El directorio enciclopédico desde la Wikipedia.
The Carter Center is a nongovernmental, not-for-profit organization founded in 1982 by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter and his wife Rosalynn Carter. In partnership with Emory University, The Carter Center works to advance human rights and alleviate human suffering. The Center is governed by a Board of Trustees, consisting of many prominent business persons, educators, former government officials, and eminent philanthropists. The Atlanta-based center has helped to improve the quality of life for people in more than 70 countries. In 2002, President Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize for his work “to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development” through The Carter Center. [1]
[edit] Guiding PrinciplesThe Center’s motto – “Waging Peace. Fighting Disease. Building Hope.” – highlights the two core program areas for Carter Center activities. Peace Programs strengthen democracy, mediate and prevent conflicts, advance human rights, and monitor elections around the world. Health Programs seek the control and eradication of diseases such as Guinea worm disease, river blindness, malaria, trachoma, lymphatic filariasis, and schistosomiasis, work to diminish the stigma against mental illnesses, and improve nutrition through increased crop production in Africa. Work in these areas is guided by five principles:
[edit] HistoryThe Center strives to give millions of the world’s poorest people access to skills and knowledge they can use to identify solutions that will improve their own lives. In its first 25 years, the Center achieved a number of milestones, including:
[edit] GovernanceThe Center is governed by a board of trustees, which oversees the organization’s assets and property and promotes its objectives and goals. The board is chaired by John J. Moores. A community advisory group – the Board of Councilors – includes public and private-sector leaders who support The Carter Center and its activities in their communities and organizations. Members attend quarterly presentations on the Center’s work. President and CEO John Hardman oversees the Center’s day-to-day operations and staff of 160, which includes international experts in the fields of peace and health. More than 100 student interns from universities around the world assist the staff each year. Center-based councils of eminent persons who offer guidance to or participate in Center activities include: the Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas, the International Council for Conflict Resolution, the International Task Force for Disease Eradication, and the Mental Health Task Force. The Carter Center also collaborates with other public and private organizations. The Carter Center is located next to the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum on 37 acres (150,000 m2) of parkland two miles from downtown Atlanta, Georgia. The library and museum are owned and operated separately by the United States National Archives. [edit] Peace ProgramsThe Center’s peace programs work to advance human rights, strengthen democracy, promote economic development, and prevent and resolve conflict. Major Center initiatives in these areas include: [edit] Observing ElectionsThe Carter Center is a trusted pioneer of election observation, sending teams of observers to determine the legitimacy of 70 elections in 28 countries since 1989. [5] Carter Center observers analyze election laws, assess voter education and registration processes, and evaluate fairness in campaigns. The presence of impartial election observers deters interference or fraud in the voting process, and reassures voters that they can safely and secretly cast their ballots and that vote tabulation will be conducted without tampering. Teams typically include 30-100 highly qualified impartial observers – regional leaders, political scientists, regional specialists, and election observation professionals. The Carter Center sends observers only when invited by a country’s electoral authorities and welcomed by the major political parties. Observers do not interfere in the electoral process and do not represent the U.S. government. [6] The Center played a key role – with the U.N. Electoral Assistance Division and the National Democratic Institute – in building consensus on a common set of international principles for election observation. [7] It is also leading the effort to develop effective methodologies for observing elections that employ new electronic voting technologies. [8] [edit] Strengthening Democracy Beyond ElectionsThe Carter Center supports the growth of democratic institutions to ensure that there is a respect for rule of law and human rights, that government decisions are open and transparent, and that everyone can have adequate resources to compete fairly for public office. For example, the Center is supporting the efforts of civic leaders in Ethiopia to convene discussions about the most pressing and contentious political and social issues facing the country, and in the Palestinian Territories, it maintains a small presence in Ramallah focused on the ongoing monitoring and analysis of critical issues of democratic development. [9] Democratic initiatives in Latin America include support for regional access-to-information programs, creation of an inter-American support network, and reform of political campaign financing. The Center-based Council of Presidents and Prime Ministers of the Americas plays an important role in accomplishing these objectives. [10] The Carter Center also promotes the dissemination to emerging democracies and regional organizations of models, lessons, and best practices for democratic governance. The goal is to empower those in transitioning countries who are trying to build stronger democratic institutions and practices. [edit] Advancing Human RightsThe Carter Center believes all people are entitled to basic human rights. These rights include political rights, such as peace, freedom, and self-governance, as well as the social rights of health care, food, shelter, and economic opportunity. The Center actively supports human rights defenders around the world. In partnership with Human Rights First and the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Center holds an annual human rights defenders policy forum hosted by President Carter in Atlanta. [11] President and Mrs. Carter have intervened with heads of state on behalf of human rights defenders and victims for more than 20 years. They often take their human rights concerns to heads of state in personal meetings and through letters. The Center and President Carter are strong supporters of the U.N. Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court. Both oppose the death penalty and urge its abolition in the U.S. [edit] Mediating ConflictRecalling President Carter’s success in the White House negotiating the long-lasting peace treaty between Israel and Egypt,[12] groups in conflict turn to The Carter Center to help them prevent and resolve conflict. Lacking any official authority, the Center has become a trusted broker for peace, serving as a channel for dialogue and negotiation. Recent examples include:
[edit] Assisting China Village ElectionsSince 1988, the Chinese government has authorized direct village elections to help maintain social and political order in the context of rapid economic reforms. At the invitation of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, The Carter Center initiated a joint project in 1998 to standardize Chinese village election procedures and assist in training of election officials and elected National People’s Congress deputies. [edit] Health ProgramsThe Center has prevented the suffering of millions of people around the world from illnesses often ignored by others. Health programs seek to provide people with the information and access to services they need to treat their illnesses and take steps to prevent future spread of disease. An emphasis is placed on building partnerships for change among international agencies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and corporations and on working with ministries of health to strengthen or establish permanent health care delivery systems in the poorest nations. [edit] Leading Disease Eradication EffortsWhen The Carter Center began spearheading the campaign to eradicate Guinea worm in 1986, there were 3.5 million cases of the disease in 20 countries in Africa and Asia. Today, there are approximately 10,000 cases, and most of these are in just two countries: Sudan and Ghana. [21] Guinea worm is poised to be the first parasitic disease eliminated from earth and the only disease to be eradicated without the use of vaccines or medicines. The Carter Center is uniquely positioned to lead an international campaign to eradicate Guinea worm disease, possessing access to international leaders, technical expertise, and strong partnerships with local, national, and international agencies. Within affected countries, the Center reinforces existing disease eradication programs by providing technical and financial assistance, as well as logistics and tools, such as donated filter cloth material, larvicide, and medical kits. [22] The International Task Force for Disease Eradication has been based at The Carter Center since its formation in 1988. The group has reviewed more than 100 infectious diseases and identified six as potentially eradicable – dracunculiasis, poliomyelitis, mumps, rubella, lymphatic filariasis, and cysticercosis. [23] [edit] Implementing Disease Control and Treatment MeasuresSince 1996, the Center has been a leader in the fight against onchocerciasis, commonly known as river blindness – a parasitic disease transmitted by the bites of black flies. The Center has worked to stop spread of the disease in 11 countries across Africa and the Americas by helping residents and local health workers institute and sustain drug treatment programs and health education activities. The international river blindness campaign seeks to eliminate the disease from the Western Hemisphere by 2012. [24] The Center has distributed more than 100 million doses of Mectizan – a drug donated by Merck & Co., Inc., that treats and prevents river blindness. [25] Center health workers also prevent transmission of trachoma – a bacterial infection that is the leading cause of preventable blindness worldwide. Trachoma is prevalent in places that lack the tools for basic hygiene, clean water, and adequate sanitation. The Center follows the World Health Organization’s four-pronged approach – called the SAFE strategy – to fight trachoma in six African countries. [26] The Trachoma Control Program is working to improve sanitation in those communities by building latrines, providing corrective surgery, distributing antibiotics, and educating communities on basic hygiene. Since 2004, The Carter Center has helped to build nearly 500,000 latrines in its effort to fight trachoma. The latrines contain and prevent human waste from serving as a breeding ground for the disease-carrying flies, thereby reducing one way the disease is spread. [27] Lymphatic filariasis and malaria are mosquito-born diseases also targeted by The Carter Center. The Center has distributed 3 million long-lasting insecticidal bed nets in Ethiopia. It has also established drug distribution systems in Nigeria to treat and stem the spread of lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis. [28] [edit] Training public health workersThe Carter Center believes in building networks of village-based health care workers to treat people for various diseases at the same time. Emphasis is on helping national and local governments establish programs that they can sustain into the future. Since 1997, the Center established with the Ethiopian ministries of health and education the Ethiopia Public Health Training Initiative to improve academic training for health care personnel in Ethiopia and increase access to health care in rural communities throughout the country. [edit] Strengthening agricultural productionIn partnership with the Sasakawa Africa Association, the Center has worked since 1986 in 15 sub-Saharan African countries to teach 8-10 million small-scale farmers improved techniques that double or triple their crop yields. [29] The program promotes use of fertilizers and crop protection chemicals, soil fertility, and environmentally friendly agronomic methods of crop production. It also supports efforts to construct quality grain storage to sustain market prices for the farmer and ensure greater food security, establish farmers' associations, and use quality food crops such as high-protein maize. [edit] Reducing stigma of mental illnessRosalynn Carter leads the Center’s efforts to fight stigma associated with mental illness. The Center works to improve U.S. public policies that can help prevent mental illnesses and increase equity in mental health care, holding an annual symposium with national leaders in mental health and other fields. The Center also seeks to raise public awareness of mental health issues globally through the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism, which enable journalists to explore mental health issues. To date, more than 75 journalists have participated in the program. [30] [edit] AccoladesPresident Carter received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his work through The Carter Center. [1] The Carter Center received the inaugural Delta Prize for Global Understanding in 1999 – an award administered by the University of Georgia. [31] In 2006, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation presented The Carter Center with the Gates Award for Global Health. [32] [edit] Beyond the White HouseBeyond the White House: Waging Peace, Fighting Disease, Building Hope chronicles the 25 years of The Carter Center. It was written by President Carter and published October 2, 2007, by Simon & Schuster. [edit] ControversyThe Carter Center occasionally receives criticism for its election observation work. Some individuals have disputed the Center’s endorsement of the electoral process in the Venezuelan recall referendum of 2004. [33] Doug Schoen told Michael Barone at U.S. News and World Report, "Our internal sourcing tells us that there was fraud in the Venezuelan central commission. There are widespread reports of irregularities and evidence of fraud, many of them ably recorded by Mary Anastasia O'Grady in the Wall Street Journal last week. Carter is untroubled by any of this, and declares that Chavez won 'fair and square.'" [34][35][36] The release of President Carter's book Palestine Peace Not Apartheid created controversy for The Carter Center. Dr. Kenneth W. Stein resigned his position as a Center fellow, and this was followed by the resignation of 14 members of the Board of Councilors. However, none of the Center's governing board of trustees resigned. Regarding global health program, numerous NGOs have reported great difficulties working with the Carter Center, as the organization rarely wants to work collaboratively, and has often slighted or not acknowledged the work completed by various NGOs and private sector firms involved in their work.[citation needed] [edit] Notes
[edit] External links[edit] See also
Directorio de Enlaces Directorio dmoz Directorio espejo dmoz Pedro Bernardo | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
