7th April 2014 Rwanda 20 years on - a Commemoration event in Rome

Under the sponsorship of the municipality of Rome, the NGO Bene Rwanda with the contribution of John Cabot University and in collaboration with the Budapest Centre for the International Prevention of Genocide and Mass Atrocities organized, in the Sala della Protomoteca in Campidoglio, the event "Rwanda 20 years on". A commemoration day in remembrance of the Tutsi genocide that took place in the country in 1994. The event represented the occasion for the numerous high school students, journalists and  representatives of academic and public institutions present to revive and reflect on one of the most tragic pages of our contemporary history.
Direct evidences from survivors and an intense debate on the historical context and on the responsibilities of the international community and in particular on those of France, who leaded Opération Turquoise, the military operation established to stop atrocities,  moved more by political interests rather than by humanitarian concerns, helped the audience better understand what was going on in the small African country 20 years ago.

Programme details with the painting Years on (2013) by Bruce Clarke

After participating the event, I would like to think that the surgical and atrocious elimination of hundreds of thousands of Tutsi, at that time voluntarily unheard and hidden to the public opinion, will have a sense in the end and that all those victims will contribute to model different United Nations institutions. New reforms should envisage voting systems able to really defend the interests of the humanity as a whole and not the mere political and economic interests of single states. The current veto system used by the permanent members of the Security Council weights a ton, but how can we believe in substantial reforms when those members are also the top economies of the world?
Rwanda genocide  favoured the creation of the International Criminal Court and the emergence of the Responsibility to Protect approach but what it's happening right now in Syria and could happen  in Central Africa Republic teach us that more needs to be done soon.

How much water is needed? Great infographic from FAO

Land & Water Division from the Natural Resources and Environment Department at FAO is responsible for disseminating research papers and inform the general public as well as interested institutions, authorities and politicians on  strategies for agricultural water management addressing water use efficiency and productivity, and best practices for water use and conservation. 

In particular the Division aims at developing the following targets:

• Integrated water resources management, 
• Water harvesting, groundwater, 
• Use of non-conventional water, 
• Modernization of irrigation systems, 
• On-farm water management, water-quality management, 
• Agriculture-wetlands interactions, drought impact mitigation,
• Institutional capacities, 
• National water strategies and policies, and
• River basin and transboundary waters management. 

The division has recently released an interesting infographic listing the quantity of water needed for the production of common beverages and foods to make the public aware of how every day gestures like taking a coffee or eating a sandwich require the use of huge amounts of water.

7th edition of World Urban Forum starting next Saturday in Medellin, Colombia

From next Saturday Medellin, second-largest city in Colombia and capital of Antioquia district, will hold the 7th edition of the World Urban Forum. More than 23,000 participants representing 160 countries already registered and are expected to gather for the Forum. The World Urban Forum (WUF) is convened by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) city every two years, to examine the most pressing issues facing the world today in the area of human settlements, including rapid urbanization and its impact on cities, communities, economies, climate change and policies. It is considered the World’s Premier Conference on Cities. According to current estimations, almost two-thirds of the world's urban population live in cities where income inequality has increased since the 1980s. In many cases, this increase has been staggering. The them chosen for this edition “Urban Equity in Development - Cities for Life” will point the discussion on inequalities present in urban spaces, with cities divided by invisible borders that take the form of social, cultural and economic exclusion. Slums popping up at the border of cities in most developing countries in the world are emblematic symbols of these marginalization and the face of poverty and urban inequality continue to raise perpetuating the lack of access to basic services and political representation to the most vulnerable communities. For example  1 - Gender inequality persists, preventing women from accessing secondary education, decent employment, political representation, and reproductive health care.  2 - Youth inequalities manifest in discrimination in access to education, differentiated levels of employment and livelihood opportunities, Cities, then, being the setting for the marginalization of most of the people potentially harmed by inequality are a critical component in addressing the problem.

Urban settings can contribute from different perspectives in facing the phenomenon as their  

1) Design, 

2) Governance, and 

3) Infrastructures

have direct impact on the lives and opportunities of their inhabitants. The key points of discussion for the upcoming conference have been identified in a concept paper released by UN-HABITAT in July 2014. 

Don't forget to contribute to the Forum with your tweets using official account @WorldUrbanForum and hashtag  #WUF7