39th Annual International Bazaar
The United Nations Women’s Guild’s International Annual
Charity Bazaar and Lottery 2007 took place at the Palais
des Nations on 20th November 2007.
This was an opportunity for the members of the
international community here in Geneva
to help children less privileged than their own
throughout the world. The overarching theme of this
year’s Bazaar was “every child has the right to
education”
More than 30 countries, including Afghanistan displayed
their national handicrafts, jewellery, clothing and gift
items to
raise money for children’s charities around the world.
Stand of Afghanistan reflected its rich cultural
identity and diversity
.
The Afghan handmade jewels, handicrafts, carpets,
tapestries, embroidery, woodworks, lapis work attracted
many enthusiastic visitors.
In addition to the
International Cultural Programmes
presented by many participating nations, the Bazaar also
offered
International food from more than 20 countries.
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President Karzai attended the World Economic Forum
Heading a high ranking government delegation, His
Excellency President Hamid Karzai attended the World
Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, from 22nd
– 25th January 2008.
His Excellency President Hamid Karzai opened this year’s
World Economic Forum annual meeting with calls for
greater efforts for peace in the region. His Excellency
President Karzai told over 2,500 participants that
millions around the world who before September the
eleventh were immune from the peril of terrorism faced a
new gruesome reality at home. “International terrorism
was not, however, born on 9/11 nor was it a surprise
that terrorists had chosen the World Trade Center”, the
President said.
The President urged that the world could no longer
remain undecided about the scourge of terrorism. The
President continued, “six years after September 11, the
world is still at war and terrorism far from being
defeated. While Afghanistan is still a critical
battlefield, a rapidly spreading war is engulfing the
wider region. Terrorist attacks have evolved in number,
tactics and brutality. Our strategies in this war have
often been short-changed by a host of deceptive rhetoric
or due to lingering misconceptions about the nature of
the enemy.”
Calling terrorism an ‘existential force’ and not a
‘conceptual challenge’, the President urged for greater
efforts to focus on eliminating the sanctuaries where
terrorists hide and recuperate and insisted that their
infrastructures in the region and their sources of
motivation, finance and networks for recruitment be
wiped out.
The President called on the governments in the region to
move beyond rhetoric and cease to seek the pursuit of
interests in the use of extremist politics.
Among speakers in the World Economic Forum were Pascal
Couchepin, President of the Swiss Confederation, Klaus
Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the WEF,
Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State and Rajendra K.
Pachauri Chairman, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change, who all spoke on issues that were top on the
agenda including terrorism and global warming.
The World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 opened with
participation by leaders from more than 30 governments,
media, NGOs, labor, academia, culture as well as young
global leaders and social entrepreneurs and with calls
to exercise “The Power of Collaborative Innovation” to
meet the top challenges of economic instability, climate
change and equitable growth.
His Excellency President Karzai in the context of the
WEF met with some of the visiting world leaders,
His Excellency Pascal Couchepin, President of the Swiss
Confederation, His Excellency Ban Ki-Moon
Secretary-General of the United Nations in New York,
Viktor A. Yushchenko, President of Ukraine, His
Excellency Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United
Kingdom, His Excellency Sali Berisha, Prime Minister of
Albania, His Excellency Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime
Minister of Netherlands, Her Excellency Condoleezza
Rice, United States Secretary of State and His
Excellency Shaukat Aziz former Prime Minister of
Pakistan to discuss issues of mutual interest.
His Excellency President Hamid
Karzai also attended a number of private and interactive
events, entitled The Quest for Peace and Stability,
Media Leader Coffee, Supporting the Peace Process
and a dinner hosted by Professor and Mrs. Schwab.
His Excellency President Hamid
Karzai was accompanied on this trip by His
Excellency Dr Rangin Dadfar
Spanta, Minister of Foreign Affairs, His
Excellency Dr Zalmay Rasoul,
National Security Advisor and His Excellency
Dr Anwarulhaq Ahadi, Minister
of Finance.
His Excellency President Hamid
Karzai also gave exclusive interviews to the CNN, the
Washington Post and the Newsweek on the sidelines of the
WEF.
