Stevie Wonder named UN Messenger of Peace

by Alison Brick on

Stevie Wonder is singing a new tune. Okay, not literally, but he has just taken on a new role: UN Messenger of Peace.

Blind since birth, Wonder will support the United Nations’ work, specifically to advocate for people with disabilities, through planned public appearances, interaction with international media, and humanitarian work.

The winner of 25 Grammy awards, Wonder may be best known for his singer-songwriter career. But he has long been an activist — spearheading the campaign to make Martin Luther King Jr. Day a holiday in the U.S., advocating for ending apartheid in South Africa, as well as writing and performing songs to benefit humanitarian issues.

Wonder is the latest of the celebrity UN Messengers of Peace — there are 11 in total — including George Clooney (peacekeeping), Michael Douglas (disarmament), and Charlize Theron (ending violence against women).

“I recognize that he has consistently used his voice and special relationship with the public to create a better and more inclusive world, to defend civil and human rights and to improve the lives of those less fortunate,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a statement.

Norway world’s best place to live

by Tom Johansmeyer on

I’m not sure if everybody wants to live in Norway, but it’s certainly at the top of the global list. The United Nations Development Program determined this based on data GDP, education and life expectancy – among other metrics – to find the best of the best, as well as the other end of the spectrum. The data’s from 2007, though, so it doesn’t reflect a post-financial crisis world.

Joining Norway are Australia and Iceland, the latter of which was a hot location until a year ago, when the entire country got an International Monetary Fund package normally reserved for the third-est of third-world countries. Yet, even with the recession in mind, Iceland (a favorite destination of mine) is still far better than Niger, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone, which sit at the bottom of the list. Several other sub-Saharan African states also ranked toward the bottom because of ongoing war and the proliferation of HIV/AIDS.

The spread is most evident in life expectancy, where a mailing address in Norway would add 30 years relative to Niger. In Niger, the current average life expectancy is 50. And, for every dollar that someone earns in Niger, the same person would pick up $85 in Norway. In Afghanistan, one can expect to live only 43.6 years.

Money matters, still. Lichtenstein continues to boast the world’s highest GDP per capital at $85,383. The 35,000 people who live there share the small principality with 15 banks and more than 100 wealth management companies. The Democratic Republic of Congo has the lowest income in the world: $298 per person per year.

The top climbers on the list for 2007 were China, Iran and Nepal.

World tourism to be slower than expected this year

by Tom Johansmeyer on

The UN World Tourism Organization just changed its mind about global travel and tourism this year. I guess forecasting is easy when you can always issue a new one … as long as the previous efforts are forgotten. Well, I wish I could tell you that the UN believes we’ve turned the corner – and that travel is going to spike this year. But, it isn’t. The group has added a bit more doom and gloom to its prediction, given continued economic instability and the swine flu situation.

Worldwide, the organization predicted a 4 percent to 6 percent international tourism decline for the year – this is down from the January prediction of zero to 2 percent. The changed direction coincides with the International Monetary Fund‘s sense of the global economic situation. In January, it called for economic growth of 2 percent this year. Now, it’s predicting a fall of 1.3 percent.

For the first four months of 2009, the World Tourism Organization noted an 8 percent drop in global tourism, with only 247 international tourism arrivals. Europe‘s results were more severe than those of the world as a whole, off 10 percent. Asia was down 6 percent, and Africa and South America were up 3 percent and 0.2 percent, respectively.

Even in tough times, everybody wants to go to France, which remained the top tourism destination with 79 million arrivals. The United States moved into second place for the first time since the September 11, 2001 attacks, reclaiming its position from Spain.

Undiscovered New York: Roosevelt Island

by Jeremy Kressmann on

The average visitor to New York has already seen Roosevelt Island. Or rather, they’ve seen it from a distance. You know that crazy island sitting in the middle of the East River across from Midtown? The one with the tram ride that lets you use your public transit card? Everyone knows it’s there, but not nearly as many make the effort to go for a visit. You know what? Let them miss out. A five-minute ride in an alpine-style gondola to arrive at one of the city’s least-trafficked destinations, boasting spooky abandoned hospitals, lush walking trails, quirky architecture and million-dollar views of Manhattan.

Ironically, from the 1820’s until the 1950’s most people on Roosevelt Island weren’t there for the scenery: they were trying desperately to get away. After the Blackwells sold their private island to the city in 1828, it was renamed Welfare Island and given a very different purpose as home to the city’s most notorious prisons, insane asylums and smallpox hospitals. Welfare Island was for many years a forbidden and isolated place, with a reputation that kept the curious at bay.

Want to learn more about this strange island’s history? Ready to leave your assumptions behind? Join Undiscovered New York as we investigate Roosevelt Island. Click below for what we found.The Tram Ride
Visiting Roosevelt Island doesn’t require any special boat trips. To get there, all you need is a New York City metrocard. By far the most popular way to travel is the Roosevelt Island Tramway. You can pick up the tramway at 59th Street and Second Avenue, with trips leaving every 15 minutes or so.

As the Swiss-engineered gondolas briskly lift you hundreds of feet above Midtown Manhattan, you’ll be treated to bird’s eye views of the 59th Street Bridge, the East River and the Manhattan skyline. Just 5 minutes or so later and you’re back on the ground, ready to explore Roosevelt Island. Afraid of heights? Travelers can also take the F Train to the Roosevelt Island stop.

Exploring the Smallpox Hospital
Get off the Tramway and head South towards Roosevelt Island’s premier attraction, the ruins of the 19th Century Smallpox hospital. This Gothic Revival hospital was first constructed in the 1850’s to help quarantine patients suffering from this particularly contagious diseases. More than 150 years later, the stone structure lays in ruins, empty windows whistling with the ghosts of lonely river breezes. A short walk away is the island’s empty southern tip offering visitors unbroken views of nearby Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens along the East River. This proverbial waterway, always the butt of New Yorker jokes, never looked so grand.

The Blackwell House and Octagon
Head back North the way you came. As you walk, make sure to enjoy the picturesque views of Manhattan’s UN Headquarters and Chrysler Building towering above you just across the river. We’re heading towards The Octagon, a famous architectural landmark on the Island’s northern edge. Take your time – this walk will take you about 20-30 minutes, bringing you through the island’s center.

About 15 minutes north is the Blackwell House, a remnant of the Island’s history as a private farm. Built in the late 1700’s, it is the oldest surviving structure on the island. The structure predates Roosevelt Island’s purchase by the city and its conversion to a large welfare complex of prisons and hospitals.

Finally as you continue your stroll, you’ll come to The Octagon, another of the Island’s most famous structures. Like many of the buildings on Roosevelt Island, this intriguing landmark started life as the entrance to a lunatic asylum opened in the 1840’s. Today you’d have to be crazy to turn down one of the building’s luxury residences, as it’s been turned into upscale condominiums. How times change.

Everglades to be put back on U.N. endangered list?

by Kraig Becker on

Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar is meeting with a task force charged with overseeing the restoration of the Florida Everglades this week. He intends to tell them that the Obama administration will ask the United Nations World Heritage Committee to put the national park back on its endangered list when the committee meet in Spain this week.

Two years ago, in what has been viewed as a controversial decision, the Bush administration requested that the U.N. remove the Everglades from the list. At the time, the Department of the Interior defended the decision by citing progress being made in protecting the region and the species that lived there, despite the fact that the restoration program had failed to meet milestones, and was billions over budget.

The current administration believes restoring the Everglades National Park to the list of endangered places will send a strong signal to environmentalists that they are committed to the protecting the environment. If restored to the list, the park will join the Galapagos Islands, the Old City of Jerusalem and Afghanistan’s Bamiyan Valley as the other World Heritage Sites considered to be in danger. The Everglades were originally added to the list back in 1993 when the area was damaged by Hurricane Andrew and the effects of prolonged exposure to water pollution became known.

Despite the issues effecting the park, the Everglades remains a popular tourist destination. There are more than 156 miles of canoe/kayak and hiking trails, with 47 designated campsites, inside the 2500 square miles of subtropical forest that define the parks boundaries. The Park Service reports that over one million visitors experience the Everglades each year.

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