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Famous Belarusian women took part in a photo session for the calendar 2012, opening the UNDP information campaign against breast cancer "Regards any." The calendar makes particular emphasis on the information block, providing answers to frequently asked questions about the female body.
According to the project manager, Olga Lukashkova, the calendar "Regards any" is the first step in a massive information campaign on the prevention of breast cancer. "A number of other events are scheduled for 2012. They are expected to attract public attention to the growing problem of breast cancer," she said, reported "Belarusian News."
The role models:
January: Assol Slivets - master of sports of international class in freestyle
February: Kseniya Volkova - participant of the reality show "Survivor"
March: Luciya Lushchik - TV presenter
April: Anna Bondarchuk - TV presenter
May: Olga Barabanschikova - singer, TV presenter
June: Larissa Gribaleva - singer
July: Valeria Arlanova - theater and film actress
August: Kate Samsonova - radio broadcaster
September: Tatiana Baranchik - singer, actress, model
October: Veronica Kruglova - singer, actress
November: Irina Hanunik-Rombalskaya - TV presenter, model
December: Natalia Nemogai - TV presenter
Furthermore, as Telegraf previously reported, Belarusian Irina Hanunik-Rombalskaya (November) won the title of "Supermodel" at the contest "Mrs. Universe 2011," taken place in Bulgaria. 30 other competitors from around the world participated in the show.
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By RTCC Staff
A climate sceptic website has offered $500 to anyone who can ‘debunk’ a UN film on glacier melt in the Himalayas.
The film, ‘Himayalan Meltdown’ is a joint project between the UNDP, Arrowhead Films, and Discovery Channel Asia.
It will be given a special screening at the US State Department today (Monday) ahead of a panel event to discuss the impacts of glacier melt in the Himalayas.
However, the event has received attention from the website junkscience.com.
It is offering $500 to anyone who will attend the event and ask a question on camera “that aims to debunk the notion that global warming is causing the Himalayan glaciers to disappear’.
Glacier melt in the Himalayas has remained a controversial issue
since 2007 when the region found itself at the heart of what was called ‘glaciergate’.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) had predicted glaciers would
disappear by 2035. In 2010 IPCC head Rajendra Pachauri admitted the report was flawed,
but said glaciers were melting at a faster pace than previous studies indicated.
This position was backed up last month by new research published by the International
Centre for Integrated Mountain Development – the body that tracks glacier retreat across the region.
The research release coincided with Mountain Day at the UN Climate Summit in Durban
last month and found widespread glacial retreat in all areas of the Himalayas.
The UNDP film examines how the shrinking Himalayan glaciers and rising sea levels
are affecting people in China, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Speaking at the film’s premiere last June, Helen Clarke, head of the UNDP said:
“We will see the impact on the Asian river valleys flowing from the Himalayas –
the mudslides from the shifting monsoon rains, the changing mountain terrain, and
new areas of drought – all posing considerable risk to human life and to the well-being
of more than a billion people.
VIDEO: The 45-minute film was first released in June 2011, at the Asia Society in
Washington and New York, and will be shown to the US State Department audience
for the first time today.
Luanda – The Angolan Planning Ministry learned with indignation of the 2011 Human Development Report drafted by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) that used statistic data of 2001 on Angola, Angop learned Friday in Luanda.
According to a source, the Planning Ministry considers inacceptable that an organisation of prestige like the UNDP fails to abide by rigour and objectivity in drafting a document of such a great responsibility, for its impact on the assessment of the performance of the Angolan executive and in the perception of the image of the country, mainly abroad.
For this reason, the Planning Ministry as a department organ of the Angolan Executive refuses to recognise any value to the said report and appeals to the UNDP to adopt scientific rigour and respect for the truth of facts in conducting future studies.
The Angolan authorities say that in drafting its reports on Angola, the UNDP insists in using outdated data, disregarding elements contained in the recent Population’s Wellbeing Enquiry (IBEP) compiled with UNICEF and World Bank support, this resulting in the country remaining with the same Human Development Index.
In view of this, and as a protest against the information contained in the Report, the Planning Ministry declines the invitation and support for the official release of the said report in national territory.
The UNDP Global Environmental Facility (GEF) says Nigeria’s energy consumption can be reduced drastically if households use energy efficient fluorescent bulbs.
This was contained in the 2011 GEF Project Report signed by Etiosa Uyigue, the National Coordinator, and made available to journalists on Wednesday in Abuja.
The report said households could save about 67 per cent of the energy they use if the use of fluorescent bulbs could be encouraged.
It said that globally, about 60 per cent carbon dioxide emission came from energy generation ``which contributes significantly to global warming leading to climate change’’.
GEF said that energy efficiency policy should be put in place to gradually phase out incandescent or yellow bulbs.
“Government policies can be directed to encourage the importation and local production of energy efficiency light bulbs and to reduce the cost of these bulbs.
“Awareness creation is also needed to change the attitude of Nigerians on the need to save energy by using the right technology,’’ it said.
The GEF report observed that many Nigerians do not put out their outdoor lighting during the day.
“This is very common in commercial and residential areas in many major towns, public institutions and government ministries.
“To influence behaviour in this direction, the government can come up with laws to penalise any defaulter or make policy and legislation to place tax on energy consumption.’’
It said that this would discourage energy wastage in public and private buildings.
The report said that the inability of the Nigerian government to provide potable drinking water for its citizens had encouraged the use of privately-owned water boreholes.
It noted that the machines used in pumping water from boreholes “is an energy intensive machine” and could consume up to 2,000w of electricity.
“These machines exert much pressure on the PHCN facilities, which are vulnerable to system failure,’’ the report said.
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Inter-American Development Bank
Anonymous whistleblowers report that the management of theFramework General Fund for Spanish Cooperation (FGE) at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is weakened by a conflict of interest. The whistleblowers produced evidence, some of which was published in the Spanish press four months ago, that Carmen Albertos, the IDB staff member who administers the fund, also serves on the Executive Committee of the Socialist Party of Spain (PSOE) in Washington.
The IDB Code of Ethics is clear on this point:
[T]o preserve the independence and impartiality of their status as international civil servants and to avoid interference and conflict with their duties, they {IDB staff members] may not participate in partisan political activities that imply candidacy, acceptance of or appointment to public office or to a political party position. Accordingly, they must resign their position in the Bank prior to participating in such activities or accepting such offices, or becoming candidates for such positions (III.B.2).
Despite the fact that the details of the conflict of interest appeared in the newspaper ABC on October 2, 2011, IDB management has not addressed the issue. Moreover, the sweeping authority granted to Ms. Albertos, as trust fund manager, aggravates the problem: she alone can approve technical cooperation projects valued at up to €100,000.
Oversight of the fund is also compromised by the fact that the Spanish Ministry official responsible for supervising the Trust Fund lacks independence: she reports to the manager of the trust fund herself. Internal controls, therefore, are very weak. Finally, the whistleblowers show that the annual reports for2008 and 2009 for the FGE lack any assessment of the effectiveness and impact of the projects financed. After 2009, FGE stopped releasing the reports, even internally at the IDB, and this lapse raises additional questions.
In separate letters to IDB President Luís Moreno and Executive Board member for Spain María Pérez-Ribes, GAP requested the release of the 2010 Annual Report for the Fund, but the request has not been acknowledged.
Over the course of the four months since ABC first reported the ethics problems associated with FGE, documents have surfaced showing that the Fund Manager has in fact approved two technical cooperation projects (RG T1712; ATN/FG 11046-CH) managed by another IDB staff member who serves with her on the Executive Committee of the PSOE: Juan José Llisterri. So the conflict of interest is not only apparent; it is real.
The conflict of interest is a matter that IDB management and the Government of Spain ought to take more seriously than they have done thus far. Non-reimbursable technical assistance funds of this kind are scarce, and must be monitored with strict controls. The Government of Spain has become, in fact, a veryimportant donor of these funds, contributing more than twice as much than any other single IDB donor.
Apparently, the Spanish Government is somewhat careless when it comes to the management of the funds it establishes with inter-governmental organizations. The Spanish Trust Fund at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) is now managed by Bernardo Kliksberg, who grossly mismanagedthe IDB’s Inter-American Initiative of Ethics and Social Capital funded by the Government of Norway. Kliksberg’s business conduct was improper and irregular to such a degree that the IDB repaid the Norwegian Trust Fund for the amount he misdirected.
If trust funds at inter-governmental organizations funded by governments for earmarked initiatives are to be effective conduits of development financing, the management of them should be de-politicized and subjected to rigorous ethical standards. Otherwise these funds can easily be converted to slush funds, used by unscrupulous actors with privileged access to public money.
Bea Edwards is Executive Director and International Director for the Government Accountability Project, the nation's leading whistleblower protection and advocacy organization.