Edmund Rice International

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has expressed concerns that the global economic slump, which is causing increased joblessness, could see an increase in human trafficking. This is particularly the case in the Philippines. Traffickers are taking advantage of joblessness. There is no official government data on trafficking but Visayan Forum, a […]

Images can be powerful. Don Mullan, Irish author and social justice campaigner, took this photograph of sculptures at the Red Cross Museum in Geneva representing prisoners of conscience. It captures starkly the isolation, silence and heroic power of those imprisoned for their beliefs and political convictions. All around the world there are thousands of heroic […]

I spent almost all of Friday, December 12th, in the new Human Rights Council chamber at the Palais des Nations in Geneva. A special commemorative session to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) was held. Among the many speakers was the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki Moon. Many of the […]

The current issue of Le Monde 2, the week-end supplement to Le Monde, the prestigious French daily, carries an interview with Professor Paul Collier. Along with Jeff Sachs, Paul Collier is one of the acknowledged experts on development economics. Those who follow this theme at the theoretical level will be familiar with the often trenchant […]

Aid agency representatives October 24, 2008 Aid and financial crisis. Photo: Dyson Governments are spending billions to save stricken companies. From another quarter comes a plea for them to offer as much in aid for struggling nations. EARLIER this month, the US Government gave another bail-out of $US37.8 billion ($A56.2 billion) to giant insurance company […]

We all remember that famous Michael Douglas character quote from the movie Wall Street: “Greed is good”. Those were days of irresponsible and ruthless disregard for the common good. Unashamed individual wealth creation was applauded and celebrated. George Soros could force the Bank of England to devalue the British pound. Speculation drove the value of […]

In recent months there has been an upsurge of violence against Christians in the State of Orissa in India. Churches have been burned. People have been killed. A climate fear reigns in some towns and villages. Franciscans International, a Catholic faith-based NGO in Geneva, has raised the matter at the United Nations Human Rights Council. […]

As we experience the impact of climate change in dramatic weather pattern shifts, droughts and devastating hurricanes, one thing is clear. It is the poor of our world who are most at risk. Whether it is people living on the flood-plains of Bangladesh or the islanders of Kiribati, there are millions today who are on […]

The current issue of The Tablet highlights the stunning success of Jesuit writer and Nigerian, Father Uwem Akpan. One of his short stories was published by the The New Yorker to the astonishment of all but those who already were aware of his extraordinary literary talent. Father Akpan currently works in Zimbabwe where he lectures […]

News came through today that the Irish Missionary Resource Service (IMRS) has been rebranded as Misean Cara. This is a Gaelic word meaning “friend of the mission”. There is already discussion on some of the Irish language message boards as to whether the translation is grammatically defensible. Probably not. But it does make sense and […]