2010 UN Chronicle Facebook Photo Contest Winners
"Picture Education!"
Images help us convey world issues. We asked readers to submit their photos to bring attention to the importance of education. See all the winning shots that depict how education leads to improved quality of life, gender equality, eradication of poverty, and promoting intercultural dialogue.
The Current State of Australia's Indigenous Children
By Dashika Ranasinghe
Australia, a highly developed country renowned for its rich resources and superior quality of life, is hardly a place where one would expect to find over a third of fifteen-year-old Indigenous students lacking essential literacy skills, according to the Indigenous Literary Project (ILP) . However, the hapless predicament of illiteracy involving Indigenous children in this developed country can be considered a national crisis. These figures intensify for children living in isolated areas. In the Northern Territory of Australia, only one in five children living in remote Indigenous communities can read at the acceptable minimum state standard.
Biodiversity Is in Peril
By Ban Ki-moon
Biodiversity, the incredible variety of life on Earth that sustains us, is in peril. Species are becoming extinct at the fastest rate ever recorded. Most of these extinctions are tied to human activities that are polluting and depleting water resources, changing and degrading habitats and altering the global climate. From frogs to gorillas, from huge plants to tiny insects, thousands of species are in jeopardy.
The Age of Accountability
By Ban Ki-moon
Twelve years ago, world leaders gathered in Rome to establish the International Criminal Court. Seldom since the founding of the United Nations itself has such a resounding blow been struck for peace, justice and human rights.
On May 31, nations come together once again, this time in Kampala, Uganda, for the first formal review of the Rome treaty. It is a chance not only to take stock of our progress but to build for the future. More, it is an occasion to strengthen our collective determination that crimes against humanity cannot go unpunished — the better to deter them in the future.
The Basis of Our Wealth, Our Health and Our Well-being
By Ban Ki-moon
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The planet’s species and habitats, and the goods and services they provide, form the basis of our wealth, our health and our well-being. Yet, despite repeated global commitments to protect this heritage, the variety of life on Earth continues to decline at an unprecedented rate. Biodiversity loss is moving ecological systems ever closer to a tipping point beyond which they will no longer be able to fulfil their vital functions.
Freedom of Expression...A fundamental Human Right
By Ban Ki-moon
Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right, enshrined in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. But around the world, there are governments and those wielding power who find many ways to obstruct it.
They impose high taxes on newsprint, making newspapers so expensive that people can’t afford to buy them. Independent radio and TV stations are forced off the air if they criticize Government policy. The censors are also active in cyberspace, restricting the use of the Internet and new media.
Malaria: Optimism Must Be Leavened With Caution
By Ban Ki-moon
Two years ago, I called for malaria prevention and treatment programmes to be made universally available to at-risk populations by the end of 2010. This World Malaria Day brings much cause for satisfaction. In a very short time, the world has gone from simply trying to hold malaria at bay to the realistic goal of delivering effective and affordable care to all who need it. Furthermore, the scientific community has set a research agenda for developing the tools and strategies that will eventually eradicate malaria for good.
"He showed the way. He changed the world."
By Ban Ki-moon
Message of the Secretary-General on the first Nelson Mandela International Day, 18 July 2010
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Nelson Mandela is a towering figure. He embodies the highest values of humanity, and of the United Nations. His life, his strength and his decency are an example to us all. He fought his oppressors for years. And then, he forgave them.
I am lucky enough to have met Nelson Mandela. Like so many others, I was struck by his charisma and charm. But I was most impressed by his humility. When I tried to thank him for his life’s work, he replied: “It was not me.” He preferred to talk about what other people had done in the struggle for human rights and dignity.
Actor Edward Norton is Celebrity Advocate for Biodiversity
8 July 2010 – Acclaimed actor and conservation activist Edward Norton took on his latest role today, as Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon designated him United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for Biodiversity.
Pregnant with Possibility
By Asha-Rose Migiro
The news of a pregnancy should ideally be met with joy – but all too often there is justifiable fear. The African Union Summit this week, set to focus on the health of mothers and children, has a chance to transform this fear into hope.
Pakistan Needs Our Help, Now
By Ban Ki-moon
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Standing under leaden skies in Pakistan last Sunday, I saw a sea of suffering. Flood waters have washed away thousands of towns and villages. Roads, bridges and homes in every province of the country have been destroyed.
From the sky, I saw thousands of acres of prime farmland – the bread and butter of the Pakistani economy – swallowed up by the rising tides. On the ground, I met terrified people, living in daily fear that they could not feed their children or protect them from the next wave of crisis: the spread of diarrhea, hepatitis, malaria and, most deadly, cholera.
World AIDS Day 2010
By Ban Ki-moon
Over the past three decades, AIDS has caused untold suffering and death. But another story has unfolded through the years, one of the global community uniting with passion to take action and save lives. These efforts are making a real difference around the world.