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	We can change the world and make it a better place by The Elders / United Nations   "We can change the world and make it a better place. It is in your hands to make a difference" - Nelson Mandela   This year on 18 July - Nelson Mandela’s 93rd birthday - the UN is joining a call by the Nelson Mandela Foundation to devote 67 minutes of our time to helping others, as a way to mark Nelson Mandela International Day.   For 67 years Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity – as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa.   In November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 18 July “Nelson Mandela International Day” in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.   United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/13 recognizes Nelson Mandela’s values and his dedication to the service of humanity, in the fields of conflict resolution, race relations, the promotion and protection of human rights, reconciliation, gender equality and the rights of children and other vulnerable groups, as well as the upliftment of poor and underdeveloped communities.   It acknowledges his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.   To mark the second annual Nelson Mandela International Day, the United Nations is encouraging people around the globe to perform 67 minutes of public service – one minute for every year of the South African leader’s own service to humanity.   The call is part of the “Take Action! Inspire Change” campaign by the Mandela Foundation in recognition of the contributions made by Mr. Mandela, as a human rights lawyer, freedom fighter, prisoner of conscience, international peacemaker, and the first democratically-elected president of a free South Africa.   “Together, the best way we can thank Nelson Mandela for his work is by taking action for others and inspiring change,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a message for the Day.   He called on people everywhere to embrace Mr. Mandela’s message to change the world and make it a better place. “Tutor a child. Feed someone less fortunate. Care for your environment. Volunteer at a hospital or community centre. Be a part of a global movement to make the world a better place.   “Together, we can help people achieve the dignity and liberty that are their birthright. That is the best way we can honour Nelson Mandela,” he stated.   July 2011 (The Elders)   Mandela Day aims to show that we can all play a part in changing the world for the better.   Now retired from public life, Nelson Mandela has called on younger generations to take up the fight for a fairer, more peaceful world.   "It is time for the next generations to continue our struggle against social injustice and for the rights of humanity," he says. “It is in your hands.”   Nelson Mandela gave 67 years of his life to the fight for the rights of humanity. In this spirit, on 18 July 2011, Nelson Mandela"s 93rd birthday, people around the world are encouraged to dedicate 67 minutes to serving their community and helping to build a global movement for good.   In a message to mark Mandela Day, Chair of The Elders Desmond Tutu said:   On 18 July, my dear friend Nelson Mandela “Madiba” as we call him in South Africa will be 93 and I know you will join me in wishing him a very happy day with his family and loved ones.   Every day I give thanks to God for Madiba"s courage and commitment to the cause of freedom and justice and am delighted that his birthday is officially celebrated around the world as Nelson Mandela International Day. So what can we do to celebrate?   In his wise way, Madiba asks us not to celebrate him on 18 July. His wish is that we mark the day by doing something for others. so I hope you will join us the Elders in fulfilling that wish. Let us mark Mandela Day by celebrating our collective power to do good for others and make the world a kinder and fairer place.   As Nelson Mandela gave 67 years of his life in the service of others, to honour him, we ask you to give 67 minutes to make a difference in your community and become a Mandela Day change maker. As he says, it is up to us now.   "It is time for the next generations to continue our struggle against social injustice and for the rights of humanity. It is in your hands." Nelson Mandela.   How you can make a difference. It can be hard to imagine that our individual actions really make a difference in a world that is so full of suffering, but I want to assure you that they do.   As Ela Bhatt writes in Peace by practice: Mandela Day 2011, what we do each day "is like ripples in water, small circles of change that grow ever wider."   Many of you write to us asking "What can I do to help?" It can be the smallest gestures, closest to home, that matter most: helping a neighbour in need, organising a street clean up, or volunteering at a local youth group. There are plenty of ways to make a difference, not just on Mandela Day, but every day.   My friends, you have no excuse! As Gro Brundtland says, "We want to inspire the conviction that we all can make a difference; that by our own actions, we can help make the world a better place."   Nelson Mandela"s wife and fellow founder of The Elders, Graça Machel said:   “Mandela Day is a chance for each of us to do what we can for the human family that Madiba cares so much about.   “It is a way of recognising that we can all do good, that we have love and kindness in our hearts and that we can all make a difference to the lives of our neighbours.”   Lakhdar Brahimi, former Algerian Foreign Minister said:   “Nelson Mandela has shown us that with personal dedication and commitment we can meet the greatest of challenges.   “In this spirit, the people of Tunisia and Egypt, too, have demonstrated what can be achieved when we are committed to the betterment of our communities.”   Gro Brundtland, former Norwegian Prime Minister said:   “On Mandela Day, I encourage you all to explore how best you can help in your local community. “We often don"t realise our inner strength and talent until we reach out to those around us.”   Martti Ahtisaari, former President of Finland said:   “In our busy day to day lives, it is too easy to overlook the needs of those in our own communities. There may be an elderly neighbour living alone, young people struggling to find work, or a local family that is unable to make ends meet.   “To mark Mandela"s birthday, I hope we can all find time for a quiet act of kindness - and make every day a Mandela Day.”   Peace by practice: Mandela Day 2011, by Ela Bhatt.   To me, Nelson Mandela is a supreme symbol of freedom’s struggle. Let us take this opportunity to reflect on the life of a man we have come to know and respect as a great leader, one who sacrificed his own freedom for the freedom of his people.   How best do we honour his achievements? What can we do to live up to Madiba’s example?   It is often said that the problems facing our world are too overwhelming or intractable - that you find endless conflict, injustice and poverty.   I agree that if you want to fix the world’s problems, you have a mighty task.   In my own country, India, the scale of the poverty we see is enough to break your heart. After decades of independence, freedom has still not come to every citizen – discrimination has taken new forms, and the poorest of the poor live on the margins, the invisible engine of our so-called ‘Tiger economy’.   When we see such suffering, it is natural to wish to solve everything at once. We turn to our governments for a solution, and feel frustrated when they fail to act. But I have never been one to argue that governments have all the answers.   Change is up to us. Our greatest source of strength is right under our noses; the families, work-places and communities that give us strong foundations, on which equal societies are built. Thinking local, we can turn power upside down.   In my work with Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), I have seen some of the poorest, most vulnerable women transform their lives and the communities they live in.   From being home-based workers, landless labourers or illiterate food vendors they have claimed their rights and have become the owners of their own resources, the beneficiaries of their own land.   They meet resistance from the authorities at every stage but they stand firm, together, saying “We are poor, but so many!”   I believe strongly that to bring widespread change, we must first make that change ourselves.   Another great teacher, Mahatma Gandhi, imagined this as ripples in water, small circles of change that grow ever wider. Our actions have an impact we may never even see.   Rather than find yourself immobilised by the scale of the world’s problems, look around you. Even when a problem is right under your nose, it is easy to ignore it – we curse fate, blame tradition or say “it’s God’s will.”   But you will not have to search far before you find people who are hungry, lonely, downtrodden, persecuted – sometimes we just need a reason to reach out to them.   When Nelson Mandela founded The Elders, he invoked the idea of ubuntu: that we are human only through the humanity of others.   What he describes is more than charity, it is a certain outlook or way of life. By serving others, we actually fulfil our own humanity.   This Mandela Day let us spend our energies serving our own communities to honour the 67 years Nelson Mandela dedicated to fighting for a better world.   http://www.mandeladay.com/ Visit the related web page
	Protecting the rights of children with disabilities by International Disability Alliance   Advocates on the rights of children with disabilities recently met at UN Headquarters to discuss better protections for the rights of children with disabilities.   The meeting called attention to the social stigma and marginalization facing children with disabilities and proposed ways of addressing obstacles to the realization of their rights.   Head of the EU Delegation to the UN Pedro Serrano highlighted that disabilities will be the main theme of the upcoming ombudsmen resolution of the UN General Assembly on the rights of the child, which constitutes an important step in advancing the rights of children with disabilities.   “I hope the needs of children with disabilities and the real policy options to address them, will have a real impact on the ground,” he said.   The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities provides critical guidance for the realization of the rights of all children with disabilities by recognizing that a focus should be placed on their inherent right to a life free of discrimination, and to enjoy equal protection and inclusive access to education and full participation.   Speaking about the main barriers children with disabilities face, Vladimir Cuk, of the International Disability Alliance, pressed for more awareness, adequate training and accessibility in community and mainstream services.   Mr. Cuk noted that the perception that children with disabilities needed to be lucky to be born into a community with adequate services and support was erroneous.   "Removing barriers and increasing support and awareness as well as providing inclusive education, reduces the pressure on family and child."   Stigma associated with issues of disability has resulted in the marginalization of a significant percentage of the global population – there are an estimated 200 million children with disabilities worldwide.   Highlighting the critical need to invest in awareness and information, Marta Santos Pais, UN Special Representative on Violence against Children, emphasized that children with disabilities are at a heightened risk of abuse.   "When incidents of violence take place, children do not know where to go and whom to call to seek advice and support," she said. "For children with disabilities, these challenges are clearly bigger."   Laws need to be more sensitive to the specific needs and vulnerabilities of children, with more disability-sensitive mechanisms in place where children can seek help and advice or submit complaints about violence and abuse, she added.   Corinna Csáky, Child Protection Adviser for Save the Children UK, said "even in the most developed settings, children with disabilities are seven times more likely to be abused than non-disabled children," she said. “Shrouded in taboos and far from a political priority.”   Richard Morgan from Unicef reiterated the need for more comprehensive reporting for children with disabilities, whom he called among the most stigmatized and excluded of all the world’s children.   “It’s because of their level of exclusion that we don’t have reliable data on the number of children with disabilities or where to find them,” he said. “Improving the availability of data on children with disabilities must be a priority.” Visit the related web page
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