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Tuesday, September 30, 2008
World Vision Launches Bold Initiative for Worldwide Elimination of Mosquitoes
By Success Kanayo Uchime
Special to ASSIST News Service
USA (ANS) -- The humanitarian agency World Vision, in an effort to reduce infant mortality, has taken a bold initiative for a worldwide elimination of mosquitoes.
Rich Stearns
This was made known by its President, Rich Stearns in a statement, adding that the good news is that the elimination of malaria is possible as was done in the United States in 1951.
He pointed out that now it's time for the rest of the world to benefit from the U.S experience and that by God's mercy and in partnership with other humanitarian organizations and individuals, World Vision is determined to end malaria in the entire world.
"We have launched this initiative to: significantly increase private funding for anti-malaria programs; advocate for increased government commitments, including at least $1 billion per year from the U.S. government to combat malaria; develop corporate partnerships to leverage resources like bed nets and medication and to initially contribute to a 50 percent reduction in the number of malaria deaths by 2015 in countries where World Vision operates," he further said.
Stearns also said that while malaria is entirely preventable and treatable using inexpensive, proven solutions, those most at risk of malaria infection often lack access to these simple solutions and that to strategically address this threat, World Vision is at the moment scaling up its malaria prevention and treatment efforts.
These efforts, according to him, include the distribution of insecticide-treated bed nets, community health education, and provision of anti-malarial drugs and other treatments.
In his words: "However, no single response can defeat malaria. So we are part of a growing global movement to combat malaria with strong coordination between governments, businesses, non-governmental organizations, local citizens and supporters like you."
Stearns continued: "Last week, through the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, I joined world leaders in a discussion about the role each of us may play in fighting this deadly disease. At the event, a new global plan to combat malaria was announced. By partnering with communities, World Vision will play a crucial role in the implementation of the global plan and efforts to successfully achieve an end to malaria-efforts that you can be a part of."
He called on the body of Christ world-wide to partner with his organization in this critical and exciting endeavor to save the lives of millions of children, urging people to visit World Vision's End Malaria site in order to join a movement to stop this child killer in a lifetime. "For most of us, mosquitoes are a pesky nuisance; but for millions of children worldwide, this tiny menace poses a deadly threat."
He further stressed the need for Americans in particular to send proposals to Congress to advocate increased resources to fight malaria. "Donate to provide a family with bed nets and critical malaria prevention education and pray for those affected by malaria and for the will to end it and share the site with friends and colleagues to expand the movement."
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reach their full potential by tackling the causes of poverty and injustice.
They serve close to 100 million people in nearly 100 countries around the world and serves all people, regardless of religion, race, ethnicity, or gender. For more on this visit World Vision website: www.worldvision.org
One of the biggest concerns for travelers headed abroad this summer is how to stay healthy during the all-important mission related trip. Although India is among the top twenty destinations for business,study abroad, and humanitarian work, planning ahead and being prepared helps travelers enjoy health.
Date Released: 08/12/2008
August 11, 2008
Contact: Jackie O'Neal (609) 334-8621 jonealarts(at)verizon.net
(Rochester, N.Y.) One of the biggest concerns for business travelers headed abroad this summer is how to stay healthy during the all-important business related trip. Although India is among the top twenty destinations for business and study abroad, and humanitarian work, planning ahead and being prepared helps travelers enjoy optimum health and ward off most common illnesses. As the President of Global Cube Consultants, Dr. Uma Gupta wants to inspire others to appreciate the life-transforming experiences available in India and offers practical tips on healthy steps to take before traveling to India, and what to do to avoid getting sick while there. Global Cube provides expertise in building business and educational partnerships between the United States and India. For those wanting to expand their markets in India (or the U.S.), Global Cube offers executive training, leadership development, and personal growth via educational, spiritual and service-oriented tours to India for individuals, professional groups, and corporations. Dr. Gupta says, "India, like human beings, is a glaring dichotomy of virtues and vices, systems and chaos, successes and failures, dreams and dashed hopes, good and bad, opulence and poverty. It is a country that exposes its strengths and frailties in a rich, yet stark way. I love India because it has so much to offer, but you must be thirsty to drink from the well. It is not for everyone. It is for the adventurous; it is for those who are willing to step outside their comfort zone; it is for those who are willing to test and then adjust their assumptions; it is for those who are open to new experiences."
Dr. Gupta encourages others to step outside their comfort zone by embracing travel to India and offers 3 tips to deal with health issues abroad in India:
• Be sure to plan ahead of time. For immunizations, make an appointment with your doctor six weeks before you leave for India. Certain vaccines become effective about 6 weeks after you get them.
• Research exactly what your health insurance will cover should you need to be seen by a doctor in another country. Be sure to carry your regular medications in the original prescription bottles should you need refills.
• While in India, drink bottled water to avoid intestinal illnesses. Make sure the bottle's seals are not broken. Eat carefully and avoid tourist buffets, and street food vendors. Make sure all the food is fresh and steaming hot. Avoid peeled fruit, uncooked seafood, and unpasteurized dairy products.
For more information, visit: http://www.globalcubeit.com/
Dr. Uma Gupta is the President of Global Cube a recognized leader in helping corporations and educational institutions build alliances and partnerships with India. Our experts have in-depth understanding of US and Indian markets and leverage their knowledge and experience to guarantee your success. India is on the strategic agenda of many senior executives in a cross-section of industries. However, the decision to engage with India, or for that matter any Asian country, is filled with both exciting opportunities and incredible challenges. Global Cube Consultants can you help you navigate this space in the following ways: • Curiosity Tours: These tours are designed to provide an introduction to India's social, political, cultural, and economic systems, norms, and traditions. These are usually a week to ten days long and provide a comprehensive overview of how to engage with India and do business in India. It includes workshops, seminars, networking events, field trips, exposure to political systems and bureaucracies, and visits to places of business interest. • Inter-continental Business Networking: We offer intercontinental business networking events, workshops, and seminars that are customized to meet your professional needs. We create learning opportunities for executives from both countries to better understand the business climate and opportunities of the other country. We also expose our clients to various socio-political systems that are fundamental for doing business in their country of interest. • Gather Business Intelligence: We conduct in-depth research to meet your business needs and produce comprehensive business intelligence reports. We also help identify and recruit subject matter experts (SME). In short, we provide businesses with a significant strategic advantage. • Personal Development and Spiritual Retreats: India is an ideal location for self-reflection, self-enrichment, and spiritual development. We offer spiritual retreats and provide opportunities for individuals and business teams to serve the under-privileged in India. • Other customized and unique services: Our goal is to assist our clients to learn about how to do business in India and achieve their business and professional goals. If you have a need relating to India that is not listed here, don't hesitate to contact us! We will do our very best to help you.
Take our survey below and qualify for a tour discount. Just e-mail your Name and contact info. to :jonealarts(at)verizon.net and write "Survey" in the subject line.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5HVti3ec84Hdq7zB0vr9vQ_3d_3d # # #
Notes to Editors: 1. To visit Dr. Uma's Gupta's press kit, go to: http://onealmediagroup.presskit247.com/Dr._Uma_Gupta
2. Photos available upon request
Dr. Uma Gupta
TAGS:
business business travel travel to India partnerships educational tours
Why I Fast: An Interview with Korean Monk Pomnyun
New America Media, Q&A, Jeong Taesoo, Posted: Jul 29, 2008
Editor's Note: Half of the population of North Korea doesn't have enough to eat, according to 55-year-old South Korean Buddhist monk Pomnyun, who has been fasting since May 26. Pomnyun, the 2002 winner of the Ramon Magsaysay Award, dubbed the Asian Nobel Prize, was interviewed by Korea Times-San Francisco editor Jeong Taesoo.
Famine is estimated to have killed 2 million people in North Korea since the 1990s – nearly as many as the 2.5 million people reported killed during the Korean War.
For full article, visit: http://www.newamericanmedia.org
Transparency International's chapters in Africa, as members of a global coalition dedicated to the fight against corruption, urge all parties currently involved in talks that will determine the future of Zimbabwe to guarantee full transparency of the political process. Only by establishing a climate of transparency and accountability can Zimbabwe's leaders ensure credibility of the talks that will resume this weekend to overcome Zimbabwe's deep political, economic and humanitarian crisis. The ongoing widespread violence and intimidation, particularly against civil society representatives, must end immediately.
In a "Memorandum of Understanding" between President Mugabe's party, ZANU-PF, and the Movement for Democratic Change on 22 July 2008, all parties confirmed their commitment "to build a society free of violence, fear, intimidation, hate, patronage, corruption and founded on justice, fairness, openness, transparency, dignity and equality", and promised to adhere "to a dialogue with each other with a view to creating a genuine, viable, permanent and sustainable solution to the Zimbabwean situation". The current situation in Zimbabwe, where citizens and civil society organisations fear retaliation for criticism or pursuing accountability, does not reflect the spirit of the memorandum.
Transparency International strongly believes that a viable solution and a society free of corruption and founded on transparency can only be possible where political leaders are accountable towards civil society. The failure to provide regular information regarding the development or outcome of the talks threatens to diminish the legitimacy and credibility of the entire process.
Civil society organisations, including those distributing aid to alleviate the suffering of the Zimbabwean people, must be allowed to operate freely throughout the country. Without freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, corruption and other abuses of power cannot be overcome. The arrest and questioning of activists have resulted in a climate of fear, mistrust and impunity that must end immediately.
In this defining moment for Zimbabwe, Transparency International chapters in Africa stand together in Pan-African solidarity and in support of TI Zimbabwe, to demand that the soon to resume talks rest on the pillars of transparency and accountability. Respect for active participation by citizens and NGOs demanding accountability is crucial for helping the people of Zimbabwe overcome their current suffering.
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Signed by: Association Algérienne de Lutte contre la Corruption (TI Algeria), TI Cameroon, Ghana Integrity Initiative, TI Kenya, Center for Transparency and Accountability in Liberia, Transparency International Initiative Madagascar, Transparency Mauritius, Transparence Maroc, Association Nigérienne de lutte contre la Corruption, Transparency in Nigeria, Forum Civil (TI Senegal), TI South Africa, TI Uganda, TI Zambia
Media contact(s):
Gypsy Guillén Kaiser
Tel. +49 30 343820662
ggkaiser@transparency.org
Integrity Awards winners 2007
Transparency International award recognises an international anti-bribery leader and a grassroots activist
Calendar dates:
July 31
THE HAGUE - War crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic appears before the U.N. war crimes tribunal in The Hague for the first time and will be asked to enter a plea to the charges against him
WASHINGTON/BAGHDAD - U.S. President George W. Bush's administration has set an end-July deadline for Iraq and the United States to wrap up talks on reaching a new long-term security pact that would provide a legal basis for U.S. troops to stay in Iraq after Dec. 31, when their U.N. mandate expires
ABIDJAN - Deadline for Ivory Coast to stop the abuse of child labour on its cocoa farms. The country faces sanctions on its exports to the United States if it misses the deadline, set by U.S. lawmakers
ABIDJAN - (CALLED OFF FOR ALLOWING TIME FOR TALKS) An influential trade union in Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa grower, has called for a general strike starting on July 31 to protest against the high cost of living
UNITED NATIONS - Mandate of U.N./African Union mission in Sudan's Darfur region expires
UNITED NATIONS - Mandate for the peacekeeping mission on the border of Ethiopia and Eritrea, which was forced to withdraw after Eritrea cut off the mission's fuel supplies, expires
IRAQ/JAPAN - Mandate of Japanese air force mission in Iraq is due to expire
KINSHASA - More than 100 members of a breakaway faction of the Hutu-dominated Rwandan rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda are due to hand in their arms at a ceremony in Congo's North Kivu province
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and President Shimon Peres to attend memorial ceremony for right-wing Revisionist Zionist leader Zeev Jabotinsky
August 1
EL-FASHER, Sudan - Djibril Bassole, foreign minister of Burkina Faso, to assume his post as Darfur's new chief mediator for the peace processes in Sudan
August 2
MONROVIA - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton visits Liberia as part of Africa tour to promote efforts by his foundation to fight malaria and HIV/AIDS
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Palestinian Journalist Beaten by Shin Bet
New America Media, News Report , Dahr Jamail, Posted: Jul 10, 2008
Muhammad Omer and I jointly received the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism in London on June 16. Omer is a 24-year-old Palestinian with whom I feel honored to have shared this award. As I told the audience at the prize-giving ceremony, his work from his Gaza homeland has been a beacon of humanitarian reportage, a model of peace, and an attempt at reconciliation with Israel.
But Omer's journey to London to receive the award was almost impossible.
When I heard about the prize, I booked my flight from San Francisco and boarded my plane. By contrast, Omer struggled even to get an exit visa. His home has been crushed by an Israeli bulldozer, and most of his seven siblings have been killed or maimed by the Israeli occupying army.
The veteran journalist John Pilger, who presented our awards, described Omer's journey: "Getting Muhammad to London to receive his prize was a major diplomatic operation," he said. "Israel has a perfidious control over Gaza's borders, and he was only allowed out with a Dutch embassy escort."
After the ceremony, our journeys home couldn't have been more different. My biggest problem was an hour's delay for the flight back to my home country, the United States.
On his return home, Omer was badly beaten up and physically and psychologically abused by Israel's security forces, Shin Bet. At the Allenby Bridge crossing, from Jordan to the West Bank, he was met by the Dutch official who was to ferry him back into Gaza. The official waited outside as Omer entered the Israeli building. Omer was told to turn off his mobile phone and remove the battery. When he asked if he could call his embassy escort, he was told sternly that he was not allowed to.
A Shin Bet officer searched his luggage and rifled through his documents. "Where's the money?" he asked Omer. "Where are the English pounds you have?"
They wanted to confiscate his prize money, which Omer was wise enough not to carry on his person.
Omer was surrounded by eight armed Shin Bet officers. This is how he described what happened next.
"A man called Avi ordered me to take off my clothes. I had already been through an x-ray machine. I stripped down to my underwear and was told to take off everything. When I refused, Avi put his hand on his gun. I began to cry, 'Why are you treating me this way? I am a human being.' He said, 'This is nothing compared with what you will see now.' He took his gun out, pressing it to my head, and with his full body weight pinning me on my side, he forcibly removed my underwear. He then made me do a concocted sort of dance.
"Another man, who was laughing, said, 'Why are you bringing perfumes?' I replied, 'They are gifts for the people I love.' He said: 'Oh, do you have love in your culture?'
"I had now been without food and water and the toilet for12 hours and, having been made to stand, my legs buckled. I vomited and passed out. All I remember is one of them gouging, scraping and clawing with his nails at the tender flesh beneath my eyes. He scooped my head and dug his fingers in near the auditory nerves between my head and eardrum. The pain became sharper as he dug in two fingers at a time. Another man had his combat boot on my neck, pressing it into the hard floor. I lay there for over an hour. The room became a menagerie of pain, sound and terror."
Moderate physical pressure'
The Israeli Supreme Court has allowed the use of "moderate physical pressure" in the questioning of prisoners. Israel holds more than 10,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of them under administrative detention (no charges are filed, and detention can be renewed every six months).
Israel has blockaded Gaza, isolating and starving the 1.5 million Palestinians who live there. In 2006 Dov Weisglass, an adviser to the Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said, "The idea is to put the
Palestinians on a diet, but not to make them die of hunger."
The Israeli government has threatened to close orphanages for Palestinian children in Hebron, which would be a violation of international law, for article 24 of the Geneva Convention states clearly: "The Parties to the conflict shall take the necessary measures to ensure that children under 15, who are orphaned or are separated from their families as a result of the war, are not left to their own resources, and that their maintenance, the exercise of their religion and their education are facilitated in all circumstances. Their education shall, as far as possible, be entrusted to persons of a similar cultural tradition."
The Shin Bet violated many of these principles in the way it treated Omer. Part III of the Geneva Convention, which covers the status and treatment of protected persons, says: "Protected persons are entitled, in all circumstances, to respect for their persons, their honor, their family rights, their religious convictions and practices, and their manners and customs. They shall at all times be humanely treated, and shall be protected especially against all acts of violence or threats thereof and against insults and public curiosity."
Article 29 of the same section states: "The Party to the conflict in whose hands protected persons may be, is responsible for the treatment accorded to them by its agents, irrespective of any individual responsibility which may be incurred."
The gross imbalance of power Israel enjoys, thanks to U.S. support, makes these atrocities possible.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. According to Alison Weir, the executive director of the group If Americans Knew, Palestinians receive one twenty-third of the amount of aid the United States provides to Israel.
According to Defence for Children International, Israel has "engaged in gross violations of international human rights and humanitarian law."
Between 1967 and 2003, Israel destroyed more than 10,000 Palestinian homes, and that continues.
Attacking journalists is not new. On April 16 Fadel Shanaa, a Palestinian cameraman working for the news agency Reuters, was killed by a rocket fired during an Israeli military incursion into the Gaza Strip. His assistant, Wafa Barbakh, was seriously injured. Both were in a vehicle clearly marked "Press." This appears to be part of a systematic targeting of journalists by the Israeli military.
Since the beginning of the second intifada in September 2000, the Israeli military has killed at least nine journalists, including an Italian and a British reporter. At least 170 other journalists have been wounded by the Israeli military during this period.
Former Dutch Ambassador Jan Wijenberg said of what happened to Omer, "This is by no means an isolated incident, but part of a long-term strategy to demolish Palestinian social, economic and cultural life. I am aware of the possibility that Mohammed Omer might be murdered by Israeli snipers or bomb
attacks in the near future." Omer, she said, is "a moderating voice, urging Palestinian youth not to court hatred but seek peace with Israel."
Omer is still in the hospital, according to Janet McMahon, managing editor of the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, for which Omer writes. "He may go home, or have an operation. He's still in a lot of pain, and it's hard for him to swallow, or to breathe deeply. He's being fed intravenously."
I cannot reconcile the disparity in our experiences. How can we reconcile something that is irreconcilable in the absence of all justice?
Dahr Jamail wrote Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches from an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq (Haymarket Books, Chicago, 2007), after spending eight months in Iraq as an independent journalist. He also covered the 2006 war in Lebanon. A shorter version of this article was published in French in Le Monde Diplomatique on July 3, 2008.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Former President of Indonesia calls for religious tolerance
Ahmadiyya, a sect of Islam, poses challenges for traditional Islam
By Jackie O'Neal
Special to ASSIST News Service
Indonesia's former President Abdurrahman Wahid
JAKARTA, INDONESIA (ANS) -- According to Sara Webb writing for Reuters, Indonesia's former President Abdurrahman Wahid on Wednesday (June 25) criticized the government's restrictions on an Islamic sect and encouraged moderate Muslims to become vocal in defense of religious tolerance.
Webb went on to say that as a result of pressure from hard-line groups, the government issued a ministerial decree on June 8th that warned followers of the sect that they could face imprisonment for polluting religion. Many believe the sect challenges traditional Islam.
According to www.AsiaNews.net, Attorney General Henderman Supandji and Religious Affairs Minister Maftuh Basyuni approved the joint ministerial decree that forces Ahmadis to halt all their activities.
Wahid told Reuters, "Now the fundamentalists demand that the Ahmadiyya movement, one sect of Islam, must be disbanded. But I think it's only the first step. After that, they will make further demands, "You ban Ahmadiyya, then you ban the Shi'ites, Christians, Buddhists."
Some Indonesians regard the Ahmadiyya sect as heretical as a result of followers not acknowledging the Prophet Mohammad as Islam's final prophet and believe Ahmadiyya's founder, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is a prophet and messiah.
In recent months, hundreds of protestors set fire to a mosque belonging to the Ahmadiyya sect. The Ahmadiyya, operates branches in over 189 countries in Africa, North America, South America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.
The population of Indonesia totals 226 million and 85 percent are moderate Muslims.
According to Reuters, China on Tuesday called on the Dalai Lama and his supporters to halt Tibet protests and attempts to "ruin the Olympics," in order to create the conditions for future roundtable talks.
China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, speaking to reporters during a visit to Rome, did not say when the next round of talks would take place. Chinese officials last met envoys of Tibet's exiled spiritual and political leader on May 4.
Yang Jiechi told Reuters,"We maintain that the Dalai Lama's side must halt the separatist activity, ending violent acts of destruction against China, halt its activity to ruin the Olympics, (thereby) creating the conditions for further meetings,"
Reuters went on to report that at their last meeting, Dalai Lama envoys and Chinese officials agreed to hold more discussions on June 11. But those talks were postponed following China's earthquake in May that killed more than 69,000 people.
According to Reuters Alert Net World leaders will be convening in Rome this week to address issues related to a global food crisis that is forcing 100 million people into hunger, provoking food protests and sparking violence in war zones.
Reuters went on to announce that as the U.N. summit draws up an emergency plan to cut trade barriers, mobilize aid and invest in farming, they would like to hear how rising food prices are affecting the public. Targeted questions include: Has food price inflation changed the way you live daily life? Has it had a noticeable impact on your community? How does the future look if prices keep rising?
To respond, visit: http://www.alertnet.org/db/blogs/1516/2008/05/4-102829-1.htm
According to Megan Rowling writing for Reuters Alert Net, aid donors are slated to meet in Germany on Wednesday to enter into talks about two world Bank climate change funds amidst a disagreement over whether money should be given as loans or grants to " aid developing countires introduce carbon technologies and adapt to climate change."
Rowling went on to say, "Britain's Department for International development, one of the main contributors has been criticized in the British media."