#PARVATIFOUNDATION – Our world has come to an unprecedented pause in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus. Doctors call it a “novel” coronavirus, which means that it is new to our population and none of us has immunity to it. The cost in human lives and the widespread havoc it wreaks is consuming our news cycle. But what many of us don’t realize is that our world has a ticking time bomb of pathogens, all of which would be “novel” to us, if released. For the sake of our collective future, we must keep them under ice.
The Arctic Ocean does not only keep our planet cool through the albedo effect, when its white ice reflects the sun’s heat away from the planet. It keeps the local permafrost, with its payload of pathogens, frozen. Within
the ice and permafrost of the Arctic region are bacteria and viruses that have been kept dormant for millennia. But the ice is melting. Sections of the Arctic Ocean are now 4C too hot. Up to 95% of the summer ice is gone. And scientists have proven that frozen
Arctic viruses as old as 30,000 years can be reactivated.
The warning shot was fired in 2016, when an anthrax outbreak was traced to the frozen carcass of a reindeer that died over 75 years ago and thawed in the summer heat. It tore through a herd of 2000 reindeer, took the life
of a 12-year-old-boy, and required the hospitalization of dozens of others. If this trend continues, infections from time immemorial could re-emerge to devastate a world no longer immune.
MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, is a medical mask that keeps everyone around the globe safe from these frozen pathogens. However, today, the Arctic Ocean is under unprecedented threat from melting and from exploitation
that breaks up the ice and inhibits its regrowth: shipping, commercial fishing, oil exploration, and military activity. To protect our global immunity, we must put the Arctic Ocean in quarantine now. We are seeing today the deadly consequences of delay in
clamping down to prevent disease.
MAPS declares the entire Arctic Ocean north of the Arctic Circle an international peace park free from all forms of exploitation. Not only does it protect our planet’s air conditioner. Not only does it create a secure
habitat for vulnerable species in a time that scientists say we must protect half the planet in order to prevent mass extinction. Not only does it safeguard 17 kinds of whales, who play an essential role in the ocean providing us half the oxygen we breathe.
MAPS is urgently needed if we want to keep pandemics from becoming the new normal.
Captain Paul Watson of Sea Shepherd says, “The Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary must continue to hold the massive reserves of restless methane within its quiet lonely bosom where sleeping viruses remain safely captive. From
the dark boreal forests to the groaning of the shifting floes, there is the constant whispering reminder that this stark and desolate world is the key to our survival.”
The all-volunteer international charity Parvati Foundation originated MAPS and is in dialogue with all nation leaders to sign the MAPS Treaty immediately. This Treaty updates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to
ensure the Arctic Ocean is given the protection our whole world needs now more than ever. Two nations have already signed.
Parvati Foundation’s founder and CEO, the award-winning Canadian musician and author Parvati, says, “COVID-19 is an urgent reminder of the ways we are all interconnected. What each of us does affects everyone else. We
must heed the wake-up call to protect our collective future with MAPS now.”
Magnetic Media is a Telly Award winning multi-media company specializing in creating compelling and socially uplifting TV and Radio broadcast programming as a means for advertising and public relations exposure for its clients.
“The Kenya-led Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission in Haiti continues to grow in troop numbers amid assurance of ironclad support from the international community.
This morning, I saw off an additional 144 police officers comprising 120 men and 24 women to bolster the 600 officers deployed earlier who have already made commendable progress in reducing gang violence in the Caribbean nation. Other countries, notably Guatemala and El Salvador, have in recent weeks deployed additional officers. Together with Jamaican and Belizean troops, and supported by Haitian police, we’re making concerted efforts to establish order.
Kenya’s leadership in this noble mission, which is supported by the UN Trust Fund for Haiti established under the UN Security Council Resolution 2699, is in recognition of our long-standing contribution to peacekeeping missions and peace support operations.
We’re constantly in touch with the UN and countries supporting this mission including the USA whose support in equipment and funding has been invaluable and unwavering.
Inspector General National Police Service Mr Douglas Kanja, Internal Security and National Administration PS Dr Raymond Omollo, Foreign and Diaspora Affairs PS Dr Korir Sing’Oei, National Security Advisor to the President Dr Monica Juma and Deputy National Security Advisor Mr Joseph Boinnet, among other senior officials, joined me in seeing off the contingent.”
Key findings specific to The Bahamas based on the report:
Food Security and Undernourishment:
In the 2021–2023 period, The Bahamas had one of the lowest prevalence rates of moderate or severe food insecurity in the Caribbean at 17.2%.
Data on undernourishment for The Bahamas is not consistently available, but the country has been noted for relatively better food security conditions compared to others in the region.
Affordability of a Healthy Diet:
In 2022, The Bahamas had a high cost of a healthy diet at 5.41 PPP dollars per person per day, higher than the Caribbean average of 5.16 PPP dollars.
Policy Framework:
The Bahamas’ National Food and Nutrition Security Policy and Action Plan (2017–2021) identifies climate variability as a significant driver of food insecurity. It includes objectives to strengthen resilience against crises, including climate-related impacts.
Climate and Food Systems:
Climate variability and extremes are acknowledged as challenges to the country’s agrifood systems. Investments in resilience and better governance are highlighted as essential for mitigating these impacts
The USA, January 25, 2025 – Marco Rubio was born in Miami, Florida in 1971. Rubio is the son of Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in pursuit of the American Dream. His father worked as a banquet bartender, while his mother split time as a stay-at-home mom and hotel maid. From an early age, Rubio learned the importance of faith, family, community, and dignified work.
Rubio is passionate about the American Dream because he’s lived it himself. He was drawn to public service in large part because of conversations with his grandfather, who witnesses how communism destroyed his homeland. After meeting and marrying his wife Jeanette, Rubio served as a City Commissioner in West Miami and as Speaker of the Florida House of Representatives. In 2010, he won a seat in the U.S. Senate. He served as U.S. Senator until 2025.
During his tenure in the U.S. Senate, Rubio was committed to serving the people of Florida and ensuring America remained a strong, resilient nation for generations to come. Rubio was a Senior Member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Vice Chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, a member of the powerful Senate Appropriations Committee, as well as the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Rubio wrote and passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, which represents the greatest turning point in U.S.-China relations in decades. He also co-led the Hong Kong Relations Act, and the VERDAD Act. During the first Trump Administration, he worked with the President to hold members of the Cuban regime accountable, including the dictatorship’s military holding company. Rubio also created the Paycheck Protection Program, which helped save millions of small businesses in America when the COVID pandemic hit.
In November 2024, President Trump nominated Rubio to serve as America’s Secretary of State. Secretary Rubio was the first cabinet member who was confirmed in the second Trump Administration. He received a historic unanimous vote of 99-0 in the U.S. Senate.
Rubio was sworn in as the 72nd Secretary of State on January 21, 2025. Secretary Rubio’s priority is to have a Department of State that puts America First.