Haiti has been devastated by a 7.0 Magnitude earthquake. Many people have died and so many are left homeless.
You can leave a message on this blog a message of hope for the people of Haiti.
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A message of Hope for the people of Haiti
Combating Child Sexual Tourism
Pulitzer
Center Untold Stories: Thailand's Sex Tourism
Watch Giorgio Berardi, Programme Officer for
Combating Child-Sex Tourism (CST) at ECPAT International talk about
efforts in Thailand to end child prostitution .
The Haiti Earthquake: Helping others in times of Disaster
From the website of reliefweb more details on humanitarian help visit the website
This report was issued by the Office of the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs in New York. The next report will be issued on or around 13 January 2010.
I. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES
- A powerful earthquake of 7.0 magnitude (USGS) on the Richter Scale affected Haiti on 12 January, at 16.53hrs local time (GMT 21.53hrs). The earthquake happened 17km south-west of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti (18.45N, 72.45W).
- Initial reports suggest a high number of casualties and widespread damage, with an urgent need for Search and Rescue.
- A United Nations Disaster and Assessment Coordination Team (UNDAC) is being mobilized.
II. Situation Overview
On Tuesday 12 January, at approximately 16.53hrs local time, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake on the Richter Scale, and less than 10 km deep, was recorded off the coast of Haiti, and only 17 km from the capital, Port-au-Prince. Aftershocks have been felt measuring 5.9 and 5.5 respectively. More aftershocks are expected in the coming hours.
The capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince, has been severely affected including critical city infrastructure components such as, electricity, water and phone services. Electricity is not available and communications are difficult. Initial reports indicate a large number of casualties and widespread damage.
At this stage there is very limited access because of debris and other obstacles on the roads. The airport of Port-au-Prince is reported to be closed. The Presidential Palace and Government buildings are reported to have been seriously damaged. According to preliminary reports, several UN and well as other national buildings have collapsed or have been damaged. Populations may also be affected in Carrefour and Jacmel.
United Nations agencies, as well as the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society are preparing the deployment of teams and humanitarian assistance, notably from their regional hub in Panama. USAID/OFDA is sending a response team in addition to 2 USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) heavy teams.
OCHA is mobilizing a United Nations Disaster and Assessment Coordination Team (UNDAC) and is deploying staff from its Regional Office in Panama.
There has been no immediate report of damage in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Tsunami alerts were lifted, including for Haiti.
III. Humanitarian Needs and Response
Evacuation of injured, medical supplies and expertise are needed. Also clean water may be urgently needed very soon.
IV. Funding
All humanitarian partners including donors and recipient agencies are encouraged to inform FTS of cash and in-kind contributions by sending an email to: fts@reliefweb.int.
V. Contact
Please contact:
New York: Ms. Stephanie Bunker, Spokesperson and Public Information Officer bunker@un.org, tel: 1 917 367 5126
Geneva: Mr. Peter Neussl, Humanitarian Affairs Officer, Geographical Coordination and Monitoring Section neussl@un.org, tel. + 41 22 917 1511
New York: Ms.Heidi Kuttab, Desk Officer, Coordination and Response Division kuttab@un.org, tel. + 1 917367 33 65
For more information, please visit OCHA's Virtual OSOCC at http://ocha.unog.ch/virtualosocc
For more information, please visit www.reliefweb.int.
Bra color facebook status
Bra color status
I logged on my Facebook yesterday and my friends were buzzing about status colors. I logged off without going into details of all this facebook status colors.
One of my friends listed the color for her facebook status as white as snow..its only now that I have read about the crazy color status that is sweeping facebook.
The bra color facebook or the bra color or just the color for facebook status is a special event by an effort of a group there to create and raise and spread breast cancer awareness. So, ladies if you wish to part of this awareness log in and help others spread the word on breast cancer.
Ending child prostitution and trafficking
Child-Sex Tourism is a CRIME
In this picture Mr. Giorgio Berardi of Ecpat international, based in Bangkok, smiles at a poster against child-sex tourism displyed in the Mercure Chiangmai hotel. Accor Hotels is a significant player in this sector.
Berardi has recently authored a chapter titled
'Preventing Sexual Exploitation of Children in Tourism in a Disaster Aftermath' in a book titled "Disaster Prevention in Tourism", a publication developed by the Ecumenical Council on Tourism (ECOT).
Ending child prostitution and trafficking
Huffingtonpost has a nice read on this.
Recent political instability has also deterred efforts to regulate the sex tourism industry. Before the 2006 military coup, End Child Prostitution And Trafficking (ECPAT) had been collaborating with the Ministry of Tourism on creating a National Plan of Action to address the issue of child sex tourism. The initiative was suspended shortly after the ouster of the Thaksin administration. Now, the global economic downturn has made the Ministry of Tourism reluctant to reinvigorate efforts and give the outside world any impression that Thailand is anything but the "Land of Smiles." Giorgio Berardi, Program Officer for Combating Child-Sex Tourism (CST).at ECPAT, says Southeast Asia continues to harbor a reputation as a destination for sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism. "We still need far better enactment and enforcement of effective extraterritorial legislation," says Berardi.
Read the whole article on huffington posts "
The Economics of Commercial Sexual Exploitation"
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