The 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality.” This year the U.N is reflecting on how to accelerate and build momentum for the effective implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its new commitments under the UN Women’s Step It Up initiative. This new initiative asks governments to make national commitments that will close the gender equality gap – from laws and policies to national action plans and adequate investments.

Some key targets of the 2030 Agenda include: ensuring that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes; ending all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere; eliminating all forms of violence against all women and girls in the public and private spheres, including trafficking and sexual and other types of exploitation; and eliminating all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation.

“On this International Women’s Day, I remain outraged by the denial of rights to women and girls – but I take heart from the people everywhere who act on the secure knowledge that women’s empowerment leads to society’s advancement. Let us devote solid funding, courageous advocacy and unbending political will to achieving gender equality around the world. There is no greater investment in our common future.”— UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon’s statement on International Women’s Day.

Salesian missionaries living and working in more than 130 countries around the globe are focused on achieving gender equality through programs targeted specifically for young women and girls. These programs strive to empower young women and girls by providing opportunities for education and training that lead to livable wage employment.

“Young women and girls face many disadvantages and barriers to accessing education and achieving financial independence despite their huge potential,” says Father Mark Hyde, executive director of Salesian Missions. “It is very important for girls to attend school and gain an education. Girls that are empowered though education are more often able to achieve financial independence, marry at an older age and make better and healthier choices that affect not only themselves, but their families and communities as well.”

In honor of International Women’s Day, Salesian Missions is proud to share some of its programs around the globe that empower young women and girls.

BOLIVIA

Started in 1992, the Casa Maín girl’s home in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, provides shelter, nutritious meals and schooling for girls and young women with little access to education and those who were once living on the streets. Currently, there are more than 160 girls living and being educated at the home. Casa Maín is comprised of three houses and the girls are divided among them by age. The youngest girls, attending elementary school, live together in one house supported by several volunteer students from the secondary school. A second house provides shelter and peer support for girls attending secondary school while a third house is for young women attending the local university. The university students enjoy a setting that allows them to finish their degrees in higher education in a stable environment while learning how to live independently.

In addition to academic classes, the young women and girls at the home learn skills in communication and conflict management. Additional classes in dance, gymnastics and crafts are provided in the evenings and on weekends. Recently, the organization offered a three-week technology workshop to teach the girls basic computer skills including typing, word processing and drawing.

INDIA

Women from the slums of Mumbai, a densely populated city on India’s west coast, graduated from a Salesian-run 45-day skills training course. The women took courses in basic computing, English, tailoring, garment making, beauty care, hair dressing and mehndi (henna) application. The goal of the training was to help participants become better prepared for employment.

The Don Bosco Development Society in Mumbai which works to empower women in poverty to gain the skills and confidence they need to seek work, facilitated the training. For many of the participants, this was the first time they received educational training since the basic education they received when they were young. Salesian missionaries conducting the program modeled it after Skill India, an initiative by the Government of India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship. After the course was completed, many of the students noted that through the course they gained a sense of self-worth that they had not had before. They also felt that the skills and confidence they gained would enable them to earn a living and support their families.

SENEGAL

Center Kër Don Bosco officially opened at the end of January in Dakar, the capital and largest city in Senegal. The new center provides education, vocational training and apprenticeship opportunities to disadvantaged youth and women living in the Yoff district on the outskirts of the city.

Focused specifically on helping women gain opportunities in the workforce, the center is offering two literacy classes as well as a safe space for studying. Women in Senegal are often heads of households but lack the training and confidence to try to enter the workforce or advance into higher paying jobs. The center’s goal is to help women connect with their peers and provide access to employment training to boost confidence and improve employment prospects.

SIERRA LEONE

Salesians at Don Bosco Fambul in Freetown, Sierra Leone, have been running a Girls Shelter for the past two years. Here, professional social workers and pastoral workers provide crisis intervention and follow-up care for girls and young women who have been the victims of sexual assault. Those that access services at the shelter are also able to enroll in educational programs that are a part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul network. These programs train young women in the skills necessary to find and retain employment.

As part of the rehabilitation program at the Girls Shelter, young women take coursework in hotel management, hairdressing and tailoring. This training helps to empower them to overcome the discrimination they have faced, gain a greater awareness of their rights and boost their work prospects. It also helps to build character while allowing the young women the freedom to make decisions that affect their lives and their health. Recently, both the trainers and the students in these programs were able to present their skills and products to the general public at an exhibition in Freetown.

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Sources:

International Women’s Day 2016

UN – International Women’s Day 2016

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“I believe employment and decent work, particularly for young people, are the backbone of development,” Mr. Ban said in his remarks to the UN International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva.

“Yet we are facing a great test of our time – an epidemic of youth unemployment,” he added.

Mr. Ban noted that half of the world’s young people in the labour force are either working poor or unemployed. The global youth unemployment situation is intolerable, particularly for young women.

“In countries rich and poor, unemployment rates for young people are many times those of adults – and, of course, joblessness is the tip of the iceberg,” he stated. “Many are stuck in low-wage work with no protection in the informal economy. Many others find that their schooling has not equipped them with the right tools for today’s job market.”

Half the world, said Mr. Ban, is under 25 years of age – nearly 90 per cent of them in developing countries. “These young people represent an enormous resource for innovation and development,” he stated.

“I have seen it again and again in my travels around the world – from social entrepreneurs developing smart, new business models … to young people creating green jobs and more sustainable economies … to youth leaders speaking out, and tweeting out, for change.”

In tackling the epidemic of global youth unemployment, the Secretary-General called on governments to invest more in youth employment initiatives and promote decent work.

He also urged trade unions, employers’ organizations and the private sector at large to empower more youth in their own structures and engage with youth-led organizations, noting that the private sector is key to job creation and that trade unions have a fundamental role in promoting and protecting young workers’ rights.

Turning to young people, he stated: “You are the largest youth generation the world has ever known. You are already active in your organizations and as part of governments, trade unions and the private sector.

“I count on your energy, your leadership and creativity, to realize change and sustainable development. The United Nations wants to partner with you. Decent jobs for youth are essential to the future we want. Let us work for a world where nobody is left behind, where everybody can have a decent work. And let us work for a better world for all.”

While in Geneva today, Mr. Ban met with Nabil Elaraby, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. They discussed the Syria crisis, including the priorities of humanitarian access and bringing the fighting to a halt, as well as the current search for a successor to Lakhdar Brahimi, the former joint Special Representative on the crisis.

They also exchanged views on the current state of the Middle East peace process, as well as on the ongoing crises in Iraq, Libya and Somalia, according to a read-out of the meeting.

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Photo: Visit of the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to the International Labour Organization. Photos: ILO / Marcel Crozet

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“Like its stranded airport refugees, the Central African Republic is in dire need of a ticket out of its misery,” United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in an op-ed today for The Washington Post on his recent trip to the country, where a 2012 rebel-led coup has given way to brutal sectarian violence and massive human rights violations that have in turn displaced hundreds of thousands of people and left 2.2 million- half the population- in need of humanitarian aid.

While protected by international troops, the displaced people are exposed to disease, malnutrition and untold horrors beyond the gates.

Food is scarce, malaria could spread and the rainy season will only exacerbate the problems.

“Women and men shared horrific accounts of gang rapes, extortion and brutality. One mother told me how young children have suddenly begun imitating adults with weapons,” elaborated the UN chief.

The past year has brought, in quick succession, the violent overthrow of the Government, the total collapse of State institutions and a descent into lawlessness and sectarian brutality.

Mr. Ban attested, “the implosion of the State has created a set of challenges that is undermining stability and security across an already-fragile region.”

As most of CAR’s minority Muslims have fled, ethno-religious cleansing is changing the country’s landscape.

“I met hundreds outside the Central Mosque in the devastated PK5 neighborhood of Bangui. The road outside was lined with trucks laden with their last possessions,” Mr. Ban said.

In a few scattered places, vulnerable communities have gathered in camps and protected zones – but they are in danger of attack and seized with one sole objective of escaping.

On veut la partition, read the signs: We want partition.

One young man explained that while they did not want to leave, they wouldn’t stay simply to die.

“People should not have to beg for partition in order to feel safe,” argued the Secretary-General.

In a country the size of Texas, about 8,000 African Union (AU) and French troops are all that stand between order and anarchy.

“They need help,” stressed Mr. Ban.

The Security Council has just approved the deployment of 10,000 troops and almost 2,000 police for a new United Nations peacekeeping mission for the Central African Republic.

This is a welcome and highly anticipated step by the Central Africans, but the mission will not fully deploy until September – and time is not on the side of the vulnerable.

“More security assistance is needed during this vital intervening period before the peacekeeping mission is fully operational,” Mr. Ban explained.

Until the UN peacekeepers are deployed, support for the AU and French forces is crucial. The Secretary-General has urged the European Union to provide troop reinforcements, which have already begun.

“Action must come on two other fronts as well,” said Mr. Ban.

The transitional Government needs immediate help, including support for getting police, judges and prison guards back to work.

At the same time, the country needs an inclusive political process to find the path to peace.

The UN chief exhorted, “accountability for atrocious human rights violations is central. The United Nations has sent a commission of inquiry to help advance the process. Religious leaders are also crucial to advancing dialogue and ensuring that evacuated people can return home.”

Mr. Ban travelled to the CAR en route to Rwanda for the 20th anniversary of the genocide.

“Before leaving, I told the Central African Republic leaders that they must heed the lessons of that epic tragedy, not repeat its mistakes,” Mr. Ban said.

One of the religious leaders spoke of the many difficulties facing the country, sharing his fear for the future.

“As I saw in Rwanda, communities that have gone through massive national trauma can learn to live together once more in relative harmony,” the Secretary-General said.

Mr. Ban made the case that Central Africans rekindle that spirit.

“With the support of the international community, the people of the Central African Republic can build a future of reconciliation and peace,” he said.

According to Mr. Ban, the international community has an opportunity to help – and an obligation to act.

“Not tomorrow – today,” the UN chief concluded.

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Photo: Internally displaced women and children at the main mosque in Bangui during Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visit. UN Photo/Evan Schneider

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Children in particular will benefit from the new commitments, according to UNICEF. The organization says diarrhoeal diseases linked to water and sanitation kill 1,400 children every day, and contribute to stunting in over 160 million children globally.

“The poorest children have the least access to safe water and adequate sanitation and they pay the highest price – so they have the most to gain from these new commitments, as do their communities,” Lake said. “The commitments made here today will help meet the right of millions of children to safe water and sanitation. This can literally transform their lives and their communities.”

Major commitments at the High Level Meeting include over 260 concrete actions by over 50 countries to strengthen institutions, improve planning, and increase domestic spending and donor investment in water and sanitation. Seventeen countries committed to end open defecation by 2030 or earlier, while over 20 countries went even farther and pledged to achieve universal access to water and sanitation within the same period.

Latest data from UNICEF and the World Health Organization released at the High Level Meeting show that rapid progress is possible.  In sub-Saharan Africa, more than 30,000 people per day gained access to an improved water source between 2000 and 2012.  Ethiopia cut in half the proportion of people practicing open defecation over the same time period and managed to do it across all income levels and provinces.

In general, however, global progress has been uneven, and those already at the bottom are falling even farther behind.

“We cannot address water and sanitation without addressing inequities, such as disadvantaged girls who can’t go to school because the bathrooms aren’t safe or because they must collect water for their families during school hours when they should be building their futures,” Lake said. “When the global community set the goal of providing water and sanitation for all, that included these girls and every child, everywhere.”

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About SWA
Sanitation and Water for All is a global partnership aimed at achieving universal and sustainable access to sanitation and drinking-water for all, by firmly placing sanitation and water on the global agenda with an immediate focus on achieving the MDGs in the most off-track countries. More information is available at www.sanitationandwaterforall.org

PHOTO: © UNICEF

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Celebrated each year on August 12, the day was established by the United Nations to raise awareness of issues affecting young people around the world. This year’s theme –“Youth Migration: Moving Development Forward” – is in response to the challenges and opportunities raised by the estimated 27 million youth migrants around the world. According to the United Nations, young people aged 15 to 24 make up more than 10 percent of the 240 million international migrants.

Many of these young migrants are forced to flee from poverty or war. Nearly all of them are searching for better opportunities and safer environments.

Upon arrival in new surroundings, migrants often lack the education and skills needed to survive, and many are homeless. Sometimes young people are left behind by migrating parents and face psychological and social challenges as well as greater vulnerability.

Salesians working around the globe focus on meeting the specific needs of youth facing these challenges. From homeless shelters and youth centers for street children to education and vocational training designed specifically for refugees – the Salesians provide not only a safety net but successful solutions to end the cycle of poverty.

Widely regarded as the largest private provider of vocational and technical training—and working in more than 130 countries around the globe—the Salesians are positioned to make a big impact in the area of youth migration. Already embedded in their local communities, Salesians are able to help refugees who are often seen as “outsiders.”

RURAL COMMUNITIES, AGRICULTURE & YOUTH MIGRATION

To fight the patterns of migration that decimate rural villages in some of the poorest places on the planet, Salesian Missions works to develop programs focused on sustainable agriculture while also improving local economic opportunities. By improving conditions in villages, the local youth there are less likely to migrate to urban areas where they too often join other youth in homelessness and a cycle of poverty and violence.

In Kenya, agricultural training has made a significant difference at the Kakuma Refugee Camp. There, a demonstration farm enables training in agriculture skills while producing fresh fruit and vegetables to feed the refugees and inhabitants of the camp. Agricultural skills are also an important component at the Bosco Boys Kuwinda facility. There, students receive training in the raising and care of livestock including poultry, cows and pigs, as well as in the growing and tending of vegetable gardens. Eggs and meat are sold from the farm to help support the project and all of the milk produced is consumed by the community.

In Ecuador, through a Salesian Missions’ microfinance credit program, indigenous and rural populations have access to funds for agricultural and microbusiness activities. Currently, 12,000 people are taking advantage of this opportunity in 85 different communities.

In Cambodia, the Salesian-run Pascual Gentilini Agricultural School recently celebrated its 85th year teaching agricultural skills to poor youth. The school’s curriculum includes lessons in community service, vegetable gardening, cooking, maintenance, music, annual crops, cultivation of tea, fruit farming, zootechnics, bee-keeping, cattle-raising, leadership training and social work. Agricultural technical training encompasses one to six years of study. The school’s students are enthusiastic and eager to learn modern methods of farming together with business management.

WAR, VIOLENCE & YOUTH  MIGRATION

Salesian Missions has developed programs to empower youth migrants with funding support from the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration.

Since 1983, ethnic violence in Sri Lanka has forced tens of thousands of Sri Lankan Tamils from their homeland in search of safety and a new life in Tamil Nadu, India. Since 2010, Salesian Missions has provided a vocational and entrepreneurial program for young male and female Sri Lankan refugees who have been living in refugee camps in 15 target districts in India. In June 2013, 860 refugees graduated from this program. Half of these students attended a Salesian technical and vocational training center, learning job skills in electrical work, woodworking, computer technology and other similar trades.

In recent years, more than 450,000 people have fled from violence in Colombia to neighboring Ecuador, Venezuela, Panama and Costa Rica. Salesian Missions’ “New Beginnings” initiative, which started in 2011, has worked with more than 1,000 Colombian refugees in these four countries to provide vocational and human development training as well as job placement services. Many of the Colombian refugees had few marketable skills but the “New Beginnings” program allowed them the opportunity to start over and build a stable, hopeful future for themselves and their families. Through the program, each refugee student received 260 hours of technical training as well as job placement services.

“The United States takes great pride in our commitment to the rights of migrants to realize educational and professional opportunities in their new homes,” the State Department said in an official statement.

RESHAPING THE FUTURE

“It is important to emphasize the positive contribution young migrants make to societies of origin, transit and destination – economically and by enriching the social and cultural fabric. Most work hard to earn a living and improve their circumstances,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his message for the Day.

Young people have the potential to change negative societal patterns of behavior and break cycles of violence and discrimination that pass from one generation to the next. Salesian Missions remains committed to providing education, opportunities and hope to the world’s most vulnerable youth to help end the cycle of poverty which builds better lives and stronger communities.

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Sources:

UNICEF
http://www.unicef.org/programme/youth_day/partner.htm

United Nations
http://www.unworldyouthreport.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=84&Itemid=180

U.S. Department of State
http://www.state.gov/secretary/remarks/2013/08/213041.htm

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“I appreciate this opportunity to discuss the overarching global challenge of sustainable development – and how we can bring all partners together to advance this cause,”Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his remarks at the UN Headquarters in New York entitled ‘Partnering for Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development.’

The special ECOSOC event is organized by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA), in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN Office for Partnerships, the UN Global Compact and the Global Partnerships Forum.

The event brought together these bodies as well as Member States, the private sector, foundations and civil society to boost efforts towards reaching the MDGs by the target deadline and to promote thinking on the post-2015 sustainable development agenda.

“Technological learning and innovation capacity is critical to enable the provision of essential amenities to all and is therefore fundamental to ensuring overall sustainable development,” Néstor Osorio, president of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) said in his opening remarks.

“The absence of such capabilities results in limitations to application of existing technologies in all sectors, including those of public importance such as health, education, agriculture and climate change, to name but a few,” Mr. Osorio continued.

He noted that the messages emerging in today’s meeting dovetail with the key outcomes of yesterday’s ECOSOC Development Cooperation Forum special policy dialogue on private philanthropic foundations in the post-2015 setting.

“To achieve robust development results in future, a renewed global partnership for development must embrace diversity and recognize the roles of all stakeholders, including those of philanthropic organizations,” Mr. Osorio said to that group.

Today’s event features policy dialogues held in the morning and “partnerships clinics” in the afternoon focusing on potential solutions to development challenges facing Africa, as well as a keynote address from Mo Ibrahim, Chair of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation which awards a prize for good governance and leadership in Africa.

Given the importance of partnerships in the UN’s work, Mr. Ban announced today that he will propose the creation of a new UN Partnership Facility “to capture the full potential for partnership.”

“The Facility would help us deliver at scale – globally and at country level– across the range of UN mandates, goals and values,” Mr. Ban said. He added that the UN agencies, funds, programs and departments would continue to conduct the majority of related activities, but the Facility would strategically and systematically fill in any gaps, as well as build and strengthen partnership services.

The recommendations from today’s events will be presented to ECOSOC’s high-level ministerial meeting in July.

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Photo: ECOSOC discusses ‘Partnering for Innovative Solutions for Sustainable Development.’ UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

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From today, Somali children will receive the Pentavalent vaccine, a combination of five vaccines in one against diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (whooping cough), Hepatitis B and Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib – the bacteria that causes meningitis, pneumonia and other illnesses), all of which are highly prevalent. The vaccine will be part of the routine immunization program.

More than 1.3 million doses of Pentavalent vaccine have been provided to Somalia for 2013 and will be used to immunize children under one year of age. Pentavalent vaccines will be delivered to the 425,000 child born each year in Somalia through existing health structures as well as community health workers at district level. Each child will require three doses of the vaccine.

The launch of the new vaccine takes place in Mogadishu, Garowe (Puntland) and Hargeisa (Somaliland) and will be attended by leading government officials and representatives from GAVI Alliance, UNICEF and WHO.

“Somalia has one of the lowest immunization rates in the world,” said Dr. Seth Berkley, CEO of the GAVI Alliance. “The country’s health system has been destroyed after more than 20 years of conflict and thousands of children are not protected against major killer diseases. This situation is unacceptable and that’s why GAVI and its donors have committed substantial funding to Somalia until 2016.”

The launch of the vaccine is being accompanied by an outreach campaign to make parents aware of the importance of the new vaccine which replaces the DTP vaccine for diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis (whooping cough). A recent household survey (Multiple-Indicator Cluster Survey – MICS4) carried out by UNICEF and the relevant Ministries, found only seven percent of children in Puntland and 11 percent of children in Somaliland had received the required three doses of DTP by their first birthday.

“It is crucial that this vaccine reaches every Somali child in the country,” said Sikander Khan, UNICEF Somalia Representative. “We urge all parents, community, traditional and religious leaders to participate in the immunization activity, to ensure all children of Somalia can benefit from the protection offered”.

Continued conflict in Somalia has resulted in the country having some of the worst health indicators in the world. Child and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world; one in every five Somali children dies before their fifth birthday.

The introduction of Pentavalent vaccine means that the children will for the first time be protected against one of the causes of pneumonia, which is one of the leading causes of child deaths. It is the first time in 35 years that children in Somalia are being offered a vaccination that protects them against additional diseases apart from diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), tetanus, measles, polio and tuberculosis which they already receive.

“Both Haemophilus influenzae type B and Hepatitis B are of public health importance,” said Dr. Marthe Everard, World Health Organization Representative in Somalia. “There is little data on the epidemiologic burden of Hepatitis B and Hib disease, or on the burden of diseases from meningitis or pneumonia, but data from neighbouring countries and the developing world indicate that Hib is a leading cause of acute bacterial meningitis and an important cause of severe pneumonia.”

Somalia is the 71st GAVI-eligible country to introduce the Pentavalent vaccine – others include Afghanistan, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, East Timor, Pakistan or Yemen. By the end of 2014, all 73 GAVI-eligible countries will have introduced it.

The launch of the five-in-one Pentavalent vaccine in Somalia takes place during  the Global Vaccine Summit in Abu Dhabi, co-hosted by His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi; Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; and Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General. In partnership with GAVI, the Summit will celebrate progress in immunizing children against polio and other life-threatening diseases.

The launch coincides with World Immunization Week as well as the African Vaccination Week. During this week, UNICEF and WHO will conduct a nationwide polio immunization campaign in Somalia to protect children from life-long paralysis caused by the disease.

Note

Hib is a deadly bacterium which is the third biggest cause of vaccine-preventable death in children aged under five worldwide. Hib causes a variety of diseases including meningitis and pneumonia with survivors suffering paralysis, deafness and learning disabilities. Hib disease can be transmitted through contact with mucus or droplets from the nose and throat of an infected person.

HepB is a viral infection that is more than 50 times more infectious than HIV and which claims 600,000 lives every year through chronic or acute liver infections. Babies and young children are most at risk from Hep B, with the virus often passing from mother to child before or shortly after birth, and putting victims at high risk of death from cirrhosis of the liver and liver cancer in later life.

About GAVI Alliance

The GAVI Alliance is a public-private partnership committed to saving children’s lives and protecting people’s health by increasing access to immunization in developing countries. The Alliance brings together developing country and donor governments, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, the World Bank, the vaccine industry, technical agencies, civil society, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and other private sector partners. GAVI uses innovative finance mechanisms, including co-financing by recipient countries, to secure sustainable funding and adequate supply of quality vaccines. Since 2000, GAVI has financed the immunization of an additional 370 million children and prevented more than 5.5 million premature deaths. Learn more at www.gavialliance.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.

About UNICEF

UNICEF works in more than 190 countries and territories to help children survive and thrive, from early childhood through adolescence. The world’s largest provider of vaccines for developing countries, UNICEF supports child health and nutrition, good water and sanitation, quality basic education for all boys and girls, and the protection of children from violence, exploitation, and AIDS. UNICEF is funded entirely by the voluntary contributions of individuals, businesses, foundations and governments. For more information about UNICEF and its work visit: www.unicef.org

In June 2012, the Governments of Ethiopia, India and the United States with UNICEF launched a global roadmap to end preventable deaths of children under the age of five. Since then, under the banner of Committing to Child Survival: A Promise Renewed, more than 170 countries have signed up and renewed their commitment to child survival.

About WHO

WHO helps countries integrate immunization into national health policies and plans and thus increase access to existing vaccines. The Organization promotes new vaccines and new initiatives such as the integrated plan to end preventable child deaths worldwide from pneumonia and diarrhoea by 2025. It works to ensure access to quality vaccines and immunization equipment, notably through the prequalification of vaccines and immunization equipment. WHO is the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations system. It is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.

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Sustained economic growth certainly is needed, especially after the financial crisis that pushed 400 million people back below subsistence level. But growth alone will not lift up the estimated 1.5 billion people, almost one fifth of the world’s population, who live on less than $1.25 a day, a group the UN and the World Bank are targeting to eliminate extreme poverty, Helen Clark, UNDP administrator, said in an interview.

“The silver bullet is equal rights for women and girls, and that has to figure prominently,”  said the former prime minister of New Zealand and the first woman to head the agency.

“Just headline GDP growth won’t do it. You have to target poverty, you have to target inequality. That means bringing in all the people who are excluded. Women are so often excluded, and people with disabilities, minorities in societies, people pushed to the fringes,” Clark said.

The scorecard for the Millennium Development Goals, the blueprint signed by 193 nations for tackling extreme poverty by 2015, shows that the least progress has been made on women’s issues. On Goal 3 for achieving Gender Equality, for instance, women’s equal representation in national parliaments has either stagnated or gone backward since 2000. Similarly Goal 5 on improving material health shows lowering maternal death rates has stalled in every region except eastern Africa and central Asia.

Clark called it “no surprise” that maternal mortality is furthest from reaching its goal. It reflects a failure to understand the widespread impact that holding back women from full social, economic and political engagement has on development outcomes. For example, if girls marry young, they lose out on education and are more likely to face health problems and poverty.

Take Ghana. It declared women dying in childbirth a national emergency and gave pregnant women free access to health care and free transport to maternity centres. Yet its maternal death rate remains high, significantly among 12- to 15-year-olds — girls marrying too young to bear children safely, Clark said.

Agriculture is another area where a woman-focused development approach would make a difference to poverty rates, she said. UNDP research shows that about 80 percent of the world’s agricultural workers are women. Giving women access to credit would allow them to buy fertilizers to increase crop yields, feed their families and lift 100-150 million people from hunger, the United Nations and the World Bank estimate.

Today about six out of 10 of the world’s poorest people are women and 75 percent of women globally cannot get bank loans because they have no property rights or have unpaid or insecure jobs. Yet they are more likely to pay back loans then men, and more likely to invest extra cash in their families, improving their health, education and welfare, World Bank research has shown.

These are some of the reasons why Clark wants women’s rights to have a central place in the next set of UN development goals. Gender equality, despite being built into the design of UNDP programs, is “not trendy enough”, and countries too often set targets that are not sufficiently ambitious, she said.

FRAGILE STATES

The greatest threat to the UN’s goal of ending extreme poverty is conflict and fragile states, said Clark, who has headed the UNDP agency since 2009.  Huge strides India is making to reduce poverty will bear fruit in the next decade, but millions of people who live in regions riven by ethnic, religious or resource conflict could still be left behind, she said.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and World Bank President Jim Yong Kim already have identified fragile states as priorities, and they recently announced a joint trip to the Great Lakes region of central Africa with the goal of focusing their resources in a coordinated way on addressing the humanitarian disaster left from five years of conflict in the mineral-rich area. The coordinated effort is intended to pave the way for the private sector to enter conflict regions quickly once they are stabilized.

Clark said UNDP’s role is to help develop governmental institutions, build justice systems and advise on social programmes. Her agency also will be pouring more resources into extractive industry governance to help communities better use the revenues they earn from oil, gas, mining and timber resources, and reduce conflict.

But she sees no quick results, and calls conflict areas one of the hardest development challenges. “It is the tough stuff, and there is no substitute for strong government leadership.”

Indeed the UNDP’s latest Human Development Report released last month identified a strong state government with a vision as one of three essential ingredients for achieving sustained development and reducing inequality that reduces the likelihood of conflict. The others were tapping into global markets, often by opening up gradually and in some instances protecting national industries as they develop; and an impressive level of public investment in infrastructure and social welfare policies.

These policy prescriptions run counter to the usual Washington advice from multilateral institutions like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund of free market liberalisation to reduce poverty and promote growth. Clark said this advice has to change, a message that increasingly is being heard as the austerity programs in Western Europe, first seen as essential to restore growth by bringing down debt levels, are raising poverty rates and stoking social unrest.

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Article by Stella Dawson

Photo: UNDP chief Helen Clark speaks at a meeting of Resident Coordinators and Resident Representatives of the U.N. in the Middle East and North Africa, Rabat March 30, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

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Every year since 1993, the international community celebrates World Water Day on March 22, which focuses attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources.

The Theme for World Water Day 2013 (coordinated by UNESCO in collaboration with UNECE and UNDESA on behalf of UN-Water) is ‘Water, water everywhere, only if we share.’

“Water holds the key to sustainable development,” says UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an address highlighting World Water Day 2013. “We must work together to protect and carefully manage this fragile, finite resource.”

In honor and celebration of World Water Day 2013, Salesian Missions is proud to highlight Salesian programs around the globe that provide safe water and much-needed agricultural training to those most in need.

BOLIVIA

In Bolivia, families now have access to safe drinking water in their homes through community water distribution projects. In the town of “19 de Agosto” in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the new distribution brings water directly to 106 families who previously had to carry potable water from the town well to their own homes. In addition, the distribution system greatly improves the sanitary conditions of the drinking water. In the town of “Las Parabas,” 50 families now have water distribution directly into their homes.

In another project, water helps power electricity that brings hope to the people of Kami, a village high in the Bolivian Andes. Through Salesian Missions, an abandoned hydro-electrical power station has been restarted to provide the only source of electricity to the local school, hospital, sawmill and new businesses. Refurbished turbines can be fully used even with a small supply of water in the dry season. Excess power can be sold to the Bolivian Electricity Board to defray costs. Now the community has access to technology in its school, better basic medical care, job opportunities and a brighter future for all.

EAST TIMOR

The Salesians are helping East Timor recover and rebuild in the wake of a devastating civil war that claimed countless lives, decimated entire communities and resulted in living conditions that are among the worst in the world. One-third of the population faces food shortages and many of the schools have been destroyed.

At the Salesian agricultural school there, students learn theoretical agricultural methods and work on the college farm. Agricultural skills are also being taught in parish centers and schools. In Baucau, young people have set up a cooperative to plant rice on land owned by parishioners. When they started, they had no tools or machinery, just their bare hands. With assistance from Salesian Missions and AusAid, they were able to purchase hand plows, threshing and milling machines. A portion of the crop belongs to the workers, a portion goes to the landowners as rent and the rest is sold for profit.

INDIA

Child survival depends on safe drinking water. In India, progress has been made toward making access to safe drinking water more readily available with 84.5 percent of rural and 95 percent of urban populations having sustainable access to safe drinking water, according to the World Bank.

At the Don Bosco Center for Learning in Kurla, course work focuses on job training in developing technologies concerning water – ranging from plumbing and sanitation to developing efficient methods for utilization and analyzing existing systems for efficient transportation of water. The courses are designed for youth who have previously left school in order to help them enter the job market.

KENYA

In Kenya, agricultural training has made a significant difference at the Kakuma Refugee Camp. There, food security is enhanced by the demonstration farm which offers training in agriculture skills. It also produces fresh fruit and vegetables adding to the amount of food available to the refugees and inhabitants of the camp.

Agricultural skills are also an important component at the Bosco Boys Kuwinda facility. There, students receive training in the care of livestock including poultry, cows and pigs, as well as training in the vegetable gardens. Eggs and meat are sold from the farm to help support the project.

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Sources:

UN Water – World Water Day 2013

Salesian Missions

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“Human rights are part of the DNA of the United Nations and the birthright of every human being. Every member of the human family has a right to grow and develop their full potential in a secure and sustainable environment,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in his remarks to the panel, held at the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

“As we know from long experience,” he stated, “peace, development and human rights are inextricably linked. Human rights are essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and advancing sustainable development.”

The eight MDGs, agreed at a UN summit in 2000, set specific targets on poverty alleviation, education, gender equality, child and maternal health, environmental stability, HIV/AIDS reduction, and a ‘Global Partnership for Development.’

Last year, Mr. Ban established a senior-level UN System Task Team on the post-2015 agenda. The Team recommended that the post-2015 agenda be built on three fundamental principles: human rights, equality and sustainability.

This September, the President of the General Assembly will convene a special event on the MDGs to assess progress, as well as identify remaining gaps and challenges ahead.

“I call on all Member States to embrace this opportunity and I urge all stakeholders to ensure that international human rights standards and principles help guide our post-2015 goals and objectives,” said Mr. Ban.

The largest body of independent experts in the UN human rights system urged the international community to focus on social protections in the post-2015 agenda and proposed a specific goal on equality.

“The MDGs have remained silent regarding inequalities,” the group warned in a news release, pointing to human rights, equality and non-discrimination, and sustainability to be the focus of the post-2015 development agenda.

“As we approach the 2015 deadline for the realization of the MDGs, the international community must cement the gains achieved, build on the lessons learned and aim higher and be more ambitious,” Michel Forst said on behalf of the group of 72 independent experts charged by the Council with addressing specific country situations and thematic issues.

Addressing the high-level panel, Mr. Forst noted that 870 million people today are hungry “not because of insufficient food production, but because they suffer from insufficient social protection.”

He stressed that equality supports economic development and ensures sustainable growth, contrary to what he said was the prevailing view that it reduces efficiency and hinders growth.

“We will need to address inequality once and for all as it constitutes one of the most persistent challenges that prevent millions of people from living a life in dignity. We must aim for justice for all; those without a voice do not need charity,” Mr. Forst said.

He added that the post-2015 development agenda should include “a stand-alone goal on equality in order to foster more inclusive forms of development.”

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Photo: MDG 8: a global partnership for development

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“Empowerment is critical to poverty eradication and to development,” said the Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Wu Hongbo. “Indeed, I would even say that any long-term solution to poverty must start with empowerment.”

According to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on promoting people’s empowerment, nearly 80 per cent of the world’s population is without adequate access to social protection, leaving those living in poverty feeling powerless to improve their position.

The report, “Promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all” also states that while more than 600 million people have overcome poverty since 1990, 1 billion people will still be struggling to reach that goal by the 2015 deadline year for attaining the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In addition, the economic crisis and high fuel prices have slowed the rate of poverty reduction and increased unemployment rates, which also lead to social unrest. Globally, 200 million people were unemployed at the end of 2011, an increase of 27 million jobless persons since 2007, and 621 million young people are neither in employment, school or training nor looking for work.

“These are not mere statistics, but are lives affected, livelihoods lost and opportunities missed,” Mr. Wu said, urging the Commission to come up with concrete measures and actions for combating unemployment and empowering vulnerable populations.

To better understand how to promote empowerment and integrate it into the development agenda, participants at the Commission’s session will hear from experts leading discussions on this topic, as well as focusing on the elderly, youth, and people with disabilities.

The session will also include more than 30 side events and consideration of five resolutions as well as recommendations by the Civil Society Forum on promoting the empowerment of people to achieve social development goals.

Speaking at the Commission’s opening meeting, the President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Néstor Osorio, said that without adequate policies and mechanisms, social tensions increase and erode social cohesion, which is essential for promoting development.

Mr. Osorio also underlined the potential of information and communications technology to empower people in rural areas or disadvantaged communities by giving them access to knowledge.

“These tools will allow people to have their voices hear and increase their visibility,” Mr. Osorio said, noting that this would be one of the aspects explored during panel discussions in the next few days.

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UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

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In an interview with UN Radio shortly before the end of his term on 31 January, Mariano Fernández, who served as the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Haiti, said that he had recently highlighted the short-term threat posed by delayed legislative and local elections because political polarization was exacerbated by the issue.

“We have had a delay that we have declared almost unacceptable because the elections should have taken place 14 months ago,” stressed Mr. Fernández, warning of the threat to stability posed by the situation.

In the long-term view, employment, however, was the major issue. “They have a work force of 4.2 million people and in formal jobs they have only 200,000,” he said, adding: “So you have around 4 million people living in a subsistence economy, in a survival economy or living from remittances from the Haitians in exile, the Diaspora.”

“This is something that we should help the Government and the private sector and the Haitian people to face and to move forward on because this is a permanent source of instability,” he stressed.

Asked about the major accomplishments of the UN mission, known as MINUSTAH, during his tenure, he said that its greatest contribution was in greatly improving security and strengthening the police and other rule of law institutions.

“Security has improved a lot,” he said, pointing out that Haiti now ranked fourth in the index of the lowest number of homicides per capita in Central America and the Caribbean. “The challenges in security are now mainly the gangs in the some shanty towns around Port-au-Prince and the family violence, the abuse against women.

“But political violence doesn’t exist, kidnapping has been reduced and the cases of homicide are concentrated around Port- au-Prince,” he said, adding: “The rest of the country is very peaceful.”

He said that cholera has also been radically reduced, with fears of a spike in transmission following hurricanes Isaac and Sandy fortunately not coming to fruition.

He noted that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently launched a campaign with the Ministers of Health of Haiti and the Dominican Republic to rid their common island of the disease during the coming year, appointing renowned United States physician Paul Farmer, to lead it. “I think we will have a serious success,” he said.

The Security Council established MINUSTAH in June 2004 to restore a secure and stable environment, to promote the political process, to strengthen Haiti’s Government institutions and rule-of-law-structures, as well as to promote and to protect human rights.

It has also helped support Haiti’s authorities with recovery efforts in the wake of the massive earthquake which struck in January 2010, as well as supporting preparations for presidential elections held in 2011.

Mr. Fernández, a native of Chile, took the reigns of MINUSTAH in April 2011 from Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, who took on the position after the earthquake. A successor for Mr. Fernández has not yet been announced.

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UN Photo/Logan Abassi: Outgoing head of MINUSTAH, the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, Mariano Fernández.

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“I see Africa on the rise. I welcome great progress on development, good governance and human rights,” Mr. Ban told correspondents on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Ethiopia, during a day devoted to security in the Great Lakes, malaria, poverty and a gamut of other issues.

“We have 1,000 days to reach our Millennium Development Goals,” Mr. Ban said of the time remaining until the 2015 deadline for the program to slash extreme poverty and a raft of other global ills. “Now is the time to finish the job by accelerating progress,” he urged.

Affirming the UN’s continued commitment to support those efforts, he added: “The United Nations has been Africa’s strongest partner throughout this half century. We are firmly committed to standing with Africa now in the future.”

Mr. Ban said that he had “very successful” meetings today on malaria and yesterday on maternal and child health, recalling that this week also saw the launch of an initiative to help Africa train and deploy a million community health workers by 2015.

“We are working for a future where virtually all African mothers survive childbirth and raise their HIV-free babies into healthy adults,” he said.

He also called on African leaders to join in ending the silence and denial surrounding sexual violence in conflict. “I call on African leaders to join me in raising our voices on behalf of victims. They need our unrelenting advocacy,” he said.

He added that women must play a significant role in peace-building in conflict societies. “The African Union took an historic step when it appointed its first female Chairperson,” he said, congratulating Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma of South Africa on her appointment.

Commenting on a range of African conflict situations, Mr. Ban welcomed what he called the “decisive action” of the French Government in Mali and pledged the UN’s readiness to undertake a “major, system-wide effort” for peace-building, governance, security sector reform, physical reconstruction and regional cooperation for the Sahelian country.

While in Addis, Mr. Ban met with some 20 national leaders. In a meeting today with Boni Yayi, President of Benin, he commended Mr. Yayi on his accomplishments as outgoing President of the AU and discussed regional initiatives to fight piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, according to information provided by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that in his meeting with Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the Secretary-General welcomed progress in the country and discussed the future of the UN presence there, encouraging the Government to strengthen its political authority throughout its territory.

With the President of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Joseph Kabila, he commended efforts to find a durable solution to the crisis in the east of the country, reaffirming the UN’s commitment to address remaining challenges. He also discussed the situation in the Great Lakes region with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, in separate meetings.

The Secretary-General noted that leaders had planned to sign a political framework on the DRC earlier today. There were no fundamental differences over the content of the framework, but some procedural issues did arise, and the Secretary-General said that the parties have agreed to postpone the signing.

Also, Mr. Ban and Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete discussed issues in Madagascar and Zimbabwe, in light of the security leadership role the country is currently playing in the South African Development Community (SADC), the spokesperson said.

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UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

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The theme for this year’s Human Rights Day is My Voice Counts. This 2012 theme focuses on the rights of all people, particularly those whose voices are often marginalized — women, youth, minorities, persons with disabilities, indigenous people and the poor. The goal is to make sure everyone’s voice is heard in public life and is included in political decision-making.

“Everyone has the right to be heard and to shape the decisions that affect their community,” says Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General in a recent statement on Human Rights Day. “Over the past century, we have made undeniable progress along the path of inclusion. Yet far too many groups and individuals face far too many obstacles.”

“No country has succeeded in ensuring that all its inhabitants are able to participate fully in public affairs, including the right to be elected to public office and to have equal access to public services,” adds Ban Ki-moon. “Enacting new rights or removing unjust laws is not always sufficient. Too often, discrimination persists in practice, creating barriers and mindsets that can be hard to overcome. International law is clear. No matter who you are, or where you live, your voice counts. On this Day, let us unite to defend your right to make it heard.”

Through educational programming, the Salesians fight tirelessly each day to make sure the voices of marginalized youth are heard and accounted for. In honor of Human Rights Day, Salesian Missions highlights their unique educational programs that are helping poor youth receive an education and find a path out of poverty, bringing them hope for the future.

COLOMBIA

For more than 30 years, homeless children have received support at Don Bosco City in Medellin, Colombia, one of the oldest and largest programs for street children in Latin America. The program serves both boys and girls and goes beyond traditional homeless shelters by providing a three-stage program which culminates in vocational training. First, youth are given safety and shelter, along with food and clothing. Next, youth move into a special house where they receive remedial education and learn to live with others. In the final stage, youth receive jobs skills training or attend local schools. Through this model of education and rehabilitation, youth are able to learn the skills needed to support themselves and break the cycle of poverty. Learn more about Salesian Missions programs in Colombia >

INDIA

Children’s Parliaments in India are some of the projects in which the Salesians have pledged to ensure that the voices of children are heard. Over 7,600 children participate in the Andhra Region Parliament, part of the Tsunami Project which aims to improve education for the most vulnerable children. The objective of this Parliament is to educate young people to know their rights and to work to reduce inequalities and injustices. Learn more about Salesian Missions programs in India >

PHILIPPINES

In the Philippines, drop-out rates double as children reach secondary school, according to UNICEF, and there are more than 11 million out-of-school youth. Salesian Missions’ Tuloy Foundation provides a second chance for at-risk youth to succeed in school. Street children are able to take part in an alternative learning module with five levels of instruction in six subjects. Children progress from first grade through high school. Older youth pursue vocational training in a variety of technologies, including automotive, electrical, welding and woodworking. Learn more about Salesian Missions programs in the Philippines >

SIERRA LEONE

The Don Bosco Fambul program in Sierra Leone aims to change the lives of children. It directly addresses issues facing street children – including emotional trauma from the war and lost family. With the goal of reuniting with their families, youth participate in a 10-month program which includes counseling and medical care – as well as education. Youth attend classes during the day according to their level of ability and any previous schooling. In the evening, they are responsible for helping each other with homework. Youth are tested each month and receive encouragement for progress – building self-esteem and motivation – and hope for the future. Learn more about Salesian Missions programs in Sierra Leone >

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Sources:

ANS – Over 7,000 children make their voices heard

United Nations – Human Rights Day

United Nations – Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Salesian Missions – Our Work

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“Founded on the values of solidarity and mutual trust, volunteerism transcends all cultural, linguistic and geographic boundaries,” said Ban Ki-moon, UN Secretary-General in a statement about the day. “By giving their time and skills without expectation of material reward, volunteers themselves are uplifted by a singular sense of purpose.”

Through the years, International Volunteer Day has been used to focus on volunteer contributions to achieving Millennium Development Goals – a set of time-bound targets to combat poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and discrimination against women.

In honor of International Volunteer Day, the Salesians highlight the important work accomplished by their Salesian Lay Missioners who are providing hope and a path out of poverty for youth around the globe.

Salesian lay missioners go above and beyond the typical volunteer assignment. They volunteer their time, but also give up the comforts of home to live and work among the impoverished, often sacrificing years of their lives.

“We live with the people and are part of the communities we serve,” says Adam Rudin, director of the Salesian Lay Missioner program. “We are with them day and night, sharing meals and stories. As they learn from us, we, in turn, learn from them.” He adds that all volunteers have conversational knowledge of the language spoken in the community. “A sense of humor and a spirit of sacrifice are also essential,” he adds.

On, the Salesians call attention to programs where their lay missioners have made a difference in the lives of youth.

Bolivia

Hogar María Auxiliadora is home to 45 girls between the ages of five and 18 years who have been orphaned, abandoned, or abused. Salesian Lay Missioners have been working there since 2006. Located in Itocta, the home is set in a rural community a half hour outside of the city of Cochabamba. Girls in the program have access to a safe, nurturing environment where they receive tutoring and education and are encouraged to develop their personal gifts and talents in art, dance, music and athletics.

Cambodia

Don Bosco Vocational Training Center for Girls is located in Phnom Penh, the capital city of Cambodia. The Salesian Sisters began the school in 1993 in order to reach out to the most impoverished of the villages, as well as the city, to create successful jobs in secretarial and computer areas. Courses offered are computer, accounting, general office procedures, English, personal development and several others depending on teachers available. Salesian Lay Missioners normally teach English as well as offer up time to help in any way possible.

Ethiopia

The Salesians have been a presence at Don Bosco Soddo Catholic School since September 2009. Students at this school and youth center enjoy participating in a variety of clubs, including media, sports, life skills, history and school safety. Choirs and dance groups have been organized by volunteers. Students from other schools in grades seven through 10 are offered free tutorial classes after school to help them prepare for the national exams. About 150 youth are in the primary school and another 200 participate in the youth center.

India

Located in the Assam region of India, the Ferrando Rehabilitation Centre was recently established to assist youth who have a disability such as deafness or loss of a limb. The Salesian sisters work with the youth to help them reintegrate into society and lead a dignified life. Salesian Lay Missioners help in a variety of ways, teaching computer skills, dance, physical therapy and English to the students.

Sources:

Salesian Lay Missioners – Website

UN – International Volunteer Day

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Drought and political instability have led to a major food crisis affecting 18 million people across West Africa. Serious flooding, a deadly cholera outbreak and the conflict in neighboring Mali have exacerbated the situation. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently made a plea for international aid to alleviate the crisis.

“Niger is one of the poorest countries in the world and they have been the hardest hit,” said AmeriCares Emergency Response Manager Karl Erdmann, who recently returned from the region. “More than one-third of the population has been affected, including 400,000 children suffering from severe malnutrition. They are not equipped to care for the tens of thousands of refugees crossing the border from Mali, and they are quickly running out of food and medical supplies.”

The medicines and relief supplies from AmeriCares will be distributed by a partner organization providing medical care in refugee camps. The recent shipments are AmeriCares second delivery for the Sahel crisis. In August, AmeriCares sent medical aid and 2.5 million sachets of P&G water purification packets to Mali on a humanitarian aid flight coordinated by the global logistics company UPS.

AmeriCares has been responding to natural disasters, disease outbreaks and crushing poverty for 30 years, delivering medicines and relief supplies that restore health and save lives. In 2005, during one of the one worst food shortages in Niger’s history with 2.5 million people facing starvation, AmeriCares airlifted more than 30,000 pounds of medical aid to clinics and feeding centers treating malnourished children and adults.

About AmeriCares
AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization that delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid to 164 countries. For more information, visit americares.org.

Salesian Missions is a proud partner of AmeriCares.

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PHOTO: UNHCR/H. Caux (representative photo, taken near Mali/Niger border earlier this year)

See related MissionNewswire article on Salesian Missions’ work related to this emergency:
(July 19, 2012) MALI: Salesians Assist Displaced Children & Families as Political Instability Continues

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The meeting between the Secretary-General and the President of Tunisia, Moncef Marzouki, saw the two men discuss the North African nation’s constitution-making process and women’s empowerment, as well as the President’s efforts to promote economic recovery and regional integration within the Arab Maghreb Union. They also discussed the impact of recent attacks in Tunisia by extremists.

Libya’s democratic transformation process, as well as the security situation in the country following the attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, was a topic for discussion in the Secretary-General’s meeting with President of the General National Congress of Libya, Mohamed Yousef El-Magariaf.

They also discussed continued cooperation with the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), and they agreed on the importance of the Alliance of Civilizations, especially in light of the recent intolerance and violence. Mr. Ban also underlined the need for a comprehensive review of the status of conflict-related detainees, and both men agreed on the need for human rights and due process to be respected.

Senegal’s long-running conflict in its southern Casamance region, as well as the latest developments regarding the prosecution of former Chadian Head of State Hissennè Habré, were covered in the Secretary-General’s meeting with the African country’s President Macky Sall.

They also exchanged views on the situation in Guinea-Bissau, Mali and the Sahel region, and on ways for the international community to support the region in addressing these crises. In addition, they discussed the importance of international partnerships to try to alleviate the problems resulting from global climate change, as well as drought in the Sahel.

The situation in Mali was also discussed in the Secretary-General’s meeting with the Foreign Affairs Minister of Burkina Faso, Djibrill Yipènè Bassolé. In addition, they discussed the upcoming electoral process in Burkina Faso and exchanged views on the situation in Côte d’Ivoire.

In his meeting with the President of Togo, Faure Essozimna Gnassingbé, the Secretary-General welcomed the African leader’s efforts to engage in national dialogue with opposition parties and encouraged him to work towards the creation of a more conducive environment for the conduct of legislative elections.

Mr. Ban and the President also discussed Togo’s efforts towards the achievement of the anti-poverty targets known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in the areas of education and agriculture. The UN chief underscored the importance of Africa’s constant efforts towards enhanced regional unity, coordination and cooperation for peace and sustainable development – and he urged Togo to continue to play a leading role in this regard.

Meeting with the Vice-President of South Sudan, Riek Machar Teny-Dhurgon, the Secretary-General commended the Government, and its President Salva Kiir in particular, for reaching agreements with the Government of Sudan on post-secession issues at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa earlier this week. The two men also discussed the current situation in South Sudan, particularly in the state of Jonglei.

Meeting with Burundi’s First Vice-President, Therence Sinunguruza, the Secretary-General thanked the African country for its contribution to peace in Somalia and welcomed its readiness to participate in peacekeeping efforts.

They also discussed the human rights situation and peace consolidation efforts in Burundi, including the establishment of the truth and reconciliation commission and preparations for the next elections.

In their meeting, the Secretary-General and the Federal Minister for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria, Michael Spindelegger, discussed a range of issues of mutual interest, including the Western Balkans, the Alliance of Civilizations and its upcoming Annual Forum to be held in Vienna in February 2013, and efforts to reform the UN Secretariat.

The two men also agreed that it is essential for the international community to pursue mutual understanding, tolerance and cooperation through cross-cultural dialogue.

The situations in Syria and Afghanistan were among the topics discussed in the meeting between the Secretary-General and Sweden’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Carl Bildt.

They agreed on the gravity of the situation in Syria, and the urgent need to find a solution and to address the humanitarian crisis there. Concerning Afghanistan, they discussed the upcoming elections and the importance of ensuring continued and long-term international commitment to support the Afghan people towards national reconciliation and stability.

The Secretary-General exchanged views on developments in the Western Balkans in his meeting with Slovenia’s Prime Minister, Janez Janša. They also discussed issues relating to the principle known as the responsibility to protect, and the involvement and participation of civil society in this context, in addition to discussing the situation in Syria.

Malta’s role as a strong advocate for tackling climate change, as well as its contributions to international efforts to combat piracy, was discussed in the Secretary-General’s meeting with the Mediterranean nation’s Deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Tonio Borg,

They also exchanged views on the situation in the Middle East and North Africa and Malta’s strategic role as “a bridge between North and South,” in addition to discussing the immigration and refugee issue in the Mediterranean region. The Secretary-General commended Malta’s efforts in this regard and recalled the importance of upholding the human rights of those affected.

The President of Albania, Bujar Nishani, emphasized his country’s commitment to UN principles and actions – especially regarding human rights, women’s empowerment and peacekeeping – in his meeting with the Secretary-General.

They discussed developments in Albania and UN-Albanian cooperation, and Mr. Ban thanked Albania for its support in piloting the UN’s Delivering as One initiative. They also exchanged views on progress in the areas of peace and stability in the region.

In the meeting between the Secretary-General and San Marino’s Minister for Foreign and Political Affairs, Antonella Mularoni, the two discussed the political and economic situation in the small landlocked nation and in Europe, with Mr. Ban thanking San Marino for its continuing support to the UN.

The Secretary-General discussed regional cooperation – particularly the need to find a mutually acceptable solution to the region’s water and energy challenges – in a meeting with Turkmenistan’s Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Rashid Meredov.

The two men also recognized the useful role of the UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) and its head.

Uruguay’s presidency of the Geneva-based Human Rights Council and its participation in UN peacekeeping operations were discussed in the Secretary-General’s meeting with the Latin American country’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Luis Almagro. Other topics discussed included the implementation of the Delivering as One programme in Uruguay, the issue of drug control and regional developments.

In the meeting between the Secretary-General and the Crown Prince of Brunei Darussalam, Prince Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, the two men discussed issues related to UN-Brunei cooperation and the UN-Association of Southeast Asian Nations Comprehensive Partnership.

Also on Friday, the Deputy Secretary-General, Jan Eliasson, met with Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Narayan Kaji Shrestha. They exchanged views on Nepal’s peace and constitution-making process and the economic and social situation in the country, including the MDGs.

The Deputy Prime Minister expressed appreciation for the role of the United Nations in Nepal’s peace process, and briefed Mr. Eliasson on current efforts to end the political deadlock and to move forward, including possibly through new elections. The Deputy Secretary-General was encouraged by the new efforts and urged the Nepalese parties to complete the constitution-making process without delay while protecting the gains achieved so far.

The pair also exchanged views on the importance of transitional justice and international standards in the context of Nepal’s peace process, and Mr. Eliasson expressed his appreciation for Nepal’s contribution to United Nations peacekeeping.

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PHOTO: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

See this article at its original location at UN.org: http://www.un.org/News/

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“Momentum is on our side. Let us use it to end AIDS – once and for all,” Mr. Ban said in his message for World AIDS Day, observed on Dec. 1 each year.

“The progress we have made so far is proof that we can realize our vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths,” he added.

The number of new HIV infections has fallen by more than 20 per cent since 1997, Mr. Ban noted. New infections are continuing to decline in most parts of the world. In addition, treatment has averted 2.5 million AIDS-related deaths since 1985, saving 700,000 lives last year alone.

“But, to end AIDS, we need to deliver even greater results,” stressed the Secretary-General. “We must build on the political commitments, investments, energy, activism and determination that have brought us to this turning point.”

Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), noted it has been a year of achievements, of collective action, of resilience and of courage. Despite the economic downturn that has stretched the AIDS response to its limits, millions of lives have been saved, as HIV treatment and prevention efforts continue to show results, he said.

“Never before in the history of AIDS have we reached a moment where we are able to stand up and say with conviction the end of AIDS is in sight,” he stated in his message.

“The road before us is clear and we can accelerate ahead with smart investments, capitalizing on scientific advancements and evidence and respecting human rights,” Mr. Sidibé said, calling on countries, donors and others to reach the global investment target of $22-24 billion for the AIDS response. “Only together can we secure the future and provide greater and long-term dividends.”

In a related development, Mr. Sidibé welcomed China’s decision to fill its HIV resource gap by increasing domestic investments. The new commitment from China comes at a crucial moment, according to UNAIDS, as resources for AIDS are declining and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria is facing a major setback in resource mobilization.

The theme of this year’s World AIDS Day is “Getting to Zero,” which reflects both optimism and the need to do much more, the President of the General Assembly said in his message, noting that the challenges ahead are “sobering.”

While more than 6.5 million people now receive life-saving treatment, 7.6 million still have no access to it, said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser. In 2010 alone, 1.8 million people died of AIDS-related illnesses, and there were 2.7 million new HIV infections.

“We cannot allow hard-won gains to unravel,” said Mr. Al-Nasser. “I call on all stakeholders to uphold their commitments, and to work together to sustain and accelerate the progress.”

A number of other senior UN officials issued messages, adding their voices to the call for sustained action to finally rid the world of the epidemic. They include the Executive Director of the UN Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Yury Fedotov; the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Irina Bokova; and the Director-General of the International Labor Organization (ILO), Juan Somavia.

The UN World Food Program (WFP) marked the Day by emphasizing the importance of providing food and nutrition support to people living with HIV and their families.

“Poor nutritional status and HIV can reinforce each other in a vicious circle,” said Martin Bloem, WFP’s chief of nutrition and HIV/AIDS policy. “WFP works with communities and health centers around the world to ensure that people affected by HIV and AIDS receive comprehensive support that nourishes and strengthens their bodies.”

In 2010, WFP supported 2.5 million people in 44 countries through its HIV and tuberculosis programs, providing food and nutrition support to some 1.3 million people living with HIV as part of their anti-retroviral treatment (ART) or TB treatment and another 1.2 million people affected by these diseases. It aims to reach about the same number of people this year.

Yesterday, the UN World Health Organization (WHO), the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and UNAIDS released their report on the global HIV/AIDS response, highlighting the fact that there is a very real possibility of getting ahead of the epidemic.

This can only be achieved, however, by both sustaining and accelerating the current momentum over the next decade and beyond, the agencies stressed.

Meanwhile, a UN Development Programs (UNDP) study released today says that households in Asia that include people living with HIV exhaust their savings and liquidate assets at a disproportionately high rate, often plunging into “irreversible poverty.”

Catastrophic health care costs, stigma, unemployment, and bad credit also mean these households – which start out with fewer assets – consume less food of lower quality and keep fewer children in school, said the report, which calls for urgent mitigation measures, including HIV-sensitive social protection to help tens of thousands of households in the region.

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Learn about how Salesian Missions is working to fight HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia through a project funded by USAID.

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Ban’s statement came at a ministerial mini-summit on humanitarian response to the Horn of Africa which was held on the sidelines of the ongoing general debate of the UN General Assembly ‘s 66th session.

“The Horn of Africa is in crisis, and that crisis grows deeper by the day,” Ban said. “In Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia and Djibouti, more than 13 million people need our help.”
According to Ban, there is a shortage of about 700 million U.S. dollars in assistance needed in 2011 for the region.

The food crisis in the Horn of Africa has been caused by drought and rising food prices. Saturday’s mini-summit is aimed at raising vital funds for needs in the African region.
Also at the meeting, Nassir Abdulaziz Al- Nasser, president of the General Assembly, called the humanitarian disaster in Northeast Africa to be on an “unimaginable scale.”

“As the world’s preeminent forum for international peace and security, it is our collective responsibility to provide moral and financial support to these highly vulnerable populations,” Al- Nasser said. “The rights to food, life and security are, after all, universal human rights.”

Al-Nasser said the General Assembly will focus on the humanitarian crisis there, pledging “we must also share the information and work closely and cooperative to ensure all needs are met” in addressing the complex issue.

“Underpinning our work must be the recognition that humanitarian issues are development issues, and that our success in protecting against natural disasters, such as extreme drought, will have a direct impact on the ability to fulfill the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs),” he said.

About Salesian Missions at the United Nations

UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

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This follows decades of civil war, and a referendum this past January in which nearly 99 percent of southern Sudanese who voted chose to secede from Sudan and form an independent nation.

The new nation enters a new phase while confronting humbling realities about the state of its people. South Sudan is one of the most impoverished countries in the world, has the world’s highest maternal mortality rate and struggles with very low literacy rates (90% of the female population remain illiterate). According to the United Nations, more than half of its people feed, clothe and shelter themselves on less than one dollar a day.

In an editorial published by the New York Times on July 7, Secretary General of the U.N. Ban Ki-Moon wrote, “I came to appreciate the sheer scale of these challenges, for myself, when I first visited South Sudan in 2007 — an area of 620,000 square kilometers with less than 100 kilometers of paved road. Within this larger context, the risk of increased violence, harm to civilian populations and further humanitarian suffering is very real.”

At the same time, he points out “South Sudan has remarkable potential. With substantial oil reserves, huge amounts of arable land and the Nile flowing through its center, South Sudan could grow into a prosperous, self-sustaining nation capable of providing security, services and employment for its population.”

A new USAID mission has been designated – in the South Sudan city of Juba – to address the country’s development needs and create a transition strategy to guide activities in South Sudan.

“The lack of economic opportunity, particularly among marginalized youth, is another critical potential driver of conflict in South Sudan,” reads the USAID’s South Sudan Transition Strategy Executive Summary.

Specializing in meeting the needs of such marginalized youth, the Salesians of Don Bosco have been working in the region since 1982 – providing educational opportunities, housing, food, youth centers, health services and other needs to those otherwise without a voice or hope for the future. The Salesians’ work continued even during the most intense warfare in 1997 and 1998, followed by the starvation of many and an ongoing humanitarian crisis that continues today. The atrocities in Darfur sparked an international outcry for the entire region – as people not only fled for their lives due to violence, but also fought starvation, poverty and disease.

After the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in 2005, new opportunities arose for international humanitarian organizations to partner in the reconstruction of Sudan.

In response, the Don Bosco Network – an international network of Salesian NGOs that includes Salesian Missions in New Rochelle, NY – published a “Sudan 2007-11 Country Strategy Paper.” The paper included an outlined approach for specific interventions to help youth in the southern Sudan zone. Strategies included: improving access to schooling, especially for IDPs (internally displaced people) in the town of Wau; enabling the start-up of small enterprises in the Wau County by providing employment-oriented vocational training to youth; and promoting agro-based livelihoods in the Wau County through agricultural training and services.

As a result, Salesian involvement throughout Sudan has been further developed, including a strong presence in four of the cities in the newly formed South Sudan: Tonj, Wau, Maridi and Juba.

At St. Joseph’s Vocational Training Center in Kharotoum, Sudan, youth receive instruction in computer training, wiring, masonry, carpentry and welding.

An educational program in Tonj – which consists of a primary school for 1,200 students and educational centers in the villages – seeks to make education more easily accessible to children.  Currently there are six such village educational centers with plans in place for more. Another essential service in Tonj is a Salesian-run health center which cares for approximately 250 out-patients every day and is the only medical facility available within 125 miles.

In Wau, a Salesian vocational school trains youth in general mechanics, carpentry and plumbing in addition to promoting agricultural projects essential to the town.

These programs are examples of the many operated by the Salesians in nations throughout Africa and the entire globe, from orphanages and feeding centers to training institutes. Connecting the newly formed nation of South Sudan with the East Africa region and the world in meaningful ways, will be essential to its future.

“South Sudan must also reach out to its other neighbors,” Ban Ki-Moon wrote in his New York Times editorial. “Across the globe — and in Africa, especially — the trend is toward regional partnerships. South Sudan will be strengthened by becoming an active participant in the regional organizations of East Africa and developing durable trade and political ties throughout the continent.”

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Joseph Hobson contributed to this report.

Photos courtesy of Salesians of Don Bosco Sudan.

Sources:

USAID
– www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/countries/south_sudan/docs/south_sudan_transition_strategy_summary.pdf
– www.usaid.gov/locations/sub-saharan_africa/south_sudan

NY Times Editorial by BAN KI-MOON (Secretary General of the United Nations)
www.nytimes.com/2011/07/08/opinion/08iht-edban08.html?_r=1&ref=sudan

VIS (Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo)
“DBN Sudan Country Strategy Paper 2007-2011”
www.volint.it/sudan/localpartner.html

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