”Are your parents aware that you are sick?” Ngwa, a Cameroonian, provocatively asked his classmate, John, who had just stopped coughing and was catching his breath. “I don’t blame you. I didn’t buy it?” fumed John in reply. Even though John, looking frail, had been coughing with difficulty, for over two weeks he did not deem it necessary to consult a medical doctor to ascertain the cause of his troubling cough.
The debate on “Blacks and the Bible” launched many months back in the U.S.A. is indeed an excellent and rare opportunity for all thinking humans to use their God-given reason so as to sort out once for all the issue of the “Curse of Noah on Canaan” in the first book of the Bible, Genesis. The Bible says in Genesis 9 : 24- 27: “ When Noah awoke from his drunken stupor, and learned what had happened and what Ham, his younger son, had done, he cursed Ham´s descendants: “ A curse upon the Canaanites, […] / May they be the lowest of slaves/ To the descendants of Shem and Japhets […]God bless Shem,/ And may Canaan be his slave./God bless Japhet,/And let him share the prosperity/of Shem,/ And let Canaan be his slave.”
If the Frenchman René Descartes is regarded as the pioneer of “Modern Philosophy”, if many believe that Kant – the philosopher who borrowed the concept of the “Thing in itself” or “Noumenon” from Amo, the philosopher of Guinea in Africa – is the “greatest philosopher” of the “European Enlightenment”, then all those who´re hep to and familiar with the treatises of Zera Yacob or Zar´a Ja´aqob would argue with me that the works of this East African philosopher represent the climax of both “Modern Philosophy” and the “Age of Enlightenment”.
The Dag Hammarskjöld Scholarship Fund for Journalists is now accepting applications from professional journalists from developing countries for its Fellowship Program. The Fellowships are available to radio, television, print and web journalists, age 25 to 35, from developing countries who are interested in coming to New York to report on international affairs during the 64th session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Fellowships will begin in mid-September and extend to late November and will include the cost of travel and accommodations in New York, as well as a per diem allowance.
The 2009 Global Development Marketplace (DM2009) has just launched its annual global search for innovative local projects and project ideas, with the focus this year on how to help poor and vulnerable communities disproportionately affected by current and predicted climate threats. Innovating organizations from civil society, governments, and the private sector are invited to submit project proposals online from today to May 18, to enter the competition for grants provided by the World Bank Group, the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and other partners.
The UN has identified energy, transport, infrastructure and agriculture as the most critical areas in reviving the global economy and fighting poverty and the effects of climate change. The United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) and other UN agencies cite the multiple economic, environmental and social benefits of investing a significant amount of the $3 trillion-worth of stimulus packages in renewable energies.
The World Bank Institute and partners are hosting two competitions as part of its Executive Development Program: "Fighting Corruption through Collective Action in Today’s Competitive Market-places." Practitioners, young professionals, and students are asked to:
- Describe how the private sector can play a constructive role in fighting corruption using multi-stakeholder approaches.
- Propose innovative ideas and solutions that support multi-stakeholder anti-corruption efforts.
Sponsored by the Belgian government, the main prizes include participation in and travel expenses to the Executive Development Program which will be held at the World Bank Head Quarters in Washington DC from June 8 to 11, 2009. Competition Details
The Vatican has defended Pope Benedict's opposition to the use of condoms to stop the spread of AIDS as activists, doctors and politicians criticised it as unrealistic, unscientific and dangerous. Benedict, arriving in Africa, said that condoms "increase the problem" of AIDS. The comment, made to reporters aboard his plane, caused a worldwide firestorm of criticism.
Pope Benedict arrived in Africa on Tuesday, where he said the continent's people were suffering disproportionately due to the global challenges of food shortages, financial crises and climate change.After arriving in Cameroon on his first visit to Africa since becoming pope, the pontiff called on Christians to tackle violence, poverty, corruption and abuse of power, issues that have continually stifled the continent's progress.
FAO releases new "State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture" report
The fishing industry and national fisheries authorities must do more to understand and prepare for the impacts that climate change will have on world fisheries, says a new FAO report . According to the latest edition of the UN agency's The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture (SOFIA), existing responsible fishing practices need to be more widely implemented and current management plans should be expanded to include strategies for coping with climate change.
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