GOOD NEWS SERVICE #43: APRIL 2016

Editorial: Introducing the … Positive news from all over the world relating to

voluntary work, the work of the United

Nations, non-governmental organizations and institutions.

Attached is the new issue, distributed free of charge in three languages and in 54 countries. All back issues are available on our website www.goodnewsagency.org and a custom search engine will allow you to find published news on specific subjects.

For all of you who cry for an end, or at least a lessening, of bad news, the Good News Agency is for you. Affiliated with the UN Department of Public Information, it doesn’t deny the presence of violence, weapons and war, nor does it give simple answers to the hard questions of violent extremism. It does give you myriad examples, month after month, that say there are better ways of living. And it gives examples from around the world, by both ordinary people and their extraordinary organizations doing just that.

The first four items this month contain short reports from the Italian base of the Good News Agency, concerning the rights of children, women and girls.

The next nine items (5-13) are from AVAAZ, the global network with a claimed membership of 42 million from 38 countries.

An extra fillip is thrown in from The New Yorker, with much ado about nothing…

1.New UN initiative aims to protect millions of girls from child marriage

8 March – The United Nations announced a new initiative today to advance efforts to end child marriage by 2030 ... part of a global effort to prevent girls from marrying too young and to support those already married.

The initiative will focus on proven strategies, including increasing girls’ access to education and health care services, educating parents and communities on the dangers of child marriage, increasing economic support to families, and strengthening and enforcing laws that establish 18 as the minimum age.

2. International Agencies in Rome together commemorate Women’s Day with commitments for achieving World Wide Gender Equity

March 8, Rome - Leaders of international organizations based in Rome today gathered to highlight the achievements and the real prospects for achieving gender equality. The speakers all agreed accelerating the empowerment of

women everywhere is fundamental to achieving a zero hunger world and reaching the world’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The dialogue, ‘Planet 50:50: Step It Up for Gender Equality & Zero Hunger’, was jointly organized by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) .

This event commemorating International Women’s Day also brought together partners from the private sector, youth forums, civil society and NGOs.http://www.wfp.org/news/news-release/international-agencies-rome-mark-womens-day-commitmentsglobal-gender-equity

3. India: an ethnic armed movement commits to prohibit the recruitment and use of children in hostilities

8 March, India – On 2nd March 2015, the Zomi Re-Unification Organisation (ZRO) signed Geneva Call’s Deed of Commitment protecting children in armed conflict. In signing this Deed the ZRO publicly asserts its commitment to respect the highest international standards in terms of child protection in armed conflict. It includes the prohibition to recruit child soldiers and use under-18 children in hostilities.

The ZRO is an ethnic armed movement operating in the province of Manipur in North-East India. The ZRO is not reported to recruit or use children. However; they used to have many in their rank in the past, especially before the signature of first “Suspension of Operations agreement” with the government in 2005. In order to monitor their compliance with the Deeds of Commitment they have signed, Geneva Call relies on the monitoring of local human rights organizations.http://www.genevacall.org/india-ethnic-armed-movement-commits-prohibit-recruitment-use-childrenhostilities/

4.“Rainbow Ruby” joins UNESCO to support girls’ education

12 March - UNESCO and CJ Better Life for Girls today signed a partnership agreement that will bring the cartoon character to the fight for girls’ education. During the signing ceremony at the 2016 Global Education Skills Forum in Dubai, Sang Gill (Tschaik) Lee, Executive Vice President for CJ E&M said the pre-school animation series will be a global effort to support girls’

education with a great story. The partnership builds on the “Better Life for Girls” campaign, launched in November 2014 by CJ E&M and UNESCO, which aims to help address the lack of access to quality education faced by girls in developing regions.http://www.unesco.org/new/en/media-services/single new/news/rainbow_ruby_joins_unesco_to_support_girls_education/#.VuXU4fnhDIU

5. The AVAAZ Movement is alive and well in 18 countries and has nominated Greek Islanders for the Nobel Peace Prize

Avaaz.org is a global campaign network that works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people shape global decision-making. ("Avaaz" means "voice" or "song" in many languages.) Avaaz members live in every nation of the world; our team is spread across 18 countries on 6 continents and operates in 17 languages. Learn about some of Avaaz's biggest campaigns here, or follow us on Facebook or Twitter.The following eight stories are examples of the grass-roots work done by a few of the 42 million members of AVAAZ:

6. Icelandic millionnaire gives up after slaughtering hundreds ofendangered fin whales.

For years, Icelandic millionaire badboy Kristjan Loftsson has massacred hundreds of endangered giant fin whales. But no more!! Working with allies, a million of us pressed the Dutch government to close their ports to him. Then German Avaazers helped to block ports there too. Then we caused a media and political storm in the Caribbean where Loftsson’s ship was registered. After years of pressure, he’s called off the hunt!

“The global pressure brought by the Avaaz community has no doubt played a big role in Loftsson’s welcome decision.”

- Vanessa Williams-Grey, Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

7. Standing up to crimes in Saudi Arabia: Western parliament votes to ban arms sale to Saudis.

Saudi Arabia is a human rights nightmare, but after they bombed schools and hospitals in Yemen, calls rose in Europe for an arms embargo. When EU politicians started to waver under the pressure of powerful Saudi lobbyists, 740,000 Avaazers weighed in, flooding members of parliament with messages and calls. And we won -- for the first time in history, a Western parliament voted to ban arms sales to Saudi Arabia! Now the pressure is on for governments to follow the European lead.

"We’ve received calls from Scotland to France to Yemen calling for action. Avaaz played a major role to bring this message to the European Parliament."- Alyn Smith, Member of European Parliament

8. UN Experts say Monsanto’s Glyphosate a likely cause of cancer

Monsanto’s glyphosate weedkiller is everywhere, providing much of the mega-corporation’s revenue. So when UN experts said it likely causes cancer, 1.5 million of us called to ban it! With Europe set to re-approve its licence for 15 years, Avaaz delivered our petition and thousands of us sent urgent messages to our governments. In the final hour, support collapsed, and the EU commission was forced to postpone the vote! We’ll keep the pressure up until we get the ban our planet needs.

“The Avaaz campaign helped to raise awareness and concern of the general public about glyphosate. This helped me as a parliamentarian to work on this issue… Stay with us in this fight”- Pavel Poc, MEP and Vice Chair of the Environment, Health and Food Safety Committee for the European Parliament.

9. Three major companies heed divestment call by Jewish rabbi

After horrendous civilian death in Gaza, almost 2 million of us called on 6 major companies to stop profiting from the Israeli military occupation of Palestine. Our movement sent messages to CEOs, held rallies from London to Ramallah, met with government and corporate officials, and lobbied other countries to cut ties with those companies. And as of last month, 3 of the 6 have pulled out!! It’s a tactic that's having impact in the struggle for freedom and peace.

“The nearly 2 million Avaazers joining the fight for companies to divest from the occupation shows Israel the public push to end this oppression is going mainstream.” - Rabbi Alissa Wise, Deputy Director, Jewish Voice for Peace

10. Syrian Refugee Children Re-uniting with their FamiliesThousands of Syrian children seeking refuge are lost in Europe, without their parents and preyed upon by child traffickers. That’s why 40,000 of us donated to fund lawyers to find them, provide legal support, and get them to safety. Dozens of children are already being helped. And just this week, three boys arrived in London and were reunited with their families for the first time in months!

"Nothing I could say could convey how grateful I truly am to all of you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart." - One of the boys on arriving in the UK

11. Somalia Prime Minister joins call to ban female genital mutilation

The Prime Minister of Somalia just joined over a million of us by signing our petition to support a full ban on female genital mutilation! Somali women’s rights experts told us that global pressure could help them outlaw female genital mutilation -- but we never imagined that the Somali Prime Minister, Foreign Minister, and dynamic Minister for Women and Human Rights would respond by signing the petition, too! Working with these leaders, UNICEF and survivors, it’s now likely that FGM, done to 98% of Somali women, will become illegal!

“I am committed to outlaw FGM in Somalia through legislation, advocacy, education, and community engagement.”- Somali Prime Minister, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmark, as he signed our petition.

12. Greek Islanders are nominated for Nobel Peace Prize

These battles are part of deeper struggles -- between forces of love and fear, hope and despair, ignorance and understanding. Sometimes Avaaz campaigns are about shining our movement’s light into these struggles, to help shift our culture and politics. Here's some awesome light-shining examples from the last few months:

Inspired by Greek fishermen and pensioners who have saved and cared for thousands of desperate refugee families, Avaaz member, Alkmini, started a petition to nominate these unsung heroes for the Nobel Peace Prize. Then more than 600,000 of us backed the request, and Desmond Tutu endorsed an official submission by 230 academics to the Nobel Committee. This moving story of humanity triumphing over fear captured the world’s media from CNN to the BBC.

"In times when fear and racism are threatening our societies and Europe is raising fences, the big mobilisation of Avaaz members made the voice of humanity echo loudly around the world."- Co-Founder of the Leros Solidarity Network, Matina Katsiveli

13. Fourteen women win case against Guatemala Generals convicted of crimes against humanityAfter decades of silence, 14 brave women just went to court to confront the Guatemalan generals who kept them as sex slaves. As they entered the courtroom we surrounded them with love, delivering messages from over 40,000 Avaaz members across Latin America. The women’s courage prevailed and for the first time ever these generals were convicted of crimes against humanity!

"I was happy to hear the messages of support. I know I'm not alone, and I wanted to uncover my face when I heard that there are people all around the world that support me." - One of the women, Doña Rosa

After women were attacked on New Year's Eve in Germany, a flood of racism and xenophobia spread. Refugee men responded by handing out flowers to women on the streets as a show of respect. To return the gesture and show solidarity and welcome, a hundred female Avaaz members went out to hand flowers back to refugees in Cologne, the site of the attacks. Their video went viral!

"Refugee men handed out flowers to women as a sign of peace. As Avaaz members we wanted to reciprocate this courageous gesture to show that we counter hate with humanity." - Maresa, Avaaz member

PS -- a big reason Avaaz can do all this is we are 100% funded by small individual donations -- no corporate, government, foundation, or large donor money. To keep it all going, click here: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/reportback_fr_16mar/?bZZgGeb&v=74527&cl=9742841874

14. Meet the Visionary who is happy with nothing!

The New Yorker, New York. Nov. 2011: Walking through the Assembly Shop, Lisa Pirwitz is pleased with little. Every empty bin of non-recyclable waste is a success for her. Together with her Green Team, she set a goal to recycle all assembly production waste at the BMW plant in Spartanburg by 2012. Lisa is convinced this project will be successful if every employee recognizes its value. She also knows that a small creative idea can make a big difference……

# # #

The Good News Service is published monthly by Murray Thomson of Ottawa, ON in cooperation with Randy Weekes of Lanark, ON. Murray can be reached at <mothom@rogers,com>; Randy at RAW@superaje.com We welcome receiving thoughtful comments from readers.