Activity Gardens at pre-schools

Hope for Children, the British charity working in Sri Lanka, has pledged to support the Siddhartha Child Development Foundation (SCDF) to set up Activity Gardens (sellam midula) in 40 pre-schools throughout the island, especially in remote areas. This is one of the activities the charity will be carrying out for the National Year of Children.

Earlier, the charity supported the SCDF to set up eight such Activity Gardens in pre-schools in Panamure, Omalpe, Katuwana, Galapitamada, Galadivula, Weligama, Kaudulla and Thiranagama.

These Activity Gardens use low cost, indigenous material, which can be easily collected from the surrounding areas. Some of the items in the Activity Gardens are coconut shell ladder, elevated hut log bridge, suspended bridge, rope ladder, railway line and tunnel made out of old tyres.

They can also be replaced with very little expense. The process of setting up the Activity Gardens brings together members of the school community, teachers, parents and the children.

Keeping the peace

You may know that personnel from the Sri Lanka Army are actively serving in Haiti, as United Nations Peacekeepers. In fact, a few of them even made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty, during their tenure in this strife-torn country in the Caribbean region.

Who are UN Peacekeepers? They are personnel derived from UN member states, sent to different places around the world where conflicts have recently ceased. Their tasks are to ensure that the terms of peace agreements are maintained, and to discourage combatants from returning to hostilities. Many have lost their lives, far away from their birthplaces, in the cause of peace.

It is to honour such personnel that tomorrow (May 29) has been dedicated as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers (IDUNP).

In 2002, the UN General Assembly designated May 29 of each year as International Day of UN Peacekeepers, to pay tribute to all the men and women who have served and continue to serve in UN peacekeeping operations, for their high level of professionalism, dedication and courage, and to honour the memory of those who have lost their lives in the cause of peace.

The Assembly invited all member states, organisations of the UN system, non-governmental organisations and individuals to observe the Day in an appropriate manner.

The first UN peacekeeping mission was established at the UN Headquarters in New York, USA in 1948. Ever since, they have been deployed to countries across the globe, to maintain peace, law and order. They operate under the clause in the UN Charter "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war". The demand for such missions is at its highest now.

Over 66,000 uniformed personnel and almost 15,000 civilians are currently involved in over 17 peacekeeping operations around the world, maintaining cease-fires and monitoring borders, disarming former combatants, fostering reconciliation, facilitating the delivery of humanitarian assistance, helping refugees and displaced people to return home, and ensuring conditions for democratic elections, rule of law, reconstruction and economic recovery.

All such peacekeeping operations have to be approved by the UN Security Council.

In his message to mark the IDUNP, UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan says, "Peacekeeping missions can never end wars by themselves, yet they offer the best possible way of ensuring there's sustainable peace.

"The most expensive peacekeeping operation still costs far less than the cheapest war". The services and sacrifices of UN Peacekeeping Forces were recognised in 1988, when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to them.