Thursday, 24 May 2012
You may know the 6 Degrees of Separation theory: you and I are connected to every other person on earth through at most six other people.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is launching a week-long campaign in which users of the popular online trivia game Freerice can recruit their friends to help bring food to the world’s most vulnerable populations. This is the inspiration behind "6 Degrees of Freerice", the theme of the first World Freerice Week running February 6 - 12, 2012.
Freerice is an online trivia game where each correct answer earns 10 grains of rice for the world’s hungriest – it’s an addictive online game with a real-world impact. Those grains of rice will go to a hungry child who is only six degrees away from you and me.
Freerice crossed a major milestone last month when it reached one million registered players. For World Freerice Week the idea is simple, when you sign up you commit to recruiting six people, then your friends will recruit another six, and so on... the online movement to fight hunger could exponentially explode! And many more people will discover Freerice.
The game reaches an estimated 1.3 million players per month and has raised almost 100 billion grains of rice, enough to feed five million people for a day in countries in need of food aid.
Originally launched in English in 2007, Freerice.com had within a month raised enough rice to feed over 50,000 people for a day. It was also named one of the best charity sites of 2011 by Netted, the online publication of the Webbys – an international award honouring excellence on the Internet.
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"Strangely, it was exactly what bored me that at the same time excited me."
May
8-9 May
Time of Remembrance and Reconciliation for Those Who Lost Their Lives during the Second World War
12-13 May
World Migratory Bird Day [UNEP]
15 May
International Day of Families
17 May
World Telecommunication and Information Society Day [ITU]
21 May
World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development
22 May
International Day for Biological Diversity
29 May
International Day of UN Peacekeepers
31 May
World No-Tobacco Day [WHO]
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When the Security Council approaches the final stage of negotiation of a draft resolution the text is printed in blue... What's in Blue helps interested UN readers keep up with what might soon be "in blue".
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