eve-olution foundation empowerment

Winners of UNEP Champions of the Earth Awards 2008 Call for Urgent Action on Climate Change

Catalysts for the Global Green Economy Honored at Gala Evening in Singapore

Singapore/Nairobi, 22 April 2008 - Seven leading lights in the battle against global warming who are also catalyzing the transition to a greener and leaner global economy were today acknowledged as the 2008 Champions of the Earth.

The winners, ranging from His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco and the Prime Minister of New Zealand to a Sudanese climate researcher who has been successfully piloting climate-proofing strategies in some of the most stressed communities on Earth, received their trophies at a gala event in Singapore.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) who presented the awards which are hosted in conjunction with the annual Business for the Environment Summit (B4E) said: "The golden thread that links each one of tonight's winners is climate change, the challenge for this generation and the disaster for the next unless it is urgently addressed".

"Our winners for 2008 light an alternative path for humanity by taking responsibility, demonstrating leadership and realizing change across a wide range of sustainability issues. These include more intelligent and creative management of natural and nature-based resources from waste and water to biodiversity and agriculture," he added.

"Thus each one is living proof that the greening of the global economy is underway and that a transition to a more resource efficient society not only makes environmental sense but social and economic sense too. I am sure their leadership and their achievements will inspire many others to act as it inspired us at UNEP to name them the 2008 Champions of the Earth," said Mr Steiner.

The gala event was hosted by UNEP; the Singapore Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources and the Singapore Tourism Board with the support of various sponsors and partners including strategic partner Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Limited (APRIL); corporate partners Arcelor Mittal, The Dow Chemical Company, OSRAM, Senoko Power, and Siemens. The event's international public relations partner is Edelman, and its global media partners are CNN and TIME.

His Serene Highness Prince Albert II of Monaco, the European winner, has become an international advocate for greater action on climate change and natural resource management.

In 2005 and 2006 he followed in the footsteps of his great, great grandfather Prince Albert I, by going to the Arctic witness at first hand the impacts. This inspired him to establish a foundation in his own name that currently supports close to 60 projects globally.

In thanking UNEP for awarding the prize, the His Serene Highness pledged to "carry out missions to raise the alarm and heighten awareness in the field. The world is facing an unprecedented threat. We must assume our responsibilities without delay and rise to the challenge that history has placed upon our path".

Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal, the former Prime Minister of Yemen who was awarded the prize for West Asia, said it was vital to make the connection between improved management of nature and natural resources and the "upgrading of peoples quality of life".

A staunch advocate of more intelligent management of water resources and the need to address sustainable agriculture in dry-lands, he said the awarding of the UNEP prize was not only a personal delight but a "high responsibility".

Timothy E. Wirth of the United States, whose professional and public life has been shaped by climate change and fostering support in his home country for greater action to cut emissions, said: "With each passing month, each passing year we learn more about the urgency of the task".

The winner for North America added:" We still have some ways to go, but we still have time to act before chaos and catastrophe hit the globe".

Liz Thompson, the winner for Latin America and the Caribbean whose many achievements include inspiring and pioneering a response to a major challenge for small island developing states-improved solid waste management-said: "You go to work every day and do something you are passionate about. But do not think anyone is taking notice at this level".

The former Minister of the Environment and Energy of Barbados said she was "gratified, overwhelmed and shaken" by being named a Champion of the Earth which will spur her on to get the world to take climate change issues more seriously.

Dr Atiq Rahman, the Champion for Asia and the Pacific, said the award would spur him on to ever greater "zeal and to work even faster and stronger" to tackle the issues facing his native Bangladesh and the world as a whole.

"I am impatient. Climate change as a man-made disaster is coming at a rapid rate. A one metre sea-level rise would lead to a fifth of my country under water. If we can't feed the people, there will be chaos," he said.

Dr Rahman, Executive Director of a leading South Asia sustainability think-tank, said everyone in the world would, in the final analysis "rise together and deliver a better future for this planet or we will all sink together. By integrating environment and development, we are trying to show that North and South and rich and poor do not have two different fates".

Dr Balgis Osman-Elasha, the winner for Africa, said: " I am trying to convey the message of climate change, to simplify the message, to make it reach the people who are going to be impacted".

The Sudanese researcher has worked on a range of research projects in her native Sudan, including Darfur demonstrating to vulnerable communities the feasibility of adapting to climate change and extreme weather events.

Also a leading author with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year co-won the Nobel Peace Prize, Dr Osman-Elasha added: "To be awarded the Champions of Earth is an honor. It gives you the feeling and the power to do more and I think the proudest moment is yet to come. We have no other planet-there is only one Earth: this is the message!".

The UNEP Special Prize for Champions of the Earth 2008 was awarded to Helen Clark, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, whose country has set the trail-blazing target of being climate neutral.

"We have launched the world's first, 100 per cent coverage and all sectors Emissions Trading scheme and we will meet the goal of 90 per cent renewable energy by 2025," she said.

Ms Clark said her vision was "sustain the biodiversity, the cultural diversity and environmental integrity that we have had in our world and which is very, very much under threat".

She described being awarded the Special Champions of the Earth prize from UNEP as "just an incredible boost" and a boost for her country's reputation: "You do get your critics. But we are making a difference and we will keep making a difference".

Notes to Editors

For full details of the 2008 UNEP Champions of the Earth award winners please click here

Or the UNEP Champions of the Earth official web site http://www.unep.org/champions/

Champions of the Earth is an international environment award established in 2004 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The annual prize rewards individuals from around the globe who have made a significant and recognized contribution globally, regionally and beyond, to the protection and sustainable management of the Earth's environment and natural resources. Candidates are judged by a senior UNEP panel with input from UNEP's regional offices.

Past Champions of the Earth winners include among others: Ms. Massoudeh Ebtekar, the former Vice President of Iran; H.E. Mikhail Gorbachev of the Russian Federation; H.R.H. Prince Hassan Bin Talal of Jordan; Jacques Rogge and the International Olympic Committee; and Al Gore, the former Vice President of the United States.

The Champions of the Earth are invited to accept their award at an international ceremony which will be held in Singapore on 22 April 2008. The event will be hosted in conjunction with the Business for the Environment Summit (B4E), details of which can be found on the UNEP website.

No monetary reward is attached to the prize -each laureate receives a trophy made of recycled metal especially designed by the Kenyan sculptor Kioko and representing the fundamental elements for life on earth: sun, air, land and water.

For More Information Please Contact

Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson, on Tel: +254 20 7623084, Mobile: +254 733 632755, or when travelling: +41 795965737, or e-mail: nick.nuttall@unep.org

Anne-France White, Associate Information Officer, on Tel: +254 20 762 3088, Mobile: +254 738 652793, or e-mail: anne-france.white@unep.org

UN MEETING EXPLORES HOW TO BOOST ECONOMIES OF LANDLOCKED DEVELOPED COUNTRIES New York, Apr 22 2008 6:00PM:

Experts from Asia and Europe have gathered at a United Nations-backed meeting which opened today in Bangkok to discuss progress made in efforts to link landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) in the Asia-Pacific region to sea ports.

The two-day talks will centre around assessing developments since the adoption of the UN’s Almaty Programme of Action in 2003, which is the first global action plan negotiated at the ministerial level that provides a framework for cooperation between landlocked and the transit access developing countries, promising reductions in red tape and transportation costs and time.

The meeting has been organized by the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), along with the UN Economic Commission for Europe (ECE) and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).

Presentations will be made by LLDC Member States of ESCAP – Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan – and by transit countries, including China, Iran and Russia.

Also kicking off in Bangkok today is a meeting of 40 representatives from the Asia-Pacific region to confer on how to boost employment in the Pacific islands.

The Special Body on Pacific Island Developing Countries of <"http://www.unescap.org/unis/sub_unis/press_releases.asp";>ESCAP meets every two years, and the current gathering will take place from 22-23 April.

Participants will talk about policies – including transport infrastructure and promoting entrepreneurship and private sector growth – to spur economic growth, which is key in creating jobs.

They will also discuss how the UN can support efforts towards sustainable development in the region.
2008-04-22

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For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

--2008--

SEPTEMBER:
09/23/08: Mission in India

AUGUST:
08/01/08: Mission in South Africa (Cap and Johannesbourg)

06/03/08: Global Women Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam
06/05/08: Global Women Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam

APRIL:
04/01/08: Global Summit of Women in Chile in 2009?

FEBRURAY:
01/01/08: Studing women entrepreneurship in Perou

--2007--
SEPTEMBER: JAPAN FUND RAISING (TOKYO)

JULY: USA FUND RAISING (NY and CALIFORNIA)

JUIN:
06/16/07: Global Women Summit in Berlin, Germany
06/15/07: Global Women Summit in Berlin, Germany
06/14/07: EUWIIN (European Union Women Inventors and Innovators Network) in Berlin, Germany

APRIL:
04/28/07: Women is Energy with the South African Goverment at the UN

MARCH: Entrepreneurship Week USA (24 Feb - 3 March), NY

--2006--

OCTOBER:
10/30/06: Ambassador: Iran and women entrepreneurs
10/24/06: 54 th FCEM World Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia
10/23/06: 54 th FCEM World Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia
10/22/06: 54 th FCEM World Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia
10/21/06: 54 th FCEM World Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia
10/20/06: 54 th FCEM World Congress in Ljubljana, Slovenia

AUGUST:
08/05/06: Departure, small EVE-olution delegation to China

JULY:
07/15/06: Meeting with ProCHILE (Roberto Paiva)
07/08/06: Project (new chamber of commerce France and Chile)

JUIN:
06/10/06: Global Summit of Women in Cairo
06/11/06: Global Summit of Women in Cairo
06/12/06: Global Summit of Women in Cairo

MARCH:
03/08/06: Meeting with Françoise Foning, President of the FCEM
03/01/06: 50th UN Commission on the Status of Women, NY
--2005--

DECEMBER:
12/01/06: Global Comact China Summit,Shanghai

SEPTEMBER:
09/11/05: The 10th International Business Forum 2005, NY
09/12/05: The 10th International Business Forum 2005, NY
09/13/05: The 10th International Business Forum 2005, NY

JUNE:
06/25/05: Global Summit of Women Mexico City
06/24/05: Global Summit of Women Mexico City
06/23/05: Global Summit of Women Mexico City

APRIL:Global Compact-Chile
04/O8/05: Arab International Women's Forum - European Parliament
04/07/05: Arab International Women's Forum - European Parliament
04/06/05: World Youth Alliance - Brussels

MARCH:
03/04/05: Meeting with Rachel Mayanja, special advisor of Kofi Annan on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women
03/04/05: INSTRAW
03/03/05: AFEM - Rabat President

FEBRUARY:
02/28/05: 49th UN CSW, status of women (in NY till 03/11/ 05)

--2004--
DECEMBER
12/23/04: French agency for development
12/21/04: China Entreprise Confederation(Beijing)
12/07/04: French Inner Ministry
12/01/04: "Positive Mobility" (for an European Business PAct)

NOVEMBER
11/17/04: WF 360
11/14/04: Global Forum on Sustainble Development
11/13/04: OECD World Forum “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy”
11/13/04: Global Forum on Sustainble Development
11/13/04: CJD
11/12/04: OECD World Forum “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy”
11/12/04: Global Forum on Sustainble Development
11/11/04: OECD World Forum “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy”
11/10/04: OECD World Forum “Statistics, Knowledge and Policy”

OCTOBER
10/19/04: ANDCP
10/13/04: French parliamentary

SEPTEMBER:
9/21/04: WTO - Eugenio Yunis, Step Foundation
09/10/04: Leed Program OECD

AUGUST:
08/30/04: Millenium Project / Task force

JULY:
07/24/04: Miami Meeting
07/20/04: UN (Tourism) preparation to the Mauritus Island Conference
07/14/04: World Bank: Gender
07/02/04: Global Congress of Black Women Leaders, Unesco
07/01/04: Global Congress of Black Women Leaders, Unesco

JUNE:
06/17/04: Chinese Embassy
06/11/04: World Bank: Gender and Development (Washington)
06/06/04: Millennium Campaign (NY)
06/05/04: UN Business Council (NY)

MAY:
05/29/04: Global Summit of Women (Seoul)
05/28/04: Global Summit of Women (Seoul)
05/27/04: Global Summit of Women (Seoul)
05/13/04: Health of Nations, OECD
05/12/04: Health of Nations, OECD
05/12/04: World Bank: Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics
05/10/04: World Bank: Annual Bank Conference on Development Economics
05/07/04: Symposium,Access to International financing (Francophonie)
05/06/04: Symposium,Access to International financing (Francophonie)
05/05/04: Symposium,Access to International financing (Francophonie)

APRIL:
04/22/04: CSD-12 (Women in human settlements development)
04/21/04: CSD-12 (Empowering stakeholders to ensure women) participation)
04/20/04: Catalyst (NY)
04/06/04: AREVA
04/01/04: 6th PCRD
04/01/04: LEED PROGRAM

MARCH:
03/30/04: OECD (Paris)
03/23/04: Chinese Embassy
03/22/04: CAISSE DES DEPOTS
03/21/04: 26th International Women's Film Festival
03/19/04: World Bank, Seminar on development
03/17/04: Wedo (NY)
03/16/04: ICC
03/15/04: Lafarge
03/10/04: Women in IT
03/05/04: UNDP (Commission on the Private Sector and Development)
03/03/04: Acumen Fund
03/02/04: SCORE

FEBRUARY:
02/25/04: Suez
02/22/04: New Bylaw
02/17/04: World Economical Forum, Mr Figueres
02/17/04: WBCSD
02/13/04: Board Meeting
02/12/04: Website brainstorming
02/09/04: Veolia
02/03/04: European Commission (Gender)
02/02/04: Total

JANUARY:
01/28/04: Women entrepreneurship
01/23/04: WWF
01/23/04: Suez
01/23/04: Mrs Nane Annan’s Office
01/23/04: UN (Commission on the Private Sector and Development)
01/22/04: Lafarge
01/22/04: Francophonie
01/09/04: EDF
01/08/04: European Commission (Trade)
01/05/04: AREVA

Global Footprint Network and EPA Victoria have just launched a new personal Ecological Footprint calculator for Australia. Built in partnership with Free Range Studios (the creators of the viral film The Meatrix and The Story of Stuff) the new calculator provides a graphic representation of your impact on the planet.

The launch of the Australian calculator is the first phase of a global roll-out of a world calculator which will launch later this year. Following the Australian calculator, a US version will be available this spring, and Canada will follow shortly thereafter.

Global Footprint Network has initiated this project to provide people around the world with an interactive and entertaining tool they can use to explore and reduce their footprints. The calculator is based on internationally accepted methodological standards, and will be continually updated with the latest Footprint data. Later additions of the calculator will incorporate enhanced features such as a blog site and a social networking feature which will enable users to engage in dialogue about how to live a low-footprint lifestyle.

Test your footprint:
https://auscalc.footprintnetwork.org/ecological_footprint.html

TOURISM INDUSTRY HAS KEY ROLE IN TACKLING CLIMATE CHANGE – UN OFFICIAL New York, Apr 11 2008 11:00AM

The global tourism industry has a key role to play in confronting the challenges of climate change, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)

<"http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=531&;ArticleID=5768&l=en">said as an international seminar on the subject wrapped up in the United Kingdom today.

“Indeed, there is now a clear understanding that the industry can be part of the solution to climate change, by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions as well as by helping the communities where tourism represents a major economic source to prepare for and adapt to the changing climate,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

The number of international tourists continues to climb, with 898 million arrivals registered last year and further increases expected as traditionally poor countries emerge as more popular tourist destinations, according to the UN World Tourism Organization (<"http://www.unwto.org/index.php";>UNWTO).

The Oxford seminar brought together some 30 high-level tourism and environment officials to examine, among other things, practical ways to mitigate and adapt to climate change in the tourism sector.

The effects of climate change have already been felt in the tourism sector, particularly in certain destinations such as mountain regions and coastal hotspots. At the same ?time, the tourism industry contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, especially through the transport of tourists.? ?

“With its close connections to the environment and climate itself, tourism is considered to be a vulnerable and highly climate-sensitive economic sector, similar to agriculture, insurance, energy, and transportation,” said Dr. Murray Simpson, a Senior Research Associate at Oxford’s University Centre for the Environment and scientific coordinator of the seminar.

At the same time, he noted that in 2005 tourism’s contribution to CO2 emissions – including from transport, accommodation and activities – was estimated to be approximately 5 per cent. “Measured as warming effect these emissions could represent up to 14 per cent of global warming effect,” he said.

The seminar was organised and coordinated by UNEP and Oxford University’s Centre for the Environment jointly with the UNWTO and the World Meteorological Organization (<"http://www.wmo.ch/pages/index_en.html";>WMO).
2008-04-11 00:00:00.000

SENDERO DE CHILE - 2008:

"El Sendero" , the Path of Chile is an unprecedented public initiative in the country, that pursues to generate a runner of development ecoturístico and educational, that permit the citizens to know and to enjoy the diversity of landscapes and cultures of the nation, through 250 traveled through of equestrian, pedestrian use and/or ciclístico, with an extension over the 8,500 kilometers.

EVE-OLUTION together with the CONAMA are studing the opportunities to develop operations along the Path of Chile.

more info contact nvgg at eve-olution dot org

Wikigender is your online platform to find and exchange information related to gender equality. The website is work in progress and benefits from your active participation. Users are invited to comment on or improve existing articles, and to create or upload new documents. By providing a platform to share experiences and to learn from each other’s knowledge, Wikigender will contribute to a better understanding on the situation of men and women around the world.

more info on: http://www.wikigender.org

Commission on the Status of Women
Fifty-second session
9 March 2007 and 25 February-7 March 2008
Agenda item 3
Follow-up to the Fourth World Conference on Women and to the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly, entitled “Women 2000: gender equality, development and peace for the twenty-first century”

Agreed conclusions on financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women The following agreed conclusions adopted by the Commission are brought to the attention of the General Assembly as an input into the preparations for the Follow-up International Conference on Financing for Development to Review the Implementation of the Monterrey Consensus to be held in Doha from 29 November to 2 December 2008.

For more info:

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw52/AC_resolutions/L.8_Advance%20unedited_as%20corrected.pdf

CHANGES IN GLOBALIZATION TO BE KEY TOPIC AT UN TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE New York, Mar 18 2008 5:00PM Containing the global economic slowdown and adapting development thinking to will be major topics at the upcoming session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

Delegates to the 20-25 April meeting will also address the implications of emerging challenges such as high energy prices and climate change for development, <"http://www.unctad.org/Templates/webflyer.asp?docid=9698&;intItemID=3549&lang=1">UNCTAD Secretary-General Supachai Panitchpakdi told reporters in Geneva today.

A central focus of the conference, which will take place in Accra, Ghana, will be the special development challenges of Africa, he added.

The current, “second wave” of globalization, Mr. Panitchpakdi explained, has come about as developing countries become major players in the world economy.

Earlier this month, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that the UNCTAD-XII conference could galvanize support for a more development-friendly global economic, trading and financial system, among other goals.

Established in 1964, UNCTAD promotes the integration of developing countries into the world economy. It also helps shape policy debates on development, with a focus on ensuring that domestic policies and international action are mutually supportive in bringing about sustainable growth.

Noting that 2008 is a pivotal year in the effort to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which aim to reduce extreme poverty and other global ills by 2015, Mr. Ban said that UNCTAD-XII must promote financial policies that help meet the MDGs in sub-Saharan Africa, in particular, as a matter of urgency.
2008-03-18 00:00:00.000

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For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

African and Japanese leaders chart course for Fourth Tokyo International

Conference on African Development (TICAD IV)

Libreville, Gabon, 19 March 2008 —Foreign Ministers from across Africa, will meet here on 20-21 March to lay the groundwork for this year’s largest global gathering on African development: the Fourth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV), to be held on 28-30 May in Yokohama, Japan.

The Libreville Ministerial Preparatory Conference, which also brings together representatives from the Government of Japan, the United Nations Office of the Special Adviser on Africa (UN-OSAA), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank and the African Union, builds on the results of regional preparatory meetings held last year in Zambia, and Tunisia, and focuses on plans to translate the theme of TICAD IV, “Towards a Vibrant Africa: A Continent of Hope and Opportunity,” into new initiatives. Results from TICAD IV are expected to be feed into the July 2008 gathering of the leaders from the Group of Eight Industrialized countries in Hokkaido Toyako, Japan.

The TICAD IV co-organizers are working in partnership with the African Union to map out a comprehensive development plan for Africa as a follow-up to TICAD IV. Also participating in the Libreville conference will be high-ranking representatives from countries in Asia and other regions supporting African development, other regional and international organizations, and civil society organizations.

“The time has come for TICAD to make a significant leap forward by effectively taking up mid- and long term issues for five or ten years into the future, and the Ministerial Preparatory Conference for TICAD IV will begin hammering out a mechanism for that,” said Japanese Foreign Minister H.E. Mr. Masahiko Koumura.

“The Libreville Ministerial Preparatory Conference is a decisive meeting for African Foreign ministers, other heads of delegations, TICAD co-organizers as well as other partners to chart the course that will enable TICAD IV to make major new steps in support of African development,” said Mr. Bouna Sémou Diouf, Director of the TICAD Office of the UNDP Regional Bureau for Africa in New York and head of the UNDP delegation.

H.E. El Hadj Omar Bongo Ondimba, President of the Gabonese Republic will welcome participants at the opening session of the two-day conference. Following statements by the co-organizers and foreign ministers and the opening session, breakout sessions in the afternoon will focus on three TICAD IV priority areas: boosting economic growth, ensuring “human security,” including the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and consolidation of peace and democratization, and addressing environmental issues and climate change.

Further breakout sessions on the second day will deal with cross-cutting elements for TICAD IV, including South-South cooperation; collaboration with the private sector, private foundations and civil society organizations; and gender. The second afternoon will include a plenary meeting to discuss the reports from the breakout sessions, followed by the closing session.

The first TICAD conference was organized in 1993 to promote high-level policy dialogue between African leaders and development partners. It has evolved into a major global framework to facilitate initiatives for African development under the principle of Africa’s “ownership” and “partnership” between Africa and the international community. The main feature of this framework is the cooperation between Africa and Asia.

One outgrowth of the TICAD process is a series of Africa-Asia Business Forums (AABF), and AABF IV, held in February 2007 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, led to business prospects for African companies worth US$156 million to help spur African economic development.

Consultations are also underway within the TICAD framework to establish a financing mechanism for small and medium-sized enterprises through the Africa Enhanced Private Sector Assistance initiative, with funding of US$1 billion extended by the Government of Japan and managed by the African Development Bank.

The concept of “Human Security” is a key perspective for Japanese policy and the TICAD process, including spurring progress towards achieving the eight MDGs by 2015 to combat poverty, hunger, illiteracy, HIV/AIDS and other diseases, discrimination against women and girls, and environmental degradation.

The regional preparatory meeting for TICAD IV noted that attaining the MDG goal of universal primary education is a priority, and that construction and staffing of schools and provision teaching materials is a major challenge, especially in rural areas. On health goals, strengthening programmes to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis continues to be a priority, and capacity building to improve delivery of primary health services is needed.

Support for human security also forms the basis of Japan’s contributions to the United Nations Human Security Trust Fund (UNHSTF) totaling US$33.5 billion since it was established in 1999. The Trust Fund has supported approximately 180 projects implemented by UN agencies. These include more than 50 projects in Africa, which promote the consolidation of peace and democratization in countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Sudan.

On the environment, the third TICAD priority, climate change poses one of the greatest risks to sustainable development in Africa. Climate change affects natural resources conservation and their sustainable use, and its impact threatens to reverse decades of socio-economic development efforts. Climate change can also foster water-borne diseases such as malaria. The TICAD regional preparatory meetings agreed that support is vital for the creation and implementation of national environmental adaptation plans and development of renewable and alternative energy with appropriate technology, especially for poor communities which are particularly vulnerable.

In preparation of this year mission in Vietnam we are inviting 20 women leaders in their countries:

March 31: At the Vietnam Embassy in Chile
April 10: At the Vetnam Embassy in France

More info: foundation (at ) eve-olution.org

World Challenge is BBC World's global competition for sustainable enterprise and its back for its fourth season. Once again we're looking to highlight and reward small businesses or projects that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. We would love to hear from you about social entrepreneurs who are making a difference without costing the earth. It could be you or someone you know.

So if you know of an initiative that's making a difference, go to www.theworldchallenge.co.uk and fill out the simple nomination form.

The 12 best nominees - chosen by a distinguished jury - will be featured in the 7-part series on BBC World.

Who will take home $20.000 dollars to reinvest in their business? It is all in your hands!

Kind regards,
From the World Challenge team

----------------------------------------------

Saskia Roskam
Assistant to Robert Lamb
One Planet Pictures
20 Eastcastle Street
London W1W 8DB
UK
0790 48 47 207/ 0207 580 1211
www.oneplanetpictures.co.uk

Global Summit of Women in Vietnam 2007 Urges Asain Women to Become Business Leaders.

http://www.globewomen.org/summit/2008/2008program11-4-07.mht

Holidays for a Living Planet -- UNEP launches campaign 'Green Passport'at Berlin Tourism Fair

BERLIN/NAIROBI, 7 March 2008 - Green travel tips for the world's growing number of international tourists were launched today by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). The internet-based campaign, "Green Passport", aims to raise tourists' awareness of their potential to contribute to sustainable development by making responsible holiday choices.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director, said: "Tourism, the world's biggest industry is booming. By 2020, the number of international arrivals by air and by sea could reach 1.6 billion annually.

"This growth brings the prospect of income and economic development to countless tourist destinations in rich and poor countries alike. The challenge is to manage this growth sustainably. Governments have a key role to play, but so too do individuals and families when planning and going on holiday", he said.

"Many consumers are now making green domestic choices from sourcing
electricity from renewable sources and choosing eco-friendly investments up to buying leaner and greener cars. Packing a 'Green Passport' along with airline tickets, the swimming costume and the sun lotion means tourists no longer need to leave their green credentials at home but can make them part of the holiday of a life-time", added Mr. Steiner.

Stefanos Fotiou, head of UNEP's tourism unit, said: "By browsing the 'Green Passport' web site consumers will be able to find practical tips to help them reduce their environmental and social footprint while they are on vacations. Tourists will discover that traveling green is not as hard as they imagined."

In 2007, international tourist arrivals reached nearly 900 million and by the end of the decade this number is expected to reach more than 1 billion. As tourist numbers grow, so will their demand for energy, water, and natural resources to support their holidays.

"There are some encouraging signs in terms of market response to the
problem. Tourists are increasingly expressing concern about the quality of the environment at their holiday destinations", said Fotiou. "However, there is clearly a gap to fill in order to shift from discussions on responsible holidays to concrete actions."

The new UNEP campaign will provide information to tourists to help them prevent some of their impacts by avoiding certain behaviors that greatly affect the environment and society. The green travel tips are addressing all the holiday's cycle, from travel planning and packaging to the way back home. For example, the campaign encourages tourists to:

* Choose responsible service providers

* Reduce the consumption of energy while on the road or in their hotel

* Buy locally made and environmentally friendly souvenirs

The campaign has been launched by UNEP, jointly with and the French
Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Spatial Planning, and the Brazilian Ministries of Environment and Tourism. It is an initiative of the International Task Force on Sustainable Tourism Development, firmly rooted in the move to accelerate a global shift towards sustainable consumption and production (SCP) that emerged from the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), held in Johannesburg in 2002.

The 'Green Passport' web site is one outcome of this process. The web site,developed in English, Portuguese and French, together with additional communication tools (website and leaflet/brochure), is now available for dissemination by new partners to raise awareness in the tourism community.

BUILDING BUSSINESS BRIDGES BETWEEN WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS WORLDWILDE 2008:

In order to support and develop the promotion of women entrepreneurs this year we will celebrate women in Chile 31st March 2008.

If you want to receive your invitation please send it to nvgg (at) eve-olution.org.

The 52nd session of the Commission on the Status of Women will be held at the United Nations headquarters in New York from 25 February to 7 March 2008.

WILL YOU BE THERE contact us: foundation ( at ) eve-olution.org

ESTARA PRESENTE contactenos: foundation ( at ) eve-olution.org

VOUS Y SEREZ contactez nous: foundation ( at ) eve-olution.org

more info: http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/52sess.htm

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation grants US $19 million to expand economic opportunities for women in West Africa

Dakar, Senegal, 22 February 2008-The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has awarded a US$19 million grant to a poverty reduction and women's empowerment project supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and designed to boost the productivity and income of women farmers using low-cost, mechanized power.

The four-year grant will help establish 600 new sustainable, rural
agro-enterprises in the West African countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Senegal. The center piece of the project is the multifunctional platform (MFP), a diesel-run engine mounted on a chassis to which a variety of processing equipment can be attached, including cereal mill, husker, battery charger, and joinery and carpentry equipment. At least 24 of these MFPs will be biofuel-based.

Compared to developed countries where household chores can happen at the flick of a switch, in rural homes across Africa with no connection to the electricity grid (and where none is planned), preparing a meal is a laborious task for women. They spend up to six hours a day collecting firewood, fetching water, husking and pounding grain, with no time left for outside employment. Girls often perform poorly in school due to inconsistent attendance and find themselves forced to drop out to help their mothers.

The multi-functional platform takes domestic tasks like milling and husking sorghum, millet, maize and other grains, normally done with a mortar and pestle or a grinding stone, and mechanises them, making them profitable economic activities. The platform can also generate electricity for lighting, refrigeration and to pump water, which helps provide clean water to communities along with improved health care and education services.

Announcing the initiative in Dakar, Senegal, UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis explained that due to lack of access to modern energy services, women are stuck in a vicious cycle of illiteracy, ill health and poverty from one generation to the next. "By investing in this simple power source for rural communities, women no longer need to spend all their time grinding grains or pumping water. They have more hours in the day to develop profitable activities that could boost their productivity, enabling them to sell better quality products and increase their income using low-cost, effective
technology," he said. As part of the enterprise projects, UNDP and its extensive network of local NGOs will back the women's groups with literacy and management training and support.

"This project will employ cost-effective technology to significantly improve the lives of women in West Africa by freeing up time-their scarcest resource-and enabling them to sell higher value products at market more often, thus increasing their income and improving lives," said Dr. Rajiv Shah, director of agricultural development, Global Development Program at the foundation. "Through this effort, we hope to learn whether these platforms could reach an even larger number of communities in Africa."

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's Agricultural Development initiative is working with a wide range of partners to provide millions of small farmers in the world's poorest areas with tools and opportunities to boost their productivity, increase their incomes, and build better lives for themselves and their families.

The benefits of the MFP have already been proven in parts of West Africa, where processing shea nuts for its butter is a common economic activity. In Mali, for example, crushing 10 kilograms of shea nuts manually yields 3.5 kilograms of butter in eight hours in comparison to 4.5 kilograms in four and half hours using the platform.

In Senegal, Mrs S. Sakho of Batantinty, explains that before the platform was introduced in her village she rarely earned more than 25000 CFA (US$55)from processing and selling shea butter. "With the platform I easily earn 100,000 CFA (US$220) at the end of the harvest. The yield is high because the time is there. The platform has improved my life. I spend the earnings for the children's education and clothing; I no longer look like a peasant," she said.

The initiative is also expected to contribute to the objectives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional energy access policy to meet the Millennium Development Goals, which was adopted in January 2006 with the aim of providing rural and peri-urban populations with energy services including mechanical power for agro-processing. It is hoped that the lessons learned from this initiative will serve as the basis to expand the approach across Sub Saharan Africa, where an estimated 100 million people in rural areas could benefit.

EVE-OLUTION.org CAN HELP YOU TO PREPARE email foundation@eve-olution.org (French/Spanish/English)

Call for Submissions for the SEED Awards 2008 - call open until 16 March 2008

Do you have an entrepreneurial or innovative idea that is locally-driven and has great potential to contribute to sustainable development in developing countries?
Are you finding new ways of simultaneously improving incomes and strengthening livelihoods; tackling poverty and marginalisation; and managing and conserving natural resources and ecosystems? Are you developing a new concept that brings together people and rganizations from different backgrounds - a project that challenges partners to pool their human, financial, and natural resources?

Do you need support to make your idea a reality, or to help you grow?

If so, then we would like you to tell us about your idea.

The SEED Initiative is seeking submissions for "The 2008 SEED Awards for Entrepreneurship in Sustainable Development". We welcome innovative ideas from any group in a developing country, which is working in partnership with others to generate environmental and social benefits in an entrepreneurial way.

SEED Award Winners receive a tailored package of support services to help them to become established and to increase their impact. This includes access to relevant expertise and technical assistance, meeting new partners and building networks,developing business plans and identifying sources of finance. The Award is not a cash prize - but the services offered have a value of US$25,000.

The call is open until the 16th March 2008.

For further information please see www.seedinit.org where you can also find the
application form and learn about previous Award Winners.

We look forward to receiving your application and to reading about your ideas.

With best regards

Dr Helen Marquard

Executive Director
The SEED Initiative

For information about the SEED Awards:

www.seedinit.org

seedawards2008@seedinit.org

Tel: +49 30 8900068 99

For any other queries about the SEED Initiative:

helen.marquard@seedinit.org

Tel: +44 1420 488 544

The SEED Initiative

- Supporting Entrepreneurs for Sustainable Development

c/o The World Conservation Union (IUCN)

28 Rue Mauverney

Gland CH-1196

Switzerland

Women’s Scholarships of £10,000 for the full-time Imperial MBA

As part of our commitment to increasing the talented pool of women in business, Tanaka Business School at Imperial College London is delighted to offer three £10,000 scholarships to female candidates with outstanding potential for the full-time Imperial MBA commencing in October 2008.

Our Imperial MBA class which started in October 2007 has 38% women in the class - in the class of 48 students, 18 are female. This is a figure we are very proud of and keen to retain / increase in the coming year. Tanaka Business School offers a collaborative, supportive environment in which to undertake your MBA studies and you will graduate from one of the world’s top universities - Imperial College was recently ranked fifth in the world in the Times Higher education university rankings 2007.

For more information on the scholarships, including how to apply, please visit http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka/programmes/imperial-mba/feesandfunding/scholarships href="https://icex.imperial.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka/programmes/imperial-mba/feesandfunding/scholarships"; target=_blank>http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/tanaka/programmes/imperial-mba/feesandfunding/scholarships or contact us at mba@imperial.ac.uk / +44 (0)20 7594 9206

News Code : TTime- 160338
Print Date : Monday, December 31, 2007

Women must receive their rights in privatization
Tehran Times Women’s Desk

TEHRAN – The 1st Congress of Women Entrepreneurs was held here last week at the National Iranian Steel Company.

“Women should receive their rights and shares in privatization and I will defend the case” Ali Akbar Mehrabian, Iranian Minister of Mines and Industries emphasized in his speech.

The greatest dilemma for Iranian officials is the creation of stable employment and the evolution of a movement which will lead to the eradication of unemployment in the country, he added.

Women are not receiving an equitable share in the entrepreneurship sector, he said, adding “One of the best ways to achieve this end is for them to organize themselves using their own abilities in this sector, and if we encourage them to take charge of their own employment, definitely a large part of the problem will be solved.”

One of the strategies for achieving this aim is to amend the laws and regulations of women’s jobs to fit in with their life situations, he said, noting that “women have to accomplish many duties just like their male counterparts, but the laws regulating labor are adjusted to accommodate men’s situations rather than women’s.”

Speaking about women’s working conditions, Mehrabian stressed that more participation on the part of women is observed when their working environment is both culturally and economically healthy, and that such an atmosphere contributes to women’s wellbeing.

The secretariat of the congress had received more than 50 papers from entrepreneur women form all around Iran, Soraya Zafari, Iranian advisor in women’s affairs said, adding 45 entrepreneur women were elected in the industry and mines sector and the woman who received the most votes came from the deprived province of Sistan and Baluchestan.

MZ/MA

WomenEntrepreneur.com Blogger Captures Stevie Award for Best Young Entrepreneur

30+ Bloggers & Columnists Continue to Expand Community on Women's Business

IRVINE, Calif., Nov. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- WomenEntrepreneur.com,
exclusively dedicated to the growing women's business community, continues to host more than 10 bloggers offering first-hand insights on entrepreneurship, including the recently announced 2007 Stevie Award winner for Best Young Entrepreneur.

"A Savvy Start" blogger Lauren Berger, dubbed "The Intern Queen" after participating in over 15 internships during her four years in college, added "Best Young Entrepreneur" to her list of titles for launching her company Intern Queen Inc.

While her perspective reflects that of a young, savvy business leader
intent on building her venture into a top media/lifestyle company, other bloggers and columnists on the site are as diverse in age, background and business fields as the topics they cover. These topics include new media marketing, conflict management, entrepreneurship after 55, technology,money management and networking.

"Berger's "A Savvy Start" blog showcases the breadth and depth of
business leaders connected by WomenEntrepreneur.com," says Dave Pomije, VP of site development at Entrepreneur.com. "She, as well as many other bloggers, expert business columnists and leaders we feature on WomenEntrepreneur.com continue to strengthen our online community of women striving to grow their business ventures."

The presence of the Stevie Awards for Women in Business -- the only
global, all-encompassing business awards for women executives and
entrepreneurs -- and WomenEntrepreneur.com support a critical segment of business owners today. According to the Center for Women's Business Research, women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of all firms.

To read winner Lauren Berger's blog and those of 11 others, find
business solutions from expert columnists and connect to an entire
community of women business owners, visit http://www.womenentrepreneur.com.

About Entrepreneur Media Inc.
Entrepreneur Media Inc. is the premier content provider for and about
entrepreneurs. Our products engage and inspire every day with the advice, solutions and resources that fuel the bold and independent way entrepreneurs think.

After 30 years, nobody reaches more growing businesses. As the original magazine for the small and midsize business community, Entrepreneur continues to be the definitive guide to all the diverse challenges of business ownership. Entrepreneur.com is the most widely used website by entrepreneurs and emerging businesses worldwide. Entrepreneur Press publishes the books that turn entrepreneurial skills into business success.

NOVEMBER 2007: (CNN) -- Muhammad Yunus received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his pioneering
work in microcredit, which has helped millions of people out of the poverty cycle.
The first businessman ever to receive such a high honor, Yunus and the Grameen Bank
he founded revolutionized conventional ways of banking, creating a system of lending
money to the poor, mostly women.

AR: "Professor Yunus, welcome to Talk Asia .................

AR: "Almost all of your clients are women. What accounts for that?

MY: "We started noticing as we went on, that the money going to the family through women brought so much more benefit to the family than the same amount of money going to the family through men. Because women immediately take care of the children -- if she makes money, she takes care of the household, she improves the household if she
makes money. You don't see that immediately in the men as the borrower. Women have a long-term vision, she wants to move up to something. Men were more casual, more I can enjoy now whether than looking at the future. So you can go down the line, kind of comparing what happens when a woman is the borrower, what happens when a man is a borrower. Today we have 7.3 million borrowers in Grameen Bank in Bangladesh and 97 percent of them are women.

The 2007 survey is the third survey sponsored by RSM McGladrey. The Chicago Chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners, who was a co-sponsor last year, joined us again this year along with the University of Chicago, The Committee of 200 (C200) and the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) as co-sponsors.

To read the survey:
http://www.rsmmcgladrey.com/Knowledge-Center/Downloads/WBOSurvey2007-1/wbosurvey2007.pdf

Morocco Fesibility Study 2007: Further to the UN preparation for the 51st. Commission on the Status of Women, discussions with the Morocco goverment and the on ground experiences, conclud that EVE-olution will be conducted research to develop news missions in Morocco. For more information please contact gerard .stein@eve-olution. org

EUROPEAN WOMEN INVENTORS & INNOVATORS: Showcase, Conference & Awards 2007 from 14 & 16 June 2007, Berlin, Germany at the KEMPINSKI HOTEL BRISTOL, BERLIN in conjunction with the Global Summit for Women.

Over 300 Attendee's expected from Start-Ups, SME Businesses, Major Corporations, Educational Institutions and Government Agencies including Women’s Groups from across Europe and beyond.

To register http://euwiin.eventbrite.com

PROGRAMME, THURSDAY, 14 JUNE 2007, 08:30 – 16:30
8:30 – 9:00 REGISTRATION
09:00 – 09:10 WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
09:10 – 11:00 MARKETPLACE & SHOWCASE OPENS
Showcase: Meet the EUWIIN Awards 2007 finalists and learn more about what makes them exceptional. Also join us and participate in the showcase - take the opportunity to market those innovative products and services.

Marketplace: This will save many a considerable amount of time and expense as we provide you with the opportunity to gather as much vital information as possible while building a wealth of valuable contacts. Each market table will be hosted by an organisation or individual with a brief summary of their product or service.

11:10 – 11:20 OFFICIAL WELCOME & MINISTERIAL ADDRESS
11:40 – 12:00 OPENING KEYNOTE ADDRESS
12:00 – 13:00 INTERVIEW – AN HOUR WITH LEADING INNOVATORS
13:00 – 14:00 LUNCH & SHOWCASE CONTINUES
14:00 – 15:30 CHOICE OF 6 BREAKOUT ROUNDTABLE SESSIONS

The sessions provide case studies and presentations designed to stimulate mutual learning and draw out lessons and good practice in order to promote and encourage a greater innovation culture in Europe.

COULD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS BE YOUR MOST VALUABLE ASSET?
FINANCING INNOVATION & NEW TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
EDUCATION: BETTER KNOWLEDGE EXPLOITATION & PASSING THE MARKET TEST
FROM START-UP TO SME: SURVIVING THE MARKET WITH THAT GREAT IDEA!
PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT: THE CLIMATE & SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
SCIENCE, ENGINEERING & TECHNOLOGY: EMBRACING INNOVATION & BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

15:30 – 16:20 FEEDBACK
16:20 – 16:30 CLOSING REMARKS

*All students must register to receive a special pass for the further reduced rate

Participation in the showcase & the conference, includes light refreshments, delegates pack and lunch

*You must be registered before you can attend any part of the EUWIIN event (Interested? Please request for registration form by sending us an email on office@gwiin.com ).

THE EUWIIN AWARDS DINNER CEREMONY PROGRAMME, SATURDAY, 16 JUNE 2007, 19:00 – 22:30
19:00 Arrival of Guests & Drinks Reception
19:30 Call for Dinner
Entertainment
20:30 Awards Presentations
22:25 Closing Remarks
22:30 Close

The French-American Foundation and the AARO (Association of Americans Resident Overseas)propose

Place and Power of retired in France and USA
Tuesday, May 15 2007

Mona Bismarck Foundation, 34 avenue de New York,
75116 Paris ( métro : Iéna ou Alma Marceau)
from 6 pm-7pm

with

Matthew Suntag, Policy Manager at the American Association for Retired Persons International

Claude Seibel, Former Director of the DARES ( Direction de l'Animation, de la Recherche, des Etudes et des Statistiques) au Ministère de l'Emploi, de la Cohésion Sociale et du Logement

Thomas Rose, Former Director of Legal Affairs at Schlumberger Limited, Former President at the Association of Americans Resident Overseas

Moderator: Michel Garcin, President of the French-American Foundation – France

United Nations, NYC, May 8 2007:

The South African Goverment has cordially invite the EVE-olution Foundation to present its business coaching method to empower women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging counties to achieve the millenium development goals.

Date: Tuesday May 8, 2007
Venue: United Nations, Conference Room 4
Time: 6:15pm-7:45pm
Refreshment at 7:45

By creating the Eve-olution Ambassador Blog, Eve-olution motivation is to give space and visibility to all her EVE-olution Ambassadors.

As you already experiment our coachs and coachees use already a lot
internet and instant messaging. So let's go 2.0!

more on: http://ambassador.canalblog.com

April 2007 at the Chiliean Embassy: Gathering of several networks of women "leader" in France to receive Irene Natividad who presented the next Global Summit of Women 2007 to Berlin of the 14-16 June 2007.
more on: http://www.globewomen.com/summit/2007/Summit.main.07.htm

Bio of Irene Natividad
http://www.enterprisingwomen.com/growing_globally.htm )

26 April – 27 April, 2007
New York City, USA
Hosted by the Lower East Side Ecology Center and Women’s Global Green Action Network

The Academy is a formal space where grassroots women leaders from around the world teach and learn from our peers and dialogue with partners to increase impact at the 15th Commission on Sustainable Development and beyond. A committee of women from the member organizations of the Lower East Side Ecology Center and Women’s Global Green Action Network will lead the Academy, which second phase component of the CSD preparatory processes.

More information can be found at the programs website www.LESECUN.org.

Beijing June 22-23, 2007:

Speakers from academia and NGO's, successful business people and coaches from around the world will gather together in Beijing June 22-23, 2007 to explore the relationship between coaching and making a difference in the world of corporate social responsibility. The China Coach Association and Global Business and Finance Magazine hope to provide a platform to share stories of how coaching can spark accountability and sustainable business practices, and showcase entrepreneurs using new approaches and solutions to corporate philanthropy and create social change.

EVE-olution will be represented by our Mexican delegate

Event Eye is a FREE WEB SOURCE dedicated to Exhibitions & Trade Shows Worldwide, with no login and no cookies.

more: http://www.eventseye.com

June 14-16, 2007: Global Summit of Women 2007 Berlin, Germany
The Global Marketplace: Opportunities and Challenges.

Will be present: Vaira Vike-Freiberga, President of Latvia; Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar, Vice Presidentof El Salvador; Olga Dergunova, Chairwoman, Microsoft Russia and CIS;The Honorable Ursula von der Leyen, Minister for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Germany);Gerri Elliot,Corporate Vice President Microsoft (USA);Maud Pagel, Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer, Deutsche Telekom (Germany);Françoise Gri, President, IBM France;The Honorable Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul
Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (Germany);Siv Hellen, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Nordic Investment Bank (Finland);Susan Peters, Vice President, Executive Development, GE;Cornelia Groehl President—Europe, Johnson & Johnson Wound Management (Germany); Jonina Bjartmarz, Minister of the Environment, Iceland;Sungjoo Kim, CEO, Sungjoo International and MCM Inc.;Gun Nowak, CEO, FACE Stockholm (Sweden);Patricia Espinosa Torres, Vice Minister of Labor, Mexico; Margaretta Noonan
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer
Hudson Highland Group,...and the EVE-olution Foundation!

EVE-olution Foundation will be represented at the 15th session of the Commission on Sustainable Development is scheduled from 30 April to 11 May 2007. Prior to CSD-15, an Intergovernmental Preparatory Meeting will be held from 26 February to 2 March 2007.

In the frame of this commission, EVE-olution Foundation is proposing a side event "to demonstate the trust on women's power to foster sustainble development".

May 8, 2007 at 6 pm at the UN Main Building room 4
(sponsored by the South African Goverment)

more info: http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev

Steiner Announces Finalists for 2007 Environment & Development Awards

World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland - 25 January 2007: Mr. Achim Steiner, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), today announced the 10 finalists for one of five Supporting Entrepreneurs for Environment and Development (Seed) Awards.

The winners of the Seed Awards, an incentive scheme for local entrepreneurs to promote economic growth, social development and environmental protection will be announced at the forthcoming United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development in New York in May 2007. This announcement compliments a similar release made at the World Social Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, today.

"As we meet in Davos and Nairobi to discuss scaling up sustainable solutions, the Seed Initiative is again offering inspiring examples of local level entrepreneurs in all parts of the world who are setting up new partnerships and using 'global/local' networks to address sustainable development challenges with a business case approach,” said Steiner.

The Seed Initiative is an international awards-based scheme and learning tool to encourage local entrepreneurs, communities, companies and others to join forces in partnerships for sustainable development. Partners in the Seed Initiative include the World Conservation Union (IUCN); the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP); the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP); the governments of the United States of America, Germany, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United Kingdom; and private sector partner Swiss Re. The Seed Awards programme publicly recognises the contribution of innovative, entrepreneurial partnerships to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation.

Finalists for the Seed Awards 2007 take a range of promising, locally-adapted approaches to sustainability, including the promotion of traditional medicine and community-based tourism and the production of alternative fuels. The countries represented by finalist initiatives are Brazil, Ecuador, India, Nepal, Kenya, Peru, Sierra Leone, Suriname, Tanzania, and Vietnam.

Steiner underlined the importance of locally-driven, entrepreneurial partnerships in the fight against poverty, adding: “These connected entrepreneurs are planting seeds of hope. Their example and accumulative impact holds enormous promise."

Previous winners, acclaimed for their innovative solutions in improving both livelihoods of local communities and environmental protection, include:

(i) “Cows to Kilowatts,” which aims to provide more than 2,000 households with household energy at 50% of the standard price from the incineration of abattoir waste in the city of Ibadan, Nigeria;

(ii) The Global Partnership for SRI Rice, an environmentally friendly method of rice growing now employed by more than 400,000 small-scale farmers that reduces the amount of water, agrochemicals and seed required while increasing yield in more than 20 countries; and

(iii) “Agua para Todos – Water for All,” a Bolivian partnership that envisages providing 75,000 people with access to high-quality potable water at more than 50% less than the current cost over the next five years.

The announcement of the 2007 finalists follows a rigorous 10-month selection process that drew together more than 230 applications from more than 70 countries worldwide – representing close to 1,100 organisations from the private sector, nongovernmental organizations, women’s groups, labour, public authorities, UN agencies and others. The selection process to shortlist finalists involved an external selection team of ten international experts.

An international expert jury will now identify the five winning partnerships from the 10 finalists. The awards ceremony will be held during the high-level segment of the 15th session of the Commission for Sustainable Development in May (New York).

For further information: www.seedinit.org.

THE 2007 SEED AWARDS FINALISTS IN BRIEF:

(i) Western Hemisphere:

Brazil:

Projeto Bagagem: Building a community-based tourism network in Brazil

Improves local communities’ livelihoods and promotes environmental protection through the creation of community-based tourism.

Equador:

Handling and recovery of Andean tubers and cereals to improve food security

Introduces organic farming practices and reintroduces native species of Andean cereals and potatoes to diversify crops with the goal of empowering women and improving food security.

Peru:

T’ikapapa: A new way to link Andean small-scale farmers with new urban markets

Markets indigenous potatoes to supermarkets to improve local farmers’ livelihoods and utilizes environmentally friendly technologies to conserve local biodiversity.

Suriname:

Protecting the Future by Preserving the Past

Improves livelihoods and provides health services by using traditional knowledge of plant extracts for therapeutic purposes.

(ii) Africa:

Kenya:

Empowering the restoration of goods and services of Mt. Kenya Forests

Promotes conservation enterprises and the sustainable development of forest and mountain resources and improves livelihoods through a series of reforestation and development projects.

Sierra Leone:

Tiwai Island Traditional Medicine Health and Fitness Village

Protects biodiversity and provides sustainable livelihoods for local communities through the construction and operation of an ecotourism health/fitness village, built around the principles of West African ethno-medicine, located in the southern part of the Barrie and Koya Chiefdom near the Tiwai Island’s Gola Forest.

Tanzania:

Future Fuels

Provides an alternative fuel source from wood waste, reducing dependency on forest products and opening a new market.

(iii) South Asia:

India:

Promotion of Natural Dyes in the Textile Industries

Produces yarn and fabric in an energy-efficient and less polluting manner through the use of traditional natural dyes.

Nepal:

Cotton thread production from Girardinia diversifolia (Allo)

Produces cotton thread from a traditionally used local species for supply of national and international markets, involving local communities in the resource management.

(iv) East Asia:

Vietnam:

Bridging the Gap: Bringing novel Vietnamese medicinal plant products to the international market

Develops a local business network, marketing high value-added products derived from the sustainable cultivation of traditional medicinal plants.

Further information on the 2007 Seed Award Finalists may be obtained from the Seed Initiative website on www.seedinit.org.

the International Congress of Black Women in Paris from the 15-16 January 2007:

EVE-olution is participating at the International Congress of Black Women in Paris from the 15-16 January to present our mission which is to empower Women Entrepreneurs in developing and emerging countries.

more about the Congress on:
http://www.congresinternationalfemmenoire.org

UN MARKS INTERNATIONAL VOLUNTEER DAY WITH CALLS TO HUMANITY'S BETTER NATURE
New York, Dec 5 2006 11:00AM
The United Nations today honoured the tens of thousands of volunteers from both developing and industrialized countries who over the past 35 years have supported the Organization's peace, relief and development initiatives around the planet, as well as the millions of others who daily offer their humanitarian services.

"Their ethos makes volunteerism one of the most visible, and most welcome, attributes of global citizenship," Secretary-General Kofi Annan <" http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/sgsm10759.doc.htm";>said in a message marking International Volunteer Day. "In ways both big and small, volunteers are transforming their communities and our world.

"And in this era of growing problems without passports, from HIV/AIDS to trafficking in people and contraband, they are providing grass-roots solutions to humanity's most pressing needs."

Mr. Annan stressed the importance of volunteers in helping to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (<" http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals";>MDGs), the targets set by the UN World Summit of 2000 to halve extreme poverty and hunger, ensure universal primary education, slash child mortality by two-thirds and maternal mortality by three-quarters and reverse the incidence of HIV/AIDS, as well as tackle a host of other social ills - all by 2015.

"Each day, millions of volunteers make a statement that despite everything - despite poverty and hatred, despite apathy and the seeming intractability of some of the challenges we face ¬- people can change the world for the better," he said.

The UN's own volunteer programme (<" http://www.unvolunteers.org";>UNV) was created by the General Assembly in 1970 to serve as an operational partner in development cooperation at the request of UN Member States. It is administered by the UN Development Programme (<" http://www.undp.org";>UNDP) and works through UNDP country offices around the world.

In 2005, its eighth consecutive year of growth, UNV mobilized some 8,400 volunteers, representing 168 nationalities, who served in 144 countries. Since 1971, more than 30,000 UN Volunteers have supported humanitarian efforts.

Since its adoption by the General Assembly in 1985, <" http://www.unv.org/infobase/facts/04_08_17DEU_fs_IVD.htm";>International Volunteer Day has offered a unique opportunity for various volunteer-related organizations to work together to attain common goals. Every year on 5 December, millions of supporters of volunteerism engage in various initiatives at local, national and international levels.

Rallies, parades, community volunteering projects, environmental awareness campaigns, free medical care and advocacy campaigns are among the activities that mark the Day.

"Volunteering is an effective and an essential means to achieve the MDGs. These goals can only be achieved with the full involvement of people all over the world," UNV Executive Coordinator Ad de Raad said in a message.

UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis cited last year's earthquake in Pakistan as an example of the importance of volunteers. "Thousands of volunteers from all over the country as well as from different parts of the world participated in relief efforts urgently needed on the field," he said in his message.

"The United Nations Volunteers programme gave its full support to the Government of Pakistan in helping to set up its National Volunteer Movement. Such accomplishments highlight UNV's essential role within both UNDP and the UN system in supporting volunteerism for development."

In another example, in the face of ongoing conflicts in Sri Lanka, peace promotion is a major focus of UNV activities. The programme for the Day, titled "Let's Volunteer For Peace and the MDGs," includes a peace concert, an ethnic fashion show, video presentations and the unveiling of a peace monument, all seeking to stimulate voluntary engagement towards peace and reconciliation and the MDGs.

After 4 years of intensive networking and the work of volonteers and Ambassadors from large companies, the EVE-olution Foundation is completing for the EVE-olution Business Club a set of potentiel projects (over 79 countries ).

A "BRIC strategy" will be developed to create leverage to make our vision/mission attractive for new partnership with the private sector.

Developing & Emerging Countries are actively searching to realize their business potential thought women entrepreneurs and sustainable development to reduce all the consequences of poverty at an international level it is why regional "boosters" such as South Africa, Chile, Vietnam...will competing this strategy.

March 2007: For the 3rd time we are planing to propose the Building Business Bridges Between Women Entrepreneurs Worldwide, this time we have the opportunity to celebrate women entrepreneurship during the Entrepreneurship Week. We hope to involve our ambassadors, partners and sponsors of the EVE-olution Foundation Club.

more info:

BBBWEW : foundation at eve-olution dot org

http://www.entrepreneurshipweekusa.com

October 14, 2006: The awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Muhammad Yunus, regarded as the father of microcredit, comes at a time when microcredit has become something like a religion to many of the powerful, rich and famous. Hillary Clinton regularly speaks about going to Bangladesh, Yunus's homeland, and being "inspired by the power of these loans to enable even the poorest of women to start businesses, lifting their families--and their communities--out of poverty."

Like the liberal Clinton, the neocon Paul Wolfowitz, now president of the World Bank, has also gotten religion, after a recent trip to the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. With the fervor of the convert, he talks about the "transforming power" of microfinance: "I thought maybe this was just one successful project in one village, but then I went to the next village and it was the same story. That evening, I met with more than a hundred women leaders from self-help groups, and I realized this program was opening opportunities for poor women and their families in an entire state of 75 million people."

There is no doubt that Yunus, a Bangladeshi economist, came up with a winning idea that has transformed the lives of many millions of poor women, and perhaps for that alone, he deserves the Nobel Prize. But Yunus--at least the young Yunus, who did not have the support of global institutions when he started out--did not see his Grameen Bank as a panacea. Others, like the World Bank and the United Nations, elevated it to that status (and, some say, convinced Yunus it was a panacea), and microcredit is now presented as a relatively painless approach to development. Through its dynamics of collective responsibility for repayment by a group of women borrowers, microcredit has indeed allowed many poor women to roll back pervasive poverty. However, it is mainly the moderately poor rather than the very poor who benefit, and not very many can claim they have permanently left the instability of poverty. Likewise, not many would claim that the degree of self-sufficiency and the ability to send children to school afforded by microcredit are indicators of their graduating to middle-class prosperity. As economic journalist Gina Neff notes, "after 8 years of borrowing, 55% of Grameen households still aren't able to meet their basic nutritional needs--so many women are using their loans to buy food rather than invest in business."

by Walden Bello on http://www.thenation.com

Oslo , 13 October 2006: Prof. Muhammad Yunus & Grameen Bank Awarded The Nobel Peace Prize for 2006.The Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2006, divided into two equal parts, to Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank for their efforts to create economic and social development from below. Lasting peace can not be achieved unless large population groups find ways in which to break out of poverty.

More: http://www.grameen-info.org

54 th FCEM World Congress in Slovenia
Conferences, Business Exchanges and Exposition Organized by ASE in Ljubljana, Slovenia October 20 - 24, 2006

Under the theme "The Future Belongs to the Enterprising"

54th congress will be hosted in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from October 21 through 24, 2006. For the whole family of women entrepreneurs, united through Femmes Chefs d`Entreprises Mondiales this will be the beautiful occasion for participants from different nations, languages and cultures to meet and discuss about our experiences and share knowledge and information about enterprising, innovation and partnership and to deepen our friendships developed through FCEM meetings. This will also be an occasion to get to know more about the surprising world of Central and Eastern Europe.

This time the topic of our global meeting is dedicated to young enterprising world because the future belongs to them! For that reason we will offer an opportunity for efficient matchmaking program for national delegations, presentations, workshops, exhibition and fair show, through which we would like to encourage establishment of new partnerships.

EVENT is host Marta Turk National President FCEM World Vice-President and organized by the Slovenian Association of Women Entrepreneurs GIZ PODJETNOST.

PROGRAM:FCEM World Congress "The Future Belongs to the Enterprising"

Saturday 21st October Arrival of Presidents and Commissioners, arrival of first groups of delegates
Registration
20.00 Welcome reception

Sunday 22nd October 2006
08.30 – Registration desk will be opened the whole day
09.00 – 13.00 FCEM Steering Committee Meeting (Closed session)
11.30 -- 13.30 FCEM Steering Committee Meeting (Opened Session)
13.30 – 14.30 Lunch (for all present participants)
14.30 – 17.00 FCEM Steering Committee Meeting (follow up – opened session)
Reports of Commissioners

Translation will be provided

17.00 Visit to the Exhibition place, and preparation for "Getting to know you" – match making and exhibition
19.30 Slovenian dinner with folk dance and fashion show (young fashion designers)

Monday 23rd October 2006
09.00 – 17.00 Registration of delegates
09.30 – 17.00 Getting to know you - Match–making activities, showcases, video and life presentations moderated by young entrepreneurs (for national delegations)
09.00 – 11.00 World Committee Meeting (Closed session)

11.00 -- 13.30 World Commitee Meeting (Opened Session)

Translation will be provided

13.30 – 14.30 Buffet lunch for delegates
14.30 – 17.30 Visit to the exhibition Getting to know you and meeting with exhibitors
19.00 Dinner for all participants with cultural program (alt.visit to the theatre)

During the whole day a showroom of products, services and business will be opened for visitors and media.

Tuesday 24th October, 2006
09.30 Arrival of official delegates to the Opening Ceremony and preparation for the flag ceremony
10.00 Inauguration of the FCEM World Congress (Blue Hall Parliament).

Flag ceremony
Inauguration Speech FCEM World President Francoise Foning
The Slovenian Government Representative (to be announced)

1. The Future Belongs to the Enterprising
Introduction by Marta Turk, FCEM Vice President and Host
The FCEM Spirit of Enterprise by the FCEM World President Francoise Foning
Message by FCEM General Secretary Etta Carignani

11.00 Speakers:
Ministry for Economy (to be announced)
- Allan Gibb, Great Britain,
- Dinah Bennett, Great Britain,
- Guriqbal Singh Jaiya, director of the WIPO SME Division
- Joelle Roge NGO Coordinator -WIPO
- Maria Cristina Pedicchio, Area Science Park Padriciano, Italy
- Mateja Mešl, Chamber of Commerce of Slovenia

12.30 Discussions and initiatives
13.30 – 14.30 Buffet lunch and networking
14.30 – 18.30 FCEM General Assembly
REGIONAL REPORTS AND WOMEN ENTREPRENEURSHIP INITIATIVES:
Africa
Asia and Pacific Rim
Europe
Americas
- Helena Collane, Ireland
- Representative from Estonia

Conclusions of the FCEM World Congress

Translation will be provided
During the whole day a showroom of products, services and business will be opened for visitors and media

19.00 Press Conference: FCEM World President Francoise Foning with FCEM 54th Congress Declaration
20.30 Gala Dinner (Yvonne Foinant prize, entertaining program)
Guests of Honor: President FCEM Françoise Foning, Honorary FCEM President FCEM with mandate Leyla Khaiat, Tinou Dutry Honored FCEM President, representatives of Slovenian Government, Representatives of Slovenian Business community, President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia Mr. Janez Sušnik, President of the Chamber of Industry and Trade, Mr. Jožko Èuk, Ambassadors and V.I.P.

Wednesday, 25th. October 2006 through 27th October
09.00 –Post conference program (varieties of offers will be announced later)

2. ADDITIONAL PROGRAM OF BUSINESS EXCHANGES AND EXHIBITION "GETTING TO KNOW YOU"
During these days a special match making program "GETTING TO KNOW YOU" will be going on in conjunction with the World Congress activities. This is where new and old member countries will get their chance to present most typical characteristics of their countries and their national representatives can stand up and talk about their businesses. This year we wish to encourage especially young women entrepreneurs to introduce their visions to each other and bring along showcases, CD presentations or presentations on video so that we can learn more about them and their businesses.

The exhibition will be opened during the Congress and will be moderated with help of our young members and students of economics or entrepreneurship. It is a good way to encourage matchmaking program and future partnerships and exchanges between members of FCEM.

3. PROGRAMME FOR ACCOMPANYING PERSONS (DURING THE CONGRESS)
A special program for delegates and accompanying persons offers following options:
· Sunday: half a day visit to Bled (Island, Castle, lunch in Radovljica)
· Monday: half a day visit to world famous caves Postojna and lunch at Lipica (famous Lipizzaner)
· Tuesday: visit to Portorose and Piran

The cost for each trip will be given on our second announcement.

4. THE POST CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
The Post-Conference program will begin on October 25th Wednesday, offering 3 full days for more opportunities for networking, friendship, and sightseeing.

The post-conference tour will show the best of Slovenia, by showing the sightseeing and offering several wellness programs that is conveniently situated between Austria, Hungary, Croatia and Italy, so we have many options.

5. CONFERENCE LANGUAGES
During the Steering Committee meeting simultaneous translation for English and French language will be provided.
During the President’s meeting (morning session) simultaneous translation for English and French language will be provided.
During the World Congress General Assembly ceremony, simultaneous translation in English, French and Slovenian language will be provided.

6. PARTICIPATION FEES
A. Participation fee for conference delegates (national presidents) is EUR 400 per person if paid after September 15 (see details about payments in advance)

The participation fee covers:
FOR DELEGATES TO THE FCEM BODIES (Steering Committee, National Presidents, Commissioners)

October 21st
- Registration bag with necessities and conference program
- Welcome receptionOctober 22nd
- Program for Regional Commissioners and Steering Committee
- Lunch for all participants
- Visit to the exhibition "GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Slovenian dinner with guests of honor (with folk songs and fashion show)October 23rd
Official World Congress The Future Belongs to the Enterprising October 23
- Gala Dinner with entertaining program

New apparel and baby formula available for parents looking for value and a “naturally” great selection

BENTONVILLE, Ark., April 13, 2006 – As consumer demand for organic products grows, Wal-Mart is expanding its organic baby product lineup. New additions to the retailer’s organic infant offerings are George Baby Organic Cotton apparel and Parent’s Choice® ORGANIC Infant Formula, both found exclusively at Wal-Mart. These products join Gerber Tender Harvest organic baby food already on shelves.

“We hope to make these products accessible to parents who might not have chosen organic in the past due to cost or availability,” says Beth Schommer, Wal-Mart’s divisional merchandise manager for infants and toddlers.

In fact, a recent survey commissioned by Wal-Mart found that 60 percent of parents are interested in organic options for their infants. Additionally, 74 percent said they would be more likely to purchase organic products for their infants if they were more readily available or more affordable.

“Moms spend untold hours researching products such as formula and clothing for their babies,” says Stephanie Gallagher, editor of TheShoppingMom.com and author of The Gallagher Guide to the Baby Years: The Real Moms’ Survey of Top-Rated Products and Advice. “My research has shown that moms are increasingly savvy on environmental issues and are very interested in organic infant products.”

Wal-Mart’s expanded organic product offering will provide parents with more options for their infants:

• Parent’s Choice® ORGANIC Infant Formula is the first organic infant formula available at a mass retailer. A wholesome alternative for parents who choose formula, Parent’s Choice is the first organic infant formula containing the lipids DHA and ARA, nutrients found naturally in mother’s milk proven to aid in infant brain and eye development.

• Wal-Mart George Baby Organic cotton clothing will be introduced in May 2006 and includes rompers, dresses, t-shirts and shorts for infants ages 0-9 months. The apparel is made with 100 percent certified organic cotton and features a flower and garden theme for girls and a playful jungle animal theme for boys.

• Gerber Tender Harvest organic baby food is currently sold at Wal-Mart stores and is available for babies in three stages:

- 1st Foods: Puréed, single-ingredient fruits and vegetables with just the right consistency to help babies learn to swallow solid food
– 2nd Foods: Adventurous multi-ingredient combinations for older babies
– 3rd Foods: Unique varieties with just the right texture for babies learning to chew and mash

About Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. operates Wal-Mart Stores, Supercenters, Neighborhood Markets and SAM’S CLUB locations in the United States. Internationally, the company operates in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the United Kingdom. The company’s securities are listed on the New York and Pacific stock exchanges under the symbol WMT.

More information:www.walmartfacts.com

Conference: May 5-8, 2007 | Exhibits: May 6-8, 2007
McCormick Place, Chicago, Illinois

From Big to Small, Organic was the Hot Topic in Chicago...
All Things Organic™ featured organic products galore
GREENFIELD, Mass. (May 16, 2006) — Organic companies from big to small and organic products from mass market entries to specialized niches were all the buzz with attendees at the 2006 All Things Organic™ Conference & Trade Show held at Chicago's McCormick Place May 6-9.

An estimated 30,000 retail buyers and other representatives of the mainstream and organic industry attended the co-located events (dubbed the Power of Five), including the Food Marketing Institute Show, the Spring Fancy Food Show®, United Produce Expo and Conference, and the U.S. Food Export Showcase. The buzz on the All Things Organic™ show floor surrounded the increased popularity of organic products, as well as the continued entry of new privately owned companies and their innovative organic offerings.

Even as major retailers and conventional food companies continue to increase their organic product offerings, it is estimated that 90 percent of the exhibitors at the 2006 All Things Organic™ Trade Show are privately held or family owned and operated.

"The Organic Trade Association is delighted to see that mainstream interest in organic products is increasing, and that there are plenty of smaller, private companies joining the organic business community and growing with the market," said Caren Wilcox, executive director for the Organic Trade Association. "From fine foods to handmade soaps, clothing and other household products, the world of organic products continues to grow with innovative entries each year."

Retailers from big box stores to small mom and pop shops, distributors, wholesalers, importers/exporters and manufacturers seeking organic ingredients all scouted All Things Organic™ for the newest and most exciting products As more and more organic products are becoming accessible to the mainstream consumer, the tide is shifting to organic foods as everyday purchases. Meanwhile, the introduction of organic fiber and other organic products for the home continues to grow at a steady rate.

more info: http://www.organicexpo.com/07/public/enter.aspx

Cairo, Egypt - 05/11/06

During the Global Summit of Women, the EVE-olution Foundation presented it's mission to 27 chineses entrepreneurs. Next August a small delagation of volonteers will start a feasiblity study to develop services for chinese women entrepreneurs to network and negociate in English.

Ref: corney
email: foundation at eve-olution dot org

We are looking for entrepreneurs associations in rural areas in your country, if you know some of them be nice enought send us an email with their details (email, fax, telephone,...)

foundation at eve-olution dot org

We are looking for internet volonteers with business background, fluent in English. Please contact foundation at eve-olution dot org

Sife World Cup 2006: 11-13 September Paris, France

EVE-OLUTION FOUNDATION Board is invited by Sife Chile to attend the Sife World Cup held in Paris. This will be the opportunity to detect new sustainble businesses and fair trade initatives.

SIFE is a global non-profit organization active in more than 40 countries. SIFE is funded by financial contributions from corporations, entrepreneurs, foundations, government agencies and individuals. Working in partnership with business and higher education, SIFE establishes student teams on university campuses. These teams are led by faculty advisors and they are challenged to develop community outreach projects that reach SIFE's five educational topics:

Market Economics
Success Skills
Entrepreneurship
Financial Literacy
Business Ethics

SIFE team members leverage their personal educational experiences, the expertise of their faculty advisors, the support of their local business advisory boards, and the resources of their institutions to implement programs that create real economic opportunities for members of their communities. The effectiveness of their programs is judged at competition. Each national SIFE organization conducts a national competition, which is judged by leaders from its business community. At competition, SIFE teams present the results of their educational outreach projects and compete to determine which team was most successful at creating economic opportunity for others. SIFE National Champion teams advance to the top level of competition, the SIFE World Cup.

A formal meeting on 1 July 2006 of the Trade Negotiations Committee, which comprises the entire WTO membership, brought to an end about three days of discussions among a representative group of ministers. No progress was made in trying to narrow the gaps on formulas for reducing tariffs and subsidies, various flexibilities, and other disciplines that would be in the “modalities”.

Members agreed that Mr Lamy should consult members intensively and widely in order to establish “modalities” urgently — the term several used was to “facilitate” and act as a “catalyst”. He agreed with them that members will remain the main actors, and the principles will continue to be “bottom-up” (input coming from members rather than from above), transparent and include all members. The consultations will be based on the draft texts in agriculture and non-agricultural market access. The director-general will report back to the members as soon as possible.

In statements, members said they remain committed to completing the negotiations by the end of the year.

The “modalities” are needed so that countries can list their new commitments to reduce tariffs on thousands of products and to cut farm subsidies. The lists will be in documents known as “schedules” that will run to several hundred pages per country and to tens of thousands of pages for the whole membership. These lists will take several months for each member to compile and in each case for other members to examine and possibly negotiate.

“I will not beat about the bush,” Mr Lamy told delegates in an informal meeting that immediately preceded the formal meeting. “We are now in a crisis. We are far from the necessary convergence to be able to establish modalities in agriculture and NAMA [non-agricultural market access], despite all the hard work put in by everyone.”

He reported that he had continued consultations since the informal meeting on 30 June with delegations, coalitions and the group of six key players known as the G-6 (Australia, Brazil, the EU, India, Japan and the US).

“However, the fear that I expressed for you yesterday — that a real negotiation might not take place — seems to be the reality facing us. This is serious, not only for the agriculture and industrial tariffs, but also obviously for the round as a whole if we want to conclude it by the end of this year.”

The news was not all bad. Mr Lamy said he had witnessed no acrimony in his consultations. And “no one … appears to want to throw in the towel. Everyone is still committed to finishing the round this year. Everybody agrees with this deadline. So the question now facing us is how we deal with the situation.”

Shuttle diplomacy, high level contacts, use of modern communications and testing numbers lie ahead for the director-general, he told a press conference afterwards. The gaps are not unbridgeable and there is no panic despite the crisis, he said.

Asked about timing, Mr Lamy said he had just received the mandate and would reflect on how to proceed. “I’m in a hurry and if the G-6 members are also in a hurry, so much the better,” he told journalists.

Asked whether he will produce a draft text, he replied that there is enough text on the table — what is needed is numbers.

Members’ comments

In the informal and formal meeting, members supported the proposal for the director-general to mediate, some stressing that the process should be “bottom-up”, transparent, inclusive and based on the chairs’ drafts.

Some emphasized the need for major players, particularly the G-6 to show leadership by moving towards consensus first. Several said they had come to Geneva ready to negotiate and were disappointed that major players did not move.

Others stressed their view that the consultations should not focus only on the G-6, and that all major issues should be covered, not only the “triangle” of market access and domestic support in agriculture and industrial market access.

Many countries stressed the issues that concern them most, from the desire for an ambitious outcome, to an agreement that contains flexibility for the vulnerable. Either way, these members said their objectives were for “development”.

One developing country blamed the deadlock partly on divergent views about the meaning of “development” itself. Some see trade as causing factories to close and workers to lose jobs, while others see it as the engine of growth, this country observed.

Some argued that despite the continuing deadlock, the differences are narrow enough for agreement to be within reach.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO PLAY GROWING ROLE IN WORLD AGRICULTURAL TRADE - UN REPORT
New York, Jul 5 2006 10:00AM
Although farm production is expanding faster in developing countries than in developed economies, the poorest nations will be increasingly dependent on world markets and thus more vulnerable to price fluctuations because their own growth is not keeping pace with their population increase, according to a new United Nation report.

The joint study by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the 30-member Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) of industrialized nations calls for greater investment in education, training and infrastructure in these countries to improve production capacity.

Brazil, India and China are increasingly important in shaping the future of world agricultural trade, according to the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2006-2015.

In developing countries as a whole rising incomes and increasing urbanization are changing people's diets, leading to greater demand for and imports of meat and processed foods in particular, but also for the animal feed needed for their production.

Growing market opportunities in certain developing countries are coupled with a shift in production and exports of farm commodities away from OECD countries towards other developing economies. This is expected to increase over the next 10 years and as a result global competition among exporters will get tougher, the report says.

The traditional main wheat exporters - Argentina, Australia, Canada, the European Union (EU) and the United States - are likely to maintain their dominant positions, but output from Ukraine and Kazakhstan is creating growing competition. The US is expected to remain the largest wheat exporter in coming years but its market share is likely to fall.

Similar trends prevail in other commodity markets, with rapidly growing exports from Latin American countries in particular. Global average yields for wheat and coarse grains like maize should rise by around 1 per cent a year between 2006 and 2015. Wheat and coarse grain output by 2015 is expected to be 13 per cent and 18 per cent higher respectively than in 2005.

With likely strong energy prices, production of bioenergy from coarse grains and other cereals, oilseeds and sugar is expected to grow, creating additional demand, especially for coarse grains to produce bio-diesel as a substitute for oil-based fossil fuels.

International meat markets are expected to grow in the medium term, but they remain vulnerable to animal disease outbreaks in key supplying countries. Potential further outbreaks of BSE (mad cow disease), foot-and-mouth disease, and bird flu will challenge markets and affect trading patterns, requiring greater international cooperation.

Productivity growth and increased competition in international trade are expected to offset rising demand, and world agricultural commodity prices, adjusted for inflation, are mostly expected to continue their long-term decline, albeit slowly, towards 2015.
2006-07-05 00:00:00.000

________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

W.I.N. 2006 Global Forum, Rome - Italy

The 9th edition of the annual global forum providing women leaders with the special vision, strategies, environment and skills needed to succeed in today's world aims to attract 500 leaders from around the world for three intensive days of inspiration, benchmarking, learning, sharing and celebration.

more information on : www.winconference.net

June 10-12, 2006:
2006 Global Summit of Women , "The Davos for Women", Cairo, Egypt

Informally, called the “Davos for Women” by past participants, the Summit has developed a reputation as a gathering of high caliber participants: for fifteen years, the Global Summit of Women has celebrated women’s leadership by bringing together outstanding women business, professional, and governmental leaders from around all corners of the globe. Prior Summits were hosted by Montreal, Canada (’90); Dublin, Ireland (’92); Taipei, Taiwan (’94); Miami, Florida (’97); London, U.K. (’98); Buenos Aires, Argentina (’99); Johannesburg, South Africa (’00); Hong Kong S.A.R. (’01); Barcelona, Spain (’02), Marrakech, Morocco ('03), Seoul, Republic of Korea (04)and most recently, Mexico City, Mexico (05). The 2006 Summit will take place June 10-12 in Cairo, Egypt. The Summit focuses on accelerating women’s economic development through the effective use of technology, and maximizing the benefit of cross-border business alliances.

The Summit also features a pre-Summit ministerial roundtable, which brings together women ministers of varied portfolios to discuss policies that have positively impacted women’s economic status in their own countries.

Summit outcomes have ranged from the formation of national and regional networks to the launch of numerous successful business initiatives to less tangible results, including the exchange of creative ideas and best practices that have inspired and energized Summit participants -- the women who are increasingly driving the global economy.

To register: http://www.globewomen.com

According to a recent survey, half of Americans ages 50 to 70 say they are interested in taking jobs that will help improve the quality of life in their communities. Once again, members of the baby-boom generation are transforming society to satisfy their own needs. More than one third of Americans say they expect to do some kind of part-time work after they retire, compared with 6 percent of respondents in France and 10 percent in the Netherlands.

A rapidly growing number of people over 50 are thinking of retirement not as a time to quit work entirely but as a chance to switch to work that better suits them and is more fulfilling. According to a recent survey, half of Americans ages 50 to 70 say they are interested in taking jobs that will help improve the quality of life in their communities.
Most companies don't yet offer flexible scheduling, retraining at midcareer, or other perks that might attract or retain 50-plus workers, according to a 2005 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in Alexandria, Virginia.
In fact, too many executives still have outdated attitudes about what workers over 50 bring to their jobs. Nevertheless, these outdated attitudes are changing as an increasing number of government agencies, not-for-profit organizations, and private companies are finding that welcoming 50-plus workers gives them powerful advantages.
Once again, members of the baby-boom generation are transforming society to satisfy their own needs. Seventy-seven million strong, boomers are one quarter of the U.S. population packed into an 18-year birth cohort. This year baby boomers are between the ages of 41 and 59, and according to an AARP survey released last year ("Boomers Envision Retirement II"), some 80 percent of them plan to work after retiring. Looking forward, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics has projected that the number of employed Americans ages 55 to 64 will increase by 51 percent between 2002 and 2012, while the number ages 65 to 74 will increase by 48 percent. In 2002 about one in seven employed Americans was 55 or older; in 2012 that share will be close to one in five.
Americans may also be the world's workaholics. Only 14 percent of respondents in the U.S. say they expect to stop working completely when they retire, compared with 30 percent in the United Kingdom and 53 percent in Italy, according to a survey conducted in June 2005 by Harris Interactive for AARP's Global Aging program ("International Retirement Security Survey"). More than one third of Americans say they expect to do some kind of part-time work, compared with 6 percent of respondents in France and 10 percent in the Netherlands.

www.aarpmagazine.com

"Engagement" is the buzzword. Increased longetivity has been accompanied by a different way of looking at aging. The growing number of working seniors is making life a bit more challenging for those who wanted to spend their golden years on an endless vacation.

The fact is‚ no one touts sitting in a rocking chair anymore. "Engagement" is the buzzword on the lips of gerontologists and marketers eager to serve 78 million baby boomers in the coming years‚ 38 million of whom are approaching retirement now. Increased longevity has been accompanied by a cultural shift‚ a different way of looking at aging that supports the choices made by retirees and working seniors.

Rupert Murdoch‚ Clint Eastwood‚ Donald Rumsfeld and Roy Romer are all still working past age 73 and seem disinclined to stop. This fraternity of high–profile‚ hard–charging septuagenarians‚ as well as millions of lesser–known working seniors‚ are making life a bit more challenging for the graying flock that looked forward to spending their golden years on an endless vacation.
Both people who have retired and those who have not admit to being concerned with their image. It's the symbolism that makes them reluctant to retire.

(For men‚ aging's a Type–A war zone‚ LATimes‚ Oct.30)

Active engagement rather than the traditional philanthropy or volunteering appeals to Senior Boomers. The educated and affluent are more likely to want post-retirement service positions. About half of those surveyed are very or somewhat interested in taking a paying job.

According to a survey by the MetLife Foundation and Civic Ventures, the generation that marched in Washington in the 1960s will soon be marching into hospitals, schools and homeless shelters seeking opportunities to serve.
The activists who staffed the civil rights and women's movements four decades ago now want to eradicate diseases, transform education or alleviate global poverty.
Americans of all ages increasingly express their desire to perform some sort of service to their communities and nation. But those who came of age in the 1960s lead the charge.
Baby boomers' parents were the first to use post-World War II child-centered philosophies which made boomers feel they could be anything and do anything, including change America in the 1960s.
People who were told from birth about their own significance are not ready to stop being significant just because they have hit a career ceiling called retirement age.
A majority of Americans between the ages of 50 and 70 want to benefit their communities by helping the poor, elderly, children, the arts or the environment.
Leading edge boomers, 50-59 years old, are the most emphatic. Among those who say they will never retire, nearly two-thirds are interested in a service career.
The survey makes clear that active engagement rather than the traditional philanthropy or volunteering appeals to Senior Boomers. The boomers still want to change the world.
Significance is the big driving force.
The Boston Herald (Boom era to serve : You're never too old to change world ; 17/08/2005) reports that the educated and affluent are more likely to want post-retirement service positions.
About half of those surveyed are very or somewhat interested in taking a paying job. A paycheck is a proxy for significance in a nation in which income is equated with success, and only paid work is taken seriously.
"Connection" and "sense of purpose" loom large as reasons why all 50-to-70-year-olds want to get involved in their communities – even more so for boomer women. These motivations drive boomers toward roles with leadership potential.
Colleges and universities could find a new market in giving accomplished Americans of traditional retirement age the added skills or credentials to leap from business careers into human service and community leadership.
Hospitals, schools, museums and community agencies could find an experienced work force.
The Senior Boomers' biggest impact will be on eliminating the term retirement and inventing a new stage of life, one with community service at the core.
That could indeed change the world.

www.bostonherald.com

EVE-olution Foundation registered as a Partnership for Sustainable
Development ( 09/26/2003 )
The EVE-olution Foundation, Inc., a U.S. based international not for profit
organization committed to empowering women entrepreneurs in developing
nations by utilizing a worldwide network of retired successful executives
as "coaches" was registered as a Partnership for Sustainable development in
the UN Commission on Sustainable Development's Partnerships Database.

You can find our record in the CSD Partnerships Database:
http://webapps01.un.org/dsd/partnerships/search/partnerships/826.html

28 Feb 2005 EVE-olution Foundation at the 49th Commission of the Status of Women Building Bridges Between Women Entrepreneurs Worldwide

*** NY from the 28th Feb-11 March 2005 ****

EVE-olution Foundation invited women entrepreneurs to attend women entrepreneurs gathering with the participation of

the UNIFEM and the Global Compact
website UNIFEM: http://www.unifem.org
webside Global Compact: http://www.unglobalcompact.org
webside EVE-olution Foundation: http://www.eve-olution.org

Women entrepreneurs's caucus will start after this session
for more information foundation@eve-olution.org

Global Summit of Women 2005
Mexico City, Mexico
June 23-25, 2005

"LEADING THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY"

Join the premier gathering of women business, professional and
governmental leaders from around the globe to advance women's
economic and entrepreneurial progress worldwide

2005 Program Topics
THEME: LEADING THE 21ST CENTURY ECONOMY

PLENARY SESSIONS

Social and Economic Profile of Women of Latin America
Market Opportunities in Mexico and Latin America
Luncheon Program 1: Report from Ministerial Roundtable: Public/Private Sector Partnerships
Luncheon Program 2: Defining Business Leadership
Corporate Best Practices: Creating a Level Playing Field for Women
Women CEOs: Challenges of the 21st Century Economy

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

Entrepreneurial Track

Innovative Marketing Through the Web
Learning from Business Failures
Exporting Successfully
Branding: The Importance of a Brand

Microenterprise Track

Innovative Financing
Finding Mainstream Markets for Microenterprise Products
Has Microcredit Met its Goals?
Internet-Based Marketing of Microenterprise Products

Leadership Development Track

Health Care and the Busy Professional: Successfully Managing Risks
Leading the World’s Companies: Women and Corporate Boards
Negotiating Effectively
Effective Communication Skills: Marketing Yourself

Issues Track

Women in Technology: Paths to Success
Survival Skills in a Changing Corporate Culture
Growing the Next Generation of Women Entrepreneurs
In a Technological World, Protecting Our Products and Ideas

APEC 2004 will be held in venues throughout the Chilean territory. Most of them will take place in the mainland, from Arica in the northern desert to Punta Arenas in the southern fjords – embracing the country’s 4,300 kilometers. One will be held in Chile's furthermost posession, the unique Easter Island

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) was established in 1989 in response to the growing interdependence among Asia-Pacific economies.
Starting out as an informal dialogue group, APEC has now become the primary regional vehicle for promoting open trade and practical economic cooperation. Its goal is to advance Asia-Pacific economic dynamism and sense of community.

APEC has 21 members - referred to as "Member Economies" - which account for more than 2.5 billion people, a combined GDP of 19 trillion US dollars and 47% of world trade. It also proudly represents the most economically dynamic region in the world having generated nearly 70% of global economic growth in its first 10 years.

For more information: : www.apec.org

Schedule of meetings:
http://www.apec2004.cl/index.asp?CatID=15&;idioma=ing

WOMEN STILL EXCLUDED FROM PEACE TABLE DESPITE THEIR PIVOTAL ROLE, SAYS ANNAN

New York, Oct 28 2004 5:00PM

Women remain overwhelmingly excluded from participating in peace talks and post-conflict reconstruction, and continue to suffer physical and sexual violence during war, Secretary-General Kofi Annan says in a report on women, peace and security.

Mr. Annan's
"http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2004/814"; report,
discussed in the Security Council today, says gender perspectives are not systematically included in the planning, implementation, monitoring and reporting of any area of peace and security work.

Even though women can play a crucial role in identifying and defusing tensions before they turn into open hostilities, too often they are ignored at the peace table, Mr. Annan says.

"The number of women who participate in formal peace processes remains small," according to the report. "The leadership of parties to conflict is male-dominated and men are chosen to participate at the peace table. The desire to bring peace at any cost may result in a failure to involve women and consider their needs and concerns."

The Secretary-General cites many examples of women's movements
contributing to peace processes in recent years, including in Liberia, Northern Ireland, Colombia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

The report has been issued to measure the progress achieved since the Council adopted a resolution in 2000 that called for women to have equal participation in peace-building efforts and spotlighted the violence and abuse suffered by women and girls during conflicts.

Mr. Annan says that violence against women continues unabated and describes the international community's collective response on the issue as inadequate.

"The facts on the ground point to our collective failure in preventing such violence and protecting women and girls from the horrors of gender-based violence and heinous violations of international human rights, criminal and humanitarian law."

State military organizations and rebel groups are both responsible for violations, he adds, including murders, rapes, abductions, torture and acts of sexual slavery. Some of the worst examples have occurred in Sudan's Darfur region, Afghanistan and Burundi, the report says.

The fact that UN personnel have also been involved in abuse cases, such as in the DRC, "is particularly abhorrent and unacceptable."
Mr. Annan says courts and tribunals such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) show that there are ways to punish people who commit these kinds of crimes against women, but governments must be willing to play their part and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Secretary-General says there have been some positive signs in the four years since the passage of the Council resolution, including a greater global understanding of the specific impact of war on women and girls and the important role that women can play in resolving conflicts and re-establishing peace.

WASHINGTON -- October 21 -- People are consuming the earth's natural resources 20 percent faster than nature can renew them-a dangerous imbalance that is fueling the loss of species and may lead to critical resource shortages in the years ahead, according to a World Wildlife Fund study released on Thursday.

Driven largely by energy and materials consumption in the United States and other industrialized nations, the size of humanity's "ecological footprint," as measured by the amount of natural resources we consume, has increased 2.5 times over the past 40 years, while key environmental values have declined by similar amounts.

The finding is one of several alarming trends documented in the 2004 edition of WWF's Living Planet Report, an index that tracks species abundance and human resource use around the globe.

The world has some 28 billion acres of productive land and ocean to meet the needs of 6.3 billion people-an average of 4.4 acres per person. At current rates of consumption, however, the global ecological footprint requires an average of 5.4 acres' productivity per person-roughly 20 percent more than what can be sustained today's levels.

"We are spending nature's capital much faster than it can be regenerated. Collectively, we are bequeathing to our children the most dangerous budget deficit of all, an ecological debt of growing proportions," said Richard Mott, WWF's Vice President for International Policy.

While this year's "ecological footprint" of 5.4 acres represents a global average, the report also documents how consumption rates vary region by region and country by country. Americans, for instance, have an ecological footprint of 23.5 because it takes that may acres of land and sea space to produce what the average American consumes in natural resources every year. The average African, by contrast, consumes less than 2.5 acres of resources per year.

Energy consumption, particularly in the U.S. but also in western Europe, accounts for much of the imbalance. The energy component of the footprint, dominated by use of non-renewable fossil fuels such as oil, coal and gas, increased nearly 700 percent in the 40-year period surveyed, from 1961 to 2001.

In addition to measuring consumption, the Living Planet Report also contains a unique index that tracks population trends for more than 1,100 terrestrial, freshwater and marine species. The latest Living Planet Index tracks a continuing decline in these species, whose numbers have fallen by about 40 percent between 1970 and 2000. Freshwater species suffered the most, declining by about 50 percent, while terrestrial and marine species fell by about 30 percent.

"The impact of our consumption, or ecological footprint, on the vanishing species tracked by the Living Planet Index is powerfully clear," said Mott. "Our challenge as a society is to find ways to live within the planet's carrying capacity, and to do so before it is too late."

The report outlines a number of recommendations for doing so while still maintaining a high standard of living. They include switching to renewable and non-polluting alternative energies to reduce global warming, creating more comprehensive recycling and waste reduction programs, encouraging more public transportation and implementing building and product design innovations that can lead to much greater energy efficiencies than at present.

"Sustainable living is not incompatible with a high standard of living," added Mott, "if we begin making the right choices now."

CONTACT: WWF
Michael Ross of World Wildlife Fund, 202-778-9565 or michael.ross@wwfus.org

Outcome of Agriculture/Fisheries Council of October 2004
Agriculture

MEMO/04/241

Brussels, 19 October 2004

Outcome of Agriculture/Fisheries Council of October 2004
Agriculture

Fruit and vegetables

The Council held an orientation debate on the fruit and vegetables market organisation. Commissioner Fischler observed that there was a consensus to continue on the path started with the reform of 1996. For transformed products, the Commissioner said that the picture was less clear and a deepened analysis was needed. Regarding crisis management, he pointed out that the Commission was actually working on a communication covering all sectors which could also be useful for the fruit and veg sector. He showed himself sceptical vis-à-vis suggestions to introduce specific promotion tools in this sector, taking into account that horizontal promotion tools already exist.

Organic Action Plan

The Council adopted conclusions to kick-start the action plan for organic farming. Welcoming the decision, Mr Fischler said “The fact that Council shares our analysis of the situation illustrates that we have now a solid and workable platform on which to build organic farming policy. I have consistently maintained that organic farming, with its focus on care for the environment, high standards of animal welfare, and production of higher-value added quality foods tailored to consumer demands, should occupy a central place in the new CAP. And with these Conclusions, you give the Commission the necessary support to do our part of the job. I also note with satisfaction the explicit support for measures to improve consumer confidence and the functioning of the internal market.”

WTO DDA

Commissioner Fischler informed Ministers about the recent state of play of the Doha Round. “The framework decided on 1 August in Geneva locks in the recent reforms of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Overall levels of the most trade distorting domestic support will have to be substantially reduced and down payment of 20% of this reduction is foreseen in the first year of the implementation of the agreement. The Blue Box and the Green Box have been preserved. Now technical discussions have started in order to prepare an agreement on more detailed modalities in Hongkong end 2005.”

Mercosur negotiations

The Commissioner have an update on the EU-Mercosur negotiations. Mercosur unilaterally presented a new offer on 24 September. “Unfortunately, the offer turned out to be degraded in global terms compared to the offer from May this year.

In Mercosur’s offer on agriculture, there were some disappointing elements such as Mercosur coming back to the issue of EU internal subsidies, the refusal of all elements which would protect geographical indications and the back-stepping in market access conditions for some EU key export products. Consequently, the EU side decided to reciprocate by presenting an offer meeting the same level of ambition as the Mercosur offer (i.e. a reduced offer). In agriculture, our offer has also been reduced in certain areas. No increase was made in the tariff quota volumes. We will now see whether the Ministerial Meeting in Lisbon on 20 October will lead to progress.”, the Commissioner underlined.

Rice imports

Mr. Fischler updated his colleagues on the state of play of the new import regime for rice under GATT Article XXVIII. The new regime adopted in July is now in force as from 1 September and is based on a duty of 65 €/t for husked rice and 175 €/t for milled rice.During the negotiations, it was possible to conclude an agreement with India and Pakistan, but not with the other two partners having rights in the negotiations, i.e. the USA and Thailand. “We will therefore pursue the negotiations with both countries in order to arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement, bearing in mind the sensitiveness of both our producers and our importers.”, he stated.

Wine agreement with US

Informing the Council about the latest developments regarding the EU/US negotiations to conclude a wine and spirits agreement, Commissioner Fischler recalled that the objective of the current negotiations was to agree on an agreement which will be a first step agreement. “This means that the level of ambition of this first step agreement cannot and should not be compared to other important bilateral negotiations on trade in wine in which the EU is currently engaged. The negotiations on the conclusion of an agreement on trade in wine resumed in September 2004. The discussion so far has been rather constructive. And the Commission will continue these talks. We are aiming at consolidating progress made so far and resolving outstanding issues with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable first step agreement as soon as possible.”, he pointed out.

Bananas

The Commission said that following the adoption by the Council of the GATT Article XXVIII mandate to negotiate the move to tariff only for bananas in the WTO on 12 July, the Commission have proceeded immediately with the relevant notification to the WTO. “We intend to start discussions with Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia and Panama on Article XXIV.6 to discuss compensation for enlargement and on Article XXVIII for the move to tariff-only, in the coming weeks.”, Mr. Fischler explained.

US Bioterrorism Act

Commissioner Fischler made clear that while the Commission shared the overriding objective to improve the security of citizens by preventing bio-terrorist acts, it believed that there were other ways of reaching this objective without impeding trade. He said that the Commission will continue to follow this issue closely with a view to having a clear picture of actual impact on EU trade in foodstuffs.”, he said.

School milk

As to the discussion on changing the current school milk regime, Mr. Fischler pointed out that there was a review four years ago which led to skimmed milk products and yoghurts being made eligible for the EU subsidy and a new calculation of the subsidy putting more emphasis on the protein content of milk products instead of on fat. “From the Commission’s point of view, the health aspects have already been addressed and there are no obstacles to offer low fat products to schools under the scheme. Although I understand the Danish point of view, I believe that the only objective basis to fix the aid amounts is to base ourselves on the value of the milk components of the products concerned. Any other criteria would be arbitrary and be contrary to the general principles in our market organisations.”, the Commissioner underlined.

Implementation of CAP reform

The negotiations on the CAP reform resulted in June 2003 in various decoupling models: the historical model (the one proposed by the Commission), the regional model and within the regional model the so-called hybrid model (requested by some Member States) where regional and historic elements can be combined. In certain exceptional cases under the hybrid model (chosen by some Member States, including Denmark), there is the possibility to concentrate the individually allocated historical payments (payments received during the reference period 2000-2002) on very few hectares (the hectares declared by the farmer the first year of application of the Single Payment Scheme). It is clear that such practices would not be desirable. However, there are instruments in place to keep such practices under control.

Export refunds for cereals

Regarding Hungary’s request for a special export tender for wheat, Mr. Fischler acknowledged that the surplus situation is particularly serious in Hungary and other Central European Member States, where historical record harvest were attained. However, Fischler said that the Commission could not accept the requests to open a special export. “We have a Single Market and the heavy surplus situation is rather the norm than the exception. There is no justification to single out Hungary or any other Central Europe Member State in this context. Moreover, EU wheat is competitive internationally. The Commission accepts however that such crop levels may cause some disturbance in the organisation of cereal storage. That is why the Commission put forward a proposal to accept the Hungarian requests linked to payment of transport costs from intervention stocks to the Romanian port of Constanza. Furthermore, the Commission is also preparing a proposal to the Council adopting favourable conditions for reimbursement of intervention storage costs.”, Mr. Fischler stated.

State aids for Lithuanian fruit producers

Last week the Lithuanian authorities have notified to the Commission a project of State aid aimed at compensating the damages suffered by owners of apple orchards, strawberry and black currant plantations in the areas affected by spring frosts which occurred in May 2004.

Mr. Fischler explained that the services of the Commission were examining this measure in co-operation with the Lithuanian authorities.

Co-existence

Mr. Fischler welcomed the recent adoption by the Danish Parliament of national legislation for the co-existence of genetically modified crops with conventional and organic agriculture. The Danish law, which has recently been formally notified to the Commission, is currently being inspected by the Commission services. As regards the Task Force for co-existence he stressed that the Commission was strongly committed to help Member States in their process of developing national approaches to co-existence. “The Commission is currently in the preparation of setting up a coordination network among the Member States. Even though I believe that co-existence is best addressed on a national or regional level, this does not mean that everybody has to re-invent the wheel. The network will provide the means for mediating the exchange of information on best practices and scientific results obtained by the Member States.”

Concerning the labelling thresholds for the adventitious presence of GM seeds in conventional seed lots, the Commissioner explained that since no thresholds for the adventitious presence of GMOs in conventional seed lots have been established, any seed lot containing GM seeds authorised for the cultivation in the EU has to be labelled as containing GMOs. Seed lots containing GM seeds that are not authorised for cultivation, can not be marketed in the EU.

Fisheries

Commissioner Fischler spoke briefly about the early indications from the latest scientific advice from the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES). This advice on fishing possibilities for 2005, which is yet to be finalised, seems to provide both good news and bad news. The Commission will carefully examine the scientific advice in detail once it has been finalised and published. It is committed to engaging in a dialogue with the fisheries sector on this issue and will be looking to hear ideas on how to ensure stable and sustainable fisheries for the future.

Proposal for a Council Regulation establishing a Community Fisheries Control Agency and amending Regulation (EC) N° 2847/93 establishing a control system applicable to the Common Fisheries Policy

The Council held a policy debate on the Commission proposal to establish a Community Fisheries Control Agency as a key part of the EU drive to improve compliance with the fisheries rules under the 2002 reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. The debate was organised around the five following topics:

The extent of the Agency's tasks and the balance between these tasks. The proposed task of the Agency is to provide support to Member States in fulfilling their monitoring and control obligations in EU waters, within the framework of EU bilateral fisheries agreements as well as of international control and inspection schemes within Regional Fisheries Organisations. This would be done by organising the joint deployment of the means of control and inspection in the Member States on the basis of an agreed EU strategy. Joint Deployment Plans (JDPs) would be developed.
How to take account of the specificities of monitoring and control in the various geographical areas covered by the CFP. Under the Commission proposal, a specific monitoring programme has to be developed before a Joint Deployment Plan is adopted by the Agency.
Member States would be directly involved in the development of this programme which should include a definition of the objectives, the measures to be implemented and the strategy required to ensure that the inspections concerned are as effective and economical as possible.

The decision-making procedure on the Joint Deployment Plans. The Commission has proposed that JDPs be prepared by the Agency in co-ordination with the Member States concerned and adopted by the Agency. However, a JDP could only be adopted by the Agency if it has been included in the annual work programme established by the Agency's Administrative Board.
The extent of the powers of the inspectors from the Member States assigned to multi-national inspection teams in the context of a Joint Deployment Plan. Under the Commission proposal, a list of inspectors from the Member States concerned authorised to carry out inspections in Community waters and on Community fishing vessels would be established for the implementation of the Joint Deployment Plans. Commission inspectors would only join such teams in the context of their responsibility to ensure that the inspections carried out by the Member States are in compliance with CFP rules.
The composition and voting rights in the Agency's Administrative Board. The Commission recalled that the proposed composition and voting rights of the administrative board were based on the necessity to strike a balance between the part played by the Member States and the need to ensure that the Agency acts in the interest of the Community.
The Council stated its support for the creation of the Agency as a tool to make enforcement of CFP rules more effective and uniform. Questions focused on the need for more clarity in the decision-making process on the setting up of Joint Deployment Plans and on the proposed composition and voting rights of the Agency. Work will continue on these issues.

Bilateral Agreement EU-Norway

Commissioner Fischler informed the Council that early indications showed that a number of changes in the annual EU swap of fishing possibilities with Norway will be necessary for next year. This, he warned, would make negotiations with Norway more difficult than in previous years.

This swap, based on agreed values in "cod equivalent" for each of the species of fish to be transferred between the two Parties, is balanced as the fishing possibilities transferred from Norway to the EU are equal to the transfers from the EU to Norway.

From the initial indications of the latest scientific advice, it will be more difficult to reach a balance for next year due to expected significant reductions in certain fisheries both in EU waters and in the waters of Greenland under the EU/Greenland bilateral fisheries agreement. Part of the fishing possibilities allocated to the EU under this agreement have traditionally been transferred to Norway in exchange for fishing possibilities for EU vessels in Norwegian waters.

The Commission is anxious for agreement to be reached before the end of the year so that EU fishermen operating in Norwegian waters can start fishing in January 2005. It stressed the need for all Member States concerned to be prepared to share the burden of the current situation in order to ensure a sustainable and balanced arrangement with Norway for 2005.

Underlining the fact that this was a separate issue, Mr Fischler regretted the lack of co-operation on the part of Norway in two areas of interest to the two Parties. First, there is the continued reluctance in Norway’s part to reach agreement on a much needed arrangement on the management of the blue whiting fishery.

Recalling the sustained EU efforts in this area, Mr Fischler also pointed out that while the EU had kept its catches of blue whiting under strict control over the past few years, Norway had not had regulatory measures in place and consequently had tripled its catches. This, he said, was unfair to the EU.

He also regretted Norway’s decision to discontinue the coastal states agreement on Atlanto-Scandian herring and its refusal to renew the 2003 bilateral agreement on this stock for 2004. Furthermore, Norway had banned landings of Atlanto-Scandian herring by EU vessels in 2004.

Mr Fischler reiterated the Commission’s willingness to show flexibility on all these issues but stressed that to be successful there had to be a desire on both sides to find a solution.

Proposals for Council Regulations establishing measures for the recovery of a) the Southern hake and Norway lobster stocks in the Cantabrian Sea

and Western Iberian peninsula and amending Regulation (EC)

N° 850/98

b) the sole stocks in the Western Channel and the Bay of Biscay

The Council held a policy debate on the Commission proposals for these two recovery plans. The Commission reminded Council that southern hake was a fundamental species in the Iberian Peninsula. Though it did not represent a high percentage of total catches in the mixed fisheries in this region, it was an indicator of the general state of demersal resources (living close to the sea floor) around the Iberian Peninsula. Norway lobster had to be given particular attention and be subject to specific measures over and beyond those in place for southern hake in this area, too.

Sole in the Bay of Biscay and in the western Channel are depleted stocks. However, the provisional scientific advice seems to indicate that ICES would not view the Bay of Biscay sole as a recovery stock. In the light of this and other information, it may be that the proposed recovery plans could be replaced by long-term management plans.

Miscellaneous

Consequences of the increase of oil prices on fisheries

The French Delegation wished to draw the attention of the Council to the consequences of the substantial increase in oil prices on the economic situation of fishing enterprises. It also called for measures to be taken at the European level to alleviate the difficulties faced by the fisheries sector. It provided details of the measures that France is to take in favour of the French sector.

While acknowledging these difficulties, the Commission reminded the Council that any State aid towards the running costs of enterprises is incompatible with the EU Treaty. As fishing fleets from different Member States fish on the same fishing grounds and supply a common market, any operational aid would particularly distort competition. Moreover, the effects of the increase in oil prices are felt world-wide and affect all fishing industries.

Only restructuring aid, involving a plan to reduce fleet capacity, could be allowed. Apart from that, aid for social purposes is, of course, always possible, including with EU co-financing under the FIFG.

Fisheries Agreement EU-Angola

The Spanish Delegation wished to convey Spain’s concern regarding the difficulty facing the EU fleet which used to operate in Angolan waters under the Fisheries Agreement between the EU and Angola. The latest protocol to this Agreement expired last August. Negotiations with the Angolan authorities with a view to concluding a new fisheries protocol have hitherto not been successful. The Spanish Delegation raised the question of compensation for the fleets concerned if negotiations failed.

Recapping on the negotiations so far, Mr Fischler pointed out that Angola’s Fisheries Minister had expressed confidence in reaching agreement on a new protocol. Angola had also announced that is was preparing a new proposal which would provide a basis on which to continue negotiations.

More information on: http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture

Congratulation Wangari Maathai

EVE-olution Foundation share with you the same goal, congratulation from our volunteers who understand your words and share your action:

"I don't really know why I care so much. I just have something inside me that tells me that there is a problem, and I have got to do something about it. I think that is what I would call the God in me.
All of us have a God in us, and that God is the spirit that unites all life, everything that is on this planet. It must be this voice that is telling me to do something, and I am sure it's the same voice that is speaking to everybody on this planet - at least everybody who seems to be concerned about the fate of the world, the fate of this planet."

Wangari Maathai

HASTA PRONTO IN KENYA!

New UNEP report warns of threat to stock markets if social and environmental questions ignored

NEW YORK/NAIROBI, 24 June 2004 - In capital markets across the globe companies will see their share price suffer in the long term unless proper attention is paid to environmental and social issues, warns a group of the world¡¦s most powerful financial institutions.

In a new report with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), a group of 12 fund managers (see below) representing USD 1.6 Trillion of assets under management call on investors, government and business leaders to embed environmental, social, and governance best practice at the heart of our markets.

Without bold steps taken now these issues will threaten long-term shareholder value concludes the summary report, ¡§The Materiality of Social, Environmental and Corporate Governance Issues to Equity Pricing,¡¨ which is being launched today at the United Nations Global Compact Leaders Summit in New York.

Speaking from the Summit UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said,

This new report is a crucial recognition from major financial institutions that the environmental and social components of sustainable development, as well as the economic considerations, should sit at the heart of investment and capital market considerations.¡¨

The financial analysts who undertook the research believe sustainability issues impact long-term shareholder value. It is clear, however, that to protect shareholder value the response must start with action today by companies serious about our environment and that wish to contribute to thriving communities worldwide,¡¨ said Toepfer.

The summary report is based on eleven sector reports by brokerage house analysts and was produced for the UNEP Finance Initiative Asset Management Working Group. It is the first time the financial impact of environmental, social and corporate considerations and criteria as they relate to the portfolio management of mutual, pension and other institutional funds have been studied in this way.

The leading brokerage houses that undertook the work for the UNEP FI group concluded that aviation, insurance, oil and gas, and utility companies already face material threats linked to climate change while some sectors were witnessing evolving opportunities in the form of new ¡§Carbon Markets.¡¨

Industry sectors covered by the brokerage research included: aviation; clothing; electronics; oil and gas; insurance; pharmaceuticals; and utilities. The resulting eleven reports covering eight industry sectors provide a rich insight into how mainstream financial analysts are tackling a range of complex new threats and opportunities in their assessments of corporate performance.

Some of the key findings include:

- Environmental, social and corporate governance issues affect long-term shareholder value. In some cases those effects may be profound.

- Financial research is hindered both due to the paucity of reporting on the part of many companies concerning environmental, social and corporate governance issues and because of insufficient disclosure of these issues in annual reports.

- Financial research is greatly aided when there are clear government positions with respect to environmental, social and corporate governance issues. In some cases analysts were not able to provide in-depth reports due to a lack of certainty regarding government policy.

The analyst findings demonstrate clearly that consideration of environmental, social and corporate governance factors are essential to prudent investment management and therefore essential to the fiduciary responsibility of pension fund trustees and investment managers,¡¨ said Carlos Joly, Co-Chair of the UNEP FI Asset Management Working Group, and representative of Storebrand Investments. ¡§It is to be expected that regulators will take this into account when updating fiduciary law, and that institutional investment consultants will also take notice,¡¨ he said.

Anthony Ling, of Goldman Sachs, one of the brokerage houses that contributed to the report commented: ¡§We strongly believe in a full and consistent disclosure of Corporate Social Responsibility data by companies so that they can be included in fundamental company analysis, where we believe they belong.¡¨ Ling added: ¡§We see such issues as being an integral part of successful management in the modern world and that they should be taken into account in financial analysis and therefore investment considerations.¡¨

Brokerage houses contributing sector research for the UNEP FI report included: ABN AMRO Equities (UK); Deutsche Bank Global Equity Research and South African Equity Research; Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Europe and UK; Goldman Sachs European Equity Research; HSBC; NikkoCitigroup Japan Equity Strategy; Nomura Japanese Equity Markets; UBS Global Equity Research; and West LB Equity Markets.

The 12 financial institutions that worked with UNEP on the report include:

Acuity Investment Management, Canada
BNP Paribas Asset Management, France
Calvert Group Ltd., USA
Citigroup Asset Management, USA
Groupama Asset Management, France
Morley Fund Management, UK
Nikko Asset Management, Japan
Old Mutual Asset Managers, South Africa
San Paolo IMI Asset Management, Italy
Storebrand Investments, Norway
ABN AMRO Asset Management, Brazil
HSBC Asset Management, Europe

The findings of the new UNEP FI report were presented to participants attending the New York Global Compact Leaders Summit in the form of a letter.

The results of the report were earlier presented to senior managers of 17 of Europe¡¦s largest pension funds on 16 June during a closed door session in Paris ahead of the UN Global Compact Summit. The meeting discussed the implications of the UNEP report for their more than USD 400 billion in assets.

Today¡¦s call for action in New York by UNEP and the 12 financial institutions coincided with an announcement by stock exchanges of their support for the principles of the UN Global Compact.

Welcoming the commitment from financial institutions at the Summit, Georg Kell who heads the UN Global Compact Office stated that their message is a timely reminder that ¡§financial markets are awakening to the fact that environmental and social issues have a important financial impacts.¡¨ He said the UN Global Compact office also commissioned a report giving recommendations to mainstream financial analysts that is closely aligned with the findings of the UNEP FI work.

The UN Global Compact Leaders Summit was hosted by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to mark the fourth anniversary of the creation of the Compact. The Global Compact is a set of voluntary UN principles, launched in year 2000, for business covering environmental, human rights and labour issues. A tenth principle on corruption has been added at the Summit.

The Leaders Summit also included the launch of the Global Compact Source Book, entitled ¡§Raising the Bar¡¨.

At the New York event hundreds of corporate leaders joined ministers, the heads of international NGOs, labour organisations and key UN agencies to explore the progress made in advancing the environmental, labour and human rights principles of the Global Compact initiative.

http://www.unep.org

Hi

My Name is Mingyu Liao from China and we are 3 children from 3 different continents to talk to you about children’s concerns for the environment.

I would now like to introduce you to Justin Friesen from Canada and Analiz Vergara from Ecuador.

We are representatives from the International Children’s Conference of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) that took place in Victoria, BC, Canada just over 3 months ago. More than 400 children from over 80 countries attended the conference. WE all had PLENTY to say, but the number one thing that all delegates were concerned about is that most leaders don’t listen to us.

We were just babies when you met 10 years ago in Rio. What we are about to say is basically the same thing you heard then, and many times since.

This is because children are close to the ground and to the environment and suffer more from problems in the world. The children of the world are disappointed… because too many adults are too interested in money and wealth to take notice of serious problems that affect our future.

Think about your children, nieces or nephews and maybe even grandchildren - what kind of world do YOU want for them? Should they not have the same or even better opportunities that you had?

Our voices should not go unheard. Today we are gathered here because we want you to listen…to listen to everybody. We need you to put aside your differences. Make those choices that will allow ALL of us to live happily.

At the end of the International Children’s Conference, all delegates came up with many challenges. Here’s what the children of the world are saying:

Governments of the world must:

Ensure that all people from developing countries have free access to clean drinking water
Sign and act on the Kyoto Protocol…we are tired of wondering whether it will snow in the middle of summer!
Limit the number of cars per family
Provide free primary health care for all children
Stop cutting down trees without replacing them
Spend more money in helping the poor people and children around the world, rather than on attending too many meetings
People of the world must:

Make use of alternative transportation such as walking, biking and car-pooling
Reduce, reuse, recycle and compost as much as possible.
We are worried that many governments are easily bought off by those who care very little for the environment and people.

Remember, we cannot buy another planet, and our lives and those of future generations depend on this

We know that when people commit crimes, they are sent to jail. Why is it so difficult to punish countries and people who damage the environment and harm us?

Can you look in the mirror and say, "Children will have a future, will have access to clean water, will not live in poverty, will not live in polluted areas – because of actions I have taken".

We are not asking too much! You said this Summit is about taking action! We need more than your applause and comments of "well done" or "good speech". We need ACTION. We need more than just your commitment – we need ACTION. We need more than just your motivation – we need ACTION. What we now have is "us versus them". This needs to become "us AND them" - young people and adults, rich and poor people, and rich and poor countries.

Thanks for having us here and for recognizing the importance of listening to the voices of children.

Don’t walk off and forget about the challenges. We finally challenge you, the leaders of the world to accomplish them.

http://www.unep.org

Australian Financial Review, 26 June 2004:
Richer countries do much of the environmental damage. When the world's leaders met at the Millennium Summit four years ago, they agreed on a set of goals aimed at cutting global poverty in half by 2015. They also set targets for the environment, because
they understood its centrality to long-term economic growth, human
development and the stability of the planet. The problem is that today, 10 years shy of when the goals are to be met, progress on the environment is alarmingly slow. So much more is possible.

http://www.wbcsd.org/includes/getTarget.asp?type=DocDet&;id=6022

Beijing/Washington DC, March 24, 2004 — As part of a global learning process that aims to accelerate efforts in reducing poverty by assessing best practices and sharing valuable knowledge among developing countries, officials from the World Bank and the Government of China today announced a conference to be held in Shanghai next May 25-27.

The World Bank, along with its partners, is sponsoring this conference because it is critical to "unlock" knowledge in order to expand or "scale-up" development results across regions and countries. For the first time developing country practitioners and policymakers from around the world will share their expertise about what works, what doesn’t, and why, analyzing 70 cases of poverty reduction, and identifying key success factors throughout those efforts.

"As the world economy becomes increasingly globalized and interdependent, the negative impacts of poverty go beyond national boundaries and affect other nearby or faraway economies. Globalization brings both opportunities and challenges to poverty reduction," says Jin Renqing, Chinese Minister of Finance. "China is contributing its own experiences in poverty alleviation and joining hands with the international community to implement the Monterrey Consensus and achieve the Millennium Development Goals."

The Bank is promoting this global South-South dialogue to help reduce poverty on a large scale, calling on heads of state and multilateral donors to accelerate the fight against world poverty and find appropriate and sustainable solutions for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015. At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders adopted the Millennium Declaration, a set of common objectives that contain eight Millennium Development Goals, which range from halving extreme poverty to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education.

"More than half the people in developing countries—2.8 billion—live in poverty, on less than $2 a day. And more than a billion live in extreme poverty on less than $1 a day. How can we possibly achieve the Millennium Development Goal of cutting this number in half by the year 2015, without large-scale solutions that can be widely reproduced?" points out World Bank President, James D. Wolfensohn, from headquarters in Washington D.C.

The main goals of the Conference are to uncover the economic, social, and governance components that enabled some countries to reduce poverty on a large scale; to share these lessons across regions and countries; and to disseminate them widely to policymakers, practitioners, and researchers.

"This first global South-South exchange of development expertise and experience is expected to change our way of doing business. We are calling on developing country experts to identify solutions that can travel," says Wolfensohn. "We’ve had many good years of development experience, but to meet the MDGs, to not fall behind in the struggle, we need to accelerate results. This is the first comprehensive look at what works, what doesn’t, and why."

The Conference in Shanghai will bring some 600 participants together around a series of case studies illustrating successful and not so successful examples, providing high visibility to approaches that really worked in reducing poverty on a large scale within various economic, social, and institutional contexts.

The nine-month learning process leading up to the conference is using cutting-edge information technologies and communication tools to link major practitioners from across the development community, including developing country policymakers, politicians, donor agencies, academics, civil society groups, and development institutions, says Frannie A. Léautier, Vice President of the World Bank Institute, the capacity building arm of the World Bank Group.

This highly interactive process of knowledge exchange focuses on analyzing more than 70 case studies which are expected to shed light on some common ingredients of development success. The cases are being presented and discussed through 20 multi-country interactive videoconferences, on-line dialogues, and 10 field visits to project sites in Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Turkey, Uganda, and Yemen.

"The emphasis on South-South Dialogue is expected to yield usable knowledge that will help forge adaptive solutions," Léautier says "This is the most ambitious learning program we have ever launched. But the real challenge begins after the Conference—applying the knowledge to poverty reduction on a global scale."

"Scaling up" the fight against poverty can be defined as adapting and expanding positive development experiences in space and time. As countries attempt to extend successful approaches to new places, or sustain them over time, they must be able to learn from past experience – from mistakes as well as successes – and to adapt an approach that worked in one area to new local circumstances; to maintain programs through changes in political administration or in the face of weak governance conditions; and to communicate lessons of experience effectively.

"This means taking development to another level, by reducing poverty on a scale that really makes a difference," notes Jemal-ud-din Kassum, Vice President for the World Bank’s East Asia and Pacific Region. "We have seen many examples of success in Asia, but when we combine those experiences with the lessons from other countries around the world, this kind of global exchange is of tremendous value to the countries where we work."

In the same line, Vice Minister of Finance Li Yong says that the conference in Shanghai provides an important arena for exchange of poverty reduction experiences. "We in China look forward to a conference that is focused on action and call upon the international community to act together to achieve the Monterrey Consensus, and especially called on developed countries to increase development aid, liberalize trade and expand technology transfer," he says. "We also hope that actions are taken by the World Bank to mobilize more financial resources to support poverty reduction efforts in developing countries."

"Large-scale reduction of poverty in China has major implications for the progress of poverty reduction worldwide," adds Liu Jian, Director of the State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development. "International financial assistance and experience in poverty reduction has contributed to the development of poor areas in China. I hope that this cooperation and exchange will continue and play a greater role in China’s efforts to eradicate poverty."

To learn more about the "scaling up" poverty reduction conference in Shanghai,
and for media registration, go to:
http://www.reducingpoverty.org

Advancing women in business

Catalyst is the premier nonprofit research and advisory organization working to advance women in business, with offices in New York, San Jose, and Toronto. The leading source of information on women in business for the past four decades, Catalyst has the knowledge and tools that help companies recruit, retain, and advance top talent and enable women to reach their potential. Our solutions oriented approach-through Research, Advisory Services, Corporate Board Placement, and the Catalyst Award-has earned the confidence of global business leaders. The American Institute of Philanthropy consistently ranks Catalyst number one among U.S. nonprofits focused on women’s issues.

www.catalystwomen.org

May 27-29, 2004 - Seoul, Republic of Korea

Informally, called the “Davos for Women” by past participants, the Summit has developed a reputation as an exciting, fact-filled, hands-on gathering of high caliber participants. For fourteen years, the Global Summit of Women has celebrated women’s leadership worldwide by bringing together women business, professional, and governmental leaders from around the world for three days of stimulating sessions led by opinion leaders and influencers who happen to be women. Prior Summits were hosted by Montreal, Canada (’90); Dublin, Ireland (’92); Taipei, Taiwan (’94); Miami, Florida (’97); London, U.K. (’98); Buenos Aires, Argentina (’99); Johannesburg, South Africa (’00); Hong Kong S.A.R. (’01); Barcelona, Spain (’02), and most recently, Marrakech, Morocco ('03) .

Continuing its emphasis on promoting women’s participation in the global market, the 2004 Summit focuses on accelerating women’s economic development with an emphasis on cross-border business alliances. The Global Summit of Women’s dynamic quality is a product of the stimulating presenters and the wealth of diversity in its participants. The Summit has been the vehicle for the formation of national and regional networks, for successful business initiatives and for the sheer exchange of ideas and practices that have energized women participating in the global market.

From workshops on strategic networking, the value of exporting, growing microenterprises into mainstream business through trade, to sessions on strengthening women’s business associations, and learning how to do business online, the Summit offers learning opportunities for everyone.

http://www.globewomen.com/summit/2004/2004_Partners/GlobalMemberPages/GlobalMember_EVE-olution.html

The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the membership-based business association for the organic industry in North America. OTA's mission is to encourage global sustainability through promoting and protecting the growth of diverse organic trade.

Web sites: http://www.ota.com
http://www.atoexpo.com/

NOVEMBER

12-14: American Association of University Women International Symposium, http://www.aauw.org/ef/symposium.cfm

JUNE
13-18: UNCTAD Eleventh Session of the Conference, http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?, intItemID=1942&lang=1&m=4289&year=2004&month=1

MAY

23-26: The Third Annual Green Mountain Summit on Investor Responsibility.
http://www.imn.org/2004/a642/

27-29: 2004 Global Summit on Women, http://globewomen.com/summit/2004/2004_About_GSW/2004_Summit_Home/global_summit04.html

APRIL
19-30: Commission on Sustainable Development
12th Session, http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/csd/csd12/csd12.htm

MARCH
1-12: 48th Session of the Commission on the Status of Women,
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/48sess.htm

FEBRUARY
9-13: UNCTAD Commission on Trade in Goods and Services and Commodities
http://www.unctad.org/Templates/Meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&;lang=1&m=5997&year=2004&month=1

JANUARY
MARCH
1-12: 48 th Session

12-15: UNCTAD Commission on Enterprise, Business Facilitation and Development, http://www.unctad.org/Templates/meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&;lang=1&m=5994
26-30: UNCTAD Commission on Investment, Technology and Related Financial Issues, http://www.unctad.org/Templates/meeting.asp?intItemID=1942&;lang=1&m=5987
28: OECD Global Corporate Responsibility--FDI as Engine for Sustainable Development

FIRST GLOBAL CONGRESS OF BLACK WOMEN LEADERS

Unesco, Paris: 1-2 July 2004

An initiative of the European Federation of Black Women Business Owners, the Global Congress of Black Women Leaders, Inc; Zwarte Zaken Vrouwen Nederland and the French Association Guamayane in association with the British Council France and the support of the City of Paris and the City of Houston, the Global Congress of Black Women Leaders event is now opening the discussion about the Added Value of Black Women in the World.

Mission
The mission of the Global Congress of Black Women Leaders, is to educate and inform Black Women about their value to the world in order to develop and promote their economic stability and influence through strengthened global connections.

http://www.globalcongressofblackwomenleaders.org/index.htm

09-10-2003 4:05 pm Safeguarding the world’s intangible heritage, cultural diversity and the protection of cultural heritage from intentional destruction, are the main topics on the cultural agenda at the 32nd Session of UNESCO’s General Conference (September 29 - October 17) underway at the Organization’s Paris Headquarters. Delegates from UNESCO’s 190* Member States will first look at the preliminary draft of an International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. If adopted, it will complete existing conventions protecting “tangible” heritage on land (monuments and natural sites) or under water (wrecks, submerged sites, etc.).

The types of intangible heritage that the future convention would serve to safeguard include “oral traditions and expressions, including language as a vehicle of the intangible cultural heritage; the performing arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftsmanship.” If adopted by the General Conference **, the Convention will require at least 30 States Parties to enter into force, thus providing international legal protection to an entire section of the common heritage of humanity that is particularly fragile and endangered.

The convention specifically provides for the drawing up of national inventories of cultural property to be protected, the establishment of an Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, composed of experts from future States Parties to the Convention, and the creation of two lists – a Representative List of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity and a List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding. The text stresses that safeguarding intangible cultural heritage is a complex process involving many parties, starting with the communities and groups that bring it to life.

Cultural diversity, referred to already in UNESCO’s Constitution, is today a major concern of the Organization and an item on the Conference agenda.

The last Session of the General Conference, in November 2001, adopted by acclamation a Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, in response to the cultural challenges of globalization. This solemn Declaration recognises, for the first time, that “cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature.”

Today, while a certain number of countries consider the non-binding Declaration sufficient, others are in favour of adopting a legally binding instrument, concerning, particularly, diversity of cultural content and artistic expression. The General Conference must therefore decide on the desirability of preparing an international convention on cultural content and artistic expression, knowing that cultural goods and services, as vectors of identity, values and meaning, “must not be treated as mere commodities or consumer goods”, as stated by Article 8 of the Universal Declaration.

The General Conference will also discuss the desirability of adopting a Declaration concerning the Intentional Destruction of Cultural Heritage, a non-binding instrument that would encourage States to take necessary measures to prevent and prohibit intentional destruction of cultural heritage (and, when linked, natural heritage) in time of peace and in the event of armed conflict. The draft to be debated was inspired by the impassioned reaction provoked in March 2001 by the deliberate destruction of the Buddhas of Bamiyan by the Taleban in Afghanistan.

The cultural discussions at the General Conference will also include an evaluation of the implementation of the 1970 Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, which on July 1 2003 had been ratified by the 100 State Parties. With Switzerland having officially joined on October 1, they are now 101.

Website: http://www.unesco.org

* The return to UNESCO of the United States became official on October 1.

** After discussion of the preliminary draft in Commission IV, the final decision will be made in a plenary session of the General Conference.

Editorial Contact: Lucia Iglesias Kuntz, Bureau of Public Information, Editorial Section, tel: +33 (0)1 45 68 17 02, email:l.iglesias@unesco.org

Source: Press Release N° 2003-73
Author(s): UNESCOPRESS

The Department of State Under Secretary for Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, will host a reception October 7 to welcome Ministers of Women's Affairs from more than fifty countries who are gathering here for a conference. The reception will be held in the Benjamin Franklin Diplomatic Reception Room to inaugurate the Georgetown University conference scheduled for the following day.

This gathering of Ministers of Women s Affairs, convened by the Council of Women World Leaders, in partnership with Georgetown University, will bring together women and men from around the world who promote the women's agenda in their countries. The former Canadian Prime Minister and Chair for the Council of Women World Leaders, The Right Honorable Kim Campbell and former President of Ireland Her Excellency Mary Robinson will speak at the conference along with many other world leaders. The goal of the meetings is to share experiences and collectively advance the status of women both internationally and regionally.

Under Secretary Dobriansky is responsible for a broad range of foreign policy issues, including democracy, human rights, labor, counter-narcotics and law enforcement, refugee and humanitarian relief matters as well as environmental and scientific issues. She also manages the Department of State's Office for International Women's Issues. As Secretary Powell noted earlier this year women's issues are human rights issues, health and education issues and development issues. They are ingredients of good government and sound economic practice. The International Women's Office serves, in Secretary Powell's words, as the focal point within the Bush Administration for the development and implementation of our pro-women foreign policy agenda.

Contact Susan Hovanec 202-9675 for additional information or The Council of Women World Leaders, 617-312-9866 to arrange access.

Released on October 6, 2003

WORLD TOURISM DAY 2003, (27 September 2003)

By resolution 439(XIV) adopted at its Fourteenth session (Seoul, Republic of Korea/Osaka, Japan, 24-29 September 2001), the WTO general Assembly decided to select the following theme for the twenty-fourth edition of World Tourism Day:

Tourism: a driving force for poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony

Message from the WTO Secretary-General for the World Tourism Day 2003

By selecting "Poverty Alleviation", "Job Creation" and "Social Harmony" as the World Tourism Day theme for 2003, our 14th General Assembly firmly expressed its will to fully support one of the key issues stated in the UN Millennium Development Goals and, at the same time, recalled the fundamental role of tourism as a positive instrument towards the reduction of poverty, the creation of job opportunities as well as contributing to social harmony.

Read more on: http://www.world-tourism.org

AMFCE is non-profit, non-sectarian and non-political.

AMFCE is a member of Femmes Chefs d'Entreprise Mondiales (FCEM)
The association aims to :

Bring together all women who own or control a manufacturing, service or retail business, regardless of whether they operate alone, with co- directors, or with family members.

Foster and encourage professional growth and continuing education among its members.

Encourage young entrepreneurs and mentor their progress.
This association is recognized as a professional body and is committed to act as facilitator to disseminate information and provide support to its members. Affiliated with the FCEM,the AMFCE also wants to be more involved in all the domains of active and social life and to build on the strengths of high- profile leaders in more than 30 countries.

New Web site: http://www.fcem-51st-worldcongress.com

2-5 October 2003, St. Petersburg (Russia):

International Conference & Annual General Meeting EWMD

European Women's Management Development is one of the major cooperating partners for the whole conference , hosted and organised by the International Institute for Social and Economic Research, St Petersburg. The sponsor of the conference is the Governor of St Petersburg and Sida (Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency) as well as the Ministry of Labour, Finland.

EWMD is committed to:

- identifying and promoting best practices for work-life-balance management (in companies, communities or through governmental involvement).
- providing a forum for collecting and exchanging information about trends and management development in Europe and internationally.
- promoting women in management - bench-marking in all fields.
- identifying barriers to women's professional development and innovative approaches to overcoming them.
- facilitating communication between all those involved in the development of new role models for better work-life-balance.
- supporting and co-operating with other networks with similar objectives.

Website: http://www.ewmd.org
Website: www.women-changing-world.com

Registration Form [PDF-File 139KB] (Word-Version)
For more information, please contact presidents@ewmd.org

The Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference will be held in Cancun, Mexico, from the 10th to 14th of September 2003.

The main task will be to take stock of progress in negotiations and other work under the Doha Development Agenda. During the official conference, there will be a number of activities taking place in Cancun and in Cozumel.

Just outside the WTO meeting, in the Fair Trade Expo leaders from the developing world, including Africa, will discuss from the 10th to 12th of September 2003 the benefits of the Fair Trade system.

To know more http://www.fairtradeexpo.org

You can watch the delivery of the statements from the webcasting page of the WTO http://wto.mvs.com/min03_webcast_e.htm

New York, Sep 10 2003 1:00PM

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today made an impassioned plea to the world's richest countries to allow the world's poorest to benefit from globalization instead of being its victims, granting them access to cheap generic drugs, ending subsidies undermining their agriculture and opening up markets to their textiles.

"You, the world's trade ministers, must show those people that you have heard their cries for fairness," Mr. Annan said in an opening message to the ministerial meeting of the 146-nation World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancún, Mexico. The <" was delivered on his behalf by Rubens Ricupero, the Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

"You must give them confidence that, from now on, your negotiations and decisions will really meet their needs and reflect their aspirations. You have an awesome responsibility, and a great opportunity. Your decisions can make the difference between poverty and prosperity, and even between life and death, for millions upon millions of people.

"Here in Cancún, I implore you to say: 'No!' to trade policies that aggravate poverty and 'no!' to trade practices that undermine aid. And I urge you so say 'yes' to bold but sensible steps that will revive the global economy and set a new course for development," he added.

Noting that the reality of the international trading system did not match the rhetoric, Mr. Annan declared: "Instead of open markets, there are too many barriers that stunt, stifle and starve. Instead of fair competition, there are subsidies by rich countries that tilt the playing field against the poor."

It was a "moral imperative" to follow through on a preliminary agreement at a meeting in Geneva making it easier for poorer countries to import cheaper generics made if they are unable to manufacture them themselves to fight diseases like AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.

On agriculture, Mr. Annan said: "We must eliminate the subsidies that push prices down and make it impossible for poor farmers in developing countries to compete.These barriers and subsidies in developed countries must be phased out as fast as possible."

Opportunities must also be opened for developing countries through effective liberalization of trade in textiles, by specific agreements allowing them to participate actively in the growing trade in service and by faster transfer of technology, he added.

"The answer is not to turn our backs on the potential of open markets. That would be disastrous," he declared, noting that too many countries had been left on the margins.

"The answer is to unleash their potential. Just as we need to improve the multilateral security framework, so we must rebuild faith in the multilateral trade framework. Without progress now, today's bitterness may well become tomorrow's backlash."

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

MADRID, 3 September 2003 - The World Tourism Organization (WTO-OMT) will again urge decision makers in the global trading system to give fair liberalization in trade in tourism services a chance and prioritize poverty alleviation. WTO-OMT will attend the fifth session of the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO-OMC) from 10 to 14 September in Cancún, Mexico.

Tourism trade can be one of the most decisive factors in achieving the goals of development and sustainability in the global trading system as agreed in the Doha Declaration - particularly in the world's poorest countries.

"It seems that we are already behind schedule and there is a real danger that we will miss our targets," says World Tourism Organization Secretary-General Mr. Francesco Frangialli.

Poverty alleviation, job creation and social harmony are the World Tourism Organization priorities for the year 2003 and the main theme of this year's upcoming World Tourism Day on 27 September 2003.

"Now is the moment to stress what we call 'tourism liberalization with a human face' - prioritizing poverty alleviation along with fair trade and triple bottom line sustainable development," says Mr. Frangialli.

"Members of the World Trade Organization should make substantial progress in dealing with this complex cross-sectoral phenomenon of tourism," urged Mr. Frangialli at his meeting with WTO-OMC Director General Mr. Supachai Panitchpakdi in Geneva on 15 August.

The World Tourism Organization is committed to assisting in that process, and as a new United Nations specialized agency it will be well positioned for the challenge.

Clearly it is important that the processes of the Development Round are structured to capitalize on the strengths of tourism and minimize the weaknesses. According to Mr. Frangialli, of particular importance are the themes encompassed in the concept of "Tourism Liberalization with a Human Face" that the World Tourism Organization developed and presented at the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg last year.

These themes include eliminating all barriers to tourism growth affecting the total supply chain as identified in the United Nations statistical classifications and ensuring that liberalization creates fair conditions of competition on a level playing field for the growth of all countries' tourism services and effective safety nets for developing markets.

Also important to this concept is the inclusion in the assessment of trade in services the identification and mitigation of so called "leakages" of revenue to origin market travel companies, since the leakage phenomenon results in inequitable returns for destination service suppliers and minimizes the positive effects of tourism on economic and social development.

There is also the need to remove all unjustified obstacles to cross-border movements of tourism consumers, create equal tourism promotion opportunities for all, and address the issue of Government "travel advisories" on tourism destinations.

Mr. Frangialli also argues that there is the need to recognize tourism's vital reliance on liberalization commitments favouring free flowing transport systems, full and fair access to distribution networks and information channels, and ensuring provision of adequate infrastructure and systematic elimination of barriers to efficient operations.

In this context, the Secretary-General stresses the importance of the reliance of developing states' tourism on air services: the impact of different regulatory treatment for air service liberalization and the importance of providing incentives for investment or commercial presence in air service, distribution and infrastructure in developing markets.

Concluding, he said that the two WTO's would work even more closely in the future to ensure that tourism takes its rightful place as a key component of the global services revolution and that through "Liberalization with a Human Face" the tourism sector will contribute decisively to an equitable and durable trading regime that plays its full part in the fight against poverty.

Note to editors:
For all questions on the WTO-OMT policy on trade issues and "Liberalization with a Human Face" during the WTO-OMC meeting in Cancun, please ask for Mr. Geoffrey Lipman, Special Advisor of the WTO Secretary-General on trade and tourism services.

For more information please contact:

Rok V. Klancnik, Alla Peressolova
Press and Communications Section
Tel. (+34) 91-567-8191, Tel. (+34) 91-567-8193,
Fax: (+34) 91-567-8218
comm@world-tourism.org
Website: http://www.world-tourism.org

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GlobeWomen.com
"Linking Businesswomen Worldwide"
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GLOBEWOMEN NEWS
ISSUE XXVI, AUGUST 4, 2003
******************************************************************************
THIS ISSUE'S HIGHLIGHTS:
I. 2003 GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN BREAKS ALL RECORDS
II. 42 WOMEN MINISTERS EXCHANGE STRATEGIES AT SUMMIT'S FIRST MINISTERIAL
ROUNDTABLE IN MARRAKECH
III. SIDELINING WOMEN SPELLS ECONOMIC LOSS FOR JAPAN, THE WORLD'S
SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY
IV. WOMEN AND REWRITING THE RULES OF BUSINESS
______________________________________________________________________________

I. 2003 GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN BREAKS ALL RECORDS
At final count, this year's Summit brought 671 women leaders from government, business, NGOs, enterprises of all sizes to Marrakech, Morocco . a record attendance in the Summit's 13-year history. Equally important, a record 80 countries were represented by these women, the majority of whom registered within the last month prior to the Summit taking place from June 28-30th.
"What is most amazing is that these numbers occurred in a year when global political events could have prevented the Summit from happening at all," states Irene Natividad, the Summit Director. "It is clear that women want to meet, and more than any other year, it was important for women to reach across borders to be the bridge to global understanding," she adds.

This was also a Summit of .firsts' -- the first to be held in an Arab state; the first to convene an Arab Women's Colloquium; and the first to hold a Ministerial Roundtable. "The impact of this event will be far-reaching in Morocco and the Arab and Islamic worlds," according to Morocco's Minister Rhozali, who addressed the pre-Summit colloquium for Arab women. Egypt's Zeinab Safar, who gave a presentation on information security, noted that the colloquium
"was an excellent forum for Arab and other women to share experiences and exchange ideas about economic empowerment."

Arab businesswomen speaking at the Summit, such as Morocco's Miriem Ben Salah Chaqroun, who runs a water bottling company, Jordan's Lina Hundaleh, who owns the largest chocolate factory in the Middle East, Egypt's Naveen el-Tahri, who serves on the board of the Cairo Stock Exchange, Saida Lamrani, who is vice-chair and only one of two women in Morocco's equivalent to a Chamber of Commerce, among others conveyed to Summit participants a broader sense of Arab
women's emerging leadership in the private sector. Morocco's Princess Lella Hasna summed up well in her opening remarks the value that women bring to international discourse: "Our receptiveness as women, combined with our natural propensity to fight injustice and exclusion, encourages us to consider future opportunities for regional and inter-regional partnerships for a wider
perspective which helps improve the integration of developing nations to the world's economy."

For most delegates, the Summit was about networking and dealmaking. Romania's Maria Grapini proudly stated that she collected business cards of 40 women from 13 countries! Japan's Ann Honjo informed the Summit that she "was able to get definitive business deals, as well as valuable support and interest" for her new venture. Canada's Evnur Taran said she was "networking until the very last moment, and I found a supplier in Bangladesh just a few minutes before boarding the plane." A French delegate said that she met a Moroccan woman who "gave me wonderful ideas on the way I should talk with my customers." As always, the Summit provided the forum for such practical exchanges but most everyone savored the sheer delight in meeting so many women leaders from so many
countries in one place in one weekend. As Ireland's Deputy Prime Minister Mary Harney so aptly phrased it: "I found the event both stimulating and valuable. Nothing but good can come from networking possibilities and friendship between like-minded women despite economic and cultural differences."

To view photos from the Summit, as well as review presentations received to date from the Summit presenters, log on to the globewomen.com and click on to the "Global Summit of Women."

II 42 WOMEN MINISTERS EXCHANGE STRATEGIES AT SUMMIT'S FIRST MINISTERIAL
ROUNDTABLE
Representing four continents, forty-two women ministers holding various portfolios held their own pre-Summit Roundtable to discuss women's economic empowerment in their respective countries. Sponsored by the U.N. Development Program and Royal Dutch Shell, the Roundtable yielded an exchange of practices and programs that ministers will bring home for possible implementation.

All ministers concurred that .genderproofing' all legislation for its possible impact on women . a practice in Ireland shared by Minister of Employment, Trade and Industry Mary Harney . is one they would like to emulate.

Norway's Laila Davoy, Minister of Children and Family Affairs, described a government strategy she leads to increase the number of women on corporate boards in her country from 7% to 40% within the next two years . the only such government-led effort in the world. Mozambique's Minister of Planning and Finance Luisa Diogo shared a public/private sector program to capitalize microenterprises, which other ministers wanted to try to replicate. Last month, Minister Diogo was appointed by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to be part of a new U.N. Commission to explore ways of developing entrepreneurship around the world. These are just some of the strategies shared by the ministers in a full day of discussions.

In his statement to the women ministers, UNDP's Assistant Administrator for Africa Abdoulie Janneh -- a strong supporter of the Ministerial Roundtable. underscored the pivotal role that women ministers have in the implementation and measurement of each untry's Millenium Development Goals that target the eradicatrion of poverty which impact on women disproportionately. For the UNDP's full statement and for a listing of women ministers who participated in
the Roundtable, log on to www.globewomen.com and click on to the .Global Summit
of Women.'

III. SIDELINING WOMEN SPELLS ECONOMIC LOSS FOR JAPAN, THE WORLD'S
SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY
Mired in a 13-year slump, Japan has tried bailouts for failing companies and huge public works programs to stimulate its economy but not the expansion of women's economic opportunities. Labor experts in that country now feel that providing gender equality in the workplace would be a better economic stimulus. While 40% of Japanese women work, they comprise only 9% of managers (compared to 45% in the U.S.) and get paid only 65% of what men earn . the
lowest among advanced economies. With women sidelined from the career track, Japan's labor economists say that their country is in effect "fighting with one hand tied behind its back."

"Japan has gone as far as it can go with a social model that consists of men filling all of the economic, management and political roles," states Eiko Shinotuka, an academic who is also the first woman to serve on the Board of the Bank of Japan. A study presented to the Labor Ministry last year showed that women's lack of economic participation may be taking 0.6% off the annual
growth. It was also found that companies with 40-50% of the staff being women have average profits that are double that of companies where women comprise only 10% of the labor force. (Source: New York Times 7/25/03)

Summit Director Irene Natividad states that "women seeking equity in the workplace in other countries can learn from Japan's experience in terms of quantifying the economic impact to the entire nation of discriminatory practices against women. While women argued for gender equality on the basis of fairness and justice in the past, they may now want to use the economic rationale for
opening up job opportunities for women."

IV. WOMEN AND REWRITING THE RULES OF BUSINESS
CNN's first woman executive vice president and a former White House aide,
Gail Evans, recently published "She Wins, You Win: The Most important Rule Every Businesswoman Needs to Know", wherein she states a very simple rule that she feels most businesswomen do NOT follow. That rule is "Every woman must always play on the women's team. Why? Because every time any woman succeeds in business your chances of succeeding in business increase. And every time a
woman fails in business, your chances of failure increase."

She adds: "We need to know the male rules of business. But we must create and play by our own rules. We should be talking to each other; we should be planning with each other; we should be working to improve the situation for every one of us. We should launch a new strategy to advance our careers as a whole, rather than advance our own careers at the expense of other women." She has given the same advice echoed by many women leaders at each Global Summit
of Women . .Bring other women up behind you,' as South Africa's Minister for
Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo Ngucka has stated repeatedly.

******************************************************************************

SUBSCRIBE TO WWW.GLOBEWOMEN.COM FOR FREE AND BE PART OF THE GLOBAL
BUSINESSWOMEN'S COMMUNITY.

W.I.N. 2003: The 6th Annual Women's International Networking Conference
Connecting People to Create Impact
Lausanne - October 2-4, 2003

An International Leadership Event

Venue: The Beaulieu Conference Center - Lausanne - Switzerland

Theme: Annually this conference addresses the hottest issues related to international leadership and women working internationally and has been called the "Davos for Women" (24 Heures Newspaper 26.09.02). This year it focuses on how "feminine" leaders can connect people to create a positive impact and how they can bring a strong, authentic and different kind of leadership to corporations, start-up enterprises, global institutions, political organizations and social communities worldwide. It looks at how companies can create work environments and cultures where employees can articulate their needs, feel valued, use their talents, balance work and life and find purpose and meaning. It encourages participants to discover new opportunities, identify personal strengths and increase their confidence to embark on new initiatives with enthusiasm and drive. The conference cornerstones are a feminine approach, a global mindset (awareness and appreciation of other cultures), global responsibility and sustainability. The conference language is English.

Learning Structure: A simulating combination of plenary sessions, panel discussions, interactive workshops, facilitated networking sessions and social events giving participants an ideal mix of learning, feedback and participation and plentiful opportunities to make connections. Over 32 workshops are on offer.

Target participants: Outstanding professional women and men, influential decision-makers and opinion leaders everywhere. They include: company executives, entrepreneurs, independent professionals, consultants, academics, artists, thought leaders, NGO representatives and top international MBA and business school students. Typically the "W.I.N. woman" is culturally aware, has an international mindset, is well educated, keen to learn, receptive to new technology, and embraces change through action to accomplish her goals. She wants it all: work, family and self. She is strong and speaks with her own voice. She is feminine and authentic. Typically the "W.I.N. man" is unafraid to be in a minority, wants to better comprehend how women are creating new norms in society, economic life, cultural milieu and organizations and wants to be part of an new, emerging paradigm.

New Features: The W.I.N. Marketplace is an opportunity for the entrepreneur to showcase products and services to 500 W.I.N. participants in a vibrant market place. W.I.N. marketplace has been introduced in response to increasing demand from women entrepreneurs wishing to do business - we support them!

Sponsors: World-class companies who are committed to developing women in management and proactively welcome diversity in the workplace. W.I.N. 2003 sponsors include: Procter & Gamble, HP, SDA Bocconi, Center for Creative Leadership, Whirlpool Europe, The International Herald Tribune, GSB University of Chicago, Buro Club Lausanne, IESE University of Navarra, and INSEAD.

Admission: through registration - discounts for groups, partner networks, and sponsors.

Past W.I.N. statistics: In 1998, W.I.N started out with 160 participants from 23 countries. By 2002, this had tripled to 400 participants from 43 nationalities with top management representing 25% of attendees. More than 1500 outstanding women have attended the annual W.I.N. Conference, the organization's most important event. Close to 3000 influential individuals have joined the W.I.N. network via email, and more than 50 women's networks and associations around the globe subscribe to it. More than 15,000 professional women across 50 countries receive W.I.N. information and are regular visitors to the website (www.winconference.net).

History: W.I.N. (Women's International Networking) was founded in 1998 by Norwegian entrepreneur Kristin Engvig and has subsequently become one of the world's leading international professional women's networks.

- ends -

For more information contact:
Web site: http://www.winconference.net
email: pr@winconference.net
ph: +41 21 612 0355
fax: +41 21 612 0351

Women's International Networking
CBC-L, Rue de Simplon 37, 1006 Lausanne, Switzerland

Faith Popcorn is the founder of BrainReserve, the futurist marketing consultancy and author of EVEolution
Web Site:http://www.faithpopcorn.com

Tracey Carr is the Principal of eve-olution and a specialist life coach who has taught the eve-olution concept around the world.
Web Site:http://www.eve-olution.net

"In the US, the Small Business Administration (SBA) estimated that small businesses generate 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually, according to the SBA*, employing 39 percent of high tech workers, and producing 13 to 14 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms. Estimates from the SBA indicate that firms with fewer than 100 workers employed 40.9 million of the 57.1 million small business total."

You can reach email:foundation@eve-olution.org

SECRETARY-GENERAL LAUNCHES COMMISSION ON PRIVATE SECTOR
AND DEVELOPMENT AT HEADQUARTERS

The birth of the Commission on the Private Sector and Development was yet another illustration of the rapidly growing partnership between the United Nations and the private sector, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told correspondents at a Headquarters press briefing today, as he officially launched the new high-level Commission.

You can read the press release on:
http://www.un.org/News/briefings/docs/2003/UNDPbrf.doc.htm

MADRID, 24 June 2003 - The results of the new WTO World Tourism Barometer indicate that international tourism might be close to a turning point. Although the world economy is still rather weak,
a change for the better is expected to take place in the second half of the year.

Initial data for 2003 clearly show the effects of the Iraq conflict and the SARS outbreak. Nevertheless, various destinations managed to post surprisingly good results, in particular, some of the recently most-afflicted destinations in the Caribbean, South America, and South Asia. With the uncertainty due to the geopolitical situation gradually falling away, the perspective is switching back towards economic prospects.

One of the innovative elements of the WTO World Tourism Barometer is its Panel of Experts. Over one hundred tourism experts from all over the world consulted during May also confirmed a more positive outlook for the coming period. While the panel gave the previous four-month period, January to April, an average score of 2.8 (on a scale from 1 to 5), the period from May to August was rated at 3.6 (a score of 4 meaning "better"). All regions share expectations of improvement over the four months to come. Prospects for Europe show a notable improvement, although the biggest jump is found in the Middle East. Africa and the Americas were already upbeat about the past four months and maintain or even slightly improve their expectations for the coming four months. The outlook for Asia and the Pacific clearly reflects the concern over SARS. However, as the outbreak is virtually under control, prospects are also expected to improve quickly in this region.

According to the Secretary-General, Mr Frangialli, the optimism expressed by the WTO Panel of Experts is based on the expectation of a gradual improvement of the economic conditions, the reduction of uncertainty as a result of the relaxation of international tensions, and the waning of SARS. However, late reservations and noticeable price sensitivity are expected to persist as main market trends.

Tourism performance in 2003

The first part of 2003 has been predominantly a continuation of the 2002 scenario with the long-awaited economic recovery further delayed because of the prolonged uncertainty due to the Iraq conflict. Some destinations, however, started the year with considerable growth (e.g. Caribbean, Asia, United Kingdom and South Africa), but mostly compared to rather depressed levels in the first months of 2002. The start of the war in Iraq in March caused an immediate plunge in demand, particularly in air traffic, interregional travel, and travel to destinations perceived as close to the conflict zone. Very few destinations and sectors were immune from this new setback.

However, as Mr. Frangialli stressed, a significant difference was that, this time around, national tourism administrations, tourism boards, and tourism businesses were much better prepared and attempted to adapt quickly to the changing conditions. Measures primarily focussed on shifting or reducing capacity and rigorous cost control. In this respect, the emergence of SARS was much more unexpected and disrupted destinations and businesses far more severely. National tourism administrations (NTAs) have backed the sector with rapid action plans in several areas such as communication, promotion and marketing.

Tourism performance by region

Europe: The "wait-and-see" attitude of consumers, induced by the looming war and by the economic prospects in most of the advanced economies, resulted in declines in the majority of European destinations in early 2003. With the start of the military intervention in March, most countries dived into the minus side. Nevertheless, March figures were also influenced by the fact that the 2003 Easter holiday - considered as the start of the tourism season for many European destinations - fell in April and not in March as it did in 2002. With the disappearance of uncertainty, expectations for the summer season are reasonable to good, but with late bookings and pressure on prices.

Americas: Tourism performance in the Americas varied significantly between North America and the rest of the continent. In particular, the United States has obviously been preoccupied with the Iraq conflict, fear of terrorism and the rather uncertain economic situation. The United States, Canada, and Mexico suffered two-digit decreases in March. Many other destinations in the region also saw declines in March, but far less pronounced. The Caribbean is showing clear signs of resurgence, although this is not yet shared equally by all its destinations. With the significant improvement of the economic prospects in the Mercosur countries, particularly Argentina and Brazil, travel in the region is picking up. Prospects are evaluated positively by the sector, due to the fact that the length of the war was less than expected and signs of a gradual recovery of the economic situation in the United States are emerging.

Asia and the Pacific: The emergence of SARS in the second half of March appears immediately as the main determinant in the evolution of tourism in Asia in the first months of 2003, seriously affecting not only the destinations under the World Health Organization (WHO) travel advisories, but the majority of the destinations in the region. The results posted over the first three or four months of the year are, almost without exception, negative and particularly striking in comparison to the region's outstanding performance in 2002. The only destinations staying out of the turmoil are those in South Asia and in Oceania. The coming months will definitely still be under the influence of SARS, but with prospects of improvement as the number of newly reported cases and deaths is continuously declining and travel advisories for most regions are being lifted.

Africa and the Middle East: Destinations in the Middle East and North Africa show a rather similar pattern, obviously reflecting the impact of the war in Iraq. For example, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Qatar, and Lebanon all started the year with a substantial increase in January. February followed with a more moderate increase, while March is showing sizeable drops. In April losses were already more limited, with certain destinations posting modest increases. All African countries that reported data for the corresponding months increased in January and February and decreased in March. South Africa maintained the good pulse shown in 2002 (+11%), with an increase of 9% in January and 7% in February. Even during the month of March, when most destinations around the world showed declines induced by the geopolitical tension, the country only saw a slight decrease of 0.3%.

The WTO World Tourism Barometer - a new project by the WTO Secretariat

The WTO World Tourism Barometer is a new activity of the Market Intelligence and Promotion section of WTO aimed at monitoring the short-term evolution of tourism and providing the sector with adequate and timely information.

The WTO World Tourism Barometer is scheduled to be published three times a year (January, June, and October). It contains three permanent elements: an overview of short-term tourism data from destination countries and air transport, the WTO Panel of Tourism Experts with a retrospective and prospective evaluation of tourism performance, and selected economic data relevant for tourism.

Full version of the first issue of Barometer can be downloaded from the Facts & Figures link on the WTO website:
http://www.world-tourism.org/market_research/facts&;figures/menu.htm

More information:
Marketing Intelligence Section
World Tourism Organization
barom@world-tourism.org
tel +34 91 567 82 12
fax +34 91 567 82 17

Population : 48 " micro-entreprises " owned by indegeneous (Mapuche=people of the Earth in Mapudungun)
Location : Araucania, IX region, Chile (South Andean Tribe)

Rationale : Increase revenues, rural exodus of men (explain)

Plan of Action : Producing and exporting organic products

Budget : 68450 $ (still needed 38780$) Provide a breakdown on current funds

Coordination : Maria V. Paillali Demuelo (Mapuche Communty) and the EVE-olution Foundation

Partners : Association Tukucabe Kine Merg Lof Che and local councils of Puren, Los Sauces, Traiguen and Angole

Operation : knowledge is power (since march 2002)

Project objectives :
- Reduce rural exodus of mapuche communities
- Enable community to sustain themselves utilizing traditional ways and means

To work out the needs of these dying out population and follows practical action, you can be a sponsor of these operation contact us… now !

To address the needs of these populations, act now to sponsor one or more of these operations. For details, contact...us now !

This operation has already been presented to: Rothary Club, Yves Rocher Foundation.

I. Over 20 Ministers Attending Morocco Summit
Women government ministers from Angola, Burkina Faso, Canada, Chile, Gabon, Ireland, Jamaica, Jordan, Mali, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Romania, South Africa and the United States to date are joining the three women ministers from Morocco in the first-ever Ministerial Roundtable that will be held as part of the Global Summit of Women before it begins on Saturday, June 28th. "Women ministers wanted their own forum in which to exchange strategies on women's economic development," states Irene Natividad, Summit Director, "so we scheduled a pre-Summit session just for them."

The results of this Roundtable will be shared with Summit delegates at the Luncheon Program on the first full day of the conference. The Co-chairs of the Ministerial Roundtable are Canada's Secretary of State (Status of Women) Jean Augustine, Mexico's Minister and President of the National Institute for Women Patricia Espinosa Torres, Norway's Minister of Women's Affairs Laila Davoy, Philippines Undersecretary of Foreign Affairs Delia Domingo-Albert, South Africa's Minister for Minerals and Energy Phumzile Mlambo-Ngucka and Morocco's Minister Delegate to Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Nezra Chekrouni.

While many women ministers are attending the Summit, the majority of participants will come from the world of business, especially enterprises of all sizes. South Korea is planning to come with a delegation of 35 women led by one of their leading businesswomen, Sung-joo Kim, and a veteran of many Summits. South Africa is supporting 30 women entrepreneurs and will be bringing four of its women ministers. Spain, the host country for the 2002 Summit, is also sponsoring 20 women entrepreneurs to be part of the Summit but is planning an even larger delegation. The Philippines is sending about a dozen delegates, Egypt 15, Central Europe another 15 and so on.

"Despite war and the recent bombing, the Summit is proceeding with vigor because women are clearly intent on coming together even in the most difficult times, " states Irene Natividad. "It's often in these periods when there are tremendous opportunities for women's leadership in economic rebuilding," she adds. The Moroccan government is ready to welcome Summit delegates at the Welcoming Dinner hosted by the Wali (Governor) of Marrakech; the Royal Reception to be held the second evening of the Summit, and the Closing Dinner to be hosted by the Prime Minister. At all these events and throughout the Summit, Moroccan authorities are committed to work hard to ensure the Summit's success and overall safety.

II SURVEY FINDS ON-THE-GO WOMEN LACKING IN NUTRITION
In attempting to balance, work-at-home and work-at-work, women today have become experts in multitasking and juggling the demands on their time. But when it comes to eating a balanced diet, many neglect their own nutritional needs. According to the second annual survey of 1,500 American women aged 25-55 conducted by Yoplait Nouriche, over a third of respondents state that they often skip meals altogether.

Almost two thirds of those questioned dash out the door in the morning without eating breakfast as they try to prepare their families for the day ahead and prepare themselves for work. When they do eat meals, 36% say that they turn to fast food. Because of these erratic eating habits, almost half say that they make unhealthy eating habits. "With their extremely busy schedules, women can easily miss out on key nutrients," states dietitian Ellie Krieger.

While this survey applies primarily to American women, Summit Director Natividad indicates that "women all over the world often think of themselves last and families first when it comes to nutrition and health care." For this reason, the Global Summit of Women includes in its 2003 program a session on "Managing Health Challenges for the Busy Professional." To view the entire program and schedule of this year's Global Summit, please log on to www.globewomen.com.

III. MARKET TRENDS: IN UNSTABLE TIMES, CONSUMERS OPT FOR HOME PRODUCTS
Entrepreneurs globally who are seeking to find out what consumers are tending to buy should take note of the trend towards "cocooning" identified by European and U.S. market researchers. As the world becomes more frazzled by economic and political uncertainty, the home becomes more and more of a refuge from the daily grind. People are tending to spend more time in their homes and find ways to make them more comfortable.

Producers of gift and houseware products are plentiful worldwide, but should take note of two design trends: preference for neutral backgrounds has been supplanted by a desire for bold color, especially golden yellow, which is perceived as warm and comforting. Secondly, consumers now want to express their individuality through unique products, especially those using natural handcrafted goods. In the end, marketing crafts effectively for the export market will require quality control and effective overseas communication media. The Global Summit of Women has scheduled several marketing-oriented sessions to exchange practical ideas for selling products across borders.

IV. NEARLY HALF OF ALL PRIVATELY HELD U.S. BUSINESSES ARE WOMEN-OWNED
The Center for Women's Business Research – a nonprofit organization which has made visible women entrepreneurs' contributions to the U.S. economy by quantifying their bottom-line impact – released recently a report entitled "Completing the Picture" which showed that 46% of all privately held businesses are owned by women. These women-owned firms generate 18.1 million jobs and contribute more than $2.3 trillion in sales to the economy.

"One in 11 women in the U.S. is a business owner," said Renee Jones, president of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Association of Women Business Owners. "We are an increasingly dynamic part of the economy in every city in the United States."

Summit Director Irene Natividad points out that quantifying women entrepreneurs' presence in a country's economy is an important ingredient in creating policy change in the public and private sector that will help open doors to financing and market assistance for women-owned enterprises. "There's nothing like numbers to wake people up to what women are contributing to their local and national economies."

Read the first steps of the EVE-olution Foundation, answer to the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (26/08-04/09 2002)

REMINDER:
Based in New York, the EVE-olution Foundation is an independent international not-for profit organization.

The Foundation will never engage in any political, partisan, national, ethnic, religious activities or interests.

The EVE-olution Foundation is committed to ensuring that our children and future generations enjoy a healthy and life-sustaining planet.

Read more on the PDF document
Launch for the Johannesburg Summit

10 June 2003, Durban, South Africa – A survey of business confidence ahead of the World Economic Forum’s Africa Economic Summit in Durban, South Africa (11-13 June) has found more than 80% of business and civil society respondents more optimistic about the economic outlook of the continent than just one year ago.

The vast majority saw the NEPAD (New Partnership for African Development) as being central to Africa’s future success. However, respondents were growing impatient for action, with almost three quarters expressing dissatisfaction with its implementation.
The poll was carried out amongst 600 Summit participants who will come together later this week to harness the power of partnership. They will be looking at the crucial role of the NEPAD for both economic and political reform on the continent.

Much effort has already gone into developing the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) framework, persuading the international community of its importance and engaging civil society in building legitimacy.

But as the World Economic Forum’s Director for Africa, Haiko Alfeld, says, “The challenge now lies in successful implementation. Africa and Africans enthusiastically welcomed NEPAD but they now want to see action. Last year business endorsed its role in the NEPAD. At this year’s World Economic Forum Africa Economic Summit we want to focus on delivery, turn words into actions, and turn expectations into results.’

Respondents to the survey indicated the need for concrete action and the full support of the private sector in the NEPAD.

The Summit, which begins on Wednesday 11 June will bring together leaders from business, politics and civil society from across Africa and around the world to elaborate plans and partnerships to translate the principles of the NEPAD into action.

The pre-Summit survey also asked participants which countries had the brightest and bleakest prospects over the next five years. South Africa, Angola and Botswana were the stars; Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo and Cote d’Ivoire were the three countries that respondents felt had the bleakest future.

For more details on the survey and information about the Africa Economic Summit 2003, please contact Mark Adams, Head of Media.
_________________________________________________________________

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world. The Forum provides a collaborative framework for the world's leaders to address global issues, engaging particularly its corporate members in global citizenship. Incorporated as a foundation, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. The Forum has NGO consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. (http://www.weforum.org)

Contact: Mark Adams
World Economic Forum’s Office in Durban
Tel.: +27 31 304 0939, or +27 31 304 0943
Fax: +27 31 304 0662
E-mail: mark.adams@weforum.org, or Judith.Schuler@weforum.org
http://www.weforum.org

New York, Jun 6 2003 10:00AM

UN LABOUR AGENCY CALLS FOR GLOBAL ACTION TO END POVERTY THROUGH DECENT JOBS

Stressing that work is the best route out of poverty in a world where nearly 3 billion people live on less than $2 a day, the United Nations labour agency today called for global partnerships between governments, employers, and workers to provide decent jobs for the poor.

"The persistence of poverty is the moral indictment of our times," the Director-General of the UN International Labour Office (ILO), Juan Somavia, says in a report released in Geneva. "While there are some signs of progress, the fact remains that never have we seen so much wealth while so many continue to live in abject poverty."

Mr. Somavia is to launch a debate on ways out of global poverty when he formally presents the report, entitled Working out of Poverty, to ILO's annual meeting of some 3,000 government, worker and employer representatives on 9 June. He is set to call for new global partnerships to support national efforts against poverty.

Warning that global efforts to cut poverty in half by 2015, as mandated by the UN Millennium Summit of 2000, will fail unless new ways are found to allow the world's poor to work for a decent living, Mr. Somavia says in the report: "We know that work is the best route out of poverty. But we cannot legislate employment in and poverty out."

Noting that the poor have enormous reserves of courage, ingenuity, persistence, and solidarity that helps them get through the each day on less than the equivalent of $2, Mr. Somavia says: "Instead of waging war on poverty from the top down, the multilateral system must find ways of tapping into this unused potential. In many ways, the working poor are the ultimate entrepreneurs."

With the "income gap" between the wealthiest and poorest fifths of the world's population widening from 30 to 1 in 1960 to 74 to 1 in 1999, the report notes that regional poverty varies. While the number of people living on very low incomes declined in China and other East Asian countries in the 1990s, to about 900 million from 1.1 billion, slow growth in sub-Saharan Africa elevated the number of the poor by 25 per cent, to nearly 500 million.

Meanwhile, the number of poor in Latin America and the Caribbean rose to 132 million from 121 million, and in the Middle East and North Africa those living at or below the $2-a-day line rose by 20 million, to nearly 70 million. In Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the number living in poverty increased three-fold to 97 million.

Energy, technology and environmental challenges: European research predicts bleak world picture in 2030