URGENT NEED FOR SOROPTIMISTS TO SIGN THE UNIVERSAL DECLARATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS!
We have received a request from the United Nations to sign the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. They are hoping to have a billion signatures including YOURS. Please cascade widely. Here is the link:
http://www.everyhumanhasrights.org/
INFORMATION KIT FOR OBSERVING 2008 Human Rights Day ( DECEMBER 10)
Dear Colleagues and partners,
Please find attached this year's information kit for 2008 Human Rights Day to be observed on 10 December. Feel free to use its contents as you wish for your events and activities to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) You can adapt them to your audiences and translate them into your local language. The kit includes five information notes:
- A summary of events that took place around the world throughout 2008 to mark the 60th anniversary;
- Information on the "Stories on Human Rights" films;
- Background information on the Human Rights Prize; - Useful tools and contacts;
- Human Rights Education and the UDHR, in the context of the International Year of Human Rights Learning. The English version of the Information Kit is already posted on the UDHR 60 section of our website: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/60UDHRIntroduction.aspx Other languages versions (Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian and Spanish) will be posted soon.
A number of public information documents, including the special logo, more than 360 translations of the UDHR, photographs and background information as well as a list of ideas for activities, are at your disposal on our webpage to help you commemorate this anniversary. All documents are downloadable and printable for your convenience. They may be helpful in any event you may be preparing. Visit this page frequently for updates.
16 Days of Activism
Joining the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence Campaign, members of the International Coalition on Women Human Rights Defenders honor 16 women human rights defenders who have endured all risks and dangers to pursue their activism.
Who are the 16 women human rights defenders? Full story via this link:
http://www.cwgl.rutgers.edu/16days/kit08/exhibit/intro.html
To learn more about Every Human Has Rights campaign activity in 2008 so far and what's happening now at http://www.everyhumanhasright.org/
Posting from Patti
Patti Dolan- SI monitor for Doha
Dear Soroptimists- How lucky that we have Soroptimists who are interested in our new Programme Blog. We have asked Patti Dolan, a SI member and past Region Governor from Western Canada SI/A to be our Doha Monitor. Here is her article:
I received a notice for the Doha Global Civil Society Forum to be held in Doha, Qatar, on November 29th to December 2nd, 2008. The Doha Declaration (http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/dohaexplained_e.htm ) was developed by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 to eradicate poverty, achieve sustained economic growth and promote sustainable development in accordance with the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/
The agreement further states the goals are to achieve gender equality, promote micro credit, to remove gender biases in labor and financial markets; as well as ownership of assets and property rights.
The Doha Declaration had caught my interest for a number of reasons. It reminded me of a quote from Thornton Wilder “Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around encouraging young things to grow”
A number of years ago I was involved in a letter writing campaign to influence my country’s federal government to uphold their commitments to the Doha Declaration.
The first campaign was to encourage pharmaceutical companies to provide HIV/AIDs drugs in a generic form to developing countries. The costs of antiviral drugs are thousands of dollars annually compared to the generic version which costs approximately $1 per day.
The second campaign was to remind the Canadian government of their commitment to provide 0.7 per cent of the country’s Gross National Income (GNI) to developing countries. The internationally agreed development goals are to provide 0.7 per cent of their national GNI with a specific target of .15 to .20 by 2010.
With the present global financial crisis it is imperative that we remain diligent on monitoring the outcome of the Doha Declaration. As a member you can follow the progress of this meeting by visiting http://www.un.org/esa/ffd/doha/ and subscribe to the newsletter.
How does this impact you as a member of Soroptimist International? A number of our 2007 – 2011 Programme Focus Objectives are identical to those of the Doha Declaration.
What can you do as a member of Soroptimist International? Contact YOUR government representative and ask how YOUR country is supporting the Doha Declaration. Advocate for the women we support globally. Be the “Global Voice for women."
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
WORLD HUNGER DAY-Food for Thought and Action
News from SI Representative to UN- ROME- Else Larsen from Rome ( site of Food Agriculture Organization) Else recently attended a meeting in Rome on behalf of SI. Following is an excerpt from the article she wrote that will be posted in its entirety on the SI Website www.soroptimistinternational.org . On the subject of food....we hope this little bit of information whets your appetite to learn more........
Climate Change and Bioenergy - the Focus of WORLD FOOD DAY World Food Day is observed annually on 16th October, the anniversary date of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) foundation in 1945. The theme for World Food Day this year (2008) is: ''World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.''
As SI Representative to FAO I was one of the invited guests, along with 20 other NGO Representatives to FAO and more than 100 delegates from Member Nations of FAO, at this years World Food Day ceremony held at FAO Headquarters in Rome. Apart from attending the official ceremony on 16th October, where the keynote speech was delivered by the First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. I also participated in a number of exciting seminars on topics such as: ''Climate Change and its Health Impacts on Food, Water Safety and Nutrition'' and Bioenergy, Agriculture and Rural Development'' organized by FAO in conjunction with the Conference of the Committee of World Food Security At the end of the week, on Sunday 19th October a ''Run for Food Race'' was arranged, along with a cultural show and food fair. at the Stadium next to the ruins of Terme di Caracalla in Rome.
This event, was a real public event and drew huge crowds of Romans and FAO staff with their families and friends, who all ran for a good course, while also enjoying a beautiful autumn Sunday at the historical setting at the Stadium of Terme di Caracalla in Rome. The ''Run for for Food Race'' was a fun way to spend an autumn Sunday in Rome, while also reflecting on the bigger issues of hunger and poverty in the world, climate change; bioenergy and many other topics that had been discussed in depth during the week at FAO Headquarters.
Food for Thought – What can we learn?
· The achievement of MDG 1 – reducing by half the number of hungry people in the world is becoming extremely difficult. To day the global number of undernourished and hungry people is estimated at 923 million against 842 million in 1990-92. (FAO)
· Food Prices in the foreseeable future are likely to remain above the levels of the previous 10 years. This is due mainly to:
(1) unpredictable weather patterns; land and water constraints; high fertilizer prices and transportations costs;
(2) continued high demand for first generation biofuels (sugar, maize, cassava, oilseeds and palm oil), partly driven by high oil prices and government policies and partly by slow development of second generation biofuels and technologies – and
(3) economic growth in large emerging economies (China and India) which will raise the purchasing power and change the dietary habits (more demand for meat and dairy products) of millions of people.
· Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the nutritional effects of high food prices and particularly female-headed households in rural and urban poor households in sub-Saharan Africa, where numbers of hungry people have increased the most since 1990-92.
Else ended her article with several great suggestions....here is one of them!
· Participate in the annual UN World Food Programme/FAO organized “End Hunger-Walk the World” event, which raises awareness of child hunger in the world and raises funds for school meals for children from poor households in developing countries. Next “End Hunger-Walk the World” date is Sunday 7th June 2009 (http://www.wfp.org/)
Climate Change and Bioenergy - the Focus of WORLD FOOD DAY World Food Day is observed annually on 16th October, the anniversary date of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization's (FAO) foundation in 1945. The theme for World Food Day this year (2008) is: ''World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy.''
As SI Representative to FAO I was one of the invited guests, along with 20 other NGO Representatives to FAO and more than 100 delegates from Member Nations of FAO, at this years World Food Day ceremony held at FAO Headquarters in Rome. Apart from attending the official ceremony on 16th October, where the keynote speech was delivered by the First Lady of the Arab Republic of Egypt, Mrs. Suzanne Mubarak. I also participated in a number of exciting seminars on topics such as: ''Climate Change and its Health Impacts on Food, Water Safety and Nutrition'' and Bioenergy, Agriculture and Rural Development'' organized by FAO in conjunction with the Conference of the Committee of World Food Security At the end of the week, on Sunday 19th October a ''Run for Food Race'' was arranged, along with a cultural show and food fair. at the Stadium next to the ruins of Terme di Caracalla in Rome.
This event, was a real public event and drew huge crowds of Romans and FAO staff with their families and friends, who all ran for a good course, while also enjoying a beautiful autumn Sunday at the historical setting at the Stadium of Terme di Caracalla in Rome. The ''Run for for Food Race'' was a fun way to spend an autumn Sunday in Rome, while also reflecting on the bigger issues of hunger and poverty in the world, climate change; bioenergy and many other topics that had been discussed in depth during the week at FAO Headquarters.
Food for Thought – What can we learn?
· The achievement of MDG 1 – reducing by half the number of hungry people in the world is becoming extremely difficult. To day the global number of undernourished and hungry people is estimated at 923 million against 842 million in 1990-92. (FAO)
· Food Prices in the foreseeable future are likely to remain above the levels of the previous 10 years. This is due mainly to:
(1) unpredictable weather patterns; land and water constraints; high fertilizer prices and transportations costs;
(2) continued high demand for first generation biofuels (sugar, maize, cassava, oilseeds and palm oil), partly driven by high oil prices and government policies and partly by slow development of second generation biofuels and technologies – and
(3) economic growth in large emerging economies (China and India) which will raise the purchasing power and change the dietary habits (more demand for meat and dairy products) of millions of people.
· Women and children are particularly vulnerable to the nutritional effects of high food prices and particularly female-headed households in rural and urban poor households in sub-Saharan Africa, where numbers of hungry people have increased the most since 1990-92.
Else ended her article with several great suggestions....here is one of them!
· Participate in the annual UN World Food Programme/FAO organized “End Hunger-Walk the World” event, which raises awareness of child hunger in the world and raises funds for school meals for children from poor households in developing countries. Next “End Hunger-Walk the World” date is Sunday 7th June 2009 (http://www.wfp.org/)
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