UNESCO Outraged by Attack on Baghdad Girls School

On Sunday, according to DetNews.com:

In Baghdad, mortar shells crashed down on a girls high school, killing at least five students and wounding 13 other people, including two teachers, said Brig. Gen. Saad Sultan of the Interior Ministry.

Hours after the attack, grieving parents wept as the bodies of their children were placed in coffins.

Police said four of the girls were killed instantly and a fifth died later.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Islamic Republic News Agency reports:

UNICEF and UNESCO in a joint statement, a copy of which was faxed to IRNA here Monday, expressed outrage at a terroristic act of mortar attack on a girls' school in Baghdad on Sunday January 28, 2007.

UNICEF Representative for Iraq, Roger Wright, and Mohamed Djelid, UNESCO Country Director, both emphasized, "This is yet another tragic reminder of the risks facing Iraq's schoolchildren every day as they struggle amidst the insecurity to receive their right to education.

The apparently deliberate targeting of children in this incident is an unforgivable crime."

The two UN agencies stressed that violence and the threat of more violence have seriously disrupted the education system across parts of Baghdad. Girls' schools in particular have suffered, with girls now making up the majority of the far too many children out of school in Iraq's capital.

UNICEF and UNESCO called upon all parties in Iraq to exercise their responsibility and duty to ensure that schools remain safe havens for children to attend, learn and play. Finding appropriate strategies to bring education to children in environments where normal schooling has become impossible is now an imperative.

To read the full article on the Islamic Republic News Agency website click here.

UNESCO Outraged by Attack on Baghdad Girls School

On Sunday, according to DetNews.com:

In Baghdad, mortar shells crashed down on a girls high school, killing at least five students and wounding 13 other people, including two teachers, said Brig. Gen. Saad Sultan of the Interior Ministry.

Hours after the attack, grieving parents wept as the bodies of their children were placed in coffins.

Police said four of the girls were killed instantly and a fifth died later.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Islamic Republic News Agency reports:

UNICEF and UNESCO in a joint statement, a copy of which was faxed to IRNA here Monday, expressed outrage at a terroristic act of mortar attack on a girls' school in Baghdad on Sunday January 28, 2007.

UNICEF Representative for Iraq, Roger Wright, and Mohamed Djelid, UNESCO Country Director, both emphasized, "This is yet another tragic reminder of the risks facing Iraq's schoolchildren every day as they struggle amidst the insecurity to receive their right to education.

The apparently deliberate targeting of children in this incident is an unforgivable crime."

The two UN agencies stressed that violence and the threat of more violence have seriously disrupted the education system across parts of Baghdad. Girls' schools in particular have suffered, with girls now making up the majority of the far too many children out of school in Iraq's capital.

UNICEF and UNESCO called upon all parties in Iraq to exercise their responsibility and duty to ensure that schools remain safe havens for children to attend, learn and play. Finding appropriate strategies to bring education to children in environments where normal schooling has become impossible is now an imperative.

To read the full article on the Islamic Republic News Agency website click here.

"Young People and AIDS: A Practical Guide"

Published on paper, this UNESCO book was designed for primary and secondary school teachers, youth leaders in voluntary organization and radio and for all those interested in working on HIV/AIDS preventive programmes targeting young people.

For more information or to order a free copy, click here.

Editor's comment: Why in the world would UNESCO publish this first or only on paper, when the problem of educating young people about AIDS is so urgent? They must have had an electronic copy, and it is certainly easier to mount such a copy of the World Wide Web than to type set and print the book. With something like one billion personal computers in the world, most connected to the Internet, it seems clear that this book would be of interest and widely used if and when it is made available on the Web. JAD

"Young People and AIDS: A Practical Guide"

Published on paper, this UNESCO book was designed for primary and secondary school teachers, youth leaders in voluntary organization and radio and for all those interested in working on HIV/AIDS preventive programmes targeting young people.

For more information or to order a free copy, click here.

Editor's comment: Why in the world would UNESCO publish this first or only on paper, when the problem of educating young people about AIDS is so urgent? They must have had an electronic copy, and it is certainly easier to mount such a copy of the World Wide Web than to type set and print the book. With something like one billion personal computers in the world, most connected to the Internet, it seems clear that this book would be of interest and widely used if and when it is made available on the Web. JAD

Briefing Book for Congress on the UN

The Better World Campaign has published online its 2007 Briefing Book for the Congress with lots of information on the United Nations. It is full of useful, accurate information.

Check out its briefing titled: Agencies, Funds, and Programs

A few years ago, before President Bush announced that the United States would rejoin UNESCO, the Better World Campaign published this add.

Briefing Book for Congress on the UN

The Better World Campaign has published online its 2007 Briefing Book for the Congress with lots of information on the United Nations. It is full of useful, accurate information.

Check out its briefing titled: Agencies, Funds, and Programs

A few years ago, before President Bush announced that the United States would rejoin UNESCO, the Better World Campaign published this add.

An "Ancient Settlement Is Unearthed Near Stonehenge"

National Geographic Society photo of the Stonehenge monument, within UNESCO Stonehenge World Heritage site in January 2007.

Read the full article subtitled "Sites Apparently Used for Ceremonies and Burials" by Marc Kaufman in The Washington Post, January 31, 2007.

New excavations near the mysterious circle at Stonehenge in southern England have uncovered dozens of homes where hundreds of people lived -- at roughly the same time that the giant stone slabs were being erected 4,600 years ago.

The finding strongly suggests that the monument and the settlement nearby were a center for ceremonial activities, with Stonehenge probably a burial site, while other nearby circular earthen and timber "henges" were devoted to feasts and festivals.

The small homes and personal items found beneath the grounds of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site are the first of their kind from that late Stone Age period in Britain, and they suggest a surprising level of social organization and ceremonial behavior to complement the massive stonework nearby. The excavators said their discoveries, about two miles from Stonehenge itself, together constitute an archaeological treasure.

An "Ancient Settlement Is Unearthed Near Stonehenge"

National Geographic Society photo of the Stonehenge monument, within UNESCO Stonehenge World Heritage site in January 2007.

Read the full article subtitled "Sites Apparently Used for Ceremonies and Burials" by Marc Kaufman in The Washington Post, January 31, 2007.

New excavations near the mysterious circle at Stonehenge in southern England have uncovered dozens of homes where hundreds of people lived -- at roughly the same time that the giant stone slabs were being erected 4,600 years ago.

The finding strongly suggests that the monument and the settlement nearby were a center for ceremonial activities, with Stonehenge probably a burial site, while other nearby circular earthen and timber "henges" were devoted to feasts and festivals.

The small homes and personal items found beneath the grounds of the Stonehenge World Heritage Site are the first of their kind from that late Stone Age period in Britain, and they suggest a surprising level of social organization and ceremonial behavior to complement the massive stonework nearby. The excavators said their discoveries, about two miles from Stonehenge itself, together constitute an archaeological treasure.