GLOBAL SOLIDARITY

Haiti, City of Carrefour

A l’initiative de l’ingénieur Jude Élie représentant de l’organisation GUD (Global Urban Development), les contacts ont été établis entre son excellence, Monsieur Yvon Jérôme, Le Maire de Carrefour, et le professeur Ilan Juran, directeur exécutif de l’Association W-SMART, afin d’explorer les perspectives et les stratégies de coopération face aux défis de la construction des réseaux d’Eau Potable et d’Assainissement auxquels est exposée aujourd’hui l’agglomération métropolitaine.

L’Association Internationale W-SMART (Water Security Management Assessment, Research et Technology) a été créée a l’initiative du Commissaire de la Ville de New York pour l’Eau,l’Assainissement, et la Protection de l’Environnement (NYCDEP – New York City Department of Environmental Protection) a l’issue des attentats de 11 septembre, 2001. Sa mission est de promouvoir une solidarité internationale entre les opérateurs publics et privés des réseaux d’eau et d’assainissement de grandes villes face aux menaces du terrorisme et des catastrophes naturelles.

C’est dans ce contexte que les membres de W-SMART ont établi un groupe de travail pour explorer avec le Gouvernement Haïtien, les Villes affectées, et les opérateurs de leurs réseaux urbains les besoins prioritaires pour la reconstruction des réseaux d’eau et d’assainissement et définir avec eux les objectifs d’une aide en matière d’expertise que l’Association soit en mesure d’apporter… ReadMore

Maputo

The SPLASH Sanitation Programme aims to addressurban sanitation challenges at scale in in sub- SaharanAfrica by developing solutions that focus on the entiresanitation service delivery chain.

The research programme is funded by the AustrianDevelopment Cooperation (ADC), the Department forInternational Development (DFID), Ministrère desAffaires Étangères et Européenes (MAEE), SwedishInternational Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA),Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC)and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation… ReadMore

Civil Society Initiatives

LISBON, 23 July — The eighteenth International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East concluded this morning with two panel discussions, the first on “Harnessing new media for positive change in the Middle East”, and the second on “The Civil Society Initiative: The role of Israeli and Palestinian mayors in contributing to peace and security in the Middle East”. Following the conclusion of the panels, the Seminar heard statements by Jorge Sampaio, High Representative of the Alliance of Civilizations and former President of Portugal; Kiyo Akasaka, United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information; and Carlos Neves Ferreira, President of the Portuguese Government’s Diplomatic Institute.

Mr. Sampaio said that, while political problems must be solved by political means, some protracted ones, even when settled by a binding agreement between political actors or Governments, must be embedded in a much broader process involving people at all levels of society. Therefore, peacemaking was a process, a way of living together, and, in that sense, never made but always in the making. The media could play a critical role in rebuilding individual and collective relations, helping to shape a greater sense of commonality by developing a sense of future based on what each side needed or desired, and by focusing on hope for the future.

Mr. Akasaka said the media were a major partner for all initiatives by the international community, particularly the United Nations, in fostering understanding and addressing the challenging problems of ignorance and fear. However, challenges remained, not least because the role of new media was evolving in both positive and negative ways, but that was a fact of life. More space and more opportunities must be created for women to participate in and lead change, he said, expressing hope that the optimism expressed during the Seminar would be substantiated, and that the Seminar had helped contribute to a conducive, positive environment for future talks… ReadMore

GLOBAL SOLIDARITY