Need an Excuse to Play Computer Games? FreeRice.com Needs You…Now.

For many Americans, the current financial crisis means cutting back. Across the board, people are spending less money on luxury and even some essential items, from food and clothing to outings and vacations. Many families face home foreclosure; stores, bankruptcy. The evidence of economic hardship is everywhere, and yet the impact of the financial crisis extends beyond national borders. The head of the United Nations World Food Program warned today that, as a consequence of the lowest level of global food aid in twenty years, the poor and hungry around the world are facing an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.

Compounding the problem is the UN food agency’s total reliance on voluntary donations to achieve its ends. In light of the financial crisis, it should therefore come to no surprise that the World Food Program is feeling the crunch. However, given the millions who rely on UN food aid, something needs to be done. Josette Sheeran, Executive Director of the organization, today urged development ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations meeting in Italy to support the agency in its efforts to help the world’s most needy survive. One in six people are going hungry, and every six seconds, a child dies of starvation.

Why should you care? The expanding hunger crisis can lead to destabilization, and impact global peace and security. Do your part today. If you have the means, donate to WFP. If you do not, go to www.freerice.com and play! For each correct answer, 10 grains of rice are donated through the UN World Food Program to help end hunger.

Hot Enough to Fry an Egg!

Have you ever felt weather so hot that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk? There is so much energy from the Sun hitting Earth everyday that it could cook every last egg on the planet! Harnessing that energy is a vital part of creating a more sustainable future, from massive solar power plant complexes, like the planned "solar tower" of Australia, to smaller scale projects like solar powered vehicles. Today, the United Nations Development Program has partnered with the Global Environment Facility, the European Union, and the Chilean government to harness the power of the sun, prevent deforestation and bring renewable energy to local communities in northern Chile.

The people who live in these communities traditionally relied on wood to fuel their stoves, but thanks to UNDP are now embracing solar ovens as a way to rehabilitate their damaged environment. The overcutting of firewood in northern Chile has accelerated deforestation, drying up already-arid lands. Solar ovens bring an eco-friendly alternative to cooking needs, and lay the foundations for greater renewable energy use in the future. But UNDP is not just providing solar ovens, it is training locals to construct their own ovens so that they may pass the knowledge on to others in the community. Alejandra Alarcon, National Coordinator of the UNDP Small Grants Programme’s Global Environment Facility, stressed the importance of providing not just the materials but the know-how, "The only way to see long-lasting results is if people can build their own ovens and share the knowledge with other communities.”

To learn more about solar ovens in Chile, and how they are sparking green-change and green-entrepreneurship click here

Become a Lean, Mean [Green] Climate Change-Fighting Machine!

Rising sea levels. Glacier retreat. Arctic shrinkage. Climactic variation. Increased annual temperatures and extreme weather events. Expansion of tropical diseases. Fluctuating precipitation patterns. We have all heard about global warming and its consequences, and yet for most of us, the warnings do little to fundamentally change our behavior. While “going green” has become the 21^st century’s latest fad, SUVS with single passengers continue to clutter America’s roads, gas prices remain low (discouraging responsible conservation practices), and recycling systems remain woefully inadequate. Buying clothes from eco-friendly stores and food in biodegradable containers from environmentally-conscious restaurants is a start, but it is not enough.

Today, June 5, is World Environment Day, an annual celebration established by the United Nations in 1972 to raise awareness, stimulate dialogue around environmental issues, and enhance political attention and action. WED is hosted by a different city every year; to show Mexico’s increasing importance in the fight against climate change, this year’s event is being held in Mexico City. As a leading partner in the Billion Trees Campaign, Mexico is at the forefront of Latin America’s progress toward combating global warming.

Because the theme for the 2009 World Environment Day is “Your Planet Needs You—UNite to Combat Climate Change,” do your part to help save the environment! Turn out the lights behind you. Ride a bike to work. Pick up a piece of trash lying in the park. It is time that everyone in the United States did their part to cut back on the emission of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. We can only hope that world leaders feel a similar urgency in Copenhagen in December.

Ensuring Safety on Election Day

Going to the polls on Election Day in the States can be a stressful event, especially for those so dedicated as to wait for hours in long lines like so many did last November. But rarely do voters have to fear for their physical safety. The same is not true in Afghanistan, where, on August 20, voters will exercise their still only recently acquired democratic rights by casting their votes in the second presidential election since the collapse of the Taliban regime eight years ago.

In response to the likely threat of election violence, the UNDP, in conjunction with the EU’s Police Mission and the Afghan Interior Ministry, has recently launched a program to train over 35,000 police forces to promote voter safety on Election Day. The Election Support Project not only reinforces training to ensure safety to voters, but informs officers on the laws and standards for the election to help ensure election fairness.

With much at stake in this election for the future of Afghanistan and the world, the UNDP’s work is crucial in ensuring elections are free, fair, and safe for all.

UN Peacekeepers: Keeping the Peace since 1948

Everyone wants his or her life to stand for something. Some people join the military. Others become the president and CEO of their own business. Still others start a family. For some people meaning and purpose are derived from a role that will bring them neither fame nor fortune, comfort nor luxury. These people give up almost everything they have to fight on the front lines of the war against poverty, disease, water scarcity, environmental degradation, and intrastate conflict. They do not have guns to protect themselves. They do not have the security of a soldier’s national uniform to guarantee them safety in a tough situation. These people are the UN peacekeepers.

May 29, 2009 marked the 61st anniversary of the day the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO)—the first United Nations peacekeeping mission—began operations in Palestine. In 2002, the General Assembly designated May 29 as an international day of tribute to the dedication and courage of the men and women who have or are currently risking their lives to serve others around the world. Since 2002, the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers has commemorated the high professionalism of these people and specifically honored those who have lost their lives in the ‘cause for peace.’

In today’s world, the need for UN peacekeepers is greater than ever. This year’s commemorative ceremonies, presided over by Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, honored the 132 peacekeeping personnel, 10 of them women, who lost their lives in 2008 UN peacekeeping missions. Special emphasis was given to the role of women peacekeepers, who remain sorely underrepresented among UN forces. Given the importance of empowering women and girls in conditions of conflict or extreme poverty (which often go hand-in-hand), the need for greater deployment of women in UN missions is indubitable.

A Woman's Place Is In the House ... And the National Assembly

Women here in the US gained the right to vote in 1920, nearly a century and a half after (white, property-owning) men had cast their ballots. That was a year before the Arab nation of Kuwait held its inaugural parliamentary election, and it took another 85 years for women to gain the right to vote.

Yet, in the four years since the very first Kuwaiti women voted for her parliamentary representative, women have come to occupy 8% of the 50 member seats of the National Assembly - for comparison's sake, after 90 years of women's suffrage, a total of only 17% of of U.S. House members and senators are female.

How did Kuwait do it? Remarkably, they didn't use a quota system reserving a certain number of elected seats for women, although that policy has brought greater gender equality to the legislatures of many nations, developed and developing alike. UNDP and UNIFEM worked together with civil society organizations and women's groups to boost women's turnout in the polls, and, as UNDP-Kuwait Resident Representative Mohamed Naciri put it, "to change attitudes towards women’s political activity as a legal right that is in line with Islamic jurisprudence."

Check out a public service announcement encouraging women to vote for the candidate they support, not the one that their husbands and fathers prefer. Then, read more about UNDP's work in Kuwaiti elections here.

Rising Up Against Climate Change

The Baka people, an indigenous tribe of hunter-gatherers that lives in eastern Cameroon, have a distinctive culture of their own – a semi-nomadic people, the Baka were revered by European colonialists for the prowess in elephant hunting. But thanks to the UN, the Baka can add one more skill to their roster: film-making. UNDP and the Global Environment Facility supplied video cameras to members of the Baka tribe, and they’re using them to make short films about how climate change is affecting their livelihoods.

The video program is one of the ways that the UN is working to implement its Declaration on Rights of Indigenous Peoples, landmark legislation that the General Assembly approved in 2007. In this case, the Baka people now have the tools to communicate to policymakers and put indigenous concerns on the agenda. And they’re teaching what they’ve learned about making videos to other communities through Okani, an organization whose name means “rise up” that the Baka founded.

Check out the video below to see what the Baka community has been working on. Or, read more about the program here.

I Love Lucy: UN Edition?

Bored with Desperate Housewives and Seinfeld? Is Dr. McDreamy leaving you hanging? Tune into “Plastic Sheeting in the Wind,” to be broadcast in primetime every Saturday night beginning May 30^th on Japan’s public television network (NHK)! The concept for the new television drama, which follows the life of a fictional pu blic information assistant named Rika Kudo who joins the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), is based on the need to improve awareness of the United Nation and its work with refugees and internally displaced persons.

The show highlights the dangers aid workers face in conflict-prone areas and the challenges faced by asylum-seekers in Japan, while incorporating sensationalist elements to entice millions of viewers to tune in week after week. The protagonist must overcome obstacles and hardships most of us do not typically encounter in day-to-day life, including having to bid farewell to her husband, a UNHCR protection officer, when he is reassigned to Sudan. Other twists and turns are sure to have you clinging to the edge of your seat!

Using fictional accounts, the show will raise awareness of the UNHCR and stimulate dialogue about refugee issues of increasing importance in today’s conflict-ridden world.

UNDP Helps Develop Judiciary in Timor-Leste

Newly democratic states face a laundry list of problems as they try to institutionalize reforms and make their government both responsive and accountable. But combating lawlessness is one of the biggest issues - countries need to exercise their authority without becoming authoritarian. Making sure that the judicial system treats all its citizens fairly is one important way that nations can reinforce their commitment to democracy.

In the nation of Timor-Leste, UNDP is helping to ensure that judges and public defenders are not only familiar with their country's laws, but also know how important an independent judicial system is to a functioning democracy. UNDP's Justice System Program has been working closely with Timor-Leste's Council of Coordination of the Justice Sector to enforce court reform, including establishing a Legal Training Center, which can count among its graduates two judges and four public defenders who were sworn in last week.

For more information on the program, click here, and you can read a previous blog post about the Justice System Program's outreach efforts in Timor-Leste here.

Tech-Savvy Ghanaians!

Technology is not reserved only for the wealthy, industrialized nations. We can now use technology to aid developing countries in battling poverty as well as coping with rapid globalization. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with the Mobile Telecommunications Network (MTN-Ghana), is setting up ten Information and Communication Technology (ITC) learning centers in each of the ten regions in Ghana. This MTN ITC Learning Centers Project is a US$670,000 project, with $70,000 funded by UNDP. ITC education will serve multiple purposes, from developing the economy and enhancing the quality of education, to encouraging entrepreneurship and creating employment opportunities. In addition, the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Daouda Toure, said the UNDP would continue to help Ghana in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and middle-income status by 2015.

Creating Hope from Tragedy

The United Nations Development Program is helping the government of China bring relief to those still affected by the devastating earthquake of last year. The massive quake shook the mountainous southwestern province of Sichuan, taking the lives of over 70,000 people and causing billions of dollars in damage. After a year since the quake hit last May, the destruction left in its wake is still affecting millions.

Despite the tragic events of the Sichuan earthquake, the Chinese government is looking to the future. The State Council Leading Group Office of Poverty Alleviation and Development (LGOP) is teaming up with the UNDP to not only provide relief to those in need, but to rebuild quake affected areas so that they will have a more sustainable and eco-friendly future. The relief and reconstruction efforts will be guiding over 4500 villages in southwest China as they work to rebuild their lives and their communities.

The UNDP will be focusing specifically on assisting the most vulnerable of those in need of relief: women, children, the eldery, and the disabled. The program will be put into action over the next two years, supported by over $5.36 Million US in funding. Since its implementation in September of last year, over 25,000 people have already benefited from the program, over half of which are women and children.

Click here to learn more.

UN Helps Flood Relief in Namibia

Here in Washington, DC, we've had an unreasonably rainy spring season. But that's nothing compared to the floods that have plagued the northern regions of Namibia - floods that have killed 100, displaced 55,000, and ruined wide swathes of farmland, as well as social facilities like schools and hospitals. 350,000 Namibians - that's around 17% of the entire population - have lost their livelihoods over the past few months.

Several United Nations agencies stepped in with $2.7 million worth of goods and relief work to support the humanitarian efforts that the Namibian government had already gotten underway. UNDP in particular contributed $1.3 million from its Central Emergency Response Fund. The worst affected areas have been evacuated, but as the rainfall is diminishing and the floods are receding, aid workers are already concentrating on preventing similar consequences in future years: UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representtive Simon Nhongo says, "Since the damage has already been done, the bigger task of recovery and rehabilitation is ahead of us and will run into millions of US dollars. To lessen the impact of the rains that will surely come next year, it is essential that we start to build back better now.”

For more information, click here.

Tennis in Chernobyl?

The UN got a little help from a tennis player last week in raising awareness for its new program in Eastern Europe. The UN will allocate $2.5 million to help people who are still affected by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986. The UN initiative will provide assistance to communities in a region home to 5 million people that cuts across three different countries. Tennis superstar Maria Sharapova urged for an international effort to assist in rebuilding affected areas. Sharapova, a Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Development Program, has a personal connection to the Chernobyl disaster. A huge area was affected by radiation, and her parents were forced to relocate just before she was born. Sharapova said of the 23rd Chernobyl anniversary, “We must continue to work with the same goal in mind: bringing life back to normal for all the people touched by the disaster.”

In order to help dispel fears and misinformation, the UN will provide education and training to a wide range of civil society actors; including teachers, medical professionals, media, and community leaders. The program will also focus on giving advice about health risks and healthy lifestyles. The work will be a collaboration between the United Nations Development Program, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the World Health Organization.

Click here to see the video.

UNDP Helps Marshal Volunteer Teachers in Burkina Faso

More than 70% of the adult population in the small, landlocked west African country of Burkina Faso is illiterate. And even though the country's rate of school enrollment is only 45%, its youthful population - nearly half the country is younger than 15 - means that it suffers from a nationwide teacher shortage. Classrooms of over 100 students are not uncommon, and sometimes there are so few teachers that schools simply shut down.

That's what happened this past September, when a teacher in the bush village of Iolonioro went on maternity leave. 67 elementary school students spent nearly two months on an impromtpu vacation from classes until the Burkina Faso National Volunteers Programme (PNVB) stepped in. Co-financed by the UNDP, the UN Volunteer Program, and the Burkina Faso government, the PNVB has recruited more than 80 trained teachers to volunteer in elementary schools while they wait for the test results that will give them their teaching certifications.

When they do receive their results, participating teachers will begin their search for paid positions with significant teaching experience under their belts. And Burkinabé students will be that much closer to reducing their country's illiteracy levels - and, perhaps, passing on the favor to students of the next generation.

Read the full article here.