Thursday, May 24, 2012
Friday, May 18, 2012
Future water scenarios
William J. Cosgrove is Senior Adviser to the UN World Water Assessment Program for the 4th edition of the United Nations World Water Development Report and the Manager of the World Water Scenarios Project. Mr. Cosgrove is a former vice president of the World Bank, past-president of the World Water Council, and served as chairman of the International Steering Committee of the Cooperative Program on Water and Climate. He was one of the panelists in the UNESCO Future Forum on Global Water Futures 2050+ held on 12 April 2012.
Water Expert Appointed to National Commission
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| Commission member Rich Meganck on the Upper Deschutes River in Central Oregon |
Newly appointed to the U.S. National Commission for UNESCO is Richard Meganck.
After a 34 year career in international development, including a 6.5 year stint as Rector for the UNESCO Institute for Water Education in Delft, the Netherland, Rich has resettled in Oregon with his spouse Janet and their three Pacific Northwest based daughters.
Besides his new appointment to the Commission, Rich serves as a member of the U.S. Committee for the International Hydrological Program and is a part-time Fellow at the Institute for Wather and Watersheds at Oregon State University with the support of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers institute for Water Resources (IWR) in association with its International Center for Integrated Water Resource Management UNESCO Category II Center (ICIWaRM). Rich is also consulting with the Brazilian Government to develop a new UNESCO Category II Center in the State of Minas Gerais.
Synchrotron-light for Experimental Science and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME)
Next week our Ambassador to UNESCO David Killion will be attending a meeting about SESAME, the Middle East's first major multi-country scientific research center, which is being developed under the auspices of UNESCO. You can read more here.
UNESCO Engineering Fellows Visit the USA
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| Left to right: Mike Sanio (ASCE), Jamil Khalid, Hadi Rakin, Eric Woodard, Dalia Akbarmir and from the State Dept: Eric Bone, Doug Walker, and Andy Reynolds |
Two highly respected professionals from Afghanistan's Engineering community, Jamil Khalid and Dalia Akbarmir, are currenty visiting the U.S.A. through a UNESCO Fellowship program launched several years ago due to the efforts of many associated with our UNESCO Commission.
Jamil Khalid and Dalia Akbarmir had a chance to visit our Commission office last week and met with State Department officials to discuss their efforts to organize Engineering Civil Society in Afghanistan. Thanks for visiting Jamil and Dalia!
Friday, April 27, 2012
Petition Asking Congress to Fund UNESCO
Reinstate funding for UNESCO
The US has stopped all funding for UNESCO as of Oct. 31, 2011. This is due to an outdated law mandating a cutoff of American financial support to any UN agency that accepts Palestine as a full member. Loss of funding for UNESCO hurts the philanthropic endeavors advance literacy, science, provide clean water and education, including sex education and promoting equal treatment for girls and young women. The loss of US funding for these programs is not only devastating for those in dire straits who benefit directly from them but to the US itself. This action has jeopardized economic benefits provided by UNESCO and has gone counter to our core security interests. Right this injustice immediately!You can add your name to this petition here....
Thursday, April 19, 2012
International Celebrations Coming Up
Earth Day, April 22
World Book and Copyright Day, April 23
NGO Day, April 23
International Dance Day, April 25
International Jazz Day, April 27
World Press Freedom Day, May 3
Herbie Hancock, UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador, plays jazz piano!
Friday, April 06, 2012
Quoted from UNESCO D.G. Bokova's Speech on STI in Aftica
We are helping Nigeria and Tanzania to reform their national science systems.
We are strengthening the capacity of researchers, policymakers, development partners and the private sector.
We have done so with seven countries of the Economic Community of West Africa States, and with Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda.
Effective policies need sharp and precise data.
This is the unique roles of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the global UNESCO Science Reports.
We launched recently the Science, Technology and Innovation Global Assessment Programme and the Global Observatory on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Instruments to take this further.
UNESCO’s new Engineering Initiative to support engineering education has a focus on Africa.
UNESCO is also actively promoting links between science, technology, innovation and industry -- through our University-Industry Science Partnership Programme, on the governance of science and technology parks.
We are working also to help young scientists take part in research and development in biodiversity.
The World Association of Young Scientists, created by UNESCO in 2004, is active across the continent -- as is the network of UNESCO University Chairs. There is still a lot of work to do here.
These include UNESCO Chairs for Women in Science in Kenya, Sudan and Burkina Faso.
Women are a special focus of our work.
Just last week, I was honoured to award the L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Prizes for Women in Science to five outstanding researchers, including Professor Jill Farrant from the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
This year, as part of the L’OREAL-UNESCO For Women in Science Partnership, a young woman scientist from Kenya, Peggoty Mutai, benefitted from the UNESCOL’Oreal International Fellowships programme.
Last May, I launched a new Global Partnership for Girls’ and Women’s Education, in the presence of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the United States Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton.
Read the entire Address by Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO, on the occasion of the opening of the Ministerial Conference African Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for Youth Employment, Human Capital Development and Inclusive Growth
Thursday, April 05, 2012
A Report from the Executive Board Meeting
American UNESCO veteran and international education expert Leslie Limage recently attended various sessions of UNESCO's 189th Executive Board, which adjourned in Paris last month.
She shares her perspective about UNESCO staff morale, the Obiang Prize, and importance of U.S. engagement here.
Welcome to the Inter-America UNESCO Club
The Inter-Americas UNESCO Club of Houston (based in Houston, Texas) recently became one of our nation's newest UNESCO clubs.
Scientists name new dinosaur after UNESCO
In a new study, scientists have named two new horned dinosaur species based on fossils collected from Alberta, Canada. One of the new species, Unescopceratops koppelhusae, was named in honor of UNESCO. It is from the Leptoceratopsidae family of horned dinosaurs. More....
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Africa on the Move
Interview of Lidia Brito, Director of Science Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO
Science, technology and innovation (STI) are important issues for Africa, an increasingly dynamic continent. On the occasion of the First African Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for Youth Employment, Human Capital Development and Inclusive Growth, from 1 to 3 April in Nairobi, Kenya, Lidia Brito talks about the importance of STI in the African context and how it will contribute to sustainable development in Africa in the run up to the Rio + 20 conference in June 2012.
Friday, March 30, 2012
More on the U.S. Funding of UNESCO
Public opinion about U.S. funding for UNESCO continues to be alive and well this week.
Several articles on the subject appeared including this one from the Minnesota Daily and this one out of Boston University.
Ambassador Susan Rice on Capitol Hill
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice was on Capitol Hill this week to speak with Members of the House about the FY 2013 Federal Budget.
During her time on the Hill, the Ambassador spoke about the current status of U.S. funding for UNESCO. You can find more details here.
House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairwoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen issued a statement in response, which you can seehere.
How others see the U.S. action against UNESCO
The General Conference of UNESCO last fall voted, over America's opposition, to admit Palestine to membership. In response, and in keeping with laws passed in the early 1990s, the United States is withholding its contributions to UNESCO. Since the U.S. assessed contribution corresponds to 22 percent of its regular budget, this is causing a crisis in the Organization.
Here is a comment on the case by the Turkish publication, Todays Zaman:
Just by looking at UNESCO’s identity motto one can observe that something about the latest US decision is not quite right.
Here it is: “UNESCO contributes to the building of peace, the alleviation of poverty, sustainable development and intercultural dialogue through education, the sciences, culture, communication and information.” And, one may add, it pursues these noble objectives across many underdeveloped countries all over the world.
How is it possible then that the Obama administration has announced that it will stop payments towards such an institution? The US, also known as the land of possibilities, has knowingly decided to deny their support for an organization that courageously helps people in need all over the world. I don’t mean to be cacophonic, but this resolution implies, and that’s the worst part of it, the taking away of the possibility of a better life for people in need around the world.
In other words, a lot of programs will be shut down..........
The controversy within the position adopted by the US seems to be merely of a legal nature. We know that the US has proved all along to be a loyal ally of Israel. We also know that in the ‘90s two congressional laws were created to expressly prohibit the funding of any UN organization that accepts the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as a full member. The purpose of the laws was to encourage negotiation between Israelis and the Palestinians to reach a just and broad peace. What we might not know is that the laws are reversible, and the US Congress could abolish these laws if it wants to. It could vote at any given time to invalidate them, as declared by the president of the S. Daniel Abraham Center for Middle East Peace.Read the entire article titled "Why US decision to deny support to UNESCO is extremely controversial"
by Eleonora Galasso.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
UNESCO Director General Travels Across the USA
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| Interior Secretary Ken Salazar (left) with UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova (right) at Independence Hall in Philadelphia on Thurs 3/15/12 |
Two weeks ago in Washington she spoke about the importance of Women and Girls Literacy before a lunch hosted by the UN Foundation and the Women's Foreign Policy Group.
On Thursday 3/15 the Director General was in Philadelphia where she attended an event that highlighted the importance that World Heritage sites can play in promoting tourism and economic development. Later in the day she attended the inauguration of the UNESCO Chair in Learning and Literacy at the University of Pennsylvania.
Over the weekend she was in Chicago where she spoke before the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, met with Senator Richard Durbin, talked to the McCormick Foundation, and held an editorial board meeting with the Chicago Tribune. During her stay she also met with representatives from the IDP Foundation, the Chicago Architecture Foundation, and the MacArthur Foundation.
On Monday of last week the Director General visited Miamiwhere she visited theEverglades and participated in a public-private sector roundtable about World Heritage and Sustainable Tourism.
From there she traveled to San Francisco on Tuesday where she spoke to students at the University of California at Berkeley about freedom of information in the digital age and also met with city officials. On Wednesday she spoke about science education for girls at an event hosted by the Friends of the San Francisco Commission on the Status of Women.
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| Mon 3/19 Roundtable on Sustainable Tourism in Miami |
L’ORÉAL-UNESCO Award for Women in Science - 2012
Professor Bonnie BASSLER has won the North American Award
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, USA
For understanding the chemical communication between bacteria and opening new doors for treating infections.
Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, USA
For understanding the chemical communication between bacteria and opening new doors for treating infections.
Bonnie Bassler has devoted herself to studying the revolutionary notion that bacteria are not simply individual organisms working on their own for better (helping us digest food, for example) or for worse (causing disease). In fact, as she discovered, they are ineffective on their own and must work as coordinated ‘armies’ to be able to be successful at both keeping us healthy and making us sick. It would be impossible for groups of bacteria to act in unison, however, if they did not communicate with each other. Bassler has shown that bacteria ‘talk’ using chemicals as their words. These startling discoveries may someday lead to the development of new antibiotics that interfere with bacterial conversations as well as many other applications, such as infection-resistant surgical implants.
Congratulations to Professor Bassler!
Friday, March 16, 2012
John Oliver Explains U.S. UNESCO Policy
The Daily Show of March 15th broke its normal format in order to devote a major portion to satirize the law which required the United States to withhold funding from UNESCO after UNESCO admitted Palestine to membership.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
The public was interested when the USA cut UNESCO funding
 | UNESCO strips Dresden of World Heritage site title Vancouver Sun - Jun 25 2009 |
 | Bulgarian diplomat wins UNESCO race Philadelphia Inquirer - Sep 22 2009 |
 | UNESCO adds 7 sites to World Heritage List Ynetnews - Aug 1 2010 |
 | UNESCO to assess mining impact at S.Africa Ninemsn - Nov 16 2010 |
 | US cuts UNESCO funding after Palestinian membership vote CNN - Oct 31 2011 |
 | Palestinian flag raised at UNESCO The Hindu - Dec 13 2011 |
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