UNESCO Courier articles from June 2001

UNESCO Courier archives from June 2001

Sydney: the beauty and the vice.(description of the city and its history)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... What happens when you live in a city that's a travel agent's dream? You start seeing yourself through tourist eyes, unless you open your umbrella and follow one of the locals around. Then, the mood shifts, but the city loses none of its...

Global warming: ignorance is not bliss.(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... Although confined to a wheelchair far from his native Nigeria, the founding father of African literature in English is as close to his beloved home as in student days, when revolt awoke the writer within At the seventh international climate...

With Bolivar we go.(Venezuelan education reform influenced by Simon Bolivar)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... Taking aim at corruption and vested interests, Venezuela's government has launched a far-reaching education reform. Some see Cuba at the doorstep, while others applaud the wilt to shore up an ailing system The Venezuelan revolution is on...

EFFORTS IN INVISIBLE INK.(recognizing contributions of volunteers)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... The current International Year of Volunteers has one overarching aim: to bring about widespread recognition of the millions of people around the globe who, through voluntary acts, play a significant role in fostering social cohesion within...

When patients take the mike.(psychiatric hospital hosts radio station)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... How the dogged efforts of a young psychologist are keeping patients in a Buenos Aires mental hospital in touch with the outside world "I miss you, Dad, I miss you, I know. Will you be all right in Rosario?" "He's called Rosario,"...

Volunteering, capital of the future?(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... Governments are waking up to the economic and social benefits of volunteering, but should not rely on it as a Stopgap for solving society's ills In a telling recognition of volunteering's place in society, the United Nations General...

From work camps to virtual aid.(evolution of volunteering)
June 1, 2001... Once closely tied in with community traditions, volunteering's expansion has been driven by an internationalist spirit. Today, it attracts a wide array of enthusiasts, including those on the sidelines Sorin Hurdubae, 38, lives in Paris and...

Self-interest or goodwill?(motives for volunteering)(Brief Article)(Interview)
June 1, 2001... From improving a CV to meeting kindred spirits, volunteers are driven by a myriad of motives. For many, giving a hand is simply a moral obligation, says Spanish social psychologist Fernando Chacon Fuentes * Why do people feel the need to...

Teens talking to teens.(Slovenian teenagers staff hotline)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... By starting a hotline, some 50 Slovenian teenagers have become pros at listening, conversing and gently settling everyday hassles The phone rings, startling two high school students, Tina and Jana. "I'll get it!" says Jana. "This is 'Teens...

Brazil: taking up the social slack.(volunteering)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... The crisis of the state and the limits of the free market have fuelled a boom in voluntary work, in which business is taking a lead "Do your bit" is the slogan of a major radio campaign by the Brazilian Organizing Committee for the...

A tornado on wheels.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Neither poverty nor polio can slow down Carmen Reyes Zubiaga, who has thrown herself into the cause of the disabled from the Philippines to Cambodia Paralyzed by polio at the age of a year-and-a-half in exceedingly poor circumstances,...

Starting over at the ashram.(Indian women offered assistance)(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... In southern India, women who once fled their homes with nothing in hand are now helping others to earn a living and playing a role in health and education programmes It all began with one woman's dream to help those in the same situation...

Mixing sweat with earth.(Southern African Student Volunteers Organization)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... South African university students are flocking to the country's main volunteering organization with the promise of fun, manual labour and a radical change in African politics It may not be everyone's idea of a perfect holiday, but France...

The mending hands of youthful elders.(Tools for Self-Reliance )(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... In Great Britain, thousands of retired men gain a new lease on life by refurbishing rusted tools and dispatching them to craftsmen in Africa. A personal account of this ongoing adventure We started Tools for Self-Reliance in 1979 with a...

An "associational" revolution.
June 1, 2001... The powers of free markets and states are often said to have spelt the end for civil society. Not so, argues the author: the non-profit sector is booming, alongside voluntary action The new spectre which is haunting the developed world is...

Children in chains.(Statistical Data Included)
June 1, 2001... At the start of the new millennium, the trafficking and exploitation of children is one of the world's greatest scandals, enslaving around 100 million youngsters. Getting the upper hand on it means attacking the root causes of poverty and...

NGOs: gladiators of freedom.(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Working on the ground and in international campaigns, NGOs have managed to shed a glimmer of hope on the lives of hundreds of thousands of child slaves At five in the morning, well before most children get up to go to school, 12-year old...

A Local train named desire.(the Semmeringbahn railroad)
June 1, 2001... The railroad that chugs across Austria's Semmering pass is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. More than a technological achievement, this local train evokes memories of a vanished, melancholy world It's not a good idea to visit the...

None so blind as those who will not see.
June 1, 2001... Why don't stories on starvation and clean drinking water make it onto the front page of South Asian newspapers? An Indian journalist rails against the growing rift in his country between mass media and mass reality, a trend driven by increasing...

Chinua Achebe: no longer at ease in exile.(Interview)
June 1, 2001... In your last book, you recall listening as a child to the conversations of your relatives and family friends who met at the piazza of your father's house. You only began to understand the significance of their discussions decades later. Today,...

The online way.(Netaid.org)(Brief Article)
June 1, 2001... Surfing the United Nations web site one night, Negeria Adedoyin Onasanya's attention was drawn to the slogan of Netaid.org: online action against absolute poverty. "There was a list of projects in which interested people could work, and without...

A few tips.
June 1, 2001... Would you like to be an international volunteer? The Co-ordinating Committee for international Voluntary Service (CCIVS) created in 1948 and operating under the auspices of UESCO, currently works with 140 NGOs in 100 countries, which take...