Look To The Stars News: Jane Goodall

Stevie Wonder Named As United Nations Messenger Of Peace

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:00:00 -0000

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has designated Grammy Award-winning songwriter and musician Stevie Wonder as a United Nations Messenger of Peace with a special focus on people with disabilities.

Recognized for his ability to focus attention on and mobilize support for civil and human rights issues, Stevie Wonder joins ten other United Nations Messengers of Peace who advocate on behalf of the Organization.

Messengers of Peace are individuals who possess widely recognized talents in the fields of art, academia, literature, sports and entertainment, helping to raise worldwide awareness of the Organization’s ideals and activities. Through their public appearances, contacts with the international media and humanitarian work, they expand public understanding of how the United Nations helps to improve the lives of people everywhere.

In selecting Stevie Wonder for this designation, the Secretary-General said, “Our newest Messenger of Peace is someone who is admired by millions of people and has given back to millions of people. I recognize that he has consistently used his voice and special relationship with the public to create a better and more inclusive world, to defend civil and human rights and to improve the lives of those less fortunate. Stevie Wonder is a true inspiration to young people all over the world about what can be achieved despite any physical limitations.”

Stevie Wonder’s activism has been pivotal in United States and world events. In 1983, he spearheaded a campaign to make Martin Luther King Day a national holiday in the United States. He also advocated for ending apartheid in South Africa.

Stevie Wonder has been recognized for his philanthropic efforts which include the United States President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the Children’s Diabetes Foundation, Junior Blind of America and the creation of the Wonder Vision Awards Program. For over 10 years, he has provided toys for children and families in need with his annual House Full of Toys benefit concert.

His career as a recording artist has reflected his concern with humanitarian issues. He has written, produced and/or performed songs relative to charities in support of disabilities, aids, cancer, diabetes, hunger and homelessness, domestic abuse and many other causes on behalf of children and adults. Some of these charities include institutes for the blind, such as the Royal National Institute of Blind People, for which Stevie Wonder launched the British Telecom Celebrity Eyes phone card. He has also supported We Are the World, That’s What Friends Are For, City of Hope, Special Olympics, Nobody’s Child: Romanian Angel Appeal, Charge Against Hunger Campaign and Tour, Live 8, September 11, 2001 America: A Tribute to Heroes, Andre Agassi's Grand Slam for Kids, Paul Newman's Hole in the Wall Gang, The United Negro College Fund, the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, and many more. On behalf of people who are blind or have low vision, Stevie Wonder released the first-ever descriptive music video entitled, “So What the Fuss”. His second descriptive music video, “Shelter in the Rain”, was a healing message of love and inspiration to those who were touched by Hurricane Katrina. Net proceeds from this song were donated to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

The other Messengers of Peace and their areas of focus are: conductor Daniel Barenboim (peace and tolerance); actor George Clooney (peacekeeping); author Paulo Coelho (poverty and intercultural dialogue); actor Michael Douglas (disarmament); primatologist Jane Goodall (conservation and environmental issues); violinist Midori Goto (Millennium Development Goals and Youth); Princess Haya Bint al Hussein (Millennium Development Goals and hunger); cellist Yo-Yo Ma (youth); actor Charlize Theron (ending violence against women) and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel (human rights).

David Attenborough Urges Family Planning

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Sir David Attenborough, Britain’s best-known natural history film-maker, has joined a campaign to encourage people to voluntarily lower the world’s population by limiting the size of their families.

Attenborough has described the growth in human numbers as “frightening” and urged environmental organisations to spell out “loud and clear” the problems caused by population growth.

Sir David, who has become a patron of the Optimum Population Trust, the leading think tank in the UK concerned with the impact of population growth on the environment, said: "I’ve seen wildlife under mounting human pressure all over the world and it’s not just from human economy or technology – behind every threat is the frightening explosion in human numbers.

“I’ve never seen a problem that wouldn’t be easier to solve with fewer people, or harder, and ultimately impossible, with more. That’s why I support the OPT, and I wish the environmental NGOs would follow their lead, and spell out this central problem loud and clear.”

Roger Martin, OPT chair, said: "We’re delighted that one of the world’s best known, liked and respected naturalists should have become our patron.

“All serious environmentalists know perfectly well that population growth, exploding in the 20th century, has been a key driver of every environmental problem. It’s a fact, not an opinion, that total human impact is the average per person multiplied by the number of people.

“Yet for far too long, governments and environmental NGOs have observed a taboo – invented in the 1980s by a bizarre coalition of the religious right and the liberal left – on stating this obvious fact. So they keep on implying that our numbers can grow forever with no ill effects. It’s a ‘silent lie’ and by encouraging us to ignore the vital need to stabilise our numbers by humane means (contraception) before nature does it for us by inhumane, natural means (famine, disease, war) this absurd taboo betrays our children.

“David’s breaking of it should embolden others in the green movement to follow suit.”

Sir David, who was knighted in 1985, is a trustee of the British Museum and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and a fellow of the Royal Society. He joins Jane Goodall as a patron of the OPT.

Charlize Theron Appointed UN Messenger Of Peace

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:00:00 -0000

Written by Linda Burton

Oscar award winning actress Charlize Theron's next role will be that of a United Nations Messenger of Peace.

Last Friday, UN spokesman Farhan Haq made the announcement that Theron will be inducted on Monday at the United Nations headquarters in New York. Haq added that she “will have responsibilities for promoting UN efforts to fight violence against women around the world”.

Honoring Theron for her work towards ending violence towards women, as well as the Charlize Theron African Outreach Project, whose goal is to promote HIV/AIDS education for impoverished children and their families in South Africa, Ki-moon stated “You have used your voice, compassion and special relationship with the public to create a better world.”

The South African born actress became a naturalized US citizen in 2007. She won an Oscar in 2003 for her role in the movie “Monster”, and has also appeared in “North Country”, “Devil’s Advocate”, “The Cider House Rules”, “The Italian Job”, and “AEon Flux”.

Chosen as the tenth UN Messenger of Peace, Theron will join actors George Clooney and Michael Douglas, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, Israieli conductor Daniel Barenboim, Nobel Peace Prize winner for literature Elie Wiesel, British primatologist Jane Goodall, Princess Haya Bin Al Hussein of Jordan, Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, and Japanese violinist Midori Goto.

CNN Hunts For Humanitarian Heroes

Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:30:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Anderson Cooper will host the “CNN Heroes – An All-Star Tribute” event this weekend to find ordinary people who have accomplished extraordinary deeds.

CNN launched its search for the most outstanding humanitarian in February, and has been showing weekly profiles of the finalists chosen from over 3,700 nominations from 75 countries. The Top 10 finalists have been chosen by philanthropic leaders such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Jane Goodall, Magic Johnson, George Lopez, and Queen Rania Al Abdullah.

The Top 10 finalists for 2008 are:

Tad Agoglia, whose First Response Team provides immediate help to areas hit by natural disasters.

Yohannes Gebregeorgis, who established Ethiopia Reads, bringing free public libraries and literacy programs to thousands of Ethiopian children.

Carolyn LeCroy, who started The Messages Project to help children stay connected with their incarcerated parents.

Anne Mahlum, who set up a program to transform the lives of homeless people by running with them.

Liz McCartney, whose St. Bernard Project has rebuilt the homes of more than 120 families affected by Hurricane Katrina for free.

Phymean Noun, who offers hundreds of Cambodian children who work in Phnom Penh’s trash dump a way out — through free schooling and job training.

David Puckett, who provides artificial limbs and braces and care to people in southeastern Mexico.

Maria Ruiz, who crosses the border into Juarez, Mexico, every week to bring food, clothing and toys to hundreds of impoverished children and their families.

Marie Da Silva, who funds a school in her native Malawi.

Viola Vaughn, whose “10,000 Girls” program is helping hundreds of girls succeed in school and run their own businesses.

The final winner will be selected by public vote.

“They all deserve to win,” said Desmond Tutu. “Thanks for saluting these remarkable human beings.”

Voting takes place until November 19 at www.cnn.com/heroes. The awards ceremony will be filmed this weekend, November 22, and will be aired on CNN on November 27.

Pierce Brosnan Honored By Jane Goodall

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Former James Bond star Pierce Brosnan has been honored for his charity work in a special ceremony in Washington DC.

Along with his wife Keely Shaye, the 55-year-old was presented with the Responsible Activism in Media and Entertainment award at the second annual Jane Goodall Institute Global Leadership Awards Celebration on Friday night.

“Keely and I are honored to be in Washington, D.C., at such an exciting time in this nation’s history and to accept this award from our dear friend Dr. Jane Goodall," said the actor, who has been involved in the institute’s Roots + Shoots global environmental youth program since its inception. “I have a wonderful wife in Keely, who is very versed in the world of green. This is a partnership now of 16 years and she has educated me on the environment and how to bring up children, whether it’s the food they eat or the food that we grow at home in Hawaii – clean water, good vegetables, recycling.”

The Jane Goodall Institute aims to empower people to make a difference for all living things by creating healthy ecosystems, promoting sustainable livelihoods and nurturing new generations of committed, active citizens around the world.

Stars Paint Dogs For Parade And Auction

Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:00:00 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Let loose the dogs of charity this Monday, October 13, as 25 life-sized fiberglass canines decorated by celebrities are paraded through the streets of New York.

The creations will be aboard a float in the annual Columbus Day parade, and will then be sold off in an online charity auction. Among the stars who have donated their artistic talents are Richard Gere, Chevy Chase, Glenn Close, Robert Kennedy Jr., Paul Shaffer, Martha Stewart, Vanessa Williams, Stanley Tucci, Cyndi Lauper, Rachael Ray, Robin Quivers, Dan Aykroyd, and Jane Goodall.

The auction – which will run until November 1 – will benefit Green Chimneys, an organization that operates a special education school, a residential treatment center for children, and a farm and wildlife rehabilitation center in Brewster.

The auction can be accessed through the Charity Folks website.

Mia Farrow Blocked From Darfur Peace Rally

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 10:03:29 -0000

Written by Tim Saunders

Police have stopped actress Mia Farrow from holding a rally in Cambodia as part of a campaign to end atrocities in Darfur.

Around 100 baton-wielding military police blocked Farrow, who established Fund4Darfur in 2007, and her fellow activists from entering the compound at Tuol Sleng, the Phnom Penh high school at the center of Cambodia’s Killing Fields.

“Darfur has nothing to do with Cambodia,” said Phnom Penh police chief, Touch Naruth. “Go protest in Darfur!”

The group planned to hold a peaceful rally in which they were to lay flowers and light a symbolic Olympic torch in the compound. The event was to follow similar rallies in Chad, Rwanda, Armenia, Germany, and Bosnia as part of a campaign to persuade China to push the Khartoum government in Sudan into ending the violence in Darfur.

“Our hearts are breaking for what happened in Cambodia today,” said Farrow, who is on the advisory committee for the Dream For Darfur campaign. “The Chinese government was trying to prevent us from commemorating the genocide in Cambodia, and denying survivors the chance to show solidarity with the people in Darfur.”

The United Nations is currently trying to deploy a peacekeeping force in Darfur, where international experts say 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million driven from their homes during fighting between Sudan’s government and Darfur rebels. China is a major investor in Sudan’s oil industry, and has been accused by lobby groups of breaching international rules and encouraging bloodshed by selling Sudan weapons that have been diverted to Darfur.

“I grieve every day about what is happening now,” said Darfur refugee Omer Ismail, part of the group in Cambodia for the rally. “As we gather here, [there continue] the attacks, the rapes, the systematic murder of innocent men, women, and children.”

The Cambodian government has threatened Farrow and her supporters with deportation and other unspecified “consequences”.

In other news relating to Darfur, George Clooney has been named as a United Nations Messenger of Peace by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Clooney is the ninth UN Messenger, and joins Michael Douglas, Jane Goodall, Muhammad Ali, and Vijay Amritraj in helping to expand understanding of how the ideals and objectives of the UN demand everyone’s attention.

UN spokeswoman Michele Montas said Clooney had been “recognized for focusing attention on crucial international political and social issues”, especially in Darfur. Along with fellow actors Don Cheadle and Brad Pitt, Clooney, 46, has used his celebrity status to raise public awareness and money for refugees through their Not On Our Watch initiative.

Clooney is currently visiting the Sudan, and will receive his designation on January 31 at UN headquarters.

Look To The Stars News: Jane Goodall

Stevie Wonder Named As United Nations Messenger Of Peace

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David Attenborough Urges Family Planning

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