Dictators wish Journalists a “Happy Press Freedom Day”

Reporters without Borders have made my day. Well they have made many journalists day. They have put in pictures what corrupt, autocratic and authoritarian regimes, policies and laws do to journalists everyday. 

more after the break

Bus-Line Diplomacy

BUS-LINE diplomacy and friendship: The best birthday surprise…

The Exhibition that Shouldn’t Exist

Great online experience from Control Arms: The Exhibition that Shouldn’t Exist.

The exhibition doesn’t have an artist and it isn’t art. It portraits the reality of the irresponsible arms trade around the world. The exhibition will be presented in Lisbon in the central hall of the Electricity Museum and it will be displayed in New York during the week of the Arms Trade Treaty conference.

And the exhibition is online.

TIny children

Look at these tiny sculptures by street artist Slinkachu, created for UK charity War Child to celebrate their 20th anniversary. 
I love the way they use humour and everyday scenes to highlight the vulnerability of children in war.

See more.

Romania Gives Britain the Finger

MEMO: ATTN. BRITAIN
Xenophobia is not pretty. Stereotypes are ugly. Social exclusion of migrants and minorities make you look bad.
Sincerely, Romania

Breaking The Taboo: Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll

Ok, to be clear the campaign is only about drugs. However nothing smells of success more than a campaign promoting the war against the war on drugs.  The campaign also has the rock and roll part featuring famous celebrities such as rapper Dizzy Rascal and eye candy, like Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

“Breaking the Taboo” campaign is anchored by soon to be released documentary also called “Breaking the Taboo” and will be released on youtube and the Breaking the Taboo website December 7th 2012. Trying a new distribution model, the documentary film makers, Sundog Pictures are trying to reach the widest audience by skipping the cinema and going straight to where the people are: Youtube.
The documentary is narrated by Oscar winning actor Morgan Freeman, “Breaking the Taboo,” takes a critical look at how after 50 years of prohibition, illicit drugs are now the third most valuable industry in the world after food and oil. Speaking during the documentary former US President Bill Clinton admits, “Obviously if the expected results were that we would eliminate serious drug use in America and eliminate the narco-trafficking networks, it hasn’t worked.”  The documentary was filmed in 8 countries, where over 176 people were interviewed, including former US Presidents and prominent think tanks. The documentary feature also follows The Global Commission on Drug Policy on a mission to break the political taboo over the United States led War on Drugs and expose what it calls the biggest failure of global policy in the last 40 years.

Besides a promising documentary, I like that rather than bombarding viewers with only the problems, “Breaking the Taboo” campaign offers clear solutions.  I like that it is supported by many dignitaries, politicians and non-government organizations such as the Global Commission on Drug Policy many of whom are thought leaders on the subject. I also like the strong call to action which covers various sectors affected by the war on drugs.

After the break watch some featured videos from the Youtube campaign.

Weed Out Hate…Plant Seeds of Peace

On April 23, 2012, President Obama stated that “the world must not allow such ‘seeds of hate’ to take root…” Marc Daniels the visionary behind the “Weed Out Hate” national campaign agrees, in the literal and symbolic sense.

Recently, I had the pleasure to have a chat with Daniels about his innovative “seeds” campaign.  I can say it was truly inspirational to learn how he has taken the simple idea of planting seeds, the same way his grandfather, an agricultural innovator did, and augment it into a message of peace.  A message that Daniels feels “better connects, future generations of gardeners, and kindergartners, with nature for the higher purpose of improving the fabric of society.”  The “Weed Out Hate” campaign currently targets school children in Des Moines, Iowa and Springfield, Illinois through a specialized teaching curriculum, peace rally’s,  planting sunflower “peace” seeds and a call to ask the Obama administration to work towards weeding out hate from America.  Daniels however feels this message can resonate with many in the USA and hopes to expand and target a national audience. 

See a video and more information after the break.

Destroy mines with creativity

This project is the proof that creativity is a very important key factor in doing good. It is a project from Massoud Hassani, a designer raised in Kabul in Afghanistan and now living in the Netherlands.
As a boy his was playing with self-made toys. One of his favourites was a small rolling object that was wind-powered.

Massoud: “We used to race against the other kids on the fields around our neighbourhood. There was always a strong wind waving towards the mountains. While we were racing against each other, our toys rolled too fast and too far. Mostly they landed in areas where we couldn’t go rescue them because of landmines. I still remember those toys I’d made that we lost and watching them just beyond where we could go.”

Almost 20 years later, he went back to Kabul and made those toys again. That was his graduation project for the Design Academy Eindhoven.
He call it a Mine kafon. When it rolls over a mine it destroy it.
It is made from bamboo and biodegradable plastics and it has a GPS chip integrated in it. With this chip it is possible to follow its movement and see were it went, where are the safest paths to walk on and how many land mines are destroyed in that area. One Kafon costs about 40 euros.

During the shooting of the film it was proven that the prototypes work, now Hassani is in the process of finding collaborative partners – technical companies, fundings and governments – to start to produce these live saving deminers.
Read more about it at his website.

Hat tip mo greens.

Free For The Weekend? Israel-Loves-Iran Part 2

In the field of peacebuilding there is something called an “envisioned shared future.” It is when the opposing sides in any conflict stop for a minute and think.  It’s a ceasefire of the mind, if you will.  In the field of social advertising, few things show this better than two recent posters from the Israel-Loves-Iran campaign.  Fellow blogger and creative mastermind Marc Van Gurp originally posted about this wonderfully positive campaign here and is worth a second and third look. 

more after the break

Where childhood thrives, war does not

War Child Canada has just launched a campaign to raise awareness of the need to protect the childhood of millions of children living in war-affected communities.

The not-for-profit issued a press release today with the following explanation:

“If childhood is taken away and replaced with the brutality of war, the chances of a society becoming trapped in a cycle of violence and poverty are greatly increased.  War Child’s intention is to restore the opportunities for emotional, intellectual and social development that a stable childhood brings and thereby breaks that cycle,” said War Child’s COO, Dr. Lorna Read.  “Through this campaign, we are aiming to focus public attention on a way forward for children and communities affected by war and start a conversation around the importance of childhood in fostering peace.  We believe that childhood is one of the most precious of resources, and we have a responsibility to protect it, rescue it, and restore it.”

Online, a video PSA directed by Henry Lu uses children’s playthings as a metaphor for how happier childhoods can prevent the situations that lead to children becoming soldiers and terrorists. Toronto’s john st. created the campaign pro-bono, with travel courtesy a donation of one million Aeroplan Miles from Aeroplan’s Beyond Miles Program.

[video after the break]