'05 Features

12/22/2005 Two French-Canadian climbers carried tarpaulin sheets and blankets to remote villages in Pakistan previously shut off from aid. They, and twelve other experienced climbers, have now been assigned with finding unreached villages, assessing the villagers' needs, and locating possible helicopter landing sites--hopefully all before winter descends in full force.

12/21/2005 Twenty young people from Massachusetts are getting to reach out to and bond with peers in Afghanistan. The project was presented to the community at "A Night of Peace," where students shared pen-pal letters, photos, and presented an anthology of their writing on Afghanistan.

12/19/2005 According to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country." Sunday marked International Migrants' Day; learn about this fundamental freedom and what it means to immigrants, asylum seekers, refugees, and others.

12/14/2005 For 22 years MADRE has affected change and improved the lives of women around the world; now you can find out who inspires them! To celebrate their birthday, MADRE is showcasing a portrait gallery of young women working for human rights and justice around the world. Nominate one for display at the U.N. during Women's Month in March 2006.

12/12/2005 Eleven years after Armenia fought in southern Azerbaijan over a breakaway republic, unexploded landmines continue to make arable land too dangerous to sow and put locals at risk in their daily lives. Discover the process that's slowly giving villagers back their land, and meet some of those the mines have touched.

12/11/2005 For just over $100,000 per year, the Nishtha program maintains centers in more than sixty Indian villages helping communities eliminate gender inequality, illiteracy, and child labor.

12/11/2005 U.N. relief agencies are using video games to teach children in wealthy countries about the plight of the world's 852 million chronically hungry people. "Food Force" simulates the challenges faced by aid workers--such as negotiating with armed rebels and accounting for nutritional needs--and is available for free on the Internet.

12/09/2005 Whether it's "Mix It Up at School Lunch Day", where students eat with someone they normally wouldn't, or "Mix It Up Group Dialogue", students are learning to accept one another regardless of race, class, gender or religion.

12/08/2005 Khmer rice farmers are leaving pesticides behind, hoping to compete in the global market for organic goods with its higher, stable prices. But farmers must overcome reluctance to join producer cooperatives, which many associate with work camps that existed during the civil war in their country's recent past.

12/08/2005 Financial leaders will make decisions that impact us all at Word Trade Organization meetings in Hong Kong next week. But a global consumers movement has been working for years to make trade fairer. The latest edition of OneWorld's "treeless" magazine, Perspectives, tells the story of the fair trade movement and the global economic system that sparked it, offering ways for everyone to get involved.

12/06/2005 G. Karunanidhi reveals the emotions and trials of living with HIV in Tamil Nadu, India. Reflecting on his own search for support, he founded three "Positive Living Centers," which today serve 1,400 people living with HIV/AIDS and their families. The Centers also give Karunanidhi a reason to live.

12/06/2005 Over 1,188 Guatemalan women were murdered between 2001 and 2004, far outpacing the general rate of violent crime in the country. On Wednesday, Moving Ideas will bring together activists to discuss this violence and its victims--the young, urban, and poor. Submit questions in advance and find out what you can do to stop the violence.

12/01/2005 The Center for Global Development has recently launched a group Blog featuring notes from some of top thinkers in the development community about new ways to reduce global poverty. Join in today!

12/01/2005 Peace x Peace's Global Network uses the internet to link "circles" of U.S. women with women's circles around the world to inform, collaborate, and serve as mentors to each other. One of the newest circles is drawing on Kenyan women's natural tendency to self-organize and helping them overcome societal taboos to discuss issues like female circumcision and AIDS.