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bringing you the latest news, information and analysis from
international environment and sustainable development negotiations

 

 

MEDIA REPORTS

INTERGOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS

This page was updated on: 01/13/10

 

2002

 

Intergovernmental Organization Media Reports Archives: 2010; 2009; 2008; 2007; 2006; 2005; 2004; 2003

 

DECEMBER 2002

 

BRITISH JOURNALIST AWARDED GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL JOURNALISM PRIZE
British journalist James Meek, writing for the Guardian newspaper, received the 2002 Reuters-IUCN Global Media Award for his article "Worlds Apart - a journey from A to Z of inequality - from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Zug, Switzerland." Queen Noor of Jordan presented Meeks with the award at a ceremony in Washington, DC. "Well-informed reports increase our understanding of the services provided by ecosystems, deepening our appreciation of how fundamental they are to our security in food, water, clean air, and health," she said about the journalism competition. This year's Awards had a special theme: "The Best Summit Story," which put the spotlight on the recent World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in Johannesburg, South Africa.

 

Links to further information

IUCN Press release, 6 December 2002

http://www.iucn.org/info_and_news/press/reuterswinner02.pdf

 

UNEP CHIEF CONDEMNS KENYA TERRORIST ATTACK

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer condemned the terrorist attack at the Paradise Hotel in the Kenyan coastal town of Mombasa, killing ten Kenyans and three Israelis. "In the name of all UN Agencies and staff headquartered in Nairobi and in Kenya, I would like to express shock and indignation at these acts of terrorism," Töpfer said. Although Mombasa is 485 kilometers away from Nairobi, Töpfer said that the United Nations would work closely with the Kenya authorities to ensure security for all, including UN staff. Also reacting to the attack, UN-Habitat Executive Director Anna Tibaijuka added that "the mandate of the United Nations is to work towards a more peaceful world, and governments and individuals alike have a responsibility to fight against hate and violence."

 

Links to further information

UNEP Press release, 29 November 2002

 

UNEP RECEIVES BIG BOOST IN FUNDING FROM THE DUTCH

The Netherlands has announced an increase in funding for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The new Dutch funds, growing from 2.4 million euros to 6.5 million euros within three years, are earmarked for environmental law, environmental assessment, urbanization, energy and water projects. "The five areas identified are priority areas for us, especially water," said Tanya Van Gool, the new Dutch Ambassador to Kenya and Permanent Representative to UNEP, at a signing ceremony at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. This increase in funding explicitly recognizes UNEP's role in reducing poverty and delivering sustainable development, in addition to its current role in conserving and protecting the environment. UNEP's Executive Director, Klaus Töpfer said he hoped that other key donors would also recognize the vital development role of the organization in considerations of their future funding strategies.

 

Links to further information

UNEP press release, 26 November 2002

 

WORLD BANK LAUNCHES KIDS DEVNEWS 
In an effort to educate young people about the latest issues on development, the World Bank has launched Kids DevNews, a monthly online publication geared toward 10-15 year olds. Each issue will revolve around a different development topic that affects young people around the world, including such topics as natural resources, food and agriculture, climate change and sustainable development. "As a global development institution, the Bank is in a good position to inform young people about pressing development issues," say the site's creators Nina Vucenik and Melissa Knutson of the Bank's External Affairs Department. In addition to news and features, the site includes such learning components as a glossary of terms and links to other relevant sites.

 

Links to further information

Kid DevNews Homepage

 

NOVEMBER 2002

 

GEF SEEKS LEADERSHIP AWARD NOMINATIONS

The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is seeking nominations for the 2003 Global Environment Leadership Award, which recognizes individuals who have demonstrated strong leadership actions aimed at protecting the environment. "The award was created to recognize and encourage this caliber of leadership, which is necessary to ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations," GEF Chief Executive Office and Chairman Mohamed El-Ashry said in a statement. Nominations must be received by 28 February 2003. The winner will be announced on Earth Day, 22 April 2003. Previous winners include Xie Zhenhua, Minister of China's State Environmental Protection Administration and Maurice Strong, Senior Adviser to the UN's Secretary-General.

 

Links to further information

GEF press release, 20 November 2002

 

ASHOK KHOSLA WINS UNEP AWARD

Indian Environmentalist Dr. Ashok Khosla, has been awarded this year's UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize for his work in fostering environment-friendly and commercially-viable technologies, ranging from village power plants that use agricultural wastes as fuel to mini-factories that recycle paper. Much of his recent work has been achieved through Development Alternatives, a group of organizations headquartered in New Delhi, which he founded in 1983 to help bring people and nature directly into the design and implementation of his nation's development strategies. Speaking at the award ceremony at the American Folk Art Museum in New York, Khosla said that sustainable development cannot be achieved by "economic policies that only nurture big, centralized, transportation-intensive, energy guzzling, resource wasting production systems, it also needs local-level innovation." Khosla is the founding director of the Government of India's Office of Environmental Planning and Coordination, the first developing country national environmental agency, set up in 1972. "His generosity, as well as the ingenuity of his vision has made Dr. Khosla a worthy addition to the distinguished list of UNEP Sasakawa Environment Prize laureates," sad UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer.

 

Links to further information

UNEP press release, 19 November 2002

 

OCTOBER 2002

 

UNEP CHIEF WINS TOP EUROPEAN ENVIRONMENTAL PRIZE

The Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt, Europe's largest environmental foundation, has honored UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer, the highest-ranking German in the United Nations system, for his outstanding achievement in international environmental protection. The award was presented by German Federal President Johannes Rau. German Federal Environment Minister, Jürgen Trittin, complimented his predecessor, saying that Töpfer had become a "synonym" for the protection of the global environment and enjoyed confidence all over the world among environmentalists.

 

Links to further information

Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt press release, 27 October 2002

http://www.dbu.de/press/artikel.php?id=492

 

UNICEF KICKS OFF HALLOWEEN CAMPAIGN IN THE US

Halloween night (31 October) in the United States marks the 52nd annual 'Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF' campaign. The funds raised will be donated this year to the global effort to eradicate polio. For the second consecutive year, the United Nations Foundation is supporting the cause by contributing one dollar for every four dollars raised. Since its inception in 1950 in the United States when Philadelphia school children first went door-to-door on Halloween collecting money in decorated milk cartons to help the world's children, the UNICEF campaign has raised over US$188 million to provide medicine, better nutrition, clean water, education, emergency relief and other support to children in more than 160 countries. Canada, Ireland and Mexico will also be running similar campaigns this year.

 

Links to further information

USA Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF

http://www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/index.html

UNICEF Global Polio Eradication Initiative

http://www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/polio.html

 

12TH ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN'S PAINTING CONTEST

The 12th International Painting Contest, organized by UNEP and the Foundation for Global Peace and the Environment, is calling on children artists from around the world to paint their vision of a cleaner, healthier, fairer and more environmentally-friendly world.  "Preserve the Beautiful Oceans, Skies and Forests for the Future" is this year's theme. "Through the International Painting Contest for Children, we are eager to see the visions, aspirations and creativity of children," said UNEP Executive Director Klaus Töpfer in a press statement. "Many parents tell me that it is through the actions of children, often through community, school projects and competitions like the painting contest, that they have come to understand environmental issues more deeply." Entries are being accepted until 31 January 2003. Prizes will be awarded for the best 500 entries, which will be used in the production of postcards, a calendar, posters, publications and exhibitions world-wide.

 

Links to further information

UNEP press release, October 2002

UNEP Children's Painting Competition

 

WORLD FOOD DAY 2002

World Food Day is celebrated every year on 16 October to commemorate the founding of the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in 1945. World Food Day, celebrated in over 150 countries, aims to heighten public awareness of the plight of the world's hungry and malnourished and to encourage people worldwide to take action against hunger. This year's theme – "Water: Source of Food Security" – will focus on the essential role water plays in ensuring sustainable food resources for a growing world population. FAO's Telefood campaign and celebrities in the FAO Ambassadors Programme, including Italian Tenor Luciano Pavarotti and Senegalese singer Youssou N'dour, will spread the World Food Day 2002 message around the world: "The world can find enough water to produce the food needed for future generations, if we manage water wisely, now!"

 

Links to further information

FAO World Food Day website

http://www.fao.org/wfd/index_en.asp

FAO TeleFood website

http://www.fao.org/food/default-e.htm

 

JULY 2002

 

OUT WITH THE OAU, IN WITH THE AU

The African Union (AU) was officially launched on Tuesday 9 July at its inaugural Assembly in Durban, South Africa, replacing the 39-year-old Organization of African Unity (OAU). Loosely modeled after the European Union, the AU aims to advance the work of African leaders in reducing poverty and promoting good governance. The AU will have a parliament, a peace and security council, and a standby peacekeeping force, and will be closely linked with the New Partnership for Africa's Development. A central bank, an economic court of justice, and an African Economic Community with a unified currency are also planned. Serving as the AU's first Chair, South African President Thabo Mbeki said, "We have to overcome the debilitating effect of inertia, which makes us ... act in the old ways to which we are accustomed," further adding that Africans have high expectations and that "the situation demands that we make a new beginning. ... We have to aim for measurable advances and not be satisfied merely to report that we met and adopted good resolutions."

 

Links to further information

African Union website

http://www.africa-union.org/en/home.asp

The Miami Herald, 10 July 2002

http://www.miami.com/mld/miami/news/world/3634306.htm  

The Namibian, 10 July 2002

http://www.namibian.com.na/2002/july/africa/02705A883F.html

 

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