Men decide far more problems by hate, love, lust, rage, sorrow, joy, hope, fear, illusion, or some other inward emotion, than by reality, authority, any legal standard, judicial precedent, or statute.
UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Martin Scheinin, in his latest report to the Human Rights Council expresses concern over the erosion of the right to privacy while countering terrorism
Scheinin critically assesses developments that have used the justification of combating terrorism and have adversely affected the right to privacy in various parts of the world. These include racial or ethnic profiling, creation of privacy-intrusive databases and resorting to new technology, such as body scanners, without proper human rights assessment.
“Once an individual is being formally investigated or screened by a security agency, personal information is shared among security agencies for reasons of countering terrorism and the right to privacy is almost automatically affected. These are situations where States have a legitimate power to limit the right to privacy under international human rights law”, writes Scheinin in his report. “However, countering terrorism is not a trump card which automatically legitimates any interference with the right to privacy. Every instance of interference needs to be subject to critical assessment.”
Customarily, countries have signed legal assistance treaties in order to cooperate in investigations and share information in specific cases. The Special Rapporteur is concerned that sharing of information has now become the rule.
Final Call for Papers: Youth Sustainable Development Competition - Due March 1st
U.S. youth and students studying in the U.S. ages 13-26 are invited to submit original scientific research or position papers to the Citizen Science Review Board for the 2010 Citizen Science paper competition! Winners will, in addition to publication, have the chance to present their work at the United Nations (UN) Commission on Sustainable Development, convening at UN Headquarters, New York City, May 3-14, 2010.
**Please forward widely**
Papers should be written for a non-scientific audience on natural or social science topics related to the economic, social, technological or environmental dimensions of sustainable development addressed by the current session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. UN CSD-18’s topics are: Transport, Chemicals, Waste Management (both Hazardous & Solid ), Mining, and 10 Year Framework of Programmes on Sustainable Consumption & Production Patterns. Papers need not describe original research, though original research is welcomed, encouraged, and preferred. Based on current education affiliation, submissions will be divided and judged in the following groups: middle school/high school, undergraduate, and graduate.
Please submit your paper to CitizenScience@sustainus.org . Submissions from all levels will be accepted on a rolling basis until March 1, 2010.
VillageDirect.Org Affiliate Partner Program is being revised and currently not available. Our objective of having VillageDirect.Org enable financing for development remains as strong as ever.
As part of the revision of this program, revenue sharing and participation will change from the offer in the presentation below. We look forward to hearing from all those interested in partnering with us in promoting our goals and objectives.
Please use our contact form. You will be contacted once the new partnership and revenue sharing program are in place.
VillageDirect.Org automates and incorporates key tasks needed to develop, manage and grow a nonprofit organization using web-based applications.
It is common knowledge among international development professionals that community economic development should be addressed in a holistic and participatory way. Best practice dictates the use of local knowledge and significant involvement by community members; as well as, all relevant stakeholders.
Relying on the advantages offered by the Internet to connect distant communities; VillageDirect.Org use of the Communities Forums, Civil Society Forums, Industries Forums to bring together relevant stakeholders for collaboration.
The prominence given to contributors and moderators of forums within the VillageDirect.Org strategy means higher visibility and interactions for your organization that can increase it chances of finding donors and partners. In addition to the platform offered by VillageDirect.Org forums for organization to gain exposure, a FREE web page will be provided for promoting your projects and your work.
Base on payout to affiliate partners of up to 80% on the revenues they generate, VillageDirect.Org operating margin is conservatively estimated at 20%. With membership projected at 250,000 by 2010, revenues will be $5 million monthly and $60 million annually, and commissions paid to the VillageDirect.Org Affiliate Community will be $4 million monthly and $48 million annually.
This is disposable income for VillageDirect.Org affiliate partners they can use collectively for the development of projects exclusive of VillageDirect.Org.
I created VillageDirect.Org without any investment or sponsorship. It is the result of hard work, over 14hrs daily for the past three years.
It is possible for VillageDirect.Org to be a reality and a solution for financing projects that others consider unworthy or risky. VillageDirect.Org is the opportunity for communities that are denied access to capital and resources needed for their development to work together with those that care.
The International Day of the World´s Indigenous People will be observed at United Nations Headquarters on Monday 10 August in the in Conference Room 4 from 2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. It is organized by the Secretariat of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in cooperation with the NGO Committee on the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples.
Helen Clark, UNDP Administrator at the Women’s Foreign Policy Group “Women in Power” Series Luncheon on “The development challenge in the middle of the global recession” 23 July, 12:00pm, Washington, D.C.
UNESCO is launching a special website dedicated to Professional Journalistic Standards and Code of Ethics in South-East Europe.
This new reference tool provides information on media legislation and regulation, including models for setting up and managing press councils, funding ideas and examples, and the description of existing press councils at the national level.
This website is an integral part of a recently launched project focusing on media accountability in South-East European countries. The main objectives of this project, supported by the European Commission, consist in developing self-regulation tools and mechanisms, and in increasing the awareness of self-regulation among media professionals and organizations in the region. The project also aims at speeding up the alignment with established international standards.
The new website provides a comprehensive insight into self-regulation and its main elements, and presents media legislation and regulation at the European level, with special focus on the European Commission, the Council of Europe, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).
The website explains the objectives and expected results of the media accountability project and lists its partners and professional networks working in the field of media accountability and self-regulation on regional, European and international level. It features four thematic sections:
Media Legislation and Regulation gives a brief overview and direct links to the relevant regulation at the European level.
Codes of Ethics offers examples from the project countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo (under UNSCR 1244), Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey. This section provides links to the most comprehensive databases of codes of ethics around the world, such as EthicNet and Media Accountability Systems (M*A*S). Various practical cases dealing with ethical and professional standards are also featured here.
Press Council gives answers to the following questions: What is a press council? How to establish and run it? What is its structure? How to finance and promote it? This section also features existing press councils and relevant professional networks in South-East Europe.
Media Ombudsman presents a brief overview of the media ombudsman institution and provides access to success stories and to different types of media ombudsmen in Europe.
The Resources section of the website includes the following materials related to media accountability and self-regulation:
news;
events organized by different European and international organizations and networks;
publications (list of titles, accompanied by short descriptions and links to downloads);
organizations working in the field worldwide (with short presentations and links); and
websites where one can find more relevant information on the subject.
This new website is a great tool, which gathers all the existing information related to the subject, available on the Internet, in one place and gives easy access to it. You can visit the website at this address:
Mahbub ul Haq Founder of the Human Development Report
"The basic purpose of development is to enlarge people's choices. In principle, these choices can be infinite and can change over time. People often value achievements that do not show up at all, or not immediately, in income or growth figures: greater access to knowledge, better nutrition and health services, more secure livelihoods, security against crime and physical violence, satisfying leisure hours, political and cultural freedoms and sense of participation in community activities. The objective of development is to create an enabling environment for people to enjoy long, healthy and creative lives."
People are the real wealth of communities, because they are the creative force behind economic activities. Improving the education and capacities of community members results in reduced poverty and a better quality of life for all.
Education equips people to define their goals in life and make better choices when faced with life changing options. Young people and adults that have been deprived of opportunities to learn become a burden on their communities and impact succeeding generations.
Investing in quality education is a challenge for governments in both rich and poor countries. VillageDirect.Org provides a number of web-based applications as part of its basic membership to facilitate distance learning.
Revenue generated from VillageDirect.Org membership fees, services, advertising and sponsorship will be invested in creating community internet access points with its civil society partners to facilitate learning and commerce for their community members.
The 18th Annual Conference of the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), organized in association with the Himgiri Nabh Vishwavidyalaya (HNV) and supported by UNESCO, opened in New Delhi, India.
The AMIC Annual Conference is an important event on the Asian media calendar; it attracts eminent international speakers and participants from the media industry and academia.
This publication is based on a collaboration between UN-HABITAT and Good Earth Trust (GET). GET is an organisation that promotes the adoption of high quality and environmentally friendly construction technologies in East Africa.
This material and method of construction has the advantages of low cost and minimal environmental impact, while providing comparable quality to conventional fired brick construction.
In this publication you will find case studies of successful local adoption and usage of Interlocking Stabilized Soil Blocks. You will also discover some of the challenges faced in developing and promoting the technology based on key lessons learned from projects in northern Uganda.
