Edmund Rice Justice Bulletin

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF SUSTAINABLE ENERGY FOR ALL - 2012

2012-01-21T00:08:00.001+11:00

Energy is central to nearly every major challenge, and opportunity the world faces today. Be it jobs, security, climate change, food production or increasing incomes , access to sustainable energy for all is essential for strengthening economies, protecting ecosystems and achieving equity.

In fact, more than 1.4 billion people worldwide have no access to electricity, and 1 billion more only have intermittent access. Some 2.5 billion people – almost half of humanity – rely on traditional biomass for cooking and heating.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made sustainable energy one of his five priorities that will guide his second 5-year term. Specifically, he will direct the United Nations to extend energy’s reach in order to combat endemic poverty. Universal access to energy, improved efficiency and enhanced deployment of renewable sources are ambitious goals, and the Secretary-General is leading a Sustainable Energy for All initiative to make them achievable.

This initiative will call for private sector and national commitments and attract global attention to the importance of energy for development and poverty alleviation. The goal is to meet three objectives by 2030:

• Ensuring universal access to modern energy services.
• Doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
• Doubling the share of renewable energy in the global energy mix.

In recognition of the importance of energy access for sustainable economic development and supporting achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, the United Nations General Assembly has designated 2012 as the International Year of Sustainable Energy for All

WORLD SOCIAL JUSTICE DAY FEB 20th

2012-01-21T00:05:00.002+11:00

Italian Jesuit priest Luigi Tapparelli d’Azeglio, (1793-1862) is generally acknowledged as the person with whom the concept of social justice originated.

Taparelli wrote frequently about social problems arising from the Industrial Revolution seeking a middle path between laissez faire capitalism and extreme forms of socialism, and his influence was significant. Pope Leo XIII’s social encyclical Rerum Novarum, published in 1891 and recognized as the foundation for the social doctrine of the Catholic church, drew on insights from his former teacher, Taparelli.

Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being.

The United Nations General Assembly has decided to observe 20 February annually, starting in 2009, as the World Day of Social Justice a day recognizing the need to promote efforts to tackle issues such as poverty, exclusion and unemployment.

THE RIGHT TO WATER AND SANITATION - AN UNMET GLOBAL NEED

2012-01-20T23:58:00.002+11:00

More than 4000 children die each day from severe diarrhea, which is spread through poor sanitation and hygiene.

In a world population of 7 billion, 2.5 billion do not have access to adequate sanitation and 884 million do not have access to clean water, this despite the UN Human Rights Council affirming that water and sanitation are human rights.

Sub-Saharan Africa faces some of the worst deficits - 330 million people in the region lack access to clean water and 565 million lack access to proper sanitation facilities. People living in rural areas continue to be disproportionately underserved, as seven out of ten users of unimproved sanitation facilities live in rural areas.

As with many challenges in development, women and girls are disproportionately impacted by scarcities of clean water and adequate sanitation. Women are more than twice as likely as men to be responsible for water collection. On average, women in the developing world walk six kilometers each day to collect water, time which could be spent in school or at work. And studies show that more than half of girls who drop out of primary school in sub-Saharan Africa do so because of a lack of separate toilets and easy access to safe water. The effects of lack of access to water and sanitation have a macroeconomic impact as well. In total, the World Health Organization estimates that 40 billion working hours are spent collecting water each year in Africa - comparable to a year's labour for the entire workforce of France.

Even though water and sanitation scarcities will be exacerbated as new challenges such as climate change and urbanization emerge, the One.org website describes some encouraging signs of progress. The solutions to the problem are known and cost-effective

During the 18th Session of the Human Rights Council in Sep 2011, Franciscans International and WaterLex also delivered a joint oral statement on the Annual Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, in which they called upon States to use the human rights–based planning developed by the Special Rapporteur to articulate the implementation of all their water related international legal obligations through a human rights-based water governance.

CONCERNS AS AUSTRALIA BACKS AWAY FROM GAMBLING REFORM

2012-01-20T23:53:00.004+11:00

Australians lose over $12 billion every year on poker machines, and problem gamblers can lose over $1000 in a single hour.

The Australian Churches Gambling Taskforce which includes representatives of all major churches and their welfare agencies, have supported the proposals initially put forward by the government to address the issue of problem gambling.

However a key feature of the proposed legislation, the introduction of a national mandatory pre-commitment scheme that requires gamblers in all electronic gaming venues to set spending limits on high impact (high loss) poker machines, now appears in danger of being discarded in the face of a multi-million dollar campaign mounted by Clubs Australia and supported by the major Opposition party, opposing the legislation.

Get-Up, a member organisation of the Stop the Loss coalition, which also includes Catholic Social Services, has included an online petition on their website urging support for the original legislation.

HISTORIC OUTCOME OR EMPTY WORDS? - DURBAN CLIMATE CONFERENCE

2011-12-19T21:08:00.005+11:00

Once again opinions vary in regard to the success or otherwise of the recently concluded UN Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa.

Optimists point out that the Durban Package set up by the conference will, for the first time, bring all greenhouse-gas emitting countries in the world into a common legal regime under UN jurisdiction in 2015, that would force them to cut emissions no later than 2020.

Defying expectations, the Kyoto Protocol has also been extended until 2017, which will "bear in mind different circumstances of developed and developing countries".

The new global legal framework will be decided by 2015 and come into force by 2020. Called the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, it will "raise levels of ambition" in reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

But the world's most poor and low-lying states say that the accords still leave them vulnerable and the targets agreed are not sufficiently aggressive to slow the pace of global warming, which threatens them most.

The agreement does, however, importantly acknowledge that there is a gap between the aggregate level of reduction in emissions of greenhouse gases to be achieved through global mitigation efforts and what is needed to avert dangerous climate change.

To reach the 2deg C target that scientists consider the maximum for containing global warming within manageable limits, emissions, which are currently rocketing, must begin to fall by 8.5% by 2020 compared with 2010.

At the request of the EU and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the delegates agreed to launch a work plan to identify options for closing this gap.

Others are more forthright in expressing their disappointment. Those at 350.org described it as being better than "the worst" possible outcome, but it's still a cowardly, unacceptable delay on global climate action -- and a recipe for climate disasters.

"It's certainly not the deal the planet needs - such a deal would have delivered much greater ambition on both emissions reductions and finance," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. He went on to say that "the atmosphere responds to one thing, and one thing only—emissions. The world’s collective level of ambition on emissions reductions must be substantially increased, and soon."

It remains to be seen whether or not the rhetoric, speeches and carefully worded resolutions from Durban will be translated into effective action.

CAMPAIGN TO HALT SPECULATORS PREYING ON THE POOR

2011-12-19T21:03:00.001+11:00

The Democratic Republic of the Congo should be one of Africa's richest countries. It has a mineral wealth estimated to be around $24-trillion (£15-tn). There are huge deposits of cobalt, diamonds, gold, copper, oil and 80 per cent of the world's supplies of coltan ore — a valuable mineral used in computers and mobile phones.

Yet 100 women a week are still dying in childbirth and 16,000 children under the age of five die every year. One in three children in the DRC will never get anything more than primary education.

One of the reasons the country has been unable to recover is that it is being pursued by international debt speculators, known as Vulture funds.

It has been 16 years since most of the world began writing off the debts of the poorest countries, but the vulture funds, a club of between 26 and 35 speculators, have done almost everything to ensure that these countries do not have a chance to get back on their feet.

Vulture funds operate by buying up a country's debt when it is in a state of chaos. When the country has stabilised, vulture funds return to demand millions of dollars in interest repayments and fees on the original debt.

The DRC is a heavily indebted poor country (HIPC). It had finally completed the long and tough process required to receive debt relief. Congo’s debt was due to be cut by over $7,000 million. The IMF, World Bank and African Development Bank had agreed to cancel 100 per cent of pre-2004 debts. Other creditors like the UK having committed to do the same.

But a Vulture Fund had been circling the DRC. Just as it reached HIPC completion point, FG Hemisphere swooped. Having bought one of the African nation’s debts cheaply on the secondary market, it refused to participate in the debt relief scheme, and instead began pursuing repayment of $100 million for this debt – $80 million more than the country would have been expected to pay for the debt under the HIPC process.

Recently, the NSW Supreme Court ruled in favour of FG Hemisphere Associates and said the Democratic Republic of Congo must hand over $30 million.
FG Hemisphere has now gone to Jersey to claim $100-m from the DRC because a legal loophole means that the island remains free of anti-vulture laws that were passed in the UK last year.

So far, according to the World Bank, the top 26 vultures have managed to collect $1-bn from the world's poorest countries and still have a further $1.3-bn to collect. Gordon Brown, the former British Prime Minister and long-time Finance Minister in Tony Blair's administrations, has described the payouts as ‘morally outrageous.’

In Australia you can take action by sending a message to the Australian Attorney General Nicola Roxon urging the introduction of legislation to prohibit vulture funds from accessing Australian courts

TRAFFICKING IN HUMANS – NOW THE SECOND MOST LUCRATIVE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY IN THE WORLD

2011-12-19T20:58:00.000+11:00

Trafficking in humans is now estimated to be the second most lucrative criminal activity in the world after the illegal arms trade. That means it is even more lucrative than the illegal drug trade.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that 2.4 million people (including 1.2 million children, are trafficked globally, generating profits of around $32 billion. A UN study has found that 79% of trafficking is for sexual exploitation while 18% was for forced labour.

Stop the Traffick has developed materials to raise awareness about the issue of trafficking and to help concerned members of the public recognise the signs that someone may be a victim of trafficking. The travel and hospitality industries in particular have been targeted so that those working in the industry, guests, travellers and those vulnerable to trafficking know what human trafficking is, the signs to look out for and how to take appropriate action to prevent the trafficking of men, women and children.

At the conclusion of her recent visit to Australia, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, especially women and children, Joy Ngozi Ezeilo, urged the Australian Government to devote greater attention to the rights and needs of the victims of human trafficking, especially children, while praising the authorities for their commitment to fighting trafficking regionally and domestically.

For information about trafficking in Australia, visit the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans (ACRATH) website.

‘COTTON ON’ PLEDGES ZERO TOLERANCE FOR CHILD LABOUR

2011-12-19T20:55:00.003+11:00

In a letter in response to the campaign by Stop the Traffick (Australia) to end harvesting of cotton in Uzbekistan using forced labour of schoolchildren, (featured in this bulletin in August), a spokesperson for the Cotton On company stressed that its Supplier Agreements stipulate zero tolerance for child labour.

The letter reiterates the company’s commitment to its corporate social responsibilities and acceptable working conditions and trade practices. The letter also outlines the steps the company has taken to ensure its Supplier Agreements and Vendor Ethical Code of Conduct are adhered to; this includes the recruitment of Ethical Compliance Auditors and the engagement of third party auditors in countries of production where they do not have dedicated resources.

This response gives encouragement that our advocacy efforts can be effective.

You may like to consider sending a brief note of congratulation to Cotton On acknowledging their stance on this issue.

WORLD 'HURTLING TOWARDS IRREVERSIBLE CLIMATE CHANGE'

2011-11-11T20:52:00.003+11:00

With the passage of its Clean Energy Act Australia has joined the growing list of countries that have imposed a tax on carbon emissions intended to halt the growth of the country's growing greenhouse gas emissions and spur investment in cleaner energy sources including natural gas and renewable power stations.

The laws will see Australia join the European Union and New Zealand with national emissions trading schemes. California's starts in 2013, while China and South Korea are working on carbon trading programmes. India has a coal tax, while South Africa plans to place carbon caps on its top polluters.

Whilst Australia accounts for just 1.5 percent of global emissions, it is the developed world's highest emitter per capita due to a reliance on coal to generate electricity.

Meanwhile the International Energy Agency (IEA) warned Wednesday that the world is hurtling toward irreversible climate change and will lose the chance to limit warming if it doesn't take bold action in the next five years.

In its annual World Energy Outlook, the agency spelled out the consequences if those steps aren't taken and what needs to be done to cap global temperature increases at 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels. That's the threshold beyond which some scientists have said catastrophic changes could be triggered.

The IEA is the intergovernmental organisation which acts as a policy adviser to the twenty eight member states of the OECD group of countries - the group of the world's most developed countries.

G20 MEETING GIVES SOME CAUSE FOR HOPE

2011-11-11T00:20:00.003+11:00

Despite the focus on addressing the European debt crisis, the G20 recent meeting in Cannes resulted in some significant movement to address the issues of tax havens and to introduce a tax on financial transactions as a means of addressing the issues of poverty and climate change.

Momentum in favour of introducing the tax continues to build with South Africa, Argentina and Brazil joining with France, Germany and Spain to back the so-called 'Robin Hood Tax'. Bill Gates also presented a report to the meeting arguing that the tax is both feasible and desirable while repudiating the idea that the tax needs to be global in order to work.

Significant international pressure from an increasing number of policy makers is also steadily mounting against the secrecy offered by tax havens, says UK-based international development agency Christian Aid, following the G20 meeting.

The conference listed 11 tax havens that have failed to deliver on tax transparency, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy stating that the worst offenders 'will be excluded from the international community'.

Other significant developments arising from the summit included:-
• Every G20 member agreeing to sign a multilateral convention that will allow exchange of tax information between them – and will consider making information available automatically on a voluntary basis,
• A call from the G20 for multinational companies to be more compliant and transparent in their dealings with poor countries.
• Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh warning that tax evasion and illicit finance flows have become a ‘serious’ problem and urging the G20 to take a lead on automatic information exchange.
• The G20 agreeing to increase support to developing countries to counter ‘abusive transfer pricing ‘- a major profit-shifting tax dodge.
• A report from Bill Gates calling on all G20 countries to impose legally binding transparency requirements on mining and oil companies. Requiring companies to make public details of agreements they have with governments of the countries where they operate makes it easier to spot irregular payments.

"We are delighted that the G20 has listened to the concerns of 40,000 people across the world calling for an End to Tax Haven Secrecy – but we need sustained follow-up action to ensure this becomes a reality" said Christian Aid senior economic justice adviser Dr David McNair.

"We estimate that developing countries lose around $160 billion a year because of tax dodging by multinationals and other companies trading internationally. That lost tax revenue could save lives" he added.

AUSTRALIA A GREAT PLACE TO LIVE ... BUT FOR WHOM?

2011-11-11T00:15:00.002+11:00

The United Nations Development Program (UNDP)has compiled rankings of 187 countries according to their wealth, education levels and life expectancy.

According to the report which was released in Copenhagen on November 2, Australia is the second best country in the world, after Norway, for gaining wealth, for learning and for health, and Australians were also rated first in non-income related measures such as life expectancy even though Aboriginal Australians live much less longer than the rest. Many of the nations ranked between 80 and 120 in the report have better life expectancies for their peoples than do Australia's Aboriginal peoples.

This disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians raises questions about federal and state government policies which according to some United Nations committees and experts smack of overt neglect, discrimination and racism.

Earlier this year United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay criticised Australia's racism towards its Aboriginal peoples, the policies that have led to government intervention into the lives of the Northern Territory's Aboriginal peoples, and the maltreatment and indefinite detention of Asylum Seekers. Mrs Pillay, a South African, compared Australia's situation with the former apartheid regime in her country.

Again earlier in the year in reviewing Australia's performance, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review both pointed to the need for an improvement in relations with Aboriginal peoples, to allow for self-determination and to remove discriminatory policies from practice. They argue that not enough is being done to reduce the disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. Subsequent Amnesty and internal government agency reports have produced a distinctively similar lament.

NEW CAMPAIGN FOR ARMS CONTROL

2011-11-11T00:12:00.002+11:00

One in every ten people in the world possesses small arms. Two bullets are produced each year for every person on the planet. These are just two of the disturbing facts highlighted on the Control Arms website.

Later this month Control Arms will launch a Speak Out campaign in the lead-up to the UN Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) negotiations scheduled for July 2012.

Through the campaign Control Arms will continue to call for a bulletproof Arms Trade Treaty that:
- Stops transfers when there is a substantial risk that the arms or ammunition are likely to be used in serious violations of international humanitarian law or international human rights law, or fuel armed violence and undermine socio-economic development.
- Holds governments accountable to existing standards of international law and the UN Charter.
- Includes all conventional weapons and ammunition, all transfers and all transactions.
- Is enforceable and includes detailed guidelines for full implementation, reporting, international cooperation, compliance and accountability.

For more information about how you can support the campaign visit the Speak Out campaign webpage.

MAKING SENSE OF NATURAL DISASTERS

2011-11-11T00:07:00.003+11:00

"As the leaders of the world's wealthiest nations discussed global finance and development at the G20 Summit in France, the people of El Salvador, Guatemala, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Thailand and many, many other nations were not represented. The voices of their people – many of whom are still under water from recent flooding, not to mention illegitimate debts -- were not heard. But they were affected by the decisions made in Cannes."

So begins an open letter from Marta Benavides a Salvadorian woman the co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty movement.

The letter touches on important questions about climate change and climate realities, aid policies, the legacy of bad policies, the lack of international media attention, the lack of overall awareness, the recently ended G20 meeting in Cannes, among others.

The full text of the letter can be read here

POOREST AND MOST EXCLUDED BEAR BRUNT OF ECONOMIC CRISES

2011-10-18T22:58:00.001+11:00

Speaking in Geneva recently, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Magdalena Sepúlveda, called on States to address without delay the growing inequalities between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots.’ "In several countries," she warned, "disparities created by the crisis have been exacerbated by austerity measures put in place to facilitate recovery."   

"These rising inequalities have diminished social cohesion and increased insecurity and exclusion throughout the world,"the Special Rapporteur said on the occasion of the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. "Should these inequalities persevere, the result could be increasing social unrest and conflict, such as that seen over recent months. While States are going ‘back to business’ on the presumption of a ‘post crisis’ recovery, the financial and economic crises are still very much in full swing for those living in poverty," Ms. Sepúlveda said.

"At the current rate, it will take more than 800 years for the bottom billion of the world population to achieve 10 per cent of global income."   According to the United Nations expert, it is now clear that the poorest and most excluded bore the brunt of the crises, while the incomes of the richest segments of society continue to soar in many of the countries most affected by the crises.   For example, in the United States, the poor continue to grow in number, with six million people falling into poverty since 2008 and one in seven Americans now living below the poverty line, more than at any time in the past 50 years.
  
"The twisted irony is that those who have benefited most from past economic growth and development have been those who were already better off, and those who have suffered the harshest effects of the cumulative crises have been the poorest and the marginalized in all societies, including single-parent families, older persons, ethnic minorities, persons with disabilities and migrants" the poverty expert noted.   

"Recovery measures must look beyond growth. The September 2010 Millennium Development Goals Summit outcome gave renewed emphasis to the goal of sustainable, inclusive and equitable growth" stressed Ms. Sepúlveda. "What is required are recovery measures that are equitable, accompanied by human rights safeguards and designed from the ground up, taking into consideration the specific needs of vulnerable populations."   States may benefit from the experience of the few countries that have narrowed the gap between the incomes of the poorest and wealthiest groups over the last decade.

"Progressive taxation, social protection programmes and minimum wage legislation have all been proven effective in alleviating poverty while tackling inequalities" the Special Rapporteur recalled.

ANTI-POVERTY WEEK IN AUSTRALIA

2011-10-18T22:51:00.003+11:00

This week in Australia is designated as Anti-Poverty Week which aims to strengthen public understanding of the causes and consequences of poverty and hardship around the world and in Australia and encourage research, discussion and action to address these problems, including action by individuals, communities, organisations and governments.

More than one million Australians live in poverty whilst globally more than a billion people are desperately poor.

Micah Challenge is a global campaign of Christians speaking out against poverty and injustice. The challenge is how to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving global poverty by 2015.

Meanwhile the Chief Executive Officer of the St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia, Dr John Falzon, has outlined three concrete steps for Government to take towards creating an inclusive Australia:

“Firstly, Real respect for the First Peoples of Australia cannot be reconciled with disempowerment. Compulsory income management, for example, continues to demean and discriminate. Extending this paternalistic policy to non-Aboriginal social security recipients does not remove the stigma. We now have class-discrimination in addition to racial discrimination. In the words of Central Arrernte woman Elaine Peckham: BasicsCards are no substitute for Basic Rights.

“Secondly, we restate our urgent call to free children from immigration detention arrangements and to ensure their access to education. These children are suffering unjustly. This is something the Government acknowledged in 2008.

“Thirdly, we invite political leaders to abandon the tired myth of an undeserving poor. Income Support payments must be lifted to a level of adequacy for all, not just for some. The goal of employment can be achieved through investment in education, training, childcare, transport, health and housing rather than through the denial of the necessities of life.”

GLOBAL FINANCIAL CRISIS – ARE LEADERS GETTING THE MESSAGE?

2011-10-18T22:41:00.005+11:00

Tax dodging by multi-national corporations costs developing countries hundreds of billions of dollars every year, 1% of the population in the US controls 35% of the wealth, obscene salaries and bonuses are paid to corporate executives and yet even as protests about corporate power, greed and corruption gain momentum around the world, an article in the Huffington Post reveals that members of the US Congress are proposing a repatriation tax holiday - a huge, temporary reduction in the tax rate on the estimated $1 trillion that could be brought back to the US from offshore tax havens, in order to stimulate the economy and create jobs.

Critics of the scheme argue that a similar scheme offered in 2004 failed, with the companies taking advantage of the holiday ending up laying off thousands of workers and spending most of the money they brought back from abroad buying back stock and otherwise enriching their top executives and major stockholders.

With the United States' biggest companies already sitting on some $2 trillion in domestically held cash and liquid assets that they refuse to spend on job-creating measures in any case, critics further argue that the proposal provides further evidence that government and business leaders are deaf to the message being sent out by protesters such as ‘Occupy Wall St’.

Meanwhile Christian Aid has released a new video for the End Tax Haven Secrecy campaign. It can be viewed at the Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development website.

You are also invited to visit the End Tax Haven Secrecy website and sign the petition demanding tax justice at the G20 summit in France in November 2011.

On a related issue, the proposal to put a tiny 0.05% tax on financial institutions would raise hundreds of billions of dollars every year to help tackle poverty and climate change has been supported by 1,000 of the world’s leading economists.   The so-called ‘Robin Hood Tax’ has also gained the support of people like billionaire Bill Gates, European President Jose Manuel Barroso and the European Commission. However Australia was one of the few countries that wasn’t prepared to discuss a Robin Hood Tax when world leaders met in Canada last year for the G20.

Oxfam Australia has an online letter-writing campaign asking that Australia support a Robin Hood Tax at the upcoming G20 meeting.

PROLONGED MANDATORY DETENTION IS CATASTROPHIC, DEMEANING AND VIOLATES HUMAN RIGHTS

2011-10-18T22:37:00.003+11:00

"All prolonged mandatory detention of those fleeing persecution is catastrophic for detainees, violates human rights, and demeans those who inflict and have oversight of the system" said Archbishop Tomasi, the Permanent Representative of the Holy See (Vatican) to the United Nations and Other International Organizations in Geneva, in an address to the Human Rights Council earlier this month.

The statement lamented the erosion of the noble aims of the 1951 Refugee Convention “to assure refugees the widest possible exercise of their fundamental rights and freedoms” and called for the plight of the estimated 43 million refugees, asylum seekers and other forcibly displaced persons in the world today to be addressed.

Archbishop Tomasi pointed out that "Public opinion and political expediency have impacted the need for protection of asylum-seekers in a negative way" and criticised the treatment of asylum seekers, especially children, as if they were criminal prisoners. He urged the development of alternatives to detention and for the introduction of practical measures to help refugees adapt to their new environment and to prevent their exploitation.

FACING THE REALITY OF CLIMATE CHANGE

2011-09-16T20:29:00.005+10:00

Over 8 million online viewers around the world participated in the recent 24 hour Climate Reality Project to raise awareness about the reality of climate change and combat the disinformation circulating by vested interests and those in denial about the major environmental crisis that our planet is facing.

The project starkly presents the reality of what is already happening to our planet and exposes the tactics of corporations that stand to lose in any large scale movement away from carbon polluting industries - the same tactics used by giant tobacco companies that poured money into campaigns in an attempt to cast doubt on the scientific evidence that linked smoking to health concerns.

Those who missed taking part in the project can click on the above link to view the videos of the presentations made from 24 different locations in 24 different time zones around the world calling attention to what is currently happening to our climate.

On Sep 24th there will be another worldwide rally to demand solutions to the climate crisis.

Moving Planet is demanding the adoption of science-based policies to return the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere from its current level of 392 parts per million (ppm) to below 350 ppm (the figure that climatologists argue is necessary to avert both human and natural disaster); a rapid, just transition to zero carbon emissions; mobilizing funding for a fair transition to a 350 ppm world and putting the rights of people over the rights of polluters.

ADVOCATING FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

2011-09-16T20:28:00.002+10:00

The Christian Brothers have decided they cannot remain silent in the face of recent events in Bolivia.

The Bolivian government has decided to build a road through a National Park which is home to some sixteen thousand indigenous people. Opponents of the project claim that the decision violates the Bolivian Constitution and existing laws such as the Environment Act and the Protected Areas Act among others, and that the road, will cause great ecological destruction in Bolivia, as well as ignoring the rights of the indigenous peoples who inhabit the region.

The people invited the President Evo Morales to come and talk with them but he declined. In response the people and their supporters have undertaken a peaceful march - "The Long March on behalf of the Loma Santa (Mother Earth) and Indigenous Rights" - to the capital city La Paz in order to plead their case, although the march has been blocked and obstructed by those supporting the government’s decision.

Christian Brothers have been active in organizing and attending meetings and providing support for the marchers eg. through the delivery of food, with one Brother even being detained by the police for a time as a consequence.

The Brothers have also decided to place an statement in the Sunday newspaper publicly expressing their solidarity with the indigenous people and rejecting the climate of harassment, intimidation and violence that has developed in opposition to the march.

The statement also expresses the conviction that the issue needs to be resolved by guaranteeing the full exercise of collective rights, including the right to free, prior and informed consultation as guaranteed in the Bolivian Constitution which requires transparency from all government authorities in providing all information regarding the highway project.

More information about the protest campaign can be found at the TIPNIS website.

SLAVERY HAS NOT BEEN ABOLISHED - IT HAS JUST ASSUMED NEW FORMS

2011-09-16T20:24:00.003+10:00

A recent UN sponsored exhibition in Geneva highlighted the incidence of slavery like situations that still exist today affecting an estimated 27 million people.

Persistent modern-day slavery covers a variety of human rights violations and includes the practices of child labor, bonded labor, serfdom, servile marriage, trafficking in persons (especially women and children), and the exploitation of domestic and migrant labor. Such slavery-like practices remain clandestine in nature and, in certain cases, accepted as a part of society, making them difficult to root out and eliminate.

Public ignorance has contributed to governmental and international inaction to abolish such forms of slavery. The problem is compounded by the fact that, worldwide, victims of contemporary slavery are characterized by their poverty and vulnerability.

In Australia ACRATH (Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking) have been active in lobbying Australian Parliamentarians about their concerns for people who are trafficked to Australia. These concerns focused both on the well-being of those trafficked and of prevention strategies in regard to the problem. At least two Christian Brothers are active members of ACRATH.

In Kenya the Edmund Rice Justice and Advocacy group has recently organised an essay writing competition in Nairobi schools to raise awareness about child labour, whilst in the US the Christian Brothers continue to have an outreach to migrant workers and contributed to a submission as part of the UPR of the United States at the UN Human Rights Council.

DEVELOPING COUNTRIES LOSE MORE MONEY THROUGH TAX DODGING THAN THEY RECEIVE IN AID – YOUR CHANCE TO HELP CHANGE THAT

2011-09-16T20:19:00.001+10:00

Governments collectively lose hundreds of billions of dollars in tax revenue each year due to tax evasion by multinational companies and super wealthy individuals. Developing countries lose more in tax evasion than they get in aid. This tax evasion for the benefit of the wealthy is facilitated by tax havens.

In November 2011 the countries of the G20 will be meeting in France.

The End Tax Haven Secrecy campaign is asking the G20 leaders to introduce measures to end the tax haven secrecy that allows companies to hide their profits and avoid paying taxes in developing countries. As a result millions of children are denied a basic education.

These measures include requiring companies to report on the profits made and taxes paid in every country in which they operate and automatic exchange of information between different tax jurisdictions. This would help developing countries collect the taxes they are owed.

You are invited to sign the online petition to the G20 urging action to end tax haven secrecy that facilitates tax evasion and money laundering.

REFLECTING ON THE PENAL SYSTEM

2011-08-19T18:08:00.004+10:00

The recent riots in England and the subsequent penalties handed down to over one thousand offenders have led to a renewed debate about issues of policing, crime, punishment and juvenile justice.

In their Social Justice Statement for 2011–2012, the Catholic Bishops of Australia urge all Australians to think about the conditions in their prisons, and to ask who are most likely to find themselves there and why.

The Statement, titled Building Bridges, Not Walls: Prisons and the justice system, points out that between 1984 and 2008, while rates of crime either stayed steady or fell, the number of Australians in prison per 100,000 people almost doubled.

The majority of Australian prisoners come from the most disadvantaged sections of the community: the underprivileged, those suffering from mental illness, and especially Indigenous people, who make up about 2.3 per cent of the Australian population but about a quarter of those in prison. The incarceration rate for young Indigenous people is even higher.

The letter, which is can be accessed via the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council website, acknowledges that there will always be a need for prisons, but suggests that it is time for Australians to ask what they expect from their prison systems. It asks if jail is simply somewhere to warehouse wrongdoers until they have served their sentences, or can it be a place where inmates learn to become responsible members of the wider society? It asks how those who have committed no crime but suffer terribly because their loved ones are incarcerated can be supported, pointing out that this is an issue that especially affects children with a parent who has been imprisoned.

Finally it asks what can be done to support those who have paid their debt to society but must overcome obstacles to finding work, a place to live and a place in the community.

A Restorative Justice approach which emphasizes repairing the harm caused by the actions of offenders is an alternative to punishment which has gained favour in many parts of the world . When victims, offenders and community members meet to decide how to do that, the results can be transformational.

The Alternatives to Violence Project is an international training program that has also had success in bringing about positive change in inmates who have a history of violence.

STOP UNETHICAL INVESTORS PREYING ON THE WORLD’S POOR

2011-08-19T18:06:00.000+10:00

Earlier this year the UK government made permanent its landmark law to protect the poorest countries in the world from profiteering by so-called vulture funds

Vulture Funds sue some of the world's poorest countries for full repayment of debts they buy up cheaply. In April 2010 an Act of Parliament - the Debt Relief (Developing Countries) Act - was passed which restricts the ability of Vulture Funds to sue the poorest countries in UK courts, a favourite jurisdiction of the funds. The Act represents the first of its kind anywhere in the world, and attracted cross-party support in the UK.

Without such legislation enacted in Australia, these so called ‘Vulture Funds’ are free to profiteer from poor country debts in Australian courts. Last year one did just that in New South Wales.

The global financial crisis has exposed an international financial system that urgently needs cleaning up. Combating Vulture Funds is a practical first step toward a global economy that works for the majority of people, not a small number of unethical investors.

Visit the Jubilee Australia website to learn more about what you can do to stop the ‘Debt Vultures’.

KMART RESPONDS TO CAMPAIGN AGAINST UZBEK CHILD LABOUR

2011-08-19T18:02:00.002+10:00

Uzbekistan is one of the world’s largest cotton producers and exporters. For decades it has used forced labour of schoolchildren, college and university students to harvest cotton by hand. Each year over one million children as young as nine-years-old are sent out to work in the fields

In 2004 local activists began a campaign to call on the world to boycott cotton harvested in Uzbekistan until the use of forced child labour was ended. International brands and retailers including Tesco, Walmart, LeviStrauss, Gap, Limited Brands, NIKE and Marks and Spencer agreed to ban Uzbek cotton from their supply chains.

In Australia STOP THE TRAFFIK initiated a letter-writing campaign in urging major retailers Target, Kmart and Cotton On to ensure that Uzbekistan cotton is not used in products which they sell.

In response Kmart has announced that it will start to take steps to exclude cotton from Uzbekistan from its products while forced child labour is used to harvest the cotton. Their statement reads in part "In the event that Uzbekistan cotton is detected, we will take all necessary steps to ensure its use is stopped immediately."

While this commitment has been welcomed, it is believed that it needs to go further. The campaign is now asking Kmart to inform their suppliers of cotton products and obtain assurances that Uzbekistan cotton is not being used in any cotton products Kmart sells.

For information about the ongoing campaign to obtain an effective response from Kmart visit the Just Act website.

More background information about this issue can also be found here

PROPOSED CARBON TAX FOR AUSTRALIA WELCOMED

2011-08-19T17:19:00.003+10:00

A range of faith-based and community groups have welcomed the Australian government's proposed initiative to put a price on carbon pollution.

Jill Finnane, coordinator of Eco-Justice programs at the Edmund Rice Centre described the government plan as "an important and significant first step that all Australians should get behind".

"Putting a price on the green-house gas emissions that each one of us is responsible for is an effective means to move towards overall improvements for the planet." she said.

"As a nation we need to look beyond our own short-term interests and consider, not only the legacy we are leaving for our grandchildren, but also the effect that our emissions are having on our neighbours in low-lying Pacific Island nations."

The Uniting Church welcomed the initiative after campaigning for many years for the Australian government to take a leadership role in setting emission targets, to encourage the uptake of renewable energy technologies, to put a price on carbon, to work for a strong and fair international agreement to limit global temperature increase and to ensure that low income households are not unfairly impacted upon by a carbon price.

Oxfam has also welcomed the initiative as a good first step to tackling climate change, but mindful of the mis-information that has already been spread about the proposed tax has produced a summary and commentary on the legislation that has been forshadowed. It is also encouraging people to make their own submission on the carbon price legislation.

TOWARDS ENSURING THE RIGHT TO SOCIAL SECURITY FOR ALL

2011-07-27T19:43:00.001+10:00

Social security is a basic human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (1966), and in other major United Nations human rights instruments.

Knowing that more than 1.4 billion people still struggle to live on less than $1.25 a day, it is obvious that much more must be done to eradicate the scourge of extreme poverty.

In 2009 the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the Social Protection Floor Initiative as a joint UN effort to build a global coalition committed to supporting countries in building national social protection floors for their citizens.

A Social Protection Floor is the first level of a comprehensive national social protection system that helps to realize human rights for all through guaranteeing:
- Universal access to essential services (such as health, education, housing, water and sanitation and other services as nationally defined);
- Social Transfers in cash or kind to guarantee income security, food security, adequate nutrition and access to essential services.

The results of ILO research shows that a social protection floor can be afforded by virtually all countries and that it would constitute an effective tool in the fight against poverty and in reaching the Millennium Development Goals.

Visit the Global Extension of Social Security (GESS) website to sign a petition to show your support for the Social Protection Floor Initiative.

UN REPORTS MAJOR PROGRESS TOWARDS MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS BUT THE MOST VULNERABLE ARE LEFT BEHIND

2011-07-27T19:39:00.002+10:00

"Already the MDGs have helped lift millions of people out of poverty, save countless children’s lives and ensure that they attend school" said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the launch of the Millennium Development Goals Report 2011 in Geneva earlier this month.

"They have reduced maternal deaths, expanded opportunities for women, increased access to clean water, and freed many people from deadly and debilitating disease. At the same time, the report shows that we still have a long way to go in empowering women and girls, promoting sustainable development, and protecting the most vulnerable from the devastating effects of multiple crises, be they conflicts, natural disasters or volatility in prices for food and energy" he went on to say.

Some of the significant achievements highlighted in the report include:-
- The world is on track to achieve the poverty reduction target
- The number of deaths of children under the age of five declined from 12.4 million in 1990 to 8.1 million in 2009, which means nearly 12,000 fewer children die each day.
- Deaths from malaria have been reduced by 20% worldwide
- New HIV/AIDS infections have dropped 21% from their peak in 1997
- An estimated 1.1 billion people in urban areas and 723 million people in rural areas gained access to an improved drinking water source over the period 1990-2008

Progress, however, has been uneven, and there are still too many people being left behind, the report notes. Despite major improvements, large gaps remain between and within countries, and efforts need to be intensified.

Those who have supported campaigns such as the Jubilee campaigns and Make Poverty History over the years can derive some satisfaction that their voice has contributed to bringing about this progress. However much still remains to be done and as many developed countries encounter their own financial difficulties, calls can be heard to reduce foreign aid budgets for example.

All of this indicates that there is still a need for ongoing action in the fight against poverty and injustice Beyond 2015

VATICAN ENVOY DENOUNCES CONTINUED MAINTENANCE OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS

2011-07-27T19:32:00.002+10:00

In a clear rejection of the concept of nuclear deterrence, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, the Representative of the Hoy See (Vatican) to the UN stated that "Viewed from a legal, political, security and most of all - moral - perspective, there is no justification today for the continued maintenance of nuclear weapons."

Speaking to a diocesan gathering in Kansas City, USA, the Nuncio drew attention to the unresolved problem of 20,000 nuclear weapons located at 111 sites in 14 countries. He pointed out that more than half the population of the world lives in a nuclear-armed country and that each year,nations spend $100 billion on maintaining and modernizing their nuclear arsenals.

"With development needs across the globe far outpacing the resources being devoted to address them, the thought of pouring hundreds of billions of additional dollars into the world's nuclear arsenals is nothing short of sinful" he said.

The full text of Archbishop Chullikatt‘s speech can be found at the website of the National Catholic Reporter

GROWING SUPPORT FOR FINANCIAL ‘ROBIN HOOD’ TAX

2011-07-27T19:29:00.001+10:00

The past months have seen many countries formally endorse and promote financial transaction taxes, (sometimes termed the 'Robin Hood' tax). In an important development José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, recently announced the introduction of legislation to the European Union for the implementation of financial transaction taxes. The legislation is expected after the European summer and after the Commission tables its feasibility study on the tax in the coming weeks. Barroso has stated that it is appropriate to introduce it at the European level, and then follow it up at the G20.

In June 2011, the French and German Parliaments voted in favour of introducing legislation for financial transaction taxes at the EU level and the EuroZone.

On 15 June, the Brazilian parliament adopted a resolution calling for the Brazilian Government to support a financial transaction tax.

At the UN climate negotiating session in Bonn in early June, the Bolivian government call for an international financial transaction tax to cover the costs of the impacts of climate change, protect forests and finance the clean low carbon future for developing countries.

The Belgium Senate voted in favour of a resolution to support a financial transaction tax at the European level in lieu of a global agreement. The funds raised are to go to development and climate change.

The Australian government has not endorsed the tax up to this time. To learn more about the tax and sign an online petition visit the website of the Ronbin Hood Tax

WORLD REFUGEE DAY - REFLECTING ON THE PLIGHT OF REFUGEES

2011-06-28T11:18:00.000+10:00

There are an estimated 10.4 million refugees currently of concern to the United Nations. A further 4.7 million registered refugees are looked after in some 60 camps in the Middle East by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

In addition a further 26 million people are estimated to be displaced within their own country.

The refugees of concern to UNHCR are spread around the world, with more than half in Asia and some 20 percent in Africa. They live in widely varying conditions, from well-established camps and collective centres to makeshift shelters or living in the open.

Most of these refugees are living in countries which are struggling to provide basic services to their own populations. Relatively few are to be found in the more inaccessible affluent countries. Nevertheless faced with the prospect of an extended stay in a refugee camp with an uncertain future, it is understandable that some will take great risks in an attempt to attain a better life for themselves and their children.

The UN General Assembly has proclaimed June 20th as World Refugee Day to raise awareness about the plight of refugees and promote a greater understanding and compassion towards a group of people who are often treated with hostility and injustice.

Visit the World Refugee Day site for more information about refugees and to play the interactive game “Against All Odds”.

UN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONER URGES AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT RETHINK OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS

2011-06-28T11:14:00.000+10:00

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Ms Navi Pillay completed her six day visit to Australia in May. During her visit she met with various Government Ministers (including the Prime Minister), the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory and indigenous local government representatives. She also visited two immigration detention centres and met with indigenous people, migrants, NGOs and the Australian Human Rights Commission.

At the conclusion of her visit she praised Australia’s strong history of commitment to human rights at the international level, and its robust system of democratic institutions. The Australian Government’s efforts to promote the rights of persons with disabilities, as well as the rights of older persons were also singled out for special praise.

However Ms Pilay also raised the two ongoing issues of particular concern for which Australia was heavily criticised during the recent Universal Periodic Review in January - the treatment of Australia’s indigenous peoples and asylum-seekers. These two issues were raised by Edmund Rice International in its UPR submission.

Whilst welcoming advances that have been made in addressing some of the disadvantages faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples she noted that those advances were "undermined by policies that fail to recognise the right to self-determination for indigenous people" She urged a fundamental rethink of the policy and "a major effort to ensure not just consultation with the communities concerned in any future measures, but also their consent and active participation."

In her discussions with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Immigration and Citizenship, Ms Pilay reiterated the long-standing concerns expressed by UN human rights treaty bodies that Australia’s mandatory immigration detention regime is in breach of Australia’s international human rights obligations - a policy has for many years cast a shadow over Australia’s human rights record.

She noted that thousands of men, women and – most disturbingly of all – children have been held in Australian detention centres for prolonged periods, even though they have committed no crime. This has led to suicides, self-harming and deep trauma.

She went on to point out the consequence of the "constant political refrain that Australia is being 'flooded' by people who are 'queue jumpers' has resulted in a stigmatization of an entire group of people, irrespective of where they have come from or what dangers they may have fled and urged the leaders of all Australia’s political parties to take a principled and courageous stand to break this ingrained political habit of demonizing asylum-seekers."

The full text of Ms Pilay’s comments can be found at the OHCHR website.

CONCERNS REMAIN ABOUT NESTLE”S CORPORATE BEHAVIOUR

2011-06-28T11:13:00.000+10:00

The Swiss multinational company Nestle is the world’s biggest food and drink corporation. In 2009 it reported a net profit of over $10.5 billion.

Yet lingering concerns remain about the ethics of some of Nestle’s business practices. These include its marketing of infant formula in the developing world, its slowness in ensuring the cocoa it sources from West Africa is free of slave labour (despite some recent positive steps) and the tactics it has employed in dealing with a labour dispute in the Philipinnes.

Further information about each of these issues and some suggested actions can be found at the Just Act website

HOLY SEE CALLS FOR NEW APPROACH TO DEVELOPMENT

2011-06-28T11:10:00.001+10:00

Speaking at the recent United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC-IV) in Istanbul, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, the Holy See's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva, stated that "a comprehensive and inclusive framework for international development is essential if any enduring results are to be achieved."

Noting that continued growth in many of these countries has "not translated into an improved situation for the people," Archbishop Tomasi focused on the concept of "integral human development" which is elucidated in Catholic social teaching: respect for human dignity; protection of human rights; care of creation; participation in community, subsidiarity and solidarity; along with education; natural resource exploitation; agriculture; manufacturing; trade; financial services; infrastructure and technology.

He went on to say that authentic development "must include not just material growth but also spiritual growth." and that quantifiable and economic criteria such as gross domestic product or stock market growth fail to capture the full measure of what it means to be human.

Growth that is promoting integral human development is "evaluated by how well it promotes sustainable development and communities, creates decent jobs, alleviates people’s poverty and protects the environment" he added.

ERI REACTIVATES CAMPAIGN ON BEHALF OF CHILDREN INFECTED WITH HIV

2011-05-23T17:47:00.004+10:00

Edmund Rice International is again urging support for the Caritas letter-writing campaign on behalf of children with HIV/AIDS.

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is still a major health concern in the world with an estimated 33 million people currently living with the infection – 67% in sub-Saharan Africa where the Christian Brothers have made the liberation of oppressed youth from HIV/AIDS a major focus.

Children are often the forgotten victims of this pandemic. An estimated 800 children die of AIDS-related diseases each day. The evidence that treatment is very successful in children living with HIV is clear, yet significant obstacles remain to prevent hundreds of thousands of children from obtaining the care they need.

The Caritas campaign is targeting both governments and pharmaceutical companies to ask them to do more to prevent mother to child infection in the first place (the fact that it is virtually unheard of in the developed world indicates that it is preventable) and to develop and increase the availability of child-friendly medication to treat HIV.

Resource materials are currently being distributed to all Edmund Rice Schools around the world to enable them to participate in the campaign in the hope that schools who supported the campaign in the past will do so again with a new group of students, and that they will be joined by many more of the estimated quarter of a million students in Edmund Rice schools around the world.

Acting together the Edmund Rice Network has the potential to be a powerful force for justice.

VATICAN APPOINTED PANEL WARNS ON CLIMATE CHANGE

2011-05-23T17:44:00.003+10:00

The Pontifical Academy of Sciences a Vatican-appointed panel of scientists, has reported what climate change experts have been warning for years: the Earth is getting warmer, glaciers are melting, and urgent measures are necessary to stem the damage.

The scientists called for urgent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and reductions in methane and other pollutants that warm the air, and for improved observation of mountain glaciers to better track their changes.

"We appeal to all nations to develop and implement, without delay, effective and fair policies to reduce the causes and impacts of climate change on communities and ecosystems, including mountain glaciers and their watersheds, aware that we all live in the same home" the report said.

"We are committed to ensuring that all inhabitants of this planet receive their daily bread, fresh air to breathe and clean water to drink as we are aware that, if we want justice and peace, we must protect the habitat that sustains us."

The statement is consistent with previous Vatican statements and actions. In 2008, the Vatican installed photovoltaic cells on the roof of its main auditorium. A year later it installed a solar cooling unit for its main cafeteria. The Vatican has also joined a reforestation project aimed at offsetting its CO2 emissions.

At the same time according to the latest report from the Australian government Climate Commission "Global warming is real, man made, and could cause the world's sea level to rise a metre by the end of the century, much higher than previously thought". The report also warns that "the costs of not doing something about climate change will almost surely be far, far greater than the costs of doing something about it"

Despite the overwhelming scientific consensus in regard to the threat posed by climate change, enough people remain unconvinced or remain unwilling to accept the necessary changes to their lifestyle to persuade governments to act.

Yet as President Tong of Kiribati has said "We need to make sacrifices to provide a future for our children and grandchildren" and as leader of a country whose very existence is threatened by rising sea-levels he added "knowing what we do today, carrying on as business-as-usual is irresponsible and immoral. Failing to take action borders on an act of criminality."

AUSTRALIA’S TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS AGAIN UNDER FIRE

2011-05-23T17:41:00.001+10:00

The Edmund Rice Centre has again lamented the partisan political nature of the Australian response to the treatment of asylum seekers which ignores humanitarian concerns.

In an article which appeared in a recent newsletter, it was pointed out that overwhelmingly asylum seekers arriving in Australia are genuine refugees and their relatively small numbers place little burden on the Australian tax-payer.

The article goes on to criticise both major parties "Sadly - despite these realities - the management of our nation's asylum policy is in the hands of an Opposition who repeatedly demonstrate they have no conscience in beating up the issues, and a Government who still show no back-bone to achieve the common-sense and compassionate management outlined in the policy platform which they taken to successive elections."

The comments were sparked by the recent announcement by the Australian government of a deal whereby 800 asylum seekers who arrive in Australia by boat will be transferred to Malaysia in return for resettling additional refugees from Malaysia over the next four years. The deal was also criticised by the Refugee Council of Australia for ignoring Malaysia’s record of mistreatment of asylum seekers and refugees, described as one "of the most inhumane refugee policies in Asia".

Speaking on behalf of the Australian Catholic Bishops the Australian Catholic Migration and Refugee Office has also renewed its call to end mandatory detention, citing serious mental health concerns about the impact of detention on vulnerable people. "Mandatory detention inflicts extreme suffering and frustration on already vulnerable people. We are all witnesses to the human cost of immigration detention. The government cannot deny that prolonged detention will likely result in instances of suicide. The fact that five asylum seekers in the last seven months have died, weighs heavily on the social conscience of Australia" the statement concluded.

UN HIGH COMMISSIONER TO VISIT AUSTRALIA

2011-05-23T17:39:00.001+10:00

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recently began her first official visit to Australia to discuss rights issues with the Government, the Australian Human Rights Commission, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and non-governmental organizations.

During her six days in the country, Pillay will visit Darwin, Cairns, Sydney and Canberra. She is due to meet a number of parliamentarians and officials, including the Governor-General, the Prime Minister, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, ministers dealing with indigenous affairs, immigration and citizenship, and the Attorney-General. She will also visit an immigration detention facility and meet with migrant communities and asylum seekers.

The UN human rights chief will focus broadly on the following issues: the legislative protection of human rights in Australia, discrimination against indigenous people, treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, as well as Australia’s international and regional policies with regards to human rights.

Postscript: The statement issued by the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the conclusion of her visit can be fond here

INVITATION TO JOIN CAMPAIGN TO ELIMINATE TAX HAVENS

2011-04-09T01:48:00.000+10:00

Tax dodging by multinational companies costs developing countries over $100 billion every year – more than the entire global aid budget – at a time when the global crisis is prompting severe cuts in states’ budgets around the world.

The Group of Twenty (G-20) Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors was established in 1999 to bring together systemically important industrialized and developing economies to discuss key issues in the global economy. The G-20 is the premier forum for international economic development and aims to promote open and constructive discussion between industrial and emerging-market countries on key issues related to global economic stability. Members of the G20 are scheduled to meet in France in November of this year.

A coalition of organizations, including Christian Aid, Eurodad, Global Financial Integrity, Global Witness, Tax Justice Network and Edmund Rice International, is calling on this powerful international body to introduce specific measures to end the tax haven secrecy that allows companies to hide their profits and avoid paying taxes in developing countries.

Specific recommended measures include 1) requiring companies to report on the profits made and taxes paid in every country in which they operate, and 2) automatic exchange of information between different tax jurisdictions. This would help developing countries collect the taxes they are owed.

You are invited to join the End Tax Haven Secrecy campaign and sending a letter to the G20

ONE STEP FORWARD AND ONE STEP BACK ON 'ROBIN HOOD' TAX

2011-04-09T01:43:00.003+10:00

Early in March members of the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the introduction of a Financial Transaction Tax (FTT which is sometimes called the 'Tobin tax' after the American economist who first proposed it, or the 'Robin Hood' tax.)

The resolution asked the European Union to if necessary press ahead unilaterally to introduce the tax to raise money to protect public services, help the poorest people at home and abroad and tackle climate change.

However at their recent meeting the leaders of the EU stepped back from full support for the resolution arguing that such a tax is best tackled at global level. Heads of State or Government of 27 nations stressed instead that they must reach an agreement before the G20 Summit June 26-27 in Toronto.

Criticising the decision, the international alliance of Catholic development agencies CIDSE said it was deeply disappointed that European leaders had failed to agree on the introduction of an EU wide FTT.

CIDSE is of the view that a mini tax on short-term and high-risk transactions would stabilise the current financial system and generate millions of Euros badly needed to alleviate poverty and combat climate change.

"A mini tax of only 0.05 percent on each financial transaction would make the financial sector pay for a crisis they created without having an impact on European taxpayers" CIDSE’s financial expert Jean Letitia Saldanha said. "The money generated could save the lives of millions of the world’s poorest people who are hit hardest by the crises the world is currently facing."

A Financial Transaction Tax at a rate of 0.01 percent would generate income of about Euro 100 billion per year in Europe alone, according to CIDSE. It campaigned for the inclusion of an EU wide adoption of a FTT on socially unproductive and speculative trading on financial markets in the run up to the Council.

TWO BULLETS ARE PRODUCED EACH YEAR FOR EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET

2011-04-09T01:41:00.000+10:00

This startling statistic is one of a number taken from the Control Arms website.

Events in the Middle East and North Africa have provided a grim reminder that governments have a responsibility to ensure that any weapon, ammunition or equipment will not be used against innocent civilians. The Arms Trade Treaty under negotiations will ensure this by requiring governments to refuse transfers of conventional arms if there is a substantial risk of serious human rights violations, war crimes or terrorist acts.

Every day, millions of people suffer from the direct and indirect consequences of the irresponsible arms trade: thousands are killed, others are injured, many are raped, and/or forced to flee from their homes, while many others have to live under constant threat of weapons. The poorly regulated global trade in conventional arms and ammunition fuels conflict, poverty and human rights abuses. The problems are compounded by the increasing globalization of the arms trade – components being sourced from across the world, and production and assembly in different countries, sometimes with lenient controls. Domestic regulation of the arms trade has failed to adapt to these changes. While existing national and regional controls are important, these are not enough to stop irresponsible transfers of arms and ammunition between countries.

Control Arms is a global civil society alliance campaigning for a 'bulletproof' Arms Trade Treaty that will protect lives and livelihoods. Such a treaty means an international legally-binding agreement that will stop transfers of arms and ammunitions that fuel conflict, poverty and serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.

Visi the Control Arms website to learn about progress of the campaign, the stance of your country towards the treaty and how you can support the campaign.

FAIRTRADE CHOCOLATE - MAINTAINING THE PRESSURE

2011-04-09T01:36:00.002+10:00

Nestlé SA is a well known Swiss multinational and the world’s biggest food and drink corporation. In 2009 Nestlé SA reported their net profit at more than $10.5 billion.

Nestlé believes its actions must be good for business, and good for society. However, JustAct an initiative of the Justice and International Mission of the Uniting Church in Australia, along with many others hold strong concerns about the corporate conduct of Nestlé in the Philippines; Nestlé marketing of infant formula in the developing world and the slowness of Nestlé to adequately take steps to ensure the cocoa they source from West Africa is free from the use of slave labour.

Visit the above website to read more about these concerns and to learn how to take action.

With the approach of Easter, a traditional time for consuming chocolate, it is worth recalling the role that child labour plays in the production of chocolate.

Thousands of children have been trafficked onto cocoa plantations in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). The 2000 US State Department Human Rights report stated, "It is estimated that some 15,000 Malian children work on Ivorian cocoa and coffee plantations. Many are under 12 years-of-age, sold into indentured servitude for US$140, and work 12-hour days for US$135 to US$189 per year".

On the positive side Nestle has introduced a four-finger Kit-Kat in the UK market that uses Fairtrade certified cocoa and have recently started using UTZ certified cocoa in their four-finger Kit-Kat in Australia. Fairtrade and UTZ are credible systems ensuring cocoa is produced under standards that prohibit child labour through their certification and labelling system.

These changes are a great step towards ensuring the cocoa in the chocolate we eat has not been produced by children or people who have been trafficked. JustAct would like to see Nestle expand independent certification across all their chocolate products.

An update of progress to encourage other leading brands of chocolate makers to ensure that the cocoa they are using has not been produced by a child or someone who has been trafficked and exploited can be found at the Stop The TraffiK website.

ERI CALLS FOR APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON CLIMATE CHANGE

2011-03-04T19:28:00.001+11:00

In the wake of ever more dire warnings from the scientific community about the threat to life on our planet as a result of climate change, Edmund Rice International has added its voice to the call from a group of twenty-five NGO’s for the appointment of a Special Rapporteur on climate change and its impact on human rights to be included in the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council.

The call links what Gro Harlen Brundtland, the Special Envoy on Climate Change for the UN Secretary-General has called in an article appearing on the World Resources Institute website, the two defining challenges of this century: climate change and poverty.

In the meantime Australia’s first faltering steps away from the use of fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources seems destined to be mired in political controversy with the Opposition announcing that it will repeal the proposed carbon tax if elected to government.

Unfortunately Australia still suffers from a severe lack of political leadership on this issue, with too many politicians exploiting the self-interest of the electorate to try and ensure their own re-election rather than looking to the common good.

TOWARDS MORE ETHICAL PURCHASING OF ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS

2011-03-04T19:23:00.001+11:00

The western world is largely ignorant of the horrific scale of the violence, and the grave consequences of the conflict in Congo. It rarely features in our media.

Yet the conflict in eastern Congo is fueled by a multi-million dollar trade in minerals that go into our electronic products. Over five million people have died as a result, and hundreds of thousands of women have been raped over the past decade. The armed groups perpetuating the violence generate hundreds of millions of dollars each year by trading in four main minerals, tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. This money enables the militias to purchase large numbers of weapons and continue their campaign of brutal violence against civilians, with some of the worst abuses occurring in mining areas.

The majority of these minerals eventually wind up in electronic devices such as cell phones, portable music players, and computers. Given the lack of a transparent minerals supply chain, consumers have no way to ensure that their purchases are not financing armed groups that regularly commit atrocities, including mass rape.

RAISE Hope for Congo aims to build a constituency of activists who will advocate for the protection and empowerment of Congolese women and girls.

As part of the Enough campaign, twenty-one of the world’s largest electronics companies have been surveyed and ranked according to their progress towards ensuring a conflict-free supply chain and a conflict-free mining sector in Congo. The Conflict–Minerals ranking for each company can be found here

ERADICATING POVERTY STILL A MAJOR GLOBAL CHALLENGE

2011-03-04T19:19:00.002+11:00

There has been some success in reducing global poverty levels. The number of people living on less than $1.25 a day in developing countries declined from 1.9 billion to 1.4 billion between 1981 and 2005 and the proportion of people living in extreme poverty dropped from 52.0 to 25.7 per cent during the same period and it is predicted that at the global level the first target of the Millennium Development Goals will be met.

Nevertheless the absolute number of people living in poverty has gone up in several regions including Sub-Saharan and Northern Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Central Asia totalling 1 billion people who are living in extreme poverty. In fact, today’s poverty situation is even more serious if we consider its wider definition.

As recent report of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) points out poverty is not simply a lack of adequate income it is the deprivation of one’s ability to live as a free and dignified human being with the full potential to achieve one’s desired goals in life.

DESA has put forward what it believes is a more accurate measure of poverty which takes into account those vulnerable households that move above and below the poverty line as their circumstances and fortunes fluctuate as well as deprivations in health care, education and living standards.

The new index estimates that about 1.7 billion people live in multi-dimensional poverty while 1.3 billion are suffering from income poverty. This shows that even though countries might have succeeded at reducing income poverty, they are still unable to ensure access to education, health care and food.

Reducing poverty requires sustained, inclusive and equitable economic growth. Unfortunately, recent economic changes have resulted in higher unemployment rates thus removing an important pathway out of poverty and in addition conflict, weather-related disasters and other impacts of climate change adversely impact on economic growth.

The achievement of the MDG’s depends on co-operation between national governments and civil society. In the Australian context it is disappointing therefore that the leader of the Opposition would urge a reduction in the level of Australia’s Overseas Aid (already below its agreed commitment of 0.7% of GDP) as an alternative to the modest levy proposed by the government to fund reconstruction following the recent disastrous floods.

ERI PUTS THE HARD QUESTIONS TO AUSTRALIA

2011-03-04T19:13:00.003+11:00

The day following Australia Day (Jan 26th), Australia faced the Human Rights Council in Geneva on its record on human rights, as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

This was a historic occasion, the first time Australia had entered into dialogue with its peers in the United Nations on its overall respect for human rights. Over 54 nations joined in the 3-hour discussion, each limited to two minutes; the Australian delegation had four opportunities to respond and comment.

ERI, together with Franciscans International and Marist Brothers International (FMSI), had made a submission to the Review, and lobbied specific countries on these issues, that came from the grassroots workers in the Edmund Rice Network. We were delighted to hear recommendations that echoed our concerns being put to Australia by various countries. The rights of Indigenous Australians and those seeking refugee status or asylum in Australia (the first and last peoples) were frequently promoted, in fact by nearly all the countries that spoke.

Australia will announce a decision about which of the one hundred and forty five recommendations it will accept in June, but it has already promised to set up an online database of the recommendations, and has said it will use them in forming its Human Rights Action Plan. Over the next four years, ERI will monitor how grassroots situations improve for those whose rights we are defending.

A full set of the documentation for the UPR of each country (including ERI’s submission), together with a full webcast of the proceedings can be accessed through the UNHCHR website.

GRAVE CONCERNS ABOUT POSSIBLE DEPORTATIONS OF ASYLUM SEEKERS

2011-01-21T22:31:00.001+11:00

The Director of the Edmund Rice Centre for Justice and Community Education, Phil Glendenning has expressed grave concerns about the recently signed agreement between the Australian and Afghan governments that will permit the deportation of Afghan asylum seekers from Australia and return them to the dangerous situations from which they have fled.

In an opinion editorial written for Melbourne’s “Age” newspaper, he warned that "many Afghan asylum-seekers have now been made vulnerable by this memorandum of understanding, including members of the persecuted Hazara ethnic minority and women who will be perceived as having departed from acceptable cultural norms"

Research carried out by the Edmund Rice Centre over the past eight years has found that some returnees from Australia and their children were killed upon their return and that many today live in fear. Mr Glendenning gave the examples of Tour Gul, who despite being given assurances of safety by the Australian government, was shot four times in the head by the Taliban and another returnee, Abdul Azmin Rajabi, who saw his nine and six-year-old daughters Yalda and Rowna killed as a consequence of his being targeted four months after being returned from detention in Nauru.

He also quoted the quarterly report on Afghanistan released last month by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon which noted an increase in the number of security incidents of 66 per cent compared to the same period in 2009 and that 2010 was the most violent in Afghanistan since 2001, with most victims of the increased violence being civilians, especially women and children.

In 2009-2010 over 99% of Afghan asylum seeker claims were judged to be genuine, which undermines the Australian government claim that circumstances in Afghanistan had improved to the extent that asylum seekers were no longer in need of protection.

Australia’s policy of returning asylum seekers who claims have been rejected was an issue raised in the submission of Edmund Rice International to the UN Human Rights Council as part of the Universal Periodic Review of Australia due to take place next week.

EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS CONSISTENT WITH CLIMATE CHANGE PREDICTIONS

2011-01-21T22:29:00.002+11:00

Parts of Australia are currently experiencing their worst floods in history. At the same time devastating floods have occurred in Brazil and Sri Lanka. These are just the latest in the series of weather events around the world that have been the most extreme since records began.

Not only was 2010 equal to the world’s hottest year on record it was also the wettest. Nine of the ten warmest years in history have now been recorded since 2000.

Arctic sea ice cover is now the third smallest since records began in 1979, trailing only 2007 and 2008. The ice cover is considered a marker of climate change as global warming tends to be seen first at the poles.

The melting ice is a contributing factor to the steadily rising sea levels that have been recorded over the past century and which threaten the very existence of low-lying island states such as Kiribati and Tuvalu, as well as massive disruption to agriculture, fresh water supplies and the creation of millions of climate refugees. Fifteen million people in Bangaladesh live within 1 metre of sea level for example when some predictions estimate sea levels will rise by up to 2 metres over the course of this century.

A recent Australian government report projects that low lying coastal areas including suburbs of Australian cities will be regularly inundated because of climate-change-driven sea-level rises, threatening billions of dollars in damage to homes and community infrastructure by the end of the century.

Despite an overwhelming scientific consensus about the reality of climate change and the urgent need to act, powerful vested interests continue to try and sow confusion in the public mind with the result that politicians who are primarily concerned about retaining power are reluctant to act.

For a summary of the compelling evidence of climate change, vist the NASA website.

To join the international campaign to unite the world around solutions to the climate crisis visit the 350.org website.

STAGGERING COST OF GLOBAL FINANCIAL CORRUPTION REVEALED

2011-01-21T22:25:00.002+11:00

Global Financial Integrity (GFI) has released its annual analysis of the cost of crime, corruption, and trade mispricing on developing countries today. The report, "Illicit Financial Flows from Developing Countries: 2000-2009" finds that approximately $6.5 trillion ($6,500,000,000,000) was removed from the developing world in the period 2000 to 2008.

“Every year developing countries are losing ten times the amount of Official Development Assistance (ODA) remitted for poverty alleviation and economic development,” said GFI director Raymond Baker. The report can be accessed at the Global Financial Integrity (GFI) website.

An earlier report from the UK based Christian Aid explained how trade mispricing is used by multinational corporations to reduce or completely avoid their tax liabilities. With multinationals, a system called transfer pricing covers the sale of everything between subsidiaries of the same parent company which could include intangibles such as intellectual property rights, management services and insurance.

As long as the subsidiaries of the same multinational charge each other a fair market price such transactions are perfectly legitimate, however, with 60 per cent of world trade now taking place within, rather than between, multinational corporations, the way fees are determined has become increasingly opaque and the figures can be manipulated to reduce tax.

What makes this a matter of concern for all of us is the impact such tax dodging has on the global economy. Poor countries in particular are deprived of badly needed tax revenues – estimated by Christian Aid to be of the order of US$160 billion per year. Money which if directed to health services could save the lives of 350,000 children under the age of five every year.

‘NINE IS MINE’ – INDIAN CHILDREN CYCLE TO ASK FOR EDUCATION PROMISE TO BE HONOURED

2011-01-21T22:17:00.002+11:00

As part of the campaign to urge governments to honour their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals students from St Johns Christian Brothers College in Chandigarh (themselves from marginalised and vulnerable families) joined with children from similar backgrounds to cycle 300km to New Delhi to ask the Indian government to fulfill its promise to allocate 9% of its GDP to education and health.

The rally was part of a wider ‘Nine is Mine’ campaign launched in India in 2006 which includes the collection of signatures of children from across India and an education campaign to let every child in India know that they are entitled to a share in the nations wealth, and that Health and Education are the basic rights of every child, and every family.

The idea of the cycle rally originated with students from St Johns CBC and grew to include other children from the slums of Chandigarh and its suburbs so that the participants themselves represent the voice of other vulnerable children on the margins of Indian society.

Each stage of the eight-day rally involved addressing school assemblies, performances of street theatre, distributing T-shirts and the collection of signatures for the petition. In some towns rallies were organised as the cyclists wound through the busy streets, raising awareness among people about the promises made by their government and the need to have them fulfilled.

Through Edmund Rice international students from Edmund Rice Schools around the world were encouraged demonstrated their solidarity and support for the cyclists with students from Cork to Nairobi and from Kimberley to Brisbane organizing their own events to raise awareness about the MDG’s.

HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2010 – CELEBRATING HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS

2010-11-26T23:13:00.002+11:00

In the aftermath of the enormous loss of life and the associated horrors that occurred during the Second World War, the founding member countries of the then newly established United Nations, joined hands to draft many solid laws to promote and protect the primary human rights of its citizens.

In 1948, after a lapse of 3 years, the combined efforts of these counties paid off in the form of proclamation of Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations’ General Assembly. Thereafter in 1950, the UN called on all member States and organizations around the globe to commemorate World Human Rights Day on 10th of December every year.

These human rights are proclaimed as being interlinked and interdependent rights inherent to all human beings without any discrimination of nationality, ethnic origin, sex, religion, language, or cast and creed or any other status.

The theme for Human Rights Day 2010 is human rights defenders who act to end discrimination.

Human rights defenders acting against discrimination, often at great personal risk to both themselves and their families, are being recognized and acclaimed on this day. Human rights defenders speak out against abuse and violations including discrimination, exclusion, oppression and violence. They advocate justice and seek to protect the victims of human rights violations. They demand accountability for perpetrators and transparency in government action. In so doing, they are often putting at risk their own safety, and that of their families.

Some human rights defenders are famous, but most are not. They are active in every part of the world, working alone and in groups, in local communities, in national politics and internationally.

Human Rights Day 2010 will highlight and promote the achievements of human rights defenders and it will again emphasize the primary role Governments must play in enabling and protecting their role. The Day is also intended to inspire a new generation of defenders to speak up and take action to end discrimination in all of its forms whenever and wherever it is manifested.

A report on the state of human rights around the world on a country by country basis is available on the Amnesty International website.

US DEFERS DECISION ON UPR RECOMMENDATIONS

2010-11-26T23:09:00.001+11:00

The recent Universal Periodic Review of the United States at the human Rights Council in Geneva created a high level of interest, with more than 80 states taking the floor to raise issues resulting 228 recommendations - the highest number made to any state thus far.

The US sent a high level delegation of 40 persons, over 70 representatives of US NGO's came to Geneva for the review and 15 NGO-organised side events were staged.

Issues of concern that featured prominently included the US failure to ratify a number of core international treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child; its continued use of the death penalty; racial inequality; rights of indigenous people and counter-terrorism measures.

Immigration was another issue that featured prominently and the concerns about the guest-worker program raised by Edmund Rice International were best reflected in a recommendation (92.81) put forward by Guatemala:-
"Take the necessary measures in favor of the right to work and fair conditions of work so that workers belonging to minorities, in particular women and undocumented migrant workers, do not become victims of discriminatory treatment and abuse in the work place and enjoy the full protection of the labour legislation, regardless of their migratory status"

The US declined to respond to these recommendations at this time, but agreed to give them consideration before announcing any decision on their acceptance at the next session of the Human Rights Council in March.

BUSINESS LEADERS URGE IMMEDIATE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

2010-11-26T23:05:00.000+11:00

Business leaders of hundreds of companies from around the world have released a renewed demand for "an ambitious, robust and equitable global deal on climate change".

The statement – known as The Cancun Communique – is an initiative of the Prince of Wales’s Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change – a cross-sectoral group of major international businesses working with the University of Cambridge to call for more ambitious action to tackle climate change.

It argues that scientific evidence for action is overwhelming and an international framework is vital to deliver such action at the required scale. However it also argues that governments should not wait for success in the negotiations before taking action on their own.

The companies that have signed the Communiqué believe that: "The risk of inaction on climate change is far greater than the cost of investing today" and that an ambitious, robust and equitable deal is the right way to both respond to climate change and stimulate economic recovery.

Some of the well known companies that are signatories to the communiqué include: Adidas; Air France; British Airways; BSkyB; Coca-Cola; eBay; Johnson & Johnson; Kodak; Lloyds Banking Group; Nestle; Philips; Reuters; Royal Dutch Shell; Unilever; the Virgin Group and Vodaphone.

The Communiqué was presented to decision makers around the world in the lead-up to the meeting of world leaders at COP16 – The United Nations Climate Change Conference which is currently underway in Cancun, Mexico.

Visit the Oxfam website for regular updates on the Cancun conference.

AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC BISHOPS COMMENT ON TWO CURRENT ISSUES OF SOCIAL JUSTICE

2010-11-26T22:37:00.002+11:00

The Catholic bishops of Australia have welcomed the recent High Court Judgment which affords asylum seekers the same protections of the legal system that are offered to everyone else.

In commenting on the decision, the spokesperson for the bishops on migrant and refugee matters Bishop Joe Grech stated that "All Australians will welcome the High Court’s judgement that the rule of law must be followed by decision makers employed by the Australian Government. Most Australians would perhaps be surprised to learn that such a requirement has not been standard practice"

The High Court judgment found that the assessment of asylum seekers claims for refugee status did not comply with Australian law and failed to observe the requirements of procedural fairness.

Bishop Grech condemned the political expediency that had resulted in the detention of people in remote areas and expressed the hope that the decision would mark "the end of so‐called ‘Pacific solutions’ in which those seeking asylum in Australia are moved to remote offshore locations in order to avoid their access to Australian laws".

In the meantime the Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council Bishop Christopher Saunders has questioned the manner in which the Northern Territory Emergency Response (‘the Intervention’) is being carried out in indigenous communities.

"We … have to ask who makes the decisions about income management. Will it be applied by officials who have little connection with Indigenous people or possess little understanding of the complexities of the issues involved? What qualifications will be employed to select those people who will have extraordinary power over the income and lives of powerless people?

Compulsory income management alone will not address the underlying causes of poverty and disadvantage. A rigid focus on compliance of a policy that implies that 'we know best' or 'it is all for their own good' risks adopting the kind of attitude that gave rise to policies behind the Stolen Generation" he said.

More information about issues arising from the ‘Intervention’ can be found in the latest briefing from the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council

QUESTIONS CONTINUE TO SURROUND BHP-BILLITON’S MINING ACTIVITIES

2010-11-03T23:59:00.002+11:00

A number of criticisms of the world’s largest and most-profitable mining company BHP-Billiton (The 'Big Australian') were raised at the annual share-holders meeting held in London recently.

The company was urged to halt its coal mining operations on the Indonesian island of Borneo by representatives of JATAM an Indonesian Mining Advocacy Network and of indigenous peoples who reported that mining "has destroyed our forests, rivers and livelihoods."

"Can communities say an outright 'No' to destruction of their forests, biodiversity and water, in fact to a model of economic development they don't want?" asked Richard Solly, co-ordinator of the London Mining Network He argued that people should have the right to say 'No' and pointed out that indigenous peoples in particular have rights under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

In response CEO Marius Kloppers explained that accepting the right to Free Prior Informed Consent as envisaged in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples could violate the terms of company leases if it conflicted with national governments’ views on Indigenous rights. The company believed that only national governments had the right to decide on mineral development.

The company was also accused of trying to change the boundaries of protected forests to enable it to mine in areas currently off-limits, an accusation which it denied and the company claimed to be unaware that its subsidiaries were continuing to explore in an area where permission had been withdrawn.

Complaints were also aired relating to communities in Colombia that had been removed for mine expansion around the company’s part-owned Cerrejon Coal mine. Complaints centred on the continuing slow pace of progress in implementing relocation agreements, the company’s failure to adequately assist the increasing number of workers are suffering work-related illnesses and the denial of union rights to the six thousand sub-contracted workers at the mine.

The new company chair Jac Nasser and the CEO Marius Kloppers washed their hands of responsibility for any action on global warming while fully accepting the findings of science and acknowledging that greenhouse gas emissions need to be limited. In their view, it is up to society and governments to decide on the way forward which means that in the meantime the company will continue with its plans to increase production of coal, oil and gas - presumably in the hope that currently unavailable technical solutions might one day help limit the effects of burning them!

RELEASE OF CHILDREN WELCOMED, BUT CONCERNS OVER TREATMENT OF ASYLUM SEEKERS REMAIN

2010-11-03T23:52:00.004+11:00

In a landmark statement issued in Geneva on 30th Sep, fourteen major intergovernmental organizations urged respect for the rights and protection of the tens of millions of irregular migrants worldwide.

Signatories to the statement included the World Bank, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNICEF, UNESCO, the UN Development Programme, the International Labour Organization, the International Organization for Migration and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, whose head Ms. Navanethem Pillay led the effort.

The statement was welcomed by the Secretary-General of the International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) Johann Ketelers who noted that "For years - and all too much recently - even their (irregular migrants) most basic human rights have widely been denied, ignored or considered only in pieces or symptoms."

He went on to point out the important contribution of irregular migrants to the economy as well as the individual, family and societal costs of leaving such an enormous class of people outside the law, outside protection, exposed to exploitation, abuse and expulsion.

In the meantime the recent decision of the Australian Government to Children in Detention was cautiously welcomed by advocacy groups such as the Edmund Rice Centre,Chilout and the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre (ASRC).

The ASRC noted that the release of some children and families will make a significant positive difference to their welfare. However it was noted that:-
- The policy of mandatory detention of children remains unchanged.
- All new children and families who arrive undocumented will still be detained.
- The policy does not provide legal protections to limit how long children can be detained.
- There is no change of laws to enshrine what is an ‘at risk’ family to ensure they are released into the community.
- The policy shift is contradicted and undermined by the establishment of a new detention centre to house up to 400 families in South Australia and the expansion of the detention facility in Broadmeadows for up to 100 more family members.
- It does not guarantee the release of all children and families and only makes an in-principle promise of an undefined ‘majority’ by June 2011.
- It fails to recognize that all families in detention are at risk and have experienced some form of trauma.
- It releases children and families on community detention arrangements (residence determinations) instead of bridging visas which would have given them more rights and be better for their welfare and mental health due to the security it would have provided.
- It appears to place the burden on caring for children and families on charities and churches rather than on the Government itself.
- It fails to establish any independent watchdog or scrutiny to ensure the Government’s detention values are acted upon within set time limits and with consistency.

ENDING POVERTY AN OBLIGATION NOT CHARITY

2010-11-03T23:32:00.003+11:00

"Eradication of poverty should not be considered as an act of charity but rather as an obligation of the international community." Archbishop Francis Chullikatt, newly appointed permanent observer of the Holy See at the United Nations, stated before the UN General Assembly at a meeting on eradication of poverty and other development issues.

Noting that the international community has the means to end worldwide poverty, the Arhbishop stated that "whatever the form it takes, poverty is an insult to our common humanity that so many people around the world continue to suffer"

He went on to observe that poverty profoundly affects the dignity of the human person and that it affects mainly those who are not capable of a decent livelihood, especially children, the disabled, the elderly, and women - especially children who make up almost half of those living in absolute poverty today.

"Unfortunately," he noted, "the combined food, fuel, and financial crises since 2008 have slowed down, and even reversed, progress towards eradication of poverty in many developing countries around the world." so that "64 million more people are now estimated to be living in extreme poverty in 2010 while some 40 million more went hungry last year because of the food, fuel, and financial crises."

He continued "By 2015, 1.2 million more children under five may die, 350,000 more students may not complete primary school, and some 100 million more people may remain without access to safe water.“

"Now, more than ever, is the time to recommit efforts towards such poverty eradication." he said.

The Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is an alliance of trade unions, NGOs, women’s and youth movements, community and faith groups and others to call for action from world leaders to meet their promises to end poverty and inequality.

Its main aim is to achieve policy and practice changes that will improve the lives of people living in poverty.

KENYA AND TANZANIA NAMED AS CENTRES FOR HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN EAST AFRICA

2010-11-03T23:17:00.004+11:00

A recently completed study by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM) into human trafficking trends in East Africa has named the capitals of Kenya and Tanzania as the region's main magnet for children and adults tricked into exploitative labour including prostitution.

The main countries of origin of victims were identified as Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Congo Kinshasa (DRC).   In Kenya, the study found evidence of Rwandan, Tanzanian and Ugandan victims of trafficking, including children, working in Nairobi as domestic labourers, in the commercial sex and hospitality sectors, and in the agricultural sector in various locations around the country.  

In Tanzania, the IOM researchers found evidence of child trafficking from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda for sexual exploitation, fishing, domestic servitude and agricultural labour. Adult victims of trafficking into Tanzania were mainly identified in the domestic sector, as well as the mining, agricultural and hospitality industries. But while Ugandan children are trafficked to all the countries in the region, Uganda was also registered as a destination for trafficked victims from Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda. In addition, instability in eastern Congo was found to be fuelling the influx of trafficked children to Uganda.

Although information on Rwanda was scant, the country was identified as a source for victims destined for Italy, Norway and the Netherlands as well as for child victims destined for Nairobi and the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa as domestic workers and for sexual exploitation.

The results of the study were presented at a Nairobi workshop to senior East African government officials, civil society groups and international experts. Participants called for the implementation of a region-wide 116 emergency number - an internationally recognised hotline number for trafficked children, which is currently in use in Kenya.

Meanwhile despite the evidence that its hotels could be used for the sale of trafficked children, the Hilton Hotel group had resisted calls to sign the ECPAT Code of Conduct which aims to raise awareness and to take practical measures against children being sexually abused within the tourism and travel industry.

In response to the publicity generated over its stance, including an online petition organized by Avaaz Hilton has announced that following discussions with ECPAT it will roll out a code of conduct for preventing child trafficking at its hotels by the end of the year.

MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT SUMMIT EXPRESSES OPTIMISM BUT DOUBTS REMAIN

2010-09-27T19:30:00.003+10:00

The recently concluded UN Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) ended with world leaders adopting a declaration which promised intensified efforts by the UN member states to achieve Millennium Development Goals by 2015, (the declaration can be downloaded here

Leaders expressed confidence that the can be achieved, including in the poorest countries, with renewed commitment, effective implementation and intensified collective action by all member states and other relevant stakeholders,

Progress towards achieving the goals varies. On the positive side the number of people living in extreme poverty globally has been significantly reduced, although not in sub-Saharan Africa, but little or no progress has been made in reducing hunger. There has been progress in providing access to education, in addressing gender inequality, in reducing infant mortality and combating HIV/AIDS and other diseases, but most goals are behind their targets and little or no progress has been reported in some parts of the world. As of 2005, not one region was on track to meet the target of reducing deaths in childbirth by three-quarters. In sub-Saharan Africa there had been almost no progress at all since 1990.

Failure to address climate change means increased loss of bio-diversity, continued environmental damage leading to a loss of livelihoods and the ability for communities to feed themselves, and the inhibition of efforts to provide access to safe drinking water. The number of people without improved sanitation is actually rising.

Pledges on the part of developed nations to provide funding has been greeted with scepticism by many given the failure of many countries to honour previous commitments, and given that very few have so far reached the UN target of allocating 0.7 per cent of Gross National Income as development aid.

For a more detailed report on progress towards achieving the MDG’s click here

ERN TAKES A STAND AGAINST POVERTY

2010-09-27T19:14:00.006+10:00

The World Bank estimates that the number of people living in extreme poverty fell from 1.9 billion in 1981 to 1.8 billion in 1990, and to about 1.4 billion in 2005. This significant reduction in poverty disguises large regional differences. Millions of people are trapped in poverty, most of them in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Students from Parade College in Melbourne, Australia expressing their support for Stand-Up day

According to the Overseas Development institute several African countries have made strong relative progress in reducing poverty, and the average proportion of people living in poverty declined from 52% in 1990 to 40% in 2008.

Ten African countries have already halved their poverty rate, including relatively populous countries such as Ethiopia and Egypt, and post-conflict countries such as Angola. Half of the African countries for which data exist have been reducing the poverty rate by at least two percentage points per year, which puts them on track to meet the MDG target of halving poverty. By contrast, in a small number of countries, such as Nigeria and Zimbabwe, the proportion of the population living in extreme poverty has risen.

With the encouragement of Edmund Rice International Edmund Rice Schools and members of the Edmund Rice Network around the globe joined in the Stand-Up Against Poverty campaign to demand action on the Millennium Development Goals. Other schools have actions planned to coincide with International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct 17th.

Students from Br Beausang Catholic Education Centre at Embulbul near Nairobi Kenya marching on Stand-Up day.

MORE THAN A BILLION PEOPLE STILL GO HUNGRY

2010-09-27T19:11:00.002+10:00

"The most recent figures concerning global hunger and malnutrition are alarming. More than one billion people are hungry. At least twice that number lacks the essential micronutrients that are needed to lead a healthy and active life. Deficiencies of iron, vitamin A, and zinc still rank among the top ten leading causes of death through disease in developing countries. One of three children born in developing countries is stunted. What makes this calamity a scandal is that it is not inevitable" said Professor Olivier De Schutter UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food recently.

The combination of high food prices and the financial crisis has pushed more people into poverty and hunger. Although international prices have come down from their record highs in 2008, they have yet to drop to their levels before the food crisis. The risk of volatility continues.

Unemployment and reduced wages, remittances and government services – by-products of the economic slump – threaten to add to the woes of the world’s poorest people, who already spend between 60 and 80 percent of their income on food.

Smallholder farmers, many of whom are women, are caught in a double bind, unable to afford the quality seeds and fertilizers needed to grow more crops to feed their families and improve their incomes.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) is engaged in over 90 countries, helping to boost food production through the supply of improved seeds, fertilizers and other agricultural inputs and technical assistance.

The FAO also sponsors World Food Day each year on Oct 16th which aims to heighten public awareness of the problem of hunger in the world. The site includes background information about the issue, resources for teachers and students and an online petition.

TRANSPARENCY IN GLOBAL ECONOMY A KEY TO ALLEVIATING POVERTY

2010-09-27T19:09:00.001+10:00

According to Global Financial Integrity (GFI) a US based think-tank, developing countries are currently losing ten times the amount of money they receive in aid each year through activities such as bribery, theft, drug trading, tax evasion and mispricing of exports and imports.

Most of the misappropriated money finds its way into western economies.

This massive transfer of wealth out of poorer nations is the most damaging economic condition undermining poverty alleviation and sustainable growth efforts in these countries, which are home to 80 percent of the world’s population.

The enormous transfers of financial resources have been facilitated for decades by a shadow financial system that has expanded globally since the beginning of the 1960s.

Edmund Rice International has accepted an invitation to join a global coalition of organizations lending their names in support of the work of Task Force on Financial Integrity and Economic Development a consortium of governments and research and advocacy organizations, founded by GFI to push for improved transparency and accountability in the global financial system.

Transparency rather than regulation is seen as the key to addressing the re-building of a fair global economic system.

EDMUND RICE NETWORK TO STAND-UP AGAINST POVERTY

2010-09-07T21:39:00.002+10:00

The following article is adapted from the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and is similar to one that appears in the September newsletter of Edmund Rice International

Edmund Rice school communities and other members of the Edmund Rice Network will be expressing their support for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals through their participation in the Stand Up Against Poverty event later this month.

"Human rights are essential to achieving and sustaining development. The Millennium Declaration, adopted by all the world’s leaders in 2000 recognized the link between human rights, good governance and development.

Ten years after the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established, it is clear that the objectives of human well being and dignity for all, enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, will not be achieved if the MDGs are pursued in isolation from human rights.

While some countries are on track to reaching a few of these Goals, more than a billion people are still trapped in extreme poverty. The challenges are most severe in the least developed countries and land-locked countries, some small island developing states and those vulnerable to natural hazards and armed conflict. Yet, even in countries scoring major successes, large disparities still persist, with millions of people left behind in the race towards achieving the MDGs. Poverty and deprivation is often exacerbated by poor governance and multiple deprivations of human rights.

With only five years until the 2015 deadline to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, it is essential to renew our commitment to a human rights-based development approach.

Preparations are in full gear for a high-level UN meeting in September 2010 to review progress towards achieving the MDGs. The 2010 high-level meeting should result in a renewal of existing commitments as well as galvanize coordinated action among all stakeholders to strengthen human rights and good governance as an integral part of global development efforts."

UN COMMITTEE URGES AUSTRALIA TO ADDRESS RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

2010-09-07T21:35:00.001+10:00

At the end of August the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination released its Concluding Observations following a review of Australia’s compliance with the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination(CERD).

The Committee welcomed a number of recent positive developments in Australia, including the National Apology to the Stolen Generations, the endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the commitment to “Close the Gap” in Indigenous health inequality, and Australia’s closer engagement with a number of UN human rights instruments and mechanisms.

The Committee raised serious concerns about a range of Australian laws, policies and practices, including the Northern Territory Intervention, the suspension of the Racial Discrimination Act, the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, and the impact of Australia’s counter-terror laws.

The CERD Committee also expressed its regret that many recommendations from previous reports have not been properly implemented in Australia, including in relation to deaths in custody, the socio-economic disadvantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, gross over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the prison population, Aboriginal land rights and the mandatory detention of asylum seekers.

The Committee made over 20 recommendations for concrete action to address racial discrimination, disadvantage and inequality in Australia, including in relation to Australia’s legal framework, Indigenous peoples, refugees and asylum seekers, and multiculturalism and racial harmony.

All documentation relating to Australia’s appearance before the committee is available here

COMPULSORY ACQUISITION SEEN AS A VIOLATION OF INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

2010-09-07T21:30:00.002+10:00

The Western Australian Government has signaled its intention to compulsorily acquire aboriginal land on the Dampier Peninsula near Broome in order to build a gas processing plant and pipeline.

Negotiations between the traditional owners and the Oil and gas company Woodside (along with joint venture partners Shell, Chevron, BHP-Billiton and BP) commenced in 2007 but traditional owners are divided over the project with some in favour of the economic benefits it will bring to their communities, whilst others are concerned about the preservation of registered Aboriginal heritage sites in the vicinity of James Price Point (Walmadan).

However by unilaterally deciding to compulsorily acquire the land and abandoning consultation with the aboriginal community, the government has potentially greatly reduced the level of compensation available to the community. Traditional Owners have united in the wake of this decision to condemn the move which is seen as a return to colonialism and a theft of Aboriginal Lands.

Get Up has launched an online petition in regard to the issue.

SOCIAL JUSTICE SUNDAY - VIOLENCE IN AUSTRALIA: A MESSAGE OF PEACE

2010-09-07T21:27:00.000+10:00

The Australian Catholic Bishops have issued a statement to mark Social Justice Sunday on Sep 26th.

The Statement, "Violence in Australia: A message of peace", considers how the Christian values of forgiveness and reconciliation lead to peace and non-violent ways of addressing conflict and divisions - a challenging task when so much of Australian culture encourages aggressive attitudes, promotes the need to succeed at all costs, or fosters the desire for revenge.

The statement points out that whilst Australia is essentially a peaceful country, with strong traditions of fairness and justice, there are also deep roots of violence in the Australian story: the dispossession of the Aboriginal peoples, the violence of its convict history, and the strand of racism that has been directed at immigrants at different times.

The Bishops draw on the Gospels, social teachings of the Church and examples of individuals and groups working for peace in the Australian context, and highlight the role of all in making a difference for peace as individuals, as a community and as a nation.

They also make clear how radical and central are Jesus’ teachings about peacemaking in the Gospel.

The Statement which is available through the website of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council gives practical suggestions and poses important questions that will help individuals, parishes and groups as they consider how a disciples of Christ they might help bring peace to our world.

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WORLDS INDIGENOUS PEOPLES AUG 9TH

2010-08-06T18:09:00.002+10:00

There are over 370 million indigenous people in some 90 countries, living in all regions of the world. The situation of indigenous peoples in many parts of the world is critical today. Poverty rates are significantly higher among indigenous peoples compared to other groups. While they constitute 5 per cent of the world's population, they are 15 per cent of the world's poor.

Each year on Aug 9th the international community marks International Day of Worlds Indigenous Peoples

The Day provides an opportunity to raise awareness of indigenous peoples' cultures and the great diversity that they represent. It is also an occasion to redouble efforts to address issues of exclusion, discrimination and poverty that are still the daily reality for many of these peoples.

The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues reports regularly on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples drawing attention to the discrimination and exclusion they frequently experience.

The disadvantage suffered by indigenous people was highlighted in the recent statement by James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous people, following his visit to New Zealand. The Special Rapporteur made reference to "troubling" inequalities persisting between Maori and non-Maori, and urged New Zealand to press ahead with efforts to improve the human rights of its indigenous people.

While acknowledging that the country has made efforts to address ongoing challenges on the issue, and had reversed its initial opposition to the endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People he went on to say "I cannot help but note the extreme disadvantage in the social and economic conditions of Maori people, which are dramatically manifested in the continued and persistent high levels of incarceration of Maori individuals"

A SIGNIFICANT STEP TOWARDS REDUCING HUMAN SUFFERING

2010-08-06T18:04:00.001+10:00

After obtaining the ratification of the required number of nations (30) the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) came into effect on August 1st. Currently 38 countries have ratified the convention and 108 have signed it. (A signature demonstrates in-principle support for a treaty while ratification requires its incorporation into domestic law).

The CCM is an international treaty that bans the use, production, stockpiling and transfer of cluster munitions - weapons that release explosive fragments when dropped from the air, covering swaths of land with cluster munitions, sometimes known as "bomblets". Many of these dangerous items fail to explode on impact, which means that they continue to pose a threat of death or injury to civilians long after the conflict is over. For years, land is unusable for infrastructure rebuilding or farming. Even worse, these brightly colored munitions look like toys to children, who can be severely injured or killed when they handle them.

Cluster munitions were heavily used in Laos, Cambodia, Sudan, Lebanon, and Iraq, where contamination still affects daily life in countless communities.

Countries such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Ireland have signed and ratified the treaty, Australia has signed but not ratified and the United states has not signed the treaty.

Currently Australia's ANZ bank is being pressured to stop financing companies that produce the munitions in a campaign supported by the Uniting Church (among other groups). ANZ provides credit to the US company, Lockheed Martin, which has produced cluster munitions, and a company that makes fuses used in the bombs. The action is part of a broader international Stop Explosive Investments campaign.

More information about the issues surrounding cluster munitions can be found at the Cluster Munition Coalition website.

HUMAN RIGHTS APPROACH TO MIGRATION URGED

2010-08-06T18:01:00.000+10:00

An estimated 214 million people currently live outside their country of origin. While for some migration is a positive and empowering experience, far too many migrants have to endure human rights violations, discrimination and exploitation.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay recently urged all concerned "to implement a human rights approach to migration, and to recognise the positive contributions of migrants, protect their human rights in law and practice, and facilitate their integration into host societies”

The High Commissioner went on to note that an increasing global trend to frame migration policies solely within a security and border control framework. This is exacerbated by policies which criminalise irregular migrants, and subject them to administrative detention regimes which are punitive in nature and often lack adequate safeguards. Vulnerable migrants can be detained for months and even years in immigration detention.

"The protection of migrants is an urgent and growing human rights challenge. Governments have obligations to ensure that xenophobic violence, racism and related intolerance against migrants and their communities have no place in their societies" she said.

The statement is one of several recent calls for the protection of the Human Rights of migrants issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

Although the comments were not directed towards any particular country, they seem particularly relevant to Australia at a time when in the lead-up to the federal election the major parties seem intent on demonstrating a ‘tough’ stance on ‘border protection’ against asylum seekers – a trend also criticised by the Australian Catholic Bishops

Whilst Australia can be proud of its record of accepting migrants (according to statistics published in 2006 almost 25% of the Australian population was born overseas), more recently its hysterical overreaction to the relatively tiny number of asylum seekers arriving by boat and the harsh treatment directed towards them, is a source of shame and bewilderment.

RESOURCES FOR THE AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

2010-08-06T17:16:00.001+10:00

The Australian Catholic Social Justice Council has produced a leaflet, ‘A Vote for Social Justice’ which highlights some key justice issues for the federal election on Aug 21st.

The leaflet aims to help voters think about some issues that will be decided in the election and offers some questions that could be raised with all candidates.

Issues are discussed under the headings ‘Fostering true partnership’, ‘Making ends meet’, ‘A place to call home’, ‘Welcoming the stranger’ and ‘Care for the environment’. The leaflet is available for download on the ACSJC website

TAX-DODGING- “THE SINGLE BIGGEST BARRIER TO ENDING POVERTY”

2010-07-21T22:14:00.000+10:00

For every US$10 given in aid to developing countries, US$15 slips out through tax dodging according to Christian Aid a UK faith-based organization working to ending poverty.

Tax dodging has been identified by Christian Aid as the single biggest barrier to ending poverty in the developing world with a worldwide culture of financial secrecy allowing tax-dodging firms to rob poor countries of more than an estimated US$162 billon each year.

The Christian Aid website reveals how tax and trade rules work to boost multinationals' profits and provides information about its campaign for international tax transparency.

FAILURE TO CONTROL TRANSPORT OF WEAPONS CONTRIBUTES TO HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

2010-07-21T22:11:00.000+10:00

States are failing to adequately control the transport of weapons around the world leading to serious human rights violations, according to Amnesty International in a recently published report.

The report highlights how transport companies registered in the UK, USA, China, France and the Russian Federation – the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – are able to move conventional weapons and munitions to countries where they could be used to commit human rights violations and war crimes.

Examples highlighted in the report include deliveries of cluster munitions and their components on ships registered in the UK and managed by UK and German shipping companies, that were transported from South Korea to Pakistan between March 2008 and February 2010 for use by the country’s army.

These deliveries took place despite the UK and Germany having committed to comprehensively ban the transfer and use of cluster munitions.

Another example cited in the report is of machine gun/anti-aircraft gun parts from Bulgaria flown on a regular scheduled Air France passenger flight from Sofia to Charles de Gaulle airport, Paris, in September 2008. The shipment was then flown to Nairobi with the final destination listed in the transport documents as Kigali, Rwanda.

There was a clear risk that machine gun/anti-aircraft gun parts procured by the Rwandan government might be diverted. Such weapons were used in the fighting taking place in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where more than 220,000 people have been displaced and serious violations of human rights were perpetrated. The Bulgarian, French and Kenyan governments, which permitted the export and transit of the arms shipment through their territories, failed to stop the transfer.

The report was launched in New York as the first round of UN deliberations on the content of the proposed international Arms Trade Treaty resumed.

The full report is available for download from the Amnesty website.

AUSTRALIAN ELECTION - CASTING AN INFORMED VOTE

2010-07-21T22:09:00.000+10:00

Social Policy Connections is an independent, ecumenical organisation, motivated and informed by Christian social thinking whose aim is to expand awareness of social justice issues in Australia and overseas, and influence public policy for the benefit of all people, especially the most disadvantaged.

Social Policy Connections has developed a number of policy positions relevant to the forthcoming Australian federal election. Four policy areas of special interest have been chosen
• Australian policy on Immigration and Refugees,
• Climate Change,
• Overseas Aid, and
• Indigenous issues.
Supporters are invited to consider approaching their political candidates, either local ones or others, to discuss these or other concerns.

APPOINTMENT OF SPECIAL RAPPORTEUR ON THE RIGHT TO EDUCATION

2010-07-21T22:08:00.000+10:00

Dr Kishore Singh an international law expert from India and an internationally recognised authority on the right to education, has recently been appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education

Dr Singh has most recently been working as Senior Programme Specialist for the right to education, at UNESCO headquarters in Paris. His candidature was supported by the Geneva-based Platform of NGOs on the right to education – a group that included Edmund Rice International.

The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education has a mandate to safeguard and promote the right to education worldwide. He is required to prepare and present an annual global report to the Human Rights Council, to engage in constructive interactive dialogue with governments, civil society and other relevant stakeholders in order to bring forward suggestions and recommendations for advancing the right to education.

POOR DENIED THE BASIC RIGHT TO HEALTH

2010-06-25T18:32:00.001+10:00

Speaking in the General Debate at the recent Session of the Human Rights Council In Geneva, the Vatican representative Archbishop Tomasi addressed the issue of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.

Drawing upon the experience of the Catholic Church as a major provider of health care services in the world (it provides 5,378 hospitals, 18,088 dispensaries and clinics, 521 leprosaria, and 15,448 homes for the aged, the chronically ill, or disabled people - often in some of the most poor, isolated, and marginalized communities), Archbishop Tomasi stated that the right to health was far from being realized.

He drew particular attention to the issue of access to "affordable medicines and diagnostic tools that can be administered and utilized in low-income, low-technology settings" and to the report from the Special Rapporteur "’Diseases of poverty’ still account for 50 per cent of the burden of disease in developing countries, nearly ten times higher than in developed countries; more than 100 million people fall into poverty annually because they have to pay for health care; in developing countries, patients themselves pay for 50 to 90 per cent of essential medicines; nearly 2 billion people lack access to essential medicines."

Of particular concern is that many of those deprived of access to medication are children.

Taking up the theme of a Caritas Internationalis campaign, Archbishop Tomasi pointed out that ”many essential medicines have not been developed in appropriate formulations or dosages specific to pediatric use. Thus families and health care workers often are forced to engage in a "guessing game" on how best to divide adult-size pills for use with children. This situation can result in the tragic loss of life or continued chronic illness among such needy children. For example, of the 2.1 million children estimated to be living with HIV infection, only 38% were received life-saving anti-retroviral medications at the end of 2008. This treatment gap is partially due to the lack of "child friendly" medications to treat the HIV infection."

Edmund Rice International is continuing to encourage Edmund Rice Schools around the world to participate in the ongoing Caritas children’s letter-writing campaign on behalf of children infected with HIV/AIDS.

HOTEL CHAINS RESPOND TO WORLD CUP ANTI-TRAFFICKING INITIATIVE

2010-06-25T18:31:00.000+10:00

More than 300 faith-based organizations and investors (including Edmund Rice International) responded to the invitation from Christian Brothers Investment Services (CBIS) to sign a letter to major hotel chains to encourage action on human trafficking in advance of the World Cup.

According to CBIS positive responses were received from Accor (Motel6, Sofitel, and Mercure), Carlson (Radisson and Country Inns & Suites), and Intercontinental hotels.

No response was received from Best Western, Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood, and NH Hotels.

Accor has adopted the code of conduct against child sex tourism, developed an ethical policy, and has trained 13,000 employees on the issue. In South Africa, 85 employees have been trained and the company has made its training materials available to other tourism organizations. Accor has more than 20 hotels in South Africa and 4000 hotels worldwide.

Carlson is also very active on human trafficking and is the only major US hotel chain to adopt a tourism code of conduct, create an ethical policy, and train new employees.

More information is available at the Christian Brothers Investment Services website.

GLOBAL POVERTY PROJECT

2010-06-25T18:28:00.000+10:00

Whilst significant progress has been made to end extreme poverty, it is estimated that 1.4 billion people still live on less than US$1.25 per day.

Income is just one measure of poverty.

According to a 2008 United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization report ‘more than 1 billion people lack access to roads, 1.2 billion do not have safe drinking water, 2.3 billion have no reliable sources of energy, 2.4 billion lack sanitation facilities and 4 billion are without modern communication services’

Yet whilst millions of people around the world go hungry, the world currently produces more than enough food to feed its population. That situation may change due to the effects of climate change and the continuation of unsustainable agricultural methods and as the population increases, but nevertheless hunger, one of the most obvious symptoms of poverty, is often less the result of a lack of food than a distance from food. When people live far away from food sources, food security depends on infrastructure that ensures food can be transported in an efficient and cost effective way.

The reasons for the continued existence of global poverty are well understood as are the actions required to end it.

The Global Poverty Project seeks to invigorate the global movement to take effective concerted action on poverty. Resources on its website clearly articulate the facts of extreme poverty and demonstrate that by making simple changes everyone can be a part of the solution.

MEMBERS OF EDMUND RICE NETWORK URGED TO STAND-UP AGAINST POVERTY

2010-06-25T18:25:00.001+10:00

World Leaders will gather at the United Nations in New York for the Millennium Development Goals Review Summit in September.

The Millennium Development Goals provide a unique opportunity to end global poverty and inequality by 2015 with the setting of achievable, time-bound and locally defined targets.

Edmund Rice International will be encouraging members of the Edmund Rice Network and Edmund Rice Schools around the globe to join in solidarity with each other, with millions of others and with the world's poor by participating in the Stand-Up Against Poverty Campaign action planned for Sep 17th-19th.

WORLD ENVIRONMENT DAY, 5th JUNE

2010-05-27T20:53:00.001+10:00

World Environment Day on 5th June provides another opportunity to reflect on our response to one of the most important social justice issues of our time.

The theme for World Environment Day this year, the International Year of Biodiversity, is 'Many Species, One Planet, One Future'.

Scientists are unsure about the number of species that share our planet. Whilst about 2 million different species have been identified, estimates of the total number of species varies from 5 million to 100 million!

Humans are among the handful of species whose numbers are growing – most animals and plants are becoming rarer and fewer with over 17,000 known to be threatened with extinction.

Human activity is responsible. With our present approach to development, we have caused the clearing of much of the original forest, drained half of the world’s wetlands, depleted three quarters of all fish stocks, and emitted enough heat-trapping gases to keep our planet warming for centuries to come.

World Environment Day asks us to consider carefully the actions each of us must take, and then address ourselves to our common task of preserving all life on Earth. Some practical steps we can take can be found on the above website.

WHY CAN’T WE ADDRESS GLOBAL WARMING?

2010-05-27T20:51:00.001+10:00

Writing in the most recent edition of 'Pathways' the newsletter of Catholic Religious in Australia, CRA President Sr Clare Condon ponders why political leaders at home and abroad have not been able to grasp the significance of the changes in our environment that are confronting us now as evidenced in the failure of the Copenhagen Conference in 2009 and the retreat from any commitment to action from Australia’s political leaders.

"Is it the immediacy of the populace in which the electorate, in the end, simply looks at the now and one's own personal gain, forgetting the impact for the future?" she asks. "The only imperative, then, for the politicians is being elected again."

Most politicians tend to just follow public opinion rather than to try and provide leadership – particularly in an election year.

Here the role of the media can be important in shaping public opinion. A science advisor to the Australian government, Professor Will Steffen, recently castigated the media for its role in relation to the climate change issue. Speaking at a Melbourne summit on the green economy, Professor Steffen criticized the policy of treating climate change science as a political issue in which two sides should be given a voice, a debate he described as 'infantile' and akin to debating whether the earth was flat.

He pointed to the existence of tens of thousands of scientific papers in the peer-reviewed literature pointing to the fact that the world was warming and the primary cause since the middle of the last century had been industrial greenhouse gas emissions, and noted that fewer than ten papers have been put forward to challenge those fundamentals – all of which had subsequently been disproved.

PROGRESS IN THE PROTECTION OF MIGRANT DOMESTIC WORKERS AND THEIR FAMILIES

2010-05-27T20:47:00.002+10:00

According to International Labour Organization estimates there are more than one hundred million migrant workers around the globe.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of all Migrant Workers and Members of their families.

The Convention sets out legal standards and provides guidance for national laws and policies that recognise the specific vulnerabilities of migrants and promote humane and lawful working and living conditions.

Following its April meeting the UN Committee on Migrant Workers committed to a timetable for working together with NGOs and international organizations to adopt a final text as the first General Comment under the Migrant Workers Convention at its next session in November.

The purpose of a General Comment is to draw upon the experience of the Committee and other interested parties to make recommendations in order to assist States in the implementation of the provisions of the Convention.

This step was welcomed by the International Catholic Migration Commission as a step towards providing greater protection for migrant domestic workers.

In a separate development Edmund Rice International has made a submission regarding the US guest-worker program as part of the Universal Periodic Review of the United States due to take place in November.

The submission and its recommendations were based on the 'Close to Slavery' report prepared by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

ADVERTISEMENT REPRESENTS ‘ANOTHER LOW IN AUSTRALIAN POLITICS’

2010-05-27T20:41:00.003+10:00

The Edmund Rice Centre in Sydney has condemned the Federal Liberal Party’s recent television advertising campaign broadcast in Western Australia and Queensland and called for an immediate withdrawal of the campaign.

"This ad campaign is a prime-time attack on asylum-seekers, and can only be regarded as another low in Australian politics," said ERC Director, Phil Glendenning.

Against the background of a small asylum-seeker boat in open ocean, the ads show a map upon which five large red arrows progressively stream towards Australia from the north-west – with the arrows bearing the names: Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.

Recent months have seen the issue of asylum seekers in Australia return to prominence in the media.

The Australian government has been criticized as being in breach of its own and international law by its decision to suspend the processing of some claims for asylum while the Leader of the Opposition first signaled a return to the shameful policies of the previous government in a recent interview in which he used (deliberately?) inflammatory and misleading terms such as 'illegal boat arrivals' and 'jumping the queue' before subsequently announcing that if elected later this year a Liberal government would re-instate the policies of the previous government; policies described by a dissident member of his own party as ’cruel’ and ‘regressive’.

As the Australian Bishops pointed out in a recent media release "Refugees are desperate human beings who have suffered great trauma. As a nation, we are called to respond with justice and compassion"

The Bishops called on the government to lift the suspension of processing for Afghan and Sri Lankan asylum seekers and for all sides of politics to show positive leadership on refugee policy, pointing out that political leaders have a particular responsibility to avoid demonizing or stereotyping asylum seekers.

The Bishop’s went on to say that "Australia is not being inundated by people seeking asylum. In fact we receive only a small proportion of the world’s displaced people. The greatest burden in giving shelter to refugees is borne by countries that are far poorer and more crowded than Australia".

WORLD FAIR TRADE DAY MAY 8th

2010-05-03T23:12:00.002+10:00

Word Fair Trade Day is celebrated on the second Saturday in May each year. In Australia it is celebrated as part of Fairtrade Fortnight

Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.

Cadbury Dairy Milk milk chocolate is the most recent Fairtrade Certified product to hit shelves across in Australia and New Zealand. It joins products such as coffee, tea, bananas and cotton that now carry the fairtrade label.

Information about the "Big Swap" campaign which encourages people to switch to fairtrade products along with a buying guide for such products is available from the Fair Trade Association website.

ADDRESSING SEXUAL VIOLENCE AGAINST CHILDREN

2010-05-03T23:08:00.003+10:00

The UN Study on Violence against Children estimates that some 150 million girls and 73 million boys have endured forced sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual violence.

Violations often take place in settings where children ought to feel safe such as the family home or in schools, or in situations where children are most vulnerable such as detention facilities, during displacement or in situations of armed conflict.

These facts were recalled as the UN Human Rights Council held its annual full-day meeting on the rights of the child recently. This year the meeting focussed on the theme of protecting boys and girls from sexual violence.

Speaking to the issue Bacre Ndiaye, Director of the Human Rights Council and Special Procedures Division of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said
"Children are physically hurt and mentally scarred in the most terrible way, with lifelong consequences, often by those in whom they place the most trust, such as family, teachers, police and humanitarian workers, among others"

The meeting also noted that that due to the sensitive nature of sexual violence, obtaining accurate data and research on sexual violence against children remain a challenge across regions. A deafening silence surrounds the issue as victims are often ashamed to come forward and seek justice.

"Children are at times blamed for what has happened, coerced to keep it a secret and often stigmatized and marginalised by their families and communities", said Marta Santos, UN Special Representative of the Secretary General on Violence against Children.

One of the conclusions of the meeting was that violence against children is however preventable and that investing efforts and resources in prevention is the most effective means to reduce violence against children.

It was pointed out that while most States have signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child there is not have a common definition of sexual violence against children. Nor have States universally ratified a number of pertinent international and regional instruments and some national laws have not clearly defined nor criminalized all forms of sexual exploitation of children.

States were also urged to put in place investigative procedures and prosecution methods that are child-sensitive in order to avoid re-victimization of children. The need for safe and easy access to child sensitive counselling, complaint and reporting mechanisms was also highlighted as was the training of children in order to enable them to identify risk situations.

In light of the debate, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution urging all States to ensure accountability and seek to end impunity of perpetrators of sexual violence and abuse against children.

LOWEST PAID WORKERS CARRY UNFAIR BURDEN FOR ECONOMIC RECOVERY

2010-05-03T23:03:00.002+10:00

The burden of Australia's economic recovery from the global financial crisis has fallen unfairly on lower paid workers according to the Chairman of the Australian Catholic Social Justice Council, Bishop Christopher Saunders, in a Pastoral Letter issued for the Feast of St Joseph the Worker (1 May).

Comparing the circumstances of the richest and poorest Australians following the global financial crisis, he says, ‘Over the past decade, minimum wages have fallen further behind average weekly earnings. Safety net wages, even when supplemented by family benefits, have not prevented families falling into poverty or coming close to it.'

‘In 2009, the Australian Fair Pay Commission imposed a wage freeze on 1.6 million safety net workers with the aim of preventing job loss and promoting economic recovery. This burden has not been carried proportionally by the average income earner, and still less by those at the highest levels of the wealth spectrum.'

‘While the lowest paid workers endure a pay freeze for the sake of Australia’s economic interests, the Productivity Commission recently dismissed suggestions of pay caps or reduced tax concessions on executive remuneration on the grounds that this “could damage our national economic interests”’, Bishop Saunders said.

'The minimum wage decision that Fair Work Australia makes in June will be a critical test of this nation’s fairness,’ Bishop Saunders concluded.

ERI JOINS CAMPAIGN TO URGE HOTELS TO COMBAT TRAFICKING

2010-05-03T22:59:00.002+10:00

Edmund Rice International has agreed to be a signatory to a letter to major hotel chains in South Africa encouraging them to combat human trafficking and child sex tourism as the country readies for the World Cup.

In June, close to one million visitors will travel to South Africa for the World Cup. Past experience shows that this influx of people may also have the unintended consequence of creating opportunities for human trafficking. While not responsible for this tragic crime, the travel and lodging industry is well-positioned to help prevent human trafficking by taking steps to stop the use of hotels for these purposes.

The campaign, organized by Christian Brothers Investment Services (in this case Christian Brothers refers to the De la Salle Brothers) is to be sent to Best Western, Hyatt, Hilton, Starwood and other hotels, expressing concerns about human trafficking and encouraging the hotels to create ethical policies, train staff to help identify human trafficking, partner with social service agencies, and join an industry-wide code of conduct that guides anti-commercial sex tourism policy development.

1 GOAL - EDUCATION FOR ALL

2010-04-06T20:08:00.002+10:00

The goal of providing universal primary education by 2015 seems to be slipping out of reach according to the Global Campaign For Education (GCE)

According to a UNESCO Global Report released earlier this year, 72 million children were out of school in 2007 and 56 million would still be out of school by 2015 if funding trends remained the same.

The report also highlighted that around 54 percent of children out of school are girls; that literacy remains among the most neglected of all education goals, with about 759 million adults lacking literacy skills today, two-thirds women; that millions of children are leaving school without having acquired basic skills, and that 1.9 million new teacher posts will be required to meet universal primary education by 2015.

"It is estimated that it will cost US$16 billion a year to achieve universal primary education and wider Education for All goals by 2015," said Kailash Satyarthi, GCE President. "This figure is just two percent of the amount mobilised to bail out four banks in the UK and US."

In the lead up to this years Soccer World Cup the 1GOAL campaign seizing is attempting to use the popular appeal of football to advance the cause of education for all.

Information as to how you can support the campaign can be found at the above website.

TIME FOR A ROBIN HOOD TAX?

2010-04-06T20:04:00.002+10:00

Concerns about the increasing gap between rich and poor, about finding the billions needed to tackle poverty and climate change, at home and abroad and about preventing global financial meltdowns have prompted a renewed interest in a global financial tax or 'Robin Hood tax' as it is sometimes called.

Leaders of the EU issued a statement supporting the idea at their recent spring summit in Brussels and the EU's executive, the European Commission, 'will shortly present a report on possible innovative sources of financing such as a global levy on financial institutions' the statement noted.

Whilst there is general agreement about the need for increased international banking regulation, there are believed to be a number of alternative proposals under consideration.

The 'Robin Hood tax' or ‘Tobin tax’ as it is also known, (named after the Nobel Prize-winning economist who first suggested the idea), calls for a tax on foreign exchange transactions that would be applied uniformly by all major countries. A tiny amount (less than 0.5%) would be levied on all foreign currency exchange transactions to deter speculation on currency fluctuations.

When levied on the billions of dollars moving around the global finance system every day through transactions such as foreign exchange, derivatives trading and share deals, it can raise hundreds of billions of dollars every year.

Whilst support for such a tax is not universal (see the recent ABC report) 350 economists from dozens of countries, including two Nobel laureates and prominent figures such as Prof Jeffrey Sachs, have signed a letter addressed to the G20 calling for the introduction of such a tax.

“CLIMATE CHANGE REAL” – SCIENCE AGENCIES RESPOND TO SKEPTICS

2010-04-06T20:00:00.002+10:00

Two of Australia’s leading scientific agencies have come together to issue a report confirming that Australia has warmed significantly over the past 50 years, and stating categorically that "climate change is real".

The "State of the Climate" report produced by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Bureau of Meteorology shows that Australia's mean temperature has increased 0.7 degrees since 1960. The statement also finds average daily maximum temperatures have increased every decade for the past 50 years.

The report also found that the 2000s were Australia's warmest decade on record; that sea levels rose between 1.5 and three millimetres a year in Australia's south and east, and between seven and 10 millimetres in the north between 1993 and 2009; and that sea surface temperatures have risen 0.4 degrees since 1960.

The release of the report comes as many Australian scientists have expressed concern at attacks casting doubts on the scientific evidence demonstrating that global warming is man-made.

Bureau of Meteorology director Dr Greg Ayres said the trends in temperatures confirmed the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings showing human processes, such as burning fossil fuels, was the main cause of global warming.

PLIGHT OF RELIGIOUS MINORITIES HIGHLIGHTED AT UN

2010-04-06T19:58:00.001+10:00

The plight of religious minorities was highlighted in the interactive dialogue that followed the presentation of the annual report of the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion or belief, Ms Asma Jahangir, to the Human Rights Council last month.

The situation of the Baha’i in Iran, Christians and Jews in Iran, Christians in Iraq, Christians in Nigeria, and unequal access to education for all religious minorities were issues raised by various member States. Concern was also expressed over restrictions on people who either do not have a religion, or wish to change their religion.

Ms Jahangir also reported on her recent visits to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Laos but noted that many States had failed to respond to her request to visit , including the Russian Federation, Malaysia, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Bulgaria, and Egypt.

A summary of the interactive dialogue can be found at the International Service for Human Rights website. The report of the Special Rapporteur can be downloaded from the Human Rights Council website.

EARTH HOUR 2010

2010-03-10T00:07:00.000+11:00

Earth Hour 2010 takes place on Saturday 27 March at 8.30pm (local time) and is a global call to action to every individual, every business and every community throughout the world. It is a call to stand up, to take responsibility, to get involved and lead the way towards a sustainable future.

Iconic buildings and landmarks from Europe to Asia to the Americas will stand in darkness. People across the world from all walks of life will turn off their lights and join together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet

Earth Hour started in 2007 in Sydney, Australia when 2.2 million homes and businesses turned their lights off for one hour to make their stand against climate change.

Only a year later and Earth Hour had become a global sustainability movement with more than 50 million people across 35 countries participating.

In 2009 hundreds of millions of people around the world showed their support by turning off their lights for one hour.

Click on the link to visit the Earth Hour 2010 site then sign-up to pledge your support by turning off your lights for one hour, Earth Hour, 8.30pm, Saturday 27th March 2010.

MYTHS ABOUT ASYLUM SEEKERS REVISITED

2010-03-10T00:04:00.003+11:00

Just when it seemed that a measure of justice in Australia’s treatment of asylum seekers had been restored, it appears that there are attempts to again exploit the issue for political purposes.

In 2002 the Edmund Rice Centre led an important effort to bring clarity to the national debate through the publication of the accessible fact-sheet: Debunking the Myths on Asylum Seekers.

In view of some recent comments by political leaders the Centre has judged it necessary to revisit the topic to once again bring a factual spotlight to the debate for this coming election year. The publication "Debunking the myths about asylum seekers in 2010" is available for download at the above website.

Myth 1 : Australia is being inundated by people in boats.

Fact: This is false. 1 800 boat people have sought asylum in Australia in 2009. This number is tiny when compared to other countries. Even given an increase in 2009, the annual average number of boat arrivals to Australia is tiny in comparison to the 50,000 people that over-stay their visas each year, or when taking into account that on average 95% of asylum seekers actually arrive in Australia by plane.

Click on the link to the Edmund Rice Centre to read about more of the myths.

FAIRTRADE EASTER CHOCOLATE CAMPAIGN

2010-03-09T23:59:00.001+11:00

When most people think of slavery, they think of it as part of our history rather than our present. But slavery continues today.

Two Australian social justice organizations Good Shepherd Mission & Justice and the Australian Catholic Religious Against Trafficking in Humans have combined to launch a Fairtrade Easter Chocolate campaign to stop child trafficking into West African cocoa plantations.

The initiative is part of a worldwide campaign to end the trafficking of humans, particularly the slave trade of young people who are sold to cocoa farmers in Cote d'Ivoire, Africa.

Cocoa, which comes from the cocoa bean, is one of the main ingredients used to make chocolate and about 40 percent of the world's chocolate is made from cocoa grown in West Africa. Tens of thousands of children are forced to work on these plantations as slaves and many are trafficked from nearby poor countries.

'We hope that more and more people will use their money to buy Fairtrade chocolate at Easter, and support those chocolate manufacturers who have gone Fairtrade. Supporting Fairtrade ensures cocoa farmers get two things - a fair price for their crop, and a premium for their community to spend on a community project' said Roberto Morales from Good Shepherd Mission & Justice.

This campaign will also send a message to chocolate producers who do not use Fairtrade chocolate.

Late last year Cadbury, the subject of an international campaign, announced that its Dairy Milk blocks in Australia would be fair trade in 2010 whilst in response to a similar Christmas campaign by Stop the Traffik Nestle announced that its 4 finger Kit Kat bars in the UK would be fair trade from Jan 2010.

THE RIGHT TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING

2010-03-09T23:53:00.003+11:00

Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control."

Population growth, migration to urban areas, conflicting needs for existing land, and insufficient financial and natural resources have resulted in widespread homelessness and habitation in inadequate housing.

In every country children, men and women sleep on sidewalks, under bridges, in cars, subway stations, and public parks, live in ghettos and slums, or "squat" in buildings other people have abandoned. The United Nations estimates that there are over 100 million homeless people and over 1 billion people worldwide inadequately housed.

These statistics are evidence for the difficulty governments have in guaranteeing access to housing for their citizens, but they also raise complicated questions about the extent of the obligations of governments to do so.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to adequate Housing Ms Raquel Rolnik, recently presented her annual report to the Human Rights Council in Geneva in which she focused on the negative effect on the right to housing of mega-events such as the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup and offered reflections on her recent visit to the Maldives and the US where she expressed serious concern about the ‘new face of homelessness’ in which working poor, including many families, find themselves living on the street and in transitional housing.

Further information about the interactive dialogue involving the special rapporteur can be found at the websites of the International Service for Human Rights and of the Human Rights Council

CALLS FOR HAITI DEBT CANCELLATION CONTINUE

2010-02-06T00:13:00.001+11:00

In the aftermath of the recent earthquake ONE International has organized an online petition requesting Finance Ministers of creditor countries, IMF, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and bilateral creditors, to cancel Haiti’s remaining $1 billion of debt.

Prior to the most recent disaster there were signs of progress in Haiti. As well as greater political stability and some gains in the fight against poverty, the country had also reached a significant milestone in the debt cancellation process: $1.2 billion owed to bilateral and multilateral institutions had been completely dropped -however a significant debt burden still remains.

The popular image of Haiti has been of a country characterized by mismanagement, ineptitude and corruption, however it is worth recalling some of the history of this second-oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere (after the United States).

Haiti succeeded in winning its independence in 1805 after a slave revolt that developed into a particularly bloody ten-year war. Unlike the other newly founded republics France and the United States, Haiti totally renounced slavery; a stance that resulted in Haiti being ostracised and denied access to world trade, finance, and institutional development from its birth – a situation for which France and the United States in particular bear responsibility, along with the other major European powers.

To gain acceptance in the world community the Haitian government was eventually forced to accept terms (including the payment of billions of dollars in ‘reparations’ to France - payments which took more than a century to pay off). This resulted in the exploitation and impoverishment of the Haitian people.

The wake of the current disaster provides an opportunity to correct a long-standing injustice.

UN REPORT HIGHLIGHTS PLIGHT OF WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

2010-02-06T00:11:00.000+11:00

The first UN world report on the State of the World’s Indigenous Peoples reveals alarming statistics on poverty, health, education, employment, the environment and human rights among other issues.

According to the report, the world’s indigenous population has been estimated at 370 million individuals living in more than 70 countries. They are defined as having their own history, language, culture, political systems, livelihoods, beliefs and identity. There are 5000 different indigenous groups and almost the same number of languages used by indigenous communities worldwide.

Although they make up five per cent of the world’s population, indigenous peoples represent 15 percent of the world’s poor. Over the last three decades they have moved from their traditional lands towards urban areas partly seeking opportunities for education and employment, partly because of human rights abuses and violations in particular to their land rights and partly for cultural survival.

In developing as well as developed countries, indigenous peoples are still the daily victims of violence, assimilation policies, forced displacement and dispossession of their lands for commercial exploitation.

The report states that today, of the estimated 70,000-87,000 Batwa or Forest Peoples living in the Great Lakes Region in Africa, only one tenth has direct access to the forest. In parts of Asia-Pacific, allegations have been made of the abuse of indigenous peoples at the hands of military forces. A sizeable gap persists between the number of years of schooling attended by indigenous and non-indigenous children in several countries in Latin America. Almost a quarter of Native Americans and Alaska Natives live under the poverty line in the United States.

The adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 has given indigenous peoples and the international community a framework to tackle these issues.

EQUAL RIGHTS, EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES: PROGRESS FOR ALL - INTERNATIONAL WOMENS DAY 2010

2010-02-06T00:06:00.002+11:00

More than nine years after the signing of the Millennium Declaration little progress has been made in achieving equal opportunities and rights for women and girls.

While more girls are starting school, many of them, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and the Arab countries, do not complete their primary education. In countries like Bangladesh and Pakistan, two-thirds of illiterates are women. Women in many countries cannot do paid work outside the agriculture sector. In South Asia and North Africa, for instance, only 18% of women have paid work and they are generally paid lower wages. Of the nearly one billion people with an income of less than one dollar a day, some 700 million are women.

Laws that discriminate explicitly against women remain in force around the world, putting the formal endorsement of the state on gender-based discrimination.

International Women's Day is celebrated each year on 8th March to recognize the fact that securing peace and social progress and the full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms require the active participation, equality and development of women; and to acknowledge the contribution of women to the strengthening of international peace and security.

The theme for the 2010 celebration of International Women’s Day is “Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress for All” Despite a disappointing lack of progress the empowerment of women continues to be a central feature of the UN’s efforts to address social, economic and political challenges across the globe.

WORLD DAY OF SOCIAL JUSTICE 20TH FEBRUARY

2010-02-06T00:03:00.001+11:00

In 2007, the General Assembly of the United Nations proclaimed 20 February as World Day of Social Justice. The day was observed for the first time in 2009.

Governments committed to the promotion of social justice at national, regional and international levels. They also pledged to promote the equitable distribution of income and greater access to resources through equity and equality and opportunity for all.

The governments also recognized that economic growth should promote equity and social justice and that "a society for all" must be based on social justice and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Observance of the day is intended to contribute to the further consolidation of the efforts of the international community in poverty eradication, promotion of full employment and decent work, gender equity and access to social well-being and justice for all.

EDMUND RICE INTERNATIONAL ACTION ALERT

2010-01-22T00:57:00.001+11:00

In the wake of the horrific disaster in Haiti the January Newsletter of Edmund Rice International has issued an action alert to members of the Edmund Rice Network urging them to sign a petition asking for the cancellation of Haiti’s debts to western financial institutions.

"No doubt we have all been shocked by the terrible disaster in Haiti.

People and governments all around the world have responded generously to provide emergency assistance in this time of dire need.

However experience shows that inevitably the story will fade from our consciousness as the attention of the media moves to other issues.

The effects of the earthquake have been magnified by the extreme poverty and lack of infrastructure in Haiti, a situation that has existed for many years and which the global community has failed to address.

The Jubilee Debt Campaign reminds us that the world's poorest countries pay almost $100 million every day to the rich world.

Apart from donating money another way of assisting countries like Haiti to get back on their feet is to support the debt relief campaign.”

Readers of this newsletter are encouraged to sign the online petition asking creditors to act immediately to cancel Haiti's debts.

You can subscribe to the newsletter via the Edmund Rice International website.

“IF YOU WANT PEACE - PROTECT CREATION”

2010-01-22T00:55:00.000+11:00

"If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation" - these words, which might come as a surprise to many, is the title of the statement issued by Benedict XVI to mark the World Day of Peace on Jan 1st.

In the statement the pope expresses the conviction that the environment is God’s gift to all, that the use we make of it entails a shared responsibility for all of humanity, especially the poor and generations yet to come, and that we cannot remain indifferent to issues such as climate change, 'environmental refugees' and the potential for future conflict over access to natural resources.

Benedict advocates the adoption of a model of development based on the centrality of the human person, on the promotion of the common good, on responsibility, the recognition of the need for lifestyle changes and the virtue of prudence.

He also urges that encouragement be given to direct technological and scientific research to address environmental problems making particular reference to the "immense potential of solar energy."

He links the protection of creation and peacemaking and identifies this as an urgent and major area of challenge facing world leaders and all who are concerned for the future of humanity.

ETHICAL UNDERWEAR – COVERING ALL BASES IN THE FIGHT AGAINST POVERTY

2010-01-22T00:53:00.001+11:00

According to a recent story in the Melbourne 'Age', underwear is the latest in a series of new products on the Australian Fairtrade market - one of the fastest growing in the world, with sales up 80 per cent last year to $23 million.

Until now most sales of Fairtrade products have been of coffee, tea and chocolate - and the Fairtrade share of the chocolate market received a recent boost with the announcement by Cadburys that its Dairy Milk bars would carry the Fairtrade label by Easter – but with the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International broadening its reach to include cotton in its Fairtrade Certification program in 2005, the purchase of Fairtrade clothing is now possible.

Although cotton has been used for clothing by humans for thousands of years, in the last two hundred years it has been associated with some of the more serious abuses of human rights and the environment these include slavery on US cotton plantations, child labour in British cotton mills, the diversion of water resources, pollution from fertiliser run-off (cotton uses 25% of the world’s insecticides) and distortion of the world trading system by heavy subsidies to cotton growers in the developed world.

Fair Trade certified organically grown Fair Trade cotton has brought fairer prices fro cotton growers in Africa and India and encouraged better farming practices.