| EDITORIAL
2005: année de l'amour ou du
microcrédit?
2005: Year of Love or of Microcredit?
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2005: Year of Love or of Microcredit?
Just as the French Revolution instituted its own calendar, the UN is
about to do the same. The only difference is that the numbers are replaced
by important themes. 2002 was the International Year of Mountains and
Ecotourism, 2003 the Year of Freshwater, 2004 the International Year
of Rice (by the way, dont forget to send your recipes to UNSpecial
unspecial@unece.org) and 2005 is going to be the International Year
of Microcredit. As for the UN « Saints Days », they
bear very poetic names such as: International Mother Language Day; United
Nations Day for Womens Rights and International Peace; World Book
and Copyright Day; World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and
Development; United Nations Public Service Day; World Teachers
Day or World Post Day and
many others.
The only thing missing from this endless list is love.
I know you are going to tell me that I am awfully naive and my ideas
reminiscent of the « Peace and Love » generation, which
has long been forgotten. And you are so right! Love will never have
a place in a magazine like UN Special and even less so in a serious
organization such as the United Nations.
That is why the international day of love, Valentines Day, is
taken care of by the private sector, which has time to waste on such
trivialities. Here we are serious. Love? We dont know what it
is
Just imagine what a UN document on the World Year of Love would look
like. It would start with a definition of the word love:
[love] a[n] [intense] [feeling] of [deep affection] between [two] [persons]
of the [opposite] [same] sex, including [deep] [sexual] [attraction]
(the terms between brackets have not been accepted by all parties).
And just imagine what a workshop on this topic would be like, with all
the delegates sharing their national experiences and who knows
even drawing up recommendations or guidelines.
Or what about an administrative circular asking the heads of department
to include love in all the activities of the Secretariat? No, it couldnt
happen! Love is a private feeling which cannot be debated
in public. Its not like hatred or violence, which are collective
feelings that merit documents, seminars and additional surveys.
However, if despite all this, Mr. Secretary-General, the General Assembly
decides in its wisdom to declare 2005 the International Year of Love
instead of Microcredit, UN Special is ready to help you intellectually
as well as physically (!) to ensure its success.
Happy New Year!
Editor-in-Chief, Jean Michel Jakobowicz
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