Search results for international rivers (46)

Report of Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar

3 Jahren
by in Ayurveda

OJ roundtable on corporate criminal liability for international crimes #CSR

9 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS
Discussion on lessons Colombia can draw from international experiences in prosecuting serious crimes is under way in Bogota. </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p>In his keynote speech, David Tolbert, president of ICTJ, outlined the key issues for Colombia to consider as it looks to find the model for criminal accountability that would form an integral part of the possible peace agreement ending more than 50 years of conflict. </p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p>“Addressing the question of criminal justice is critically important both for the many victims of the conflict but also for Colombian society at large. The message of this conference is not that Colombia should follow any particular approach or model or even necessarily deviate from its current system of criminal justice. However, this is as good and wide-ranging group of experts as one could hope to hear on the variety of international experiences dealing with internationalized tribunals for serious crimes, and this is a unique opportunity to learn and explore the widest array of international experiences in this field,” said Tolbert.</p><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <p>Follow the livestream of the conference in Spanish at http://colombia-justicia-lecciones.ictj.org/en-directo and live Twitter coverage @theICTJ and #leccionesjusticia.

International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)

International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ)

Discussion on lessons Colombia can draw from international experiences in prosecuting serious crimes is under way in Bogota.

In his keynote speech, David Tolbert, president of ICTJ, outlined the key issues for Colombia to consider as it looks to find the model for criminal accountability that would form an integral part of the possible peace agreement ending more than 50 years of conflict.

“Addressing the question of criminal justice is critically important both for the many victims of the conflict but also for Colombian society at large. The message of this conference is not that Colombia should follow any particular approach or model or even necessarily deviate from its current system of criminal justice. However, this is as good and wide-ranging group of experts as one could hope to hear on the variety of international experiences dealing with internationalized tribunals for serious crimes, and this is a unique opportunity to learn and explore the widest array of international experiences in this field,” said Tolbert.

Follow the livestream of the conference in Spanish at http://colombia-justicia-lecciones.ictj.org/en-directo and live Twitter coverage @theICTJ and ‪#‎leccionesjusticia‬.

Toby Cadman @tobycadman 

Toby Cadman @tobycadman 

http://fb.me/2NBf6btBt

Toby Cadman @tobycadman 

MT @returningassets: @worldbank report on the drivers of #corruption. Understanding the motivation helps w/the fight: http://wrld.bg/ENhu5

Great mini-symposium @opiniojuris this week on paper by @jimgstewart on corp crim liability for intl crimes http://opiniojuris.org/2014/11/24/mini-symposium-james-stewarts-turn-corporate-criminal-liability-international-crimes-transcending-alien-tort-statute/ … … #ATS

ICAN-logo-for-email – IPPNW has produced a new Campaign Kit on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons, present… http://ow.ly/2R1GMl

‚Handbook of good practices: Preventing corruption in humanitarian operations‘ http://bit.ly/11PDAaj  @anticorruption

UN experts urge President Obama to agree to release of #CIA #torture report in most complete & comprehensible form http://owl.li/EWBew 

UN experts urge @BarackObama to side w/those struggling to reveal truth & end use of #torture worldwide http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=15348&LangID=E#sthash.LjgFuMiH.dpuf … #SenateReport

Amb Braun in #UNGA: Past has made Germans very sensitive to state authorities‘ intrusions into #Right2Privacy.

Here’s Amb. Braun’s full statement on the adoption of our resolution on the #Right2Privacy: http://www.new-york-un.diplo.de/Vertretung/newyorkvn/en/__pr/speeches-statements/2014/20141125-braun-on-privacy.html?archive=3759636 … @Brazil_UN_NY @hrw @ACLU

The Government submitted three claims against Russia into the European Court for Human Rights. http://on.fb.me/1vO8AVj 

US Ratification of the Children Rights Convention Would be Pointless (not so sure — Ed.) http://opiniojuris.org/2014/11/25/turns-us-ratification-convention-rights-child-pointless/ …

@opiniojuris Kristen Boon’s piece on Rights Up Front’s first year is featured in our new blog. Please read and share! http://bit.ly/1yTFWiM

Pillay visits UNMISS

Former High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay and Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng give a joint-press conference on South Sudan. UN Photo/Isaac Billy.

OJ roundtable on corporate criminal liability for international crimes (posts by @Peiresc, Ratner, Stephens) http://opiniojuris.org/  #CSR

Most interesting lecture by @tobycadman on problem of Palestinian-Izraeli conflict #ELSAday #ELSAQM

No legal aid lawyer in their right mind can believe this administration wishes them anything but ill. About time we made a stand.

AM Frick hofft auf Zusammenarbeit bei Vetorecht im #UN-Sicherheitsrat und Überweisung des #Syrien-Konflikts an den #ICC @IntlCrimCourt

Peres bashes Jewish nation-state bill at Ben-Gurion memorial ceremony http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.628849 …

Israel is European white supremacy in its most traditional settler colonial form.

The Hungarian government proposed a legal amendment that could allow school segregation. Please sign this petition! http://www.petitions24.com/petition_against_the_legalization_of_school_segregation …

Swiss Handicap – aussergewöhnlichgewöhnlich http://fb.me/4w5JgxPGU

„Two wannabe jihadists who set out from Birmingham for Syria last May had ordered Islam for Dummies from Amazon.“ http://www.newstatesman.com/world-affairs/2014/11/wahhabism-isis-how-saudi-arabia-exported-main-source-global-terrorism …

Development Banks Urged to Review Support for Mekong Dams, 10 Years After Nam Theun 2

9 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS
1st April 2015

For Immediate Release internationalrivers.org/campaigns/nam-theun-2-dam

Development Banks Urged to Review Support for Mekong Dams, 10 Years After Nam Theun 2

Amsterdam/Bangkok/Manila/Prague/Tokyo – Non-governmental organizations are calling on the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and European Investment Bank (EIB) to publicly acknowledge the millions of dollars of failed investment in their flagship project, Nam Theun 2. This 1070 MW dam has failed to bring intended development benefits, and instead has unleashed a range of negative impacts on the affected populations in central Laos.

On March 31, 2005, the World Bank approved the provision of US $153 million for the development of Nam Theun 2. Exactly ten years ago, on April 1, 2005, the ADB offered $90 million to the Government of Laos and the Nam Theun 2 Power Company1, while the EIB and France’s Agence Française de Développement also pledged millions of dollars towards the project. Nam Theun 2 began operations in 2010, displacing over 6,300 indigenous people to make way for the 450 square kilometer reservoir and affecting more than 110,000 people downstream along the Xe Bang Fai River, a tributary of the Mekong River. Over 90% of the electricity generated is exported to Thailand.

According to Tanya Lee, Lao Program Coordinator for International Rivers, „The development benefits outlined in World Bank and ADB promotional material have never been achieved, including protection of the watershed area, accountability in public revenue earnings and livelihood restoration for those displaced and the downstream populations.“

„Over the past ten years, we have carried out systematic research with villagers living downstream along the Xe Bang Fai River and have documented the devastating impacts of the project. Some of the impacts of Nam Theun 2 include a dramatic drop in wild fish catches, flooding of low-lying rice fields, inundation of riverbank gardens used for food cultivation, and recurring skin rashes from the now turbid river water,“ she continued.

These problems are confirmed by the World Bank’s project-specific ratings, which currently evaluates overall implementation progress of the project to be  „moderately unsatisfactory“.2 The ADB and World Bank-financed Panel of Experts (POE) has also noted similar problems. In their most recent report, dated December 2014, the POE warned that the Government of Laos had failed to comply with the project’s Concession Agreement by not providing necessary support to the livelihood programs for affected villagers. 3 In addition, the POE has highlighted:

-the lack of sustainable employment and access to resources for the resettled population;
-the poor quality of land allottments and limited possibilities for food or cash crop cultivation in the resettlement areas;
-heavy reliance of people displaced by the project on the lucrative trading of illegal wildlife and timber to pay for daily needs;
-unmet livelihood restoration commitments for downstream communities; and
-the lack of access to livelihood programming for 67 affected villages in the surrounding area, which were instead only compensated with one-time cash handouts.
According to Rayyan Hassan, Executive Director of the NGO Forum on the ADB, „Ten years since the disbursement of millions of  dollars in loans, we are challenging the World Bank, ADB and EIB to seize this opportunity. They must revise their attempts to uphold Nam Theun 2 as a success story, and recognize the need for all affected villages to receive restorative reparations. The falsehoods perpetrated by those involved in the Nam Theun 2 Dam that the project is sustainable has sidetracked regional governments and the public from engaging in comprehensive energy options assessments, demand-based forecasting and planning, and advancing renewable decentralized energy source options.““Nam Theun 2 was the beginning of the current rush to build dams on both the Mekong mainstream and its tributaries. While the ADB directly finances large-scale hydropower projects in the region, the World Bank Group along with ADB are promoting hydropower interests by funding transmission line projects, offering private sector loans, technical assistance and knowledge exchange to hydropower companies and consultancy firms, and facilitating working groups to establish a regional power grid,“ explained Toshiyuki Doi, Senior Advisor for Mekong Watch.

He continued, „As a result of the ‚development aid‘ and investments in the hydropower sector, they have caused local communities to suffer. Rather than helping to achieve poverty alleviation, communities impacted from large scale dams in the Mekong Region have experienced a severe loss of access to natural resources, land-grabbing, impoverishment and dislocation due to forced resettlement. Instead of helping to encourage public participation in decision-making where environmental, social and human rights safeguards standards are fragile or non-existent, large scale dam building in the region is shutting out the voices of villagers, human rights defenders and sustainable development advocates.“

Shalmali Guttal from Focus on the Global South concluded, „The World Bank, ADB and EIB remain completely unaccountable for their actions. The bills for their expensive mistakes will be picked up by local populations in Laos and the Mekong Region. They must publicly acknowledge their complicity in the destruction caused by Nam Theun 2, and take legal, financial and moral responsibility for the damages to peoples‘ lives and the environment. The failures of Nam Theun 2 provide more than enough evidence for these banks to stop supporting large-scale hydropower development projects in the Mekong Region.“

###

News Lens: ADB, IMF, World Bank to cooperate with China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, leaders say http://bit.ly/1Nda1Sd 

Media Contacts:
Toshiyuki Doi, Senior Advisor, Mekong Watch | Ph: +66869742941| Email: toshi-doi@mtd.biglobe.ne.jp 
Tanya Lee, Lao Program Coordinator, International Rivers | Ph: +60193746433| Email: tlee@internationalrivers.org
Shalmali Guttal, Focus on the Global South | Email: s.guttal@focusweb.org 

 

Endnotes:
[1] NTPC is owned by a consortium comprising of Electricity de France International (35%) Thailand’s Electricity Generating Company of Thailand (25%), Italian Thai Development Company Limited (15%), and the Government of Lao PDR (25%).


[2] World Bank. Projects: Nam Theun 2 Social and Environment Project. „Ratings“. <http://www.worldbank.org/projects/P049290/nam-theun-2-social-environment-project?lang=en> Accessed 1 April 2015.


[3] Nam Theun 2 Power Company. Twenty Third Report of the International Social and Environmental Panel of Experts. 29 December 2014. <http://namtheun2.com/images/stories/poe/poe23.pdf> Accessed 1 April 2015.

A New Civil Society Guide to Dam Standards

10 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

dam_standards_guide_2014_cover
„Dam Standards: A Rights-Based Approach“ is available for download in its entirety, or in separate sections that follow a dam’s project cycle. DOWNLOAD NOW

 

Dear Supporter,

In many countries, the most applicable means of protection for people affected by dams are national and local laws. But too often, laws alone are not strong enough to protect the rights of affected communities. Increasingly, companies, banks and governments commit to follow internationally-recognized standards. Some of these standards are voluntary, and sometimes the financing or support for a dam project is conditional upon complying with them. But what exactly are dam standards, who makes them, and how can you use them?

Our new guide – „Dam Standards: A Rights-Based Approach“ – attempts to summarize the strongest social and environmental standards related to each stage of a dam’s project cycle: from strategic planning to project analysis to implementation, operation and dam decommissioning. The guide takes the position that the most effective standards are those that safeguard the rights of dam-affected people, avoid risks, and allow the public to hold governments, institutions and companies accountable.

We hope this guide will aid civil society to do just that. The guide is very much a living document; policies continuously change and new ones are created. So your comments, suggestions, and ideas will contribute to making future versions of this guide even stronger.

Finally, please email me if your organization is interested in:

  1. Receiving translations of specific sections on dam standards from the guide, and/or
  2. Inviting International Rivers staff to speak at local workshops on specific dam standards topics

Download our civil society guide to dam standards today.

For our rivers and our rights,

  Zachary Hurwitz
Policy Program Coordinator
zachary@internationalrivers.orgP.S. You can also read my blog about the guide.

Congress Takes Landmark Decision for Rivers and Rights

Peter Bosshard, Huffington Post, January 17, 2014 http://huff.to/1dvRlM2 via @HuffPostGreen

 

Dams have turned freshwater into the ecosystem most threatened by species extinction, displaced 80 million people and impoverished many more. Even so, the World Bank is eager to re-engage in large dam projects around the world, and other financiers are following in its wake. The US Congress has now poured cold water on these plans. In a landmark decision it has instructed the US government to oppose the construction of large dams in international financial institutions, and called for justice for the victims of human rights abuses in their projects.

The new instructions were sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), and are part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, the budget compromise which was approved by the US Senate and House this week. In the section on multilateral financial institutions, the act says:

„The Secretary of the Treasury shall instruct the United States executive director of each international financial institution that it is the policy of the United States to oppose any loan, grant, strategy or policy of such institution to support the construction of any large hydroelectric dam (as defined in „Dams and Development: A New Framework  for Decision-Making,“ World Commission on Dams (November 2000)).“

 (Like the dam industry, the World Commission on Dams basically defines dams as large if they are at least 15 meters high. You can find the language on p. 1361 of the voluminous act.)

 At a time when better solutions are readily available, the Congressional decision supports a shift of public funding from large, often destructive hydropower projects to decentralized renewable energy solutions which are more effective at reducing energy poverty and protecting the environment. Under the new mandate, the US executive directors will have to object to dam projects such as Inga 3 on the Congo, Dasu on the Indus, Adjarala in Togo, Amaila Falls in the rainforest of Guyana, and the dams in the Nam Ngiep and Sekong river basins in Laos.

 The budget act also takes action to support the victims of human rights abuses in development projects. It instructs the US government to „seek to ensure that each such institution responds to the findings and recommendations of its accountability mechanisms by providing just compensation and other appropriate redress to individuals and communities that suffer violations of human rights, including forced displacement, resulting from any loan, grant, strategy or policy of such institution.“ More specifically, Congress asks for regular updates about measures undertaken by the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) to ensure reparations for the survivors of the massacres carried out under the Chixoy dam project in Guatemala. (See p. 1240 for this provision.)

More than 400 Maya Achi indigenous people were killed in a series of massacres to make way for the World Bank and IADB’s Chixoy Dam on the Rio Negro in 1978. With support from International Rivers and other activists, the survivors of the massacre negotiated a reparations agreement with the Guatemalan government in 2010, but the government and financiers have dragged their feet on implementing it ever since. The new decision by the US Congress makes a big step towards finally bringing justice to the victims of the Chixoy massacres and other human rights abuses.

 The World Bank has close to 200 member countries. The Bank and other international financial institutions are free to ignore the position of the US executive directors. If this happens, Congress should redirect its financial contributions to institutions that are more willing and better equipped to support clean local energy solutions. Through the Power 4 People campaign, International Rivers and other organizations are calling on governments and national parliaments to shift $1.6 billion from the World Bank’s International Development Association to the Green Climate Fund and other appropriate channels for decentralized renewable energy solutions.

 The language in the new Congressional act is a breakthrough for healthy rivers and the rights of river-based communities, and we salute all the  efforts that made it possible. At the same time, serious problems in the global energy policy of the US government and Congress continue to exist. First, the appropriations bill that was originally drafted by the Senate instructed the US government to oppose not just large dams, but also coal projects in international financial institutions. Under pressure from the fossil fuel lobby, coal projects were dropped from the final text in the negotiations with the House of Representatives. Policies to protect the climate in the operations of US export financiers were also rolled back.

 Secondly, the US government plans to increase its support for large hydropower dams in Africa such as the Inga 3 Dam through USAID and the new Power Africa initiative at the same time as Congress is asking it to oppose such projects in international financial institutions. The US should not fund projects bilaterally that it would reject on the multilateral level. We celebrate an important breakthrough for rivers and rights today. Making the new policy more consistent will be the task for tomorrow.

 

#previous #articles #videos #international rivers

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/environment/environ

CORRECTED LINKS – PR – New Report Calls for an End to Business-as-Usual Power Planning

11 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

An Introduction to Integrated Resources Planning

By: International Rivers
Date: Monday, November 11, 2013
preview_of_intlrivers_irp_final

Integrated Resources Planning (IRP) is a public process in which planners work together with other interested parties to identify and prepare energy options that serve the highest possible public good. In the process, they establish scope, investigate options, prepare and evaluate integrated plans, select preferred plans, and establish mechanisms to monitor, evaluate, and iterate plans as conditions change.

The IRP method was developed in the 1980s in response to repeated cases of power plants that were not needed and experienced serious cost and time overruns. In contrast to the limited choices considered in conventional power development planning processes, IRP considers a full range of power sector investments to meet new demand for electricity, not only in new generation sources, but also in transmission, distribution, and – importantly – demand-side measures such as energy efficiency on an equal basis. IRP plans use long-term (20-30 year) planning horizons and include careful consideration of risk. Best practice IRPs integrate environmental and other external costs and benefits.

The IRP method was developed in the United States, and is currently required in 28 US states. When done properly, IRP provides a structure and an opportunity for utility systems and stakeholders to learn and to develop plans in a co-operative atmosphere. Ultimately, better decision-making processes result in power plans more closely aligned with societal goals.

Although a comprehensive IRP process requires a substantial commitment of time, IRPs lead to better outcomes: lower cost electricity, lower risk from price volatility, and lower social and environmental impact. They can do so through emphasizing services (cooling, heating, lighting, etc.) rather than kilowatt hours of electricity alone, through evaluation that considers full social and environmental costs rather than narrow consideration of only utility finances, and through choices that lower cost to society under a full spectrum of scenarios. Generally, these better outcomes involve considerably higher investment in energy efficiency and demand-side management than utilities would deploy without an IRP process.

The new International Rivers guide to Integrated Resource Planning introduces the IRP concept, contrasts it with conventional practices of power sector planning, and explains the IRP process step by step. The report also includes best practice examples from the United States and other countries.

Download and read „An Introduction to Integrated Resources Planning“ today. Contact International Rivers if you are interested in organizing a training workshop on IRP.

Canadian Dam Builder Rocked by Corruption

11 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS
SNC-Lavalin, Inc. staff laundered money from the Matala Dam in Angola. The company has been engaged in corrupt contracts across the world.

SNC-Lavalin, Inc. staff laundered money from the Matala Dam in Angola. The company has been engaged in corrupt contracts across the world.
Photo by EngSolvers

Canadian Dam Builder Rocked by Corruption
Tue, 06/04/2013 – 2:23pm
By:  Zachary Hurwitz, International Rivers
internationalrivers.org/blogs/258/canadian-dam-builder-rocked-by-corruption

SNC-Lavalin, Inc., a Canadian engineering firm that had been in discussions to participate in the construction of the Grand Inga Dam Complex in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), has been rocked by a corruption scandal that involved widespread bribery payments to local officials.

As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) on May 15th, the firm had disguised bribe payouts to local officials as so-called „project consultancy costs“ using the terms „PCC“ or „CC,“ on at least 13 contracts for the design and supervision of infrastructure megaprojects between the years 2008-2011.

As a result, the World Bank has added the company and its 100 controlled affiliates to the Bank’s List of Debarred Firms.  According to the CBC, the engineering firm agreed to a ten-year ban from project contracts supported by the World Bank. Similarly, the Canadian International Development Agency has also banned the firm from bidding for contracts.

SNC-Lavalin’s corruption scandal highlights how significant poor governance could be for the planned Grand Inga Dam Complex in the DRC. The company had been in discussions with the Kinshasa government to participate in the Inga 3 Dam and mid-sized hydropower projects on the Congo River, for which the Bank has commited to providing technical assistance. Due to the recent scandals, however, the DRC and the World Bank have had to drop SNC-Lavalin, and questions remain as to how much more corruption, bribes, and money-laundering will be created by the Grand Inga Dam rather than real benefits for the poor.

The Inga 3 Dam and the mid-sized hydropower projects would create a stepping stone for construction of the Grand Inga Dam, which would be the world’s largest. The South African government has signed a power purchasing agreement to import a percentage of the electricity generated by the Inga 3 Dam, but large mining companies also seek to consume the electricity to transform the immense mineral deposits in the DRC’s eastern region, which has been characterized by violent conflict for near two decades.

In May, President Jim Kim stated that the World Bank would give multi-billion dollar support to infrastructure investments in the country and Sub-saharan Africa as a whole.

SNC-Lavalin, Inc. has previously participated in contracts for India’s Kerala Dam, Afghanistan’s Dahla Dam, and Angola’s Matala Dam.  In Angola, the company is facing a separate scandal in which its hydropower division allegedly hid commission fees laundered by staff.

The company has also participated in contracts for rural electrification and grid expansion in Cambodia, and contracts for road and highway expansion across multiple countries.

—
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zachary Hurwitz
Policy Coordinator, International Rivers Policy Program
+ 1 510 848 1155 x313
skype: zacharyhurwitz
twitter: @ZacharyHurwitz
email: zachary@internationalrivers.org
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Follow us: Blog / Facebook / Web

#previous #articles #videos #international rivers

Supporter – Take action for indigenous rights in Sarawak

11 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS
International Rivers Take Action!
Stand with Dam-Affected Indigenous People in Sarawak
This morning, I witnessed hundreds of indigenous people protest destructive dam projects in front of the International Hydropower Association. Their courage is inspiring, and their challenge is daunting.
TAKE ACTION
Dear Supporter,

Earlier this week, I arrived in Kuching, Sarawak on the island of Borneo to attend the International Hydropower Association’s (IHA) biennial congress, hosted by state-owned dam builder Sarawak Energy. This morning, hundreds of local indigenous people protested about the impacts of a series of dams shrouded in secrecy that have already displaced thousands of indigenous people. The protestors demand a stop to the dams as long as they violate indigenous peoples‘ rights, and call on the IHA to admit the devastating consequences the dams would have on the rainforest and the people who call it home.

  • Sign a petition now calling on officials in Sarawak to stop construction of these dams and instead respect indigenous rights and find alternatives that reduce social and environmental impacts while still meeting Sarawak’s energy needs.

Tens of thousands more indigenous people are threatened with displacement as the Sarawak government forges ahead with plans for an energy corridor of 12 dams in the state. These dams would devastate the lands and livelihoods of indigenous communities, drown pristine tropical habitat, and generate methane, a greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO2.

Although the IHA claimed that the voices of affected people would be included at the congress, Sarawak Energy barred dam-affected representative Peter Kallang, Chairman of the SAVE-Rivers network, from entering a workshop on Monday, kicking off the congress with a shameful act of repressing dissenting voices. Indigenous communities from across Malaysian Borneo came together to form the SAVE-Rivers network to fight for their land rights and against the Sarawak dams, but they are once again being kept out of the very conversations about their lands that concern them most.

Please take action now in solidarity with the hundreds of people who protested today and the thousands more they represent by demanding that decision makers in Sarawak stop these destructive dams and respect the right of indigenous peoples to make their own development decisions.

Standing for rights and rivers in Sarawak,

 

#previous #articles #videos #water #humanrights #international rivers

 

#previous #articles #videos #indigenous #humanrights

 Zachary Hurwitz
Policy Program CoordinatorP.S. For more updates from the IHA Congress about the Sarawak dams, be sure to follow SAVE-Rivers @riverssarawak and me @ZacharyHurwitz on Twitter, or visit our website.

A Call for Renewable Energy in Brazil

13 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

www.internationalrivers.org

http://amazonwatch.org/belo-monte-dam

www.dka.at/belomonte

www.suedwind-agentur.at

http://plattformbelomonte.blogspot.com


UPDATE Mo, 7.11.2011, 19:33 For immediate release

Media contacts:

Zachary Hurwitz, International Rivers +1 510 848 1155 x 303 zachary@internationalrivers.org

Oriana Rey Tanaka, Amigos da Terra-Amazônia, Brazil orianarey@amazonia.org.br

Belo Monte Dam Does Not Meet Sustainability Criteria of World’s Private Banks, Say Rights Groups

The controversial Belo Monte Dam, slated for construction in Brazil’s Amazon region, does not meet the standards of an international framework used by the world’s largest private banks to evaluate sustainability, say human rights groups in Brazil.

In a letter sent to Itaú, Banco do Brasil, Bradesco, Santander, and Caixa Econômica Federal, 150 Brazilian social and environmental organizations warned that Belo Monte developer Norte Energia, S.A. (NESA) has not complied with the Equator Principles, a set of voluntary standards created in 2003 that aid private financiers in assessing and managing social and environmental risk in project finance. As signatories of the Equator Principles, the five banks commit to not providing loans to projects where the borrower will not or is unable to comply with the Principles‘ respective social and environmental policies and procedures.

The five banks have been mentioned by the Brazilian government as possible co-financiers of the Belo Monte Dam, and at least one, Banco do Brasil, has been mentioned as the top-runner to co-finance nearly $20 billion reais that would be disbursed by the Brazilian National Development Bank (BNDES) to NESA. The Brazilian civil society groups argue that BNDES is using tax-payer funds to finance what is ultimately a costly boondoggle. In October, Credit Suisse reduced its outlook for Cemig and Light, two Brazilian electric utilities that joined NESA, stating that the project’s rate of return is far below government estimates.

“The legal violations that have accumulated throughout the planning process of the Belo Monte Dam clearly illustrate that the project does not live up to the standards of the Equator Principles. We recommend that Equator Principles banks stay away from co-financing Belo Monte, because the reputational risks associated with the project are very large,” said Zachary Hurwitz, Policy Coordinator at International Rivers, which published a risk report with Amigos da Terra-Amazônia Brasileira in early 2011 detailing the project’s history.

In order for any of the five private banks to co-finance a loan for the Belo Monte Dam, they would have to illustrate that NESA has complied with the guidelines‘ ten principles. For example, Principle 5 requires borrowers to “consult with project affected communities in a structured and culturally appropriate manner,” and to “ensure their free, prior and informed consultation and facilitate their informed participation as a means to establish whether a project has adequately incorporated affected communities’ concerns.”

However, recent evidence suggests that NESA, a project consortium composed of nearly 75% state-owned enterprises, did not hold free, prior, and informed consultations with affected indigenous communities.

In a hearing of Brazil’s Regional Federal Tribunal, judge Selene Maria de Almeida decided that three tribes who live on a 100km stretch of the Xingu River that would be dried out because of the dam— the Juruna, the Arara, and the Xikrín Kayapó— had not been properly consulted. Environmental agency IBAMA and state electric utility Eletrobras, the largest holder in NESA, only began studying the project’s impacts on tribes in 2008, three years after the Brazilian Congress had approved the project. The Brazilian Constitution mandates that developers must hold proper consultations before a development project that impacts indigenous people is approved by the Brazilian Congress. If de Almeida’s decision is upheld in court, Belo Monte would be suspended until proper consultations were held.

The warning letter also argues that the developer has not complied with Principle 4 of the Equator Principles, which requires the borrower to create an Action Plan that “implements mitigation measures, corrective actions and monitoring measures to manage the impacts and risks” in compliance with host country social and environmental regulations. An injunction brought by Carlos Castro Martins at the end of September barred NESA from beginning any work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu river, after it was found that the developer had not properly assessed the risks to local fish stocks, nor planned a program to mitigate the impacts on families who make a living from fishing.

The warning letter also argues that NESA has not complied with Principle 6, which requires the borrower to create a grievance mechanism as a condition of managing the risk of Category A and B projects. The Equator Principles consider Category A projects to have significant risk, while Category B are considered to have limited risk.

The Equator Principles, last revised in 2006, are directly based on the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which were revised and strengthened in 2011. The new version of the Performance Standards includes language that protects indigenous peoples‘ right to informed consultation and participation, and, in certain cases, upholds their right to free, prior, and informed consent. The Equator Principles will also be updated in 2012, and are likely to adopt the stronger language.

For more information:

 

International Rivers

Amigos da Terra – Amazônia Brasileira (Portuguese)

Movimento Xingu Vivo Para Sempre (Portuguese)

More Info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equator_Principles

http://nativeamericanheritagemonth.gov/ Native American Heritage Month 2011

 

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Urgent: sign-on letter on G20 infrastructure report (incl. dams)

13 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

Exclusive club: the G20 heads of state

http://www.g20transparency.com

The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G-20, G20, Group of Twenty http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G-20_major_economies ) is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 major economies: 19 countries plus the European Union, which is represented by the President of the European Council and by the European Central Bank.

Dear friends, I would like to request your urgent attention for an issue which is a bit outside our usual focus, but relates to global decision-making on large dams and other infrastructure projects.

The heads of state of the exclusive Group of 20 will meet end of next week in France. They will discuss a report from a high-level panel of experts on infrastructure. The panel consists mainly of representatives of private enterprises and banks, and will make recommendations on how to increase infrastructure investment. We have learned confidentially that the report is all about private investment and economic growth.

Environmental protection, poverty reduction and climate change are not addressed. The panel proposes a few projects that illustrate their new approach, and the list includes the giant Inga dam on the Congo River.

No NGOs were consulted, and there is no plan to make this important report public. Some NGOs have prepared an urgent sign-on letter to the infrastructure panel, asking that the report be made public and that NGOs be consulted before it is finalized.

Please see below. Can we ask you to read this and SEND YOUR ENDORSEMENT (name, institution, country) to Doug Norlen at Pacific Environment, DNorlen@pacificenvironment.org, by the end of FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28? (He is cc’ed to this message.)

Please don’t make the letter public for now. It will be great if those of you who live in G20 countries can however prepare to send a copy to your heads of state and finance ministers next week.

 

Many thanks,

Peter Bosshard

International Rivers

Letter follows:

*******************

Home › Follow the Money › Other Financial Institutions

How the Global 1% Shape the World’s Development Agenda

Fri, 10/28/2011 – 8:06am By: Peter Bosshard

http://www.internationalrivers.org/en/node/6936 or http://huff.to/usl8dl]

www.amnesty.org/en/economic-social-and-cultural-rights

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right to water as a human right under international law

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March 10, 2011: Because I Am Tibetan

13 Jahren
by in Buddha, Meditation, Medicine, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS, Trad. & Indigenous Medicine

Tibet Mt.Kailash Kora 18 days Trekking(18days)

 

www.dalailama.com

www.tibet.net

www.tibetanyouthcongress.org

www.studentsforafreetibet.org/March 10

www.hrichina.org

The environment in the People’s Republic of China has traditionally been neglected as the country concentrates on its rise as an economic power. Despite a recent interest in environmental reform, pollution has made cancer the leading cause of death in 30 cities and 78 counties, the Ministry of Health says.  Only 1 percent of the country’s 560 million city inhabitants (2007) breathe air deemed safe by the European Union. Chinese industry scores very poorly in energy efficiency. READ MORE > HERE <

 

Human rights in the People’s Republic of China are a matter of dispute between the Chinese government and other countries and NGOs. Organizations such as the U.S. State Department, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch have accused the Chinese government of restricting the freedoms of speech, movement, and religion of its citizens. The Chinese government argues for a wider definition of human rights, to include economic and social as well as political rights, all in relation to national culture and the level of development of the country. In this regard, China says, human rights are being improved in China. Read More: > HERE <

Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the 52nd Anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day 10 March 2011 –  Today marks the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan people’s peaceful uprising of 1959 against Communist China’s repression in the Tibetan capital Lhasa, and the third anniversary of the non-violent demonstrations that took place across Tibet in 2008. On this occasion, I would like to pay tribute to and pray for those brave men and women who sacrificed their lives for the just cause of Tibet. I express my solidarity with those who continue to suffer repression and pray for the well-being of all sentient beings.

For more than sixty years, Tibetans, despite being deprived of freedom and living in fear and insecurity, have been able to maintain their unique Tibetan identity and cultural values. More consequentially, successive new generations, who have no experience of free Tibet, have courageously taken responsibility in advancing the cause of Tibet. This is admirable, for they exemplify the strength of Tibetan resilience.

This Earth belongs to humanity and the People’s Republic of China (PRC) belongs to its 1.3 billion citizens, who have the right to know the truth about the state of affairs in their country and the world at large. If citizens are fully informed, they have the ability to distinguish right from wrong. Censorship and the restriction of information violate basic human decency. For instance, China’s leaders consider the communist ideology and its policies to be correct. If this were so, these policies should be made public with confidence and open to scrutiny. Read More: > HERE <

Video & Audio | The Office of His Holiness The Dalai Lama http://t.co/60LoupD Statement of His Holiness the Dalai Lama on the 52nd anniversary of the Tibetan national uprising day on March 10th, 2011

6th School Students Workshop on Tibetan Democracy in Exile and Situation of Tibet – The Tibetan Parliamentary and Policy Research Centre based in New Delhi, funded by the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) successfully concluded a 8 day long 6th An objective and practical program for school students titled: Introducing the Tibetan Democracy in Exile and Situation of Tibet at Staff Mess, Gangkyi in Dharamsala from December 24 – 31, 2009. The workshop was attended by 90 students and 14 teachers from 19 different schools and institution.

The main objective of this workshop was to introduce students about the Tibetan democracy in exile and situation of Tibet. To make the students understand thoroughly the structure and functions of Tibetan exile government based in Dharamsala. It also aimed at helping the Tibetan students to have a better knowledge about the achievements, failure and the future prospects of the three pillar of democracy in the exile Tibetan governance and making them more responsible Tibetans. To make the students understand about the current political situation and present human rights situation inside Tibet. To impart the importance of maintaining the religious and moral ethos to preserve the Tibetan identity. Read More: > HERE <

As the Himalayan glaciers disappear, ten major Asian river systems–the Amu Darya, Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra, Irrawaddy, Salween, Mekong, Yangtse, Yellow, and Tarim–are threatened. Twenty percent of the world’s population faces a future of catastrophe, according to a report released by University College, Chinadialogue, and King’s College of London in May 2010.


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Mountain Minorities and Indigenous Peoples

13 Jahren
by in Ayurveda, Buddha, Meditation, Medicine, Indische Götterwelten, Jyotish, Musik,-Takt & Tonlehre, Pflanzen&Gewürze, Sanskrit, SOCIAL PROJECTS, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS, Tantra, TCM, Tai Chi & Health, Trad. & Indigenous Medicine, Yoga

ICIMOD

www.cbd.int/cop10

www.icimod.org

www.hrw.org/asia/china

NGO Development Projects Active in Tibet

About ICIMOD – The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD, is a regional knowledge development and learning centre serving the eight regional member countries of the Hindu Kush-Himalayas – Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Pakistan – and based in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Globalisation and climate change have an increasing influence on the stability of fragile mountain ecosystems and the livelihoods of mountain people. ICIMOD aims to assist mountain people to understand these changes, adapt to them, and make the most of new opportunities, while addressing upstream-downstream issues. We support regional transboundary programmes through partnership with regional partner institutions, facilitate the exchange of experience, and serve as a regional knowledge hub. We strengthen networking among regional and global centres of excellence. Overall, we are working to develop an economically and environmentally sound mountain ecosystem to improve the living standards of mountain populations and to sustain vital ecosystem services for the billions of people living downstream – now, and for the future.

International Mountain Day, celebrated on December 11, gives us an opportunity to reflect on the relevance of mountains for the world. This year the International Mountain Day theme focuses on indigenous peoples and other minorities living in the mountains. The purpose is both to highlight the threats and challenges faced by these communities, and to acknowledge the invaluable knowledge they have and the contributions they can make towards overcoming global challenges of poverty and loss of diversity in a rapidly changing world.

A majority of the world’s indigenous women and men live in mountain regions, many on the margins of society and facing poverty and exclusion. The Hindu Kush-Himalayan region has some of the highest diversity of indigenous peoples and other minorities in the world. An ICIMOD report identified more than 600 living languages in the Himalayas, 400 spoken by less than 100,000 people. According to current forecasts, ninety per cent of all languages could disappear within 100 years. The loss of these languages not only erodes an essential component of a group’s identity, it is also a loss to heritage for all humankind.

The UN General Assembly adopted the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in September 2007, marking an important step in international efforts to preserve the identity of indigenous peoples. However, implementation has a different speed and different levels of commitment in different countries.

In agricultural terms, mountains are often considered ‘marginal lands’, unsuitable for modern commercial farming which focuses on cultivation of single crop varieties for large markets. Indigenous mountain people and other mountain communities continue to use traditional practices and techniques including sophisticated terracing systems, water transportation and irrigation schemes, and a combination of pasture, forestry and farming practices. Indigenous women and men serve as custodians of this traditional knowledge on how to farm under difficult mountain conditions, and how to conserve important reservoirs of agricultural biodiversity.

They sustainably farm a wide variety of crops that are adapted to a range of different elevations, slope conditions, and micro-climates, and this knowledge will be of great, if as yet little noticed, value in the world’s efforts to adapt to climate and other drivers of change. The autonomous adaptation practiced by mountain communities consists of community-based interventions that address underlying causes of vulnerability and reduce the risk of possible adverse impacts of climate change by building upon the existing rich indigenous knowledge base on adaptation to environmental change and helping to strengthen the resilience of the communities. Women especially play a critical role in gendered indigenous knowledge. Their roles and expertise have yet to be acknowledged, but has great potential for adapting to multiple drivers of change.

Indigenous mountain communities are connected to the land, the environment, and natural resources in ways that are often inextricably intertwined and therefore expressed in spiritual and socio-cultural terms. Respecting this worldview, and preserving the languages, music, artwork, folk tales, culture, meanings, and myths that express it, is critical for the survival of indigenous communities in mountain areas. This ‘intangible heritage’ also enriches the global community, providing inspiration and insights for realising a more sustainable relationship between humankind and the environment.

  

A scene from Tibetan Documentary „Leaving Fear Behind,“ shows a nomad school in Tibet (Amdo) working to preserve Tibetan Language and culture as it’s very existence is under threat from Chinese Government policies. Find out more: http://studentsforafreetibet.org Leaving Fear Behind: The Film the Chinese Government Doesn’t Want the World to See. // sumit sadhak practicing handstand in himalyas on the bank of ganga river one of the most important places for yogis.

The involvement of indigenous mountain communities is an important prerequisite for sustainable mountain development. Therefore, as governments work toward addressing mountain development priorities, it is critical that they live up to their commitments outlined in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

We hope that this year’s International Mountain Day will help to increase awareness of the central role of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples for mountain development, and to motivate all citizens, policy makers, and development actors to recognise the importance of their contribution to sustainable development. We trust that the Day will encourage organisations to invite indigenous and traditional mountain communities to participate actively in national and international efforts to understand and adapt to the multiple drivers of change, including climate change, in the mountains of the world.

With best wishes, Andreas Schild http://www.icimod.org

Culture and Development – Placing culture at the heart of development policy constitutes an essential investment in the world’s future and a pre-condition to successful globalization processes that take into account the principles of cultural diversity. It is UNESCO’s mission to remind all States of this major issue.

As demonstrated by the failure of certain projects underway since the 1970s, development is not synonymous with economic growth alone. It is a means to achieve a more satisfactory intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual existence. As such, development is inseparable from culture. Strengthening the contribution of culture to sustainable development is a goal that was launched in connection with the World Decade for Cultural Development (1988-1998). Ever since, progress has been made thanks to a corpus of standard-setting instruments and demonstration tools such as cultural statistics, inventories, regional and national mapping of cultural resources.

In this regard, the major challenge is to convince political decision-makers and local, national and international social actors to integrating the principles of cultural diversity and the values of cultural pluralism into all public policies, mechanisms and practices, particularly through public/private partnerships.

This strategy will aim, on the one hand, at incorporating culture into all development policies, be they related to education, science, communication, health, environment or tourism and, on the other hand, at supporting the development of the cultural sector through creative industries. By contributing in this way to poverty alleviation, culture offers important benefits in terms of social cohesion. Read more: http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en

The Challenge of Human Rights and Cultural Diversity – United Nations  Background Note by Diana Ayton-Shenker:

The end of the cold war has created a series of tentative attempts to define „a new world order“. So far, the only certainty is that the international community has entered a period of tremendous global transition that, at least for the time being, has created more social problems than solutions.

The end of super-power rivalry, and the growing North/South disparity in wealth and access to resources, coincide with an alarming increase in violence, poverty and unemployment, homelessness, displaced persons and the erosion of environmental stability. The world has also witnessed one of the most severe global economic recessions since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

At the same time, previously isolated peoples are being brought together voluntarily and involuntarily by the increasing integration of markets, the emergence of new regional political alliances, and remarkable advances in telecommunications, biotechnology and transportation that have prompted unprecedented demographic shifts.

The resulting confluence of peoples and cultures is an increasingly global, multicultural world brimming with tension, confusion and conflict in the process of its adjustment to pluralism. There is an understandable urge to return to old conventions, traditional cultures, fundamental values, and the familiar, seemingly secure, sense of one’s identity. Without a secure sense of identity amidst the turmoil of transition, people may resort to isolationism, ethnocentricism and intolerance.

This climate of change and acute vulnerability raises new challenges to our ongoing pursuit of universal human rights. How can human rights be reconciled with the clash of cultures that has come to characterize our time? Cultural background is one of the primary sources of identity. It is the source for a great deal of self-definition, expression, and sense of group belonging. As cultures interact and intermix, cultural identities change. This process can be enriching, but disorienting. The current insecurity of cultural identity reflects fundamental changes in how we define and express who we are today. Read More: * HERE*

 India, Pakistan, South Asia, China- Friends Forever

www.business-humanrights.org , www.minesandcommunities.org

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New York College & World Found. of TCM

13 Jahren
by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS, TCM, Tai Chi & Health

New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine

www.tcmpage.com

www.tcmworld.org

www.tcmconference.org

www.nyctcm.edu

Traditional Chinese Medicine, also known as TCM, includes a range of traditional medicine practices originating in China. Although well accepted in the mainstream of medical care throughout East Asia, it is considered an alternative medical system in much of the Western world. TCM practices include such treatments as Chinese herbal medicine, acupuncture, dietary therapy, and both Tui na and Shiatsu massage. Qigong and Taijiquan are also closely associated with TCM.

Much of the philosophy of traditional Chinese medicine derives from the same philosophy that informs Taoist and Buddhist thought, and reflects the classical Chinese belief that the life and activity of individual human beings have an intimate relationship with the environment on all levels. Read More: > HERE <

New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine (NYCTCM) by Dr. Chi Chow  was started in 1996. Dr. Chow felt that the New York City area had need for a school which taught Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) much as it is taught in China, and which at the same time could help students relate this approach to Western medical practice. Her vision included small classes, master-apprentice type teaching relationships in clinic, and the flexibility to accommodate students’ schedules by offering classes mostly on weekends. From its first trimester in Spring of 1996, NYCTCM has embodied this approach.

The mission of the New York College of Traditional Chinese Medicine is to prepare compassionate practitioners who are solidly grounded in the tradition of Chinese medicine, who are able to integrate this tradition within the Western health care system, and who have a spirit of innovation that enables them to adapt a 4000-year-old medicine to 21st-century needs.

NYCTCM Core Values: COMPASSION – In addition to knowledge of TCM theory and mastery of techniques necessary to apply that theory, NYCTCM graduates will bring the emotional qualities of empathy, respect and compassion to all their treatment sessions. TRADITION – NYCTCM graduates will have a thorough understanding of and deep respect for traditional Chinese principles of treatment, including their cultural and philosophical context. INTEGRATION – NYCTCM graduates will have a fundamental understanding of the Western medical approach, and will be able to integrate their practice of TCM within the Western health care system. INNOVATION – NYCTCM graduates will have a spirit of innovation that enables them to adapt a 4000-year-old medicine to 21st-century needs.

The Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to educating the public and health-care practitioners about classical traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and natural self-healing. Through our educational programs, publications, and practitioner resources, we hope to advance the practice and integration of authentic traditional Chinese medicine in Western society.

The TCM World Foundation’s objectives include:* To serve as a source of information on the philosophy, principles, theories, modalities, and practice of authentic TCM and the classical Chinese internal martial arts, such as Qigong and Taiji.* To support the practice of authentic TCM to widen health-care options for the public.* To support an expanded concept of health and healing in contemporary medicine.* To educate individuals on the steps they can take in prevention and self-healing.* To foster a dialogue between Western and Eastern medical schools and communities in the US to improve the quality of training for practitioners of TCM.* To facilitate forums for interdisciplinary collaborations.* To foster balance and harmony in the individual, the community, society, and the world as a whole.

The Foundation’s educational efforts focus on the full system of TCM, which includes: herbal therapy, acupuncture, acupressure, internal martial arts, the prescription of foods for healing, and Chinese psychology. The educational components of the Foundation are geared toward the general public and health-care professionals as well as organizations from both the mainstream and complementary and alternative medicine communities.

Nan Lu, OMD, LAc, is the founding director of the Traditional Chinese Medicine World Foundation and its sister organization, the Tao of Healing. Dr. Lu holds a doctorate from Hubei College of Traditional Chinese Medcine, Hubei, China, and is a New York State-licensed acupuncturist. Classically and university-trained, Dr. Lu is a master herbalist as well as an internationally recognized Taiji expert and Qigong master and the best-selling author of three TCM books published by Harper Collins.

His continuing educational efforts also include the following web sites: www.tcmworld.org, www.tcmconference.org, www.breastcancer.com. http://www.youtube.com/user/masternanlu

Possessing a gift of cross-cultural communication, Dr. Lu lectures internationally and frequently partners with doctors of Western medicine using a preventive and complementary approach. His specialties include women’s health, cancer and immune system disorders and stress management.

  • www.itmonline.org, www.sacredlotus.com
  • Articles on TCM < Archiv der Kategorie ‘TCM, Tai Chi & Health‘ <
  • Meet New York College of TCM, studies, friends at fb <
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  • Meet Free Liu-Xiaobo, friends and fans at fb <
  • Meet International Year of Biodiversity, friends, fans at fb <
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    Erwin Kräutler – Right Livelihood Award

    14 Jahren
    by in Pflanzen&Gewürze, SAVE MOTHER EARTH, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS, Trad. & Indigenous Medicine

    b_marchagainst_BeloMonte

    www.iaia.org www.dams.org

    www.rightlivelihood.org/krautler.html

    www.cimi.org.br (CIMI)

    http://plattformbelomonte.blogspot.com

    www.survivalinternational.org/news

    The Right Livelihood Award, established in 1980 by Jakob von Uexkull, is an award that is presented annually, in early December, to honour those „working on practical and exemplary solutions to the most urgent challenges facing the world today“. An international jury, invited by the five regular Right Livelihood Award board members, decides the awards in such fields as environmental protection, human rights, sustainable development, health, education, and peace. Read More: > HERE <

    Erwin Kräutler CPPS, auch Dom Erwin, (* 12. Juli 1939 in Koblach, Vorarlberg) ist römisch-katholischer Bischof und Prälat von Xingu, der flächenmäßig größten Diözese Brasiliens. 2010 wurde sein Einsatz für die Rechte der Indios und die Erhaltung des Amazonas-Urwalds mit dem alternativen Nobelpreis ausgezeichnet. Read More: > HERE <

    Erwin Kräutler, a Catholic Bishop motivated by liberation theology, is one of Brazil’s most important defenders of and advocates for the rights of indigenous peoples. Already in the 1980s, he helped secure the inclusion of indigenous peoples‘ rights into the Brazilian constitution. He also plays an important role in opposing one of South America’s largest and most controversial energy projects: the Belo Monte dam.

    Kräutler was born in Austria on July 12th, 1939, became a priest in 1965 and shortly after went to Brazil as a missionary. In 1978, he became a Brazilian citizen (though also keeping his Austrian citizenship). He worked among the people of the Xingu-Valley, who include indigenous peoples of different ethnic groups. In 1980, Kräutler was appointed Bishop of Xingu, the largest diocese in Brazil. From 1983-1991, and since 2006 he is the President of the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) of the Catholic Church in Brazil.

    Kräutler is motivated in his work by the teachings of liberation theology. He teaches that a Christian has to take the side of the powerless and to oppose their exploiters.

    Working for indigenous peoples‘ rights – For five centuries, the population of Brazil’s indigenous peoples has constantly decreased – and the downward trend still continues. Today the causes are well-known and documented, including direct (yet rarely investigated) violence in connection with the appropriation of indigenous land; land grabs for energy, settlement, mining, industry, farming, cattle, and agribusiness projects; and military projects for national security that aim to open up areas.

    During Kräutler’s presidency, CIMI has become one of the most important defenders of indigenous rights, with a focus on land rights, self-organisation and health care in Indian territories. In 1988, CIMI’s intensive lobbying helped secure the inclusion of indigenous people’s rights in the Brazilian Constitution. The Council has also raised awareness within the Church about indigenous people’s issues and rights.

    Since 1992 and besides CIMI’s advocacy work, Kräutler has continued working tirelessly for the Xingu on the ground. The projects he has initiated include building houses for poor people, running schools, building a facility for mothers, pregnant women and children, founding a ‚refugio‘ for recuperation after hospital treatment, emergency aid, legal support, and work on farmers‘ rights and land demarcation.

    Opposing the Belo Monte dam – For 30 years, Kräutler has been very active in the struggle against the plans for the huge Belo Monte dam on the Xingu River, nowadays heavily promoted by President Lula, which would be the third largest dam in the world. The dam would destroy 1000 square km of forest, flood a third of the capital city, Altamira, and create a lake of stagnant, mosquito-infested water of about 500 square km, which would make life in the rest of the city very difficult. 30,000 people would have to be relocated.

    In 1989 the World Bank pulled out of a plan to build a series of huge hydroelectric dams on the Xingu River in the centre of Brazil. The dams were judged a potential social and environmental catastrophe, highlighted by the largest combined demonstration by the indigenous tribal people of the area ever staged. This is the same battle which is being supported by Avatar director James Cameron and actress Sigourney Weaver.

    The Brazilian government is planning to construct the Belo Monte mega-dam on the Xingu River in the Amazon. The dam would be the third largest in the world and it would flood a large area of land, dry up certain parts of the Xingu river, cause huge devastation to the rainforest and reduce fish stocks upon which Indians in the area, including Kayapó, Arara, Juruna, Araweté, Xikrin, Asurini and Parakanã Indians, depend for their survival.
    The livelihoods of thousands of tribal people who depend on the forest and river for food and water would be destroyed. The influx of immigrants to the area during the construction of the dam threatens to introduce violence to the area and bring diseases to these Indians, putting their lives at risk.
    The Belo Monte Dam is a proposed hydroelectric dam complex on the Xingu River in the state of Pará, Brazil. The planned installed capacity of the dam would be 11,233 Megawatts (MW), which would make it the second-largest hydroelectric dam complex in Brazil, and the world’s third-largest, behind Three Gorges Dam (China) and Itaipu Dam (Brazil-Paraguay). Electricity from the dam would presumably power the extraction and refinery of large mineral deposits in Pará, such as bauxite, the raw material for aluminum. However, there is some opposition to the dam’s construction regarding its impacts to the region.

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    Swami Haridas Music Festival in Vrindavan

    14 Jahren
    by in Musik,-Takt & Tonlehre, SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

    Dr. Acharya Trigunateet Jaimini awarded Shastriya Kala Ratna Award in Swami Haridas Sangit Samaroh

    Braj Vrindavan Heritage Alliance

    www.bihariji.org

    www.dhrupad.info

    http://bvhalliance.blogspot.com

    www.sudhir pandey.tabla masters.htm

    Swami Haridas was a spiritual poet and classical musician. Credited with a large body of devotional compositions, especially in the Dhrupad style, he is also the founder of the Haridasi school of mysticism, still found today in North India. His work influenced both the classical music and the Bhakti movements of North India, especially those devoted to Krishna’s consort Radha. He is accounted a follower of the Nimbarka Sampradaya, the major Vaisnava tradition of exclusive devotion to Radha-Krishna. He was the disciple of Purandara Dasa and the teacher of Tansen. Read More: > HERE <

    Vrindavan (Hindi: वृन्दावन)( pronunciation (help·info)) (alternately spelled Vrindaban, Brindavan, Brindavana, or Brundavan) also known as Vraj (as it lies in the Braj region) is a town in the Mathura district of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is the site of an ancient forest which is the region where Lord Krishna spent his childhood days. The town is about 15 km away from Mathura, the city of Lord Krishna’s birthplace, near the Agra-Delhi highway. The town hosts hundreds of temples dedicated to the worship of Radha and Krishna and is considered sacred by a number of religious traditions such as Gaudiya Vaishnavism, Vaishnavism, and Hinduism in general. It is nicknamed „City of Widows“ after the large population of abandoned widows who seek refuge here. Read More: > HERE <

    Swami Haridas was a multi faceted personality. Primarily we know him as the saint who realized God through the route of nad brahma sadhna i.e. praying continuously in music. He not only composed a large number of poems (pad) but also started and perfected newer raags in classical music to sing the same. He realized God in the form of Shri Bankey Bihari, started the tradition of and initiated his disciples into rasopasna bhakti. He is also known as Adya Acharya of Raas Leela tradition. His birthday, which falls on Radha Ashtami day, is celebrated as a very special day in the temple, in Nidhivan and in Vrindavan.

    Nidhivan as well as temple, both are decorated tastefully with flowers, flags and hangings. We have regular darshan at both places in the morning. In afternoon, around 4:30 PM, Raas Leela is staged in the courtyard of the temple. It is worthwhile to note, it is only once in the whole year on this day, that Raas Leela is performed in the temple.

    Swami Haridas Sangit Samaroh Festival – Eminent Musician His Holiness Swami D. R. Parvatikar Veena Maharaj wanted to establish a yearly music Festival a international level at Vrindaban India in glorious memory of great musician Saint Shri Swami Haridas (Guru of Tansen ). Several music devotees and Artist appreciated this thinking of Veena Maharaj and Shri Swami Haridas Seva Samiti established by him in 1964 and every year Swami Haridas Sangit Samaroh started on Bihar Panchami, the appearance day of Shri Thakur Bankey Behariji.

    After some period Shri Gopal Goswami taken up to organize the festival in Vrindaban, Delhi and Mumbai on the occasion of Radha-Astthami and managed many years. Gopal Goswami also organized the festival for few years. Prior to that Saint Shri Paad Baba of Vrindaban organized this music festival. This of Radha-Asthmi Atul Krshna Goswami organized it three days in Saneh Bihari Temple in Vrindaban.

    Acharya Jaimini performance on Sitar with accompany withTabla player Sudhir Pandey

     

    Swami Haridas Sangit Samaroh in the stage of famous Senior Artists of music field. Pt. Ravi Shankar, Ali Akbar, Bhim Sen Joshi, Bismillah Khan, Vilayat Khan, Gopikrishna, Sitara Devi, Kishori Amonkar, Ramchaturmalik and all of maximum famous artists have already been participated ith devotion to Swami Haridas ji. In view of the chain, this year also famous artists been invited.

    Maestro Dr. Acharya Trigunateet Jaimini presented excellent performance on Sitar with beautiful accompany of Tabla player Sudhir Pandey from Delhi India who has quality experience of accompany with great masters Nikhil Banerji, Jasraj, Vilayat Khan & other Indian classical masters. Dr. Jaimini (Disciple of Swami D. R. Parvatikar) always get remarkable appreciations from the intellectual audience. His artistic talency holding over since two decades.

    Dr. Jaimini & Sudhir Pandey also awarded Shastriya Kala Ratna Award in Swami Haridas Sangit Samaroh Festival. Coordinator Anup Sharma & Devendra Sharma told that He Specially invited Sudhir Pandey Tabla Player from Delhi to accompany with Dr. Jaimini for best presentation to the audience was thankful to Acharya Jaimini for his valuable participation in the programme.

    Article by Ratnambara Sharma
    writer Art & Culture
    email –     artcolour@rediffmail.com
    mob. 91 9410226334

      

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    Childwellness – Uttaranchal Cuisine

    14 Jahren
    by in SPIRITUAL JOURNEYS, NEWS

    childwellness EU

    www.childwellness.eu

    www.uttaranchal.org.uk

    http://hindupad.com/gangotri-yatra-2010

    www.paurigarhwal.com

    Uttaranchal was a state of India. On 9 November 2000 Uttaranchal was carved out of Uttar Pradesh as a separate state. In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand (Sanskrit: उत्तराखण्डम्, Hindi: उत्तराखण्ड UttarÄkhanḍ) is a state located in the northern part of India. Known for its natural beauty, it was carved out of Himalayan and adjoining districts of Uttar Pradesh on 9 November 2000, becoming the 27th state of the Republic of India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region on the north, Nepal on the east and the Indian states of Uttar Pradesh to the south, Haryana to the west and Himachal Pradesh to the north west. The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old literature, a term which derives from Sanskrit uttara (उत्तर) meaning north, and khaṇḍ (खण्ड्) meaning country or part of a country. It has an area of 20,682 sq mi (53,566 km²). In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand. The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a rail-head and the largest city in the region. The small hamlet of Gairsen has been mooted as the future capital owing to its geographic centrality but controversies and lack of resources have led Dehradun to remain provisional capital. The High Court of the state is in Nainital.

    Recent developments in the region include initiatives by the state government to capitalise on handloom and handicrafts, the burgeoning tourist trade as well as tax incentives to lure high-tech industry to the state. The state also has big-dam projects, controversial and often criticised in India, such as the very large Tehri dam on the Bhagirathi-Bhilangana rivers, conceived in 1953 and about to reach completion. Read more: > HERE <

    Childwellness – orphans, neglected children and children of poor families. Therefore we provide them with food, healthcare and education. If necessary we also look for permanent and stable homes in their own environment, for and a loving family form the necessary basis for a child to grow up in a balanced way. To achieve this, objectives. You can find an overview of our selections further in this presentation folder click here.

    Childwellness task is to raise funds in order to support these projects financially. For that,sponsoring activities are organised annually. By means of participation of grants and festivals, Childwellness aims to reach a larger public. Furthermore Childwellness tries to find companies, associations, schools and other agencies for possible sponsoring. If you are able to help us with this, please contact us. Childwellness is also looking for monthly sponsors who want to financially support our projects on a regular basis.

    Vivekananda Residential Tribal School (Vidyalaya, Wayanad District, Kerala, India) – The school has approximately 250 children, and it specifically works with tribal children. Most of them are orphans: they’ve lost their father and/or mother and therefore live permanently at school. Tribals are a very vulnerable group of people in India because they don’t belong to any caste. They are also economically extremely vulnerable because they can no longer live in their natural surroundings: their forest has become a National Reserve.

    The children receive an education, a uniform, and 3 meals a day. One child in this school costs 10 Euro/month (8.93 GBP or 14.92 USD; currency of November 14, 2009) with everything included. Presently, the most important need of this school is a dormitory with 150 beds for the boys. Childwellness hopes to sponsor this dormitory as much as possible.

    Childwellness supports educational projects in India. We want orphans and children of poor families to have access to a comprehensive education because good school training is of huge importance for the future of every child. Childwellness wants to prevent parents or other family members from sending young children to work to earn money, which results in them missing important chances in life. As fact, India remains a country with a significant prevalence in child lab.  

    “ASIA FAIR”  For the first time in its existence. Childwellness took part in the “Asia Fair”, a unique event with a large turnout ! We still look back on the success of the weekend, where a number of significant contacts for the future were made.

    Uttaranchal Delicious Cuisines – „I am damn sure that a true lover of food will understand the value of this group.“ The traditional cuisine of the land is highly nutritious, simple to prepare and at the same time appealing to the palate. You can have delicious and mouth-watering Pahari recipes from Garhwal and Kumaon region of Uttaranchal. Hope you will enjoy the recipes…….

      

    http://www.internationalrivers.org/-himalayas-dam-boom

    Audio Slideshow: Mountains of Concrete – A dam-building boom in the Himalayas in times of global warming is like investing billions of dollars in high-risk, non-performing assets … 

    Gangotri (Hindi: गंगोत्री) is a town and a Nagar Panchayat (municipality) in Uttarkashi district in the state of Uttarakhand, India. It is a Hindu pilgrim town on the banks of the river Bhagirathi. It is on the Greater Himalayan Range, at a height of 3,042 m. Gangotri, the origin of the river Ganga and seat of the goddess Ganga, is one of the four sites in the Char Dham pilgrimage circuit. The river is called Bhagirathi at the source and acquires the name Ganga from Devprayag onwards where it meets the Alaknanda. The origin of the holy river is at Gaumukh, set in the Gangotri Glacier, and is a 19 km trek from Gangotri. Gangotri can be reached in one day’s travel from Rishikesh, Haridwar or Dehradun, or in two days from Yamunotri, the first site in the Char Dham circuit. More popular and important than its sister site to the east, Gangotri is also accessible directly by car and bus, meaning that it sees many more pilgrims than Yamunotri. Read More: > HERE <

    This small town is centered around a temple of the goddess Ganga, which was built by the Nepalese General, Amar Singh Thapa in the early 18th century. The temple is closed on Diwali day every year and is reopened in May. During this time, the idol of the goddess is kept at Mukhba village, near Harsil.

    Ritual duties are supervised by the Semwal family of pujaris. The aarti ceremony at the Gangotri is especially impressive, as is the temple, a stately affair that sits on the banks of the rushing Ganga. Adventurous pilgrims can make an overnight 18 km trek to Gaumukh, the actual current source of the river Ganga.

    Bhagirathi River at Gangotri. For a large number of tourists, Gangotri town serves as the starting point of the Gangotri-Gaumukh-Tapovan and Gangotri-Kedartal trekking routes.

    The Ganges (also Ganga DevanÄgarÄ: गंगा) is a major river in the Indian subcontinent flowing east through the eponymous plains of northern India into Bangladesh. The 2,510 km (1,557 mi) long river begins at the Gangotri Glacier in the Indian state of Uttarakhand in the central Himalayas and drains into the Bay of Bengal through its vast delta in the Sunderbans. It has enjoyed a position of reverence since millenia among India’s Hindus, by whom it is worshipped in its personified form as the goddess Ganga (see below). The Ganges and its tributaries drain a large and fertile basin with an area of about one million square kilometres that supports one of the world’s highest density human populations.

  • ganga river  

    Shockingly, this dam boom is not being analyzed for the biggest threat to hydrological projects of our time: global warming. “The possible impacts of climate change are not being considered – neither for individual dams, nor cumulatively,” says Shripad Dharmadhikary, author of Mountains of Concrete: Dam Building in the Himalayas.

    A dam-building boom in the Himalayas in times of global warming is like investing billions of dollars in high-risk, non-performing assets. In the Himalayas, „melting glacier water will replenish rivers in the short run, but as the resource diminishes, drought will dominate the river reaches in the long term,“ says Xin Yuanhong, a senior engineer with a Chinese team that is studying the glaciers of the Tibetan plateau.

    The International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, ICIMOD, in Nepal and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change agree that global warming will also lead to more storms and floods, especially in tropical and mountainous regions. A report by ICIMOD on the impact of climate change on Himalayan glaciers states: “On the Indian subcontinent, temperatures are predicted to rise between 3.5 and 5.5°C by 2100. An even higher increase is predicted for the Tibetan Plateau. Climate change is not just about averages, it is also about extremes. The change in climate is likely to affect both minimum and maximum-recorded temperatures as well as triggering more extreme rainfall events and storms.” These heavy storms and floods will jeopardize the economic profitability of hydropower projects, as well as the safety of these mountains of concrete.The sudden bursting of glacial lakes is another major concern for the safety of planned dams, and ultimately the rivers and peoples of the Himalayas. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a recent phenomenon. As glaciers in high-altitude regions such as the Himalayas melt, they can form large lakes behind temporary dams of ice and rock. When these moraine dams collapse, millions of cubic meters of water are released, resulting in massive flash floods. The Dig Tsho GLOF in Nepal in 1985 was one of the most devastating glacial lake bursts in recent history. The bursting of this glacial lake near Mount Everest caused a huge flood wave that travelled down the valley, killing five people and destroying one hydropower station, many acres of cultivated land and 14 bridges.

    http://www.internationalrivers.org/south-asia/-himalayas/dam-boom-himalayas-will-create-mountains-risk

    Hydropower projects and Climate Change Himalaya « Climate Himalaya

    • http://chimalaya.org/category/hydropower-projects-and-climate-change-himalaya/Himalayas hydroelectric dam project stopped after scientist on hunger strike against the project almost diesEminent Indian professor calls off fast after government agrees to speed up inquiry into river flow in sacred Gangeshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/mar/13/himalaya-dams

    Himalaya May Become Most Heavily Dammed Region of the World | Blue … Over one billion people rely on the waters of the Himalaya for survival, and massive dam building will negatively affect this important source of water. South Asia should look at other sources of renewable energy, as dams have been proven to be detrimental to ecosystems in America. Damming Asia will not solve the world water crisis while meeting the energy needs of this growing region.

    http://bluelivingideas.com/topics/climate-change/himalaya-heavily-dammed-region-world/

    Unaware of risks
    The Himalaya is one of the fastest changing regions of the world due to global warming. The mountains’ mighty glaciers, the source of large and important rivers such as the Ganga, Indus und Brahmaputra, are melting. In February 2009, Chinese scientists warned that glaciers on the Tibetan plateau are melting at a “worrisome speed“, threatening South Asia’s water supply. In spite of this dramatic trend, the governments of India, Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan are planning to transform the Himalayan rivers into the powerhouse of South Asia. They want to build hundreds of mega-dams to generate electricity from the waters of the Himalayas.

    Devastating lake bursts

    The sudden bursting of glacial lakes is another major concern for the safety of planned dams, and ultimately the rivers and peoples of the Himalayas. Glacial lake outburst floods (GLOFs) are a recent phenomenon. As glaciers melt, they can form large lakes behind temporary dams of ice and rock. When these moraine dams collapse, millions of cubic meters of water are released, resulting in massive flash floods. The Dig Tsho GLOF in Nepal in 1985 was one of the most devastating glacial lake bursts in recent history. The bursting of this glacial lake near Mount Everest caused a huge flood wave that travelled down the valley, killing five people and destroying one hydropower station, 14 bridges and many acres of cultivated land.

    In January 2009, the government of Bhutan identified more than 2,600 glacial lakes in the country, of which 25 are considered to be at high risk of bursting, according to Bhutan’s Department of Geology and Mines. While Bhutan is aware of the risk of GLOFs and is improving its early warning system, the country, together with India, is still currently constructing one of the largest hydropower dams in the region, the 90-meter-high Tala project on the Wangchu River.

    One billion people in South Asia and many millions in China depend on the Himalayan rivers – for agriculture as well as for drinking water supplies. While we can’t predict the future course of change to these lifelines from global warming, we can no longer presume that there will always be abundant snow and glaciers in the Himalayas, feeding Ganga, Indus und Bhramaputra with as much water as in the last 50 years.

    While we can’t predict the future course of change to these lifelines from global warming, we can no longer presume that there will always be abundant snow and glaciers in the Himalayas. If the Himalayan governments go forward with their planned dam boom, they deny that global warming is actually transforming their region and our planet.

    China’s Himalayan plan: Dam on Brahmaputra – He said the proposed project’s greatest risk for India and Bangladesh is seismic activity and not water diversion. The laws of physics will not allow water diversion from the great bend, he wrote on the blog.

    The blog post also listed an alternative unofficial proposal at a 2,400 m drop in altitude at Daduqia.

    “But it is near the border with India and would be highly exposed if there were another conflict,’’ he wrote.

    http://www.hindustantimes.com/China-s-Himalayan-plan-Dam-on-Brahmaputra/Article1-548572.aspx

    Pollution and Climate Change in Himalaya « Climate Himalaya Initiative –http://chimalaya.org/category/pollution

    The Himalayan headwaters of the Ganges river in the Uttarakhand state of India. … There, a dam diverts some of its waters into the Ganges Canal, ….. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the „IPCC“), in its Fourth … http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganges

    Mountains of Concrete: Dam Building in the Himalayas
    http://www.scribd.com/doc/8808220/Mountains-of-Concrete-Dam-Building-in-the-Himalayas     

    Dams and the Worldbank – The World Bank is the greatest single source of funds for large dam construction, having provided more than US$50 billion (1992 dollars) for construction of more than 500 large dams in 92 countries. The World Bank has been „directly or indirectly associated“ with around 10% of large dams in developing countries (excluding China, where the Bank had funded only eight dams up to 1994). The importance of the World Bank in major dam schemes is illustrated by the fact that it has directly funded four out of the five highest dams in developing countries outside China, three out of the five largest reservoirs in these countries, and three of the five largest hydroplants. http://www.whirledbank.org/environment/dams.html

    „Clean Energy for the Poorest Countries“ ~ World Bank Drawing on examples from Asia, Africa and the Americas, Survival’s report Serious Damage exposes the untold cost of obtaining ‘green’ electricity from large hydroelectric dams. A rapid increase in global dam-building is currently under way. The World Bank alone is pouring $11bn into 211 hydropower projects worldwide.

    The World Bank’s current focus is on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), lending primarily to „middle-income countries“ at interest rates which reflect a small mark-up over its own (AAA-rated) borrowings from capital markets; while the IDA provides low or no interest loans and grants to low income countries with little or no access to international credit markets. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millenium_goals

    landslides ganga river

     

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