|
|||
|
According to a press release issued by the UN Information Center (UNIC) here on Tuesday, the full text of his message reads:
"Sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth is fundamental to achieving the Millennium Development Goals and the socioeconomic objectives of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). This year’s Africa Industrialization Day highlights the important role intra-African trade can play in reducing poverty, increasing food and nutrition security and supporting sustainable development. "African economies are among the fastest growing in the world, yet intra-regional trade accounts only for 10 per cent of the continent’s commerce – significantly less than in other regions. Many constraints impede trade expansion in Africa: obsolete infrastructure, fragmented economic space, low production capacities, limited investment financing and high transaction costs. Eliminating these obstacles is a prerequisite to fully realizing Africa’s economic potential and helping to address the continent’s socioeconomic and developmental challenges. Healthy intra-African trade can free the continent from its reliance on international aid and improve its resilience to macroeconomic and other external shocks. "Industrialization can help the expansion of intra-African trade by supporting a more diversified export economy. In particular, the development of rural and food processing industries could help to lift significant numbers from poverty. But, to facilitate trade in goods and services, it is essential to reduce distribution costs by improving and expanding road, rail and other communication infrastructure. Also, industrial growth will require greater and more reliable supplies of energy. Improved energy infrastructure -- including investments in renewable power generation and energy efficiency -- would allow countries to produce more, and more competitively. "At the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in June, governments emphasized the importance of paying more attention to Africa’s development needs. On this Africa Industrialization Day, let us heed this call. By working together to accelerate Africa’s industrialization and boost intra-African trade we can ensure a more prosperous and sustainable future for all the continent’s people." |
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Africa Industrialization Day 2012 : Ban calls for more prosperous, sustainable future for Africans
Saturday, 17 November 2012
World Philosophy Day - November 17
Theme for 2012: “Future Generations”
World Philosophy Day was introduced in 2002 by UNESCO to honour philosophical reflection in the entire world by opening up free and accessible spaces. Its objective is to encourage the peoples of the world to share their philosophical heritage and to open their minds to new ideas, as well as to inspire a public debate between intellectuals and civil society on the challenges confronting our society.In 2005 the UNESCO General Conference proclaimed
that World Philosophy Day would be celebrated every third Thursday of November.In 2012, World Philosophy Day will be held on 15 November. This is the tenth time the day is being marked, with events being organized at the international, national and local levels. These will enable their participants to share a multitude of views and experiences, while fully respecting cultural diversity, with regard to the main theme of the 2012 World Philosophy Day: “Future Generations”.
UNESCO leads World Philosophy Day – but does not own it. It belongs to everyone, everywhere, who cares about philosophy.
On this Day of collective exercise in free, reasoned and informed thinking on the major challenges of our time, all of UNESCO’s partners (national governments, their public institutions and organizations, including National Commissions for UNESCO, relevant non-governmental organizations, associations, universities, institutes, schools, UNESCO/UNITWIN Chairs, Associated Schools and Clubs and so forth) are encouraged to organize various types of activities - philosophical dialogues, debates, conferences, workshops, cultural events and presentations around the general theme of the Day, with the participation of philosophers and scientists from all branches of natural and social sciences, educators, teachers, students, press journalists and other mass media representatives, and the general public.
Friday, 16 November 2012
World Science Day for Peace and Development 2012
Message from Ms Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of World Science Day for Peace and Development 10 November 2012
World Science Day for Peace and Development is an opportunity for us to confirm the potential of the sciences to build a better world. It is through human intelligence, scientific research and innovation that we will be able find tomorrow the answers to the challenges that today seem insurmountable. Science is our best asset for supporting inclusive and equitable development, and for building global sustainability at a time of uncertainty, and faced with the biophysical limits of the planet.
In order to succeed, we must train today the
researchers of tomorrow in greater numbers. We must also place science
at the service of all, while observing the fundamental rights of the
individual. Above all, we must open a new chapter in scientific
integration. Innovation and social transformation depend on our
capacity to combine disciplines and create synergies among all sciences,
natural, human and social, including local and indigenous knowledge.
The complexity of issues today goes beyond the
framework of any single discipline. The economic, environmental and
social challenges of sustainable development are interconnected. This
was the message of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable
Development held earlier this year, in Rio de Janeiro. It was also
the message of the report of the High-Level Panel on Global
Sustainability: Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth
Choosing. Although modern science has been able to prosper on the
principle of specialization, it is now time to build more cooperative,
better integrated approaches that can combine the progress made by each
science in its own field. Sustainability will come through
multidisciplinarity. It DG/ME/ID/2012/026 – page 2also requires an
improved interface between the sciences, policy and society, so that
each may enrich and reinforce each other.
That is the theme of the World
Day this year, “Science for Global Sustainability Interconnectedness,
Collaboration, Transformation”.
UNESCO has made transdisciplinarity the cornerstone
of its work for sustainability, in its international science programmes
and in its work on education for sustainable development. Ten years
after the first World Science Day, UNESCO remains determined to support
international reflection on a science of global sustainability, notably
through the Scientific Advisory Board of the United Nations
SecretaryGeneral. It is in this spirit that I call today on governments,
civil society, public and private actors, well beyond scientific
circles, to mobilize so as to release the full potential of all sciences
for development and peace, which are inseparable and essential for the
future that we want.Irina Bokova
World Philosophy Day - November 15
Nov 15 is World Philosophy Day.
Nov 15 is World Philosophy Day. Here's our philosophical question for you today: Future generations don't yet exist. So how can we account for their rights & needs? What kind of life would you want for people living 50 years from now & what does this say about who are?
LEARN ABOUT THE DAY: http://ow.ly/fi7ZR
DISCOVER UNESCO PHILOSOPHY PUBLICATIONS: http://ow.ly/fiENb
Nov 15 is World Philosophy Day. Here's our philosophical question for you today: Future generations don't yet exist. So how can we account for their rights & needs? What kind of life would you want for people living 50 years from now & what does this say about who are?
LEARN ABOUT THE DAY: http://ow.ly/fi7ZR
DISCOVER UNESCO PHILOSOPHY PUBLICATIONS: http://ow.ly/fiENb
Thursday, 15 November 2012
Secretary-General's message on World Diabetes Day 2012
Diabetes is one of the most common noncommunicable diseases. Three hundred and fifty million people worldwide live with diabetes – 80 per cent of them in the developing world – and the disease is becoming more widespread each year due to a combination of ageing populations and the globalization of unhealthy lifestyles.
Unless diagnosed and treated early, diabetes can lead to serious ill-health. Every year, more than three million people who have had diabetes die from problems such as heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. According to the World Health Organization, diabetes-related deaths will increase by two-thirds by 2030.
Diabetes is a development issue. The poor are disproportionately at risk, and affected families are often pushed further into poverty. Diabetes is also straining national health systems and threatening to reverse hard-won development gains in low- and middle-income countries, as well as the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Governments across the globe are struggling to protect their citizens from factors that increase the risk of diabetes. These include unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol abuse. Many governments also face challenges in providing essential diabetes information, treatment and care to those who need them most.
In September 2011, the United Nations General Assembly recognized diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases as a global health and development challenge, and committed to strengthen their prevention and control. At the World Health Assembly in May 2012, Governments established a new and welcome goal of reducing premature mortality caused by chronic diseases by 25 per cent by 2025.
We can significantly advance this goal by raising awareness of the threat of diabetes. Physical activity and healthy diet are effective remedies that should be actively promoted by all governments. Primary health care should be strengthened to diagnose and treat diabetes early. Health companies can contribute by developing affordable medicines and technologies, such as low-cost devices to check blood sugar. And businesses – especially those that profit from selling processed foods to children – can commit to marketing healthier, more sustainable goods.
On this World Diabetes Day, let us commit to greater collective effort to prevent diabetes and improve the quality of life of all who suffer from it, particularly the poor and disadvantaged.
Unless diagnosed and treated early, diabetes can lead to serious ill-health. Every year, more than three million people who have had diabetes die from problems such as heart attacks, strokes and kidney failure. According to the World Health Organization, diabetes-related deaths will increase by two-thirds by 2030.
Diabetes is a development issue. The poor are disproportionately at risk, and affected families are often pushed further into poverty. Diabetes is also straining national health systems and threatening to reverse hard-won development gains in low- and middle-income countries, as well as the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
Governments across the globe are struggling to protect their citizens from factors that increase the risk of diabetes. These include unhealthy diet, physical inactivity and alcohol abuse. Many governments also face challenges in providing essential diabetes information, treatment and care to those who need them most.
In September 2011, the United Nations General Assembly recognized diabetes and other noncommunicable diseases as a global health and development challenge, and committed to strengthen their prevention and control. At the World Health Assembly in May 2012, Governments established a new and welcome goal of reducing premature mortality caused by chronic diseases by 25 per cent by 2025.
We can significantly advance this goal by raising awareness of the threat of diabetes. Physical activity and healthy diet are effective remedies that should be actively promoted by all governments. Primary health care should be strengthened to diagnose and treat diabetes early. Health companies can contribute by developing affordable medicines and technologies, such as low-cost devices to check blood sugar. And businesses – especially those that profit from selling processed foods to children – can commit to marketing healthier, more sustainable goods.
On this World Diabetes Day, let us commit to greater collective effort to prevent diabetes and improve the quality of life of all who suffer from it, particularly the poor and disadvantaged.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Secretary-General's message on the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
War and armed conflict shred the fabric of sustainable
development. They expand poverty, stunt opportunity and undermine
fundamental human rights. No conflict-affected country has yet achieved
a single Millennium Development Goal. As we look beyond the 2015 MDG
deadline, we must recognize peace and security as a critical “fourth
dimension” of sustainable development.
We must also acknowledge that durable peace and post-conflict development depend on environmental protection and good governance of natural resources. There can be no peace if the resource base that people depend on for sustenance and income is damaged or destroyed – or if illegal exploitation finances or causes conflict.
Since 1990, at least 18 violent conflicts have been fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources such as timber, minerals, oil and gas. Sometimes this is caused by environmental damage and the marginalization of local populations who fail to benefit economically from natural resource exploitation. More often it is caused by greed.
In Afghanistan, some have voiced fears that recently discovered mineral deposits – worth an estimated trillion US dollars – could perpetuate civil conflict. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, rich reserves of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold that could be used to raise standards of living for millions of people are instead being used to finance armed groups and prolong violence. And throughout Africa, elephant populations are being decimated to feed the global illegal ivory trade, which in turn is funding rebels, criminal networks and other destabilizing forces.
To date, six United Nations peacekeeping missions have been mandated to support the host country’s ability to re-establish control over its resource base and stop illicit extraction by armed groups. However, we need a greater international focus on the role of natural resource management in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
On this International Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to sustainably managing and safeguarding vital natural resources in times of peace and war. Let us do more to prevent conflicts over natural resources and maximize their benefits for maintaining and building peace. The resource curse must no longer be allowed to undermine the security of fragile and conflict-affected states and the foundations of sustainable development.
We must also acknowledge that durable peace and post-conflict development depend on environmental protection and good governance of natural resources. There can be no peace if the resource base that people depend on for sustenance and income is damaged or destroyed – or if illegal exploitation finances or causes conflict.
Since 1990, at least 18 violent conflicts have been fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources such as timber, minerals, oil and gas. Sometimes this is caused by environmental damage and the marginalization of local populations who fail to benefit economically from natural resource exploitation. More often it is caused by greed.
In Afghanistan, some have voiced fears that recently discovered mineral deposits – worth an estimated trillion US dollars – could perpetuate civil conflict. In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, rich reserves of tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold that could be used to raise standards of living for millions of people are instead being used to finance armed groups and prolong violence. And throughout Africa, elephant populations are being decimated to feed the global illegal ivory trade, which in turn is funding rebels, criminal networks and other destabilizing forces.
To date, six United Nations peacekeeping missions have been mandated to support the host country’s ability to re-establish control over its resource base and stop illicit extraction by armed groups. However, we need a greater international focus on the role of natural resource management in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding.
On this International Day, let us reaffirm our commitment to sustainably managing and safeguarding vital natural resources in times of peace and war. Let us do more to prevent conflicts over natural resources and maximize their benefits for maintaining and building peace. The resource curse must no longer be allowed to undermine the security of fragile and conflict-affected states and the foundations of sustainable development.
COMING UP ON NOVEMBER
November
6 November
International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict
10 November
World Science Day for Peace and Development [UNESCO]
World Science Day for Peace and Development [UNESCO]
12 November
World Pneumonia Day [WHO]
World Pneumonia Day [WHO]
14 November
World Diabetes Day [WHO]
World Diabetes Day [WHO]
15 November
(Third Thursday in November)
World Philosophy Day [UNESCO]
(Third Thursday in November)
World Philosophy Day [UNESCO]
17 November
(Third Sunday in November)
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims [WHO]
(Third Sunday in November)
World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims [WHO]
20 November
Universal Children’s Day
& Africa Industrialization Day
Universal Children’s Day
& Africa Industrialization Day
21 November
World Television Day
World Television Day
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)