Canada’s best kept secret: the all-electric ZENN!
Rick Mercer tours St. Jérome manufacturing facility and discovers Canada’s best kept secret: the all-electric ZENN!
Thursday, 31 January 2008
Keen Interest In Gentler Ways To Divorce
Collaborative divorce. The term sounds like an oxymoron in a culture steeped in high-cost, high-conflict breakups.
Yet many couples are embracing the approach, recently endorsed by the American Bar Association, as part of a broader quest to find more civilized, efficient ways to end a marriage. Do-it-yourself divorces and mediation also are popular options.
Lawyers by the thousands want to be part of the trend…
“Most clients in a dispute are looking for an honorable peace, not war,” Boston lawyer David Hoffman wrote in recent op-ed for The Christian Science Monitor. “Collaborative lawyers can be just as zealous about seeking such a peace as litigators are about victory in the courtroom.”
Hoffman works at the Boston Law Collaborative, where the staff includes a psychologist and a financial planner. It offers divorcing couples a range of options, including mediation and collaborative divorce as well as conventional litigation.
The firm analyzed 199 of its recent divorce cases, and found that mediation, collaborative divorce and litigation all produced high rates of successful settlement. Mediation was by far the least expensive option, with a median cost of $6,600, compared to $19,723 for a collaborative divorce, $26,830 for settlements negotiated by rival lawyers, and $77,746 for full-scale litigation.
(...more)Burma/Myanmar: After the Crackdown
The violent crushing of protests led by Buddhist monks in Burma/Myanmar in late 2007 has caused even allies of the military government to recognise that change is desperately needed. China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have thrown their support behind the efforts by the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy to re-open talks on national reconciliation, while the U.S. and others have stepped up their sanctions. But neither incomplete punitive measures nor intermittent talks are likely to bring about major reforms. Myanmar’s neighbours and the West must press together for a sustainable process of national reconciliation. This will require a long-term effort by all who can make a difference, combining robust diplomacy with serious efforts to address the deep-seated structural obstacles to peace, democracy and development.
(...more)My talks with Hamas
Beer Sheva—Now I can reveal this: Several months ago, I participated in a series of meetings in Europe that involved a small group of Israeli and Palestinian public figures and academicians, including senior Hamas supporters.
During our talks, they made it clear to us that as far as they could see, in exchange for Israeli willingness to stop the fighting and open the Gaza borders, Hamas will guarantee that quiet will prevail for a period of time to be determined by both sides. They expressed their willingness to talk about a long period of time – 20 or 25 years.
The Hamas supporters did not hide their motives: At this time their organisation is hurt and fighting with clenched teeth. It is interested in utilising the armistice in order to rearm and rebuild its power, in the hopes that in another generation or two it would be able to attack more effectively.
In my view, there was something refreshing in their honesty. Those were people who were not resorting to hypocrisy or two-facedness. They openly expressed their hope for Israel’s elimination, but also said that nobody can tell what the future holds. It is possible that in 10 or 20 years their views would also change, and perhaps their sons and our own sons would view co-existence in a different light.
(...more)Israeli and Palestinian
BERLIN—I have often made the statement that the destinies of the Israeli and Palestinian people are inextricably linked and that there is no military solution to the conflict. My recent acceptance of Palestinian nationality has given me the opportunity to demonstrate this more tangibly.
When my family moved to Israel from Argentina in the 1950s, one of my parents’ intentions was to spare me the experience of growing up as part of a minority—a Jewish minority. They wanted to me to grow up as part of a majority—a Jewish majority.
The tragedy of this is that my generation, despite having been educated in a society whose positive aspects and human values have greatly enriched my thinking, ignored the existence of a minority within Israel – a non-Jewish minority – which had been the majority in the whole of Palestine until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Part of the non-Jewish population remained in Israel, and other parts left out of fear or were forcefully displaced.
(...more)Annual report to the Security Council on children and armed conflict
New York – Ms. [Rhadika] Coomaraswamy, Special Representative of the Secretary- General for Children and Armed Conflict presented the Annual Report of the Secretary-General to the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict (A/32/609-S/2007/757) during a press conference today. It will be examined by the Security Council during its Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict that should take place on 12 February 2008.
The report highlights progress in the implementation of SC Resolution 1612 and its monitoring and reporting mechanism. It includes information on compliance in ending recruitment and use of children by armed groups and other grave violations. Its annexes contain a naming and shaming list of parties (states and non state actors) committing these grave abuses. The report also raises concern about a number of other situations of concern and cross-cutting issues that seem to have worsened around the world due to the changing nature of conflict.
“Thanks to the commitment of the Security Council and the sustained political will on this issue, the monitoring mechanism on violations against children in armed conflict in place is leading to positive results”, announced Ms. Coomaraswamy. She referred to the de-listing of parties in Cote d’Ivoire from the annexes of the report and to progress on development of action plans to demobilize children from armed groups in Uganda, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Myanmar.
(...more)Security Council authorizes United Nations Organization Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo to organize, conduct local elections – resolution 1797 (2008)
The Security Council, reaffirming its commitment to contribute to the consolidation of peace and stability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s post-transition period, today authorized the United Nations Mission there to assist the Congolese authorities in organizing, preparing and conducting local elections.
Unanimously adopting resolution 1797 (2008), tabled by France, the Council based that decision on the Secretary-General’s recommendations, conveyed to the Council in letters dated 11 October and 30 November 2007 (document S/2007/694), and in his report on the United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC) of 14 November 2007 (document S/2007/671).
(...more)What Counts as an “Issue” In the Clinton-Obama Race?
Political endorsements rarely make interesting reading. But this year is different. Take the endorsements of Hillary Clinton by the New York Times [NY Times, January 25, 2008] and Barack Obama by Caroline Kennedy [NY Times, January 27, 2008]…
It is time to understand what counts as an “issue,” to whom, and why.
(...more)IN PERSON TODAY AT UVIC: The Pastor & the Imam: Two former enemies tell their story of grassroots peacebuilding in northern Nigeria
Imam Muhammad Ashafa
Reverend James Wuye
Co-Executive Coordinators, Interfaith Mediation Centre, Kaduna, Nigeria
IN PERSON
Thursday, January 31, 2008, 12:30 to 1:30 pm, Room 158, Fraser Building, University of Victoria
In the 1990s, Imam Muhammad Ashafa and Pastor James Wuye led opposing armed militias, each one dedicated to defending his respective community as violence broke out in northern Nigeria. During the battles Rev. Wuye lost his hand, and Imam Ashafa’s spiritual mentor and two close relatives were killed. Now, they co-direct the Interfaith Mediation Centre, where they are responsible for mediating peace between Christians and Muslims. Because of their efforts, religious peace has returned to large sections of Nigeria’s Plateau State and Kaduna State.
This event is co-sponsored by Initiatives of Change Canada and Peacemakers Trust with the University of Victoria Centre for Studies in Religion and Society, the Institute for Dispute Resolution and Interfaith Chaplaincy Services.
Details and map at http://www.peacemakers.ca/education/ImamPastor2008.html
Wednesday, 30 January 2008
Iraq: Politics Unfrozen, Direction Still Unclear
In meetings conducted in Beirut and Baghdad in mid-January 2008, a high-ranking and broad cross-section of the Iraqi political spectrum expressed views on the current political situation, main priorities for the next year, prospects for moving forward on key issues, and the American military presence in Iraq. The Iraqis, numbering about 40, included parliamentary leaders, members of the presidency and their staffs, top government officials and leaders in both the Anbar and Baghdad “Awakenings” (tribal groups prepared to fight Al Qaeda and guard their own neighborhoods).
This USIPeace Briefing summarizes the key results of these meetings, which occurred during a sharp decline in violence from the levels experienced in 2006 and early 2007.
(...more)Iraq conflict has killed a million Iraqis: survey
LONDON – More than one million Iraqis have died as a result of the conflict in their country since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, according to research conducted by one of Britain’s leading polling groups.
The survey, conducted by Opinion Research Business (ORB) with 2,414 adults in face-to-face interviews, found that 20 percent of people had had at least one death in their household as a result of the conflict, rather than natural causes.
The last complete census in Iraq conducted in 1997 found 4.05 million households in the country, a figure ORB used to calculate that approximately 1.03 million people had died as a result of the war, the researchers found.
The margin of error in the survey, conducted in August and September 2007, was 1.7 percent, giving a range of deaths of 946,258 to 1.12 million.
ORB originally found that 1.2 million people had died, but decided to go back and conduct more research in rural areas to make the survey as comprehensive as possible and then came up with the revised figure.
(...more)NGOs: Reporting on Violence Against Children
The guidelines … are designed to help non-governmental organisations to include comprehensive information on the incidence of violence in their reports to the Committee. NGOs have a unique role to play and they alone can give meaning to the data and statistics presented to the [UN] Committee [on the Rights of the Child]. It is by making this information available that corrective measures can be identified that will move us towards our goal of ending violence…
A number of guidelines and implementation handbooks have been produced to provide detailed information on the Convention, its optional protocols, the role of the Committee, the obligations of States party to the Convention and the part that can be played by the NGO community.
The review of NGO reports to the Committee concluded that the availability of NGO information on violence against children is uneven both geographically and thematically, and that there is a compelling need to improve the reporting function.
Religious Dimension of Sustainable Development
The theme of the month is “religious dimension of sustainable development.” There is a religious dimension to the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and there is a religious dimension to human nature and everything we do. Religion is both indispensable and dangerous. It is indispensable to attain full human development beyond the physical, biological, and intellectual levels. It is dangerous when it degenerates into fanatical delusions about the absolute superiority of any particular religion, and then leads to religious intolerance and religious violence…. (read more…)
(...more)Kenya Nobel winner urges tribal elders to back peace
NAIROBI – Kenyan Nobel Peace laureate Wangari Maathai on Wednesday urged tribal elders to help stop a spiral of ethnic killing in the east African nation following last month’s disputed presidential poll.
President Mwai Kibaki’s re-election on December 27 sparked an unprecedented wave of violence, marked by bloody clashes between members of his Kikuyu ethnic group and the Luos, Luhyas and Kalenjins seen as supporting his challenger Raila Odinga.
“I appeal to the elders of the various communities to reach out to others and appeal to the youth to stop the cycle of violence and vengeance,” Maathai, a veteran of the civil rights movement in Kenya, told reporters.
(...more)Israelis reach out to Gaza workers
KIBBUTZ KFAR AZZA, Israel — Their homes separated by a wheat field, multiple layers of barbed wire and Israel’s blockade of the Gaza Strip, it has been more than two years since Amir Efrat last saw the Gazan employee who helped him maintain the water systems in this farming collective.
But in occasional telephone calls, Mr. Efrat could decipher the despair through the mundane small talk. About a month ago, he instructed the kibbutz treasurer to wire 500 shekels to a bank account in Gaza to help his unemployed friend provide for a family of nine children, even though his friend never requested it.
“I felt him ask,” said the rumpled 72-year-old kibbutznik, who refused to divulge the identity of his former colleague out of fear for his safety. “There’s no work. His situation is rough.”
(...more)Can you develop a place as violent as Somalia?
With anarchy reigning in Somalia for 17 years, development projects are not exactly high on donors’ to-do lists.
Somalia is so dangerous that aid agencies can’t even reach many of the people forced to flee fighting between Islamic insurgents, various warlords and allied Somali and Ethiopian troops. Violence in the capital Mogadishu alone killed 6,500 people last year, according to rights groups.
Surely, this is not the time to be undertaking major development ventures?
Guillermo Bettocchi, the country’s U.N. refugee representative, begs to differ.
(...more)Ban Ki-Moon wants U.N. sanctions for using child soldiers
UNITED NATIONS – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on the Security Council in a report issued on Tuesday to impose sanctions on armies and groups that make use of child soldiers in at least a dozen countries.
Recruitment of children in armed conflicts was happening mainly in African and Asian countries, ranging from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to Myanmar and Sri Lanka, he said in the report.
Those responsible were rebel groups but included government forces in countries like Chad, Somalia and Sudan, Ban said. Some were guilty of killing and sexually abusing children.
The Security Council should consider penalizing those responsible by banning arms and military aid and slapping travel and financial restrictions on leaders, Ban said.
Violations against children in conflict should be referred to the International Criminal Court, or ICC, based in The Hague.
The U.N. children’s fund UNICEF estimated last year there were some 250,000 child soldiers worldwide. Other experts say information is so hazy that the numbers are impossible to determine.
(...more)“Let’s hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” Aung San Suu Kyi tells Myanmar
YANGON – Detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi is frustrated at a lack of talks on political reform with the ruling military junta since last year’s bloody crackdown on dissent, her party said on Wednesday.
After a rare meeting between the Nobel peace laureate and leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD), spokesman Nyan Win said Suu Kyi held out little hope that unprecedented international pressure on the generals would bear fruit.
“Let’s hope for the best and prepare for the worst,” he quoted her as saying, adding she worried that Wednesday’s 90-minute meeting, and another immediately afterwards with junta liaison minister Aung Kyi, might give rise to “false hope”.
(...more)International Mediation Institute seeks comments on global mediator competency certification system
The International Mediation Institute (IMI) has convened an Independent Standards Commission to determine the standards, criteria and guidelines which together will make up the IMI global mediator competency certification system.
IMI has posted for international comment first drafts of the standards which can be reviewed and downloaded from the IMI web site.
(...more)Mediator ethics: how professional codes of conduct fall short
What choice for mediators facing ethical dilemmas? ADR scholar and law professor Michael Moffitt has rightly lamented the lack of meaningful guidance that professional rules of conduct for mediators provide the practitioner. This is especially so when more than one ethical duty is at stake, since codes of conduct provide no instruction on how best to balance one ethical duty against another.
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