Tina Arena – Symphonie de l’ame

World Climate News

 

World Climate News is published twice a year (January and June) in English and French editions.

    This 12-page newsletter covers recent and ongoing climatic events and anomalies and their socio-economic impacts and reports of WMO’s activities in the fields of climate-related applications and research.

World Climate News is available online (pdf). Hard copies are also available free of charge upon request to the WMO Secretariat.

The world’s first climate change generation

 

   If not here then where, if not now then when, if not us then who?”

    This was the question Yugratna, a 13 year-old girl from India, asked hundreds of world leaders at the UN’s Climate Change Summit last month. With nearly 3 billion young people making up our world’s population, I am particularly moved by this question, knowing that the worst effects of climate change mean so much more to someone her age.

    Quite a few of you have told us about your concern for the future of younger generations, given all that global warming threatens to take away from them. Whether it’s that cool mountain stream where you fished with your grandfather or the clean drinking water that Himalayan glaciers provide to millions, we all worry that our kids and grandkids won’t enjoy the same experiences or resources we have.

However, we continue to be amazed at the reactions and actions of young people themselves on this issue. From our vantage point, they aren’t sitting around waiting for climate change to unfold:

• Upcoming graduates are looking for jobs in renewable energy and sustainability;
• Thousands of millennials are petitioning online to have a voice in Copenhagen;
• A boy in Africa is teaching himself how to make an operational wind turbine;
• And individually, youth are making “going green” a lifelong practice, not just a trend.

Youth-led movements such as the International Day of Climate Action clearly show us that this generation is not waiting for the answers – they are finding their own solutions – now.

It’s time to follow their lead: tell us what you will miss because of climate change and if we change our course, what do you have to look forward to?

The UN Foundation, a public charity, was created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes and activities. We are an advocate for the UN and a platform for connecting people, ideas and resources to help the United Nations solve global problems.

We help the UN take its best work and ideas to scale—through advocacy, partnerships, constituency building and fund-raising.

• Partnerships because we have learned what can be achieved when the public and private sectors work together through the United Nations;
• Advocacy because we know the leverage and impact that sound policy can have on the kind of social, economic and environmental change the UN seeks;
• Community-building because the UN was created for “we the people,” and all of us can give back and contribute to a better world; and
• We need new and additional resources to power solutions to global challenges.

Under the direction of our distinguished Board of Directors, we also work closely with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the United Nations Office for Partnerships. Find out more about our Board of Directors or our relationship with the United Nations.

Click here to read a feature article on the Foundation by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

Bloody Attack on UN House in Kabul

This is a very dark day for the UN in Afghanistan. I strongly condemn the attack this morning on a guest house here in Kabul, for which the Taliban has claimed responsibility.

This brutal attack has cost the lives of at least five UN staff and injured at least nine others. I can of course not provide more details concerning nationalities or names at this stage. My profound condolences go to the families and friends of those who have been victims of this attack. However, this is a tragic loss to each and every member of the UN family in Afghanistan.

The UN has been in Afghanistan for more than half a century. We have been here to serve the Afghan people. Such attacks by any insurgency group are therefore not only an attack against the UN family but also against the Afghan people and those who need our help the most.

This attack will not deter the UN from continuing all its work to reconstruct a war-torn country and to build a better future for all Afghans. We will remain committed to the people of Afghanistan. We do of course review our security measures regularly in light of the prevailing security situation. We will in light of this morning’s tragedy look at whether other appropriate measures need to be taken to protect all our staff.

Secretary-General strongly condemns deadly bombing in Pakistani city

United Nations, New York, 28 October 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon deplored todays bombing of a crowded marketplace in the Pakistani city of Peshawar that has killed more than 80 people and injured at least 160 others and is only the latest in a series of deadly attacks targeting civilians across the country.

Read the Secretary-General’s opening remarks at the press conference:
http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff….

New story:
http://www.un.org/
View the entire press conference (Real Media, 40 minutes):
http://webcast.un.org/

Celine Dion – I’m Alive

Celebrating together UNITED NATIONS ANNIVERSARY TODAY
OCTOBER 24th

Lebanon: Implementation of Resolution 1559

The United Nations Peacekeeping

Expected Council Action
    On 27 October the Council is expected to hold consultations on the Secretary-General’s report on the implementation of resolution 1559 and receive a briefing from the Special Envoy for this issue, Terje Rød-Larsen. This resolution, adopted in 2004, urged the disarmament of all Lebanese and non-Lebanese militias and the extension of government control over all Lebanese territory.

    At press time it seemed unlikely that the Council would take any formal action.

Key Recent Developments
    The tenth semi-annual 1559 report was released on 21 October. It focuses on the need for progress on disarmament and border issues. In addition it draws attention to:

• the 7 June legislative elections and the ongoing negotiations to form a government;
• positive developments in Syrian-Lebanese diplomatic relations; and
• the challenge of Hezbollah and Palestinian militias to Lebanon’s sovereignty.

READ THE FULL REPORT in PDF

Links

• UNITED NATIONS INTERIM FORCE IN LEBANON
•  Resolution 1559 (2004) Adopted by the Security Council at its 5028th meeting, on 2 September 2004
• UNIFIL Maritime Task Force joint exercise with LAF navy off the coast of Lebanon, 14 July 2009.

Support for AU Peacekeeping

 

UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING

Key Recent Developments  

The report of the joint AU-UN panel set up by the Secretary-General to review modalities for supporting AU peacekeeping was submitted to the Council and General Assembly on 24 December 2008. The panel was chaired by former Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi. The report explored how the UN and AU could enhance the predictability, sustainability and flexibility of financing for UN mandated peace operations undertaken by the AU. The key recommendations of the AU-UN Panel’s report were:

•  UN and AU to take concrete steps to strengthen their mutual relationship and develop a more effective partnership when addressing issues on the joint agenda.
• Use UN-assessed funding for AU-led and UN-authorised peacekeeping operations on a case-by-case basis, for no longer than six months, to be provided mainly in kind and only when there is an intention to transition to a UN peacekeeping operation within six months.
• Establish a voluntary-based multi-donor trust fund to focus on comprehensive capacity-building for conflict prevention and resolution and institution building.
• AU to consider developing its logistics capacity through innovative options.
• Establish an AU-UN team to examine the detailed modalities to implement the report’s recommendations.

READ THE FULL REPORT in PDF

CURRENT ACTIVITIES OF UN PEACEKEEPING OPERATIONS

Today’s most pressing challenges.

We don’t have to tell you that we’re in the middle of a climate crisis. Or that HIV/AIDS still claims far too many lives. You’re already acutely aware of these realities.

But you may be surprised by what you DON’T know about some of today’s most pressing challenges.

In addition to testing your knowledge, you’ll learn how my Foundation is addressing some of today’s most urgent issues: combating climate change, treating HIV/AIDS and malaria, fighting childhood obesity, promoting economic opportunity, and enabling sustainable development.

And you’ll be helping us to do even more. For every person who participates, a generous donor will contribute $1 toward our work. Knowing what problems we’re up against is the first step to solving them.

Thank you in advance for spreading the word by forwarding this email to your friends and family.

MEDIA : President Clinton: Earth Day 2009

President Bill Clinton speaks about the projects of the Clinton Climate Initiative that are slowing the threat of climate change worldwide. Watch to see what you can do to help in the global fight!

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Be A Leader In Your Community

TO STOP THE GENOCIDE

Our partners at Genocide-Intervention Network are recruiting for the second class of Carl Wilkens Fellows, and the application is due Nov. 1! The Carl Wilkens Fellowship is a selective, year-long program that provides a diverse set of emerging citizen leaders with the tools and training to build sustained political will to end genocide. Seeking to bridge the gap between thought and action in the anti-genocide movement, the goal of the Carl Wilkens Fellowship is to develop effective leaders in communities across the United States who have acquired the skills and fostered the relationships necessary to influence and shape US policies on genocide.

The program is named in honor of Carl Wilkens, a self-described “ordinary” man, who was the only American who chose to remain in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide and is credited with saving hundreds of lives. Mr. Wilkens is emblematic of the program’s theme: ordinary individuals can make an extraordinary difference when they choose to engage.

The inaugural class brought together individuals from Los Angeles, CA, Terre Haute, IN, Ramsey, NJ, Miami, FL and more . . . These activists are corporate lawyers, IT specialists, professors, museum-based educators, filmmakers, heath professionals, and therapists.

MEDIA : Darfur, The children of conflicts