VOICES RISING
YEAR III - VOL 3. NΊ132
March 18, 2005
CONTENT
1.- MAKING KNOWLEDGE WORK - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
2.- FYI: REPORT SLAMS WORLD LEADERS FOR MISSING FIRST MDG TARGET
3.- POVERTY ZERO IS LAUNCHED: THE BIGGEST SPANISH
4.- ASIA - COMING UP: WHITE BAND DAY I
1.- MAKING KNOWLEDGE WORK - INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
Building Sustainable Communities through Partnerships in:
Place Management, Social Capital and Lifelong Learning (PASCAL)
Tuesday 25 to Friday 28 October 2005
Following the success of the last conference held in Australia in October 2004, organised jointly by PASCAL and the Australian Institute of Public Administration, this third international conference, hosted by PASCAL, is on Making Knowledge Work. The conference is designed to further develop the international dimension of PASCAL's work and to deepen our understanding of the issues associated with policy and program development around the world. PASCAL exists to learn, improve and exchange knowledge about ways of planning that succeed in building and supporting social capital and lifelong learning together with sustainable prosperity. The broad themes of the conference are those of PASCAL, namely Place management, social capital and learning regions. We invite contributions to conference themes from a range of discipline areas and multi-disciplinary contexts, e.g. architecture, planning, urban and rural development, education, community learning and social policy. In addition to the conference proceedings, papers will be considered for a proposed book based on the themes of the conference.
The conference provides an opportunity for all with an interest in policy and programme development to share their knowledge and experiences in policy making, community building, regeneration and sustainability projects with others from a wide range of fields at local, regional, national and international level.
The conference aims to examine the implications for policy and practice of contemporary research in different models of place management, the role of social capital and the development of learning regions, and to raise fresh questions from practice for further research.
Parallel sessions of presented papers, demonstration projects which illustrate good practice, and roundtable discussions will allow for debate and discussion on a range of topics within the broad themes of Place Management, Social Capital and Learning Regions.
This international, residential conference will be relevant to Public policy-makers and managers, community development leaders, academic researchers, stakeholders and partners from all sectors working in the fields of place management, social capital and lifelong learning particularly those with an interest in:
* Sharing success with other policy makers and practitioners from across the world
* Learning how to create constructive partnerships at local, regional, national and international level
* Demonstrating the value of policy makers and practitioners from public, private and NGOs working with academic institutions
* Networking with people tackling similar community development issues
* Facing the challenges of changing demographics
* Disseminating applied research findings to end users
* Demonstrating engagement with community networks for social change
* What research can tell us about place management, social capital and lifelong learning in building strong and sustainable communities
We welcome submission of abstracts for individual papers and demonstration projects illustrating good practice which are focused on one or more of the Conference themes. These may include reporting on policy development, innovative practice, research in progress or completed research, methodological issues, theoretical issues or conceptual issues. We particularly welcome papers which have an international comparative dimension.
For further information visit the NIACE website: http://www.niace.org.uk/Conferences/PASCAL.htm
Or contact Gurjit Kaur on tel: 0116 2042833 Email: gurjit.kaur@niace.org.uk
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2.- FYI: REPORT SLAMS WORLD LEADERS FOR MISSING FIRST MDG TARGET
Anne Jellema
anne.jellema@gmail.com
FAILURE ON GIRLS' EDUCATION TARGET SHAMES THE WORLD
On International Women's Day, the Global Campaign for Education releases a new report slamming world leaders for their failure to achieve the first and most critical of alll the Millennium Development
Goals - getting equal numbers of girls as boys into school by 2005. A majority of developing countries are set to miss the target, and new research cited in the report shows that an extra 1 million child deaths will occur this year alone because of failure to close the education gap facing girls.
Unacceptably slow progress on girls' education is perpetuating hunger, poverty and ill
health, charged the campaign group. 'This is the first of the Millennium goals to be missed,' said GCE coordinator Anne Jellema, 'and it is being swept under the carpet.
The credibility of all the other Millennium goals will be seriously undermined unless the international community agrees fresh action and new resources to guarantee a basic education to every girl.'
8 March 2005
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3.- POVERTY ZERO IS LAUNCHED: THE BIGGEST SPANISH
Mobilization in its history against the poverty
Madrid, on February 23rd- Today, Wednesday, February 23rd, the Spanish Development NGOs Coordinator (CONGDE) has launched the Poverty Zero campaign, that pretends to mobilize during 2005 the whole Spanish society to put pressure on the politicians in order to take an urgent, definitive and efficient fight against the poverty.
The CONGDEs Campaign pursues to win the highest support from the citizenship and social movements and organizations from every layer of the society. Poverty Zero is part of the Global Call to Action against Poverty, a world-wide alliance where million of people take part over more than one hundred countries. This alliance want to become the widest mobilization against the poverty in the History.
More than 300 people were summoned to the CONGDEs call in the Americas House Amphitheatre, among them Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Almudena Grandes and Maria Galiana. Mayor Zaragoza did a calling to the society: This is the peoples century, not the governors one. We cant still shut up and we cant just be somebody: we have to be everybody. The actress Maria Galiana showed us her full commitment to the cause; she requested the political leaders for listening the citizenships demands: I pray you not to close your ears. This time you have to hear us. For the writer Almudena Grandes, it is our own dignity which we are staking in this Campaign.
The Campaign will be heard during 2005 in key moments from the national and international agenda, when the political leaders will have to take key decisions over the fight against the Poverty. In July 1st, the whole world will be mobilized in an unanimous calling against the poverty and we will demand the Millenium Development Goals achieving. The symbol of the international campaign is a simple White Band, that everybody can wear anywhere they like, that it can be seen by everyone! Wearing the White Band in 2005 is about sending a message that you want poverty to be stopped.
The Campaign main demands are:
· To increase the official development aid prioritising basic social sectors, until it reach the compromised 0.7%.
· Better aid, unlinked to commercial interests, oriented to the poorest countries; a better aid coherent with the Millenium Development Goals.
· More coherence over the different policies from our governments to contribute with ending poverty.
· To cancel the unpayable debt: rich countries, World Bank and IMF must cancel the whole poorer countries debt.
· Debt in exchange of development: to invest the liberated resources from the poorer countries debt cancellation into reaching the MDG.
· To change the International Trade Rules which are the privilege from the richer countries and their business. They impede the poorer countries governments to decide how to fight against poverty and how to protect the environment.
· To finish the subsidies that allows to export rich countries products below production cost. This practice damages poorer countries rural communities sustenance.
· To protect public services against privatisations and liberalizations in order to assure feeding, drinking water and essential medicines access rights.
· To facilitate the use of new technologies for the poorer countries, according to their necessities, in order to benefit from their capabilities.
During this campaign, the civil society role is critical for setting world fight against the poverty as the first international priority for every country and for assuring that the political leaders fulfil their promises. So www.pobrezacero.org is built. A web page that offers all the information over the Campaign (news, events, put pressure ways and joining procedures, etc.). Anyone or any organization could support the campaign and subscribe the calling by fulfilling an easy form. Poverty Zero Campaign wants to add as a vindicate expression the greatest support from the Spanish civil society who has always shown a top level of solidarity and commitment with South poor countries. Several social organisations and trade unions, among others Greenpeace, CCOO, UGT, had began to send their supports to the campaign.
For more information or interviewing:
Pablo J. Martνnez Gσmez
sensibilizacion@congde.org
Raquel Martνnez
cogde@pobrezacero.org
Tel: +34 91 5210955
Fax: +34 91 5213843
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4.- ASIA- COMING UP: WHITE BAND DAY I
GCAPAsiaNewsMarch4
The first global White Band Day for 2005 is fast approaching.
On July 1st 2005 the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) aims to get millions of people in over a hundred countries to show their collective support for real action against poverty by wearing a simple white band - the symbol of GCAP - as a headband, armband or wristband.
The campaigns working together through the Global Call to Action Against Poverty are demanding substantial changes in policies and practises of governments and institutions which will not be popular with many of the rich and powerful. For example, if governments increase social spending on the poor that will require reduced arms expenditure, or reduced subsidies for the wealthy, or increased or fairer taxes - all of which would b[IFG] GCAPAsiaNewsMarch4.ems e opposed by some key power-holders. Likewise, if rich countries governments agree to real trade justice a small but influential group of wealthy agri-businesses will do all they can to stop it. So we are asking quite a lot from governments, and our only counter to the power of wealth is the power of the people.
Mobilising thousands of people a dozen countries won't be enough - we need millions of people in over a hundred countries. And we need to show that we have mobilised them - which is where wearing the white band helps, especially if it can be recorded through photos and video footage which is shared quickly around the world. It also serves a tool for education and for conscientisation.
Getting millions of people to wear the white band requires strong and active alliances bringing together mass movements, mass media and influentials like celebrities and faith leaders who can really make it happen. The national campaigns described below and in earlier editions of this newsletter set out some of the ways that such campaigns can be built up.
The International Gender and Education Office (GEO) of ICAE creates
VOICES RISING
Email: voicesrising@icae.org.uy
Web: www.icae.org.uy
Tel/fax: 00 5982 401 00 06
Address: Acevedo Diaz 1600 / 1002.
11200 Montevideo, Uruguay