Marianists International
16 November 2006: International Day of Tolerance

Ten Ideas for Observing the International Day for Tolerance

These guidelines are intended to stimulate creative thinking in municipalities and parliaments, schools and universities, clubs and associations, work places, nongovernmental organisations, and the media in Member States of every region, toward the observance of the annual International Day for Tolerance on 16 November.

At the initiative of UNESCO, 1995 was declared the United Nations Year for Tolerance, and it saw the launching of a world-wide campaign for tolerance and non-violence. The International Day for Tolerance grew out of the momentum of that Year. Building tolerance and trust in diverse communities is not done overnight, but takes time and commitment. Building tolerance requires access to education. Intolerance is often rooted in ignorance and fear: fear of the unknown, of the "other", other cultures, religions and nations. Intolerance is also closely linked to an exaggerated sense of self-worth and pride: notions taught and learned at an early age. Therefore in coming years, we need to place greater emphasis on educating children about tolerance, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

New UN Study on the Violence Against Children

The United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children has been a global effort to paint a detailed picture of the nature, extent and causes of violence against children, and to propose clear recommendations for action to prevent and respond to it. This is the first time that an attempt has been made to document the reality of violence against children around the world, and to map out what is being done to stop it. Since 2003, many thousands of people have contributed to the study in consultations and working groups, through questionnaires and in other ways. Children and young people have been active at every level. On 11 October 2006, the UN General Assembly will consider the study's findings and recommendations.

UN Reform: High Level Panel on UN Coherence Issues Report

(UNITED NATIONS NEW YORK, 9 November) To fulfill its potential and help countries reach the Millennium Development Goals, the sprawling UN system must be radically revamped to “deliver as one,” a panel co-chaired by the prime ministers of Mozambique, Norway and Pakistan say in a report presented to the world body today.

“ We have proposed a bold but realistic agenda for action,” said Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. “It should ensure that the UN is well governed, well funded, and can respond more effectively to the needs of countries and communities everywhere.”

Currently the UN’s work in development is fragmented and weak and not properly structured to meet country needs, the report concludes. More than one-third of UN Country Teams have ten or more agencies on the ground. Several have 20 or more. This has led to “incoherent” programme interventions and “excessive” administrative costs. To address the situation, the panel proposes that the country-level operations of a large number of specialized agencies, funds and programmes need to be placed under full country ownership, and brought together by the leadership of an empowered resident coordinator appointed independently of any one agency, the panel says. The country team ideally would operate with a unified budget geared to achieving the MDGs and other internationally agreed development goals, supported by a new multi-year MDG Funding Mechanism to ensure adequate and predictable funding.

Go to the web Address to see BBC coverage: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6134690.stm

STAND UP Against Poverty Sets World Record - GCAP/United Nations Millennium Campaign, 17 September 2006

On 15-16 October, 23,542,614 people, in over eighty countries around the world set a new Guinness World Record for the largest number of people to “stand up against poverty.” The Stand Up record attempt, an initiative of the United Nations Millennium Campaign in partnership with the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) was set in time for the United Nations International Day for Poverty Eradication on 17 October.

The "Education for All" 2007 Global Monitoring Report: Early Childhood Care and Education Launched in New-York on 26th October

What are the benefits of programmes for the very young? Why have countries been slow to implement policies that integrate care, health, nutrition and education? Besides taking a closer look at early childhood care and education, the first of six Education for All goals the world is committed to achieving by 2015, the fifth edition of the Report also assesses progress towards the other goals and levels of aid to basic education.

New ILO study says youth unemployment rising, with hundreds of millions more working but living in poverty
Friday 27 October 2006 (ILO/06/48)

GENEVA (ILO News) - The number of unemployed youth aged 15 to 24 rose over the past decade, while hundreds of millions more are working but living in poverty, according to a new report by the International Labour Office (ILO).

While the number of young unemployed increased from 74 million to 85 million, or by 14.8 per cent between 1995 and 2005, more than 300 million youth, or approximately 25 per cent of the youth population, were living below the US $2 per day poverty line.

The ILO report estimates that at least 400 million decent and productive employment opportunities - simply put, new and better jobs - will be needed in order to reach the full productive potential of today's youth. The report also says youth are more than three times as likely to be unemployed than adults and that the relative disadvantage is more pronounced in developing countries, where youth represent a significantly higher proportion of the labour force than in developed economies. Among the report's key findings:

• Of the 1.1 billion young people aged 15 to 24 worldwide, one out of three is either seeking but unable to find work, has given up the job search entirely or is working but living on less than US$2 a day.
• While the youth population grew by 13.2 per cent between 1995 and 2005, employment among young people grew by only 3.8 per cent to reach 548 million.
• Unemployed youth make up 44 per cent of the world's total unemployed despite the fact that their share of the total working-age population aged 15 and over is only 25 per cent.
• The youth unemployment rate was far higher than the adult unemployment rate of 4.6 per cent in 2005, rising from 12.3 per cent in 1995 to 13.5 per cent last year.

Polio case in Kenya refugee camp raises fears and concerns

An investigation into the case determined that although the virus originated in Somalia, it had been evolving for eight months – suggesting that it had spent much of that time in Kenya. “This means that the risk of polio appearing again in Kenya is really quite high,” says Ms. Cameron, “because polio travels easily, particularly in unsanitary conditions. We don't know if was brought in by refugees, we don't know if it was brought in by the migrants who travel across the border between Kenya and Somalia. But what we do know is that we have a really serious public health emergency in Kenya.”

There are presently three refugee camps – Ifo, Dagahaley and Hagadera – set up by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Dadaab. Since January, the camps have received nearly 35,000 new refugees from Somalia, most of them women and children. During the first week of November, the Kenyan Government, UNICEF and WHO plan to conduct a campaign delivering polio vaccination to all children under the age of five across the five districts closest to the border with Somalia.

© UNICEF Kenya/2006/Cameron
A three-year-old girl in Kenya’s North Eastern Province is the first person in the country to be diagnosed with polio in 22 years.