Home | Intervention Overview | World Relationships for Equal Dignity
World Relationships for Equal Dignity (WRelationsED)
HumanDHS is primarily grounded in academic work. We are independent of any religious or political agenda. However, we wish to bring academic work into "real life." Our research focuses on topics such as dignity (with humiliation as its violation), or, more precisely, on respect for equal dignity for all human beings in the world. This is not only our research topic, but also our core value, in line with Article 1 of the Human Rights Declaration that states that every human being is born with equal dignity (that ought not be humiliated).
We agree with Professor Shibley Telhami, who advocates the building of bridges from academia as follows, "I have always believed that good scholarship can be relevant and consequential for public policy. It is possible to affect public policy without being an advocate; to be passionate about peace without losing analytical rigor; to be moved by what is just while conceding that no one has a monopoly on justice." We would like to add that we believe that good scholarship can be relevant and consequential not only for public policy, but for raising awareness in general.
We look for interested people, who would like to develop our WRelationsED page. Please see our Call for Creativity.
Our World Relationships for Equal Dignity project is part of our quest to build bridges from social science to other areas of life. We wish to envisage novel ways for people around the world to build relationships across frontiers and learn from each other. Ecotourism is a way to get acquainted with the nature of our globe and to contribute to its ecological sustainability. In the same way, relation-building tourism can shape relationships and help contribute to the social sustainability of our globe. Exchange programmes between countries are based on this spirit, as is the partnering of cities, or people helping people in need who live far away. We think that such activities ought to be widened and new creative ways be found, ways that do not exploit the suffering of people in want for the satisfaction of the rich, but dignify everybody.
Links
Web Worlds 'Useful' for Children
Virtual worlds can be valuable places where children rehearse what they will do in real life, reveals research. They are also a "powerful and engaging" alternative to more passive pursuits such as watching TV, said the BBC-sponsored study. The research was done with children using the BBC's Adventure Rock virtual world, aimed at those aged 6-12. The researcher said the BBC should have involved children early on to guide development and provide feedback...
Please read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7415442.stm.
Web in Infancy
The world wide web is "still in its infancy", the web's inventor Sir Tim Berners-Lee has told BBC News...
"What's exciting is that people are building new social systems, new systems of review, new systems of governance. "My hope is that those will produce... new ways of working together effectively and fairly which we can use globally to manage ourselves as a planet."..
Please read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/7371660.stm.
Design Revamp for '$100 Laptop'
The wraps have been taken off the new version of the XO laptop designed for schoolchildren in developing countries.
The revamped machine created by the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) project looks like an e-book and has had its price slashed to $75 per device.
OLPC founder Nicholas Negroponte gave a glimpse of the "book like" device at an unveiling event at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The first XO2 machines should be ready to deliver to children in 2010.
Mr Negroponte said he hoped the design would also be used by other manufacturers...
Please read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7411904.stm.
Avaaz
Avaaz.org is a new global web movement with a simple democratic mission: to close the gap between the world we have, and the world most people everywhere want. “Avaaz” means “Voice” in many Asian, Middle Eastern and Eastern European languages.
Across the world, most people want stronger protections for the environment, greater respect for human rights, and concerted efforts to end poverty, corruption and war. Yet globalization faces a huge democratic deficit as international decisions are shaped by political elites and unaccountable corporations -- not the views and values of the world’s people.
Web Desktop Targets 'Cybernomads'
A virtual desktop aimed at users who access the web via cybercafes is attracting interest from organisations set up to bridge the digital divide
Offered by Luxembourg-based start-up Jooce, it is being billed as a way of personalising any computer...
Please read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7267534.stm.
Intel Backs Wireless Africa Plan
Intel chairman Craig Barrett is on a tour of Africa
Craig Barrett
Africa needs to embrace wireless broadband as a potential solution to the digital divide, the chairman of Intel Craig Barrett has said.
"It's cheaper, easier and more efficient to communicate wirelessly," he told the BBC News website...
Please read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7070859.stm.
Uruguay Buys First '$100 Laptops'
The first official order for the so-called "$100 laptop" has been placed by the government of Uruguay. The South American country has bought 100,000 of the machines for schoolchildren aged six to 12. A further 300,000 may be purchased to provide a machine for every child in the country by 2009...
Please read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/7068084.stm.
'$100 laptop' to Sell to Public
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Computer enthusiasts in the developed world will soon be able to get their hands on the so-called "$100 laptop".
The organisation behind the project has launched the "give one, get one" scheme that will allow US residents to purchase two laptops for $399 (£198).
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6994957.stm and on http://www.xogiving.org/.
Documentary Series Indian School
Indian School is a fast-paced documentary series, following a remarkable year in one of the world’s fastest growing cities; Pune near Mumbai. The series gets under the skin of India’s middle classes, exploring their dreams and anxieties in a world that seems to be changing every day.
See more on http://www.bbcworld.com/Pages/ProgrammeMultiFeature.aspx?id=87 and on http://www.open2.net/aboutseries.html.
Mobile System Promises Free Calls
A new way of making calls directly between phones, for free, is being trialled by a Swedish company. It is hoping to dramatically improve communications in the developing world. Swedish company TerraNet has developed the idea using peer-to-peer technology that enables users to speak on its handsets without the need for a mobile phone base station. The technology is designed for remote areas of the countryside or desert where base stations are unfeasible. Projects backed by TerraNet recently launched in Tanzania and Ecuador...
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6987784.stm.
Park to Peace
400 cities and towns dedicated a park to peace. Please view the original promotional flyer for ?Peace Parks Across Canada,? in either French or English.
'$100 Laptop' Production Begins
By Jonathan Fildes
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
Five years after the concept was first proposed, the so-called $100 laptop is poised to go into mass production.
Hardware suppliers have been given the green light to ramp-up production of all of the components needed to build millions of the low-cost machines.
Previously, the organisation behind the scheme said that it required orders for 3m laptops to make production viable.
The first machines should be ready to put into the hands of children in developing countries in October 2007.
"There's still some software to write, but this is a big step for us," Walter Bender, head of software development at One Laptop per child (OLPC), told the BBC News website.
Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6908946.stm.
Nacel Open Door
The origins of Nacel date to 1957, when two language teachers from France began organizing summer sessions in England for French teenagers. Their goal was to provide opportunities for students to extend language learning and knowledge of another culture through a well-organized and affordable summer program. During the sixties these programs grew steadily and spread to Ireland. In l969, the organizers decided to ask some American teachers of French to arrange a summer homestay program for French teenagers in the United States. Over succeeding years, programs with Germany, Spain, Mexico, and Canada were added.
Please read more on http://www.nacelopendoor.org/.
Global Net Use Makes Rapid Rise
The net is helping to close the digital divide between industrialised nations, suggests a report.
The annual e-readiness rankings by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) shows Asian and African nations catching up with big net users such as Denmark
...
MOST E-READY NATIONS
1) Denmark
=2) US
=2) Sweden
4) Hong Kong
5) Switzerland
6) Singapore
7) UK
8) Netherlands
9) Australia
10) Finland
11) Austria
12) Norway
13) Canada
14) New Zealand
15) Bermuda
16) South Korea
17) Taiwan
18) Japan
19) Germany
20) Belgium
...
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/technology/6583141.stm.
High-Speed Web Boost for Africa
Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar have secured $164.5m (£83.3m) from the World Bank to help roll-out high-speed internet networks.
The World Bank said the money was being made available to boost business competitiveness in the region...
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/business/6525537.stm.
Teens 'Turn to Social Websites'
More than half of all net-using American teenagers use social networking sites, research suggests. The study for the Pew Internet Project involved 935 teenagers and found 55% of American youths aged 12-17 had accounts at sites such as MySpace and Facebook. It found that the sites were more popular with older teenage girls who tend to use them to keep in touch with their existing friends. By contrast, boys were much more likely to use the sites to find new friends. Websites such as MySpace give users a chunk of webspace they can personalise with images, video and blog entries. To this they add a messaging system that lets members keep in touch with friends on the same network.
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/technology/6235503.stm.
Peuplade
Un site de quartier, pour redécouvrir son quartier... Peuplade est en somme un cousin des blogs de quartier, des apéros et repas entre voisins, des maisons des associations, des réseaux d'échange de savoir.
Please read also on http://news.bbc.co.uk/:
Parisian neighbours meet online
By David Reid
Reporter, BBC Click
Cities may cram people together like sardines in a supermarket, but many of those living an urban life can end up feeling more lonely than on a picnic on Pluto. But one French networking website is trying to change all that. Just as most Parisians are too cool to visit the Eiffel Tower, most of us ignore the possibilities for friendships immediately outside our front door. French social networking website Peuplade aims to bridge that small but often insurmountable gap by putting neighbours in touch with each other. It also wants you to meet people different from your usual crowd. "In life today we get to meet people in a very specific situation and social background. You meet people from your school, from your family or from your work," said Jérémie Chouraqui, a lawyer and one of the founders of Peuplade....
Please read the entire article on http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/click_online/6233429.stm.
New Climate Change Awards for Responsible Tourism Day
International Council of Tourism Partners and Mondial Global Energy Announce new Climate Change Awards for Responsible Tourism Day
London, 9th November 2006/eTN: In the spirit of Responsible Tourism Day, the International Council of Tourism Partners a civil society travel organization and Mondial Global Energy (MGe) a tourism group committed to renewable energy solutions announced the Annual Tourism Climate Change Awards. They will be given for the company, organization or individual judged to have made the greatest contribution to providing leadership in responding to Climate Change issues in the tourism sector.
Two Awards were announced:
- A World Tourism Responsible Energy Award with a global focus
- A Mission Africa Responsible Energy Award focusing on Africa
More at http://www.travelwirenews.com/.
Children in the Wilderness
Children in the Wilderness Southern Africa is made up of four independent companies each with their own Board of Trustees. Each company operates independently but under the direction of Children in the Wilderness Southern Africa.
Sara's New York Homestay
International students, visitors, interns or executives who come to New York, Los Angeles, Paris or London for a short period of time (1 to 12 months) will be pleased with our friendly and outstanding personal service at Sara's Homestay.
• Homestays with carefully selected warm and welcoming families, in safe neighborhoods, near public transports.
• Shared Apartments (Apartment Sharing) with carefully selected single person
• Furnished Studios and Apartments (Manhattan Only) We have carefully selected for you a number of very attractive studios and 1 or 2 bedroom apartments in all areas of Manhattan as well as some of the best areas of Brooklyn and Queens. All are fully furnished. Many have quite luxurious features in top neighborhoods and others a bit more modest ones at very attractive prices. Most can be shared.
Servas International
Servas International is the world federation of non-profit, non-governmental national Servas groups
• through Servas Groups we foster networks of hosts and travellers
• encourage personal contacts among people of different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities
• help build world peace, goodwill and understanding
Servas US
Servas is an international, non-governmental, interracial peace association run in over 100 countries by volunteers. Founded in 1949 by Bob Luitweiler as a peace movement, Servas International is a non-profit organisation working to build understanding, tolerance and world peace. It operates through a network of Servas hosts around the world who are interested in opening their doors to travellers, and, "on the other side of the coin", many open-minded travellers who want to get to know the heart of the countries they visit. SERVAS International has consultative status as a non-governmental organisation with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, currently with representation at many of the UN's hubs of activity. There are over 13,000 Servas "open doors" scattered throughout almost every country in the world. Through SERVAS, travellers have opportunities to meet hosts, their familes and friends and join in their everyday life. Where convenient, hosts may offer two nights' accommodation and invite travellers to share a meal. Names and addresses of hosts appear in annually produced lists which are made available to approved travellers. Servas hosts are just a cross-section of ordinary people.
NPR (National Public Radio)
NPR (National Public Radio) is an internationally acclaimed producer and distributor of noncommercial news, talk, and entertainment programming. A privately supported, not-for-profit membership organization, NPR serves a growing audience of more than 25 million Americans each week in partnership with more than 800 independently operated, noncommercial public radio stations. Each NPR Member Station serves local listeners with a distinctive combination of national and local programming. With original online content and audio streaming, npr.org offers hourly newscasts, special features and eight years of archived audio and information.
Podcasts reach Peruvian villages
Despite this, a new pilot project is using podcasting to get important agricultural information to farmers. The farmers do not yet have the means to listen on portable MP3 players. But UK charity Practical Action has married old and new technology to podcast twice-monthly updates to eight information centres in the Cajamarca region...
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4688882.stm
Global wi-fi plan
Heavyweight firms such as Google and internet telephony outfit Skype are to invest in an embryonic plan to share wi-fi access around the world. They have joined with venture capital firms to plough $22m (£12.6m) into Fon, a three-month-old Spanish startup. Fon, which has already attracted 3,000 subscribers, aims to build a network of broadband users to share connections wirelessly when away from home...
Please read the entire article at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4686914.stm.
Global Citizens Network
Global Citizens Network recognizes the interdependence of people around the world, and that social and economic injustice, racial and ethnic inequality, and ecological loss affect all people. But through cooperative effort, individuals of all cultures can experience and enhance their ability to make a difference in their community and their world. To foster that cooperation, Global Citizens Network sends short-term teams of volunteers to communities in other cultures where participants immerse themselves in the culture and daily life of the community. Each volunteer team is partnered with a local grassroots organization active in meeting local needs. Global Citizens Network creates a worldwide network of people and organizations commited to addressing global issues.
The International Institute for Peace through Tourism
The International Institute for Peace through Tourism (IIPT) is a not-for-profit
organization dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which
contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality
of environment, the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives,
help to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.
International Council of Tourism Partners (ICTP)
Tourism Against Poverty campaign, message from Geoffrey Lipman, ICTP President, June 2005:
Dear Tourism Partners,
A few weeks ago I identified a micro reason for joining the Tourism against Poverty Campaign – the fact that a donation as small as 50p to British Airways Change for Good Campaign can stop 20 children in Africa from going blind for a year.
Now we are seeing the macro level campaign stepped up.
The European Union has initiated action to establish a so-called voluntary levy from airline passengers to provide funds for the war on poverty. This in response to a call from French President Jacques Chirac.
Looking to next month’s G8 in Scotland UK Prime Minister Blair will travel to Washington to seek support from President Bush for action to eliminate debt for the poorest countries, to make trade fairer and to increase aid. At the same time Chancellor Gordon Brown will step up the campaign with Finance Ministers starting with the EU and proceeding to incorporate the other world leaders from industrialized and emerging markets.
Brown says that the actions proposed would mean that the world’s poorest countries would eliminate 15 billion dollars worth debt servicing costs between now and 2015. He also says that related proposals for an International financing facility would save 5 million lives in the same time period.
The G8 is not the end of the road – it’s just another important stepping stone on the long road towards fairness and decency and the implementation of the millennium Development Goals by 2015.
ICTP believes that the world’s largest industry should strongly support these initiatives and step firmly down this road – not the least because tourism is the single most important sector for trade and export income for the world’s poorest countries. And because we create the kinds of local economic activity that can over time build sustainable self-reliant economic structures based on entrepreneurship, micro-enterprise and local community involvement.
Please join us.
Geoffrey Lipman
President ICTP
The Experiment in International Living
In 1932, a small group of young Americans sailed across the Atlantic fueled by the power of an idea. Their mission was to foster peace through understanding, communication, and cooperation. After 73 years and more than 65,000 participants, The Experiment in International Living continues to be a leader in the field of international cross-cultural education for high school students.
Experiment in International Living programs challenge young people to open their hearts and minds to the world. Each program in 27 countries around the globe immerses participants in the daily life of another culture. For three to five weeks, Experimenters focus on themes such as community service, language study, ecology, travel, or the arts, as they enjoy life with their host families and participate in activities with their group. The centerpiece of this cutting-edge exchange program is the homestay -- based on the belief that the best way to understand another culture is to live as a member of one of its families.
Supported by experienced group leaders and in-country guides, students build communication skills, increase their self-confidence, and enhance their global awareness. Whatever their destination and focus, all Experiment programs engage students in a profoundly moving educational journey of cultural exploration and discovery.
Laboratory of Experimetal Tourism (Latourex)
Please read an article entitled Experimental Tourism Catches On (at CNN.com./travel, published on Monday, September 1, 2003), about Joël Henry, the French founder of the Laboratory of Experimental Tourism (Latourex), who has developed dozens of ideas since coming up with the concept in 1990.
Cuada
In 1991, Lindner spent 6 months on Flores. Flores is the most western of the Azores islands of Portugal, located in the middle of the Atlantic. Together with Teotonia and Carlos Silva, and Hil Peers, she developed a project aiming to make the uniquely authentic villages of Flores accessible to ecotourism. Teotonia and Carlos have since developed the project Aldeia da Cuada.
Kapawi Ecolodge and Reserve
The Kapawi project was initiated in 1993 by Carlos Perez Perasso, founder of Canodros and leader of the Ecuadorian journalism through El Universo the major newspaper in Ecuador, through his vision and passion to nature his goal was to commence a new trend in ecotourism, in partnership with the FINAE Federation of Achuar Indigenous People in Ecuador, by providing a monthly means of economic support and jobs to the Achuar superior to the relatively limited lifestyle in an area of 5.000 square kilometers with a population of 4,500 people in 60 communities. In 2011, all installations will be transfer at any costo to the Achuar people.
The lodge accommodates up to 50 visitors with double and triple accommodations and was built in accordance to the Achuar concept of architecture.
Kapawi is the largest community-based project ever developed in Ecuador. It was developed and built in co-ownership with the private enterprise Canodros. Kapawi was created to provide high service in one of the most remote and pristine areas of southeastern Ecuador, away from oil exploitation and other destructive practices.
At the moment up to 70% percent of all the employees that work at the lodge are Achuar. Canodros also buys products and services for the lodge in the nearby communities. Tourist visitors give a contribution of US $10 dollars as an entrance fee. For these communities the main income comes from ecotourism.
Kapawi has also provided a launching platform for the Achuar as it has brought the area to the attention of many people from non governmental organizations that invested money and time to develop projects to reinforce the structure of the FINAE organization and develop different projects parallel to ecotourism such as: health, communications, transportation, and education for the entire Achuar territory.
The Smangus in Taiwan
Taiwan's Aboriginals, whom anthropologists believe originally migrated from Malaysia or Indonesia, are among the country's most deprived communities.
Mangus and his Atayal people settled on a remote mountain in Hsinchu County after a journey from Nantou County some 400 years ago. Today, 135 descendents of those early settlers have founded the first Israeli-style kibbutz "socialist commune" in an effort to protect their culture and tap the eco-tourist dollar. Please read more in Taipeh Times, in an article entitled "Smangus is God's tribe."
