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Liaison Newsletter > LIAISON-Canada Electronic Newsletter #1 August 1995 Launch of the UN Development Programme's Human Development Report 1995 You are cordially invited to take part in the Canadian launch of the United Nations Development Programme's Human Development Report 1995, which will take place on August 17 at 10 a.m. in the auditorium of Ottawa's International Development Research Centre (250 Albert Street, 14th Floor). The international launch will take place the same day in Oslo, Norway. Participants at the Ottawa launch will be among the first to know whether Canadians can still claim to have the world's highest quality of life according to the UN. In 1992 and 1994, Canada was ranked at the top of the report's Human Development Index, which takes into account factors such as education, life expectancy and GNP. The report also, however, presents a detailed analysis of the problems and challenges of human development, especially in the developing world. The 1995 report will focus specifically on the situation of women around the world, coming as it does on the eve of the Fourth World Conference on Women, being held in Beijing in September. In Ottawa, the report will be launched by Normand Lauzon, Deputy Director of UNDP's Regional Bureau for Africa. His presentation will be followed by comments from Joanna Kerr, researcher at the North-South Institute, and, on behalf of the Government of Canada, by the Honourable Ethel Blondin-Andrew, Secretary of State for Training and Youth. Both Mesdames Kerr and Blondin-Andrew will be in Beijing for the Women's Conference. This public event is being organized by the United Nations Association in Canada (UNA- Canada), with the collaboration of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), and with the participation of the working group for CC-UNPED (the Canadian Committee for the UN Programmes on the Environment and Development).
DATE: Thursday, August 17, 1995
Focus on Women II: Launch of the UNFPA State of World Population 1995 Report Women, empowerment and reproductive health is the central theme of this year's State of World Population report, the UN Population Fund's annual snapshot of the world's inhabitants.  At an Ottawa launch organized by UNA-Canada on July 11, UNFPA Technical Officer Michael Vlassoff outlined the main thrusts of this year's report. He spoke of the importance of increasing women's ability to make their own choices on issues such as family planning and reproductive health, and also about how these issues are being played out at major international conferences such as the International Conference on Population and Development, the Social Summit, and the upcoming World Conference on Women. The launch included a press briefing at the House of Commons in the morning and lunch- hour briefing for NGOs. The other panelists were Diana Rivington, Senior Policy Advisor at CIDA, and Charlotte Thibeault, co-chair of the Canadian Beijing Facilitating Committee. UN Day in the Schools Ready to Roll To help teachers and students mark UN Day in the Schools, taking place this October 24, the Canadian Committee for UN/50 has produced three teachers' guides which will start making their way into schools later this month. The guides discuss the accomplishments of the United Nations over the past 50 years, examining such themes as the environment, human rights, peace and security, and refugees. They offer strategies for teachers and include a focus on Canada’s role as well as a critical approach to the work of the United Nations. The guides include: - Fifty years at the United Nations: for grades 4-6 written by teachers from the North York Board of Education, Metro Toronto (36 pages) - Where do we go from here? The UN at 50: for grades 7-9 written by teachers from Alberta (32 pages) - Looking back, looking forward: for grades 10-12 written by teachers from New Brunswick (36 pages) Teachers can use the guides as a starting point for a whole series of activities on the work of the United Nations, such as: flying the UN flag at school; maintaining a display case of UN information; inviting a peacekeeper to talk to a classroom; organizing Model UN simulations and selling UNICEF cards at Christmas. So if you are a teacher or a student, look for these guides when you get back to school next month, and help celebrate the UN's 50th Anniversary on October 24. Fifty students for UN/50 To commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations, student facilitators are planning exciting UN/50 events and activities in communities throughout Canada during the summer of 1995. The Community Participation programme was created by the Canadian Committee for UN/50 to include all Canadians in the celebration of this important anniversary. Students have been hired from PEI to the Yukon to make this programme a success in their own regions. Haida Lane, Duncan Moore, David Weir, and other facilitators are implementing projects like the Global Citizen’s Challenge, which honours Canadians who have contributed to world peace and development by working for the improvement of their own communities. Facilitators in Vancouver, Quebec, Halifax, Waterloo, Winnipeg and other regions are working with teachers in their areas to prepare the UN Day in the Schools programme. In working to promote UN/50 through these events, facilitators are affirming their commitment to the principles upheld by the United Nations since its establishment in 1945, but more importantly they too are taking their place as global citizens and shaping the future of this international organization. Honouring Canada's Peace-keepers in Calgary On June 22, some 400 people gathered at the Mewata Armouries in Calgary for a gala evening honouring Canada's peace-keepers. Among the guests were 46 peace-keepers from both the military and the RCMP. The guest of honour was General John de Chastelain, Canada's Chief of Defence Staff, who is himself a Calgarian. This was the first time that UNA-Canada has held a gala in Calgary, and, judging by the response, probably not the last. The gala will also provide a boost for UNA-Canada's Calgary Branch. Global Assembly on Food Security In conjunction with the 50th anniversary celebrations of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), UNA-Canada has joined with 16 other national and international NGOs to organize a Global Assembly on Food Security. The Assembly will take place October 8-10 in Quebec City, where the FAO was born 50 years ago. The Global Assembly Secretariat invites you to take part in this three-day event, which will examine the role of civil society in the struggle against hunger and want. Among the invited speakers include: Ed Broadbent, President of the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development, Jacques Diouf, Director-General of FAO, Rigoberta Menchu Tum, the Guatemalan Nobel Peace Prize laureate, and Michael Manley, former Prime Minister of Jamaica. For registration information, contact the Global Assembly Secretariat by mail at 130 Slater Street, Suite 900, Ottawa, ON K1P 6E2, by phone at (613) 232-5751, ext. 238, or by fax at (613) 563-2455. You can also get more information by using the "mail unac" form on the bottom of this site's home page. Nominations being accepted for 1995 Pearson Peace Medal  Each year the United Nations Association in Canada honours a Canadian for his or her outstanding achievements in the field of international service and understanding. The Pearson Peace Medal is awarded to a Canadian who has personally contributed, through their working lives and voluntary commitments, to those causes to which Lester B. Pearson devoted his distinguished career: aid to the developing world, mediation between those confronting one another with arms, succour to refugees and others in need, equal rights and justice for all humanity, and peaceful change through world law and world organization.
Any Canadian may nominate a fellow citizen for this prestigious award. You are invited to submit your nomination, in writing and accompanied by a curriculum vitae, by August 30, 1995, to:
Pearson Medal Jury
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