The world has changed vastly since the days of the UN's founding. In the aftermath of World War II, the UN was created to ensure peace between nations. Today, the UN takes on a host of global issues beyond peace and security, such as human rights, health, poverty and economic development. During the past 60 years, the UN also has been witness to significant geopolitical change throughout the world. Historic events ranging from decolonization to the fall of the iron curtain to the rise of the global economy mean that the UN is operating in a very different world than it was six decades ago.

Since 1986, the National High School Essay Contest on the United Nations has inspired students to engage global issues and the work of the UN through scholarship and critical thinking. Each year, The United Nations Association of the USA publishes a topic and question of particular importance to the international community. Students then conduct research and write a response to the question, based not only on the information they have found, but also on their own views and opinion.

As the UN tackles its most formidable challenge to date–ending poverty worldwide–it is vital to engage high school students in learning about the UN's role, especially as it becomes ever more apparent that all people must think of themselves as citizens not only of a particular town or country, but of the world as well.

This year's National High School Essay Contest on the United Nations focuses on Millennium Development Goal Six, and asks students to tackle the challenge of combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases. Students will write a letter to the President of the United States answering the following questions:

1. Why is combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases so important?
2. What should the United States do to ensure that Millennium Development Goal Six will be reached by 2015?

*For general inquiries & more information, please email Liubov Grechen at Essay2008@unausa.org

Business Daily (Nairobi)

NEWS
16 October 2007

By Dominique Patton
Nairobi

African governments need to do a better job of marketing the opportunities to be gained from Chinese aid to local businesses, say researchers.

China pledged at a major summit last year to double its assistance to the African continent by 2009. But researchers from both regions say that it will be difficult for African companies to profit directly from China's loans and development projects.


"It is still difficult for Africans to get involved in Chinese aid projects," said Victor Yuan, chairman of Horizon Consulting, a China-based research group that surveyed views on Sino-African co-operation among Chinese and African officials and business leaders.

"Currently the aim of these is to use Chinese technology to implement the projects."

Most Chinese infrastructure projects rely heavily on state-owned companies but some contracts should be turned over to local businesses. However Mr Yuan says that most companies do not know how to access these ventures.

"There is a need to publicise the co-operation policies and make them clearer to local people," he told a conference on Sino-African trade in Beijing. Mr Yuan also accused China's Exim bank of failing to provide adequate information on projects it is funding. "Companies are puzzled as to how to get access."

Zhao Changhui, director of Asia-Africa Development and Exchange Society at the bank, claims the bank's funding is transparent. "It is not a closed circle, it's public. Every piece of information can be found on our website."

But Sanusha Naidu, research fellow at the Centre for Chinese Studies in South Africa's Stellenbosch University, believes it is down to local governments rather than the loan provider to market opportunities to the private sector.

"It's not a closed door policy but I wonder to what extent African governments are pushing the agenda and creating knowledge of opportunities for their businesses to take advantage of?"

"We've seen the unleashing of very substantial funds from China in the last eight months or so but what we're scared of is how much of this will be repatriated back to China. I'm worried that Chinese companies in their prowess may totally outdo African companies."

Ms Naidu suggests that aid projects should incorporate requirements for Chinese companies to take on junior African partners that could benefit from knowledge transfer.

Mr Zhao admits that suitable local businesses are difficult to find. "We always try to find as many local partners as possible but a company has to prove that it is qualified in that sector."

"We want to have more local companies so that we can have better access to the marketplace and then build a two-way partnership," said Mr Zhao.

"But as a provider of Chinese loans we know the Chinese companies better and know which company would be better for the job." Some Chinese aid has already evolved into economic co-operation or market-based projects, said Mr Yuan.

For instance, Huawei's initial investments in Africa started out as aid projects but once networks were laid, they led to independently run joint ventures.

However there is a lack of long-term thinking and co-ordination between government departments.

Aid projects lack third party supervision in Africa and there is insufficient support from the Chinese government to make them sustainable in the long-term, according to his study.

Daily Trust (Abuja)

NEWS
18 October 2007

By Mohammed Lawal Shaibu


Fifty Muslim and Christian religious leaders met in Abuja yesterday to explore ways of achieving enduring peace and harmony in the country.

An equal number of Muslim and Christian leaders met at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel under the auspices of the Nigeria Inter-religious Council (NIREC) to map out strategies on how to avert crisis before it occurs.


Sultan of Sokoto Alhaji Muhammadu Sa'ad called on Nigerians to eschew religious intolerance and imbibe the spirit of harmonious coexistence in the interest of Nigeria's growth and development.

The Sultan, who was addressing the meeting in Abuja yesterday, said no meaningful development could be achieved in country where there is crisis and instability.

He urged Muslims and Christians in the country to extol the virtues of tolerance, charity, respect and forgiveness as well as promote the universality of the common bonds which joined them together as Nigerians.

"The issue of peace and religious harmony constitutes one of the cardinal principles which underlie the essence of our collective existence. Peaceful co-existence remains one of the key ingredients of nation-building and socio-economic development.

"Religious harmony and the respect for the life and property of one another embody not only our commitment to these national goals but also express our common humanity and the affirmation of the benevolence of our Creator who, in His infinite wisdom, has put us together in this common abode," he said.

Sultan Sa'ad, who is also the president general, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) said Nigerian religious differences should serve as a source of its national strength, stressing that its people should live, work and co-operate with one another to resolve any misunderstandings which might arise in their day-to-day activities.

The Sultan also called on religious leaders in the country to rededicate themselves to the noble cause of peace-building and mutual co-existence among religious groups.

"We must, as religious leaders, champion the cause of truth, honesty, accountability and justice and ensure that our followers embody these virtues and put them into effect. We must serve as a source of succour to the weak and the poor in our societies and provide hope and confidence to our people to face the social, economic and moral crises which they are bound to encounter in their collective existence," the Sultan said.

He called on President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua to, among other things, set up a functional national secretariat as well as appropriate structures for NIREC at the state level for public enlightenment, peace monitoring and conflict resolution activities; and to enable NIREC to evolve greater co-operation and co-ordination between it and relevant government agencies.

It would be recalled that NIREC was established by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to promote greater interaction and understanding among religious leaders and their followers, and to establish the foundations of sustainable peace and religious harmony in the country.

Rice in new Mideast talks after Bethlehem peace prayer
Courtesy of AFP

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held new talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday after calling in the Biblical birthplace of Jesus for Christians, Jews and Muslims to seize the opportunity for reconciliation.

Shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders in a bid to galvanize the peace process after nearly seven years of deadlock, Rice swept back into the West Bank political capital Ramallah to meet Abbas after praying in Bethlehem.

After several hours of talks, she was scheduled to meet the head of Israel's negotiating team for a forthcoming US-sponsored summit, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, before a working dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

Rice wants to use a five-day visit to the region to broker agreement between Israel and the Palestinians on the outlines of a peace deal that the two sides will negotiate after the summit in Annapolis, Maryland, later this autumn.

A devout Christian whose father and grandfather were church ministers, Rice visited the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem for a spot of sightseeing and prayer.

Armed Palestinian security officers lined the streets as her convoy swept past shuttered shops and practically empty streets as few locals turned out to see the first visit by a US secretary of state in nearly a decade.
Wearing a pale green trouser suit, Rice spent about half an hour inside the church, visiting its Greek Orthodox, Armenian and Catholic chapels and praying at the exact spot where Christians believe Christ was born.

She lit a candle and emerged saying her visit had been a personal reminder of the power of religion to heal and reconcile those who live in the Holy Land -- where Rice has said it is time for a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"Being here at the birthplace of my lord and savior Jesus Christ has been a very special and moving experience," the top US diplomat said.

"These great monotheist religions that have inhabited this land together have an opportunity to overcome differences, to put aside grievances, to make the power of religion a power of healing and a power of reconciliation."

She met local officials and businessmen in a town that has seen its main tourist income slump dramatically since the second Palestinian uprising broke out in 2000 after the last US-brokered peace talks failed.
The latest US push to revive the peace process comes after nearly seven years of diplomatic deadlock following the collapse of the Camp David peace summit and violence between the two sides that has killed nearly 5,900 people.

Belief doing to others like I want others to do to me which is among the commandments. I do not dream nor do i want anybody to go to hell as much I don't like hell for myself..and in the same way will i not knowingly harm my fellow because it will harm me back. My beloved, the time has come when we must seek heaven among each an everyone of us and not when the kingdom races is personal, everyone endeavouring to make heaven for him/herself which is very possible as if we can start it with one another here on earth by sharing love with another!!.

Whatever had happened to Love, must rejuvenate so that we can witness this free given paradise on earth which will prepare us to the awaiting heaven.

Oh what a holistic junction!!!.

Mr Yar'Adua told the BBC that all Nigerians need to become honest, trustworthy and hard-working people.

He stressed that politicans must start to set a good example because "whatever leaders do, is what their subjects do".

On Tuesday, the New York-based Human Rights Watch issued a report which said politics in Nigeria was so corrupt that it resembled criminal activity.

The HRW report noted that President Yar'Adua has promised to uphold the rule of law but said there needed to be real reforms to make the government accountable and to end the culture of impunity.

Setting an example

President Yar'Adua told the BBC's Hausa Service that it was vital that the country's political leaders set an example to all by leading honest lives and distancing themselves from unlawful acts.

"I want Nigeria to be a country with people who fear God; a country whose citizens obey the rule of law and due process; a country where the citizens shun evil acts and do the right things to promote peace in Nigeria and the world at large."

A series of recent setbacks - and what appears to be political in-fighting between the attorney-general's office and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission - has led several commentators to question the administration's commitment to tackling grand corruption.

But in his interview with the BBC, President Yar'Adua re-emphasised that to lift all Nigerians from poverty it was essential for everyone, especially holders of political office, to adopt the highest standards of behaviour.

"If leaders fear God, be honest, sincere, hard-working, do the right thing and distance themselves from any unlawful acts - the people they govern will copy them and do the same."

Mr Yar'Adua was elected in April in what international monitors said was a deeply flawed process, with high levels of fraud and violence.

Nigeria's President Umaru Yar'Adua says eradicating corruption is the key to ending poverty in Nigeria

It can be challenging to know how to reach out to our friends and loved ones who need us as they battle breast cancer. And, because there is no guide book for us all to turn to during this difficult process, Nicole has come up with the following tips, suggestions really, on how to help a friend with cancer or anyone facing serious health challenges. Since it is National Breast Cancer Awareness month, we wanted to share Nicole’s ideas with you as some very practical ways to change your world by changing the world of someone you love who is battling an illness.

When it comes to dealing with a friend who has breast cancer, it would be incredibly helpful if there was a book called Suffering for Dummies.

When a friend gets sick we feel so helpless and even a little lost. We desperately want to help, but find ourselves at a loss for what we can do. We would rather do nothing than get in our friend’s way or add to her burden, so sadly we often do nothing. Since, as of yet, no one has written Suffering for Dummies, it’s up to us to figure this out.


First of all, don’t ask your friend what you can do; you know as well as I do that she won’t want to tell you. To really support her, you have to jump and think of creative ways to help. I’ve compiled a list of tried and true tips.


15 Ways to Really Help a Friend with Cancer


Let her know you’d like to go with her to the doctor. Offer to pick her up, take notes during the appointment or simply hold her purse, and then drive her home.
Bring food that freezes in disposable containers. Label the containers with contents and reheating instructions.
Offer to be the friend who will let others know what is happening with her health. You could set up a phone tree or e-mail group, so she doesn’t have to constantly be communicating
Take her car out, fill it with fuel and have it washed.
Leave a bag outside her door to fill with her laundry that needs to be done. Take the laundry home with you and bring it back that day or the very next day, cleaned and folded.
Send a manicurist or a masseuse to her house. Be sure to pay for the service, including a gratuity in advance and let your friend know you have done so.
Ask if she needs a wrapped gift for her child to take to a birthday party. Go out and buy the gift, wrap it, and get it back to her a day ahead of the party. Offer to drive her child to and from the party.
See if your husband can take her husband out for golf or invite him over to watch a game. Often no one thinks of the stress a husband carries when his wife is ill.
Schedule a weekly “pick-up or drop-off” run for things like: dry cleaning, movie rentals or prescriptions.
Provide her with a housecleaner for a day. Pay the housecleaner and let your friend know you have taken care of everything.
In her mailbox, leave an envelope of gift certificates or coupons to places that deliver food.
Offer to help write, address and stamp her thank-you notes. Bring over some pretty stationery and several booklets of stamps . And allow her to dictate some notes, and you can send them out.
Go card shopping and give her an assortment of occasion cards (anniversary, graduation, birthday, etc.) that she can use. Bundle them together with a nice pen and some pretty stamps.
Take her kids out to see a fun movie or for ice-cream. She will love knowing they are having fun when she can’t be the one to do it.
Pick up a grocery bag of “staples” (bread, juice, cereal, milk, toilet paper, paper towels, etc.) and drop them off at her door. Call (or e-mail if the items aren’t perishable) to let her know that they are there.

By Nicole Johnson
http://www.freshbrewedlife.com

As you might imagine, I’m a pretty good packer.

In fact, if there were a Road Warrior Survivor TV show, I just might consider testing my skill. After all, I’ve been doing it for YEARS — over 30 or more on a regular basis. I know how to put things in a suitcase, check off a list, and think through what I might have forgotten. Whether it’s just for an overnight trip, a month long stay overseas, going to visit a friend, or for one of our fabulous weekend conferences… you name it, I’ve packed for it many times over.

But in my 40 years I have NEVER packed a bag like the one sitting in my closet right now. It is a small black bag waiting to go with us to the hospital. One day soon we’ll leave home with that bag and return a few days later with a baby boy. How does one pack for such a life-changing journey?

There are lots of practical things in my suitcase, but they aren’t the “usual” things I travel with. No curling iron, no gym shoes and not even my computer. No, the “practical” stuff has already changed: baby booties and swaddling blankets, comfortable clothes, clean underwear, and some snacks. What else do we need, really?

But let me tell you a few more special things I’ve packed for this journey:

The first thing in my case came from a special baby shower. It is a little cloth bag that contains some handwritten prayers, little pieces of advice and the well wishes of friends. These gems were written at the shower and then sealed. I haven’t read them yet—and the little envelopes are such a picture of the encouragement and support that goes with me.

I’m also bringing a little necklace of shells — given to me by my sister-in-law, Nancy. She gave them to me a couple of years ago as a tangible prayer for strength. She got them when she was competing in a triathlon in Hawaii. Nancy has two boys and I packed the necklace as a sweet reminder of her strength and the strength of other mothers who have gone before me and survived beautifully.

Also in my bag is a very handy list of the phone numbers of those closest to me. It amazed me as I worked on the list how often I have traveled without this in the past. Not only is it nice to have the numbers accessible, it’s such a meaningful reminder of the wonderful people in our life who care about us and our new baby.

I’ve packed my journal and my Bible — not to worry, I don’t have real thoughts of being able to write anything down in my journal (other than “Oww”), but as many of you know, I always have it with me, just in case. It’s an old friend and companion, as is my Bible. I’ve marked some special passages and Scriptures that someone can read to me if my eyes are crossed in pain or filled with tears of joy. God is so good to give us his word for this journey called life.

So I’m zipping my case closed and just waiting for the day. Trusting in the few things I’m taking, that I have all I really need. I’m so grateful for the love and care you’ve demonstrated with your emails and prayers. I’ve asked my staff to let you know when the big event occurs, because remember I’m not bringing my computer.

See you “on the other side” of motherhood,

By: Nicole Johnson

May 1, 2007
http://www.freshbrewedlife.com

By: Nicole Johnson


She swallowed hard as the doctor looked over her chart shaking his head. “There are things we can do to try to intervene here Jennifer, but I don’t think you’ll ever be able to carry a child of your own...” his voice trailed off into nothingness as the reality of his words made the room start to spin.

“I’d be happy to make up the time once my son is in better health,” she offered hopefully. But the face across the desk didn’t share the hope. “I’m sorry Cathy, it just isn’t going to be best for the company for you to work here anymore. We’ve had a great ten years together, but it is time for us all to do something different.”

A sleepless night and the cold remains of their bitter argument still echoing in her head did nothing to make the morning any better than the night before. Jack had been resolute. He wanted a divorce. Their twelve-year marriage was over just like that. Overwhelming sadness made Sandra feel sick to her stomach and she hoped she would make it to the bathroom in time…

The stories above highlight one of the most painful realities in life: not death itself, but the death of a dream. Some have speculated that death to be equal to or worse than a physical death or loss. When my own marriage of 14 years ended in divorce seven years ago, my dream of having a life-long, committed marriage came to an end. And there were days I not only thought I might die, there were several days that I wanted to.

We were made to dream. It’s a vital part of who we are… dreams keep us focusing on what’s ahead of us, they keep us in touch with our deeper yearnings and longings—all of which matter a great deal to our hearts and souls. So what happens to us when a dream dies? When something we have hoped for our whole lives is ultimately closed to us as in the stories mentioned above?

We must acknowledge the importance of such dreams in order to grieve the loss of them. When a dream dies, we ache. When anything we love dies, there is loss and sadness, and those feelings are right and normal. The worst thing we can do is try and sweep our broken dreams under a rug of pretense that they didn’t really matter to us in the first place. Or try to cover over our feelings of loss with some sort of false piety telling those around us, “The Lord knows what he’s doing,” as though it doesn’t matter to us one way or the other. There is great danger in saying words that we think will sound right to others when we don’t really trust them in our hearts.

In my case, as a child of divorce, having a great marriage had been a life-long dream. The saddest reality was that I didn’t have it—but acknowledging that my marriage was over was to admit that that dream would never come to pass. That hurt almost as much as the loss of my marriage. Both had to be grieved.


Secondly, it is a wise choice to not give bitterness and anger a foothold. These feelings are simply not worth what they cost us on the inside. They are drops of poison in the well of our hearts. We are dreamers, but we are not our dreams. This is a critical distinction. Our dreams are an important part of us, but they are only a part. When a dream dies, it is our responsibility to make sure our heart doesn’t die right along with it. That one choice would change the rest of our lives far more than losing a dream. We’ll have more dreams. In fact, if we’re really living we can’t stop new dreams from forming in our minds and hearts. But if we began to believe that because one dream died, then all our dreams will die—that would be the greatest tragedy of all.

After my divorce, a big internal challenge I faced was not becoming cynical and bitter toward men, or even toward others who were living their dream of a great marriage. I wanted to keep my heart set on the importance of that dream even though for me it had not been a reality. But as many of you know from your own personal experiences, such a process while worth it is not easy.

And lastly, with time, give yourself permission to dream again. And if you can’t do that just yet, don’t worry—just try to be open to staying open. For some couples who have walked the lonely road of infertility, God brings a new dream of adoption. Many women who have lost jobs have found better and more fulfilling work later in their lives. We don’t start there in our thinking or move to hoping for the “big ending” while we’re facing the loss of a dream, but we can be encouraged by the fact that sometimes a dream will come around again in a different form and we must keep our hearts open or we might miss it. As much as we might want to, we just can’t see what lies ahead.

And in my story, seven years has brought quite a few changes that I could never have seen. A year and a half ago I remarried a wonderful man. In May we welcomed our son, Elliot Asher Newman, into our family. It just isn’t possible that I could have seen or believed this when my marriage ended and I thought my life was over. Not only did I NOT have faith to believe it, I didn’t even have the strength to hope for it.

Knowing that our dreams matter and understanding that, as painful as it may be, sometimes doors close to us, try to hold these thoughts in your heart if you are facing the death of a dream:

1. Acknowledge the importance of your dream so you can fully grieve the loss.
2. Be aware that bitterness and anger only numb pain, they do not heal it.
3. With time, give yourself permission to dream again.

Never forget that we are in process on this journey and while we don’t know what the future holds, we trust God for very good reasons, and those reasons are still true in the midst of our losses. God has a way, uniquely his, and a time table, unknown to us, and he has great love that guides us toward bigger dreams, the kind that will never disappoint and never die.

The most valuable skills you can have are the knowledge of:

* How to get the most value from the time you have
* How to get the attention of the right people
* How to close more business
* How to get results from yourself and others
* How to take the right actions
* How to get the success you want

Mastering these skills are the keys to building and achieving a life you want to live.

When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the raod you are trudging seems all uphills
When the funds are low and the debts are very high
When you want to smile but you have to sigh....
When care is pressing you down a bit, rest if you must, but don't you quit.

'Cos life is queer with it's twist and turns as everyone of us sometimes learns and many a failures
turns about when he might have won had he struck it out don't give up thought the pace seems
slow, you may suceed with another blow.
Remember ''success is failure turned inside out''.