PEACE LEADERSHIP on Climate Change

PEACE LEADERSHIP on Climate Change: "How To Open And Sustain A Loving Heart
 "Set Your Intention Sitting in a quiet and safe place start bringing your attention to your breath. Start to come into awareness of how long and deep each draw is. Bring your attention to your sternum, feel the rise and fall. Smile to yourself and thank yourself for taking the time to love yourself. As you come into a meditative state set your intention. Your intention here will be a two part statement. One aspect of it will be addressing your immediate crisis or need. For example, recognizing the end of a relationship or ending a cycle of self-perception that is harming you. The second part will be a long term intention, one meant to help enforce and keep your sense of love and appreciation. The last time I did this, my intention looked a lot like: ‘I am honoring the pain inside me, it is a result of intended love and I won’t let it stray to hurt me anymore. I will learn from this experience and not shy away from my potential in the future.’ Recognize What Is Affecting Your Heart As you visualize your heart energy, pay attention as equally as you can to both the positive and negative elements affecting it. Seek out the sources of hurt, who caused them? How did you feel, specifically? As you find the factors that are causing you discomfort forgive the person or concept that trespassed on your sensibilities. Then forgive your self. You are human and have every right to feel the way you do. Besides now you are taking the time to better yourself and your reactions. What else could you want from yourself? After you have acknowledged and forgiven the last step is to let go. Don’t push the formation away but stop paying it more attention than needed. Finishing the relationship on your terms only works if you stop feeding more energy into it. Forgive Any Second Stage Emotions You Don’t Care For This is reiterating the letting go aspect. It’s easy to remember an upsetting situation and getting twisted up over it all over again. Stop the cycle now! Make the last interaction between you and these formations a positive one. Then remind yourself that you are above this conflict now. Breathe and turn away from it. Don’t fill your time with running from or pushing it away. Let it hang out in the living room of your heart throwing it scraps of love. It will eventually dissipate. Affirm Your Inherent Worth And Beauty As part of your higher emotions your self-worth is something nothing can ever affect. No matter what anyone says, how any one treats you, or mistakes that you’ve made, NOTHING changes how important and beautiful you are. At times, with enough negativity clogging your heart chakra it may seem like our self-worth is in decline. This is just our perceptions. Take the time to remember that no matter how bad things seem now you are an infinite being. This means you have infinite mess ups and infinite ways to grow as a result. That fact that you recognize your need for self-love and are taking the time to address it productively should help bolster the concept of your potential. Experiment With Your Vibration’s Frequency So you’ve if identified, acknowledged, loved, forgiven, cried at, (hopefully) giggled a little at the independent elements that are affecting your heart space. The tinkering and tuning stage is over time to hook your chakra back up to the chest. Turn your attention from the nitty gritty to the sum that is you. Think back to the different resonance levels you experienced. What do your vibrations look like now? Make connections to the ideas, people and mindsets that varied your vibrations. "
"



'via Blog this'

Wellness Pilipinas International: World Hepatitis Summit World Hepatitis Summit 201...

Wellness Pilipinas International: World Hepatitis Summit World Hepatitis Summit 201...: WHO | Eliminate hepatitis: WHO : "GENEVA - New WHO data from 28 countries - representing approximately 70% of the global hepatitis burd..."GENEVA - New WHO data from 28 countries - representing approximately 70% of the global hepatitis burden - indicate that efforts to eliminate hepatitis are gaining momentum. Published to coincide with World Hepatitis Day, the data reveal that nearly all 28 countries have established high-level national hepatitis elimination committees (with plans and targets in place) and more than half have allocated dedicated funding for hepatitis responses. On World Hepatitis Day, WHO is calling on countries to continue to translate their commitments into increased services to eliminate hepatitis. This week, WHO has also added a new generic treatment to its list of WHO-prequalified hepatitis C medicines to increase access to therapy, and is promoting prevention through injection safety: a key factor in reducing hepatitis B and C transmission. From commitment to Action "It is encouraging to see countries turning commitment into action to tackle hepatitis." said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "Identifying interventions that have a high impact is a key step towards eliminating this devastating disease. Many countries have succeeded in scaling-up the hepatitis B vaccination. Now we need to push harder to increase access to diagnosis and treatment." World Hepatitis Day 2017 is being commemorated under the theme "Eliminate Hepatitis" to mobilize intensified action towards the health targets in the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. In 2016, the World Health Assembly endorsed WHO’s first global health sectors strategy on viral hepatitis to help countries scale up their responses. The new WHO data show that more than 86% of countries reviewed have set national hepatitis elimination targets and more than 70% have begun to develop national hepatitis plans to enable access to effective prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care services. Furthermore, nearly half of the countries surveyed are aiming for elimination through providing universal access to hepatitis treatment. But WHO is concerned that progress needs to speed up. "The national response towards hepatitis elimination is gaining momentum. However, at best one in ten people who are living with hepatitis know they are infected and can access treatment. This is unacceptable," said Dr Gottfried Hirnschall, WHO's Director of the HIV Department and Global Hepatitis Programme. "For hepatitis elimination to become a reality, countries need to accelerate their efforts and increase investments in life-saving care. There is simply no reason why many millions of people still have not been tested for hepatitis and cannot access the treatment for which they are in dire need." Viral hepatitis affected 325 million people worldwide in 2015, with 257 million people living with hepatitis B and 71 million people living with hepatitis C - the two main killers of the five types of hepatitis. Viral hepatitis caused 1.34 million deaths in 2015 – a figure close to the number of TB deaths and exceeding deaths linked to HIV. Improving access to hepatitis C cure Hepatitis C can be completely cured with direct acting antivirals (DAAs) within 3 months. However, as of 2015, only 7% of the 71 million people with chronic hepatitis C had access to treatment. WHO is working to ensure that DAAs are affordable and accessible to those who need them. Prices have dropped dramatically in some countries (primarily in some high-burden, low-and lower middle income countries), facilitated by the introduction of generic versions of these medicines. The list of DAAs available to countries for treating hepatitis C is growing. WHO has just prequalified the first generic version of one of these drugs: sofosbuvir. The average price of the required three-month treatment course of this generic is between US$260 and US$280, a small fraction of the original cost of the medicine when it first went on the market in 2013. WHO prequalification guarantees a product’s quality, safety and efficacy and means it can now be procured by the United Nations and financing agencies such as UNITAID, which now includes medicines for people living with HIV who also have hepatitis C in the portfolio of conditions it covers. Hepatitis B treatment With high morbidity and mortality globally, there is great interest also in the development of new therapies for chronic hepatitis B virus infection. The most effective current hepatitis B treatment, tenofovir, (which is not curative and which in most cases needs to be taken for life), is available for as low as $48 per year in many low and middle income countries. There is also an urgent need to scale up access to hepatitis B testing. Improving injection safety and infection prevention to reduce new cases of hepatitis B and C Use of contaminated injection equipment in health-care settings accounts for a large number of new HCV and HBV infections worldwide, making injection safety an important strategy.Others include preventing transmission through invasive procedures, such as surgery and dental care; increasing hepatitis B vaccination rates and scaling up harm reduction programmes for people who inject drugs. Today WHO is launching a range of new educational and communication tools to support a campaign entitled "Get the Point-Make smart injection choices" to improve injection safety in order to prevent hepatitis and other bloodborne infections in health-care settings."




/New WHO data reveal that an estimated 325 million people worldwide are living with chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. The WHO Global hepatitis report, 2017 indicates that the large majority of these people lack access to life-saving testing and treatment. As a result, millions of people are at risk of a slow progression to chronic liver disease, cancer, and death. The report was launched at the International Liver Congress 2017.

7 seemingly innocent symptoms that could signal a serious health problem | Fox News

"While it's good to be on guard, not every new symptom should send you racing to your doctor's office, says Rob Danoff, DO, an osteopathic physician, and director of family medicine at Philadelphia's Aria Health System. At the same time, Danoff says some seemingly benign symptoms—stuff most of us would brush off—are worthy of close examination, especially if they stick around for more than a week or two. "I call it body talk," he says. "Your body does a good job of sending you signals or clues when something's wrong."  But sometimes those signals are super subtle. Here are a few of those signals you don't want to ignore. Your handwriting is shrinking. Any changes to your handwriting could signal a developing tremor, which is an early indicator of Parkinson's disease, Danoff says. Especially if your handwriting is getting smaller and tighter, this may be a furtive sign you're struggling to hold your hand steady, he says. (Find out what else your hands say about your health.) Your skin feels different. Dry and itchy skin are common issues. But if seasonal shifts—or a new soap or moisturizer—can't explain your sudden skin changes, you'll want to tell your doctor if your skin suddenly seems dryer, itchier, thicker, or scaly, says Lauralee Yalden, MD, a New Jersey-based family medicine physician. "The thickening of the skin can signify high blood pressure or kidney problems," Yalden explains. "Dry, itchy skin could be caused by an underactive thyroid, a nutritional deficiency, or even an autoimmune disorder."  Your breath smells fruity. "With diabetes or pre diabetes, people sometimes give off this weird, almost fruity odor," Danoff says. He and other experts attribute the smell to your body's efforts to burn off the excess sugar in your blood stream. "You'd notice the smell, and so would people around you," Danoff adds.  MORE: 10 Foods That Lower Blood Sugar Naturally You suddenly have trouble calculating tips. If math is an old foe of yours, a little confusion while figuring out the tip isn't a big deal. But if you've always been good with numbers, problems calculating a tip or managing your finances could be an early warning sign of Alzheimer's or dementia, Danoff says. "If it happens once or twice, don't worry too much about it," he says. "But if you keep staring at your bill and you can't figure out what 20 percent is, that may be something to pay attention to." MORE: This Diet Change Could Save You From Alzheimer's You struggle with stairs. Are you out of breath when you get to the top of your staircase? That's something to keep an eye on, Danoff says. Especially if you can think back a few months and you're sure you didn't have stair-climbing issues before, you'll want to notify your doctor. Being out of breath after a little stair-climbing could signal heart trouble or COPD. You feel dizzy when you stand up. "Standing up too quickly, overexerting yourself, or simply not eating enough can make us feel dizzy or lightheaded," Yalden says. So can dehydration or your meds. But if you have to steady yourself "on a regular basis," you could be grappling with issues like anemia, an inner ear problem, or heart trouble, she says.  MORE: 10 Warning Signs Of Burnout And Excessive Stress You're peeing all the time. Bowel changes are tricky. Most of us see daily fluctuations in the color, consistency, and frequency of our poop and pee. But if you're peeing all the time—we're talking a noticeable change that keeps up for more than a week or two—that could be a sign of new-onset diabetes, an infection, prostate problems (if you're a man), or even some bowel cancers, Danoff says. When it comes to you poo, a seaweed-green hue or sulfurous-smelling diarrhea are two changes you shouldn't ignore."



'via Blog this' Source: 7 seemingly innocent symptoms that could signal a serious health problem | Fox News:

ANZ, Barclays, Bradesco, Citi, Itaú, National Australia Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Santander, Standard Chartered, TD Bank Group, and UBS have jointly committed to develop analytical tools and indicators to strengthen assessments and disclosures of climate-related risks and opportunities

"Representing over $7 trillion, eleven major financial institutions around the globe have joined forces with the United Nations to promote climate transparency in financial markets, the Organization’s environment wing said today.

According to a news release by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), ANZ, Barclays, Bradesco, Citi, Itaú, National Australia Bank, Royal Bank of Canada, Santander, Standard Chartered, TD Bank Group, and UBS have jointly committed to develop analytical tools and indicators to strengthen assessments and disclosures of climate-related risks and opportunities.

“The message from financial heavyweights is clear – climate change poses a real and serious threat to our economy,” said Erik Solheim, the Executive Director of UNEP, in the release.

“At the same time, there are enormous business opportunities in taking climate action. Transparency on how financial institutions mitigate the risks and seize the opportunities of a two degrees pathway is crucial to move international markets towards actively supporting a low-carbon and climate-resilient future,” he added.

In the news release, UNEP noted that increasing the amount of reliable information on financial institutions’ exposure to climate-related risks and opportunities would also strengthen the stability of the financial system and help boost climate-friendly investments.

The partnership between the institutions and the UNEP Finance Initiative follows the recommendations by the Financial Stability Board (FSB)’s Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).

The Task Force was mandated by the Board to develop voluntary, consistent climate-related financial risk disclosures for use by companies, investors, lenders and insurers. Its final recommendations were published in June and submitted to the G20 last week.

It is anticipated that results from the undertaking will encourage banks worldwide to adopt such climate-focused efforts.

“After the G20, the issue now is about implementation: how can the finance industry put the framework into practice and deliver disclosure that is meaningful? Through this and other industry-led working groups UNEP FI is helping the finance sector to do just that: move from awareness to action.” said Christian Thimann, Group Head of Strategy, Sustainability and Public Affairs at the AXA Group, Co-Chair of UNEP Finance Initiative and TCFD Vice-Chair.

"



'via Blog this'United Nations News Centre - Eleven global banks partner with UN to make financial markets more climate transparent:

Peace Innovation: fCAT: Technology: ICTs critical to achieve Global Goals, UN highlights in new report

Underscoring the importance of information and communication technologies (ICT) in today's world, the heads of over 20 United Nations agencies and offices have called for leveraging those technologies to “fast forward” implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

In a new report, launched today, the senior officials also highlighted the critical link between information and communication technologies and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“The 2030 Agenda […] recognizes the great potential of global connectivity to spur human progress,” noted UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his foreword to the publication, Fast-forward progress: Leveraging tech to achieve the global goals.

“This report presents evidence of how UN agencies are adopting – and adapting – ICTs to maximize their impact and help communities and people in need,” he added, highlighting efforts underway to extend telecommunication networks and ICTs into remote areas; train and equip workers with new digital skills; and ensure that schools, hospitals, clinics and whole cities are smarter, more energy efficient and safer.

The five key areas highlighted as the “take aways” in the publication include ensuring that no one is “left offline;” recognizing the catalysing factor of ICTs for innovation and change; putting people first; importance of prompt action to leverage ICTs; and creating new .innovative partnerships.

The report, coordinated by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), was written as a collaborative effort between top officials from UN entities and international organizations, with each leader selecting one Goal and explaining why ICT is important for it, including drawing on their personal insights.

“As UN leaders have identified […], ICTs must be leveraged to advance achievement of all 17 of the SDGs – and we at ITU look forward to partnering with other UN agencies to facilitate this,” said Houlin Zhao, the Secretary-General of ITU, said at the report's launch, in Geneva.

The report's release coincides with the ongoing 2017 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF), the main UN platform dealing with sustainable and inclusive development."

Peace Innovation: fCAT: Technology: ICTs critical to achieve Global Goals, UN highlights in new report:



'via Blog this'

Peace Innovation: fCAT: Culture: 'Smart' money moving to 'green' financing, reveals new UN report

Peace Innovation: fCAT: Culture: 'Smart' money moving to 'green' financing, reveals new UN report

July 19, 2017

"In its new report on green finance, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) has noted that the G20 and other countries have taken huge strides over the last year towards mobilizing public resources and private capital needed to make sustainable development and climate action a reality.

“The world has committed to creating a better future for people and planet. But we will not be able to achieve [this] vision without the global financial system using its capital to fuel the transformation,” said the Executive Director of UNEP, Erik Solheim, in a news release announcing the findings.

“This new research […] shows encouraging progress in this regard. From a record number of new green finance measures to ambitious plans for green finance hubs, we are seeing the smart money move to green financing,” he added.

The Green Finance Progress Report further notes that the establishment of the Green Finance Study Group by the G20 last year, under its Chinese Presidency, showed the group understood that green financing at scale is critical to achieve the G20's goal of securing balanced and sustained growth.

This message was reinforced by Germany's decision to continue the work during its G20 Presidency this year, the report highlights.

The report also draws out examples from G20 countries of actions they took in relation to green finance, such as the disclosure requirements announced by the Securities and Exchange Board of India for the issuing and listing of green debt securities, and pilot areas for green finance announced by the State Council of China.

It also finds that the progress made nationally, internationally, and in financial and capital markets shows that financial system is reshaping themselves to align with the sustainable development imperatives of the 21st century.

“The challenge now is to rapidly increase capital flows to investments that will support our sustainable development objectives and create commercially viable green businesses for decades to come,” said Mr. Solheim.

“The G20 and others have set the wheels in motion. Now is the time to press hard on the accelerator,” he added."

Peace Innovation: fCAT: Culture: 'Smart' money moving to 'green' financing, reveals new UN report:



'via Blog this'

Wellness Pilipinas International: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World ...

United Nations News Centre - UN food standards body kicks off session by tackling arsenic in rice, pesticide residues: "The Codex Alimentarius Commission, charged with protecting consumer health and ensuring fair practices in the food trade, is meeting in Geneva from 17 to 22 July 2017. Standards-setting for food is a joint initiative of two UN agencies – the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

At today’s session, the Commission set maximum residue limits for medicines Ivermectin, which is used to kill parasites in tissues from cattle; Lasalocid sodium, which is used for a similar purpose in tissues from chicken, turkey, quail and pheasant; and insecticide Teflubenzuron used in salmon.

The Commission also adopted revisions to its risk-based Code of Hygienic Practice for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables to provide detailed guidance to stakeholders along fresh fruit and vegetable value chains – from producers through to final consumers.

The aim is to minimize microbial hazards, avoid risks to health, and maximize the safety of these nutritious food products, which are also of major economic importance for many countries in global trade.

The Commission also adopted the Nutrient Reference Values for vitamins D and E to be used for nutrient content labelling that would help consumers make informed choices to support healthy diets.

On spices and culinary herbs, the Commission adopted commodity standards, such as tolerances for defects, permitted levels of food additives and labelling, for cumin, dried thyme and pepper, which are among the world’s most widely used seasonings."



Wellness Pilipinas International: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and World ...: United Nations News Centre - UN food standards body kicks off session by tackling arsenic in rice, pesticide residues : "The Codex Ali...

The multilateral system has a responsibility to bring together governments, youth, employers, educators, and innovators to demystify the labour markets of the future, and to find innovative ways of building digital skills across the world, all in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

THE YOUTH: “As the main beneficiaries of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and as the drivers of innovation and change, it is vital that the enthusiasm and ingenuity of youth are harnessed to transform the world for the better,” Peter Thomson said at an event held at UN Headquarters in New York on the theme Skills for the future of work.

“Just as youth need education and training to access decent jobs in and of the future, they also require skills development to fulfil their vital role in SDG implementation,” he added.

In his remarks, Mr. Thomson called for targeted policies and resources to develop the digital skills of today’s youth, as well as for specific programmes to ensure that women and girls have access to education, health and employment opportunities.

Doing so, he said, would make sure they secure decent jobs and are never left behind again.

“We must see investing in quality education and training as fundamental for a world of sustaining peace and sustainable development,” he noted.

In particular, Mr. Thomson highlighted the need to work cooperatively with all stakeholders in building the education and training systems that are responsive to the needs, and given the complexities involved, called for international cooperation, strategic partnerships, and transfer of technology.

“The multilateral system has a responsibility to bring together governments, youth, employers, educators, and innovators to demystify the labour markets of the future, and to find innovative ways of building digital skills across the world, all in support of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,” he stressed.


Peter Thomson, President of the seventy-first session of the General Assembly, makes remarks during the opening of the Ministerial segment of the High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development. Photo: UN Photo/ Manuel Elias
Speaking alongside Mr. Thomson, Jayathma Wickramanayake, the UN Envoy on Youth, also called for greater and more coherent efforts to better forecast the skills that will be needed in the future.

“We must adapt existing policies and initiatives to be fit for the digital era and ensure that we remain flexible enough, to adapt these further in the future,” she said, citing the example of the technological advances made since the turn of the millennium and signs that this will not slow down in the years ahead.

“We must [also] ensure that national youth policies are integrated, holistic and funded,” she added.

In her remarks, the Youth Envoy also underscored the need for holistic education to address evolving technical skills as well as impart competencies required to adapt to changing and demanding workplaces.

In this regard, she highlighted that formal education alone would not be enough, and stressed the importance of non-formal and informal education.

“With all this talk of change in such little time, one truth remains: there is no better investment a country can make than in the capacities and potential of its young people,” she stated.

"



'via Blog this'United Nations News Centre - As ‘drivers’ of innovation, youth need skills and capacity – UN General Assembly President:

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Student Photo Contest 2017 Call for Applications. Deadline: Aug 31. Join now!

The United Nations Information Centre, Tokyo (UNIC Tokyo) and Sophia University are, once again, co-organizing the student photo contest on SDGs with special cooperation from Getty Images Japan. The first photo contest was launched in Japan last year, amassing a total of 624 entries from 47 countries as far and wide as Afghanistan and Brazil. We welcome presently enrolled college and university students, graduate students, and vocational school students to apply.

We ask that you choose one or more of the 17 SDGs that interest you most, and express what it means to you through a photo snapshot. We particularly encourage entries that depict elements of SDGs in your own community. A theme pertaining to the SDGs must also exist within your own country. This year, we will be having the TOGETHER Award and the Concept Award as new additions to the list of awards.

Please visit the contest site at:

https://communityassignments.gettyimages.com/en/community-assignments/sdgs_2017/

Contest Details:

This contest aims to encourage students to “reflect on sustainable development from his or her own perspective, express it through a photo, and share it with others.” We welcome photos that tell a story; they may come in a journalistic form, presenting a clear problem, or may be abstract and creative, representing your ideas and thoughts. What can you do to change the world? How will the SDGs influence the way you think or act? How can you inform your friends, family, and community members of social issues and prompt them to take action? The answers to these questions will become key to achieving the SDGs. We hope you will take advantage of this opportunity and apply.

Last year’s prize winning entries can be viewed at:

https://communityassignments.gettyimages.com/en/community-assignments/sustainabledevelopment/

The award ceremony can be viewed at:

http://blog.unic.or.jp/entry/2016/12/01/101843

"Application Details

❖ Deadline: Submit your photo(s) between Thursday 20 April and Wednesday 30 August 2017. The announcement of the results and the awards ceremony is scheduled to be held in conjunction with United Nations Day, on 24 October.

❖ Qualifications: Applicants must be presently enrolled in university – college and undergraduate students, graduate students, or vocational school students (We welcome entries from applicants of any nationality, including those living abroad)

❖ Awards (subject to change depending on the content and number of applications):　　　　　

・Grand Prize (Foreign Minister’s Award) 1 Prize
・Award of Excellence　                         3 Prize
・Special Award (TOGETHER Award)　    1 Prize
・Special Award (Concept Award)           1 Prize
・Award of Recognition　 

❖ Judges：
Leslie Kee, Photographer
Akira Ono, Photo and Multimedia Editor, The Asahi Shimbun
Yuichi Kimura, Comedian, YOSHIMOTO CREATIVE AGENCY CO., LTD.
Hiroaki Mizushima, Professor, Department of Journalism, Sophia University
Mark Garten, Chief of the UN Photo Unit, Audio-Visual Services Section, United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI)

❖ Judging Panel for the TOGETHER Award:
Representatives from the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), UNIC Tokyo, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and United Nations University (UNU)

❖ Judge for the Concept Award:
Getty Images Japan (evaluating based on how well the photograph represents the concepts of the SDGs and evokes certain messages or emotions)

❖ Organisers: UNIC Tokyo, Sophia University

❖ Special Cooperation: Getty Images Japan

❖ Endorsed by: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Global Compact Network Japan (GC-NJ),Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Japan Civil Society Network on SDGs

❖ Cooperating Partners: Fast Retailing Co., Ltd., Nikon Corporation, SIGMA Corporation

❖ Media Partner: The Asahi Shimbun

❖ Prize Money and Goods: presented by organisers, special cooperating partner, and other cooperating partners (Details will be available on the official contest website)"

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)：The goals that were formally adopted by world leaders at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit in September 2015. They consist of 17 goals and aim to bring an end to various forms of poverty, fight against inequality, and deal with climate change as each country establishes specific goals and plans for action. However, achieving the SDGs requires not only action at the national level, but also at the individual level. These goals can only be attained when every individual plays his or her part.

TOGETHER campaign: A global campaign that strives to create a society that celebrates the diversity created by embracing refugees and migrants. The campaign aims to communicate the possibilities that arise from accepting refugees and migrants and also encourage people to think about their ability to contribute collectively as a society. Stories of these marginalised individuals will be shared throughout the campaign.

'via Blog this'あなたも応募して 世界につながろう！ 「持続可能な開発目標（SDGs）学生フォトコンテスト2017」 作品募集中！ | 国連広報センター:

PEACE LEADERSHIP on Climate Change: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the l...

"Prize-winning photographs taken by students from around the world – currently exhibited at United Nations Headquarters in New York – encapsulate their own ideas and feelings about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“Photos have the power to go beyond borders, which makes it an ideal medium to connect young people from all over the world,” said Kaoru Nemoto, Director of the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Tokyo, which organized the exhibition “Spotlight on SDGs.”

With 17 goals and 169 targets, communicating the SDGs to the public has proven to be a challenge in many countries.  

But engaging youth is vital to successful implementation of those objectives by 2030, a target year for the international community to eradicate poverty, address climate change and build peaceful, inclusive societies for all.

In fact, young people played a key part in shaping the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and they, as agents of change, are expected to lead efforts to translate this vision into reality.

With this in mind, UNIC Tokyo and Sophia University put their heads together and came up with a student photo contest with special cooperation from Getty Images Japan.

“This partnership-driven photo contest encouraged young students to think hard about SDGs at their doorstep, visualize their perspective through their creativity, and have fun,” Ms. Nemoto told UN News.

Titled “My View on SDGs,” the contest encouraged students to reflect on the Goals, communicate their feelings in a photograph and share it with other people.

Over 600 submissions were received from students from 47 countries on five continents.

First prize went to a photo portraying a volunteer removing a tire from a beach in Lima, Peru, taken by a local university student, Nicolas Monteverde Bustamante.

“I was shocked and saddened by the number of tires strewn across the beach in a conservation area in Callao, near Lima,” said the 23 year old.
“The pollution of the ocean is one of the worst problems humanity faces at this time. Our culture of consuming and throwing away indiscriminately is poisoning our cities, our lands, our ocean, and finally, ourselves. It is in our hands to make our ocean a better place for all, without tires and trash.”



 Photo/Pang Yunian, 25, China (Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan)





“In the town of Shwe Kyin, in Myanmar, households have no electricity,” said 25-year-old Pang Yunian, from China, who was among the contest winners. “Yet, the villagers decided to prioritize education and used limited resources to build a primary school a few years ago.”







 Photo/Karin Imai, 20, Japan (Sophia University, Tokyo, Japan)
“My photo is simply a snapshot of a normal landscape in Japan,” said 20-year-old Karin Imai, Japan, whose entry also won a prize. “Yet for some reason, this tiny plant growing in the midst of tall trees caught my eye.”

She said its relative size seemed to emphasize, rather than diminish, its strength and willpower to grow.

“I also wanted to convey the importance of small discoveries as the same philosophy applies to the furthering of the SDGs… The accumulation of these small discoveries and actions will carry us towards a brighter and more sustainable future.”

The exhibition is on view through 10 August at UN Headquarters. 

Ms. Nemoto said that the exhibition coincides with the convening of the High-Level Political Forum on sustainable development – a mechanism UN Member States have mandated to carry out regular voluntary reviews of implementation of the 2030 Agenda.

“These prize-winning photos have been brought to UN Headquarters with an aim to encourage viewers to take ownership of SDGs as change makers,” she said.

UNIC Tokyo and Sophia University are co-sponsoring a second SDGs Student Photo Contest and are calling for entries by the 31 August deadline."



PEACE LEADERSHIP on Climate Change: Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the l...: "Prize-winning photographs taken by students from around the world – currently exhibited at United Nations Headquarters in New York – ...

PEACE LEADERSHIP on Climate Change: PEACE INSPIRATION: 'Happy' Afghan girls compete at...

PEACE LEADERSHIP on Climate Change: PEACE INSPIRATION: 'Happy' Afghan girls compete at...: 'Happy' Afghan girls compete at robotics meet after US visa woes : "Huddled around a small table in the halls of a cavernous W...

Resetting the Mind: Israeli 'mental first-aid' method..."What we can do is stop the helplessness." "The opposite of helplessness is effective action. That's why first of all we need to activate the person, to diminish the helplessness...The two main goals are to quickly return a person to being functional in a way that would reduce the risk of getting killed, and reducing the risk for more serious disorders" in the future, such as PTSD,.

"Moshe Farchi says Israel's decades of conflict have afforded it "lots of experience" in dealing with trauma, leading to effective and science-based models of work.

"We made many mistakes and are learning from them," the head of stress, trauma and resilience studies at Israel's Tel-Hai College told AFP.

Farchi's model was developed during his years in the Israeli army, where he served as a mental health officer.

He saw shortcomings in such treatment because it "failed to reduce the element of anxiety and perception of the event as traumatic."

Farchi, a clinical social worker by training, also utilised his experience as a volunteer first responder in emergency medical organisations.

His principles are simple, easily applicable and, to the layman, possibly counterintuitive.

They are employed in the immediate aftermath of a traumatic event such as an attack, serving as mental first-aid.

"One thinks that a person in distress should be contained, held," he told AFP.

But providing emotional support activates the recipient's emotional part of the brain at the expense of the area responsible for the ability to think and make decisions, he said.

- 'Resetting' the brain -

Thinking and making decisions are what the person needs to do in order to be freed of a "sense of helplessness."

"The given is that we can't stop the threat -- the rocket has hit, the event has taken place," he said. "What we can do is stop the helplessness."

"The opposite of helplessness is effective action. That's why first of all we need to activate the person, to diminish the helplessness," Farchi said.

Activating the person includes asking concrete and factual questions, giving him or her the ability to make decisions -- initially easy ones, such as if they want to drink a glass of water or take a break.

The idea of "resetting" a person who underwent a traumatic event using Farchi's method can have both immediate and long-term positive effects, according to the psychiatrist who currently heads the clinical branch in the Israeli army's mental health department.

"The two main goals are to quickly return a person to being functional in a way that would reduce the risk of getting killed, and reducing the risk for more serious disorders" in the future, such as PTSD, said Lieutenant Colonel Dr Ariel Ben Yehuda.

People in life-threatening situations tend to feel confused, lonely, frozen or disoriented, said Ben Yehuda, and "Farchi's method addresses these issues."

"This isn't psychiatric treatment, rather something very focused. You can do it in two minutes, but the idea is to 'reset' the person," Ben Yehuda noted.

The system is currently being implemented as part of soldiers' medical training, and takes just a few hours to teach.

- 'Not left alone' -

One place where Farchi has taken his method is the British city of Manchester where a suicide bombing killed 22 and wounded more than 100 on May 22.

The attack came as Dov Benyaacov-Kurtzman, a Scotland-born social worker who had lived in Israel for years, was working in Manchester on establishing a centre to provide emergency response for stress and trauma.

Benyaacov-Kurtzman had planned to launch his organisation, called Heads Up, in six months.

But the Manchester attack galvanised him into starting work and reaching out to Farchi to help with training the group's professionals and volunteers.

"At that moment they called and said 'come'," Farchi said recently in Tel Aviv before flying to Manchester.

Farchi has already trained local professionals who can carry out a "cultural translation" of the method in countries such as Germany, the Philippines and Argentina.

He was also set to travel for training in London.

A key aspect of Farchi's method is that it should not be reserved for professionals, but spread to as many people as possible.

The 2014 conflict between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip was an opportunity to examine Farchi's method.

Residents in Ofakim, an Israeli town that was subject to heavy rocket fire from Gaza, underwent Farchi's intervention, showing no occurrence of PTSD in the months following the war, Farchi said.

"The chance that a person (experiencing trauma) will be next to a professional is very small, but that a layman will be next to him is very high," Farchi said."



'via Blog this'Israeli 'mental first-aid' method offered to attack victims abroad:

Wellness Pilipinas International: WELLNESS IN ENVIRONMENT: Pililla windmill farm amo...

WELLNESS IN ENVIRONMENT: Pililla windmill farm among selected venues for celebration of ASEAN’s 50th anniversary

 "RIZAL, Philippines — Alongside the Philippines’ chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit is the celebration of ASEAN’s 50th founding anniversary.

For this, various activities will be held in different parts of the country for the celebration.

One of the activities will be held at the windmill farm in the town of Pililla, Rizal.

The town of Pililla is preparing special and memorable activities for the participants of the ASEAN founding anniversary celebration.

“So we’re planning activity here at the wind farm, and we’re going to try to light up some of the turbines in the ASEAN colors of red, blue and yellow. It will be done at 7:00 pm,” said Pililla tourism office OIC Jojo Masinsin.

The windmill farm in Pililla is a private electricity producing farm that supplies electricity to over 60,000 households in many parts of Luzon.

There are 27 wind turbines that stand on a hill overlooking Laguna de Bay.

said this is a chance to show the world the beauty of Pililla despite being a small town.

“This wind farm is operated by the private corporation Altenergy Wind One Corporation. But even though they’re a private corporation they help promote tourism for us. They’re very generous in allowing us to use their place for the tourists,” Masinsin said

Wellness Pilipinas International: WELLNESS IN ENVIRONMENT: Pililla windmill farm amo...:  "RIZAL, Philippines — Alongside the Philippines’ chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit is the celebration of ASEAN’s 50th founding anniver...

Wellness Pilipinas International: WHO Update: Investing in health targets within the...

WHO Update: Investing in health targets within the Sustainable Development Goals could prevent 97 million premature deaths globally between now and 2030, and add as much as 8.4 years of life expectancy reports the new publication, "The SDG Health Price Tag

"World Health Organization estimates cost of reaching global health targets by 2030

News release

17 JULY 2017 | GENEVA - The SDG Health Price Tag, published today in The Lancet Global Health, estimates the costs and benefits of progressively expanding health services in order to reach 16 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) health targets in 67 low- and middle-income countries that account for 75% of the world’s population.

The analysis shows that investments to expand services towards universal health coverage and the other SDG health targets could prevent 97 million premature deaths globally between now and 2030, and add as much as 8.4 years of life expectancy in some countries. While most countries can afford the investments needed, the poorest nations will need assistance to reach the targets.

"Universal health coverage is ultimately a political choice. It is the responsibility of every country and national government to pursue it," Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, wrote in a commentary accompanying the paper in The Lancet Global Health.

The SDG Health Price Tag models two scenarios: an “ambitious” scenario in which investments are sufficient for countries to attain the health targets in the SDGs by 2030, and a “progress” scenario in which countries get two thirds or more of the way to the targets.

In both scenarios, health systems investments such as employing more health workers; building and operating new clinics, hospitals and laboratories; and buying medical equipment account for about 75% of the total. The remaining costs are for medicines, vaccines, syringes and other commodities used to prevent or treat specific diseases, and for activities such as training, health campaigns and outreach to vulnerable communities.

Under the "ambitious" scenario, achieving the SDG health targets would require new investments increasing over time from an initial US$ 134 billion annually to $371 billion, or $58 per person, by 2030.

The analysis shows that 85% of these costs can be met with domestic resources, although as many as 32 of the world’s poorest countries will face an annual gap of up to US$ 54 billion and will continue to need external assistance. High-income countries were not included in the analysis but other estimates show they can all afford to provide universal health coverage with essential health services to their citizens.

The ambitious scenario includes adding more than 23 million health workers, and building more than 415 000 new health facilities, 91% of which would be primary health care centres.

These investments would boost health spending as a proportion of gross domestic product across all 67 countries from an average of 5.6% to 7.5%. The global average for health spending as a proportion of GDP is 9.9%. Although higher spending does not necessarily translate to improved health, making the right investments at the right time can.

Read more: Wellness Pilipinas International: WHO Update: Investing in health targets within the...: "World Health Organization estimates cost of reaching global health targets by 2030 News release 17 JULY 2017 | GENEVA - The SDG H...

Study finds our Sun is like other stars, resolving mystery

"Our Sun is much like other stars, and not an anomaly because of its magnetic poles that flip every 11 years, scientists said.

The report in the journal Science aims to lay to rest the controversy over whether our solar system's star is cyclic, like other nearby, solar-type stars.

"We have shed light on a fundamental mechanism which determines the length of these cycles, which helps us understand the cycle itself over the long-term," lead author Antoine Strugarek, a researcher at the University of Montreal, told AFP.

"We can therefore say of the Sun's next magnetic cycle in 10 or 20 years will be intense, long or short, which helps us understand among other things what kind of satellites to put in orbit and the most favorable launch windows."

Activity on the Sun, from the number of sunspots to levels of radiation and ejection of material, varies on an 11-year cycle.

These changes are driven by the Sun's magnetic field.

Scientists have long believed that our Sun was unusual because it did not match the magnetic cycles observed on other solar-type stars.

So researchers carried out a series of simulations of stellar magnetic fields, and showed that the Sun's magnetic cycle depends on its rotation rate and luminosity, said the report.

They compared their simulations with observations of cyclic activity in nearby solar-type stars, and found that indeed, the cycle periods of the Sun and other solar-type stars all follow the same relationship.

"This research shows that the 11-year cycle is the principal cycle of all solar-type stars," said Allan Sacha Brun, Head of the Laboratory Dynamics of Stars and their Environment and principal investigator of the European Research Council project called STARS2.


"



'via Blog this'Source: Study finds our Sun is like other stars, resolving mystery:

Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve: "The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner. However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island", Kevin Iro, Environmentalist

 "The Cook Islands has created one of the world's largest marine sanctuaries, protecting a vast swathe of the Pacific Ocean more than three times the size of France.

Legislation setting up the 1.9 million square kilometre (735,000 square mile) reserve passed through the tiny nation's parliament late Thursday.

Environmentalist Kevin Iro, who first proposed the idea more than five years ago, said it was a landmark achievement that would help preserve the ocean for future generations.

"It's a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing," he told AFP.

The Cook Islands has a population of just 10,000 and its 15 islands have a combined landmass of 236 sq km, barely the size of Washington DC.

But its isolated position in the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with no near neighbours, means it has a huge maritime territory.

Iro said Cook Islanders had an affinity with the ocean and viewed it as sacred but overfishing and pollution had damaged the marine environment, including the coral reefs that once ringed all the islands.

He said the marine reserve, known as Marae Moana, would give the environment a chance to heal, allowing the islanders to protect their legacy.

"When I moved back here (from New Zealand) about 16 years ago I saw what was happening to the lagoons and reefs and really wanted to protect them for my kids," he said.

"I want them to have the same experience I did as a boy growing up."

The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner.

However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island.

Prime Minister Henry Puna said Marae Moana provided a blueprint for managing ocean environments worldwide.

"Together we had a vision to turn our little country into the cleanest and greenest tourism destination in the whole wide world," the Cook Islands News quoted him as telling parliament.

"We not only recognise that the ocean brings us revenue in terms of fishery and tourism and potentially sea bed minerals -– it also provides us with clean air, clean water, and clean food to nourish and sustain us.""



'via Blog this'Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve:- AFP News

Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve: "The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner. However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island", Kevin Iro, Environmentalist

"The Cook Islands has created one of the world's largest marine sanctuaries, protecting a vast swathe of the Pacific Ocean more than three times the size of France.

Legislation setting up the 1.9 million square kilometre (735,000 square mile) reserve passed through the tiny nation's parliament late Thursday.

Environmentalist Kevin Iro, who first proposed the idea more than five years ago, said it was a landmark achievement that would help preserve the ocean for future generations.

"It's a historic time, particularly because everyone supported it, including our traditional leaders who spearheaded the whole thing," he told AFP.

The Cook Islands has a population of just 10,000 and its 15 islands have a combined landmass of 236 sq km, barely the size of Washington DC.

But its isolated position in the Pacific, about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii with no near neighbours, means it has a huge maritime territory.

Iro said Cook Islanders had an affinity with the ocean and viewed it as sacred but overfishing and pollution had damaged the marine environment, including the coral reefs that once ringed all the islands.

He said the marine reserve, known as Marae Moana, would give the environment a chance to heal, allowing the islanders to protect their legacy.

"When I moved back here (from New Zealand) about 16 years ago I saw what was happening to the lagoons and reefs and really wanted to protect them for my kids," he said.

"I want them to have the same experience I did as a boy growing up."

The idea is not to ban commercial fishing or mineral exploration outright, but to ensure it is carried out in a sustainable manner.

However, there will be a core no-fishing zone totalling about 320,000 sq km, extending 50 nautical miles from the coastline of each island.

Prime Minister Henry Puna said Marae Moana provided a blueprint for managing ocean environments worldwide.

"Together we had a vision to turn our little country into the cleanest and greenest tourism destination in the whole wide world," the Cook Islands News quoted him as telling parliament.

"We not only recognise that the ocean brings us revenue in terms of fishery and tourism and potentially sea bed minerals -– it also provides us with clean air, clean water, and clean food to nourish and sustain us."

Puna's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment."



'via Blog this'AFP News, Cook Islands creates huge Pacific Ocean marine reserve:

UPDATE: Land mammals and reptiles in the Pacific islands facing extinction due to habitat loss, hunting and other threats could be decimated by climate change...

Ocean-bound wildlife is particularly vulnerable to environmental pressures, especially endemic species living on only one or a handful of islands. Among other things, this remoteness makes migrating to another land mass nearly impossible.

Dozens of species -- especially birds -- have also been wiped out over the last century by invasive species and disease brought by human settlers.

For most Pacific island vertebrates -- animals with a backbone -- the current risk of extinction has been measured and catalogued in the Red List of threatened species, maintained by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

Scientists, however, had not systematically looked at the added threat posed of rising seas and megastorms brought on by global warming.

Impacts due to an increase in temperature of only one degree Celsius (1.6 degrees Fahrenheit) since the mid-19th century have already begun to wreak havoc in dozens of small island nations.

Lalit Kumar and Mahyat Shafapour Tehrany of the University of New England in Armidale, Australia, matched the Red List conservation status of 150 mammals and reptiles against two scenarios for future climate change that assume either weak or moderate efforts in curtailing greenhouse gas emissions.

- Triple threat -

One would result in global warming of about 4 C (7.2 F) by century's end, and the other roughly 3 C (5.4 F).

The question they asked for each species was simple: to what extent will a hotter world increase the danger of extinction?

"Projected increases in sea level rise and ... wave heights, together with more intense tropical cyclones, are likely to exacerbate these vulnerabilities and result in signficant habitat destruction," the researchers concluded.

Eighteen animals -- including Bulmer's fruit bat, half-a-dozen species of gecko, and several lizards -- faced a triple threat.

Not only are they already listed as "critically endangered", the last step before the category "extinct in the wild", they are also unique to this part of the world and exist on a single island, though mostly larger ones.

"These species are only found in this region, and so deserve extra attention since a loss of any of these species will mean global extinction," the authors warned.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, could help conservationists and policy makers outline strategies for preventing the disappearance of these creatures from the face of the Earth, they added.

The 196-nation Paris Agreement has set a goal of holding global warming to "well below" 2 C, a goal that many scientists say may be out of reach." -Marlowe Hood, AFP News



Source: Climate change deepens threat to Pacific island wildlife: 'via Blog this'

UPDATE: A large portion of an ice shelf that was said to be “hanging by a thread” last month has broken off from the Antarctic mainland, creating one of the world’s largest icebergs...

According to the report by British Antarctic research group Project MIDAS, the iceberg, which is estimated to have separated from Larsen C ice shelf between Monday and Wednesday, will be named A68. It weighs one trillion tons and contains twice the volume of water held in Lake Erie, the report said. It is 5,800 square kilometers, making it nearly twice the size of Rhode Island.

The ice shelf’s calving has been expected for some time. Project MIDAS wrote that is was “watching with bated breath” after the rift separating the iceberg from the main shelf grew 11 miles in six days in late May. At the time, lead investigator of Project MIDAS Adrian Luckman wrote that the separation of the ice shelf would “fundamentally change the landscape of the Antarctic Peninsula.”

Here’s a look at images of the threatened ice shelves and glaciers of the South Pole.

See FULL STORY by Taylor Rogers /Yahoo News

See more news-related photo galleries and follow us on Yahoo News Photo Twitter and Tumblr."Antarctica's fragile ice:



'via Blog this'

Wellness Pilipinas International: ASEAN 2017 (@ASEAN2017)

Wellness Pilipinas International: ASEAN 2017 (@ASEAN2017): ASEAN 2017 (@ASEAN2017) | Twitter : 'via Blog this'

Wellness Pilipinas International: WHO Update: Environmental risk factors – including...

WHO Update: Environmental risk factors – including air, water and soil pollution; chemical exposures; ultraviolet radiation; and climate change – contribute to more than 100 different diseases and injuries. Climate change and variations particularly impact many aspects of life that are inextricably linked to health

WHO estimates that 12.6 million people die each year as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment, contributing to nearly one-quarter of deaths globally. Similarly, a WHO assessment concluded that climate change is expected to cause approximately 250 000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050. The health impacts of climate and environmental change are and will continue to be disproportionately greater among vulnerable populations.

Renewed global commitment

Fortunately, there is renewed global commitment to tackle climate change and implement the Paris Agreement, adopted at the UN Climate Change Conference in December 2015.

Opportunities exist not only to tackle environmental health risk factors, including air safety, food security and water and sanitation, but also to transform the development of health care delivery systems by using low-carbon, more environmentally-friendly approaches. For example, access to health care can be made more reliable in resource-constrained settings through renewable energy sources that can supply power for lifesaving procedures that might not otherwise be possible. This could be game changing for people who rely on the between 200,000 and 400,000 hospitals and health clinics in developing countries that lack or have unreliable electricity supplies.

Wellness Pilipinas International: WHO Update: Environmental risk factors – including...: WHO estimates that 12.6 million people die each year as a result of living or working in an unhealthy environment, contributing to nearly ...

Peace Innovation: fCAT : Tech: UN welcomes major partnership initiative wit...

"A senior United Nations official has called for sustained joint efforts to combat terrorism and welcomed a partnership initiative with tech giants Facebook, Microsoft, Twitter and YouTube to counter terrorism and violent extremism online.

“I welcome this major initiative, which elevates our existing private-public partnership with these and other companies,” said Jean-Paul Laborde, UN Assistant Secretary-General and the Executive Director of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate.

“The UN remains committed to addressing the scourge of terrorism, and we look forward to remaining a key partner to the private sector,” he added.

The four tech giants have already developed and have put in place policies and removal practices to take a hard line against terrorist or violent extremist content on their hosted consumer services.

The Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism partnership will help further strengthen these “counter-speech” protections through research- and evidence-based efforts and technical and policy decisions around the removal of terrorist content, noted a news release issued by the Executive Directorate.

By working together, and through the sharing of the best technological and operational elements of their individual efforts, they believe they can have a greater impact on the threat of terrorist content online, it added.

The new forum builds on initiatives, such as the European Union (EU) Internet Forum and the Shared Industry Hash Database as well as discussions with governments and the outcomes of recent G7 and European Council meetings.

It will also help strengthen existing and build future areas of collaboration between these companies, including with smaller tech enterprises, civil society groups and academics, as well as with governments, and intergovernmental bodies like the EU and the UN.

The companies will also be hosting a series of learning workshops in partnership with the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate and the ICT4Peace Foundation in Silicon Valley (which is home to many of the world's largest high-tech corporations) and around the world to drive these areas of collaboration.

Within the UN system, the Security Council continues to closely follow efforts to combat terrorism as well as other issues that represent serious threats to international peace and security.

Last month, it unanimously adopted a resolution which, among others, provides a comprehensive international framework to counter terrorist narratives and amplifies positive and credible alternatives to audiences vulnerable to extremist messages, especially those on social media."

Peace Innovation: fCAT : Tech: UN welcomes major partnership initiative wit...: "A senior United Nations official has called for sustained joint efforts to combat terrorism and welcomed a partnership initiative wi...