Day 8 - Amani Toomer and Tony Richardson Visit Sri Lanka
J. Ethan Medley, NY Giants
February 18, 2005
After waking up to our customary breakfast at the hotel, our group piled into our vans and traveled to a tented camp for displaced families in Godagama. Many people have been living here since the disaster, with the camp still a work in progress. We came to lend a helping hand, digging a deep water drainage pit with shovels and hoes, and cleaning up debris and trash that remained around the camp. Many things are different here, as villages have no form of trash removal, so they simply burn it. While dug and cleaned, some of the villagers pumped a water well that had become too dirty to use. As we were leaving, a water truck arrived to fill their tanks with fresh water.
Day 7 - Amani Toomer and Tony Richardson Visit Sri Lanka
J. Ethan Medley, NY Giants
February 17, 2005
After waking up to a bacon and egg breakfast we jumped right into action this morning, heading over to the Habaraduwa Multi-purpose Cooperative Society, where we packed individual rations of food. The Sri Lankan government has identified individuals in need, and is working with organizations like the World Food Program (WFP) to supply them with weekly rations. Our task this morning was to open up large bags of rice, pulses (lentils) and sugar, measuring and weighing them and then packaging them for distribution to local villages. Each individual is provided with a weekly ration of 2.8 kilograms of rice, .42 kilograms of pulses, .41 kilograms of sugar and a small amount of cooking oil. We quickly learned that it is a task that requires efficiency, as it is important to prepare as many rations as possible, and attention to detail, in order to make sure that everyone gets their fair share. This morning we were able to prepare 285 packages of rice, and 350 packs of pulses and sugar.
The UN Foundation sponsored a program at the United Nations on Thursday, February 17, entitled "One Day after Kyoto: Next Steps on Climate."
Senator Chuck Hagel made the following remarks at the event: "There will always be uncertainties and incomplete information in any climate science or climate policy. But that should not inhibit our commitment to developing climate policies based on sound science. The question we face is not whether we should take action on climate change, but what kind of action we should take. Climate change is a shared responsibility for all nations, including the United States. Global climate policy affects the world's economic, energy, and environmental policies." Read the rest of the speech...
Media Matters: "A promotion for a FOX News special report titled Breaking Point: U.N. Blood Money: Kofi Annan Under Fire promised that the hour-long special would deliver "shocking new information" on corruption in the United Nations oil-for-food program. Instead, viewers were treated to a host of glaring omissions, dubious sources, falsehoods and distortions, smears, and innuendo.
As the title suggests, the report focused on U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. FOX chose to target Annan despite the fact that no specific allegations -- beyond the generic charges of "mismanagement" and "lax oversight" -- have surfaced to connect Annan to corruption in oil-for-food, let alone actual evidence."
From Reuters: "Warring parties in Sudan's Darfur agreed on Thursday to revive stalled peace talks, after the U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged firm action to end a conflict he described as near hell on earth.... Annan urged the U.N. Security Council to take immediate steps to stop the Darfur war, which has killed at least 70,000 people and displaced 2 million."
Great story posted on the UN Foundation website: "When McKinley Middle School sixth-grader Craig Smith learned that one African child dies each minute from measles, he decided to take action. He urged his classmates to raise money for the American Red Cross Measles Initiative, a long-term project that aims to inoculate 200 million children in up to 36 sub-Saharan African countries." Read the rest...
TRANSCRIPT:
BLITZER: All right. Let's move on and talk about the oil-for- food program that existed until Saddam Hussein's demise almost two years ago. Senator Coleman, your subcommittee's been holding hearings.
What have you learned that's new? Give us one little nugget that you came away with from your latest investigation this week.
Key points:
* The UN provided support for the formation of the Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) and the recruitment and training of 900 IECI staff. The Commission is comprised entirely of Iraqis, plus one UN expert who is a non-voting member.
* A UN electoral team of more than 50 staff members in Baghdad, Amman and New York engaged in a wide range of work to provide the IECI with the technical, logistical, financial and administrative assistance necessary to conduct successful national elections.
"The Kyoto treaty against global warming came into force today with United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan urging the world to save the planet by adding to the limits on greenhouse gases and the UN environment chief stressing that many in the United States, the world's top polluter, support the protocol despite the US Government's opposition." More...