Monthly News Bulletin of Dignity International: June 2004
DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL: MONTHLY NEWSBULLETIN - June 2004
Dignity News
* Dignity´s field visit to East Africa - Tribute to the local heroes
* Development & Human Rights Dignity at the Interaction Forum 2004
* Advisory Council Member Minar Pimple visits Dignity office for talks
* The European Roundtable on ESC Rights
Other News
* The G8 Summit underway An appeal by the Humanitarian Leaders
* Spanish NGOs join forces for Shadow Report on ESC Rights
* World Social Forum updates
* Dam affected Pak Mun residents write to the World Bank President
* Oxfam Coffee Shops Progress´o´ in the Fair Trade Campaign
* Play Fair at the Olympics campaign updates
* Children’s World Congress on Child Labour (Florence, Italy)
* The Global Population Forum 2004
* FAO European Regional Conference - Montpellier, France
Publications
* Social Watch Report 2004 official presentation
* WSF new book - ”The World Social Forum: challenging empires”
Announcements
* Human Rights & Religious Freedom Call for True Stories
* 1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize Call for Nominations
Upcoming events
* International Forum on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, 10-15 July
DIGNITY NEWS
*** Dignity´s field visit to East Africa: Tribute to the local heroes “It
was a very humbling experience” said Thomas Nzumbi, Dignity´s Coordinator
for East Africa upon concluding a ten day field visit to Kenya and Tanzania
with Dignity´s Executive Director Aye Aye Win from 3 to 13 May. The Dignity
team met with a range of indigenous NGOs working with marginalized and
excluded groups as well as those working on a range of human rights and
development issues. The team also met with international development NGOs
and some government officials drafting Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers. In
Nairobi, the team visited Korogocho and Kibera slums where residents from
the latter are facing large-scale evictions.
The Dignity team was impressed by the deep engagement of many organisations working hard on the ground to make a difference to people’s lives.
After 10 days of intense exchanges with indigenous NGOs and partners, the
team returned to base with a clear vision of how the organisation should
move ahead in the region and also about the work of Dignity International
globally. “Some of the ideas we have in mind for East Africa can be
test-cases for Dignity International globally” said Thomas Nzumbi.
Following this field visit, there is a greater resolve within the team and
those visited to help develop a new generation of human rights movements,
which can connect seemingly distant ideals of human rights with local
realities and can really make a difference to people’s lives on the ground.
“It is important to capture the determination and energy of the local
communities to improve their lives and combine that with grassroots,
national and international campaign efforts to bring about lasting social
change”, said Aye Aye Win.
A range of recommendations have been made in the Field Report, a copy of
which can be obtained by sending a mail to dignity@netvisao.pt or it can be
accessed directly at http://dignity.3pontos.net/doc/SAFARI_REPORT.doc
Work in East Africa will be coordinated by Thomas Nzumbi - regional
coordinator for East Africa, who can be contacted at tnzumbi@hotmail.com
*** Interaction Forum 2004 - The annual conference of Interaction was held
from 17-19, 2004 in Washington, D.C. It was a gathering of over 600 leaders
from US non-governmental organizations, donors, the US government, academia,
and civil society organizations from the South. The Forum theme of this year
is "Operating in an Age of Uncertainty: New Challenges in Humanitarian and
Development Work."
Dignity was invited to contribute to the session on “A Rights-based
Approach: Expanding the Practice of Development through a Human Rights
Lens". During a lively session facilitated by Kathryn Wolford, Lutheran
World Relief, Aye Aye Win of Dignity International joined Larry Cox of the
Ford Foundation and Lynn Freedman of Columbia University on the panel.
Dignity’s contribution focused on the findings of the recent field mission
to East Africa, to illustrate the inadequacies of existing development
strategies of ´service delivery´ and how human rights can help the agencies
to tackle the root causes of poverty and bring about social change. For
Dignity’s contribution to the panel, see
http://dignity.3pontos.net/doc/speech_interaction.doc
Dr. Amartya Sen, the Nobel Laureate and Professor of Economics, was the
closing speaker of Forum 2004. His speech focused on a rights-based approach
to development, and the implications of such an approach for international
NGOs engaged in development.
See http://www.interaction.org/forum2004/sen.html
*** Dignity’s Advisory Council Member, Minar Pimple recently visited the
Dignity office in Portugal. Minar Pimple, founder and Director of Youth for
Unity and Voluntary Action in India, and a member of the recent Mumbai
Organising Committee for the World Social Forum which succeeded to bring
together the largest participation of social and grassroots movements to
date, and who is now moving to New York to assume the position of Executive
Director of the People’s Decade for Human Rights Education has had extensive
experience in building indigenous social movements and international
initiatives. During his two days in Portugal, Minar advised Dignity
International on the way ahead with the modalities around the membership
drive for the organisation and the concrete steps that need to be taken to
build a strong global human rights movement.
*** The Government of Portugal and the International Commission of Jurists
organized the European Roundtable on Economic Social and Cultural Rights,
from 24th to 25th of May at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon.
Over 60 participants from European governments, as well as from NGOs working
on economic, social and cultural rights and related issues attended the
roundtable. Simone Andrade, Learning Associate of Dignity International also
participated in the roundtable.
The roundtable discussed issues related to the proposed ´Optional Protocol´
and provided a forum for the exchange of experiences, learning and
strategies towards the further national, regional and international
protection and promotion of ESC rights. For further details and a copy of
the report, please e-mail to talvarenga@sg.mne.gov.pt
As the roundtable proved to be a very enriching exercise to raise awareness
about economic, social and cultural rights, it is our hope that similar
roundtables can be organised in other continents of the world.
OTHER NEWS
*** The G8 Summit underway An Appeal by the Humanitarian Leaders - Leaders from the so-called Group of Eight industrialized democracies arrive today at Sea Island, Georgia for a three day annual G8 summit. President Bush will host his counterparts from Canada, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, Germany,
the United Kingdom, and the European Union. In terms of humanitarian issues,
U.S. officials say President Bush is expected to focus the discussion on
food security in Africa, HIV/AIDS and other infectious diseases, such as
Polio.
However, representatives from the largest humanitarian alliances in each of
the nations recently urged their respective leaders to also place the
eradication of extreme poverty as a permanent agenda item at this and future
G8 meetings.
Humanitarian leaders are calling upon the G8 leaders to:
- Formally place the eradication of extreme poverty as a central agenda item
at all G8 meetings;
- Recommit governments, by specifying concrete strategies and plans, to the
achievement of all of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015;
- Bring to bear and tailor all the tools necessary for meeting the
Millennium Development Goals, including, but not limited to, development
assistance, trade policies, debt relief, technology transfer and private
investment.
View the full statement at
http://www.interaction.org/files.cgi/2918_StatementCoalitionFinalFinal.pdf
(Source: Interaction)
NetAid Speaks Out for Education for All on Eve of G8 - NetAid, the Global
Campaign for Education, CARE and the Basic Education Coalition joinned hands
in a campaign to present to the world wealthier leaders letters from
children around the world demanding Education for All. On the inaugural day
of the Summit, these leaders will be faced with the result of this year’s
Action Week - where people from 110 countries participated to ensure every
child's right to go to school. This is a clear call to the eight most
powerful nations to listen to these children's voices, and make Education
for All a priority.
http://www.netaid.org/groups/news/news_item.pt?article_id=1310&group_id=848
(Source: NetAid Network)
For more information on Oxfam position on the 2004 G8 summit where they ask
the leaders to address two key issues for developing nations - peacekeeping
and debt relief.
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/g8070604.htm
The official US Government site: http://g8usa.gov/home.html
*** Spanish NGOs join forces for the Shadow Report on ESC Rights The
government of Spain submitted its periodic report to the 32nd session of the
UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights which met in Geneva
from 26 April 14 May. Spanish NGOs, coordinated by Observatorio DESC,
joined forces to pull together a shadow report to the Committee, which can
be accessed at
http://www.descweb.org/continguts/documents/informeparalelo/INFORME-PARALELO
.doc
Official concluding observations of the UN Committee on ESCR on Spain can be
found at
http://www.descweb.org/continguts/documents/informeparalelo/SpainCOFinal.doc
As a follow-up, on the 17th of May, Observatorio DESC organised an
information meeting with NGOs and government officials on the outcomes of
the UN Committee on ESC Rights. For further information on Observatorio DESC
and its activities see http://www.descweb.org
*** The World Social Forum update The fifth edition of the World Social
Forum will be held again in Porto Alegre, Brazil, from the 16th to the 31st
of January 2005. The mobilisation for the 2005 WSF has already begun. While
maintaining the diversity, which is typical of the WSF, the organisers plan
to transform the WSF into a space that is increasingly capable of
facilitating interlinkages and common actions among different participants
who come together in the WSF. In order to achieve that, the organisers plan
to improve the process of finalising “large events” (Conferences, Panels,
Testimonies and Round Tables of Dialogue and Controversies) as well as the
registration of hundreds of Seminars and Workshops that can be proposed by
any organisation registered for the event. For further information on the
proposed new format for the 2005 WSF, see:
http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/dinamic.asp?pagina=cartainicial_ing
*** Dam affected Pak Mun residents write to World Bank President - To mark
the 60th Anniversary of the World Bank, Villager Committee for the
Rehabilitation of Life and Communities of the Mun River Basin sent a letter
to the World Bank President calling the Bank to end its support of
dam-building projects which harm local communities. Speaking from the
14-year experience of the Pak Mun Dam, which caused previously
self-sufficient communities to impoverishment, the residents appealed to the
World Bank not to subject the same fate to other parts of the world. See
http://www.thai.to/munriver
*** Oxfam Coffee Shops Progres´o´ in the Fair Trade Campaign - Oxfam is
continuing to invest effort and imagination to raise awareness and knowledge
about Fair Trade. This time, Oxfam is planning to open Fair Trade Coffee
Shops in partnership with coffee grower co-operatives. “This is a bona fide
commercial venture”- says Wyndham James, managing director of Progreso the
name of Oxfam’s chain of fair trade coffee shops. How an NGO will survive
the fierce of competition? Like David facing Goliath?
See: http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/progreso130504.htm
For further information on the Progreso Coffee Shops, see
http://www.progreso.org.uk/
For press coverage of this latest venture see
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3708585.stm
*** Play Fair at the Olympics accuses The International Olympics Committee
of infringing its responsibility by closing its eyes to the exploitation of
workers from the sportswear companies connected with the Athens Olympic
Games.
At the same time, the campaign welcomes the attitude of some sportswear
brands, which have agreed to discuss their labour practices. The campaign
also highlights the huge civil society support it has been receiving.
(Source: http://www.fairolympics.org)
*** The Children’s World Congress on Child Labour was held in Florence,
Italy, from the 10th to the 13th of May. The Global March Against Child
Labour brought together 500 children to participate in the first
international conference where children, themselves, were the main speakers,
decision-makers and beneficiaries. It was a congress about children’s
problems, directed to them and held by them. Most of the participants were
former child labourers and were there representing different countries,
regions or organizations. These child-delegates were democratically elected
through consultative processes at national or local levels. After 3 days of
discussion, they drafted a Declaration, promising to continue the fight
against child labour and recalling that, being them the future, they detain
the power to decide it. For the whole Declaration, see:
http://www.globalmarch.org/worldcongress/dec.php3
*** The Global Population Forum 2004 was held in Washington, on May 13th to
15th. A three-day event organized by The Population Institute and Population
2005 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the United Nations International
Conference on Population and Development Cairo, 1994 (ICPD). The event
brought to the agenda the discussion of the ICPD Program of Action. It
called attention to the successes and failures of its implementation and
tried to formulate concrete recommendations on how to better continue this
implementation. The major topics of the Forum were: Population and
Development; Family Planning and Reproductive Health; HIV/AIDS and other
Sexually Transmitted Infections; International Migration and Ageing. At the
end, it was adopted the Washington Declaration, strengthening the commitment
of making the Cairo Agenda a reality during the following decade.
For the full report: http://www.population2005.org/
About the ICPD - Cairo, 1994: http://www.iisd.ca/cairo.html
*** FAO European Regional Conference was held from 5-7 May in Montpellier,
France - On the occasion of its upcoming European regional Conference the
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations has published
a list of European states that will not meet the target of reducing the
number of hungry and malnourished persons by half by 2015. In Russia alone,
6,2 Million persons are malnourished, with no sign of substantial
improvement. The report also names two new EU members who are "not on
track" - Latvia and Poland.
FIAN, the international human rights organisation for the right to food has
asked EU governments to take initiatives within to guarantee the human right
to food in the new EU member states. FIAN has also urged European
governments and the EU to fulfil their obligations towards people who are
facing hunger in other parts of the world. This includes a halt to dumping
of agricultural products in developing countries.
More information on the country rating of the FAO can be found at:
ftp://ftp.fao.org/unfao/bodies/erc/erc24/J1959E.doc
Source FIAN - http://www.fian.org
PUBLICATIONS
*** Social Watch Report 2004: Fear and Want obstacles to Human Security -
Fear and want still stand on the way of human security around the world and
are major obstacles to achieving the development goals agreed to by all
countries of the world, concludes the Social Watch Report 2004. This report
was officially presented this 19th of May at United Nations headquarters in
New York. The report shows the obstacles faced by different populations when
exercising any of their rights. The most common obstacles are usually
related to situations of violence and armed conflict. Nevertheless, the
Report exposes the different case of Latin America, where the main obstacles
come from failed economic policies that create conditions for insecurity.
Poverty is the source of citizen insecurity in Latin America. More at:
www.socwatch.org.
*** ”The World Social Forum: Challenging Empires” - An anthology of essays
on the theory and practice of the Forum written by women and men from all
around the world, which share many different points of view. This diversity
can make of the book a faithful picture of the WSF history. See
http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1557.html
(Source: Choike)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
*** The Shared Space of Human Rights and Religious Freedom People´s Decade
for Human Rights Education is embarking on an exciting new project to create
a set of videos that will dramatize real situations accompanied by a manual
to be introduced in communities around the world to encourage dialogue on
the human rights to religion and belief. You are invited to send PDHRE a
true story that can be dramatised and videotaped and which will show the
impact of the lack of such human rights in people’s lives. Stories need to
be outlined in a few paragraphs and no longer than 2 pages. Please send
them to the following address, by 25 July 2004 - E-mail: pdhre@igc.org or
mail: People’s Movement for Human Rights Learning, 526 West 111th Street,
suite 4E, New York, NY 10025. For further information see also
http://dignity.3pontos.net/doc/pdhre.doc
*** Call for Nominations - 1000 women for the Nobel Peace Prize The search
is on for 1000 women from all over the world who will be nominated
collectively for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. The idea is to call
international attention to the vital role played by women from all walks of
life in challenging harmful established social/cultural boundaries,
institutions and ideologies and in creating and promoting peace in their
communities and in the whole world. The aim of the Prize is to call
attention to women’s worldwide fight and struggle for peace, which most of
the times remain totally out of sight. Given the Nobel Peace Prize to 1000
women is to give name and face to 1000 courageous but unknown women.
Nominations close 30 June 2004. For more information and for a nomination
form see:
http://www.1000peacewomen.org/eng/html/nomination/index.php
UPCOMING EVENTS
*** International Forum on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights - This international
forum organized by the Thai Working Group on Human Rights and HIV/AIDS will
be held on the occasion of the 15th International AIDS Conference from 10
and 15 July 2004, Bangkok. The Thai Working Group on Human Rights and
HIV/AIDS strongly felt the importance to bring the issue on Human Rights
Based Approach in relation to the HIV/AIDS for further discussion with the
expectation that the process might lead to a more comprehensive plan of
action, to the eradication of prejudice and to the enhancement of a better
treatment to the affected people.
Objectives:
1) To explore the best way to promote the human rights and human dignity of
the People living with HIV/AIDS;
2) To exchange idea, information and experiences in raising public awareness
on the human rights for the marginalized groups, such as the ethnic groups,
minorities, and the PLWHA;
3) To identify the key obstacles and the challenges for the promotion and
protection of human rights on HIV/AIDS;
4) To work out a systematic and comprehensive approach and the practical
plan of action to promote the ‘All Human Rights for All’ especially for the
people living with HIV/AIDS.
Contact Boonthan Verawongse at Dignity International Asia
e-mail dignity@inet.co.th
CALENDAR OF ACTIVITIES
For the updated Calendar of Activities for 2004, please see:
April - June
http://www.dignityinternational.org/2004monthly_planner2.html
July September
http://www.dignityinternational.org/2004monthly_planner3.html
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see from the Dignity International website at
http://www.dignityinternational.org/News_june2004.html
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