Youth are Key to Development, States New Report, To be Released April 19 at United Nations Headquarters

New York City, USA (19 April, 2005) – When asked how the United Nations intended to involve young people as partners in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Professor Jeffrey Sachs’ reply last spring was: “You tell us!”

Porto Alegre, Brazil. Criticized by some for being little more than a debating society and a "one stop shopping center for the left," this year's fifth annual World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil marked a major break through for the Forum. It served as a pivotal venue for the discussion and critique of progressive political, social and economic strategies to make "another world possible." Three hundred and fifty two proposals and calls for action came out of the more than 2000 panels and workshops held at the forum. At the end of the Forum, a group of 19 comprised of key founders of the WSF and its International Committee issued a manifesto called the Consensus of Porto Alegre, urging the 120,000 who registered at the WSF to sing on to the Manifesto if it reflected their work, ideas and programs for the future.

"Today on this International Women's Day, we spend the hour with Wangari Maathai, the first African woman and first environmentalist to receive the Nobel Peace Prize." SOURCE: Democracy Now (03-08-05)

(IPS) - Key U.S. civil liberties and social justice groups marked International Human Rights Day Wednesday by launching a new "U.S. Human Rights Network" dedicated to raising awareness about international human rights standards and focusing attention on the U.S. failure to enforce them. 

In 2004 the winner-take-all system of U.S. electoral politics again proved an obstacle to genuine democracy. While progressives found little to get excited about in the John Kerry campaign, there were no viable third-party candidates, leaving them without a fully satisfying choice at the ballot box, even if most of us ended up voting for Kerry as a statement against Bush. More important, there was no candidate whose campaign offered progressives the opportunity to develop a real political/electoral base that could move us closer to building power and influence. (02-25-05) By Bill Fletcher, Jr. and Danny Glover, The Nation

Something Inside So Strong: A Resource Guide on Human Rights in the United States is the first publication of the U.S. Human Rights Network. Section II ...explores some of the major human rights violations faced by immigrants, American Indians, prisoners, prisoners on death row, the poor and those who suffer discrimination in the United States, and outlines how the use of a human rights approach may be helpful in effectivelycombating these problems. Each issue-specific subsection includes a list of resources that community activists may use to educate themselves about the human rights tools available to them and how to use them.