On December 10th, 1948, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at its meeting in the Palais de Chaillot in Paris, and called upon all member states to publicize the text of the Declaration and “to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.”
To be honest, I can’t remember it being covered in school. I first came across it when I attended a meeting organized by the local branch of the United Nations Association in my home town of Malvern, addressed by a former British Ambassador to the UN, when I was in the sixth form, (i.e. about 18 years old). I was given a small leaflet which contained the text of the 30 articles – it was probably the first legal document I ever saw. More…
Wednesday morning I had a meeting in the offices of KATO, (the Kyrgyz Association of Tour Operators).
Just down the corridor from their office is that of the company that prints the stamps for the Kyrgyz office. A short while the executive Director of KATO took me into their office and we spent about 30 minutes looking through their catalogues. It was a very interesting visit – a paradise for serious stamp collectors.
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When I first came to Kyrgyzstan, back in 1995, people often quoted, almost as a mantra, that Kyrgyzstan was a multicultural society with over 80 nationalities represented in the population. It was so often quoted that it was easy to accept, remembering that the territory of the Kyrgyz Republic spanned the ancient trade route known as the Great Silk Road which travelled between mysterious Orient and Classical Europe. Then there were the mnigrations of Russian settlers followed by migrations on Dungans and Uighurs fleeing persecution in China and the forced migrations of the Stalinist era of the Soviet Union which saw Ukranians, Tartars, Koreans and other nationalities settling here.
At that time, the Akaev regime even adopted as a slogan the phrase: Kyrgyzstan Nash Obshe Dom – Kyrgyzstan: Our Common Home.
With the events of recent years in mind, (and in particular those in the South of the country earlier this year), when ethnic tensions rose to the fore and some of the ethnic Kyrgyz politicians have adopted the phrase “the titular nation”, the question of the ethnic composition of the country has assumed a growing importance. More…
There is a fair amount of discussion (in the business press – and ironically, on the internet) about the amount of time spent by workers surfing the net – the cost to business is supposed to run into hours and hours of lost production and millions of pounds, dollars, Euro or som.
It’s not just the internet, however, that distracts people. More…
It looks as if 2010 is going to end, at least in some respects, as it began.
Back in January, “Siberian air gripped Britain” as unusual High Pressure systems massed over the Atlantic from November 2009 onwards, blocking the customary Westerly winds that would normally bring mild weather to Western Europe. The result was that they were replaced by Easterly winds which brought with them uncharacteristically harsh weather conditions that are normally associated with the more remote regions of the Russian Federation.
Well, it seems as if the same is happening now. More…
I was listening to a podcast from the BBC last September which referred to an article in a British newspaper which announced that there were some 10 million people who were disabled in Britain, and yet more than 90% of people had never invited a disabled person into their home for a social occasion.
Apparently, one of the regular listeners to the “More or Less” programme on Radio Four, (which “investigates numbers in the news”), wrote in and asked them to look into these claims. She pointed out that 10 million people represented about a sixth of the population and she thought this was quite a high figure. More…
The kids have had an extended half term holiday. The school remained closed after the usual week’s break because there were problems with the heating system. It took the school authorities two weeks to resolve the issue – and they tell that, even now, the school is still quite cold. More…
Today has been a busy day.
About half way through, the phone rang, and Lisa transferred it to me saying, “It’s a Mr. ****”.
Now, the name meant nothing to me. It was obviously an Anglophile name - so it wasn’t the police, (they had already called in connection with the bomb blast earlier this morning), or the Ministry, or anyone one else locally. Perhaps it was a tourist … that happens from time to time, somebody wants to talk about an itinerary and don’t want to wait for the exchange of emails. Maybe it was a guest stating in one of the hotels. Still, I had a strange feeling in my stomach, and with a little doubt in my voice I said, “OK, put him through.” More…
Today has been a busy day.
Before it had really go underway, I got a phone call from the hotel asking if I had heard, or felt, the explosion.
“Uhhh, No – what explosion?” More…
For several years now, some of the CBT, (Community Based Tourism), groups around the country have organized during the height of the Summer season, (July and August), small festivals in their own neighbourhoods. They have proved to be popular with tourists and locals alike, but are rarely crowded events so there is a good chance for people to get involved and experience something of the traditional nomadic culture. More…
