NEW UN-JAPANPACT SEEKS TO BOOST USE OF SPACE DATA TO REDUCE DISASTERRISKA

NEW UN-JAPANPACT SEEKS TO BOOST USE OF SPACE DATA TO REDUCE DISASTERRISKA new agreement between the United Nations and theJapan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) will enable themto boost their cooperation to use space-based informationand services to help reduce the risk of disasters in theAsia-Pacific region.Under the agreement, JAXA and the UNEconomic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific(ESCAP) will promote the use of technology, such assatellite imagery, remote sensing and satellite-basedcommunications, for disaster risk reduction and disastermanagement. Although some of ESCAPs member countriesare advanced in the integration of such satelliteinformation and services into their disaster responsesystems, other countries in particular least developedcountries are not equipped to analyse and use the dataeven if it is available and government officials are awareof Rosetta Stone software the benefits, Shigeru Mochida, ESCAPs DeputyExecutive Secretary, said today at the signing, which tookplace in Viet Nam during the Asia-Pacific Regional SpaceAgency Forum.The agreement will enable JAXA and ESCAP toincrease assistance to ESCAPs member countries, includingby providing the regions disaster management authoritiesand the public with important information that will helpthem deal with disasters more effectively and plan responsesin a timely manner.The new pact is the latest venture byJAXA and ESCAP, which have been working closely for severalyears to promote the use of space-based information andservices in the region. They have assisted a number ofcountries through the provision of satellite images todisaster-affected areas and with the monitoring of floods,among other things.According to the UN InternationalStrategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), Asia and thePacific is, by far, the Rosetta Stone Latin America Spanish region most affected by disasters interms of human and economic impacts. NEW HUMANRIGHTS INSTRUMENT CLOSES VITAL PROTECTION GAP, SAYS TOP UNOFFICIALThe United Nations human rights chief haswelcomed the General Assemblys adoption of an importantnew instrument to strengthen the protection of economic,social and cultural rights, stressing that it gives a voiceto victims of violations. The approval of the OptionalProtocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Socialand Cultural Rights is of singular importance by closing ahistoric gap, stated UN High Commissioner for HumanRights Navi Pillay.The Protocol, adopted during theAssemblys 10 December meeting commemorating the 60thanniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights,will enable victims to complain about violations of therights enshrined in the Covenant at the international levelfor the first time.Ms. Pillay stressed that the Protocolprovides a voice to victims of human rights violations. Italso makes them better equipped to enlist theinternational communitys help to address theirplight. The High Commissioner noted that the UniversalDeclaration chose not to rank rights. On the contrary, itrecognized the equal status of political and civil rightswith economic, social and cultural rights, and Rosetta Stone English underlinedthat all rights are inextricably linked, she said. Violations of a set of rights reverberate on other rightsand enfeeble them all. The Optional Protocol will nowbe opened for signature during 2009 and enter into forceonce it has been ratified by ten States.