sectors are crucially important, since developed and developing countries alike still need to improve their capacities to address the unique needs of people with autism and cultivate their talents. We also need to promote further research, train non-specialized care providers, and enable the autism community to more easily navigate care systems to obtain services that can support and mainstream individuals with autism.
The annual observance of World Autism Awareness Day is meant to spur such action and draw attention to the unacceptable discrimination, abuse and isolation experienced by people with autism and their loved ones. As highlighted by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, people with autism are equal citizens who should enjoy all human rights and fundamental freedoms.
On this Day in New York, Vienna and Geneva, the United Nations Postal Administration is releasing six commemorative postage stamps and two collectible envelopes dedicated to autism awareness. These tiny pieces of paper — with images created by artists who have been diagnosed with autism — will send a powerful message to people around the world that talent and creativity live inside all of us.
My wife has been very involved with autism awareness and advocacy efforts, and has shared with me inspiring stories not only about individuals with autism, but also about those committed to improving their lives. Let us all continue to join hands to enable people with autism and other neurological differences to realize their potential and enjoy the opportunities and well-being that are their birthright.
Ban Ki-moon
International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade - March 25
March 25th is the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. It serves as a reminder that greater effort must be made to ensure that the history of the transatlantic slave trade is not forgotten and that it is used as a tool to combat discrimination and inequality. Julie Walker caught up with the Jamaican Ambassador to the UN Raymond Wolfe at a special event at United Nations headquarters in New York to discuss his plans for a permanent memorial at the UN.
“The story of the end of the slave trade deserves to be told here at the United Nations. Indeed, the defense of human rights is at the heart of this Organization’s global mission. Our Charter proclaims equal rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude”.
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon
The Transatlantic slave trade persisted for four centuries.
Imagine being torn from your weeping family as a result of ethnic warfare…forced to walk hundreds of miles until you reach the sea on the West African side of the Atlantic Ocean. You are stripped of your name, your identity, of every right a human being deserves. The European ship that you are forced to board, is headed across the Atlantic to Caribbean and South American plantations, a voyage through the awful “middle passage”. A multitude of black people of every description chained together, with scarcely room to turn, traveling for months, seasick, surrounded by the filth of vomit-filled tubs, into which children often fell, some suffocating. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying renders the whole scene of horror almost inconceivable. Death and disease are all around and only one in six will survive this journey and the brutal, backbreaking labour that follows.
“The story of the end of the slave trade deserves to be told here at the United Nations. Indeed, the defense of human rights is at the heart of this Organization’s global mission. Our Charter proclaims equal rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “no one shall be held in slavery or servitude”.
Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon
The Transatlantic slave trade persisted for four centuries.
Imagine being torn from your weeping family as a result of ethnic warfare…forced to walk hundreds of miles until you reach the sea on the West African side of the Atlantic Ocean. You are stripped of your name, your identity, of every right a human being deserves. The European ship that you are forced to board, is headed across the Atlantic to Caribbean and South American plantations, a voyage through the awful “middle passage”. A multitude of black people of every description chained together, with scarcely room to turn, traveling for months, seasick, surrounded by the filth of vomit-filled tubs, into which children often fell, some suffocating. The shrieks of the women, and the groans of the dying renders the whole scene of horror almost inconceivable. Death and disease are all around and only one in six will survive this journey and the brutal, backbreaking labour that follows.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Saturday, 24 March 2012
“The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry” WORLD WATER DAY 2012
Water Security
“The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry” is the message of the 2012 World Water Day. It puts in a nutshell one of the key links in the complex nexus of water, food, climate and energy: the crucial relationship between water and the production of our food.
Water Security - the Water Energy Food Climate Nexus
“The World is Thirsty Because We are Hungry” is the message of the 2012 World Water Day. It puts in a nutshell one of the key links in the complex nexus of water, food, climate and energy: the crucial relationship between water and the production of our food.
Water Security - the Water Energy Food Climate Nexus
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