UNESCO Courier articles from September 2001

UNESCO Courier archives from September 2001

Jerusalem Utopia.(harmony among Christians, Jews and Muslims)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... ANDRE CHOURAQUI HAS TRANSLATED THE BIBLE AND WRITTEN SEVERAL BOOKS. HIS LATEST WORKS INCLUDE JERUSALEM, VILLE SANCTUAIRE (EDITIONS DU ROCHER 1997) AND LE FEU DE L'ALLIANCE (BAYARD PRESSE 2001). HE IS ALSO A FORMER DEPUTY MAYOR OF...

Can genetically modified organisms feed the world?
September 1, 2001... The controversy over biotechnologies is raging. Advocates claim they're the only answer to malnutrition, white opponents warn that drought-resistant millet and vaccinated yams will only increase poverty Near Africa's mighty Niger River,...

New Zealand: the right medicine.(workplace literacy, numeracy programs)
September 1, 2001... Rich or poor, no country is spared from a literacy problem. In New Zealand, caregivers in a retirement home have gained a new grasp on their job thanks to Workbase, one of this month's International Literacy Day prize-winners When Julie...

Learning Hebrew Ethiopian-style.(immigrant language training)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... In Israel, thousands of Ethiopian immigrants are learning to read and write for the first time. They begin not with their native Amharic but Hebrew You've got to make it "relevant," insists Meir Peretz, the Israeli Education Ministry...

COLOUR, NATION, ETHNIC HATE...Why racism?(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... SILENCE IS THE GREATER SIN When it comes to dealing with racism, "silence is the worst attitude" says Lilian Thuram, member of France's World Cup-winning football team. Echoing his remarks, NGOs campaigning in the run-up to the World...

Shadows in the big city.(Mapuche Indians in Santiago,Chile)
September 1, 2001... Far from their native region of Araucania, half a million Mapuche Indians live in the Chilean capital Santiago--a place of stigma and segregation The Mapuche Indians makeup 10 percent of Chile's adult population--almost a million people in...

The rise and fall of the laboratory racist.(research indicates common ancestry)
September 1, 2001... Until the Middle Ages, communities discriminated against each other and vied for power. In the following centuries, the Bible, economics and science gave birth to a new phenomenon: the hierarchy of race Racism exists when one ethnic group...

Stuck at the gates of paradise.(racism in Brazil)
September 1, 2001... Brazil enjoys a reputation as a multiracial haven, but prejudice still has a stranglehold on society and slavery remains far from a distant memory In a very short time--what is 501 years on the scale of human history?--immigrants from...

India's "hidden apartheid".(caste system)
September 1, 2001... India's ancient caste system persists, subjecting millions to degrading poverty and human rights abuses. Attitudes die hard, despite government legislation to usher in change For centuries, the untouchables of Paliyad, a nondescript village...

THE BURAKUMIN, JAPAN'S INVISIBLE OUTCASTS.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... "Japan's smooth social fabric is just an illusion," says Nadamoto Masahisa, who teaches modern history at Kyoto University. "It's still based on invisible castes and as Burakumin, we're at the bottom of the ladder." Alongside his teaching,...

Trouble in the hospitable land.(Africa's xenophobic problems)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Xenophobia has gained a foothold in Cote d'Ivoire: overcrowded land, common law and economic crisis have spawned a "pro-Ivorian" movement hostile to immigrants from neighbouring Mali and Burkina Faso Things aren't the same any more between...

Fortress Europe bids you welcome.(immigration policy)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Europe's governments are struggling to stem the flow of migrants from poor countries while opening the gates wide for the best of the world's workers. Is their policy tenable? When Huzefa Hundekari decided it was time for a change of scene,...

A return to nature.(racism analyst Alberto Burgio)(Interview)
September 1, 2001... Is it possible to gauge the influence of globalization and mass migration on the future of racist thought? Alberto Burgio [*], a leading Italian analyst of racism, examines the ethnic panorama What do you believe are the fundamental sources...

The child in arms.(Myanmar's young soldiers)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Myanmar's protracted civil and ethnic wars have forced one of the highest number of children in the world onto the battlefield, bringing them face to face with beatings, murder and a blossoming drugs trade Brang Ja (not his real name) was...

Converting the cannon fodder.(rehabilitating child soldiers)(Brief Article)(Interview)
September 1, 2001... Jo Becker of Human Rights Watch, one of the authors of a seminal report on child soldiers, explains why their rehabilitation is crucial to building peace. The best programmes judiciously combine modern child psychology with traditional rituals...

Preserving the magic.(cultural heritage)
September 1, 2001... We can be swept away by a traditional wedding dance or entranced by the poets of a vanishing language--but defining this intangible cultural heritage is far from simple, as UNESCO's efforts to safeguard endangered masterpieces go to show ...

A tangible debut.(Elche's sacred drama)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2001... A new era is beginning for the 19 cultural treasure that have been declared Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO When UNESCO's Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity list was announced in Paris last May,...

Temptation-free television for children?(advertising research)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2001... Advertisers spend millions to reach children via television, but how gullible is this young audience? The debate over whether TV advertising aimed at children should be banned or regulated is in full swing In 1932, the American...

Adam Michnik: The Sisyphus of democracy.(Polish newspaper editor)(Interview)
September 1, 2001... Whether as a dissident or editor-in-chief of Poland's leading daily newspaper, Adam Michnik has never ceased to stir up debate. How does he see democracy in Europe, over a decade after the fall of the Soviet empire? After the coming to...