Dignity International August 2008 Newsletter
Dear HumanDHS network friends
Please find below the Dignity International August 2008 Newsletter.
Kind regards
Brian Ward
DIGNITY INTERNATIONAL
MONTHLY NEWSBULLETIN - August 2008
Dignity News | Other News| Action Appeals| Announcements | Forthcoming Events| Publications
Dignity News
* Destruction at Dam Village - Minister for Lands responds
* SAARC Report Online
Other News
* Health is a Human Right: Mexico Conference on HIV/AIDS
* S. African Woman endorsed by UN as Human Rights Chief
* US Congress demands energy accountability to aid development
* WTO negotiations collapse: a victory for poor farmers
* 2008 G8 Summit - NGO Reactions
Action Appeals
* Endorse Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever
*Mobilise now for the World Day for Decent Work, October 7
Announcements
*Internship Announcement: Intern, South Asia Programme
* Asia Course on Health, HIV Harm Reduction
Forthcoming Events
* 7th Leadership Course on Gender, Sexuality, and Health in Southeast Asia and China
* UN Right to Development Working Group
* UN Human Rights Social Forum
Publications
* World Economic and Social Survey 2008
* Minimum Income Standard in Britain Report & Launch
DIGNITY NEWS
*** Destruction at Dam Village - Minister for Lands responds - The Hon. James Orengo, MP, Minister for Lands, Kenya responded to the joint letter sent by the participants of the “Get Organised for Human Rights” Learning Programme in Nairobi on 16 th June expressing concern for forced evictions at Dam Village, Nairobi. Dam Village was one of the field visit destinations for the “Get Organised for Human Rights” Learning Programme where forced evictions had taken place a month earlier destroying community buildings and homes rendering 300 children, women and men homeless.
In his response Hon. James Orengo MP, Minister for Lands expressed his own concern about the forced evictions and said that “…the Draft National Land Policy will amongst other issues address the question of deprivation of shelter under the guise of forced evictions…” He also pledged to “…work together with other Government institutions and officials to ensure that there is respect for and observance of fundamental human rights”. To read the full letter from Minister Orengo CLICK HERE>>>
To read the full text of the letter sent by participants CLICK HERE>>>
*** SAARC Report Online – A comprehensive report of the South Asia Regional Linking and Learning Programme on Human Rights Based Development organised by Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and Dignity International from 28 April – 3 rd May in Mumbai India is now available online. Toe read the report CLICK HERE>>>
OTHER NEWS
***Health is a Human Right: Mexico Conference on HIV/AIDS – In both wealthy countries and in the South, illness and death from HIV/AIDS continues to pose a significant violation of basic human rights. According to a conference press release dated 5 August, “In 2007, 2.7 million people were newly infected with HIV worldwide, nearly 7,400 each day.” Conference participants and organisers stressed that effective prevention and treatment of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic must come from policies that recognise the human right to adequate health care and non-discrimination based on gender, sexual orientation and social and economic standing.
Local Co-Chair of AIDS 2008 Salvador Zubiran and Coordinator of the Clinical Care Committee of CONASIDA, Mexico’s National AIDS Council said “In far too many places, stigma and discrimination continue to fuel counterproductive laws and policies that undermine prevention and treatment scale up. Confronting such policies head on, and demanding that they be changed, is a central component of any HIV prevention strategy.” To read more on the conference CLICK HERE>>>
Source: XVII International Aids Conference
***S. African Woman endorsed by UN as Human Rights Chief - NEW YORK CITY –Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that he was “gratified” that his nomination of South African judge Navanethem Pillay as the new United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had today been endorsed by the General Assembly. Mr. Ban reiterated his commitment to ensuring that human rights remain high on the agenda of the Organisation, in a statement released by his spokesperson. To read more CLICK HERE>>>
Source: UN News Centre
*** US Congress demands energy accountability to aid development – WASHINGTON, DC — Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Congressman Barney Frank (D-MA) have introduced key legislation aimed at reducing corruption and insecurity in the oil, gas, and mining industries.
The Extractive Industry Transparency Disclosure (EITD) Act of 2008 introduced on 31 July would require oil, gas, and mining companies to publicly disclose payments made to foreign governments. The bill is identical to legislation introduced in Congress by House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank (D-MA) in May. Oxfam America president Raymond Offenheiser welcomed this joint action, recalling that “More than half of the world’s poorest people live in countries rich in natural resources. Access to information is a fundamental aspect of development.” “Senator Schumer has taken an important step to provide citizens with vital information to hold their governments accountable for how mining and oil projects will impact their lives and lands and how revenues can contribute to the long-term reduction of poverty.” TO read more CLICK HERE>>> and see press release ” Legislation calls for oil, gas, and mining revenue transparency”
Source: Oxfam America
***WTO negotiations collapse: a victory for poor farmers - Rural workers, peasants and family farmers all over the world are welcoming the collapse of negotiations. It is a victory for those who want to protect the livelihoods of 3 billion peasants all over the world and to find solutions to the current food crisis. According to the global peasant movement “La Via Campesina” this collapse is a victory in the long struggle against WTO.
In July the talks collapsed over the protection of the livelihoods of billions of peasants worldwide against aggressive pressures by the US and the EU to open markets for more food dumping by their multinationals. To read more CLICK HERE>>>
Source: La Via Campesina
*** 2008 G8 Summit - NGO Reactions -
International development NGOs and networks reacted with a mixture of disappointment and frustration to the final communiqué of the July 2008 G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan . G8 NGO Platforms’ Reaction to the 2008 G8 Summit Final Communiqué (word) To read more CLICK HERE >>>
Global Call to Action Against Poverty’s reaction to the G8 Communiqué - G8 fiddles while world burns - “This Summit has been another betrayal of the poor and citizens of G8 countries. The outcome shows a lack of understanding of the heart of the issues causing hunger and desperation in many countries already. We hope the citizens of these eight countries will put more pressure on their out-of-touch leaders. The planet is burning while the G8 is fiddling,” said Kumi Naidoo, Co-chair of the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP). To read more CLICK HERE>>>
For a comprehensive press review of the 2008 G8 summit in Hokkaido, Japan CLICK HERE >>>
Source: Whiteband.org
ACTION APPEALS
***Endorse Human Rights and HIV/AIDS: Now More Than Ever - Universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support will never be achieved without human rights. Now more than ever, human rights should therefore occupy the centre of the global struggle against HIV. To endorse the declaration, CLICK HERE>>>
Source: Open Society Institute
***Mobilise now for the World Day for Decent Work, October 7! - On the World Day for Decent Work on 7 October 2008, there will be a large mobilisation of activists and partners in support of the call to action for Decent Work Decent Life! As part of the Decent Work Decent Life campaign, the Call to Action for Decent Work was launched at the ILO forum on a fair globalisation in October 2007, in Lisbon: an international petition which urges governments to ratify and implement the ILO’s standards and to put decent work at the heart of their policy-making. To help this campaign or learn more about it CLICK HERE>>>
Source: Decent Work, Decent Life
ANNOUNCEMENTS
***Internship Announcement: Intern, South Asia Programme - Closing date: 20 Aug 2008. Forum Asia presently has 42 member organisations in 16 countries in South Asia, Southeast and Northeast Asia. Its regional secretariat is located in Bangkok, Thailand.The internship is open to individuals with a degree either on social sciences, law or in related fields with expertise and / or interest in international human rights law and human rights issues in South Asia. For more details CLICK HERE>>>
Source: Forum Asia
*** Asia Course on Health, HIV Harm Reduction - The Asian Harm Reduction Network (AHRN) has announced a new short course on ‘Health and Social Care for People Using Drugs’. As governments across the Asia region increasingly incorporate harm reduction into their HIV and drug use policies and programmes, there is an increasing need to build capacity amongst those who deliver these services. As such, this six-day event is aimed at all staff working with injecting drug users – including programme managers, medical professionals, law enforcement personnel and frontline workers. The course is scheduled for the 25th September to the 1st October 2008 in Chiang Mai, Thailand. The programme includes issues such as defining what ‘harm reduction’ means, improving service delivery, opiate substitution treatments, poverty alleviation and reintegration, and service user involvement. The overall aim is to enable services and projects across the region to effectively respond to the realities of drug use and HIV by learning more about harm reduction. For more details CLICK HERE>>>
Source: Asian Harm Reduction Network
FORTHCOMING EVENTS
***7th Leadership Course on Gender, Sexuality, and Health in Southeast Asia and China - 25 August - 13 September 2008, Vientiane, Lao PDR.
The course aims to provide participants with context-specific and gender-sensitive perspectives on sexuality and sexual health. Special attention will be devoted to exploring how conceptual and theoretical frameworks, especially gender and socio-cultural theories, can be applied to programme interventions, research, policy formulation, and advocacy to better the sexual and reproductive health of people in the region. Organiser: Center for Health Policy Studies. For more details CLICK HERE>>>
Source: Southeast Asian Consortium on Gender, Sexuality and Health
***UN Right to Development Working Group – GENEVA - The ninth session of the Working Group on the Right to Development will be held from 18-22 August 2008. The mandate of the open-ended Working Group is to monitor and review progress made in the promotion and implementation of the right to development; to review reports and other information submitted by States and international or non-governmental organizations, and to submit a sessional report to the Commission on Human Rights. The ninth session of the Working Group will consider the report of the high level task force on the implementation of the right to development, that took place from 7-15 January 2008, in accordance with its mandate. To read the report in English CLICK HERE>>>
Source: UNHCHR
***UN Human Rights Social Forum - GENEVA - The Social Forum set to take place from 1-3 September in Geneva is a unique space for interactive dialogue between the United Nations human rights machinery and various stakeholders, including grass-roots organizations, and underlines the importance of coordinated efforts at national, regional and international levels for the promotion of social cohesion based on the principles of social justice, equity and solidarity as well as to address the social dimension and challenges of the ongoing globalization process. For more details CLICK HERE>>
Source: UNHCHR
PUBLICATIONS
*** World Economic and Social Survey 2008 - According to the 2008 World Economic and Social Survey, serious economic insecurity has arisen from the exposure of individuals, communities and countries to adverse events, and from their inability to cope with and recover from the downside losses. The risk and threats vary from community to community; in advanced countries, they have been associated with a significant rise in inequality, a hollowing out of middle-class lifestyles and reduced welfare protection. Elsewhere, economic shocks and premature deindustrialization have raised fears of an insufficiency of the formal sector jobs needed to accommodate an expanding urban population. In still other places, food insecurity has given rise to political discontent and increased levels of personal insecurity. To read the publication online or order a copy CLICK HERE>>>
Source: United Nations Development Policy and Analysis Division
***Income Standard in Britain Report & Launch – LONDON- On 1st July 2008 the MIS team launched its final report in London at Coin Street Neighbourhood Centre at 108 Stamford Street, London. This report is the culmination of two years of research, based on work with 39 focus groups involving more than 200 people, who were actively engaged in shaping the research, in combination with input from experts on heating and nutrition. Current debates about reducing or ending poverty in Britain suffer from the absence of a socially agreed, empirically based minimum income standard. This research brings together the expertise of the Family Budget Unit (FBU) and SPRU, with the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) and BMG Research in order to develop such a standard which will answer the question: ‘What level of income is needed to allow an acceptable standard of living in Britain?’ To read more about the project details and the report CLICK HERE>>>
Source: MIS Britain
This is a monthly electronic news bulletin of ‘Dignity International: All Human Rights for All’. Dignity International does not accredit, validate or substantiate any information posted by members to this news bulletin. The validity and accuracy of any information is the responsibility of the originator.
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