Growing Cities
This year, the State of the World Population Report 2007, issued by the United Nations Population Fund, highlights the positive and negative aspects of the rapid increase of people living in cities around the world. In Asia alone, it is estimated that urban population grows from 1.4 billion to 2.6 billion between the year 2000 and 2030. Together, we need to plan action to face this global phenomenon, with full participation of city people, including present slum dwellers. The special needs and rights of the urban poor have to be considered in each city plan. No one can survive living in the city without having adequate shelter, sanitation, electricity and clean water supply. Women, whether rich or poor, need special reproductive health and family planning services. City youth need, not only education and employment opportunity, but also sexual/health and environment-related education, especially the prevention of HIV/AIDS. I recommend that all policy-makers read this interesting report in order to make urbanization a positive force for change. They are key groups of people that can take real action to prevent future disaster that will come from a more crowded-living space and the danger that will come from the rising of sea level as a result of global warming. Also, all governments need to have better policy to stem population migration into urban areas.
Filed under Environment, United Nations, World Affairs | Comments (2)Wafa Sultan Speaks Out on Islam
It is interesting and rare to have a woman speaking out on one of the male-established religion. I find her interview in Al Jazeera very clear and to-the-point in analyzing the impact of a religion on society as a whole.
Filed under World Affairs | Comment (0)Safeguarding Ocean Environment
On June 8 of every year we celebrate the “World Ocean Day”. This special celebration was created in 1992, at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to focus on our personal connection to the sea and on our awareness of the fact that the oceans occupy 70% of the earth’s surface and constitute over 90% of the volume of the biosphere. This year’s focus is on polar- ecosystem and other effects of climate change. Rising carbon dioxide emission are making our ocean more acidic, scientists report. They inform us that the Southern Ocean around Antarctica is loaded with carbon dioxide it can barley absorbed any more. They also say that more of the gas rise onto the earth’s atmosphere and warm-up the planet. This has brought great disaster to marine life. Another area of focus is on marine genetic resource that has great potential value. In exploring them, we must consider the environmental and biological impact. This marine genetic resource is the new area of great interest to international communities. Over 2000 scientists from 80 countries are now researching the world’s oceans and conducting census of marine life . I appreciate the results of their explorations. I make good use of the new knowledge of the oceans from their findings, and the under-water photographs of marine life that they take in my computer artwork to support safeguarding the environment. For friends who are interested in making use of this wealth of information, digital images and photographs, you can go on-line at the website of the UN Atlas of Oceans that currently contains more than 4000 entries and maintains by a group of experts and United Nations volunteers. Since fish and other beautiful marine creatures are the subject of my paintings, I am concern when reading in the World Ocean Newsletter of new white syndrome coral disease causing by the warming of ocean temperatures in the Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and the declining numbers of sharks due to over-fishing and lack of people’s understanding about the connection between keeping the ocean environment favorable to life- replenishing, conservation, fishing and shark fining, The people of China and of other East and South-east Asian countries, in particular, must be made aware of these linkages. We must urge the people around the world via communication media to stop supporting the cruel method of shark fishing and shark-fin food industry by for example, not eating the food produced from shark fins. The future of the oceans depends on all our combined small and big efforts to keep it healthy for all life on this earth.
Filed under Environment, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Climate Change and Society
There is significant progress in the move towards a low-carbon economy. The Global roundtable on climate change, organized on Thursday, 17 May 2007 in Bonn, Germany by Columbia University as a side event at the 26th Sessions of the Subsidiary Bodies of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), shows how some business corporations have done a good job in setting up policies and action plans to reduce carbon dioxide emission from both direct and indirect sources. BASF targets to reduce GHG emission by 38%, relative to a 1990 baseline, and sets a goal to reduce specific GHG emissions per ton of sales products. Deutsche Telekom targets to reduce GHG emissions by 50%, relative to a 1995 baseline, by 2010, and aims to decouple energy consumption from carbon dioxide emission. DuPont achieves the target to reduce GHG emission by 40%, relative to a 1990 baseline, by 1990, ahead of time. The company sets a new target to reduce emissions by 65% by 2010 with sustainability goals to reduce DuPont ‘s footprint regarding water conservation, car fleet fuel efficiency and air carcinogens. Endesa, a global electricity and gas company, sets energy efficiency measures and plans to reduce emissions post 2012 and participate in variety of Carbon Funds. Columbia University’s global roundtable on climate change provides a forum for discussion, analysis and exchange of ideas among businesses from all economic sectors and all parts of the world, including international institutions, NGOs and leading academic experts. To meet the needs for professionals who understand the links between climate and society, the Columbia University contributes greatly by providing new knowledge and skills in this area. The university’s campus in New York City organizes courses for an M.A degree in the field of Climate Change, Climate Prediction, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences to international students from around the world to promote knowledge and encourage voluntary action by world community at all levels to deal with the problem that we all face on climate change. For people who are interested in organizing community action, look for the present state of knowledge that is made available to us by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
Filed under Environment, Science, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (1)Legalizing Abortion
Finally, women in Mexico have won their long-fought battles with the male-dominated Catholic Church hierarchies their right and freedom to choose abortion. If the men could be pregnant, we would have abortion on demand long time ago. Abortion rights have gained ground in Latin America when more than two thirds of the Mexico City’s legislative assembly members voted on 24 April to approve a law allowing Mexican women to have abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancies. This law indicates a sign of political and social change in the region where only two countries, Cuba and Guyana allow abortions in the first trimester. Since 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized that the wellbeing of women depended on opportunities for women to control their lives in all areas, including education and health. Increased recognition in the United Nations circles of reproductive rights came much later on. In 1968, the Teheran Declaration of International Conference on Human Rights included the rights of individuals to information and family planning and these were confirmed later on at the international conferences on population issues held in Bucharest in 1974, Mexico City in 1984 and Cairo in 1994. Declarations ensuing from those various international conferences spearhead the winning of a legal battle that happened in Mexico last week. Women in Mexico and in other Latin American countries have the right to attain the highest standards of sexual and reproductive health, including safe abortion, and to make reproductive choices free from coercion from conservative groups in the government or religious establishments.
Filed under Gender Issues, Travel, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Groundbreaking Day
I could not agree more with Margaret Beckett, UK Foreign Secretary who chaired the Security Council, that April 17 was a groundbreaking day at the UN Headquarters. For the first time, The Security Council debated climate change issue that could threatens world peace and security. At the debate, the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stated that access to energy, scarcity of food and water could transform peaceful competition into conflicts and that the projected climate change could not only have serious environmental, social and economic implications, but implications for peace and security as well. He warned us that compared to the cost of conflict and its consequence; the cost of prevention would be far lower in financial terms and in human lives. Some country representatives expressed their disagreement to bringing the issue of climate change for discussion in the Security Council. They said that climate change and energy are issues for the General Assembly to deal with. The United States’ representative said that climate change presented serious challenges, citing the agreement at the meeting two years ago of the group of Eight leaders that energy, security, climate change and sustainable development were fundamentally linked. Brett Schaefer and Ben Lieberman, experts from the Heritage Foundation, somehow disagreed. They issued a paper, distributed to the members of civil society, saying that the security implication of climate change was merely speculative at this point and, even if they result as predicted, would not pose an immediate threat for decades, therefore, not appropriate for debate by the Security Council at this time. Margaret Beckett, stood her ground and argued that climate change is the issue that is right for debate by members of the Security Council and that UK was not the only country that held this view. There were 52 countries participated in the debate. Beckett also noted that a group of retired US generals recently put out a report projecting that climate change poses a serious threat to America’s national security and will act as a “threat multiplier” for instability in some of the world most volatile regions. They suggested that the US should integrate consequences of climate change into national security and defense strategies. France also supported bringing the issue for debate in the Security Council under its mandate “to prevent conflict”. China, the Russian Federation, and some other representatives of developing countries maintained their original position that climate change was the issue for debate by the General Assembly and by other appropriate international forums because the Security Council has no expert knowledge on this issue.
Filed under Environment, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Security Implication of Changing Climate
There are potential drivers of conflict at national and international level from climate change and global warming. Damage to earth’s weather systems from Greenhouse gases will change rainfall pattern. Up to 30 percent of animal and plant species will be vulnerable to extinction if global temperatures rise by 1.5 - 2.5 degrees Celsius, the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report said. Conflict among people arise when resources become scarce and when access to energy, water and food are limited. The rise of sea level from melting of glaziers, and the change of landscape, especially along the coastal areas, will bring about border disputes among countries. Thanks to the initiative of the United Kingdom, Chair of the Security Council for April, these security risks will be put on the table for discussions. For the first time, members of the UN Security Council will debate the security implication of global warming on April 17. These debates will surely raise public awareness on future security implications and future dangers that we are facing. The timing of the Security Council debate is good as an appropriate follow-up to difficult negotiations by governments and scientists at the recent IPCC Meeting in Brussels, Belgium. The study of climate change around the world forecast different impact among the different regions affecting billions of people. Africa will be hardest hit by water shortage. Asia will face massive flooding by the melting of ice from the Himalayas. Australia will loose it’s corals of the Great Barrier Reef. And North America will have to deal with more severe storm. We are waiting for the outcome of this important Security Council debates and the following recommendations for action to prevent impending global disaster.
Filed under Environment, Science, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)Sex and Politics
“Sex and Politics” goes together like “horse and carriage” as the old song says about romantic love and traditional marriage. Reading the recent article in the New York Times by Stephen Clarke,“No Sex, Please, We’re French” on the next French Presidential election having a problem with two sexally attractive candidates reminds me of reading similar news headlines from Asia a decade ago “No Sex, Please, We are Chinese”, on opposition to the bringing of sex education and HIV/AIDS education into China a decade ago. In China then, it was sexual politics. “Sex and Religion” also goes together like “horse and carriage” when I read quite often in the news from many parts of the world about preachers, priest, and monks sexually abusing young boys and girls. Forbidden fruit seems to tase better than unforbidden one. Ordinarily people tend to make separate decisions about love, sex, and marriage now-a-days, so the old song has to be changed to “Sex and Politic” or “Sex and Religion” instead.
Filed under Funny, World Affairs | Comment (0)Fuelwood Use and Climate Change
I am glad that more and more people are questioning whether we give enough attention to the use wood as fuel by a large number of people around the world for daily cooking and heating, especially in the developing countries. It is of concerned that more than half the volume of total wood removals from forest and trees is used to generate energy in the home. We need a dialogue at all levels on the environment impact in the use of wood for generating energy and on the questions rose about the impact of increased fuelwood use and the use of wood residues and waste. In Tanzania for example, wood meets 92 per cent of energy requirements. Is that good or bad from the perspective of environmental impact? Wood fuel demand drives to rapid destruction of forest cover. Do we need guidelines for wood harvesting and charcoal burning to prevent forest destruction? We need also to promote cleaner fuelwood use by improving stoves and charcoal-making technology. Balance has to be maintained in preventing destruction of forest and the country’s need for not relying on imported oil energy. It is encouraging to know that some communities are now establishing tree planting for energy, and address integrated land use issues. The recent meeting of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) held earlier this month rightly focused on forest and energy as a new challenge in sustainable forest management. This is an issue that relates to climate change. Many representatives wanted assistance in developing comprehensive and integrated national bio-energy strategies, which include wood energy. We should match a higher demand for wood with increasing production of trees and efficient use of biomass. The issue of energy for sustainable development and climate change will be taken up this coming May, at the meeting of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York. On this issues there are some good news: the European Union’s effort to target 20% reduction of carbon emissions by 2020, and Brazil 45% of energy consumed comes from renewable sources and 80 per cent of cars sold have flex fuel engines enable them to run on either gasoline or ethanol.
Filed under Environment, United Nations, World Affairs | Comment (0)2007 International Women’s Day
2007 International Women’s Day
This year, the United Nations observed the International Women’s Day on March 8 under the theme
We can stop this pandemic by acting together to hold perpetrators accountable, bring about justice and provide remedies to victims. We can no longer tolerate these continued violence against the girls by adult men and women in their continuing the practices of female genital mutilation, rape, selling of girls in human trafficking and for sex-trade industry. The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has reminded us that violence against women and girls makes it hideous imprint on every continent, country and culture and it doesn’t care about the person’s income, class, race or ethnic background. I agree with Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, UN General Assembly’s President that most sexual and physical violence against women and girls happens at home. That is where I think change of attitude must begin. Father, husband and brother have to be re-educated to stop their violent behavior in abusing wives, daughters and sisters. This can be done through sensitive learning programmes on gender equality and human rights education for parents and adolescents. UNFPA has been doing a good job worldwide on this aspect. But just to protect the girls by teachers and polices working together is not good enough. Young women and girls themselves have to be motivated to fight for their own safety. Training in martial arts and self-defense would be useful for girls. There have been many good practices and examples of solutions to eliminate violence and end impunity from local to the global levels that can be used as model project. I could not agree more with my friend, Rachel Mayanja, Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women that discrimination persists in all cultures in violation both of the United Nations Charter itself and of the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. To change this, global action is required.