Linx Productions: Video Archive

DFID Emergency Aid

Linx Productions — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:50:03

The Department for International Development (DFID) leads the UK's relief effort following a humanitarian emergency or natural disaster in a developing country. DFID has three warehouses: in the UK, Dubai and Miami, where we store around 40,000 blankets, 3-4,000 winterised tents, 20,000 collapsible water jerry cans and 40,000 tarpaulins. These are the items that are usually most needed immediately following a disaster.

We also have vehicles, communications and office equipment ready for immediate deployment should they be needed anywhere in the world.

At any time of the day or night the Duty Officer is alerted to emergencies either automatically, or through the DFID office or Embassy in the affected country. Depending upon the location and scale of the emergency, a Response Team may be mobilised and the DFID Operations room opened. In most cases, and always for large scale emergencies such as the Tsunami and the Pakistan earthquake, we send an assessment team to the area to get first-hand information about the emergency e.g. the number of people affected, the scale of the damage, humanitarian relief needs, and ensure we send the right assistance. Where appropriate, as in the Pakistan earthquake, we also aim to have identified Urban Search and Rescue Teams on the way to be able to start working in the disaster region within 18 to 24 hours.

Shows: At Kemble Air Base, Gloucestershire, England - DFID's UK warehouse - stockpiles of emergency supplies and vehicles being checked and made ready for airlift.

For further information about DFID's work, visit the DFID website at www.dfid.gov.uk

For all media enquiries, please call DFID Press Office +44 207 023 0600 (24 hour number).

UNODC 2007 World Drug Report

Linx Productions — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:47:40

Voiced report highlighting key elements of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 2007 World Drug Report.

Mixed voicetrack on Ch-1 and Natsot on Ch-2. Additional B-roll available in our Video Archive

Shows:

Amsterdam, June 2007 - man smoking marijuana

Colombia, May 2007, cocaine addicts

Vienna, June 2007- UNODC Executive Director, Antonio Maria Costa, says world drug situation is stabilising

Colombia, May 2007 - aerials coca plantations
cocaine factory being burned
coca being desttroyed

Caribbean, May 2007- Colombian warship intercepts cocaine

Caribbean, May 2007 - British warship intercepts cocaine

Morocco, 2005 - police intercept trucks of cannabis, burn drugs

Straits of Gibraltar, 2005 - Spanish National Guard chases cannabis smugglers

Vienna, June 2007- Costa says Africa is under attack from drug traffickers

Africa, recent - scenes of unrest and poverty

Amsterdam, June 2007 - cannabis being bought and used

Vienna, June 2007- Costa says cannabis doesn't make people mellow, it makes them sick

Amsterdam, June 2007 - drug users

Vienna, June 2007- Costa calls for drugs to be dealt with as a health problem.

NB: additional B-roll of the above content is available in our video archive

For media enquiries please contact:

Richard Murphy
UNODC Spokesman
Tel: +43 1 26060 5761
Mob: +43 699 1459 5761
richard.murphy@unodc.org

AKAA 2007 VNR

Linx Productions — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 18:46:55

EMBARGO

Not for publication or broadcast until 5^th September 2007

Story:

NINE PROJECTS RECEIVE 2007 AGA KHAN AWARD FOR ARCHITECTURE

On 4 September 2007, at a ceremony to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, His Highness the Aga Khan will announce the nine recipients of the 2007 Aga Khan Award for Architecture.This year marks the 30^th anniversary of the Award, which was founded in 1977, and the completion of the 10^th cycle of the programme.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture has a triennial prize fund of US$ 500,000, making it the world�s largest architectural award. The rigor of its nomination and selection process has also made it, in the eyes of many observers, the world�s most important architectural prize. Awarded projects have ranged from the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur to a primary school in Burkina Faso.

During the current cycle of the Award, 343 projects were presented for consideration, and 27 were reviewed on site by international experts. An independent Master Jury selected nine Award recipients that are notable for having attained the highest standards of architectural excellence while reflecting the values of their specific environments.

�The essence of the Aga Khan Award for Architecture is to examine, analyse, understand, and try to influence the dynamic of physical change in Islamic societies,� His Highness the Aga Khan has remarked. �Our attempt and aspiration is to try to have the humility, but also the competence, to understand what is happening and to seek to influence it so that future generations can live in a better environment.�

The nine projects selected by the 2007 Award Master Jury are:

Samir Kassir Square, Beirut, Lebanon

Rehabilitation of the City of Shibam, Yemen

Central Market, Koudougou, Burkina Faso

University of Technology Petronas, Bandar Seri Iskandar, Malaysia

Restoration of the Amiriya Complex, Rada, Yemen

Moulmein Rise Residential Tower, Singapore

Royal Netherlands Embassy, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Rehabilitation of the Walled City, Nicosia, Cyprus

School in Rudrapur, Dinajpur, Bangladesh

With its emblematic high-tech architecture, the University of Technology Petronas provides an inspiring structure for progressive education in this rapidly developing nation.The Award will be presented to the architects, Foster + Partners and GDP Architects, and the Petronas Corporation (the Petronas Towers won an Award in the 2004 cycle).

In 1979, the representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities held a historic meeting under United Nations auspices to create a master plan for the Rehabilitation of the Walled City of Nicosia. A collaborative and sustained effort, the project has been successful in reversing the city�s physical and economic decline, using architectural restoration and reuse as the catalyst for improvement to the quality of life on both sides of this divided city.The representatives of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities will share the award with the Nicosia Master Plan team.

The Samir Kassir Square is a restrained and serene urban public space that skilfully handles the conditions and infrastructure of its location in a city that has undergone rapid redevelopment. The Award will go to Vladimir Djurovic, the pre-eminent landscape architect working in Lebanon today.

The Rehabilitation of the City of Shibam is part of a project that focuses on the preservation of this unique place as a living community, with architectural restoration integrated into the creation of new economic and social structures. The Award recipients are the Yemeni government and its cultural agencies, the German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) and the community of Shibam.

Koudougou�s Central Market introduces simple improvements to a traditional material � stabilised earth � to create an important space for civic exchange and economic opportunity, helping enhance and strengthen a mid-sized town in Burkina Faso. The Award will be shared by the Koudougou Municipality, the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), and the principal architect, Laurent S�chaud.

With its reliance on local knowledge and experience, the Restoration of the Amiriya Complex in Yemen saw the revival of lost techniques of building and ornamentation. The project represents a milestone in the protection of cultural heritage in Yemen. The Award will be presented to the project directors, renowned Iraqi archaeologist and restorer Selma Al-Radi and her Yemeni counterpart, Yahya Al-Nasiri.

Within the constraints of a developer-driven brief, the Moulmein Rise Residential Tower uses innovative techniques and detailing that combine new principles for tropical design and improvements for high-rise living. Wong Mun Summ and Richard Hassell, partners at the Singapore firm WOHA Architects will receive the Award.

The guiding principle in the construction of the Royal Netherlands Embassy in Addis Ababa was a respect for place while addressing the functional requirements of a working embassy, resulting in a contemporary structure that fully engages its local environment. The Dutch architects Dick van Gameren and Bjarne Mastenbroek will receive the Award, together with the Ethiopian architects at the firm ABBA Architects.

Hand-built in four months by the local community and volunteer architects from Germany and Austria, the School in Rudrapur, Bangladesh, makes use of easily available local materials to create a new model for school construction that is beautiful, simple and humane. The architects Anna Heringer and Eike Roswag will share an award with the craftsmen and volunteers who assisted in the building, and the Bangladeshi NGO for sustainable rural development, Dipshikha.

The 2007 Master Jury placed an emphasis on the meaningful collaborations and exchange of ideas � between architects, craftsmen, governments, international development agencies, clients and users � that were a defining feature of the winning projects (please see Statement of the Master Jury).

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture was established by the Aga Khan in 1977 to identify and encourage building concepts that successfully address the needs and aspirations of Muslim societies. The Award recognises examples of architectural excellence in all the places where Muslims live, in the fields of contemporary design, social housing, community improvement and development, historic preservation, reuse and area conservation, as well as landscape design and improvement of the environment.

The Award is governed by a Steering Committee chaired by His Highness the Aga Khan. The current members of the Steering Committee are Omar Akbar (Executive Director, Bauhaus Dessau Foundation); Jacques Herzog (Partner, Herzog & de Meuron Architects, Basel); Glenn Lowry (Director, The Museum of Modern Art, New York); Mohsen Mostafavi (Dean of the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, Cornell University, New York); Farshid Moussavi (Partner, Foreign Office Architects, London); Hani Rashid (Partner, Asymptote Architecture, New York); Modjtaba Sadria (Professor, Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations-AKU, London); and Billie Tsien (Partner, Tod Williams Billie Tsien Architects, New York). Farrokh Derakhshani is the Director of the Award.

The Awards are selected by an independent Master Jury appointed by the Steering Committee for each three-year Award cycle. The Master Jury members for the 2004-2007 cycle are Homi Bhabha (Professor, Harvard University); Okwui Enwezor (Curator; Dean of Academic Affairs and Senior Vice President, San Francisco Art Institute); Homa Farjadi (Principal, Farjadi Architects, London); Sahel Al-Hiyari (Principal, Sahel Al-Hiyari and Partners, Jordan); Shirazeh Houshiary (Artist); Rashid Khalidi (Professor, Columbia University, New York); Brigitte Shim (Partner, Shim Sutcliffe Architects, Toronto); Han T�mertekin (Principal, Mimarlar Tasarim Danismanlik Ltd, Istanbul); and Kenneth Yeang (Principal, Llewelyn Davies Yeang, UK and Hamzah & Yeang, Malaysia).

Ceremonies to announce the winning projects and mark the close of each triennial cycle have been held in settings selected for their architectural and cultural importance to the Muslim world: Shalimar Gardens in Lahore (1980), Topkapi Palace in Istanbul (1983), Badi� Palace in Marrakech (1986), the Citadel of Saladin in Cairo (1989), Registan Square in Samarkand (1992), Karaton Surakarta in Solo (1995), the Alhambra in Granada (1998), the Citadel of Aleppo (2001) and the gardens of Emperor Humayun�s Tomb in Delhi (2004).

A monograph on the 2007 Award will be published by I.B. Tauris & Co in September 2007. The book, Intervention Architecture: Building for Change includes concise descriptions and illustrations of the nine winning projects, an introductory essay by Homi K. Bhabha, as well as contributions from Omar Akbar, Homa Farjadi, Sahel Al-Hiyari, Shirazeh Houshiary, Mohsen Mostafavi, Farshid Moussavi, Modjtaba Sadria, Brigitte Shim, Billie Tsien and Kenneth Yeang.

About His Highness the Aga Khan and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture

His Highness the Aga Khan, Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims, marked the beginning of his Golden Jubilee year on 11th July 2007. Fifty years ago, at the age of 20, the Aga Khan succeeded his grandfather, Sir Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan, as the 49th hereditary Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. The Aga Khan provides spiritual guidance to a community of 15 million living in some 25 countries, mainly in West and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East, as well as in North America and Western Europe. As Spiritual Leader of the Ismaili Muslims, the Aga Khan has emphasised the view of Islam as a thinking, spiritual faith, one that teaches compassion and tolerance and that upholds the dignity of man, Allah�s noblest creation. The Aga Khan is a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) through his cousin and son-in-law, Ali, the first Imam, and his wife Fatima, the Prophet�s daughter.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture is part of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), which has a wide range of activities aimed at the preservation and promotion of the material and spiritual heritage of Muslim societies. As the cultural agency of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), the Trust leverages cultural heritage as a means of supporting and catalysing development. Its programmes include the Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme (HCP), which works to revitalise historic cities in the Muslim world, both culturally and socioeconomically. Over the last decade, it has been engaged in the rehabilitation of historic areas in Cairo, Kabul, Herat, Aleppo, Delhi, Zanzibar, Mostar, northern Pakistan, Timbuktu and Mopti. The Aga Khan Music Initiative in Central Asia (AKMICA) supports the efforts of Central Asian musicians and communities to sustain, further develop and transmit musical traditions that are a vital part of their cultural heritage. The Museums Project coordinates the development of a number of museum and exhibition projects, including two ongoing museum projects in Cairo and Toronto. The Trust also supports the Muslim arts and architecture departments of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), as well as www.ArchNet.org, a major online resource on Islamic architecture.

The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) is a group of private development agencies working to empower communities and individuals, often in disadvantaged circumstances, to improve living conditions and opportunities, especially in Central and South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. AKDN agencies work for the common good of all citizens, regardless of their gender, origin or religion. Its underlying impulse is the ethic of compassion for the vulnerable in society. Its annual budget for social and cultural development activities is US$320 million. The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), an AKDN development agency that makes long-term investments in fragile economies on a for-profit basis, has annual revenues of over US$ 1.5 billion. Profits are used to fund further development projects.

The Aga Khan Award for Architecture

PO Box 2049

1211 Geneva 2

Switzerland

Facsimile: (41.22) 909.72.92

Telephone: (41.22) 909.72.00

E-mail: akaa@akdn.org

Website: www.akdn.org/architecture

Shotlist and Transcript - click here

UN.GIFT Human Trafficking B-Roll Part 1

Linx Productions — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:08:36

Video Provided by the International Labour Organisation (ILO)

1. Brussels, Belgium, Feb 2008 - Police Raid Red Light District

Shows: Belgian police patrol red light district; policeman says girls trapped into prostitution are afraid to tell the police because the traffickers may harm their families back home; prostitutes in windows; policeman interviews prostitute; policeman says x-rays of the bone structure of one girl showed she was just 13-years-old; policeman says that the law used to be too loose, but now they would close the area down if they found such a young girl

2. South Italy Coast, 2002 - Coastguard Intercept Illegal Immigrants

Shows: Coastguard helicopter patrol; migrants on speed boat; migrants run ashore; police intercept and interview migrants

3. Tokyo, Japan, 2005 - Red Light District advertises Western girls

Shows: vs red light district; advertisements for Western hostesses; exteriors of hostess clubs

4. Romania, 2005 - Street Children especially vulnerable to human trafficking

Shows: young girls cleaning car windows; vs very young children begging for money from passing vehicles

5. Peru, 2005 - Forced labour is common in illegal lumber camps

Shows: vs trees being felled; workers resting; vs lumber yards; logs transported on river

6.Burkino Faso, 2005 - Bus station used as transit point for child trafficking

Shows: vs bus station; heavily-laden buses; anti-trafficking agency posters; vs buses

UN.GIFT Human Trafficking B-Roll Part 2

Linx Productions — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 17:09:19

Video Provided by the IOM, OSCE, and Microsoft

1. International Organization for Migration (IOM) - Haiti, 2008, Trafficked Children

Shows: street scenes; children in slums; child labourers in rural area

2. Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) - Spain, Recent, Trafficked children freed by police

Shows: Police storm building; arresting traffickers; examin passsports and other documentation; examine seized computer records from traffickers

3. Microsoft, Manila, Philippines, recent - Visayan Foundation teaches vulnerable children about trafficking. Visayan Forum www.visayan.formum is supported by Microsoft

Shows: Manila skyline; Philippines flag; vs slum district; street kids playing; exterior Visayan Forum school; children learning about human trafficking on computers; Visayan Forum logo; girls being taught about the rights of domestic workers;

Emma Thompson PSA - 30 seconds version

Linx Productions — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:15:59

Linx Productions has produced this Public Service Announcement on behalf of www.ungift.org - a UN-led coalition against Human Trafficking.

The PSA is copyright-free, and is available for use by television broadcasters and video webcasters.

The Theme: Oscar-winning British actress, Emma Thompson, mouths the words of a diverse range of male and female trafficking victims.

Emma Thompson PSA - 60 seconds version

Linx Productions — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 13:15:37

Linx Productions has produced this Public Service Announcement on behalf of www.ungift.org - a UN-led coalition against Human Trafficking.

The PSA is copyright-free, and is available for use by television broadcasters and video webcasters.

The Theme: Oscar-winning British actress, Emma Thompson, mouths the words of a diverse range of male and female trafficking victims

UN.GIFT Vienna Forum Against Human Trafficking - February 2008

Linx Productions — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:52:44

In February 2008, more than 1500 human trafficking experts, campaigners, celebrities, politicians, and diplomats gathered in Austria for the Vienna Forum on Human Trafficking – sponsored by UNGIFT – www.ungift.org

UN.GIFT was launched in March 2007 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) with a grant made on behalf of the United Arab Emirates. It is managed in cooperation with the International Labour Organization (ILO); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF); the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR); and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

UNGIFT is a global alliance of United Nations organisations, NGOs, charities, private sector companies, and foundations committed to fighting human trafficking in all its forms, which include – sex slaves, forced labour, child soldiers, human organ trafficking, and many other examples of modern-day slavery.

This video is set to the music of Ukrainian pop star, Ruslana, who performed live in the closing ceremony of the Vienna Forum with her song ‘Not For Sale’.

The video was produced by Linx productions www.linxproductions.com who work closely with UN.GIFT on promoting their mission to the global media.

UNODC World Drug Report 2008 - VNR

Linx Productions — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 10:46:34

Video News Release for UNODC 2008 World Drug Report

Mixed audio on channel 1 and natsot on channel 2

Full information available at www.unodc.org

Embargo until 1300 EST June 26 2008

Story: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 2008 World Drug Report says that global drug usage has stabilised. But UNODC warns that drug production is increasing, and is now largely controlled by insurgents in countries like Afghanistan and Colombia.

To view the UNODC World Drug Report Press Release click here.

To view the UNODC World Drug Report Preface click here.

Shows: coffee shops in The Netherlands; drinkers and smokers in London, UK; UNODC HQ in Vienna, Austria; Morocco police destroying marijuana; Colombian soldiers destroy coca crops; Colombian airforce sprays coca crops with herbicide; opium poppy fields in Afghanistan; Afghanistan army destroying poppies; UNODC Executive Director, Antonio Maria Costa, soundbite on increased drug supply; drug traffickers under arrest in Tajikistan; UNODC Mr Costa soundbite saying human rights of traffickers and users need to be respected; vs drug addicts; UNODC Costa says marijuana is now many more times powerful than it used to be.

All video is free of copyright restrictions

Please also see associated copyright-free b-roll

UN / HUMAN TRAFFICKING REPORT WRAP 02/09

Linx Productions — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 16:09:42

STORY: UN / HUMAN TRAFFICKING REPORT WRAP
TRT: 3.35
SOURCE: UNTV / UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
FORMAT: PAL 4:3

DATELINE: 12, 10 FEBRUARY 2009, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2009, NEW YORK CITY UNITED STATES

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

12 FEBRUARY 2009, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
"The statistics speak loud and clear. It is not only trafficking from South East Asia into other parts of Asia, or into Western Europe, its not only from Latin America to North America, these are the kind of flows that you probably have in mind. There is a lot of exploitation within countries like the U.S., large countries like some African countries, but also in smaller countries."
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
"With economic hardship in the third world but not only, a greater number of people are more likely to be more vulnerable now than they were, especially for labour related forms of exploitation, child labour and so forth."

FILE – UNICEF / 19 OCTOBER 2008, BISHKEK, KYRGYZTAN

6. Med shot, children in centre for homeless (blurred faces)

FILE – UNICEF / MONROVIA, LIBERIA

7. Various shot, women in safe house (Blurred faces)

FILE – UNICEF / DATE UNKNOWN, RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL

8. Wide shot, prostitutes in street

10 FEBRUARY 2009, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES

11. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
"The report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime on human trafficking I would say more than being an explanation a presentation, of the severity of the problem, is an indictment against the international community for not doing enough."

FILE – UNICEF / 20 NOVEMBER 2008, NATAL, BRAZIL

12. Wide shot, girl sitting on the curb of a street approached by man
13. Wide shot, girl standing against a wall

10 FEBRUARY 2009, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES

14. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
"There are probably one person out of one hundred which are actually rescued, how many criminals are indicted and convicted, perhaps four to five percent of the number of criminals in the world, so we are trying to measure the reality but for the time being member states are not being as cooperative as they should be in providing all the information needed."

FILE – UNICEF / 4 NOVEMBER 2008, GUATEMALA CITY, GUATEMALA

15. Wide shot, dimly lit street corner with two girls being approached by men

FILE – UNICEF / 15 NOVEMBER 2008, MOMBASA, LIBERIA

19. Various shots, women (blurred faces) at nightclub

11 FEBRUARY 2009, NEW YORK CITY, UNITED STATES

18. SOUNDBITE (English) Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC):
"The question of women being trafficked and also women being responsible for trafficking is one of the most dramatic ones. Gender bias against them is the root of the problem of being exploited, women being exploited, but we see more than in any other crime, we see women being the perpetrators."

12 FEBRUARY 2009, NEW YORK CITY

19. Various shots, launch of the UNODC global report on trafficking in persons and presentation of actress Mira Sorvino as Goodwill Ambassador
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Mira Sorvino, actor and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador as part of the United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking:
"Like the rest of us Americans I thought that, certainly in our country, slavery had ended when Lincoln freed the slaves, and the civil war was fought and eventually we had equality in this country but it's not the case. I mean even within America there is a great deal of slavery in various forms, there is sexual slave labor, there is sweatshop labor, there migrant farm worker labor, there is child prostitution, child pornography."
21. Various shots, conference and actress Mira Sorvino

STORYLINE

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched a new report today at the United Nations. A first of its kind, the report reflects the state of the world's response to human trafficking containing information from 155 countries and territories.

At a press conference in New York, UNODC's Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa told journalists that trafficking was happening all over the world and that exploitation was occurring within countries like the U.S. and other large countries in Africa.

Costa also pointed out that due to the present global economic crisis, a greater number of people were more likely to be more vulnerable now, especially for labour related forms of exploitation and child labour.

In an interview on Tuesday with UNTV, Costa said that the UNODC's report on human trafficking was more than an explanation of the severity of the problem, it was an "indictment against the international community for not doing enough."

According to the report, the number of convictions for human trafficking is increasing especially in a "handful of countries." Yet Costa says that they are trying to measure the reality. For the time being he said, "member states are not being as cooperative as they should be in providing all the information needed."

The report also denounces the fact that although the victims of sexual exploitation are predominantly women and girls, in 30 percent of the countries which provided information on the gender of traffickers, women make up the largest proportion of traffickers.

Costa said that being gender bias is the root of the problem of exploition, "we see more than in any other crime, we see women being the perpetrators."

The report's release also coincided with the appointment of actress Mira Sorvino as a U.N. goodwill ambassador to help fight human trafficking.

Sorvino said during an interview with UNTV that like the rest of the American people, she thought that slavery had ended in the United States when President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, "but it's not the case. I mean even within America there is a great deal of slavery in various forms."

The protocol, "United Nations Protocols against Trafficking in Persons" entered into force in 2003. It shows that in the past few years, the number of members states seriously implementing the Protocol has doubled. However, there are still many countries -particularly in Africa- that lack the necessary legal instruments or the will to do so.

UNGASS 10 Year Review

Linx Productions — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 12:26:56

On March 11-12, 2009, a High Level Segment of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) will be dedicated to the evaluation of the implementation of political declaration and action plans of the UN General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) in 1998.

The evaluation started in 2008 and will determine international drug policy for the next decade. What will be the key issues on the table? What kind of improvements in the functioning of the UN drug control system could be expected or aimed at? Is a reform of the UN Drug Conventions needed?

NSF 2010 Wrap Film

Linx Productions — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 11:28:44

Linx produced this video to end the National Sports Festival (NSF 2010) held in Loughborough in April 2010, in which more than 1000 contestants participated. The bi-annual event is organized by the Ismaili Council for the United Kingdom. The brief was to capture the spirit of the NSF - motivate, participate and celebrate.

Click here to view in HD on YouTube. For further information about the event go to www.theismaili.org.

AKAA 2010 Awards Ceremony

Linx Productions — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 23:26:45

16:9 Anamorphic (720 x 576) PAL Broadcast Quality H.264

Doha, Qatar 2010 24th November

Duration:6:54

Five Projects Receive 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture; Oleg Grabar Receives Chairman�s Award

Doha, November 24, 2010 -- The five projects selected for the 2010 Aga Khan Award for Architecture were announced at a ceremony held at the Museum of Islamic Art today. His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani the Emir of Qatar and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser joined His Highness the Aga Khan in presiding over the ceremony.

The five projects selected by the 2010 Master Jury are:

Wadi Hanifa Wetlands, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Revitalisation of the Hypercentre of Tunis, Tunisia

Madinat Al-Zahra Museum, Cordoba, Spain

Ipekyol Textile Factory, Edirne, Turkey

Bridge School, Xiashi, Fujian, China

Shotlist:

Exterior Museum of Islamic Art

His Highness Aga Khan, His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani the Emir of Qatar and Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser enter.

Audience

Pan down from ceiling to crowd

Musical performance

SOT by The Aga Khan (English) The nature of our Award is to help shape best practices for the built environments of Muslims and their neighbors. Our mandate must therefore include a wide range of architectural settings - not only mosques, museums and monuments - but also schools and hospitals, industrial spaces and public markets, parks and thoroughfares, and, of course, a variety of residential habitats.

Wide shot of stage

Audience

SOT by The Aga Khan (English)

Why should we emphasize an Islamic approach to architecture? Our Master Jury, in responding to this question, has described how global forces now threaten the values of �memory, heritage and belonging,� and how the built environment can help meet that challenge. This is why these triennial celebrations take place in settings that evoke Islamic tradition, and why most of our Award juries have thereby emphasized, among other criteria, the restoration and reutilization of historic buildings. Great icons of the past must not be allowed to disappear, without an opportunity to come back to life and serve the future.

Audience Applause

Awards received by winners

Wadi Hanifa Wetlands, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Revitalisation of the Hypercentre of Tunis, Tunisia

Madinat Al-Zahra Museum, Cordoba, Spain

Ipekyol Textile Factory, Edirne, Turkey

Bridge School, Xiashi, Fujian, China

Group shot

End

AKAA Ipekyol Textile Factory B-Roll

Linx Productions — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:54:33

Duration:8:20 16:9 Anamorphic (720 x 576) PAL Broadcast Quality H.264

Ipekyol Textile Factory

Location: Edirne, Turkey (Asia)

Architect: Emre Arolat Architects

Completed: 2006

Design: 2004-2005

Site size: 20'000 m2

The Ipekyol factory, a custom-designed facility for a manufacturer of high-quality textiles, represents a successful collaboration between a client and an architect in developing a spatial strategy that integrates production goals with the well-being of employees.

Key design objectives focused on a single U-shaped volume that makes full use of the site as well as the use of local materials, reduced energy use, and enhanced thermal performance. The architect responded with a single, large structure where administration and production spaces were integrated under one roof, breaking down hierarchies between front- and backof-house functions.

The form of the building conveys its function, its U-shape responding to the demands of the production line, from inception to the packaging and dispatch of the garments. The glazed southern facade, five internal courtyards, as well as gardens and light wells give each user access to natural light and views of nature, and the spaces also provide recreational areas for the workers.

AKAA Wadi Hanifa Wetlands B-Roll

Linx Productions — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 08:49:57

Duration:3:55 16:9 Anamorphic (720 x 576) PAL Broadcast Quality H.264

Wadi Hanifa Wetlands

Location: Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (Arabian Peninsula)

Planner: Moriyama & Teshima Planners Limited / Buro Happold in joint venture

Completed: 2004-2007 ongoing

Design: 2001-ongoing

Site size: 120 km stretch

Located in the middle of the Najd Plateau of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Wadi Hanifa (or Hanifa valley) is the longest and most important valley near Riyadh, a natural water drainage course for an area of over 4,000 square kilometres and a unique geographical feature in this dry region.

Until recently, many segments of the valley had been exploited in an aggressive and environmentally destructive manner. In an effort to redress the balance between the resources of the wadi and the people living around it, the Arriyadh Development Authority has implemented a comprehensive development strategy, a programme of works that aims to restore and develop Wadi Hanifa as an environmental, recreational and tourism resource.

AKAA Madinat al Zahra Museum B-Roll

Linx Productions — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:28:30

Duration:3:53 16:9 Anamorphic (720 x 576) PAL Broadcast Quality H.264

Madinat al Zahra Museum

Location: Cordoba, Spain (Europe)

Architect: Sobejano Architects S.L.P, Fuensanta Nieto & Enrique Sobejano

Completed: 2008

Design: 2001-2003

Site size: 9'125 m2

The tenth-century palace city of Madinat al-Zahra is widely considered to be one of the most significant early Islamic archaeological sites in the world, and the most extensive in Western Europe. Excavations at the site are still ongoing.

The museum was conceived as a place to interpret the site and display the archaeological findings, as well as to serve as a training and research centre and the headquarters of the archaeological team. A refined and subtle design by the architectural firm Nieto Sobejano, the museum complex blends seamlessly into the site and the surrounding farmland - a series of rectangles composed of walls, patios and plantings which, taken together, seem more like a landscape than a building.

The architects took the ground plans of three excavated buildings as a starting point, as though the museum had been waiting to be revealed from the ground. Visitors are guided through a sequence of covered spaces and voids. The main public functions are arranged in a cloister around a broad patio, a form found at the archaeological site and in the old town of Cordoba. Two more courtyards define the research centre and the external exhibition area respectively.

A restricted pallet of materials and simple details, with walls of poured concrete, interior walls clad in iroko wood, and limestone paving for the courtyards, are intended to evoke the rough retaining walls and temporary structures of an archaeological site.

AKAA Bridge School B-Roll

Linx Productions — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 09:01:04

Duration:3:27 16:9 Anamorphic (720 x 576) PAL Broadcast Quality H.264

Bridge School

Location: Xiashi, Fujian Province, China (Asia)

Architect: Li Xiaodong (Atelier)

Completed: 2008

Design: 2008

Site size: 240 m2

The Bridge School bridges the two parts of the small village of Xiashi that lie on either side of a small creek that runs through the village. The structure is created by two steel trusses that span the creek with the space between them housing the functions of the school. Suspended from the structure and running below it is a pedestrian bridge for the people of the village to use.

Small and modern in design, with no reference to the areas traditional building style, the school has nonetheless become the physical and spiritual centre of what was a declining village. Placed in such a way that it addresses its surroundings, the Bridge School connects the village together, providing a central, social space. The broader social aspect of the project was part of the brief, which was developed with the school principal and head of the village to answer community needs rather than simply those of a primary school.

A public library separates the two classrooms and the ends of each classroom, or the two ends of the school can be opened up, creating open stages at either end of the building that are integrated with the public spaces outside. The stage at the northern end can be used for performances, with the toulou as a backdrop. The result is a project that has successfully invigorated the entire community, encapsulating social sustainability through architectural intervention.

AKAA Revitalisation of the Recent Heritage of Tunis B-Roll

Linx Productions — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 10:55:53

Duration:4:36 16:9 Anamorphic (720 x 576) PAL Broadcast Quality H.264

Revitalisation of the Recent Heritage of Tunis

Location: Tunis, Tunisia (North Africa)

Architect: Association de Sauvegarde de la Medina de Tunis (ASM)

Completed: 1998-2007 ongoing

Design: 1998-ongoing

Site size: 60'000 m2

The nineteenth and early twentieth-century architectural heritage of North African cities embodies an important cultural exchange between the southern and northern Mediterranean. This heritage commonly lies adjacent to the old medinas, and has often been neglected in the drive to revitalise the historic centres of cities in this region.

The Ville Nouvelle of Tunis, which was built when Tunisia was a French Protectorate, reflected a move from the urban patterns of the old medina to a grid plan that changed the character of the city. The urban revitalisation plan, devised and spearheaded by the Association de Sauvegarde de la M�dina de Tunis (ASM), has restructured the public spaces of the area around Avenue Bourguiba and Avenue de France and made them chiefly pedestrian.

It has also listed and restored key monuments, such as the Th��tre municipal de Tunis, March� central, Ancien Tribunal administratif and Cin�ma Palace, which are once again in use. The ASM continues to actively guide institutions and individuals in the public and private sectors who wish to undertake preservation projects, in order to ensure overall quality and meet the objectives of the many stakeholders.