by Anita Sharma, North America Coordinator, UN Millennium Campaign
I admit I was a little nervous about U.S. participation in the global Stand Up and Take Action mobilization. With less than a week to go, the annual effort to join millions worldwide in the fight against global poverty and for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is happening in the shadow of the biggest financial melt-down of my lifetime. But instead of withdrawing, people are coming together to show that we care about combating global poverty. At times like this it's all the more important that we live up to our commitments and work harder to support those in need. In poor countries around the world, 50,000 children die each day of poverty-related causes, yet this crisis has not received the urgency or attention it demands. The economic crisis is having a dramatic impact on people who already struggle to survive grinding poverty and are the least able to cope with issues like high food and fuel prices.
But we know we can be the first generation to end extreme poverty. In 2000 world leaders got together at the United Nations and pledged to achieve the Millennium Development goals and outlined the shared responsibility to end poverty, disease and illiteracy and to protect our environment. We are more than half-way to 2015 and while tremendous achievements have been made, we still have a way to go. Challenges like the food and energy crisis, climate change and now the financial emergency, mean it's more important than ever that we keep our promises.
"The message we are really trying to get out is the importance of correctly washing your hands with soap and water at the critical times," Unicef's senior Sanitation and Hygiene programme adviser, Therese Dooley, said. [snip] Unicef says using soap to wash hands, particularly after contact with excreta, can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%.This may seem an obvious precaution, but in South Asia, where half the population has no access to toilets, its importance cannot be understated. (It seems that folks in northern Britain could stand for a handwashing lesson as well.) (H/T Passport)
"I understand that the IAEA has resumed its work. It has started to reapply seals," he told reporters. "I think, as simply put, the North Koreans have started the reversal of their reversal, so they're getting back to that baseline where they were very close to meeting their obligations under the second phase that we're in, in terms of disablement" of North Korea's nuclear complex, he said.Just to be clear, a "reversal of [a] reversal" is a very good thing when it means dismantling, instead of developing, nuclear weapons. (Image from flickr user nickwheeleroz under a Creative Commons license.)
South Africa's new health minister broke dramatically on Monday from a decade of discredited government policies on AIDS, declaring that the disease was unquestionably caused by HIV and must be treated with conventional medicine. Health Minister Barbara Hogan's pronouncement marked the official end to 10 years of denial about the link between HIV and AIDS by former President Thabo Mbeki and his health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang.Better late than never.