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Androulla Vassiliou the 69 year old Cypriot lawyer and European politician who is the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, known for being very active in social and cultural fields within the UN and EU, has been subject of an article by Coline Milliard for Boulin Artinfo titled ‘We Can't Leave Culture to the Market’. Milliard states “Speaking at the first Edinburgh International Culture Summit, EU culture commissioner Androulla Vassiliou reaffirmed the need for EU states to maintain funding for the arts. "Culture represents a public good in which every citizen has a stake and I believe that the case for public intervention is as strong today as it has ever been: the markets alone cannot deliver all that a civilised society needs," she later said in a press statement. The International Culture Summit … brings together politicians and artists from an array of countries to discuss the role culture can play in encouraging dialogue between nations. …As she inaugurated the summit, Scottish culture minister Fiona Hyslop said that the arts and creative sector were "key to economic and indeed social recovery, rather than a distraction from it," the EUobserver reported. Vassiliou and Hyslop's comments arrive at a moment when most European countries are facing severe art funding cuts. Although the Scottish government only reduced its culture spending by 5% since 2010, the rest of the UK experienced cuts of 30%. The European Union is planning to counteract this tendency by increasing its own culture budget by almost 40% for the next EU budgetary cycle in 2014-2020, bringing it up to €1.8b (£1.41b). The "Creative Europe" proposal is currently under discussion at the European parliament, but it is facing firm opposition from Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. A final decision should be reached by early next year. If it goes ahead, an estimated 300,000 artists could benefit from "Creative Europe" funding.”  Inspired by Coline Milliard, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/hYDej Image source Marina Ofugi ow.ly/hYDcO We can’t leave culture to the market (March 6 2013)

 

Androulla Vassiliou the 69 year old Cypriot lawyer and European politician who is the European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, known for being very active in social and cultural fields within the UN and EU, has been subject of an article by Coline Milliard for Boulin Artinfo titled ‘We Can’t Leave Culture to the Market’. Milliard states “Speaking at the first Edinburgh International Culture Summit, EU culture commissioner Androulla Vassiliou reaffirmed the need for EU states to maintain funding for the arts. “Culture represents a public good in which every citizen has a stake and I believe that the case for public intervention is as strong today as it has ever been: the markets alone cannot deliver all that a civilised society needs,” she later said in a press statement. The International Culture Summit … brings together politicians and artists from an array of countries to discuss the role culture can play in encouraging dialogue between nations. …As she inaugurated the summit, Scottish culture minister Fiona Hyslop said that the arts and creative sector were “key to economic and indeed social recovery, rather than a distraction from it,” the EUobserver reported. Vassiliou and Hyslop’s comments arrive at a moment when most European countries are facing severe art funding cuts. Although the Scottish government only reduced its culture spending by 5% since 2010, the rest of the UK experienced cuts of 30%. The European Union is planning to counteract this tendency by increasing its own culture budget by almost 40% for the next EU budgetary cycle in 2014-2020, bringing it up to €1.8b (£1.41b). The “Creative Europe” proposal is currently under discussion at the European parliament, but it is facing firm opposition from Germany, the Netherlands, and the UK. A final decision should be reached by early next year. If it goes ahead, an estimated 300,000 artists could benefit from “Creative Europe” funding.”

 

Inspired by Coline Milliard, Blouin Artinfo ow.ly/hYDej Image source Marina Ofugi ow.ly/hYDcO

Eating water latest threat to a thirsty world (September 15 2012) Eating water latest threat to a thirsty world (September 15 2012)

Thalif Deen the North American UN Bureau Chief and Regional Director for the Inter Press Service news agency, covering the United Nations since the late 1970s, has published an article titled ‘Eating Water Latest and Rising Threat to a Thirsty World’. Deen states “Paradoxically, the water we “eat” is likely to become one of the growing new dangers to millions of the world’s thirsty, hungering for this finite natural resource. …Since everything humans eat requires water to be produced, the paradox of the water we “eat” was best illustrated by an exhibition in the conference lobby [annual international water conference], which pointed out that the production of an average hamburger – two slices of bread, beef, tomato, lettuce, onions and cheese – consumes about 2,389 litres of water, compared to 140 litres for a cup of coffee and 135 for a single egg. …a 50-page report by the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) released here points out that nearly one billion people still suffer from hunger and malnutrition – despite the fact that food production has been steadily increasing on a per capita basis for decades. Producing food to feed everyone well, including the two billion additional people expected to populate the planet by mid-century, a significant from today’s seven billion, will place greater pressure on available water and land resources. …Achieving food security, the report argues, is a complex challenge involving a host of factors. Two of the most critical have been identified as water and energy, both essential components to produce food.”

 

Inspired by IPS News ow.ly/dtBWZ image source Web Islam ow.ly/dtCPl

UN corrupts Somali political transition (August 15 2012) UN corrupts Somali political transition (August 15 2012)

Abdi Ismail Samatar the 62 year old Somalian-American Professor of Geography whose research focuses on the relationship between democracy and development in the Third World has published an article on Aljazeera titled the ‘UN corrupts Somali political transition’. In the article Samatar states “For over the two decades, sectarian Somali leaders and their international patrons dominated political transitions in the country. The end results of these affairs have been perpetual political instability, endless violence and the misery for the population without any one being held accountable. Another transition is looming and the UN which is midwifing the process is enabling several Somali actors to gerrymander the process in order to predetermine the outcome to their advantage. …Notwithstanding these odds, faithful people are relentlessly working to change the course of history for the better while they pray for a miracle. The Somali civic movement is engaged in such a struggle and is striving for a miracle under horrific circumstances, but their efforts are continuously undermined by regional and international actors who seem to relish the humiliation of the Somali. Conceiving and executing a corrupt political process designed to disable the Somali people, the UN strategy makes mockery of the high democratic and humanitarian ideals international actors claim to cherish and could very well instigate a new wave of violence. Let us hope that the civics miraculously triumph and human dignity restored.”

 

Inspired by Aljazeera ow.ly/cQGzL image source Facebook ow.ly/cQGxE

Danny Schechter the US investigative journalist and independent filmmaker has published an article on Aljazeera discussing the global financial crisis as a human rights issue, calling on the UN to protect citizens from inequality and abuse by decisions of the elites. “As a long-time human rights advocate…  I think it’s important we recognise that there are economic and social rights as well as political ones, and that if the UN has the duty to “protect” ordinary people against military abuses, it also has the obligation to protect citizens who are being abused by the decisions of the 1 per cent – bankers, economic policymakers and big business honchos… An organisation like the UN, whose charter begins with the words “We The People”, has to try to defend the interest of economic victims as well as political ones, because national governments have been bought or silenced by the very vested economic interests that are ravaging so many of our communities… In most of the media, this crisis has been treated with a perverse logic: that no one was responsible since everyone was financially irresponsible and thus everyone is to blame – while at the same time no one is blamed.”

 

Inspired by Danny Schechter http://ow.ly/9MKby image source http://ow.ly/9MKa4

Karen Christiana Figueres Olsen the 55 year old Costa Rican Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has posted a message on the Climate Reality Project web site “At the UN Climate Conference in Durban, governments reached groundbreaking agreements. But were they enough to ensure that Antarctic ice will stop melting and that the people of Bangladesh are now safe? No — the fact is that no single agreement or set of agreements can provide a definitive answer to the challenge of climate change. Whilst the world does now have a clear vision and a pathway forward, the sheer magnitude of what we are dealing with means that all of civil society and every single government must do their utmost to stave off the worst effects of climate change… Action to combat climate change also needs to urgently increase in scale, scope and speed. I left the Climate Reality Project boat haunted by the moral challenge that was put before us: “Before you make a decision that affects the world’s climate, imagine the eyes of seven generations of children in the future looking at you, and asking … Why?”

 

Inspired by Christiana Figueres http://ow.ly/9veBy image source http://ow.ly/9vctC

Mazhar Shahin the Egyptian cleric who has become the distinguished face of the Tahrir Square protestors now facing off with the Egyptian army, has called for the army leadership to immediately transfer power to a government of eminent civilians. During a Friday prayer, Shahin stated to the loud support of thousands in attendance, “The revolution is the one that thinks, the revolution is the one that decides, it is the one that judges … Our revolution was a body without a head. Today, the revolution will have a head … Few of the revolution’s demands have been met … The people insist on completing their revolution. Either we live in dignity, or we die here in Tahrir.” The civilian government Shahin proposed includes Mohamad ElBaradei the head of the UN nuclear watchdog.

 

Inspired by france24 http://ow.ly/7G7Lk image source youm7 http://ow.ly/7G7KX

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