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Volunteer Abroad in 2008 to 2009: Unite for Sight
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Unite for Sight is currently accepting applications for 2008 and 2009. This opportunity was recently featured on CNN International and recently in The New York Times.

Volunteers who may not have previous health or eye care experience are welcome. You will receive all necessary training from Unite For Sight so that you are able to assist eye doctors with community eye outreach programs. Unite For Sight also welcomes volunteers to participate as photographers and filmmakers.

What is Unite For Sight's Mission?

Unite For Sight is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that empowers communities worldwide to improve eye health and eliminate preventable blindness. Unite For Sight's work to prevent blindness and restore sight is featured weekly on CNN INTERNATIONAL from September 2007-August 2008.

No patient should remain blind due to lack of funds and Unite for Sight makes it possible. Volunteers immediately see the joy on patients' faces when their sight is restored after years of blindness. These memories last a lifetime. While helping the community, volunteers are in a position to witness and draw their own conclusions about the failures and inequities of global health systems. It broadens their view of what works, and what role they can have to ensure a health system that works for everyone and that leaves no person blind in the future.

What Do Volunteers Say?:

"During my volunteering experience, I realized that Unite for Sight´s service is a campaign for the salvation of humanity that allows the light of compassion to shine through each of us. I believe it is this display of altruism and commitment that makes the organization´s service so virtuous and treasured by both volunteers and patients. After all, making a difference in the world is not so difficult if only one would care enough to sacrifice a part of oneself in order to change the world for the better. My experience as a Unite for Sight volunteer has inspired me to dedicate my future career to serving underprivileged communities around the world."-Chiwing "Jessica" Qu, Yale University Undergraduate Student, Unite For Sight Volunteer in Chennai, India

"I can honestly say that everything I learned in 3 years of medical
school paled in comparison to the 3 week experience I had done in my life. The people of Ghana are some of the friendliest and most thankful of anyone I have ever met. Overall, the experience has changed the way I view the world, my own country, and my role in the world forever. The only way to understand the way 4/5 of the world lives is to go yourself and get involved. The staff I worked with that are the heart and soul of Unite for Sight in Accra were some of the brightest and hard working individuals I have ever met. They are accomplishing feats few ever accomplish in their lives, and I am truly blessed to have had the opportunity to work with them and now call them my friends. I look forward to future work with Unite for Sight as an Ophthalmologist. The task at hand in Ghana, and I'm sure in all of Unite for Sight's locations throughout the world, is enormous. The more people that get involved, the more accessible services will be to these wonderful people. Plain and simple, the more we help, the more people can see the world they live in!"-Brian

For more information check out the link:

http://www.uniteforsight.org/intl_volunteer

May 21, 2008 | 9:53 PM Comments  1 comments

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Bali Will Be A Test Of Leaders' Resolve
Related to country: Indonesia

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Ban Ki-moon, December 5, 2007

www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/bali-will-be-a-test-of-leaders-resolve/2007/12/04/1196530676912.html

We have read the science. Global warming is real, and we are a prime cause. We have heard the warnings. Unless we act, now, we face serious consequences. Polar ice will melt. Sea levels will rise. A third of our plant and animal species could vanish. There will be famine in Africa and
central Asia.

Largely lost in the debate is the good news: we can do something - more easily, and at far less cost, than most of us imagine.

These are the conclusions of the latest report from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, the scientific body that recently shared the Nobel peace prize. It is sobering reading. But let's remember its optimistic bottom line as world leaders gather in Bali this week, seeking an agreement on climate change that all nations can embrace.

We do not yet know what such an accord might look like. Should it urge governments to tax greenhouse gas emissions or endorse a global carbon-trading system? Should it provide mechanisms for preventing deforestation, accounting for 20% of carbon dioxide emissions, or help
less-developed nations adapt to the inevitable effects of global warming?

The answer, of course, is some variation on all these things - and much, much more. But at Bali, the goal is simpler and more immediate. We must set an agenda - create a road map to a better future, coupled with a timeline that produces a deal by 2009.

In this, it helps to have a vision of how the future might look if we succeed. That is not merely a cleaner, healthier, more secure world for all. Handled correctly, our fight against global warming could set the stage for an eco-friendly transformation of the global economy - one that spurs growth and development rather than crimps it, as many nations fear.

We have witnessed great economic transformations in the past century. Following on from growing industrialisation came the technology revolution, then our modern era of globalisation. We stand at the threshold of another great change: the age of green economics.

The evidence is all about us, often in unexpected places. Visiting South America recently, I saw how Brazil has become one of the biggest players in green economics, drawing some 44% of its energy needs from renewable fuels. The world average is 13%. In Europe: 6.1%.

Much is made of the fact that China is poised to surpass the US as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Less well known, however, are its more recent efforts to confront grave environmental problems. China is on track to invest $10 billion in renewable energy this year,
second only to Germany. It has become a world leader in solar and wind power. At a recent summit of east Asian leaders, China's Premier, Wen Jiabao, pledged to reduce energy consumption (per unit of gross domestic product) by 20% over five years - not far removed, in spirit, from
Europe's commitment to a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.

This is the way of the future. Some estimates show that growth in global energy demand could be cut in half over the next 15 years simply by deploying existing technologies yielding a return on investment of 10% or more. The IPCC report lays out the very practical ways, from tougher
standards for air-conditioners and refrigerators to improved efficiency in industry, building and transport. It estimates that overcoming serious climate change may cost as little as 0.1% of global GDP a year over the next three decades.

Growth need not suffer and, in fact, may accelerate. Research by the University of California at Berkeley indicates that the US could create 300,000 jobs if 20% of electricity needs were met by renewables.

The United Nations Environment Program estimates that global investment in zero-greenhouse energy will reach $1.9 trillion by 2020.

Already, businesses in many parts of the world are demanding public policies on climate change, regardless of what form they might take - regulation, emissions caps, efficiency guidelines.

The reason is obvious. Business needs ground rules. Helping to create them is very much the role of the UN.

Our job, in Bali and beyond, is to shape this nascent global transformation - to open the door to the age of green economics and green development.

What's missing is a global framework within which we, the world's peoples, can co-ordinate our efforts to fight climate change.

The scientists have done their job. Now it's up to the politicians. Bali is a test of their leadership.

Ban Ki-moon is UN Secretary-General.


May 16, 2008 | 3:25 PM Comments  0 comments



How Trade Unions Can Support Self Employment of Rural Poor Women in Pakistan
Related to country: Pakistan

Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Lahore, Pakistan -- A one-day seminar on the role of trade unions to help support rural women’s livelihood was held at the Ambassador Hotel Lahore on January 17, 2008. Organized by Pakistan Labour Federation (PLF) with the collaboration of the World Asian Workers Organization (WAWO), the seminar was attended by 70 women from trade unions from all over the country.

In her welcome speech Chairperson Atia Saleem noted that the government of Pakistan established the Ministry of Women Development to protect women’s rights and to stop the victimization of working women in public and private sectors.

She added that the main objectives of the PLF, which established a women’s wing, was to stabilize the institutional and legal protection of women and to create general awareness of such rights. Trade unions must ensure that women enjoy equal rights with men in terms of politics, economy, she emphasized.

PLF Voices speak out against poverty, discrimination against women

Prominent PLF ofiicers all voiced their concerns regarding the problems facing women and the enforcement of their rights, such as poverty unemployment and discrimination. Among those who reiterated the role of PLF in supporting such rights were Haji Muhammad Saeed, Founder and Secretary General and Waheed Ahmad, Advocate and Legal Advisor.

PLF Women’s Wing Secretary Shamila Sadiq, also said that PLF will continue its efforts to promote gender equality by its cooperation with the all NGOs. Rizwana Yasmeen Advocate Senior Vice President added that trade unions have a direct impact on improving the economy, alleviating poverty and improving the plight of women in rural areas.

(Haji Muhammad Saeed)
Secretary General
PAKISTAN LABOUR FEDERATION
OFF. 2/136- A AMAN PARK BAGHBANPURA LAHORE ,PAKISTAN
PH. # 92-42-6856984 FAX # 92-42-6844293
E.MAIL: plfpakistan@yahoo.com