ALL4FUNDRAISING - Stay up to date with our RSS-feeds http://www.all4fundraising.nl 2010-09-07T09:22:47+01:00 text/html 2007-07-06T11:27:13+01:00 http://www.all4fundraising.nl http://www.all4fundraising.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=216&Itemid=2 WASHINGTON - A WWF camera trap inside an Indonesian national park has captured photographs of a Sumatran tiger in the wild that appears to have escaped from a snare by cutting its paw off. Four pictures captured by WWF´s camera trap in March inside Tesso Nilo National Park in central Sumatra show a male tiger missing the lower half of his right front leg. The same tiger was photographed again in a different location in May walking in the forest. On both occasions, the tiger appears to be in good physical condition. WWF staff suspect this tiger is the same individual reported caught in a snare in November 2006 but that somehow scratched or cut his paw off, to escape, leaving part of his leg behind in the snare. The Sumatran tiger is the most critically endangered tiger subspecies in the world, with fewer than 400 individuals left in the wild. They are only found on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, where they have been relentlessly hunted for the black market and where their habitat is rapidly being lost to agricultural and logging operations. Snares are an added threat to them - some are set specifically by poachers to catch tigers, while most are designed to catch other species as bushmeat for local villagers or as a means of pest control. It's particularly upsetting that this happened inside a national park, where tigers are supposed to enjoy protection. This tiger looks like he's in good condition in our photos, but his future is uncertain, said Sunarto, WWF's tiger biologist in Riau. The Sumatran tiger population is at such low levels, we can't afford to lose even one individual to a snare. WWF is working with the Tesso Nilo National Park authority and natural resource conservation office (BKSDA) in Riau to increase awareness of tiger conservation, including urging people to stop using snares and educating them on potential risks of such practices. Since 2005, WWF and BKSDA's antipoaching teams in central Sumatra have confiscated at least 101 snares, 75 of them inside the protected areas of Tesso Nilo National Park and Rimbang Baling Wildlife Reserve. Of the 101 snares, 23 were identified as specifically targeting tigers; the rest are used for wild boar, muntjac and sambar deer and sunbears. The use of snares is not only threatening the remaining tiger population, it also leads to a bigger problem: human-tiger conflict, continued Sunarto, leader of WWF's antipoaching team. When a tiger is sick or crippled its ability to hunt and catch natural prey is reduced significantly. As a result, such tigers search for food in nearby villages, attacking livestock or even people. Tesso Nilo National Park is crucial to the survival of endangered Sumatran tigers and Sumatran elephants. WWF and partners have proposed an extension of the park from 38,576 hectares to at least 100,000 hectares to ensure long-term viable populations of elephants and tigers in the area. But the park faces a serious threat from illegal encroachments for widespread, small-holder palm oil plantation development, which has resulted in the loss of close to 20,000 hectares of natural forest, through August, 2006. This condition has led to fragmented and reduced habitat and more frequent human-wildlife conflict.(www.worldwildlife.org) text/html 2007-07-08T21:52:47+01:00 http://www.all4fundraising.nl http://www.all4fundraising.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=220&Itemid=2 Akzo Nobel is a Global company and is listed on both the Euronext Amsterdam and NASDAQ stock exchanges. It is also listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes and the FTSE4Good Index. Based in the Netherlands, we are a multicultural organization serving customers throughout the world with human and animal healthcare products, coatings, and chemicals. We employ around 61,880 people and conduct our activities in four segments − human and animal health, coatings and chemicals −subdivided into 13 business units, with operating subsidiaries in more than 80 countries. Akzo Nobel provided All4Fundraising with their Corporate Social Responsibility report of 2006. Just click the logo below to read the 2006 CSR report. here (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=219 Itemid=30) . text/html 2007-07-06T11:29:30+01:00 http://www.all4fundraising.nl http://www.all4fundraising.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=218&Itemid=2 SANA’A, 3 July 2007 – UNICEF’s goal of partnering with religious leaders received a strong boost yesterday when the Minister for Endowment and Guidance, Hamoud Bin Abdulhamid Al-Hitar, offered unequivocal support for the well-being of children. Responding to UNICEF Country Representative, Aboudou Karimou Adjibade’s desire to take the existing partnership with religious leaders and imams to a higher level, Judge Hammed said his Ministry is “equally eager to bolster this partnership” as “Islam enjoins upon us the responsibility to take care, development and protection as a duty towards children.” The Ministry of Endowment and Guidance already works closely with UNICEF in the key areas of promoting behaviour change for better health, education, protection of children from abuse, neglect and violence and creating awareness creation around HIV and AIDS. The new Country Programme Action Plan carries an important component for mobilizing the support of religious leaders and imams to help realize the rights of the child. UNICEF Representative Aboudou Karimou Adjibade reinforced the vital need to bring the most influential leaders on board to promote positive behavioral change for ensuring the best interests of the child. The religious leaders are highly regarded and influential in the community and their voice of support can foster a behavioural change in a sustainable manner, the UNICEF Representative emphasized. Judge Hamood Bin Abdulhamid Al-Hitar pledged his Ministry’s increased support and said, “Islam underscores the care, development and protection of children and urges parents to be responsible for their children.”(www.unicef.org) text/html 2007-07-06T11:28:38+01:00 http://www.all4fundraising.nl http://www.all4fundraising.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=217&Itemid=2 YEREVAN, 2 July 2007 – VivaCell, Armenia’s leading mobile operator is joining UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Science to support on-going efforts to include children with disabilities into basic education. VivaCell is donating 36,773,760 Armenian drams (over $105,000) to UNICEF to help ensure that children with disabilities in Armenia are able to enjoy their right to a quality education. VivaCell’s generous donation will help ensure that children who would have otherwise had difficulty going to school will be able to do so, UNICEF Representative in Armenia Sheldon Yett noted. VivaCell, a signatory to the UN Global Compact, is showing, by example, how the private sector can use its resources for the benefit of children. We hope that other companies in Armenia will follow this company’s lead and demonstrate a commitment to improve the lives of children and families in this country. The Global Compact is a United Nations driven initiative to promote responsible corporate citizenship. We believe in the future of Armenia, and the future of Armenia is our children. Business has a responsibility toward the country in which it operates – to minimize, to the extent possible, the outcomes of social inequality between people and especially among children, and to ensure that all children of Armenia, irrespective of their social or health status, are provided equal opportunities to get a quality education and participate fully in the life and opportunities in the world around them. That’s why VivaCell is interested in this inclusive education project. VivaCell recruits individuals with disabilities and invites other enterprises operating in Armenia to do the same, said Ralph Yirikian, the General Manager of VivaCell. This joint project will benefit children currently studying at eight inclusive schools in Armenia’s capital, Yerevan, and in the province of Tavoush. Funds given by VivaCell will significantly ease children’s access to those schools through construction of ramps and provision of three specially equipped minibuses to transport children to and from the school. In addition, the project includes training for teachers in interactive, child-friendly teaching methods and establishment of resource rooms at project schools. According to the Ministry of Labour and Social Issues, there are approximately 8,500 children with disabilities living in the Republic of Armenia. Although the country has 13 inclusive schools and five UNICEF-supported community centres that cater for the needs of 1,500 children with disabilities, many of these children still remain isolated from the society and excluded from basic education. UNICEF established its presence in Armenia in 1994. UNICEF is mandated by the United Nations General Assembly to advocate for the protection of children’s rights, to help meet their basic needs and to expand their opportunities to meet their full potential.(www.unicef.org) text/html 2007-07-06T11:24:52+01:00 http://www.all4fundraising.nl http://www.all4fundraising.nl/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=215&Itemid=2 Despite the volatility of the security situation in Darfur and the comparative inaccessibility of civilians living in remote rural areas, the ICRC stepped up its presence in the field to assist people in advance of the onset of heavy rains in July. Even as it attended to the task of providing urgent relief, the ICRC continued to remind all those involved in the conflict of their obligations to respect civilian lives and property. During dialogue with all sides to the current conflict, the ICRC repeatedly stressed the necessity for humanitarian workers to have access to all those in need, even in remote locations. Stepping up presence in Tawila Lying 60 km west of El Fasher, the area of Tawila, in North Darfur, has been the scene of recurrent attacks and clashes. Approximately 40,000 people who fled the city of Tawila and its surrounding villages live in difficult conditions in three camps for displaced persons: Argo, Dali and Rwanda. Owing to the prevailing insecurity, most of the humanitarian organizations that had been providing much-needed basic assistance to people living in the camps have left the area. The Sudanese Red Crescent Society is still distributing food provided by the World Food Programme, but none of the other basic needs of the camps’ residents are being met. Sanitation in the camps, with the rainy reason imminent, is a major concern. The ICRC has therefore taken it upon itself to meet short-term medical and sanitation needs in the camps and to monitor respect for the lives and property of displaced persons. It is currently: establishing health posts and oral rehydration centressupplying medical equipment and drugs in support of the health staff building 500 latrines encouraging camp residents to set up hygiene and water committees, to raise the standard of hygiene and improve maintenance of the water system making access to water points safer and providing technical expertise and materials for repairing hand pumps giving training in first aid to fighters in the area and promoting the rules and principles of international humanitarian law (IHL) among them monitoring allegations of violations of IHL restoring contact between separated family members through the exchange of Red Cross messages The ICRC hopes that other humanitarian organizations will soon be able to resume their activities in Tawila. Reaching rural communities before the rains The ICRC is completing a large humanitarian operation to deliver aid to rural areas before the rainy season reaches its peak in July. It has distributed approximately 830 tonnes of aid to villages in North, South and West Darfur. This was made possible by the dedication and hard work of over a hundred expatriate and local staff. More than 8,000 vulnerable households received essential items. One of the ICRC’s main priorities is to deliver seed and tools to those communities whose income is derived mainly from farming. This will improve food security and prevent further displacement of people to camps. A total of 6,500 families received staple seed, cash-crop seed, seed-protection rations and farming tools in advance of the planting season which gets under way in July. The ICRC feels that it is essential to assist people living in remote rural areas and to help them preserve their livelihood,” said Martin Bissig, the ICRC’s economic security coordinator. “People have to be able to resume cultivation in order to harvest by the end of the year. This means that they must prepare the land before the rains. When the rainy season begins, they will be able to cultivate millet, sorghum, ground-nuts, tomatoes, watermelons and onions. The ICRC helps vulnerable pastoralist communities by providing assistance that enables them to preserve their traditional means of livelihood. A livestock vaccination campaign is in progress in Dar Al Salam in North Darfur and a training course for community animal-health workers took place in Al Daein in South Darfur. The latter was conducted in close collaboration with the faculty of veterinary science of the University of Nyala. In the Gereida camp for displaced persons in South Darfur, where the ICRC sees to the basic food and health needs of over 100,000 people, 25,000 households received tarpaulins to protect their homes during the rainy season. In addition, over 2,000 families in rural areas in Gereida, who had suffered during clashes, or who had recently returned to their villages, received essential household items. Ensuring access to safe water in Darfur The end of the dry season, when the level of the water table is at its lowest, is the best time of the year to deepen existing hand-dug wells. The ICRC has upgraded 46 wells in Darfur since the beginning of the year. It has also repaired hand pumps in remote villages and rehabilitated water yards for nomadic communities, ensuring that those living in rural areas will have a constant supply of water throughout the year, even at the peak of the dry season. During the rainy season, the ICRC will coordinate training courses in operating, maintaining and repairing or rehabilitating hand pumps and water yards. In all, the ICRC is providing safe water to over 400,000 people in Darfur. The ICRC is also speeding up work on sanitation in the Gereida camp for displaced persons. Since the departure of other humanitarian organizations in December 2006, the ICRC has also been responsible for delivering safe water to all those living in the camp. Latrines are being constructed, maintained, and disinfected. Solid waste is collected from throughout the camp, and in the town of Gereida, and disposed of efficiently by volunteers from the Sudanese Red Crescent. A clean environment, proper sanitation and hygiene awareness are all crucial in preventing the outbreak of waterborne diseases, especially during the rainy season. Providing medical care The start of the rainy season brings an increased incidence of waterborne diseases like diarrhoea, amoebiasis and cholera, which threaten primarily children, pregnant women and the elderly. Cases of malaria, to which the same groups of people are vulnerable, are also more frequent, as are respiratory infections. Illness makes children lose weight, and an increase in cases of malnutrition is expected. ICRC-supported primary-health-care clinics and health staff are prepared for increasing their level of medical attention in Darfur. The ICRC's field surgical team has been deployed three times in recent weeks: in Kutrum (Jebel Marra) in West Darfur, in Al Sharif (near Kabkabiya) in North Darfur, and in Gereida in South Darfur. They operated on 16 patients in what were sometimes very dangerous conditions. The team, which is based in Nyala in South Darfur, consists of one surgeon, one anaesthetist, one nurse and one post-operative nurse. They provide emergency treatment to wounded fighters or to injured civilians when no other medical facilities or adequately trained surgeons are available. Every week, at the therapeutic and supplementary feeding centre in Gereida that it operates jointly with the British Red Cross and the Australian Red Cross, the ICRC treats over 700 malnourished children under five years old. The children are treated for worms and receive, in addition to necessary medical care, vitamin supplements and a special food mix that provides the equivalent of about 1,500 calories a day. Strengthening respect for IHL The ICRC gave two intensive one-week training courses on IHL in Khartoum. The first course was attended by military lawyers from the Military Justice Department of the Sudanese armed forces. Members of the Sudanese national intelligence and security service attended the second course. Besides providing specialized training aimed at ensuring respect for IHL during the conduct of hostilities, the ICRC regularly conducts information sessions with all those who bear arms, and also with community leaders, to raise awareness and create acceptance for its humanitarian role and to promote respect for basic humanitarian principles. In southern Sudan, the ICRC gave a course on human rights and humanitarian principles to 13 training officers of the Central Training and Development Unit of the Southern Sudan Police Service. The course, held at police headquarters in Juba, dealt with incorporating principles of humanity into policing, when conducting arrests, using force or maintaining public order. Also in Juba, on 21 June, a round table discussion on IHL was organized by the ICRC and the legislative assembly of the government of southern Sudan. The event provided an opportunity for open discussions with members of the legislative assembly. The debates were focused on IHL and on legal protection for vulnerable groups. Participants also discussed domestic obligations to implement and promote respect for IHL and ways to take IHL into account when drafting new laws.(www.icrc.org)