Breno’s COP15 submission

The request is to Raise Your Voice and be part of COP15 to contribute to a meaningful discussion about our world’s future. The most popular video submissions are to be aired globally during the COP15 CNN YouTube debate on December 15, and the top two submissions will win a trip to Copenhagen. With only 14 days left and little positive news from world leaders, we have to do our best to not only spread awareness but to encourage all global citizens to raise their voices and tell world l...

For our American friends

Something to think about: “Last year 750,000 Americans filed bankruptcy, over half of those bankruptcies were because of medical expenses. Over half of the people who filed bankruptcy because of medical expenses had health insurance. Don’t we need to do something on health insurance reform? Of course we do.” -Harry Reid

EVENT: AIU Lecture Symposium 2009

For those of you in Japan on December 3, 2009, my International Institutions and Law class will be hosting a lecture and discussion regarding Human Rights violations in the occupied Palestinian territories. The Lecture Symposium will run for an hour and a half, and will be an excellent opportunity to learn about a conflict situation that has continued to plague the middle east for over fifty years. We will be joined by Saul Takahashi, Deputy Head of Office of the United Nations Office of t...

Dreaming of the other side

Found at: Notes from Ramallah

Is food aid missing the point?

Reading an article in the Globe and Mail (Canada pushes wealthy nations to keep food aid pledges) I came the following reader's response that (although not backed up by any evidence and rather lacking in tact...) really makes me question how we can improve the way aid is offered to the countries that need it the most. Aside from the usual issues relating to corruption or the costs of bureaucracy absorbing our donations - how much damage are our national agricultural subsidies causing to f...

Kirsty on Vancouver’s Urban Rush

This past Friday Kirsty sat down with the hosts of Vancouver's Urban Rush to talk about her experience in New York and her entry in the UN Citizen Ambassador Project. While there she spoke about global citizens working towards the Millennium Development Goals, adjusting our consumerist and materialist cultures, and putting pressure the Canadian government to follow through on the promise by Lester B. Pearson (and recently other developed nations) to contribute 0.7% GNI to foreign aid. What...

A Billion for a Billion

The UN World Food Programme is calling for a billion global citizens who have enough food to eat to take action to help feed the billion people on the planet who go to bed hungry each night. It is  a terrifying fact that over a billion people on this earth suffer from chronic hunger. There are now also over a billion internet users. That is well over a billion people with access to modern infrastructure vs. a billion that cannot even access food. A billion people aren't going to donate t...

The Climate Board

With global warming already affecting us, we continue to be in danger of losing people, places, and things we love to climate change. The Climate Board is a UN Foundation initiative for you to show world leaders just how much we need a climate change agreement by telling them what you'll miss most. Follow the link below to visit the board and see what others have said. If you have thirty-seconds, show the world that climate change is a part of your life, too. Tell them what you fear ...

Doha deal creates corruption monitoring mechanism

Under the new mechanism, all States will be monitored every five years to see how they are living up to their obligations. Findings, based on self-assessments and peer reviews by experts, will be compiled in country review reports. The executive summary of these reports will be made public. "From now on, States will be judged by the actions that they take against corruption, not the promises they make," said Mr. Costa. via Doha deal creates corruption monitoring mechanism.

The Charter for Compassion

Charter for Compassion.org It is an accumulation of global discourse. Drafts of the text were hosted online, then leaders from the five major religions were brought together to analyze, critique, and synthesize the ideas that for the document. The principle of compassion is the heart of the Charter. At the heart of it is the golden rule - reminding the world that we already share the core principles of compassion. httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrtxUX65QA4 The Golden Rule requi...