Business, ethics, deeds …

“With this financial crisis and its consequences, do you realize that people are going back to more traditional values ?” my colleague observed one day. “It’s not only in Europe. You can find this phenomenon everywhere around the globe. Gordon Gekko’s vision is out –– greed is no longer good –– and people have realized that people earning vast amounts of money does not make society a better place to live. Rather the contrary. Many people are now looking at ethics and moral standards, either in the business world or in their daily lives. People who keep their word ; someone whose deeds are performed with integrity. This is the new trend we can now see emerging in societies around the world. In a recent seminar, the Norwegian philosopher Henrik Syse pinpointed one common denominator of this (...)more...

Les femmes de diplomates onusiens se mobilisent en faveur de la Syrie.

Il y eut d’abord l’initiative dérisoire, prise par Huberta von Voss Wittig, la femme de l’ambassadeur d’Allemagne et Sheila Lyall Grant, la femme de l’ambassadeur de Grande-Bretagne auprès des Nations Unies, qui ont fait le pari impossible d’unir leur voix pour faire taire celles des armes. Dans une vidéo concoctées par leur soin, elles adjurent la femme du dictateur, Asma Al-Assad d’être la voix de la paix et d’aider à mettre fin aux violences en Syrie. Un joli coup de publicité, mais surtout un coup d’épée dans l’eau. La vidéo dure environ 4 minutes. Quatre minutes impressionnantes au cours desquelles une voix off commente sobrement des images d’une violence inouie sur lesquelles on peut voir des mères en larmes au côté de leur enfant ensanglanté ou mort et des cadavres recouverts d’un drap blanc (...)more...

Interview with His Excellency Mr Yusuf Abdulkarim Bucheeri, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain

Mr Ambassador is a highly educated man, dedicated and eloquent, who speaks perfect English. Dr. Bucheeri was Trained as a lawyer and if there is one issue close to his heart it’s Human Rights and International law, H.E. has always aimed to put all his passion and knowledge acquired during his long years study for the benefit and in service of his country. Before his arrival in Geneva, his Excellency was in charge of Human Rights issues at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bahrain. We had the chance to meet him and to hear more about his country, the recent events there and, last but not least, his visions for what he would like to achieve during his tenure as the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain in Geneva. So Mr Ambassador, we leave the floor to you… Q : Mr Ambassador, what is (...)more...

Ashraf camp in front of the UN in Geneva

Photo essai : Action Press/Virot April 27, 2012 Requesting security for the people, the Iranian resistance celebrated the 100th day of demonstration of the international movement for the protection of Ashraf in front of the UN in Geneva. They are calling the Iraqui authorities to prevent turning Camp Liberty into a prison. They also call on the UN Secretary general to garantee minimum standards of safety, security and well-being.more...

3rd UNCTAD Women in Business Award

Panamanian who produces gluten-free food products wins 3rd UNCTAD Women in Business Award Women entrepreneurs from Brazil and Jordan take second and third prizes Doha, Qatar, 24 April 2012 — Melissa De León, founder of Panama Gourmet, a company which produces gluten-free foods, won the 2012 UNCTAD Empretec Women in Business Award. The prize honours businesswomen from developing countries who have founded successful firms, created jobs, and become role models in their communities. The award was announced at a gala dinner Monday that was the culmination of a “Women in Development Day” staged on the third day of the UNCTAD XIII quadrennial conference. The prize also marked the conclusion of the UNCTAD World Investment Forum. The forum was held in Doha and overlapped with the beginning (...)more...

Global Overview ; People internally displaced by conflict ad violence, the world in 2011

Photos : ActionPress/Virot For the last 14 years the Norwegian Refugees Council’s International Displacing Monitoring Centre has been monitored internal displacement resulting from conflict and violence across the world. Today in Geneva the report for 2011 was released in presence of António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and Elisabeth Rasmussen, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s Secretary General Elisabeth Rasmussen. According to the report : - Global Overview ; People internally displaced by conflict ad violence, the world in 2011 was an unsafe place for millions of people. From criminal violence including attacks by armed groups in sub-Saharan Africa or by drug cartels in Latin America, to armed clashes such as those associated with the conflict in Cote (...)more...

Avenirs cabossés

"Il ne parviendra pas à rattraper"," il n’a pas les notes suffisantes pour passer l’année"," il n’arrivera pas apprendre à lire", "il faut le mettre dans une filière spécialisée", sont des verdicts fréquemment prononcés et souvent une de ces phrases suffit pour sceller le destin scolaire d’un enfant. Laurence, pétillante jeune fille en 3ème année du collège, a rattrapé en dix jours un semestre de retard en mathématiques, peu après que son professeur lui annonça qu’avec sa moyenne de 2 elle n’avait aucune chance de passer l’année et lui recommanda de quitter le collège et chercher un apprentissage. Elle a réussi la Maturité avec brio, se passionna pour les sciences politiques et prépare actuellement un doctorat. La maman de Marco, 6 ans, est très inquiète car la maîtresse de son petit garçon lui a annoncé que (...)more...

New museum to open in Geneva on 18 May Journey through our connected world with ICT Discovery

Geneva, 8 May 2012 – The doors of a new museum, ICT Discovery, will open at ITU headquarters on Friday, 18 May 2012 to entertain and educate the public on the evolution and exciting future of information and communication technologies (ICT). Through interactive exhibitions, inc. gaming area, and educational programmes, ICT Discovery tells the fascinating story of ICT (from our early need to communicate, through the rapid pace of invention during the 19th and 20th centuries, to our increasingly connected world of today and tomorrow) explaining how key technology works, alongside the role of ITU in connecting our world and facilitating the transformation of people’s lives globally. Created and housed by the United Nations specialized agency for ICT with headquarters in Geneva, ITU’s ICT (...)more...

Cipla and DNDi announce the forthcoming launch of Artesunate + Mefloquine fixed-dose combination for P. falciparum malaria

Mumbai - Geneva, 24th April 2012 : On the occasion of World Malaria Day, Cipla, one of the world’s leading generic pharmaceutical companies in collaboration with Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi) announced the forthcoming launch of the Fixed-Dose combination of ‘Artesunate (AS)1 + Mefloquine (MQ)2’ for the treatment of uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria. There were an estimated 216 million cases of malaria globally in 2010. The combination of AS and MQ is proven to be a safe, rapid and reliably effective treatment for uncomplicated P. falciparum malaria and is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). A comparative study of all four WHO recommended treatments showed that a fixed-dose combination of ASMQ provided the greatest post-treatment suppression of malaria. (...)more...

Nasser…. ce jour du 28 septembre

Anouar El’Sadate grimpait nerveusement l’escalier de l’appartement de la famille Nasser, en ce début d’après-midi agité du 28 septembre 1970. Il rata la dernière image du raïs vivant. Il eut juste le temps de lui fermer les yeux. Gamal Abdel Nasser est mort dans son lit après une vie animée de victoires, d’espoir et de déception. L’Egypte ne sera jamais remise de cette perte. Il est rare qu’un homme politique divise autant l’opinion publique de son pays depuis près de sept décennies. L’Egypte qui l’a vu naître en 1918 sera toute autre à sa mort, ce jour du 28 septembre ancré dans l’histoire de celle-ci telle une huitième plaie. Le raïs rendit son dernier souffle, emporté par une complication cardiaque, en état d’épuisement total. Menant une guerre d’usure contre Israël après la défaite de 1967, cette guerre a (...)more...

UNITED NATIONS SOCIETY OF WRITERS SPONSORS A POETRY READING ON THE LAKE

On Saturday 10 March beginning at 11 a.m. and continuing until well past noon, the United Nations Society of Writers/Société des Ecrivains des Nations Unies and its literary journal Ex Tempore co-sponsored a “happening” at the Bains de Paquis, including the reading of lake poetry by Alphonse de Lamartine, Rainer Maria Rilke and Hermann Hesse, with translations into English and Russian. Under a pristine blue sky, balmy winds, and facing the glory of the jet d’eau rising majestically over the rade, we listened mesmerized as Antony Hequet declaimed his poem “Je parle le langage du feu… j’écoute les voix de l’eau”. Antony , a Geneva poet and artist, old friend of UNSW and member of “Earth Focus”, an ngo that promotes sustainable development and a respectful relationship with our environment, (...)more...

A taste of the ancient Silk Road The Aslar Sadosi Festival in Khiva, Uzbekistan

The Asrlar Sadosi (Echo of the Centuries) Festival is an annual event dedicated to the preservation of traditional culture in Uzbekistan. It all started in 2008, when the Fund Forum, a public NGO set up by Her Excellency Gulnara Karimova, permanent representative to the UN and other international organizations in Geneva, Ambassador of Uzbekistan in Spain, organized the first festival promoting traditional culture in the city of Kitab, the homeland of Tamerlane, the fourteenth-century Central Asian statesman. The aim of the festival is to maintain the unique and rich Uzbek culture. During the time of the Ancient Silk Road, Uzbek cities like Taskhent, Bukhara, Khiva and Samarkand were the main intellectual centres of the world and hosted scholars who made tremendous contributions to (...)more...

Interview with Mr. Hagop Avakian

You have surely heard the name Avakian somewhere. The Avakians have been in the carpet business for more than four generations, and they have specialized in Oriental hand knotted carpets. We have had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Hagop Avakian, a well-known expert in his shop in rue des Alpes the other day. Mr. Avakian how do you chose your carpets ? As you know, I have a long experience and tradition in carpet business, so I travel everywhere to find the best one. When I chose a carpet, I always look at it as if I am buying it for myself ; my own home to pass it on to my children and future generations. As a carpet is a long-term investment, it is important to make the right choice. It is therefore important to remember that there are four factors that should be taken into (...)more...