New method to detect leaky steam generator at atomic station developed
Nov 18: A highly reliable method of detection of a leaky steam generator at a nuclear power station has been developed. The chemical laboratory at the Kakrapar Atomic Power Station, which has developed this technique can be used at any nuclear power plant unit operating at full power. This original method has been successfully tested for the first time in the history of Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL). This highly sensitive technique can locate a tube leak as low as 50 ml per hour.
Each unit of the Pressurised Heavy Water Reactor at Kakrapar has four mushroom type steam generators with integrated steam drums. Each steam generator consists of 1,830 tubes with 16 mm outside diameter and 1 mm thickness. Heavy Water of the primary heat transport system as coolant, carries the nuclear heat from the fuel to the tube side of the steam generator known as "the primary side" in which the radioactivity is contained.
The new method is based on the measurement of the iodine activity in the secondary side of water. Iodine, a fission product which is present in the primary side water would reflect in the secondary side of water in the event of tube leak in a steam generator. This iodine activity-based measurement method is very innovative and no reference of, use of such a technique elsewhere is available. -Keralamonitor.com
Railway Recruitment Board Exam postponed
Nov 18: The Ministry of Railways has decided to postpone Group 'D' written examinations being conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board, Guwahati, keeping in view the law and order situation and the forthcoming Municipal Elections in Assam. Revised dates and venue for the examinations would be intimated to the candidates subsequently. Revised examination schedule would be published in the newspapers, including The Employment News.Candidates who have already appeared in the written examinations held on November 9 and 16, 2003 would not be required to appear again, as the examinations already held are valid. -Keralamonitor.com
Organising Committee for 2010 Games- Vikram Verma
Nov 18: Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Vikram Verma briefed the press regarding India's Wining the bid for 2010 Commonwealth Games after he returned from Jamaica.
On the proposal of India Olympic Association (IOA) Government of India on 2nd July, 2002 conveyed its no objection to making a bid presentation at Manchester Games, 2002.Subsequently, Government of India has approved the following:
Allowing the Ministry of Sports & Youth Affairs, Delhi. Administration and IOA to bid for the XIX Commonwealth Games, 2010 In principle approving holding of the XIX Commonwealth Games, 2010 in case the bid to host the Games at New Delhi is successful . It was also decided to issue the following guarantees:
Accordingly, a delegation led by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Vikram Verma, President AICS Sh. V.K.Malhotra, the Lt. Governor of Delhi Sh. Vijay Kapoor, President IOA Shri Suresh Kalmadi and Shri Randhir Singh, Secretary-General, IOA, presented a formal bid before the Commonwealth Games Federation in London on May 30, 2003, were also present on the occasion.
Government on 11th September, 2003 further approved the following:
Delhi and Hamilton (Canada) were the two candidates for hosting the Commonwealth Games, 2010. Team India comprising of Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports; Lt. Governor of Delhi; Secretary (Sports), DG (SAI), Joint Secretary (Sports), representatives of IOA and eminent sports persons namely Shri Sunil Gavaskar, Shri Michael Ferreira, Ms. Anjali Bhagwat and Shri Murad Ali Khan were present during the General Assembly meeting of the Commonwealth Games Federation held at Montego Bay (Jamaica) from 11th to 13th November, 2003 and made their presentation before the members of the Commonwealth Games Federation. On 13th October, 2003, voting through a secret ballot was held and New Delhi (India) was able to secure, 46 votes against 22 secured by Hamilton (Canada).
The Commonwealth Games 2010 are scheduled over a period of 11 days while the competition will take place over 12 days for the extended programmes of several sports. These games are proposed to be held in 12 individual sports and 3 team sports as under:-
Aquatics, Athletics, Badminton, Boxing, Cycling, Gymnastics, Hockey, Lawn Bowls, Net Ball, Rugby 7"s, Shooting, Squash, Table-Tennis, Weightlifting and Wrestling. It is also proposed to include few disciplines from among Cricket, Lawn-Tennis, Volleyball and Basketball subject to the approval of their International Federations concerned and the CGF. Kabbadi as demonstration event will also be included after due consultation with Commonwealth Games Federation.
Future course of Action
The Sports Authority of India and other Government agencies like DDA/NDMC/MC/MCD will undertake upgradation of existing infrastructure in a phased manner and shall prepare a plan accordingly.
A Games Village will be constructed. However, the funding and utilization of the games village is to be decided.
Two new (one indoor and one outdoor stadium) in the Yamuna Sports Complex will be constructed.
A detailed exercise to firm up the projected revenue from and the expenditure involving the games will be carried out in consultation with the Ministry of Finance, the government of Delhi and the IOA.
Organisation of the Games
For organisation of the Games, a non-profit Government - owned registered Society - "Organizing Committee" will be constituted. The past experience of Asian Games 1982 and First Afro-Asian Games 2003 will be the guiding document in this.
Monitoring the preparation for the Games
Government will immediately constitute a high powered Committee to monitor the progress of preparation for the 2010 games. -Keralamonitor.com
India's win in hosting 2010 Commonwealth Games historic: Vikram Verma
Nov 18: Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Vikram Verma has hailed India wining the bid to host the 2010 Commonwealth Games in the country as historic decision for India. Attributing the success to the dynamic leadership of the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, he said the bid has primarily been secured with the Government's assurance to fund the cost of hosting 2010 games in the country. The delegation led by the Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports, Shri Vikram Verma has been able to secure the bid for India defeating Hamilton by an overwhelming margin of votes (46-22).
Shri Verma said that India was a strong contender of these games and the successful hosting of Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad left a positive impact on the members of the Commonwealth Federation who were here in the country to see the games.
Shri Verma said that India had the requisite capacity and determination to host these games. The existing infrastructure would come in handy and new infrastructure as required would be laid in place for these games. He said the Government would not spare any cost to see that the games which are being held for the first time in the country would be held most successfully. -Keralamonitor.com
UK News - Dateline London.
Baroness Symons to make first visit to Lebanon
Nov 18: Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister, Baroness Symons, will today
begin a three day visit to Lebanon.Baroness Symons said:
"This will be my first visit to Lebanon as the Minister responsible
for the Middle East. I hope that this visit will further strengthen
the close partnership that the United Kingdom enjoys with Lebanon."This visit is an important opportunity to discuss with Lebanon's
leaders their views on developments in the region and explore ways of
working together on a range of key international issues." -Keralamonitor.comAccounts aren't optional
Charity Commission compliance campaign targets lawyers
Nov 18: The British Charity Commission is seeking the support of law firms and
charity legal advisers in helping to ensure charities meet their
statutory accounting requirements. As part of its Accounts Aren't
Optional campaign the charities' regulator is targeting legal
advisers and also the many lawyers who volunteer as trustees who are
important sources of legal guidance for charities.In addition, the Commission is encouraging solicitors to suggest to
their clients that they also consider a charity's record of filing
accounts when deciding which charities to include in their wills.Charity Commission Director of Legal Services Kenneth Dibble said:
"The legal profession is extremely influential and has an important
role to play in supporting and guiding the effective administration
of charities. We would ask lawyers, whether acting as legal advisers
or as trustees, to use their advice and influence to secure
compliance with the legal requirements so that charities send their
accounts and returns to the Commission within the deadline."The submission of proper accounts within ten months of financial year
end, as well as being a legal requirement, is viewed by the
Commission as a cornerstone underpinning transparency and
accountability and consequently of public confidence. In the course
of its casework the Commission has also found that charities who do
not provide accounts on time may be less likely to be well managed
and worthy of public support.While submission rates have improved in recent years and are now
approaching 70% the Commission is taking a tougher line on defaulting
charities and applying more resources to its enforcement procedures
in order to accelerate progress. Defaulting charities are
increasingly at risk of formal investigation procedures and there
have been two cases recently where trustees have been convicted for
persistently failing to send in their charities' accounts.As part of its campaign, the Commission is also highlighting the
legal requirements to comply with the Statement of Recommended
Practice (SORP) requirements to ensure clear and accurate accounts.
Some recent sampling identified that many annual reports and accounts
contained a significant error or defect.Since the beginning of October the campaign has targeted the one
million charity trustees in England and Wales together with
accountants and auditors, charity finance directors, local
authorities and other fundraising permission givers and grant giving
trusts. -Keralamonitor.com
Contractors urged to address poor site management following prosecution
Nov 18: The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today urged contractors to make
sure they manage worksites effectively after Walsall magistrates
fined Amey Rail Limited £9,000 and awarded £7,280 prosecution costs
in connection with a poorly managed site at Erdington, Birmingham in
August 2002.Last week (Monday 10 November), Amey Rail Ltd pleaded guilty to two
offences of breaching sections 2(1) and 3(1) of the Health and Safety
at Work etc Act 1974 (the HSW Act) by failing to ensure the safety of
workers during railway engineering works at Erdington on the weekend
of 17-18 August 2002.Two HSE Railway Inspectors made a night visit to the track relaying
site as part of a programme of inspecting planned engineering works
to ensure risks to trackworkers from train movements were properly
controlled. They found a site where Amey were not effectively
managing who was working and where they were. There were engineering
train and road-rail plant movements but workmen were not under the
protection of a Controller of Site Safety (CoSS); managers had not
attended key planning meetings; and places of safety from train
movements described in a safety briefing were, in many places,
overgrown and impassable.Speaking after the case, HM Principal Inspector of Railways, Allan
Spence said: "This site was a weekend engineering possession for
track renewal which had been planned for many months but for which
basic site safety arrangements had not been properly thought through.
Risk assessments were inadequate, site managers were not in effective
control and Inspectors found people at real risk from train
movements."The contractor knew they had weaknesses in this area after two
previous incidents at Marlow and Newbury in March 2002 and as a
result, two months beforehand HSE had served an Improvement Notice
requiring them to take action to improve control of worksites. The
company were clearly warned that future similar failings would be
considered for prosecution. However, our inspection at this site
showed that the same sort of problems remained." -Keralamonitor.comCall centre "community sharing" could benefit occupational health accross the UK
Nov 18: A new approach of "community sharing" in the call centre industry
could improve their occupational health record and benefit UK
industry overall, says the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) today as
it publishes the first major study of call centre working.This far-reaching approach, which sees employers share information to
identify existing problems, assess risks and share best practice,
could help to address report findings on UK- wide concerns that
occupational health support in the workplace needs to be addressed.HSE's report, "Psychosocial Risk Factors in Call Centres: An
Evaluation of Work Design and Well-Being", supports the view that
psychosocial issues are a major contributory factor to poor mental
health among call centre employees.The research indicates that working as a call handler is more
stressful than working in other jobs, although not all staff are
affected equally, or by the same factors. The research recognised
that working in some call centre environments - such as
telecommunications and IT business sectors - more directly affected
their well-being. Other contributing factors included:- larger call centres (employing 50 or more staff);
- those on permanent contracts;
- those following strict scripts; and
- those staff who had their performance measured.Researchers recognise that there are encouraging signs of action by
call centre managers and owners to change not only the perception of
the industry by positive moves being made to meet the needs of
existing staff.Call centres have worked to reduce poor psychosocial performance
through a variety of measures, such as implementing HSE's guidance
based on two previous research findings from the Health and Safety
Laboratory (HSL).This work has been produced by HSE for use in call centres around the
UK. However, HSE recognises that individual call centres are working
effectively on their own initiatives. One aspect of helping to
improve call centres further would be to share information within the
industry. This would enable employers to identify existing problems,
assess risks and share best practice. This type of "community
sharing" benefits employees, employers and the industry in general.Allan Davies, head of HSE's Local Authority Unit, is optimistic that
the work on psychosocial effects on staff will have a positive
outcome. He says of the report: "HSE hope the new research will
provide local authority environmental health officers (EHOs) with
useful information to help call centre managers and employees
overcome some of the psychosocial difficulties and problems they may
encounter."The Health and Safety Commission (HSC) recognise the importance of
tackling work related stress and has made it a priority programme.
The new HSC Strategy currently published for consultation features
occupational health as a key component for future action. Guidance
already published by HSE (Tackling Work-related Stress: A Managers'
Guide to Improving and Maintaining Employee Health and Well-being)
sets out how employers should be setting out to assess the risks that
might arise from stress in the workplace. To help them tackle these
risks, HSE has just published new guidance "Real Solutions - Real
People" which is a practical tool based on real case studies.Chris Rowe, Head of HSE's Psychosocial Policy Unit responsible for
work related stress, said: "No two workplaces are the same and no two
workforces are the same. It is not possible to prescribe a set of
solutions for all causes of work related stress. But there are some
common themes, and there will be some similarity of experiences. The
new guidance we have published is designed to enable employers to
work with their employees to identify and devise workplace solutions
that address specific issues identified in specific workplaces. The
guide does include a specific case study from a call centre and the
lessons available from the other case studies could equally apply to
this work environment."What is less clear, for employers in particular, is knowing how well
they are doing in tackling this issue. HSE are therefore currently
working in partnership with employers, academics, trade unions and HR
personnel to devise simple management standards for work related
stress. These have been piloted across a range of public and private
sector employees and HSC expect to consult more widely on them next
year.The quantitative research report presents findings from a larger
scale (questionnaire-based) study conducted by the Health and Safety
Laboratory and includes data from 36 call centres and over 1100 call
centre employees.Today's research report forms the third activity produced by HSE into
call centre working, from a research programme that started with an
exploratory study and is continuing with further in-depth studies.
The aim of the HSL studies is to work in partnership with industry to
provide greater understanding of this kind of working environment. -Keralamonitor.comSutcliffe gives a helping hand to exploited workers
Launch Of Leaflet To Help Portuguese Workers In The UK Know Their
RightsNov 18: Vulnerable workers who are being coerced into signing away their
employment rights were given a helping hand today (Tuesday) by
Employment Minister Gerry Sutcliffe.The DTI, working with the Foreign Office, Citizens Advice, TUC and
Portuguese authorities is launching an employment rights advice
leaflet for Portuguese coming to work in the UK.Portuguese workers are frequently recruited by agencies in Portugal
for jobs in the agricultural and service sectors in the UK, but
usually arrive with little or no knowledge of their employment
rights. They are often coerced or duped into signing away their
rights, and do no know where to get help when badly treated.Launching the leaflet in the East of England, a region with a large
number of Portuguese agricultural workers, Gerry Sutcliffe said:"Portuguese nationals are being deliberately misled into thinking
they will be illegal workers in the UK. We are taking a 'know before
you go' approach, distributing this information in Portugal as well
as across the UK."Portuguese authorities and churches will be distributing the leaflet
in the rural communities in Portugal where the migrant workers are
often recruited. We will distribute the information in the UK through
churches, community centres, local police stations and Portuguese
shops, as well as local CAB offices."The leaflet includes advice on agreeing an appropriate contract
before leaving Portugal, and information on UK employment rights,
including legal requirements, the minimum wage and sources of support and advice.Teresa Perchard, Citizens Advice Director of Policy said:
"Citizens Advice Bureaux around the UK have seen a big increase in
the numbers of EU nationals - particularly from Portugal - seeking
advice on employment and housing, following exploitation by
gangmasters."We welcome the DTI's initiative to provide Portuguese workers with
information about their employment rights - which are the same as
those for UK nationals. We hope that if workers are clearer about
employment terms and conditions before arriving in the UK,
gangmasters will not find it so easy to abuse them."There are currently around 220,000 Portuguese workers in the UK. -Keralamonitor.com
Disabled people are 'poor relations' in ad campaigns - Eagle
Nov 18: Advertisers are ignoring a significant - and lucrative - section of the population, Maria Eagle told the heads of the UK advertising
industry today.Speaking at the launch of the Government's first Images of Disability
Annual Report in London, the Minister for Disabled People urged
advertisers to include more disabled people in their advertisements.She said, "For too long disability has been the image advertising
forgot. At the heart of this, I'm sure, is a misapprehension that
disability doesn't sell. Try telling that to the UK's 8.6 million
disabled people spending more than #45 billion a year."Disabled people are consumers like everybody else. It is surprising
that advertisers haven't yet properly woken up to the value of the
'disabled pound'."Disabled people are the poor relations when it comes to ad
campaigns. We can all look back with a sense of embarrassment at how
few black people appeared in advertisements 15 years ago. I believe
that in 15 years time we will look back with similar embarrassment at
the lack of disabled people in commercial breaks and on billboards
today."Last month I presented the first Chartered Institute of Marketing
Images of Disability award to Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO for their work
on the BT Talent Spotting ad. This is a terrific example of the value
of including images of disability at the heart of the creative
process."Government - one of the country's biggest advertisers - is itself
learning this lesson. Our report today shows that we are making real
progress - half of all new Government campaigns now feature images of
disability." Stephen Woodford Of the Institute of Practitioners in
Advertising said,"The advertising industry needs to be more representative of the UK
population both in what it does and how it recruits."Images of Disability is making an important contribution to
inclusivity and the IPA is delighted to support this imaginative
initiative."Key achievements outlined in the Annual Report are:
- Half of all new Government ad campaigns have featured images of
disability.- Sponsorship of two prestigious industry awards - a D&AD student
award to encourage tomorrow's top talent to think creatively about
disability, and a CIM/Marketing Week Effectiveness award for the use
of images of disability in mainstream campaigns.- Production of creative guidance on disability and workshops to
help share best practice within the industry.- A network of disability champions, including government
departments and advertising agencies from the COI roster. -Keralamonitor.com
Publication of DWP Research report: A review of 'what works' for clients aged over 50
Nov 18: Research published today by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)
provides findings from an internal review of evidence that shows
which strategies work for older clients. It includes a review of
published literature concerned with the evaluation of Employment
Services (now Jobcentre Plus) programmes and policies and
administrative data analysis relating to current back-to-work
programmes available to Jobseekers Allowance (JSA) and non- JSA
customers aged 50 plus. The research shows that:Client group - characteristics and trends
- Policy on older workers is faced with an ageing population, many
of whom are currently out of work and claiming 'inactive' benefits- Older customers are more likely than younger customers to be long-
term unemployed or to be long-term claimants of sickness and
disability benefits- Employment rates for those aged 50 to State Pension Age (SPA) have
recently improved. From Spring 1997 to Spring 2002 the employment
rate for those aged 50 to State Pension age increased by 3.4
percentage points to 68.1 percent, faster than the increase in the
employment rate for younger people, but still below the overall rate
of 74.6 percent.Barriers to work
- Older customers face a range of barriers to work, for example
long-term health problems and age discrimination. Inactive customers
in particular need extra support to help them overcome additional
barriers, such as lack of work experience and more severe health
problems- Older customers can be 'disorientated' by changes in the labour
market and require support to re-enter work, including access to
specialist provision tailored to older customers, and in-work
support.Current provision - what works and why
- A range of help is currently offered to customers aged 50 plus,
including training, caseloading and financial incentives (through the
Working Tax Credit). However, most of this support is voluntary and
is not taken up widely, particularly by 'inactive' customers- New Deal 50 plus has been an effective programme for older
customers. A substantial number of over 50s claiming JSA have
participated in the programme. However, participation by the far
larger client group of non-JSA customers remains relatively low- The review highlights a number of approaches that appear to be
particularly effective for older customers. These include financial
incentives and modular (age specific) training.Further support
- The review identified some gaps in provision, including in-work
support, access to specialist provision tailored to the age,
attitudes and experiences of older customers and careers advice and
guidance (to help 're-orientate' customers towards the labour market)- The review highlights four key areas of support that would benefit
from enhancement: in-work support from Personal Advisers; specialist
age related provision; work with employers to overcome age
discrimination; and careers guidance. -Keralamonitor.com
Defra announces £1.6m research project on National Scrapie Plan and breed traits
Nov 18: Defra today announced a £1.6m research project to assess the links
between breeding for scrapie resistance and economically important
production and health traits.The work will look at sheep from the major sectors, including
terminal sire and hill breeds as well as sheep from rare and heritage
breeds.The four year UK study, which will get underway early in 2004, will
look to provide assurances on the possible impacts that the National
Scrapie Plan may have on economically important breed traits and
propose breeding strategies for the NSP to help minimise the loss of
genetic variability.The study, "Selective breeding on PrP genotype in the UK sheep flock:
evaluating the consequences and deriving optimal strategies" will be
led chiefly by scientists at the Scottish Agricultural College and
the Roslin Institute.Other organisations involved in the project include the University of
Edinburgh, University of Wales Aberystwyth, Veterinary Laboratories
Agency, Meat and Livestock Commission, ADAS, the Rare Breed Survival
Trust and the Sheep Trust.Defra has been working closely with the other UK Agriculture and
Rural Affairs Departments to have this important work in place. The
study addresses a recommendation from the Government's Spongiform
Encephalopathy Advisory Committee and has been keenly anticipated by
industry stakeholders.An independent steering group, to be set up next year, will monitor
progress of this four year project, and provide updates to
stakeholders on a regular basis. -Keralamonitor.comIncome and expenditure survey shows students' standard of living has risen
Nov 18: Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education Minister Alan Johnson
today welcomed the publication of the 2002/03 Student Income and
Expenditure Survey which shows that students' standard of living has
risen since 1998/99.The survey also shows that many students are personally contributing
to the upfront fee despite the fact that their parents have been
assessed as capable of paying. This means that many parents and
students will benefit from the proposed abolition of upfront fees
from 2006.Alan Johnson said:
"The survey proves that we are absolutely right to abolish upfront
fees. Too many students are having to find over £700 in upfront fees
each year because their parents are not paying the assessed
contribution themselves. This means that getting rid of upfront fees
in 2006 will make the system fairer for middle income students as
well as their parents."Most students' standard of living has risen over the past four
years, with increases in personal, entertainment and recreational
travel expenditure pushing up their overall costs. The student loan
continues to do generally what it is intended to do - to meet basic
living costs. However, we will analyse the survey's findings
carefully as part of our spending review process to make sure the
student loan is effectively covering different categories of student."This is the most comprehensive survey of students' income and
expenditure patterns. It finds that the average anticipated debt is
currently around £8,666. This suggests that talk of average student
debt currently being over £10,000 is excessive and talk of £33,000
debt by 2010 is absolute nonsense." -Keralamonitor.com
Tessa Jowell launches National Lottery blue plaques
Nov 18: Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell today launched the first of thousands
of National Lottery blue plaques to recognise how the National
Lottery has transformed communities across the UK.The first 10,000 blue plaques will be sponsored by lottery operator,
Camelot, and distributed to lottery-funded venues across Britain by
the 10th anniversary of The National Lottery in November 2004. Blue
plaques were also launched today at projects in Cardiff, Edinburgh
and Belfast and over the next week one hundred plaques will be
unveiled at regional venues across the UK.Nearly every lottery beneficiary - from the major national projects
to tiny community schemes - will eventually receive a plaque with the
crossed fingers logo and the words "Awarded National Lottery
Funding".Since the launch in 1994, National Lottery players have raised #14
billion for Good Causes benefiting over 150,000 projects, large and
small, across the UK. However, despite the huge impact the lottery
has made, many players are not aware of how their money has been
spent. The launch of the blue plaques will highlight exactly where
Good Cause money has gone and how lottery players have made a
difference to the communities of Britain.Tessa Jowell and Dianne Thompson, Camelot's Chief Executive, launched
the campaign today in the Great Court of the British Museum in
London. The museum has itself received #30million of lottery funding
from the Millennium Commission and #17million from the Heritage
Lottery Fund. The money paid for the construction of the spectacular
giant glass canopy which spans the central courtyard and new
education centre.At the UK launch one hundred children from Langdon School in East
London formed a giant-sized plaque to demonstrate the 100 schemes
that are unveiling their plaques this week. The school received
lottery funding through the New Opportunities Fund to build a new
sports hall.Tessa Jowell said:
"The National Lottery has made such a tremendous difference for the
better to the lives of so many people. The blue plaques with the
crossed fingers logo will for the first time mark exactly how much
has changed in this country thanks to the National Lottery."We must explain how the lottery is working if we want people to
continue to support it and feel good about how their money is being
spent."To support the campaign, Camelot, operator of The National Lottery,
has decided to sponsor the first 10,000 plaques which will rollout in
the first year leading up to the 10th anniversary of the lottery next
year.Camelot's Chief Executive, Dianne Thompson, said:
"As operator of The National Lottery, Camelot is aware how crucial it
is to communicate to the playing public where their money has gone.
Lottery players have raised a phenomenal #14 billion for Good Causes
and they have a right to know where their money is going."We are delighted that blue plaques with the crossed fingers logo
will appear on lottery-funded projects so the public can see exactly
how their money has been spent and how - by playing lottery games -
they have helped transform communities throughout the UK."Chief Executive of the New Opportunities Fund, Stephen Dunmore, a
member of the National Lottery Promotions Unit Management Board
representing the16 distributors said:"The lottery blue plaques make an important link between the national
lottery games and the projects which are supported by National
Lottery funding. Everyone who purchases a ticket is contributing 28p
in the pound to projects which benefit communities across the UK." -Keralamonitor.comPrison Video Links launched at Nottingham Crown Court
Nov 18: Prison Video Links (PVL) go live in Nottingham Crown Court today. The
PVL project allows preliminary hearings for defendants in custody via
video conference to the prison, saving time and money.Nottingham Crown Court is one of 30 Crown Courts to have this
equipment installed. The cost of the equipment at each of the courts
is £50,000, apart from the Central Criminal Court in London. The cost
of the equipment for all the courts is £2.3 million. The courts were
selected as those that will bring the greatest benefits across the
Criminal Justice System (CJS).Courts Minister, Christopher Leslie, said "I am pleased that
Nottingham Crown Court will now benefit from the use of prison video
link technology. It's being introduced after it was successfully
piloted between Manchester Crown Court and Manchester Prison in 1999
and following the implementation of PVL technology linking 156
Magistrates' Courts with 57 prisons."The Prison Service successfully bid to fund the installation of
additional virtual courtrooms at various prisons to meet the extra
demand created by 30 Crown Courts which will be using this equipment."As well as enabling courts to link to the prison, this equipment
will allow vulnerable and intimidated witnesses to give evidence from
locations inside and outside the court building that have the
relevant technology. It also allows evidence to be presented
electronically." This is just one facet of modernisation that is
taking place within the CJS and it will bring many benefits such as:- Reduce hearing delays
- Improve security
- Cut costs to the Criminal Justice System (CJS)
- Less prisoner movements thereby requiring less prison staff time
- Reduced risk of absconding
- Reduction in judicial time wasted waiting for remand prisoners to
arrive at court
- More effective preliminary hearings as a result of the abovePVLs support the Government's aims for the CJS by improving public
protection and promoting confidence in the rule of law, allowing
court users and the general public to benefit from greater safety,
efficiency and value for money.It also supports the efforts of the Department for Constitutional
Affairs and Prison Service in meeting the Government's targets on
electronic delivery and joined-up Government.Manchester Crown Court has been using PVLs for four years, mainly for
preliminary and plea and directions hearings.His Honour Judge Maddison, the Honorary Recorder of Manchester Crown
Court, said "In my view it works extremely well. Technical hitches
are rare and quickly corrected when they arise."By the use of suitably equipped booths outside the Courtroom, the
prisoners may have private conferences with their legal
representatives before and, if necessary, during the hearings. The
prisoners are able to see and hear all those involved in the court
proceedings and contribute to the proceedings. Providing that legal
representatives attend Court promptly, the system lends itself to the
expeditious disposal of business. It also avoids the expense and
inconvenience (not least to the prisoners themselves) of bringing
them to and returning them from court for hearings which themselves
are very short, in particular the expense of bringing High Risk,
Category A, prisoners."For these reasons, I regard the prison video link system as a most
welcome procedural development." -Keralamonitor.comOpra applauds Maersk decision on Sealand Pension scheme funding
Nov 18: The Occupational Pensions Regulatory Authority (Opra) today welcomed
the decision by the Maersk Company Ltd to meet the full deficit in
the Sealand-Services Inc Pension Plan.Commenting on this landmark decision, Opra Chairman Harriet Maunsell
stated:"We applaud this decision. In agreeing to cover the deficit in full,
the Maersk Company has acted in the spirit of the law by ensuring
that the pension scheme of an acquired subsidiary can pay its members
the benefits they were originally promised. The regulator welcomes
this commitment by a parent company to safeguard the pension scheme
benefits of employees in its subsidiary companies." -Keralamonitor.comUN News
Woman Charged In Leak Of U.S. Pre-War Spying At U.N.
Nov 18: A former British intelligence worker who allegedly leaked a U.S. National Security Agency memo calling for intensified spying on United Nations envoys during the buildup to the Iraq war has been charged with violating national secrecy laws.
Katharine Teresa Gun, arrested in March after the London Observer published the memo, was charged Thursday with breaching the U.K. Official Secrets Act.
"Any disclosures that may have been made were justified on the following grounds: because they exposed serious illegality and wrongdoing on the part of the U.S. government who attempted to subvert our own security services, and to prevent wide-scale death and casualties among ordinary Iraqi people and U.K. forces in the course of an illegal war," Gun said in a statement (Ariel Sabar, Baltimore Sun, Nov. 18).
Officials from Angola, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea and Pakistan all had their phones tapped, according to the Jan. 31 memo, in an apparent attempt to eavesdrop on undecided members of the U.N. Security Council preparing to vote on action in Iraq (BBC Online, Nov. 13).
The memo was allegedly penned by Frank Koza, the NSA's chief of staff for "regional targets," and asked for help in collecting "insights" into the "whole gamut of information that could give U.S. policymakers an edge in obtaining results favorable to U.S. goals or to head off surprises."
Gun was fired in June from her job as a translator at the British code-breaking agency, and will appear in court Nov. 27 to enter a plea. She could face up to two years in prison.
Liberty, the London-based civil rights group that is defending her, said the case "is likely to put the legality of the Iraq war on trial" (Sabar, Baltimore Sun).
Mexico's U.N. Ambassador To Lose Post Over Anti-U.S. Remarks
Nov 18: Mexico's ambassador to the U.N. will be forced to resign his post after saying last week that the U.S. sees Mexico as a "back yard," not as a "partner."
Mexican President Vicente Fox has decided to "separate" Adolfo Aguilar Zinser from his duties as of Jan.1, according to Foreign Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez. No replacement for the ambassador has been announced.
Zinser told a university audience in Mexico City last week that the U.S.-Mexico relationship was one "of convenience and subordination."
Derbez and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who were attending a Washington meeting of U.S. and Mexican Cabinet secretaries at the same time, appeared together to rebuff the ambassador's comments (Ioan Grillo, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Nov. 17). "We never, never, in any way, would treat Mexico as some back yard or some second class nation," Powell said. "The relationship is strong and is getting stronger all the time."
Zinser was an outspoken supporter of the Mexican government's decision to oppose the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. He was an important part of Fox's 2000 campaign, a former national security adviser and a close friend of the president (Kraul/Farley, Nov. 18).
Progress Made In Controlling AIDS In War Zones, Officials Say
United Nations Nov 18: There has been some progress in controlling the impact of AIDS in war zones in the three years since the Security Council began discussing HIV/AIDS in its first address of a health issue, but political and social hurdles still need to be overcome, top U.N. officials told the council yesterday.
"While we have made undoubted progress in responding to AIDS as it has an impact on peacekeeping operations, major challenges remain," Joint U.N. Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) Executive Director Peter Piot told the council. "Unless the HIV challenge is met, the sustainability of [peacekeeping] operations, and their invaluable contribution to global security ... will be under threat," he added.
U.N. Undersecretary General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno said there were 42,000 soldiers and police officers from 92 countries involved in peacekeeping. "This presents an immense challenge to our efforts to make training culturally specific," he said. "It is therefore very important for troop-contributing countries to mainstream HIV awareness in their national training programs and to make use of the technical assistance offered by UNAIDS."
One of the most sensitive aspects of this crisis is the role peacekeepers have played in spreading AIDS while on mission. "Behavior that increases the risk of contracting or transmitting HIV … is unacceptable and damaging to the central mission of peacekeeping," Guehenno said. The United Nations "takes a 'zero tolerance' stance regarding sexual abuse and exploitation by peacekeeping personnel," he added.
Piot said another cause of tension is that "countries hosting peacekeeping mission are increasingly calling for the mandatory testing of peacekeeping troops. I remain convinced that this is a problem better solved upstream than downstream - this is, with sound and nondiscriminatory polices in place which respect confidentiality and deter stigma."
"We want to ensure that peacekeepers and all uniformed personnel are leaders in the fight against AIDS, not its victims," Piot added. "And by acting simultaneously on prevention, care and impact mitigation, we can stop the epidemic's corrosive impact on security."
Guehenno said most peacekeeping missions now have HIV/AIDS policy advisers, including the Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and Sierra Leone. "It is our
intention to deploy HIV/AIDS policy advisers in all major peacekeeping operations," he added."Our efforts focus not only on how to reduce the risks of HIV transmission, but also on how to capitalize on the positive potential of peacekeepers as agents of change," Guehenno said. "When we train troops in gender awareness, human rights and child protection, we hope not only to influence their own behavior but also to influence their ability to recognize and respond to sexual violence and exploitation."
The council first took up the issue of AIDS as a security problem and hindrance
to post-war reconstruction in January 2000. The following July it passed Resolution 1308, which urged U.N. agencies, the secretary general and states to develop "effective, long-term strategies" for AIDS prevention, education and voluntary testing for peacekeepers.Piot said yesterday that the council "was breaking new ground" when it adopted Resolution 1308, but added, "I do note with some regret that the Security Council has not taken the opportunity to expressly address AIDS in a number of recent resolutions … especially given that some of these missions are operating in regions which already have major HIV epidemics."
"In the worst-affected regions, AIDS now constitutes a full-blown crisis of human capacity … and will increasingly cause state failure," Piot said. "In response, a new global consensus is emerging on the need to marry emergency support with fundamental strengthening of all the elements of AIDS resilience," including access to food and health care, reducing poverty and empowering women.
Neither of the two officials had a way to concretely measure any progress made. As Guehenno explained, "reliable data [on infection rates] rarely exist in conflict-affected countries." He added, however, that the Department of Peacekeeping Operations "is carrying out more systematic mission assessments."
Piot said his agency is "still hampered by a lack of reliable data, and so UNAIDS is ensuring that we have baseline measures and the capacity to measure progress against them."
Piot also said his agency was working with the "uniformed services" of countries, in addition to peacekeepers who leave their own country on assignment with the United Nations. UNAIDS "is working extensively with armed forces to ensure HIV awareness and prevention education takes place prior to deployment and is reinforced at demobilization," he said, and "to institutionalize training on AIDS into training curricula for uniformed services."
By Jim Wurst
U.N. WireNigerian Testing Finds Polio Vaccines Safe
Nov 18: Tests on polio vaccine used during a World Health Organization immunization drive in Nigeria have found no traces of HIV or anti-fertility agents, as alleged by some Islamic clerics fearful that the vaccine was being used to curb the Muslim population.
The allegations, made at the end of October, brought the polio campaign to an abrupt halt. But the results of testing released yesterday by the National Hospital Abuja in the Nigerian capital and the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Kaduna State proved the vaccines safe for children, Integrated Regional Information Networks reported.
Witnesses to the testing included representatives of the Kaduna State ministry of health and WHO, while experts recruited by the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria - a major campaigner against the polio vaccines - helped oversee a third test at the university hospital.
The WHO launched the emergency immunization program amid concern that polio was spreading from northern Nigeria to neighboring countries. Yesterday, WHO Africa Regional Director Ebrahim Samba warned that if the drive failed in the country's north, European Union countries "will stop funding because there is no point funding when the north is re-infecting other countries."
Whether the publication of the testing will resolve the controversy over the polio vaccine remains unclear, according to IRIN. Last week, a local newspaper claimed the National Hospital had confirmed the presence of an anti-fertility agent but was being pressured to hide its findings. Yesterday the hospital denied this report (IRIN, Nov. 18).
Officials from WHO said yesterday that polio could be eradicated within a year if governments provide enough funding and political will. The agency said a funding deficit of $210 million for widespread immunization could magnify the risk of its spreading to other countries from Nigeria, India and Pakistan, which account for 95 percent of the recorded cases (U.N. release, Nov. 17).
Gates Foundation Gives UNICEF $10 Million For Tetanus Drive
Nov 18: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation donated $10 million yesterday to UNICEF to fight maternal and neonatal tetanus, which kills an estimated 230,000 mothers and babies annually. The gift is an extension of the $26 million the Gates Foundation gave in 1999.
MNT occurs when tetanus spores, found in soil, come in contact with open cuts during childbirth in unclean conditions. While tetanus kills 80 percent of newborns and mothers who develop it, UNICEF can perform vaccinations at a cost of $1.20 per woman.
UNICEF will use the grant to promote safe childbirth, to monitor progress toward the elimination of the disease in at-risk countries and to immunize against MNT. An estimated 207 million women still need to be immunized.
According to Charles Lyons, president of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, "The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's financial commitment to the elimination of MNT will help save the lives of millions of newborns and their mothers" (UNICEF release, Nov. 17).
Colombia Summit To Address Human Trafficking
Nov 18: A three-day U.N.-sponsored summit that opens tomorrow in Bogota, Colombia will address how Latin American and Caribbean countries can tackle the problem of human trafficking.
The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, which organized the summit, says international organized crime, especially drug trafficking, arms trafficking and money laundering, is closely linked to trafficking in people.
Experts and government officials from the region, government officials from Sweden and the Czech Republic, UNODC officials from Africa and Asia, the International Organization for Migration and academics in the field will attend the summit (U.N. release, Nov. 17).
Red List Finds 12,000 Species Endangered Worldwide
Nov 18: IUCN-The World Conservation Union has added another 2,000 species to its annual Red List of the world's most endangered animals and plants, bringing the number of imperiled species to more than 12,000, BBC Online reports.
Many native animals and plants on islands such as the Seychelles and the Galapagos are being driven to extinction by invasive species, the group says (Alex Kirby, BBC Online, Nov. 18).
According to the Swiss-based intergovernmental organization, humans are largely to blame for the increased threat to island species, Reuters reports.
"Places such as the Galapagos, Hawaii and the Seychelles are famed for their beauty, their diversity of plants, animals and ecosystems," said Conservation Union Director General Achim Steiner. "But the Red List tells us that human activities are leading to a swath of extinctions that could make these islands ecologically and aesthetically barren" (Robert Evans, Reuters/Chicago Tribune, Nov. 18).
Species on the Atlantic islands of Tristan da Cunha, St. Helena and the Falkland Islands are also threatened by invaders, grazing animals and habitat loss, the group says.
In Hawaii, the native plant life faces a "grim" future because of invasive species, the loss of pollinators that evolved with native plants and human pressures.
Island species are not the sole victims. Continental species such as the Mexican black howler monkey, the variegated spider monkey and the pied tamarin are also now at risk.
The giant catfish of the Mekong basin, which can grow up to 10 feet long, has dropped in population by more than 80 percent since 1990 because of overfishing, habitat loss, and the blocking of its migration routes by dams.
Countries with the highest numbers of threatened birds and animals include Indonesia, India, Brazil, China and Peru, while plant life is most threatened in Ecuador, Malaysia, Indonesia, Brazil and Sri Lanka (Kirby, BBC Online).
These are all countries where industrialization, forest clearance and tourism have risen sharply in recent decades (Evans, Reuters/Chicago Tribune).
Iranian Measures Could Save Sturgeon In Caspian Sea
Nov 18: Iran has taken strong measures to combat the overexploitation of caviar-producing sturgeon in the Caspian Sea, Reuters reported yesterday.Environmentalists estimate that sturgeon stocks have plummeted by 90 percent since the late 1970s, as three of the Caspian's littoral states - Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan - have reportedly abandoned tight fishing regulations and taken little action against criminal groups that are destroying the sturgeon population.
But Iran has taken a tough stance against overfishing, according to Fereidun Azeri, who works at a caviar-control station at the Iranian port of Bandar-e Anzali.
"When [offenders] are caught, they are fined three times the value of their catch, then face jail and losing their boat," he said, adding that Iranian fisherman are paid a regular salary, which gives them less incentive to break catch limits.
Iran has also developed an extensive program through which the fish are bred in ponds at research centers and then released into the sea as juveniles at a rate of more than 20 million each year.
Mohammad Pourkazemi, director of the International Sturgeon Research Institute, said the hatcheries and the tough penalties for illegal fishing have made the situation for the sturgeon population much more secure. The U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has adopted higher quotas for fishing sturgeon found near Iran's coast, which many Iranians see as a sign that their methods have worked.
Iran still faces strong international criticism for its practice of open-sea fishing, however, and its ambitious goal to double oil production capacity by 2020 could mean it will need to tap the Caspian Sea for more oil, which could further endanger the species (Christian Oliver, Reuters, Nov. 17).
Iran joined earlier this month with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Russia in signing the Framework Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Caspian Sea, which commits the countries to efforts to preserve the sea and its fish population (U.N. Wire, Nov. 11).
Negotiations Begin On Free Trade Agreement Of The Americas
Nov 18: Talks began in Miami yesterday on the creation of the world's largest trading bloc, with negotiations getting off to a rocky start after Canada and Chile complained about a separate U.S.-Brazil deal that could scale back the proposal.
The Free Trade Agreement of the Americas would eliminate or reduce trade barriers among all countries in the Western Hemisphere except Cuba, creating a free-trade zone stretching from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
Brazil and the United States agreed in trade talks earlier this month that all the countries involved in the deal should agree to basic principles before moving on to more controversial points, expected to involve agricultural tariffs and subsidies (Associated Press/USA Today, Nov. 18).
A draft U.S.-Brazil declaration talks only vaguely about reaffirming a commitment to signing an FTAA deal by January 2005 while recognizing that "countries may assume different levels of commitments" - a stance some critics fear may be playing up the worst aspects of corporate globalization.
"What needs to be understood is that, like NAFTA [the North American Free Trade Agreement], the FTAA will not discriminate in the damage it does," said Leo Gerard, the international president of the United Steelworkers of America. "It will lower the wages of workers in Latin America, as NAFTA has in Mexico, with the same impunity that it wipes out jobs in the U.S. and Canada" (Peter Morton, Calgary Herald, Nov. 18).
Brazil and other poor countries want the United States to eliminate or reduce subsidies that protect U.S. farmers, as well as cut quotas, tariffs and other barriers. The United States faces the same pressure from the 146-member World Trade Organization and says agricultural issues should be decided upon by that body. The last round of the WTO talks, in Cancun, Mexico, in September, failed after WTO members could not find common ground on agricultural subsidies
Miami police, preparing for demonstrations by as many as 20,000 people, are trying to avoid a repeat of the riots that undermined the 1999 WTO talks in Seattle, where violence caused $3 million in damage and resulted in 500 arrests (AP).
Migration Conference Focuses On Impact Of Globalization
Nov 18: The International Organization for Migration opened its 86th council session in Geneva today, with participants focusing on the impact of global liberalization on migration. Approximately 175 million people currently reside outside their home country, IOM said.
"The fostering of economic and social stability and development worldwide, while respecting the rights and integrity of migrants, is one of the major challenges of the international community as it sets a course for managing migration in an increasingly mobile world," Gervais Appave, the director of the IOM's Migration Policy and Research Program, said in a statement released before the conference.
IOM Director General Brunson McKinley and the heads of four U.N. agencies are scheduled to make presentations on their views of migration management - U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers, International Labor Organization Director General Juan Somavia, U.N. Conference on Trade and Development head Rubens Ricupero and Acting U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Bertrand Ramcharan. The five Geneva-based agencies constitute the newly formed Geneva Migration Group.
Former U.N. Undersecretary General for Economic and Social Affairs Nitin Desai, who is serving as U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan's special representative for next month's World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva, is commentator of the IOM session.
The IOM also announced that it has signed a technical cooperation agreement with the Colombian National Public Prosecutor's Office on a program aimed at increasing awareness among government officials on how to prevent the trafficking of women and how to punish offenders involved in the practice.
According to the IOM, between 45,000 and 50,000 Colombian women currently are forced to work abroad as prostitutes (IOM release, Nov. 14).
African Countries To Convene On Water Management
Nov 18: More than 40 African countries will meet Dec. 8-13 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to work out targets for the improved management of continental water supplies, the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa said yesterday.
At the first Pan-African Implementation and Partnership Conference on Water, officials will discuss how Africa can "collectively implement the actions spelled out in international instruments, such as the African Water Vision 2025, the Millennium Development Goals and the water agenda of the New Partnership for Africa's Development," said Josue Dione, chairman of the U.N.-Water/Africa Secretariat and director of the commission's Sustainable Development Division.
The conference will launch several key initiatives, including the African Water Facility, an investment mechanism for water resource management, and two new publications - the African Water Journal and the African Water Development Report, the secretariat said.
Co-sponsors of the conference include UNICEF, UNESCO, the U.N. Environment Program, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.N. Development Program (U.N. release, Nov. 17).
Angkor Wat To Be Developed As Model For Tourism
Nov 18: Ten years after the launch of a campaign to rehabilitate Cambodia's long-neglected Angkor archeological park, delegates at a UNESCO meeting in Paris last weekend turned their attention to the next step: how to fashion the World Heritage Site into a model of sustainable tourism.
Representatives from 30 countries and a dozen international organizations gathered in the French capital Nov. 14-15 to discuss the success of the 10-year-old Tokyo Declaration, an initiative aimed at restoring Angkor Wat after years of civil war and pillaging. In the past decade the declaration has produced $50 million in international contributions, which helped pay for restoration work and the clearing of more than 25,000 land mines from the 400-square-kilometer Angkor area. It also paid for police to guard Angkor Wat's cultural treasures.
Last weekend, delegates signed the Paris Declaration recognizing "the need to develop sustainable ethical tourism in the ... Angkor region as a tool in the fight against poverty." The declaration seeks to involve local communities in ways that will directly benefit them and recommends training them in cultural heritage management and conservation, since many cultural specialists were killed by or left during the reign of the Khmer Rouge regime.
Angkor, the large archeological park that houses Angkor Wat (the "city of temples") as well as some 40 other edifices, received 300,000 tourists in 2003 and expects to see a 30 percent increase next year (UNESCO release, Nov. 17). Built over a period spanning the ninth to the 14th centuries, it was the capital of Cambodia's Khmer Empire until Thailand took over in 1431, when it was abandoned until the 19th century.
It was inscribed on both the UNESCO World Heritage List and the List of World Heritage in Danger in 1992 (Agence France-Presse, Nov. 13). UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura said the success of restoring Angkor could stand as a model for the rehabilitation of other cultural sites ravaged by war, among them the Bamiyan Valley in Afghanistan, which houses two huge stone Buddhas that were dynamited by the Taliban in 2001, and the Mesopotamian legacy of Iraq (UNESCO release).
U.N. Declaration On Information Society Nears Completion
Nov 18: Negotiators meeting in Geneva last week to hammer out a declaration of principles ahead of next month's World Summit on the Information Society found many common positions but remained at odds over who should govern the Internet and whether to establish a new international fund to help poor countries bridge the digital divide. Delegates will meet again Dec. 5-6 in a final attempt to reach agreement on those and other sticking points.
The Preparatory Committee for the WSIS is charged with putting together a declaration of principles and an action plan for approval during the Dec. 10-12 WSIS in Geneva. Those two documents will drive much of the action, whatever that may be, that springs from the WSIS. The PrepCom's Nov. 10-14 meeting was its third.
The PrepCom adopted nearly 90 percent of the proposed action plan and 75 percent of the proposed declaration and came to agreement on several contentious issues, among them open source software. Negotiators determined that open source software is important to bridging the digital divide because it increases access to technology by virtue of being free. Delegates also agreed on the importance of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as critical tools for development that can play important roles in health care, poverty reduction, disaster preparedness and other crucial services. Another area of common ground was recognition of the importance of cultural identity and diversity on the Web, including the value of publishing content in various languages.
But delegates failed to forge common positions on Internet governance, financing, the media's role and freedom of opinion and expression. On the question of governance, some countries preferred the current system of private management, whereas others want a study to help determine whether public management would be better. On financing, Senegal's proposed "digital solidarity fund" met with a cool reception from some developed countries, whose delegates argued that existing funds within the World Bank, the U.N. Development Program and other agencies should suffice to help poor countries bridge the digital divide. Many heads of state are reportedly coming to the WSIS to discuss this very matter, and the delegate from Switzerland was charged with conducting informal negotiations on it in advance of the PrepCom's last-ditch meeting Dec. 5-6.
Delegates made substantial progress on another set of issues but still need to finalize the language, which in some cases is reportedly a matter of crafting a phrase or two. Those are: the need to balance intellectual property rights with the freedom of access the Internet affords, the need to minimize abuses such as child pornography and hate speech that can be amplified through ICTs and issues related to connectivity (U.N. release, Nov. 17).
U.N. Requests $3 Billion To Aid 45 Million People For 2004United Nations Nov 18: Secretary General Kofi Annan and other senior U.N. officials this morning launched the annual consolidated appeal for humanitarian assistance, totaling $3 billion that aims to assist 45 million people in 21 regions.
"Some 45 million civilians urgently need humanitarian assistance," Annan said. "They are struggling to survive displacement, loss and severe disruption to their lives in the world's wars, conflicts and natural disasters." Speaking to a meeting of governments, relief agencies and nongovernmental organizations, he said, "The aid we give them is not charity, it is their right."
"What they hope for and need is not our pity, but our support," said Annan. "They are not waiting helplessly for aid. … Most of them are working hard, doing anything they can to survive, drawing on all the capacities and resources to recover and resume a normal life."
The consolidated appeal represents the total estimates from all U.N. agencies for the money needed to address the most desperate humanitarian emergencies. Placing all the requests in a single document allows donors to have an overview of the global needs and helps avoid overlap among the requests by the various agencies involved in humanitarian relief. According to the United Nations, 136 humanitarian organizations, most of them nongovernmental, are involved in drafting the appeal.
The United Nations requested $5.1 billion for 2003 and only received 66 percent of that, Annan said. In addition, funding levels were "uneven" with some countries, such as Iraq, getting nearly all the money requested, while Liberia, for example, received only 24 percent of the funds requested, Annan added.U.N. Undersecretary General for Humanitarian Affairs Jan Egeland, whose office organized the session, told the gathering, "There are still too few donor nations" and "aid remains unpredictable."
"The overall levels of funding have remained the same for the past decade despite increasing levels of need," Egeland added. "Unless there are real increases in the levels of humanitarian assistance and real efforts to ensure that funding goes to those who need it most, forgotten emergencies and the tragedies they entail are inevitable."
At a news conference later in the day, Egeland said the $2 billion difference between the 2003 and 2004 appeals was due to the programs for Iraq. Neither Iraq nor Afghanistan is included in the 2004 appeal, he added. Both countries will have separate appeals later.
Speaking at the meeting, U.N. Development Program Administrator Mark Malloch Brown said the appeal is "rather modest compared to the global needs," since the average annual budget for development aid is $55 billion. "This is a very targeted appeal of those in extreme need," he said.
"Running strongly through this appeal is the view that populations and countries should graduate from humanitarian assistance and return to development assistance," Malloch Brown added. "Far from being some giant global welfare appeal, it is both limited in numbers, but also very much set in a context of how quickly can we return countries" from emergency to development aid.He said this transition is beginning to happen in Angola and Liberia, where peace agreements are opening up "tremendous opportunities" for the people of those countries and the international aid agencies to provide more development aid. At the news conference, Malloch Brown said, "What is striking is that as new countries enter the list, other countries leave it." He added that they "graduate back to the path of reconstruction and development."
Besides Angola and Liberia, Malloch Brown said improvements have also taken place in "all of southern Africa," which was on the list last year due to drought and AIDS. "This year the food needs have gone dramatically down," he said.
Ethiopia still has needs but "the progress Ethiopia has made towards its own food security is really remarkable," he said. Sierra Leone is still on the list, but "with transition needs," Malloch Brown said. "I would imagine it's very close to graduating to a pure development and reconstruction program in probably a year or so," he said.
According to Egeland, "The good news is that we are now reaching humanitarian beneficiaries in places where we never before were able to work." This includes the D.R.C., which he called "probably the biggest humanitarian emergency in the world," where "we are making new headways in reaching groups we haven't seen or helped for years" and northern Uganda, which he called "perhaps the most forgotten emergency in the world."
The 21 cases covered by the appeal are Angola, Burundi, Chechnya and the nearby Russian republics, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Africa's Great Lakes Region, Guinea, Ivory Coast (in conjunction with Burkina Faso, Ghana and Mali), Liberia, North Korea, the occupied Palestinian territory, Sierra Leone, Somalia, the southern Africa region, Sudan, Tajikistan, Tanzania, Uganda, West Africa and Zimbabwe.
By Jim Wurst
U.N. WireU.S. Pressuring ICTY To Clear Docket, Some Complain
Nov 18: Pressure from the U.N. Security Council and the United States has prompted the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to rush through cases, offering plea bargains with reduced sentences in exchange for cooperation and guilty pleas, the New York Times reports today.
The United States, which pays almost one-fourth of the tribunal's $120 million annual budget, has been particularly eager for the ICTY to meet a Security Council deadline by which the court would end all investigations next year and complete all work by the end of 2010.
"It's been a very strange six months," said one high court official. "The whole attitude has changed, with procedures speeding up, a lot of guilty pleas and trials halted as a result."
The Bush administration's ambassador for war crimes, Pierre-Richard Prosper, has actively promoted what the Times calls the tribunal's "exit strategy," which includes plea bargaining, limiting the scope of prosecution evidence and sending lower-level cases back to courts in the Balkans. ICTY chief prosecutor Carla del Ponte was also recently removed as head of a similar court for Rwanda, allowing her to focus completely on the Balkans court.
A record eight defendants have accepted deals with the prosecution since May and some have already received sentences far lighter than those handed down previously for comparable crimes, prompting anger from victims groups. In a case late last month, for instance, Bosnian Serb and prison guard Predrag Banovic received just eight years after pleading guilty to participating in the killing of five inmates and in beating 27 others. Lower-level guards accused of similar crimes who had not entered plea bargains were given 20-year sentences, the Times reports.
David Hunt, an Australian appeals judge at the court, has protested the strategy, saying it "will leave a spreading stain on this tribunal's reputation" (Marlise Simons, New York Times, Nov. 18). Hunt is to retire next month, and U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan announced last Friday that he will be replaced by another Australian judge, Kevin Horace Parker (U.N. release, Nov. 14).
Prosecutors have praised the new policy, however, saying it not only saves money but leads to the discovery of new evidence. For example, two Bosnian Serb officers recently entered a guilty plea in connection with the Srebrenica massacre and offered the first high-level firsthand account of how and by whom it was planned (Simons, New York Times).
The United States has taken several steps recently to transfer war crimes cases to local courts, and on Oct. 30 it pledged $11 million to help create a new war crimes court in Bosnia to lighten the ICTY's load. The court is to handle the cases of lower-level criminals (Anthony Deutsch, Associated Press, Oct. 30).
Prosper has also put pressure on the ICTY to transfer the cases of four recently indicted Serbian war crimes suspects to Serbia's already existing domestic tribunal, a move that ICTY chief Carla del Ponte reportedly rejected (Valerie Mason, World Markets Research Center, Oct. 30).
The United States said it was "surprised," moreover, to learn that del Ponte was pursuing "14 new or additional indictments covering 30 individuals, saying it "complicates and puts at risk" ICTY deadlines (U.S. State Department release, Nov. 5).
Croatian Serb Milan Babic Indicted
The latest indictment came today. Former Croatian Serb leader Milan Babic, the former president of the self-declared Republic of Serbian Krajina, was indicted on one count of crimes against humanity and four counts of violations of the laws or customs of war, for his alleged activities between August 1991 and June 1992. According to the indictment, Babic participated in a joint criminal enterprise that aimed to forcibly and permanently remove the majority of the Croat and other non-Serb population from one-third of the territory of Croatia.
Serb nationalists formed the Republic of Serbian Krajina in the early 1990s as a breakaway region in Croatia, but the area was reclaimed by Croatian military forces in 1995 (U.N. release, Nov. 18).
UNHCR Withdrawing Staff From Afghanistan
Nov 18: The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees today started pulling its international staff out of southern and eastern Afghanistan following Sunday's deadly attack on a French UNHCR worker.
About 30 people were being withdrawn from their posts, and refugee centers in the provinces of Nangarhar, Paktia, Khost and Kandahar were being shuttered.
"We are taking today a painful decision to temporarily reduce staff in the eastern and southern provinces," said Filippo Grandi, chief of the UNHCR mission in Afghanistan. "We will review the situation after two weeks."
The decision follows the shooting death Sunday of Bettina Goislard as she traveled through the city of Ghazni in a clearly marked U.N. vehicle. Also Sunday, a U.N. vehicle in eastern Paktia province was bombed. Those events followed the Nov. 11 car bomb explosion outside U.N. offices in Kandahar that injured two people (Paul Haven, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Nov. 18).
Goislard was the first foreign U.N. staff member killed since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001. The United Nations reportedly has 800 international staffers in Afghanistan, 500 of whom are in Kabul (Irwin Arieff, Reuters/Boston Globe, Nov. 18).
Goislard is also reportedly the first aid worker killed in a major Afghan urban center. In all, 26 Afghan and two foreign aid workers have been killed since March in what appears to be a campaign to target humanitarian workers (Crispin Thorold, BBC Online, Nov. 17).
An unnamed Western security official said there were signs that the three recent attacks on U.N. workers were coordinated, and that Afghan insurgents could be imitating rebellious forces in Iraq, whose techniques have successfully driven international U.N. staff out of the country.
"You do this to get rid of the international community," said Vikram Parekh, a senior analyst at the International Crisis Group. "If these agencies pull out because of these attacks, reconstruction work will not get done and ... alienation among the local population to the international community will set in" (Haven, AP/Yahoo! News, Nov. 17).
It is not clear who is responsible for Goislard's killing. Ghazni officials who arrested the two alleged motorcycle-driving assailants say they are members of the Taliban (Haven, AP/Yahoo! News). A Taliban spokesman in the town of Spin Boldak, near the border with Pakistan, told Reuters the Taliban was responsible for the attacks and that foreign humanitarian workers in Afghanistan were fair game, as "most of the foreigners working in our country are American agents and have no sympathy for Afghanistan." The spokesman added that the workers were trying to spread Christianity throughout the country and that the Taliban "will not spare them" (BBC Online, Nov. 18).
However, a former Taliban culture and information official told Associated Press by telephone today that the Taliban was not responsible for killing Goislard.
"We are not interested in killing aid workers," said Mullah Akim Latifi. "We only want to kidnap them to bargain for the release of our jailed comrades."
Taliban insurgents kidnapped Turkish engineer Hasan Onal Oct. 30 in Ghazni and are holding him in an attempt to force the Afghan government to release their imprisoned fellows (Haven, AP/Yahoo! News, Nov. 18).
U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan have been battling Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants for months. In the latest fighting, six Afghan civilians and five suspected al-Qaeda members were reported killed when U.S. forces bombed the town of Mangaratay, which lies near a district on the Pakistani border with a strong Taliban presence (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo! News, Nov. 17).
ISAF Stymied By Lack Of Contributions
The chief planner of the International Security Assistance Force, the 24-nation coalition of peacekeepers in Kabul that in August came under NATO command, warned that the alliance must put resources into the force if it is to succeed.
"If the alliance does not step up to the plate, in five years we will be back here fighting again because this place will go to hell," said Lieutenant Colonel John Tibbetts.
Reuters reports that the 5,700-troop force has just three helicopters. Belgium offered more but withdrew the offer because of the cost, Greece decided it could not afford it in an Olympics year and Turkey is now contemplating whether to send some. A diplomat at NATO headquarters in Brussels called it "pathetic that they've only got three aging helicopters in Kabul" and added, "It has a lot to do with money. And every country is waiting for everyone else to do the volunteering."
The diplomat added that Afghanistan does not have the strategic appeal of Iraq. "But the stakes are really high, and it is going to take some time for people to come to that realization."
Reuters reports that hopes of expanding peacekeepers throughout Afghanistan are faltering, as NATO has so far agreed to back only one deployment outside of Kabul - in the relatively peaceful city of Kunduz. According to the news agency, soon-to-depart NATO Secretary General George Robertson, who campaigned to transform NATO from a Cold War alliance to a more nimble force capable of countering new global security threats, has identified Afghanistan as the litmus test of whether it can succeed in that new role.
"If we fail, we will find Afghanistan on all of our doorsteps," Robertson told lawmakers from NATO member nations in Orlando, Florida, last week. "Worse still, NATO's credibility will be shattered, along with that of every NATO government. ... I therefore urge you to challenge your governments on the excuses they make for not doing more."
Robertson says the United States' 18 allies have 1.4 million men and women in their armed services but only 55,000 soldiers deployed on multinational missions. Yet most say they are overextended and can commit no more (John Chalmers, Reuters, Nov. 17).
Afghan Disarmament Moves To Second City
After the launch of a disarmament, demobilization and rehabilitation campaign in Kunduz last month, where 1,000 fighters traded in their weapons for cash and job training, the U.N.-backed disarmament program has moved to the city of Gardez, the capital of Paktia province. The campaign in Gardez began Nov. 9 and as of yesterday had disarmed 595 soldiers from Afghan militias.
The goal is to disarm 6,000 troops in six pilot locales - Kunduz, Gardez, Mazar-e Sharif, Kabul, Kandahar and Bamiyan - before the main phase of the project, which aims to disarm 100,000 soldiers, begins next summer. The project in Mazar-e Sharif is to begin next month.
A spokesman from the campaign, called Afghanistan's New Beginning Program, said today that fighters start by turning in weapons in exchange for food, civilian clothing and some cash. After that, they begin reintegration through job training for agriculture, demining or other wage jobs - or they may enlist in the Afghan National Army or National Police (Integrated Regional Information Networks, Nov. 18).
Annan To Name Chief Envoy For Iraq Soon
Nov 18: U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said yesterday he would soon name a chief envoy for Iraq, who could have major responsibilities after an Iraqi interim government takes over in June (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters, Nov. 18).
Annan also said the United Nations was not ready to return its international staff to Iraq due to insecurity in the country. Annan withdrew international U.N. staff from Baghdad after the Aug. 19 bombing that killed his special representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
Annan said the United Nations may operate from outside of Iraq for now (U.N. release, Nov. 17).
U.S. President George W. Bush said yesterday that the United States would not leave Iraq even when U.S. civilian authority is transferred to a new Iraqi government, the New York Times reports.
After meeting with a group of leading Iraqi women, Bush said, "I assured these five women that America wasn't leaving. When they hear me say, 'We're staying,' that means we're staying."
For now, the Pentagon plans to reduce U.S. forces in Iraq from 130,000 troops to about 105,000 troops next year (Bumiller/Jehl, New York Times, Nov. 18).
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in Brussels today to try to reach an accord with European governments on a larger U.N. role in Iraq and on preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, according to Associated Press.
Before leaving for Europe, Powell said the United States wants the United Nations to be involved in handing over power to the Iraqis and is open to a new Security Council resolution on Iraq (Barry Schweid, AP/Yahoo! News, Nov. 18).
In related developments, a U.S. commander, Major General Charles Swannack Jr. of the 82nd Airborne Division, is preparing to pull troops out of Ramadi, a hotbed of guerrilla activity, and turn it over to Iraqi officers, the New York Times reports.
Swannack said his troops would "stand back" outside the town, ready to go in with help if the Iraqi police needed it.
The plan would change the course of U.S. efforts to calm areas dominated by Sunni Arabs, who benefited most from Saddam Hussein's rule (Dexter Filkins, New York Times, Nov. 18).
The U.S. military said yesterday it had arrested 99 "anti-coalition suspects" in the previous 24 hours, BBC Online said.
The army said it also has evidence that former top official Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri is leading the resistance (BBC Online, Nov. 17).
U.S. fighter jets today bombed suspected insurgent locations in the largest bombardment of guerrillas in central Iraq since Bush declared the end of major combat in May (Jim Gomez, AP/Yahoo! News, Nov. 18). In the northern city of Mosul today, two American soldiers were wounded in a bomb blast (Slobodan Lekic, AP/Yahoo! News, Nov. 18).
Food Under Oil-For-Food Program To Continue Through At Least June
In other developments, food rations in Iraq, which have been provided by the U.N. oil-for-food program for years, will continue until June, as the program is taken over by the U.S. coalition on Friday.
The oil-for-food program, launched in December 1996, was created to help alleviate the effects of U.N. sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1990, and controlled Iraq's oil sales to allow it to purchase basic supplies (Agence France-Presse/ReliefWeb, Nov. 17).
An official with the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority said yesterday at U.N. headquarters the United Nations will turn over $2 billion in assets to the authority on Friday, as mandated by Security Council Resolution 1483. All funds, contracts and other resources will be transferred to the U.S.-led authority.
U.S. Ambassador Steven Mann, who is overseeing the transfer of the oil-for-food program from the United Nations to the authority, told journalists, "There will be enough funds to meet the needs of the oil-for-food obligations."
In the Kurdish-controlled northern third of the country, contracts covering 100 projects worth $750 million are involved, he said. In southern and central Iraq, there is "a mechanism which will continue the payment of contracts [to] continue the shipment of food, medicine and other goods into Iraq and through the good offices" of U.N. agencies after the authority assumes control of the program, he said.
Mann said food deliveries "will continue through at least until June 2004," and after that it will be up to Iraqi authorities. "The day-to-day work on the ground is really being done by Iraqi civilians," he said. "They are not leaving Iraq." There are 2,600 people working for U.N. agencies in the north alone, added Mann, who was in New York for meetings with U.N. agencies.
The United Nations has designed some of the contracts for oil exports and goods imports as priorities. "There's some renegotiation which must be done of prioritized contracts" by the United Nations until Friday after which the authority will review the contracts, Mann said. "We have a process mapped out whereby those which have been moved forward on the basis of relative utility will continue and we will take over those contracts," he said.The Security Council will receive its final briefing on the program tomorrow (Jim Wurst, U.N. Wire, Nov. 18).
Ivory Coast Rebels Declare State Of Emergency
Nov 18: Rebels in Ivory Coast have declared a state of emergency in the regions under their control and accused President Laurent Gbagbo of preparing to go to war against them.
Four months after the two sides officially ended the civil war, the rebels are alleging that Gbagbo is preparing his forces to attack Man and Bouake, two towns in the rebel-held north. In response, the rebels are in "a state of maximum alert. That means that the soldiers are ready," rebel chief of staff Colonel Soumaila Bakayoko said.
Ivorian officials, who control the southern half of the country, have denied that they are planning an attack.
"It's completely untrue. We respect the cease-fire," said N'Goran Aka, a government spokesman. He also said that if the rebels broke the truce, the national army would respond.
Leaders from West Africa have been trying to negotiate an agreement in the standoff (BBC Online, Nov. 18).
U.N. Missions In West Africa Resolve To Cooperate Closely
The heads of U.N. missions in West Africa have agreed to tighten operations and improve information exchange in an attempt to stop the cross-border flow of fighters and weapons and the spillover of internal conflicts.
Leaders of peacekeeping and political missions in four West African countries - Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), Ivory Coast (MINUCI), Guinea-Bissau (UNOGBIS) and Liberia (UNMIL) - convened Friday in Freetown, Sierra Leone (U.N. release, Nov. 17). They agreed to create a mechanism to facilitate a greater flow of information between the missions. They also agreed to coordinate joint border patrols and screening (Integrated Regional Information Networks, Nov. 17).
In related news, UNMIL has begun an intensive public information campaign about the upcoming campaign to disarm, demobilize, rehabilitate and reintegrate rebel fighters. Last Thursday, musicians, actors and dancers offered performances interspersed with messages and handouts about DDRR for large crowds in Monrovia, Liberia's capital. Friday, UNMIL hosted a workshop for senior Liberian journalists and local stringers from foreign media. UNMIL already has a radio station in Monrovia but, starting Dec. 7, the outreach is expected to expand to other areas (U.N. release, Nov. 17).
Mediator Wins Agreement On Talks With Palestinian Militants
Nov 18: An Egyptian mediator brought in to help negotiate a cease-fire between Israelis and Palestinians reached an agreement yesterday with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to begin talks with militant groups on ending their attacks.
Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief who brokered the last truce among Palestinian militant groups, is expected to send a delegation to Gaza to begin discussion with the militants as early as tomorrow. Those talks would then be followed by a meeting of all the factions in Cairo.
Nabil Aburdeineh, Arafat's top aide, said Arafat had approved Suleiman's plan, but added that for a new cease-fire to work, Israel must "facilitate this issue by stopping their assassinations and their incursions."
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in Rome yesterday that he might meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia "in the next few days" to renew top-level talks that halted in August.
But Sharon adviser Dore Gold said that any Palestinian cease-fire must be linked to the dismantling of militant groups. "We always welcome efforts to bring about a cessation of violence, but there are minimal standards that have been set after more than three years of violence," Gold said (James Bennett, New York Times, Nov. 18).
Just as talks on a cease-fire had resumed, a Palestinian gunman killed two Israeli soldiers at a West Bank checkpoint today, while Israeli troops raided a refugee camp in the Gaza Strip, wounding nine Palestinians in a gun battle.
In the shooting, a Palestinian attacker, his rifle hidden in a prayer mat, walked toward a West Bank checkpoint and opened fire on the soldiers, killing one immediately. The other soldier died while being taken to a hospital. The attacker fled in a car.
In Gaza, Israeli troops drove tanks into the Rafah refugee camp, firing as they advanced and drawing return fire from local gunmen. The raid reportedly targeted weapons-smuggling tunnels, but Israeli tanks demolished two houses in the operation, including one belonging to a man whose 14-year-old son was killed by army fire 10 days ago.
It was not known what effect the violence would have on the new truce efforts. Sharon declined comment on the matter but Israeli Justice Minister Tommy Lapid said a cease-fire would only work if the Palestinian security forces were serious about stopping such attacks. "We want to give Abu Ala [Qureia] credit if he is honest about stopping attacks. What happened this morning places doubt on this honesty," Lapid said. "Right now it looks like talks about a cease-fire are premature."
This morning's shooting marked the first deadly attack on Israelis since Oct. 24, when Palestinians killed three Israeli soldiers in the Gaza Strip. Israeli soldiers have killed 25 Palestinians, including eight minors, in the same period (Mark Lavie, Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Nov. 18).
Russia Revives Draft U.N. Resolution Endorsing Road Map
Russia yesterday revived its U.N. resolution endorsing the stalled road map peace plan.
France said it will co-sponsor the text, which was first introduced by Russian Ambassador Sergei Lavrov Oct. 30 but put on hold until Qureia had formed a Cabinet.
U.N. Security Council President Ismael Gaspar Martins of Angola said he expected a text version of the resolution to be adopted by the end of the week (Evelyn Leopold, Reuters/zawya.com, Nov. 17).
EU To Condemn Israeli Security Fence
The European Union is to issue a statement today condemning Israel's security barrier in the West Bank, the London Guardian reports today.
The statement says the barrier could prevent the creation of a viable Palestinian state alongside Israel. It also demands an end to Israel's boycott of the EU's special envoy to the Middle East, Marc Otte. Israel is boycotting Otte because of contacts he had with Arafat.
The EU is releasing the statement despite Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's call yesterday for a "more balanced" EU stance on the Middle East conflict. Shalom met with EU foreign ministers in Brussels yesterday, during which he insisted that the barrier is intended only to keep Palestinian suicide bombers at bay and could be dismantled if a peace agreement is reached (Ian Black, London Guardian, Nov. 18).
Committee To Mediate Sri Lankan Feud
Nov 18: Sri Lankan President Chandrika Kumaratunga and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, who have been feuding over power sharing and how to broker a peace deal with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, have appointed a committee to try to work out their differences.
"A committee of officials was appointed to work out the details of future working arrangements under which the president and prime minister could work together on these important national issues," said a statement issued by both sides.
The peace negotiations between the government and rebels in the north of the country have been thrown into disarray in the past couple of weeks, causing Norway to pull out of its role as a peace broker (CNN.com, Nov. 18).
On Sunday Kumaratunga denied media reports that she planned to share defense responsibilities with Wickremesinghe, saying she had simply suggested setting up a committee to coordinate work between the defense ministry and Wickremesinghe's peace secretariat (Press Trust of India, Nov. 16). On Nov. 4 Kumaratunga had wrested control of the defense, information and interior ministries from Wickremesinghe, whose allies headed the departments and who were engaged in Wickremesinghe-sanctioned conciliatory talks with the LTTE (U.N. Wire, Nov. 4).
New AIDS Report Says Latin America Needs Broader Civil Society Participation To Battle Epidemic
Washington, Nov 18:Latin American countries have stepped up efforts to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, but there is still need for better use of resources, stronger HIV/AIDS surveillance and broader civil society participation, a new comprehensive study by the World Bank says.
HIV/AIDS in Latin American Countries: The Challenges Ahead, presents the results of a detailed examination conducted in the 17 countries that span the region from Mexico to Argentina. The 301-page report is based on information supplied by government, physicians, and civil society organizations with large experience in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment activities, as well as data drawn fro national statistics, international organizations and from studies undertaken in the region.
"Latin America has the organizational infrastructure and the community of professionals for sustained programs to counter the disease," said Anabela Abreu,the report's principal author and current World Bank Health Sector Manager for the South Asia region after many years of extensive work in Latin America. "If the warning signs are heeded, and appropriate prevention measures taken in the very near future, Latin America has the opportunity to avoid the sad outcomes seen in other regions."
The report, co-authored by Anabela Abreu, Isabel Noguer and Karen Cowgill, says that if the epidemic is not kept in check, HIV/AIDS will continue to inflict a costly impact on countries in the region, putting health systems under serious pressure, and causing significant economic losses. As a result, the costs of investing in multi-sectoral interventions now to reduce and mitigate the risk of an HIV/AIDS epidemic are significantly lower than the costs incurred later by a full-blown epidemic
According to the study, the prevalence of HIV among 15-to-49-year-olds is at 0.5 percent throughout the region. Some 130,000 adults and children were newly infected with HIV during 2001, and 80,000 died. But under-reporting is so common that researchers calculate that Latin America is likely to have 30 percent more cases of AIDS and 40 percent more cases of HIV than existing statistics show.
One of the report's key conclusions is that civil society, including Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), must be mobilized in greater strength because they have stronger links to high-risk groups. In the terminology of HIV/AIDS experts, high-risk groups include Men who have Sex with Men (MSMs), Commercial Sex Workers (CSWs), Injecting Drug Users (IDUs), and people with Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs) and multiple partners. Focusing attention on these groups can help prevent HIV/AIDS from spreading into the population at large.
Already, HIV/AIDS has leapt from high-risk groups into the general population in two countries, Honduras, where an estimated 1.9 percent of the adult population is infected; and Brazil, where heterosexual sex has become the dominant mode of transmission in the country's southern region.
Latin America-wide statistics mask wide disparities in the extent HIV penetration and in the level and quality of response.
"Not every country has anonymous testing centers for high-risk populations," said Evangeline Javier, the World Bank's Health Sector Manager for Latin America and the Caribbean. "Availability of anonymous testing is crucial for diagnosis and prevention."
Other facets of anti-HIV/AIDS campaigns at the country level include:
In Mexico, a high proportion of men returning from work in the U.S. infect their partners. As early as 1994, 25 percent of rural AIDS patients had worked in the U.S., as opposed to 6 percent of urban cases.
Argentina is the only country reporting injecting drug use as the number-one mode of transmission, with 41 percentof cases occurring through that channel.
In Brazil, injecting drug use is the number-two means of transmission, accounting for 27 percent of cases.
"This epidemic is not only a matter of health statistics but of socioeconomic well-being, and the overall condition of the community in general," said Ana María Arriagada, World Bank Director for Human Development in Latin America and the Caribbean. "Control and prevention require the participation and coordination of governments and civil society joining in a common effort."By September 2003, the Bank had approved over $550 million in loans to help finance the implementation of HIV/AIDS prevention and control programs in Argentina, Barbados, Brazil the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Venezuela. The Bank's longest involvement has been in Brazil, where the institution has financed three large projects, and the major focus of support is the Caribbean, which has the largest epidemic outside of Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to the most recent report of the United Nations Program on HIVAIDS (UNAIDS), an estimated 42 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS. The Caribbean is the world's second most affected region. New estimates, due to be released soon, will likely indicate an increase in the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in many areas.
Foreign News
9 held for raping Filipina in Kuwait
Kuwait City: Police have arrested nine Kuwaitis for allegedly raping a Filipina at a camp off the Seventh Ring Road, reports Al-Anba daily. Records indicate, four of the suspects allegedly kidnapped the victim and drove her to the camp, where they had sex with her. Later, they invited five of their friends who also said to have raped the woman. Police acting on information, intensified their search for the suspects and arrested the four 'kidnappers,' who later led police to their five accomplices. The youths were picked up by the victim from a legal lineup.Woman detained: Police have arrested an unidentified Arab woman for luring a teenage girl into prostitution, reports Al-Anba daily. Records indicate, the girl was on a visit visa to Kuwait and her sponsor had to leave Kuwait for a short period, leaving the teenager in the custody of a compatriot woman. The latter is said to have lured the girl to have sex with men in an adjacent apartment for money. The girl filed a complaint with Ahmadi police accusing the Arab woman of forcing her to have sex with men. The Arab woman has been detained for interrogation. Meanwhile, police are looking for persons who are said to have had sex with the girl.
Bootlegger held: Farwaniya police acting on a tip-off and armed with a search and arrest warrant, recently raided an apartment in Hassawi and arrested an unidentified Asian man for allegedly manufacturing and trading in alcohol, reports Al-Seyassah daily. Police also seized from the bootlegger one barrel filled with raw material and several bottles of liquor kept ready for sale. During interrogation, the bootlegger told police he sold each bottle of alcohol for KD three. The trader and the contraband have been referred to the authorities.
Boy held: A Kuwaiti man recently filed a complaint with Andalus police accusing eight persons of kidnapping his 15-year old son, driving him to a deserted area and assaulting him for no apparent reason, reports Al-Seyassah daily. The teenager is said to have escaped from his captors and provided police with names and information on the alleged kidnappers.
Artist arrested: Police have arrested a well-known Kuwaiti artist for driving under the influence of alcohol in broad daylight, reports Al-Qabas daily. Records indicate, a special police patrol unit, on routine duty in Salmiya, stopped the motorist for driving recklessly. However, the man who appeared disoriented, began verbally abusing patrolmen when the latter asked him to show his identification papers. The 'drunkard' was referred to a police station. A case of breaking fast, consuming alcohol and insulting police officers has been registered against him.
Envoy's son dies: The son of the Nigerian ambassador to Kuwait died in a traffic accident on Al-Riyadh Street in Kuwait, reports Al-Watan daily. It has been reported, the youth allegedly died on the spot when his car overturned. A special police patrol unit on routine duty spotted the victim in the overturned car and rushed him to Amiri Hospital. However, he was declared dead on arrival. It is not known what caused the accident.
Fire hits farm: Fire-fighters recently put out a fire at a deserted farm in a suburb of Fintas, reports Al-Anba daily. Timely arrival of firemen prevented the fire from destroying the adjoining farmland. It has been reported, an unidentified person deliberately set fire to the farm. No casualties were reported.
Man rescued: Firemen from Fahaheel Fire Station in cooperation with Fahaheel police broke open the main door of the Fahaheel Post Office and 'rescued' an Asian man who was accidentally locked inside, while the latter was busy checking his mail, reports Al-Rai Al-Aam daily. It has been reported, after the man failed to attract the attention of passers-by, he called the Operations Department of the Ministry of Interior. The Ministry of Communications has launched an investigation into the incident.
