Dialogue Among Civilizations: Contexts and Perspectives
When the existing paradigm is one of war, domination and violence, the world needs to hear the voice of peace, dialogue and compromise. The widespread acceptance of the proposal to designate 2001 as the Year of Dialogue Among Civilizations by the United Nations General Assembly was of high importance.
What the UN Can Do to Promote Dialogue among Civilizations
Since conflict begins where dialogue ceases, it is essential to search for ways past political fragmentation and strive to find common ground for debate. Thus, the ideal of authentic dialogue among people belonging to different cultures and civilizations has never lost momentum or its driving force. It must just be adapted to an evolving political landscape in the current era of globalization.
Human Rights as a Way of Life
The awareness that all human rights concerns and the effective move towards the realization of human rights—be it political, civil, economic, social or cultural—are indivisible, interconnected and interrelated, with a gender perspective, endows communities with a holistic insight of how we are all different from one another yet yearn to belong in community in dignity with others.
A Dialogue Through Service: Making a Difference while Making Friends
If we are to solve the world's major problems such as ending war and making sure everyone has enough to eat, millions of people from all over the world will need to be involved. They will need to understand the interconnectivity of all people, care about others, and maintain the highest ethical standards while they focus on solutions. In other words, we need world citizens to communicate with one another. But how are we to find and cultivate these people?
Reconciling Diverse Cultures: The Gender Factor
Women in higher education who believe in cultural dialogue and cross-cultural respect, understanding and collaboration are contributing as authentic persons and as women of authority and influence to slowly change perception, practices and policies by valuing people.
Open Access and Closed Minds:Balancing Intellectual Property and Public Interest in the Digital Age
Communicating for social change is an incremental process. Despite television being the world's most pervasive medium, broadcasts alone cannot accomplish this. Our experience in developing Asia shows that narrowcast outreach in classrooms and other small groups is often more effective. However, clearing non-broadcast rights is a major struggle.
The Radical Middle: Building Bridges Between the Muslim and Western Worlds
The long list of incidents that have revealed the intensifying tension between the Muslim and Western worlds over the past few years is countless. The terrorist attacks of 9/11, the wars on Iraq and Afghanistan, and the interminable conflict between Israelis and Palestinians are merely the highest profile examples of a global state of affairs whose ramifications extend to even the very local and regional levels.
Ombudspersons for Future Generations: Bringing Intergenerational Justice into the Heart of Policymaking
As the philosopher Edmund Burke wrote: [Society is] a partnership not only between those who are living, but between those who are living, those who are dead, and those who are to be born. Society is not, as it has become, a game of political horse-trading between the ruling party and the opposition which tries to court capricious swing voters.
The Link Between Disarmament and Sustainable Development
Twenty years after the 1992 landmark Earth Summit, the world is getting prepared for another conference of the same magnitude, hopefully with increased positive results. Building on commitments adopted by the international community over the last two decades, the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development -- Rio+20 --should pave the way for the launch of a reinvigorated sustainable development agenda -- one that takes into account the complex nature of the root causes of poverty which lie at the core of the devastating effects of environmental degradation, as well as the cross-cutting nature of this issue that it is embedded in almost every economic and social activity of mankind.
Working Towards a Sustainable UN
Sustainable development is a core objective for the United Nations family. Through their many and varied activities, all UN organizations contribute to sustainable development in one way or another—through economic development, poverty alleviation, healthcare, peacebuilding, infrastructure support, or environmental protection.
Health and Food Security: Benefits from Climate Change Mitigation
Societies must find a way to stop the rapid growth in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to avoid a disastrous future for our planet. As the greatest contributor to global warming, CO2 is the natural focus of current climate negotiations. Unfortunately, one of the very properties that makes CO2 so problematic—the long time it stays in the atmosphere—creates high barriers to efforts aimed at reducing its emissions.
Involving the Forgotten: Widows and Global Sustainable Development
Four years ago, the UN Chronicle offered me a forum to propose, and give reasons for, the proclamation of an annual International Widows' Day. That idea has become reality with the United Nations General Assembly declaring 23 June as International Widows' Day.
Managing the Water-Land-Energy Nexus for Sustainable Development
We live in the Anthropocene in which humans have become a major force shaping the environment. Rising incomes and reduced poverty have coincided with the growing demand for goods and services, such as food and energy, which in turn has increased the pressure on natural resources and ecosystems leading to their over-exploitation and degradation. Climate change adds to this predicament, as several climate adaptation and mitigation measures such as irrigation, desalination, or biofuels, are also resource intensive.
Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters
The Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which was completed in 2007 stated that: Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.
Vulnerable Countries Should Take Centre Stage at Rio+20
The overarching question is: what can the world 's Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) expect from the historic gathering in Rio de Janeiro this June?