The former United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon, appointed in 2015 Jean Todt as his Special Envoy for Road Safety. He was reconfirmed in this role by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, in 2017 and in 2021. The Special Envoy contributes, among other things, to mobilize sustained political commitment to make road safety a priority; to advocate and raise awareness of UN legal instruments on road safety; to share established good practices in this area; to striving to generate adequate funding through strategic partnerships between the public, private and non-governmental sectors. As part of these efforts, in 2018, together with 14 UN organizations, the Special Envoy launched the UN Road Safety Fund (UNRSF). Special Envoy brochure and X account.

Kind regards,

Rasyidah

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UNITED NATIONS

THE SECRETARY-GENERAL

13 June 2024

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Every year on 21 September, the United Nations invites the world to mark the International Day of Peace. This year’s focus is on “Cultivating a culture of peace”.

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In a world mired by conflict, inequalities, and discrimination, we must strive ever harder to promote dialogue, empathy, and human rights for all.

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As we begin the 100-day countdown to Peace Day,let us plant the seeds for non-violence, justice, and hope.

www.peacedayphilly.org

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Earlier this week, Henry Kissinger, a former U.S. Secretary of State and national security advisor, passed away at the age of 100. While he left mixed feelings on his actions over the course of his career, there’s no question that Kissinger had left an influential mark on politics

Kissinger was actually the first Jewish Secretary of State when he was sworn into office, which would later become a pressure point to the Nixon administration, becoming a key factor on said pressure with Israel when it came to withdraw from approaching Cairo and Damascus during the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

But the interesting thing is how Kissinger’s passing actually relates to current politics. Antony Blinken, also Jewish, now serves as Secretary of State, and is actually visited Israel this week to meet with leaders over the ongoing ceasefire in the war against Hamas.

The reason this comes up is because of the pressure that now comes from the Biden administration, though on a much different level than what Nixon’s did, in regards to the message they’re trying to convey. Not to mention the significance of their involvement in the 2024 Presidential election, which will no doubt draw both pro-Israel voters, as well as millions of Jews and Christians.

With us now to talk about Kissinger’s legacy and how it has these interesting ties with the modern political scene is Jonathan Feldstein, a key Israeli figure and founder of the Genesis 123 Foundation (based on Genesis 12:3). His expertise in what’s happening in Israel should prove useful with this discussion. We welcome him to the show.

About Jonathan Feldstein…

Jonathan lives in Israel and has a son and son-in-law currently serving in the IDF. He has established an emergency fund through his Genesis 123 Foundation:

Israel has suffered barrages of thousands of rockets and missiles fired at Israeli communities creating death, damage, injuries, fear and trauma. The security threats, deaths, injuries, and trauma are at a level unseen in years.

The Genesis 123 Foundation is standing in the gap to provide emergency needs including civilian security, soldiers’ welfare, those suffering trauma, people whose homes have been destroyed, and emergency medical needs.

Every donation of any size makes a huge difference. https://love.genesis123.co/

Jonathan Feldstein is president and founder of The Genesis 123 Foundation. Jonathan was born and educated in the U.S. and immigrated to Israel in 2004. He is married and the father of six.

Throughout his life and career, he has been blessed by the calling to fellowship with Christians to serve as a bridge between Jews and Christians and to help connect Christians to Israel in a meaningful way.

#henrykissinger #politics #jonathanfeldstein #author #secretaryofstate #genesis123foundation #genesis123

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This year’s International Day of Peace comes at a crisis point for humanity.

COVID-19 has turned our world upside-down.

Conflicts are spinning out of control.

The climate emergency is worsening.

Inequality and poverty are deepening.

And mistrust and division are driving people apart at a time when solidarity and collaboration are needed more than ever.

As a human family, we face a stark choice —

Peace or perpetual peril.

We must choose peace.

That is why I call for a 24-hour ceasefire today.

And by working in solidarity for a lasting, sustainable peace every day, we can tackle the issues facing us.

We need peace to urgently deliver lifesaving vaccines and treatment for COVID-19.

We need peace to recover from the pandemic and re-build shattered systems and shattered lives.

We need peace to level the playing field and reduce inequalities.

We need peace to renew trust in one another — and faith in facts and science.

And we need to make peace with nature — to heal our planet, build a green economy, and achieve our net-zero targets.

Peace is not a naïve dream.

It’s a light in the darkness.

Guiding us to the only pathway to a better future for humanity.

Let’s walk the pathway of peace as if our lives depended on it.

Because they do.

Thank you.

#internationaldayofpeace #antonioguterres #unsecretarygeneral #un #secretarygeneral #peace #peaceday #humanity #covid #crisispoint #vaccines #pandemic #dream #pathway #climate #emergency

The post UN SECRETARY GENERAL’S MESSAGE FOR PEACE DAY 2021 appeared first on Good News!.

#water #hour #un #peace #bell #pete #seeger #equinox #earth #day #john #mcconnell #secretary #spring #hemisphere

The post The Water Hour UN Peace Bell with Pete Seeger “Classic Good News” 03/26/09 appeared first on Good News!.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvf3MLw_l7Y

This is Religions for Peace website – www.rfp.org
More information on me here
We minimise on printing on paper whenever we can, so all we have is available digitally.
Let me know if/when you have any particular questions.
With gratitude & Appreciation,
Azza
Prof. Azza Karam (Ph.D.)
Secretary General
BUILDING TOGETHER BETTER
Support the Multi-religious Humanitarian Fund

#azza #karam #secretary #general #religions #peace #building #together #katherine #marshall #heroes #role #models #spiritual #exemplars #interfaith #practice #rfp #elijah #institute

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Remembering Samuel Pisar, Holocaust Survivor, Special Envoy for Holocaust Education by Judith Pisar
“In Memoriam Hungarian Composers,
Victims of Holocaust”
A Concert by world-renowned musicians,
Professors and students of the Franz Liszt Academy of Music (Budapest)
Violin: Vilmos Szabadi
Cello: Eszter Karasszon
Piano: Mariann Marczi
Lajos Delej: Scherzo Béla Bartók-Tivadar Országh: Hungarian Folksongs Imre Sárossi: Pastorale Zoltán Kodály: Transylvanian Lament György Justus: Jazz suite – Waltz, Tango Béla Bartók: Hungarian Folksongs Ferenc Vecsey: Valse triste György Justus: Elegiaque
A Talk by Ágnes Kőry, Director of the Béla Bartók Centre for Musicianship (London)

Judith Pisar has devoted her career to building cultural bridges across the Atlantic. As President of Arts France-USA, an organization committed to cultural exchange between the two countries, she regularly produces concerts and festivals of American music in Paris – including tributes to Leonard Bernstein, George Gershwin, Broadway, Duke Ellington and Louis Armstrong. Prior to that she served for 17 years as Chairman of the American Center of Paris, the avant-garde meeting place for French and American artists. In that capacity she selected Frank Gehry to design a new building in 1988 – one of his first in Europe. Described by Philip Johnson as “America’s Cultural Czarina in Europe,” she has also served on the French Ministry of Culture’s Conseil Supérieur du Mécénat, on the board of the Régine Chopinot Ballet and as a founding signatory of the World Charter against Cancer. Earlier in her career, she served as Director of Music at the Brooklyn Academy, Executive Director of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and founded The Composer Speaks, a lecture bureau which brought some of the greatest composers of the 20th Century — Pierre Boulez, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Iannis Xenakis, John Cage, Luciano Berio and others — to cities and universities throughout the United States. She is an Officer of the French Legion of Honor and a Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Performers
Vilmos Szabadi (violin)
Mr. Szabadi is Hungary’s foremost violinist, a regular soloist and frequent guest artist in the most prestigious concert halls around the world. Vilmos Szabadi studied at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music of Budapest where on receiving his diploma, he became the youngest ever to join the Professors’ team. His career as an international Concert violinist took off when he played Bartók 2nd Violin Concerto during the Bartók Festival at the Royal Festival Hall in London. The success of this Concert, led to invitations from the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra as well. Mr. Szabadi was also among the privileged musicians invited by HRH Prince Charles to perform at the celebration in honor of Sir Georg Solti’s 80th birthday held at the Buckingham Palace in 1992. In 1993 the prestigious “Franz Liszt” prize has been awarded to Vilmos Szabadi by the Hungarian Government. In 1995 he also appeared on the Stradivarius series, played the Strad violin owned by Spanish Royalty in Madrid. Mr. Szabadi is a recent double prize winner of the renowned MIDEM Festival in Cannes, France. He plays a cremonese Laurentius STORIONI instrument dated 1778.

Mariann Marczi (piano)
Mariann Marczi started playing piano at the age of four and now she holds a PhD from Franz Liszt Academy of Budapest, where she is a Professor. Ms. Marczi is a winner of many national and international awards, scholarships and piano competitions. She performed almost in every country in Europe, and she is also a frequent guest artist at many music festivals, such as the Bartók Festival; Prague-Wien-Budapest Festival etc. Her repertoire includes a wide range of works from early Baroque to contemporary music. Ms. Marczi turns with particular attention towards the works of J. S. Bach, Béla Bartók and György Kurtág. Since 2012 she is also a member of the World Piano Teachers Association and she often participates as lecturer at international conferences, such as the World Piano Conference (Novi Sad, Serbia) and the London International Piano Symposium.
Eszter Karasszon (cello)
Eszter Karasszon is a young Hungarian cellist, student at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music of Budapest. She is already a winner of many national and international awards, such as the Dohnányi Chamber Competition (2013) and the VI. David Popper Competition (2015). In 2010 she has been granted a scholarship giving her the possibility to participate in a master class of Indiana String Academy to Janos Starker. Ms. Karasszon has not only performed in Hungary but in many European countries and in the United States as well.
Ágnes Kőry (talk)
Hungarian-born Ágnes Kőry is a graduate of the Béla Bartók Conservatoire Budapest, Royal Academy of Music London (DipRAM) and University of London (MPhil). An ex-professional cellist, she focuses on research into a variety of fields (which include baroque string instruments, composers Béla Bartók and Zoltán Kodály, Holocaust history ). Ágnes Kőry presented her papers on musicological conferences (University of Edinburgh, University of London, University of Manchester, Institute of Musicology Budapest) . She is an author of many musicological journals such as the Galpin Society Journal, Studia Musicologica, Early Music, The Consort, Ethnomusicological Forum and Parlando. Ágnes Kőry’s scholarly papers are also published on a variety of scholarly websites in the United States, United Kingdom, Hungary and Israel. Ágnes Kőry is a regular contributor to classical music websites. Ágnes Kőry leads the Béla Bartók Centre for Musicianship (London), where specialized musicianship training coexists with comprehensive music education

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Mario (June 15, 1932 – January 1, 2015) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party. He served as the 52nd Governor of New York for three terms, from 1983 to 1994, Lieutenant Governor of New York from 1979 to 1982 and Secretary of State of New York from 1975 to 1978.

Cuomo was known for his liberal views and public speeches, particularly his keynote speech at the 1984 Democratic National Convention where he criticized Ronald Reagan’s policies. The speech brought him to national attention, and he was widely considered a front-runner for the Democratic nomination for President in both 1988 and 1992, but he declined to seek the nomination in both instances. His legacy as a reluctant standard-bearer for the Democrats in presidential elections led to him being dubbed “Hamlet on the Hudson”.

Cuomo was defeated for a fourth term as Governor by George Pataki in the Republican Revolution of 1994, and he subsequently retired from politics. He was the father of five, including Andrew Cuomo, the current Governor of New York, and journalist Chris Cuomo, currently at CNN.

He died of natural causes due to heart failure in Manhattan, New York City, on New Year’s Day, 2015.

for more info, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Cuomo

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September 30, 2013

Treaty Room

Washington, D.C.

SECRETARY KERRY:  Good afternoon, everybody.  It’s my great pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister of Israel here and to the State Department.  I think – (audio feedback).  Ta-da.  (Laughter).

Obviously, I’ve had a number of very generous, warm welcomes as I have visited Israel and the Mideast frequently.  I think I’ve been probably the most frequent visitor; I should get frequent flyer miles for my visits to the Prime Minister’s office.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  We couldn’t afford it.  (Laughter)

SECRETARY KERRY:  But it is more than safe to say that the Prime Minister and I are every meeting forging a better and better relationship, a stronger and stronger friendship on a very personal level.  And I’m very grateful to him for his very generous welcomes to me, the amount of time he has spent with me in Jerusalem working through very complicated but very, very important issues.

Israel, as everybody knows, is a very special friend to the United States of America.  And we have just had a very constructive luncheon with the President and a very important meeting before that with a larger group of people.  And now the Prime Minister and I will talk about both Iran, the Middle East peace process, Syria, and issues of concern.

We are committed to continuing to work constructively to move forward on the peace process, though it is always difficult, complicated.  We know that.  But we’re working in good faith.  I have confidence in the Prime Minister’s commitment to this effort, and I also want him to know that as we reach out to respond to Iran’s efforts to purportedly change its relationship with the world, we do so very aware of and sensitive to the security needs of Israel and the demands for certainty and transparency and accountability in this process.

So I look forward today to furthering our conversation, and I’m very, very happy to finally welcome the Prime Minister here to the State Department.

PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU:  Mr. Secretary, thank you.  John, it’s good to be with you.  We have if not the whole world, a good chunk of it to discuss, and we do so as friends and as people seriously committed to both achieving security and a durable peace.  These are hard things to achieve, but none better than you and us to try to do it together.

SECRETARY KERRY:  Thank you.  Thanks, partner.

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