Norway - rated the world's most peaceful country

Photo: Fjord (Corbis)

The Quartet of peacemakers: the US, EU, UN and Russia

Could this be the first EU president? Many are speculating on Tony Blair's next move as the EU prepares to create a prestigious new title of "President of the European Council" in its next treaty.



According to Mark Mardell's Euroblog, the presidency couldn't happen for another two years even if agreed by end of EU Summit on Saturday.

June 18, 2007 BBC report excerpt:

"... Europe does look more like what Tony Blair said it should be, with Angela Merkel in power in Berlin and Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris. Now there are pro-American and reform-minded leaders in Paris and Berlin as
well as London.

So, despite the mutterings about Blair's "betrayals", he will surely be missed in Europe.

The proof is that as the EU prepares to create a prestigious new title of "President of the European Council" in its next treaty, it is looking around for a former European head of government who could be a global spokesman for all 27 EU government heads, and one big name has not yet been ruled out.

That name is Tony Blair."

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The Quartet of peacemakers: US, EU, UN and Russia

June 20, 2007 AP report via knbc - excerpt:

James Wolfensohn, a former president of the World Bank, stepped down in April as international Mideast envoy for the Quartet of peacemakers - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia. The position envisioned for Blair was said to be enhanced in contrast to Wolfensohn's role.

Members of the Quartet may meet in Paris next week, although Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has a scheduling conflict and the meeting could be postponed.

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Appreciation and thanks



Photo: Mr Blair was made an honorary paramount chief in Sierra Leone, May 2007. (AP via BBC)



Photo: British helicopters prepare to move ashore at Aberdeen beach in the north-west of the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown, 2000. (AFP/Bob Bishop/Yahoo May 29 2007)

Rebels of the world, come to Uncle Jose

Brilliant. Great thinking. From The Sunday Times - Rebels of the world, come to Uncle Jose, June 17, 2007: John-Paul Flintoff speaks with Jose Maria Aznar, the former Spanish leader. Excerpt:

Since leaving office he has run the Foundation for Social Analysis and Studies, a Madrid-based organisation known as the Popular party’s ideas lab.

Earlier this month in Prague it put together an unprecedented conference for dissidents from around the world to meet leaders and former leaders such as Aznar himself. The key speaker was his old amigo, George W Bush.

Note, the last line:

"Does he think the expected Blair Foundation will operate on similar lines to his own? The thought does not seem to have occurred to him and with a hearty laugh he finally drops the amigo act: “I don’t know. But mine is the best.”

Heh. He's funny. I reckon The Blair Foundation will be hot. (Afterthought: also hot, much to Gordon Brown's dismay, would be Tony Blair as permanent European President. Heh.)

U.N. Head Links Climate Change, Darfur

Recently on television news, I saw the great American media baron Ted Turner talking about masses of money changing hands more now than ever before. Seems he's divesting of media to concentrate and invest in nuclear and environment.

My point is, the climate change spending budget will be humongous and, coupled with the world's munitions spending, represents an historic opportunity for making poverty (and war!) history. Surely if world peace could be agreed, and amnesty's sorted, it would leave those who refuse to give up illegal weapons to be treated as criminals.

United Nations Blames Darfur on Food, Water Shortage
IslamOnline.net & Newspapers 18 June 2007

U.N. Head Links Climate Change, Darfur
AP report via Guardian June 17, 2007

"It is no accident that the violence in Darfur erupted during the drought," Ban said. (Reuters)

Pope Benedict XVI On Peace, a Call From Assisi

Great timely calls for world peace are starting to happen in the run up to historic concerts July 1 and 7. Princess Diana would have loved to have seen land mines eradicated from our beautiful planet.

Here is an excerpt from a translation of the address Benedict XVI gave Sunday to the crowds gathered at the Basilica of St. Francis in Assisi, where the Pope led the praying of the midday Angelus.

I consider it my duty to issue an urgent and heartfelt appeal from this place to stop all armed conflicts that are bloodying the earth. ...

"May Weapons be Silenced and May Hate Yield to Love"

(Source: Catholic Online, CA - ASSISI, Italy, June 19, 2007, Zenith)
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Who does not want world peace?

Often, I wonder about who is not interested in world peace and why. Soon the World Bank will have a new boss. I say, why not pool the world's munitions budget through the United Nations to take good care of our planet and make poverty history? Surely the world's war industry can diversify into water, energy, agriculture, peacekeeping and policing of borders.



No choice really. I'm convinced a new world order has now arrived, made possible through the past three decades of developments in digital and satellite communications technology. Today, I believe it is feasible for billions of us to insist that world leaders get together and agree on world peace within the space of days (by July 7, 2007 to be precise!)

UN: Gandhi's birth anniversary October 2 to be declared 'International day of non-violence'

Wonderful news. The United Nations General Assembly will declare October 2 - the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi - as 'International Day of Non-Violence' in recognition of his role in promoting the message of peace around the world.

A resolution reaffirming the universal relevance of non-violence, initiated by India and co-sponsored by more than 120 of the 191 members of the Assembly, is expected to be adopted unanimously on Friday. The resolution says that

"The Assembly decides, with effect from the 62nd session of the General Assembly (which begins in September next) and guided by the Charter of the United Nations, to observe the International Day of Non-Violence on October 2 each year, with the International day being brought to the attention of all people for its celebration and observance on this date."
It invites all member states, NGOs and individuals to commemorate the day and to disseminate the message of non-violence, "including through education and public awareness."
The resolution also requests the Secretary-General to recommend ways and means by which the UN systems can assist member states in organising activities to commemorate the day.

(Source: Times of India 14 Jun, 2007 - hat tip writingcave.com)

Joanna Lumley's Darfur and Chad Crisis Appeal for DEC

My favourite British actress Joanna Lumley is working with the UK’s leading aid charities through the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) in making an appeal to hundreds of thousands of newspaper readers.

To donate to the Darfur and Chad Crisis Appeal visit www.dec.org.uk

Joanna Lumley is heavily involved in charity work including The Druk White Lotus School in Kashmir and mental health charity Mind.

Annan to head Gates group to boost Africa food

Former U.N. chief Kofi Annan said on Thursday he would head a new green group bankrolled by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates to help reverse Africa's declining food production and double output. - Reuters Cape Town via Megite

UK Blair looks for progress on EU treaty

The Prime Minister has said he expects some "tough negotiations" at next week's EU summit in Brussels. European leaders will convene on 21 June to discuss the future of proposals on the draft EU treaty. (10 Downing Street)

Paul McCartney rocks with new songs at "secret" NY show

Reuters report by Christian Wiessner, June 13, 2007 - excerpt:

Paul McCartney stormed the stage of a small ballroom on Wednesday and delivered a 20-song set featuring Beatles favorites and select cuts from his newly released album “Memory Almost Full.”

The free show for about 700 fans at the Highline Ballroom in New York’s Chelsea district was hastily arranged, with McCartney’s website only announcing the gig on Tuesday. Passes were distributed through a give-away on the website and to fans who lined up on Wednesday outside the venue.

The show’s intimate setting had McCartney in a relaxed mood and he reminisced about writing certain songs.

“I remember writing this next song in a little house we used to live in Liverpool. I was standing in the front parlor looking out through the little lace curtains and thinking, ‘I’m going to be a star,’ like you do, but it never happened,” he quipped before performing “I’ll Follow The Sun” from the 1964 release “Beatles For Sale.”

Before performing “Here Today,” from his 1982 album “Tug of War,” McCartney said the mournful ballad was originally written for his one-time writing partner and fellow Beatle John Lennon, slain by a deranged fan in 1980 just a few miles away.

“I’d like to dedicate it tonight to fallen heroes John, George (and) Linda,” McCartney said, referring to Lennon as well as Beatle guitarist George Harrison, who died of cancer in 2001, and McCartney’s first wife, who died in 1998.

“But as for me, I still remember how it was before, and I am holding back the tears no more,” he sang to a hushed crowd.

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John Lennon’s music helps Darfur effort

Los Angeles Times report by Randy Lewis, June 14, 2007 - excerpt:

Initially, Amnesty International officials had approached Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, for permission to use his “Imagine,” a song she’d never approved for any philanthropic project.

“I’m not afraid to say no,” said the 74-year-old Ono. “There are so many people and organizations (who’ve had) that same request, and I’ve said no to everybody. ... The Amnesty International people brought (this proposal) to me and I responded very quickly, because I had been doing some projects with them before that and had a very good feeling about them. ... So in this case it was a big ‘yes.’”

Big indeed. Beyond giving her thumbs-up for “Imagine,” she opened the door to Lennon’s entire solo catalog. The result is 23 performances from such established stars as U2 (“Instant Karma”), Christina Aguilera (“Mother”) and Green Day (“Working Class Hero,” which has been released as a single) and comparatively new arrivals including Corinne Bailey Rae (“I’m Losing You”), the Postal Service (“Grow Old With Me”) and Regina Spektor (“Real Love”).

“Imagine” rates two performances, one by pop-punk princess Avril Lavigne, the other by latter-day surfer dude Jack Johnson.

The vituperative “Gimme Some Truth” also appears twice, in a version by Mexico’s Jaguares and a duet by two offspring of rock royalty, Jakob Dylan and Dhani Harrison, George’s son.

“Instead of just the big, big names,” Ono said, “the “now’ people are in here, too. I like the fact that they cover it all, and I’m sure John would have been very happy.”

Yes, me too. Love and peace.
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"Imagine" a better Karma



Photo: Yoko and John Lennon some 40 years ago. (Credit: Kevin Robillard, diamondbackonline.com)

Reuters' political activism against China?

Recently, I've noticed odd little messages in some of Reuters' photo captions. Here's a good example, published at Yahoo News, June 13, 2007:

A student turns a somersault near one of the mascots for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games at an Olympic education model school in Miyun County of Beijing June 8, 2007 file photo. What do the conflict in Darfur, forced evictions, media freedoms and the rights of migrant laborers have in common? The answer is China and the 2008 Olympics. (Jason Lee/Reuters)

I wonder why the reporter decided to add his personal question and answer, and why Reuters allows such reporting.

Transcript of debate between John Prendergast and Alex de Waal

Click here for a transcript of June 7, 2007 Part 1: What To Do About Darfur? A debate between John Prendergast and Alex de Waal. (Via POTP)



Prendergast and Gosling want to end the genocide in northern Uganda, a country in East Africa that has been ravaged by war for nearly a generation. (Photo and caption by Politico/John Shinkle June 12, 2007)
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Endgame in Africa

Click here for a Profile of American human rights activist John Prendergast (pictured above and below) by Jonathan Foreman, Men's Vogue, November 2006, and see a slideshow of photographs from the front lines in Darfur and Chad.



Holding the line - John Prendergast contacts rebel leaders on a Thuraya satellite phone and contemplates a trek further into Darfur (Photo and caption via Wikipeda by mensvogue.com)
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Notable Quote

"Everything I've said is bullshit," laughs Prendergast.

(Source: 'Actorvists' make people care politico.com June 12, 2007)

Live Earth Istanbul on Sale

Al Gore joined actress and Live Earth Istanbul spokesperson Sebnem Donmez on June 13, 2007 at the Cirigan Palace to raise the curtain on Live Earth Turkey.



The concert will be held at The Seven Towers Fortress, a historic Byzantine site in Istanbul on 07/07/07. (Via liveearth.spaces)

G9 and the People's Republic of Bono

Photo: Bono and Bush rub shoulders at the G8

Don't miss Brendan O'Neill's article "Welcome to the People's Republic of Bono" posted today at spiked and copied at Ethiopia Watch,sister blog of Sudan Watch.



Photo: The current Vanity Fair, guest-edited by Bono

Quantum Physics Supports World Peace!

Loved Soldier of Africa's blog post on the Movement to Critical Mass for World Peace (hi Werner!) And, this excerpt from Sonia's Metaphysical Musings:

"Quantum Physics Supports World Peace - Physicists tell us that according to the laws of wave mechanics, the intensity of any kind of waves that are in phase with each other is the square of the sum of the waves. In other words, two waves added together are four times as intense as one wave, ten waves are one hundred times as intense, etc.

Since thought is an energy, and all energy occurs as waves - we believe that 80,000 people all thinking the same thing together are as powerful, in terms of creating the reality that we all share, as the random chaotic thought of the 6.4 billion people (80,000 times 80,000) that will soon inhabit the planet.

Therefore, 80,000 people who believe that only love prevails, will create a laser of intent that will change the planetary reality."

Call me a metaphysical nerd, but I thought this was beyond cool! I went straight to the web-site: www.OnlyLovePrevails.com, read everything I needed to know, and signed up."

Sonia ends, saying "Choose Your Reality!" Heh. Glad I found it, thanks.

Bono’s poverty-fighting plan promoted by two ex-Senators

More good news. Two former U.S. Senate leaders who were once adversaries, Bill Frist and Tom Daschle, joined to promote an effort to make global poverty a central issue of the presidential race. (Source: www.election.pro )

Sudan accepts joint AU-UN Darfur force : UN Security Council 15-member 7-day visit starting June 15, 2007 Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Kinshasa, Ivory Coast

Great, let's hope it's true. Sudan has agreed to a revised AU-UN plan for a joint AU-UN peacekeeping force to be sent to Darfur. Under the revised plan, the AU will run day-to-day operations, while the UN is expected to have overall control of between 17,000 to 19,000 peacekeepers.

Today, AP news agency quotes Said Djinnit, the AU's top peace and security official, as saying:

"In view of the explanation and clarification provided by the AU and the UN as contained in the presentation, the government of Sudan accepted the joint proposals on the hybrid operation."

The BBC's Elizabeth Blunt in Addis Ababa says the mood was cheerful at the AU headquarters after the announcement was made. Full report (BBC).
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June 12, 2007 - TEXT- Conclusions of AU-UN, Sudan on the Hybrid Operations

June 12, 2007 - AFP report - Sudan accepts AU-UN force in Darfur

June 12, 2007 - Alex de Waal commentary Time to get serious
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UN Security Council 15-member delegation 7-day visit starting June 15, 2007 Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Kinshasa and Abidjan, Ivory Coast

From June 4, 2007 dpa report:

A United Nations Security Council delegation beginning in mid-June will visit five African capitals, including Khartoum and Kinshasa, for talks on settling conflicts there, the council president Belgian Ambassador Johan Verbeke said Monday. The 15-member delegation arrive in Accra on June 15 and then travel to Addis Ababa, Khartoum, Kinshasa and Abidjan, Ivory Coast.

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Sudan tells France it prefers AU/UN peace efforts



Photo: French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, right, meets Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, left, for talks on Darfur on Monday June 11, 2007 in Khartoum, Sudan. Ending a five-day tour in Africa, Kouchner, a co-founder of the international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres, appeared to use his clout as a prominent humanitarian figure to boost France's role in helping solve the Darfur crisis. Kouchner appealed to the Sudanese president and other top officials on Monday to allow a hybrid U.N. and African operation into Darfur to ease the humanitarian suffering in the war-torn Sudanese region. (AP Photo/Alfred de Montesquiou)

Also, from AP report "Sudan, France discuss Darfur force" (via China Daily June 12, 2007):

The French minister's talks with al-Bashir appeared unusually cordial, and the two men embraced and joked in front of the cameras at the start of their meeting.

As a humanitarian worker, Kouchner often operated clandestinely in southern Sudan during a separate civil war there, building ties with several former southern rebels who now hold government positions in Khartoum.

"We are very glad to greet you officially in Sudan now," al-Bashir told Kouchner, adding that their relationship went "back a long way."

URGENT MESSAGE TO EVERYONE ON THIS PLANET: LET'S ALL DECLARE WORLD PEACE ON 7 JULY 2007

Things are hotting up. A big warm hello to all peace lovers and anti-poverty campaigners. I've waited 35 years for this. Our time has come. This one's for John Lennon.



Photo: British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his wife Cherie Blair cross the tarmac to board a plane in London as he begins his African tour. (AFP/Leon Neal/Yahoo May 29, 2007)



"The cause of poverty and disease are poor education and bad governance. Fight poverty and climate change to stop conflict." - PM Tony Blair.

(Source: BBC video of Blair speech May 31, 2007)


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THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT

Bob Geldof and Bono's ongoing global campaign to MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY
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MELTING ICE: A HOT TOPIC, NEW YORK: JUNE 5, 2007

Events to mark World Environment Day, which is held annually on 5 June, will kick off on Friday in New York. This year's theme is "Melting Ice: A Hot Topic". For events being scheduled, see UN Pulse.
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CONCERT FOR DIANA, LONDON: JULY 1, 2007



Status Quo will be playing at the Concert for Diana, Wembley Stadium, London, Sunday July 1, 2007, organised by Princes William and Harry for their late mother (who would have been 46), broadcast by the BBC.
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SOS CAMPAIGN AND LIVE EARTH CONCERTS: JULY 7, 2007

The mission of the SOS campaign is to trigger a mass movement to combat the climate crisis. The SOS campaign will engage people in every corner of the planet through solutions-based short films, celebrity PSAs, books, an interactive web experience, and most importantly, through Live Earth, a 24-hour concert on 7/7/07 spanning all 7 continents that will bring together more than 100 of the world’s top music acts.



Photo: Madonna has written a new song called "Hey You" for the Live Earth concert, Saturday July 7, 2007, Wembley Stadium, London.

Live Earth alone is expected to reach an audience of more than 2 billion people through concert attendance and worldwide broadcasts.

The Live Earth audience, and the proceeds from the concerts, will form the foundation for a new, multi-year global effort to combat the climate crisis led by The Alliance for Climate Protection and its Chair, Vice President Al Gore.

The SOS campaign was founded by Kevin Wall, who won an Emmy as Worldwide Executive Producer of Live 8.
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"INSTANT KARMA - MAKE SOME NOISE"



Photo: "Instant Karma: The Campaign to Save Darfur", the new global “Make Some Noise” project from Amnesty International, aims to raise awareness and mobilise millions around the urgent catastrophe in Darfur, Sudan.

Amnesty's album, a collection of John Lennon songs, will be released on CD and as digital downloads on June 12, 2007. It features songs by The Flaming Lips, Regina Spektor, U2 and Snow Patrol. All the songs are available on iTunes right now.

The single from Green Day will be released on Warners Records on June 25 and will be the second single to be unveiled from the Amnesty International's CD of John Lennon covers ‘The Campaign To Save Darfur' (the first was R.E.M.’s version of ‘#9 Dream’).

The track, 'Working Class Hero' which appears on Lennon's 1970 album ‘John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band’ is considered one of his most overtly political songs, and the Green Day version – for which the band are expected to make a new video - features a clip of Lennon’s original vocal.
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ANOTHER 300,000 DEAD. DEFEND THE WHALES!



Photo: Greenpeace activists display dead whales and dolphins and a banner reading "Another 300,000 dead. Defend the whales!", in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on 21 May 2007. The fate of the great whales hung in the balance Monday as officials from 75 nations gathered for talks amid pressure, notably from Japan, to reverse a 20-year ban on commercial hunting of the mammals. (AFP/John MacDougall/Yahoo 28 May 2007)



Photo: Greenpeace activists dressed as whales parade 27 May 2007 around the Captain Cook Hotel, site of the 59th annual International Whaling Commission meetings, in Anchorage, Alaska. (AFP/Michael Conti/Yahoo News 28 May 2007)
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Email Chancellor Merkel and MP

Recently, via the MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY website, I emailed Chancellor Merkel and my MP. It took just a few seconds. Here are the replies:

Thank you for emailing Chancellor Angela Merkel and Tony Blair. Your name has been added to an international petition that will be handed over to the Chancellor before the G8 Summit at Heiligendamm on 6-8 June. We will contact you after the G8 and EU summits in June to update you on the outcome. Your details will not under any circumstances be shared with any third parties.

Make sure you come to London on 2nd June to deliver your voice against poverty in person.

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Thank you for emailing your MP about urgent action needed on global poverty. We will contact you after the G8 and EU summits in June to update you on the outcome of the meetings and to let you know how many MPs have signed the EDM.

Please now spread the word and get your family, friends and colleagues to visit the website www.yourvoiceagainstpoverty.org.uk and to add their voice against poverty.

Come to London on Saturday 2nd June to make your voice heard and tell political leaders that the world can’t wait.

Your details will not under any circumstances be shared with any third parties.

THE WORLD CAN'T WAIT: END THIS! NOW!

Bob Geldof guest-edited today's (June 1, 2007) issue of Germany's biggest-selling daily newspaper, Bild. Geldof wrote a front-page commentary stating that Germany's leaders could "end the misery" in Africa and that they had the power to "change things and people if you want to".

The paper also published an interview with Chancellor Merkel by Geldof.



Photo: Bild - the cover carried a picture of an emaciated child with the headline 'End this! Now!'

Other contributors to the paper included US president George Bush reiterating his commitment to fighting Aids in Africa, U2 singer Bono echoing Geldof's aims and George Clooney highlighting the violence in Sudan's Darfur region.

(Source: MediaGuardian.co.uk, Mark Sweney, June 1, 2007)
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SOS films at Tribeca Film Festival

Excerpt from SOS liveearth.org:

Seven SOS short films will premiere at Tribeca Film Festival's opening evening of April 25, 2007.

SOS campaign’s identity is based on the international Morse code signal for distress: three dots, followed by three dashes, followed by three dots. SOS is the world’s most urgent, universal message, and the campaign will use that signal as a continuous “call to action” to prompt individuals, corporations and governments around the world to respond to our climate crisis with sustained action.

For more information on the SOS campaign and Live Earth concerts, visit:

www.SaveOurSelves.com or www.liveearth.msn.com
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If everyone on this planet declared World peace on 7 July 2007 there would be World peace, no?

See this blog's listing, cached by Google, May 28, 2007:

Sudan Watch
Sudan Watch. "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. ...
sudanwatch.blogspot.com/ - 27 May 2007 - Similar pages

This call to action for WORLD PEACE is dedicated to the late great Mahatma Gandhi and John Lennon.
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Further reading

June 23, 2005 - Sudan Watch: The Greatest Show on Earth: Geldof's Live 8 concerts July 2, 2005 to promote G8 Summit and Make Poverty History campaign.

Note, a box in the top left hand corner of this page enables a search of Sudan Watch archives, i.e. Geldof



Wikipedia on Peace and World peace - an ideal of freedom, peace, and happiness among and within all nations: It is the professed ambition of many past and present world leaders.

Snippets from blogosphere (more here, later)

June 1, 2007: 40 years ago today - the wonderful world of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper - see BBC report and Harry's Place, a British blog, discusses 40 Years ago Today, and asks, Who's right? The surviving Beatles or the rest of the world?

June 1, 2007: Word from Germany About the G8 - via The ONE Blog - posted by Michelle Dixon, ONE's Deputy Director of Outreach.

June 1, 2007: Oxfam's BLOG8 will be live blogging the G8.

June 2, 2007: Lenin's Tomb insightful blog entry How Not To Save Darfur.

June 2, 2007: The Angry Arab News Service blog links to NY Times and other news reports on the shake up at Save Darfur Coalition.
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Tags: Technorati Live Aid Africa Commission Blair Gordon Brown G8 Gleneagles Bob Geldof Make Poverty History Live 8 John Lennon George W Bush Kyoto Merkel Mandela Live Earth Madonna Peace World Peace Green Day ONE Darfur BBC Princess Diana Amnesty International Status Quo Instant Karma Bild Al Gore Sudan AIDS Greenpeace Whales Prince William Prince Harry Africa Climate Change European Union Bono Music Global Warming SOS Nelson MandelaHarry's Place

How to Change the World

'Allo 'Allo! Back on track again, thanks to Apple and The Blogger Team. Not to mention great blogmate support. Sorry I'm not in contact as often as I'd like. Hope to catch up on emails soon. Loved Werner's blog entry 29 May 2007 "How to Change the World". More later. Bye for now, Ingrid.

BBC's Darfur Lifeline project is emergency radio at its best

Via Institute for War and Peace Reporting (AR No. 100, 10-Mar-07) by David Smith in Nyala, Darfur:

When did you last hear a good news story coming out of Darfur? Have you ever heard a good news story from there?

Well, I've got one. There is a small group of Sudanese men and women based in the south Darfur city of Nyala who risk life and limb on a daily basis to deliver humanitarian information over the radio to the millions of displaced persons in the region.

They work for the BBC World Service Trust, a humanitarian arm of the world's best-known broadcaster, and every day they put out a 30-minute programme that is broadcast on shortwave to western Sudan as well as parts of Chad and the Central African Republic.

In a conflict hot spot that is the focus of international media attention, this programme is the only one that targets the people concerned. The George Clooneys and Jan Egelands of the world are talking about Darfur, but not to Darfur.

The Darfur Lifeline project is emergency radio at its best. Twice a day, at 8 am and 8 pm, thousands of people hold their cheap Nigerian-made radios close to their ears inside their temporary homes of plastic sheeting and straw and hear about the crisis that is affecting their lives.

A team of 13 producers and researchers, all Sudanese and from all parts of the country, start their day early on the programme, which is titled “Salam ila Darfur” (“Peace/Greetings to Darfur”). They spend their time talking to internally displaced people living in the camps, health workers, local and international non-governmental organisations and even the military to find out what information is needed on the ground to keep the displaced informed and reduce the suffering even just a little.

Putting the programme together is not easy.

The journalists need permission from the Sudanese Government's Humanitarian Affairs Committee, HAC, if they want to go just about anywhere. And they get it. Even NGOs that tend to shy away from the media make exceptions for the Darfur Lifeline team. NGOs are often suspicious of the media, and feel that media attention can jeopardise their work in sensitive areas by threatening what are often difficult relationships with local authorities.

Yacoub Ismael, the director of Oxfam's regional office in South Darfur, says his organisation makes an exception to the "no talking to the media rule" for Darfur Lifeline. There is widespread acceptance within humanitarian circles that the work strengthens and complements their programmes.

Access is certainly helped by the BBC’s excellent reputation and large listenership. The BBC’s Arabic Service, which is completely separate from the humanitarian operation, has its highest per capita listenership in Sudan.

Walking around the camps in the early hours of the morning, the sound of radio easily travels through the flimsy walls of the shelters. Over the course of several days of intensive on-site surveys with the Darfur Lifeline team, the only wireless sounds we heard were from Bush House, from the Darfur Lifeline team itself and religious programming from the state broadcaster in Khartoum.

[edit]

Information on where it is safe to collect firewood and where food is being distributed, information on where displaced children can go to learn to read, information on where lost friends and relatives can be found, and information on how to avoid or treat the numerous contagious diseases that sweep camps due to a complete breakdown in social services and infrastructure - this is what the Darfur Lifeline team puts on the air every day.

The United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, conducts vaccination campaigns throughout Darfur on a regular basis, the security situation permitting. Their Nyala office makes no bones about the value of the BBC radio programmes. “Our immunisation coverage in the camps doubled after the BBC broadcasts,” said UNICEF’s Nagui Kodsi.

The Sudanese government operates its own radio service in Darfur. However, it is almost impossible to find anybody who believes a word produced by the state broadcaster. In any case, journalists working for the government are not allowed into the camps. The divide is so wide that Kodsi says he has attended health ministry meetings during which the government of Sudan has admitted it relies on the BBC to send messages to its own displaced people.

This may be one of the reasons why the service is tolerated. It is not easy to gather information in Darfur. Most foreign journalists have had their requests for permits to travel there turned down by the Sudanese authorities.

The main reason the programming carries on is simply because it is humanitarian and not political. The Nyala-based team does a fine balancing act so as not to attract too much attention from Khartoum many hundreds of kilometres away in the east.

Officially, they are not journalists but humanitarian workers. However, this correspondent has rarely seen journalists as committed to their craft as this brave little group who are broadcasting from hell.

Salam ila Darfur broadcasts on shortwave from transmitters in Cyprus at 0500 GMT and at 1700 GMT on 7150 kHz and 17595 kHz.

David Smith is a Johannesburg-based media consultant specialising in setting up emergency radio projects in zones of conflict. [Source: http://www.iwpr.net/?p=acr&s=f&o=333980&apc_state=henpacr]