Announcing the Schools Justice Network Conference 2011
SAVE THE DATE
Edmund Rice Schools : Join Us in Tampa in March
We will be convening the Schools Justice Network for the Americas in Tampa, Florida, USA in March 2011!  Many of you were with us at the Inaugural SJN Conference in 2009 in New Orleans and will recall the good energy of that gathering and the vitality of the network connections. We are planning for March 8-11 at the Bethany Retreat Center in Tampa, Florida .  Details will be forthcoming from the Office of Educational Services.  Here is a photo of the Main Conference Building:

United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples

Ninth Session Meeting at UN Headquarters in New York

While indigenous people continued to suffer in the face of massive development projects that stripped their lands of precious traditional resources and displaced their communities en masse, we are at the dawn of a new sunrise, Carlos Mamani, Chairperson the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, said today at a Headquarters press conference.
We can look to the future with a positive attitude, he added.
Throughout the Forums two-week ninth session, which concluded today, indigenous and non-indigenous delegates alike discussed traditional practices for living well.  A unique feature was the increased participation of States.  A record 15 Governments had sent voluntary reports to the Forum describing the situations of indigenous peoples in their countries.  The Governments of Bolivia and Paraguay participated in a first-ever dialogue with Governments, reporting on the situation of the Guaran, among others, in the Chaco region, while a representative of Brazil participated in an expert panel on forests.
Moreover, delegates had welcomed New Zealands decision to endorse the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, he said, noting also the United States decision to formally review its position on the landmark instrument, and Canadas announcement to take steps to endorse it.  The debate was very fruitful, he added.
Held under the special theme of Indigenous peoples:  development with culture and identity:  articles 3 and 32 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, the session featured a half-day discussion on North America, Mr. Mamani said.  A debate on the Doctrine of Discovery, used by colonial Powers to lay claim to newly discovered lands, revealed important evidence about its disastrous impact and the need to move towards reconciliation.
In the area of human rights, a perpetual concern for indigenous peoples, delegates stressed the Forums importance as a space for genuine discussion, he explained.  A dialogue with United Nations agencies, held over two days, included the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, which led to a lively discussion about indigenous peoples right to access and benefit-sharing arising from genetic resources.
Adding to those comments, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Forum member from the Philippines, said delegates had expressed concern at the continued evictions of indigenous peoples from their lands to make room for biofuel plantations, national parks and extractive operations.  A huge threat came in the form of large-scale dams, which had caused massive displacements. Continue reading Forum on Indigenous Peoples

Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict continues to make the Care of Creation a central theme of his pontificate.

Pope Lambasts Copenhagen Failure:

Pope Benedict XVI criticises the failure by world leaders to agree to a new climate change treaty in Copenhagen last month.  The link here will take you to the BBC News article with his remarks on the Copenhagen climate talks and the final Accord:  < news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8452447.stm

Pope Addresses Urgent Issue of Climate Change :

In his August 26, 2009 address from his vacation home in Italy, Pope Benedict XVI offered, “support to the leaders of governments and international agencies who soon will meet at the United Nations to discuss the urgent issue of climate change.”

He said: “The economic and social costs of using up shared resources must be recognized with transparency and borne by those who incur them, and not by other peoples or future generations.”

He continued, “it is essential that the current model of global development be transformed through a greater, and shared, acceptance of responsibility for creation: this is demanded not only by environmental factors, but also by the scandal of hunger and human misery.”

For immediate release

Church leaders share vision on migration at 109th meeting of the ICMC Governing Committee VIENNA, 23 January 2010High-level Church leaders gathered in Vienna discuss global approaches to migration and appeal for solidarity with Haiti at the 109th meeting of the International Catholic Migration Commission Governing Committee. In the days immediately following the 96th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, H.E. Christoph Cardinal Schnborn welcomed International Catholic Migration Commission (ICMC) President, Mr. John Klink, and eighteen members of the Commissions Governing Committee and staff to Vienna, to jointly address critical migration-related issues from the Churchs perspective. Continue reading International Catholic Migration Commission Governing Committee

Copenhagen Conference Statement from the Anglican Communion

Mt. Meru, Tanzania

The Hope We Share:  A Vision For Copenhagen

A Statement from the Anglican
Communion Environmental Network

12 October, 2009

In preparation for the United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference Of Parties
(COP) Meetings, the Fifteenth Session, to be held in Copenhagen, Denmark
in December 2009

To Anglicans Worldwide, to COP Delegates, Faith
Community Representatives, Observer Organizations, Friends of Creation

Is there anyone who does not seek a sustainable world, a world which
promotes justice and harmony for all and hope for future generations?
May the participants of the Copenhagen conference meet in this spirit
and combine to envision a better, more harmonious and just world. We
Anglicans are found in all corners of the globe and our experience is
that the world is changing around us to the great disadvantage of the
poorest of us and with considerable anxiety for all our children, in the
developed and developing world alike. Continue reading Copenhagen Conference

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EDMUND RICE INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS:

Climate Change and Human Rights

The Edmund Rice International Team attended the recent celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This event took place at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris. One of the more striking presentations took the form of a panel discussion on The Earth Charter.  Some are familiar with the words of the Preamble for the charter: ” We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice and a culture of peace.”  It is a small step from here to the tenets of Catholic Social Teaching that call for taking seriously our responsibility to each other.  Mary Robinson, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and former President of Ireland,  has spoken recently of the immense human consequences of climate change on the most vulnerable peoples.  People who are already vulnerable will be disproportionately affected. ” Slowly and incrementally , land will become too dry to till, crops will wither, rising sea levels will undermine coastal dwellings and spoil freshwater, species will disappear, livelihoods will vanish. Only very gradually will the  awful consequences reach those whose lifestyles and activities are most to blame. “   In response to some of these kinds of entreaties about how we live now, the recent Province Chapter of Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America was clear in its resolution that we strive to live sustainably.  There was clearly a sense at the Paris conference that the link between care of the Earth and universal human rights can no longer be dismissed as mere semantics.  The human right to a decent habitat and adequate food supply is clearly compromised when global warming harms the planet for so many.   Human rights law is relevant because climate change causes human rights violations.
Continue reading Earth Charter , Climate Change and Human Rights

Brothers Kevin Cawley ,CFC, Denis Claivaz, FPM, and Moy Hitchen, CFC.

Photo above taken by Br. Brian Bond, CFC, of Australia serving on the Edmund Rice International Team in Geneva, Switzerland.  The ERI Team met in Paris in September at the United Nations  UNESCO headquarters.  The UNESCO site served as the setting for the Annual Conference of the United Nations Department of Public Information and Non-Governmental Organizations.  This year celebrated the 60th  anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  The conference was held in Paris because UNESCO Headquarters in Paris was the location for the initial ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.

The aim of the Conference is to highlight effective ways in which civil society, in partnership with others, can contribute to the advancement of human rights at the international, regional, national and local levels. A major feature of this conference will be its emphasis on active participation which is intended to generate greater awareness of human rights issues and strengthen commitments to address them among diverse stakeholders worldwide.

There was a series of workshops and presentations by those working in the field of human rights and appearances by people from nations reporting human rights shortcomings.  The most dramatic of these events was an appearance by video conference from New York by Ingrid Betancourt recently released from 6+ years of captivity in Colombia.

Kevin Cawley cfc at UNESCO

Copenhagen Conference

We are working on the site.  This post is going up on October 14, 2009.  I hope to place a statement here about the Copenhagen Conference on Climate which is to take place in December.  We urge all to contact their government leaders and emphasize the need to set rigorous goals for the reduction of greenhouse gases and other pollutants and adhere to them for the sake of the people and other life of the planet least able to speak for themselves.

Welcome to the new Edmund Rice Christian Brothers North America JPIC website and blog. This replaces the former .Mac Groups site. All previous users will have been issued already with the necessary passwords. Instruction for using this site will be posted in the days ahead.

Welcome!