Bomb Blasts and Fireworks
This is how 2006 has ended and 2007 has begun for me sitiing in Bangkok the night of 31st December 2006. There were fireworks in small scales around the city; the big count downs at Central World Plaza and at Sanam Luang were canceled a few hours before midnight because of severalbomb blasts. The television news from around the world are also full of groups action to stone the devils in the Holy City of Mecca, and the hanging of a dictator in Baghdad. It is a violent time we live in. We have become so immuned to seeing violence in front of us or in daily news on the TV or computer screens. It is difficult to hope for peace in 2007 when extremists of all kinds dominate actions in the world. But we should find a better way to solve conflicts and to negotiate peaceful solutions. Celebrating the New Year only with fireworks is not enough.
Filed under Travel | Comment (0)Farewell to Kofi Annan
Serving the interest of over 190 members countries and the well being of the world’s people was not easy. Kofi Annan, the 7th Secretary-General of the United Nations, did this difficult job for ten years. He will soon leavehis job at the end of this month. Kofi has been my friend and colleague while working for the United Nations at its headquarters in New York for more than two decades, so I wish him well on his retirement. I admired him for his dedication to the work of the organization. He has been a patient and friendly man when dealing with friends or representative of member states. As a friend, I was proud when he was selected and appointed as the UN Secretary-General in 1996. For the last ten years he has successfully led the multi-faceted work of the United Nations dealing with peace, security, human rights gender equality, and development problems. The World has changed a lot from ten years ago which Kofi Annan tried to cope by setting in motion the work to revitalize the UN system from within, to make it a more effective organization. But we have to remember that he had to work closely with member states that have power to make decisions about policy matters and budget allocations. Many times in standing up to defend the UN Charter, he sometimes put himself on the opposite side of a super power, such as the United States, when he opposed the invasion of Iraq by calling it an illegal war according to international law. It is not easy to stand up for one’s principle. But Kofi Annan did it with such grace and gentleness even when he suffered the lost of his close friends and many UN colleagues who died when the UN Office in Iraq was bombed. We were lucky to have had him leading the United Nations in these difficult times. Kofi Annan deserves our respect for defending the United Nations Charter, sympathy for his personal sacrifice, having to endure attacks from people who supported the Bush policy on Iraq, and we have to thank him for a lifetime of dedication in the work to service the world community in peace and development.
Filed under United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (1)Respect Human Rights
What the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said is true. The United States has historically been the vanguard of the global human rights movement. Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, had a major role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and seeing to its adoption by the United Nations General Assembly on 10 December 1948. At this point in time, it is very strategic for Kofi Annan to choose and make his final speech, finishing his term as the United Nations Secretary-General at the end of this month, at the library of the late United States President Harry Truman in the Missouri City of Independence. Not only that President Truman was an early champion of the UN, but also, that it was him who appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as United States delegate to the first meeting of the United Nations General Assembly convened in London in January 1946. It was this important appointment that resulted in the United Nations recognition of the human rights and the commitment to the equality of men and women. President Truman had fully supported Mrs. Roosevelt in her active role to persuade 55 countries to sign International Bill of Rights. If Eleanor Roosevelt were alive today, I am sure she would be pleased with Kofi Annan’s speech, with his five key lessons learnt during the last ten years as Head of the United Nations: collective responsibility, global solidarity, the rule of law, mutual accountability and multilateralism, which she believed in, and in particular, his reminding the Americans not to loose sight of their country’s role in given birth to a worldwide human rights movement. Had she been alive, she would have joined with him in urging the United States to embrace its natural and historical role as responsible global leader - true to its principles – in respecting human rights in its “war on terror”.
Filed under United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Skyscrapers
After 9/11 attack of the New York World Trade Towers, I am surprised why anybody should want to live or work in a skysraper ever again. They might look beautiful to the eyes of some people, but skyscrapers are monsters that eat up large amount of energy which the world cannot afford to waste. They are bad for the environment by increasing the greenhouse gases, which produce global warming. And yet, architects continue to design them and investors never hesitate to fund its construction. Two new gigantic towers are being built: the Phare Tower in Paris, and the Gazprom city in St. Petersburg in Russia. The new World Trade Towers are also being rebuilt in lower Manhattan in New York. I am not sure if we humans are supposed to live or work so high up way above the clouds. Going up and down the high-speed elevators many times, on a daily basis, can’t be good for our bodies and brains. And when there is a blackout or an accident, such as the recent airplane hitting the building putting it on fire in mid-town Manhattan, I for one, would not want to be stranded there high in the sky having to find my way down to the ground by walking in a narrow stairwell. Going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris is already too high for me, I am not looking forward to see the view of Paris from the top of the new skyscraper, Phare Tower when it is finished.
Filed under Environment, Travel | Comment (0)Adolescent’s Safe-Sex: Key To Preventing HIV/AIDS
I am encouraged to learn from Dr. Peter Piot, Executive Director of UNAIDS in his message on the occasion of World Aids Day 2006that there was evidence of positive trends in young people’s sexual behavior-increased use of condoms, delay of sexual debut, and fewer sexual partners, which contributed to the declines in several countries of HIV prevalence among young people during the past five years. I want to pay tribute to many national and international leaders, who have played a major role contributing to this successes: Mechai Viravaidya, who pioneered the promotion of condom use focusing on the role of youth at the Population and Community Development Association of Thailand; Nafis Sadik, Pakistani medical doctor, former Executive Director of UN Population Fund, who was instrumental in producing the first Youth Guidelines for UNFPA for programme planning in population information, education and communication, targeting youth and adolescent groups worldwide; Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, a Saudi national, present Executive Director of UNFPA, who has continued to give priority to adolescents sexual and reproductive health, in particular by issuing the State of World Population 2003 on “Investing in adolescent’s health and rights”; and Dr. Peter Piot himself, for highlighting in UNAIDS the issues of women and girls. Two-thirds of newly HIV-infected youth, age 15-19, in sub-Saharan Africa are females. And yet, despite the efforts of so many people, there are today in the world an estimated 4.3 million newly infected cases of adults and children living with HIV. The majority of which are in Sub-Saharan Africa and South and East Asia. HIV/AIDS has now become a disease of young people aged 15-24. They often lack information and skills and services they need to protect themselves from the disease. More resources are needed to provide information on safer sex and education on effective condom use to adolescents and youth. There are many lessons-learned that we can make use of in overcoming the obstacles to provide safe-sex information directly to the adolescent and youth, and sex education in schools. In tutoring the UNFPA Distance Learning on Population Issues, focusing on adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights, I have come across many approaches in developing an advocacy and action plan involving influential leaders community and key decision makers, working with the media to build consensus, building partnerships, networks and coalitions, and mobilizing communities as pressure groups. Stakeholders need to be identified, and key messages have to be selected appropriate for each different occasion and religion/cultural event. Advocacy persuasion techniques and tactics can be used to address partners, beneficiaries, adversaries, and decision makers in country and community. Advocacy programme can improve “accountability”, which is the theme of this year’s World AIDS Day. I consider peer-group communication project to be very effective in making adolescent and youth aware of the consequences of engaging unprotected-sex (without the use of condom). I agree with the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that accountability applies not only to those who hold the position of power but also to the youth themselves, and to all of us to come together to solve HIV/AIDS crisis, which has become the world’s leading cause of death and suffering to millions of people.
Filed under Gender Issues, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (1)