Israel has agreed to withdraw it’s troops from Lebanon by the weekend. About 80 percent of the Israeli force has already left after the 34 day war with a Lebanese Hizbollah guerilla group, but Lieutenant-General Dan Halutz said that Israel wanted the troops home by Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) which begins on Friday. The French have also deployed their peace keeping force, increasing the number of troops to 4950. The UN feels that a force of 5 000 is sufficient to enforce the August 14 truce between the two countries. The peace keeping force will aid the 10 000 Lebanese troops already deployed in Southern Lebanon.
UN
Kids get to interview UN officals
A group of young journalists will get the opportunity to ask UN officials tough questions. The kids will also have the chance to express what it is like to be a child around the world to the delegates to policy makers. I hope that the UN listens.
“The 11 young journalists, from all 4 continents, will be making speeches at the Day of the General Discussion on the Rights of the Child and are expected to interview UN committee members and state representatives. Their reports and observations will be sent back to their countries and communities.
The journalists from Canada, Colombia, El Salvador, Ghana, India, Kenya, Norway, Senegal, Sweden and Zimbabwe, will join 22 youth delegates from other agencies at the UN’s Palais Wilson on September 15th.
“I want the Committee members to know just what Children’s Rights means for me, and millions of young persons like me, and I want to take back everything I learn and accurately inform and educate everyone in my country” said 12-year-old Sibonile, from Zimbabwe.”
Help Darfur
Darfur is a region in trouble. For years there have been killings and other tragedies. Obviously this is not good news at all – in fact it’s the opposite of good news. Today’s good news about Darfur comes from people wanting to help the region through action. Show your support online by wearing a blue hat!
The Global Day for Darfurwas originally conceived by a group of NGOs who were concerned about the international communityÂ’s slow response to the crisis in Darfur. ItÂ’s truly global: the day will see peaceful demonstrations, rallies, marches, exhibitions and concerts in cities around
the world including Abuja, Addis Ababa, Berlin, Cairo, Hong Kong, Khartoum,
Kigali, London, Melbourne, Moscow, Nairobi, New York, Toronto, Paris and
Vancouver.
Technology Can Help Disabled
The UN is pushing for new technologies to help people who need accessibility support. The good news is that this has started to happen. OneWorld South Asia is reporting on the use of ICTs designed for accessibility.
Google recently added more accessibility services to its search engine. Google Labs created Accessible Web Search for the Visually Impaired that returns only sites that are easy to read by screen readers. The search uses the W3C standards, which ThingsAreGood.com passes.
“Governments, at the first World Summit on the Information Society in 2003 in Geneva, committed themselves to building a people-centred, inclusive and development-oriented information society, where everyone can create, access, utilize and share information and knowledge.
“The new computer-based information technologies have the potential for opening up a world of new opportunities for persons with disabilities,†said Sarbuland Khan, Executive Coordinator of the Secretariat of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development.”