Message from Kenya
16/01/08 16:18 Filed in: News
Kenya is
currently undergoing a severe political and humanitarian crisis.
Hundreds have already been killed in the inter-tribal violence that
has followed upon the opposition allegation of electoral fraud. The
failure to reach a settlement of the issue within a legal and
constitutional framework has exacerbated an already grave
situation. Those who are suffering most because of the violence are
the poor. A key flashpoint is the Kibera slum which is home to over
a million people. Inter-tribal violence between the Luo and Kikuyu
tribes is a feature of the current conflict in Kenya which is
having a devastating effect upon the lives of millions.
Brother Tom Kearney, a Christian Brother working in Nairobi, provides a grassroots perspective on what is currently happening in Kenya and in Kibera. Read More...
Brother Tom Kearney, a Christian Brother working in Nairobi, provides a grassroots perspective on what is currently happening in Kenya and in Kibera. Read More...
Vatican Meeting with Catholic NGOs
26/12/07 20:26 Filed in: Information
Earlier this month the Vatican
Secretariat of State convened a meeting of Catholic NGOs.
Throughout the NGOs were referred to as "Catholic Inspired" rather
than merely "Catholic". About one hundred NGOs attended the
meeting. Edmund Rice International was represented by Brother Donal
Leader cfc from Geneva. The purpose of the meeting was to explore
new ways of collaborating among Catholic NGOs.
There were a recognition that the Catholic Church represents a major presence in the world of NGOs and human rights. More than one speaker referred to the fact that the Catholic Church through its institutions, schools, hospitals and global network of priests, religious and lay people is the largest faith-based organised presence in the developing world. Indeed, many UN agencies are beginning to acknowledge that faith-based NGOs and Churches have a role to play in promoting development and defending human rights.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the group in a private audience. While the media mis-represented the Pope's speech as critical of, even hostile to, the United Nations, this was not the case. He did refer to the moral relativism that he believes is the over-arching ethical framework for some agencies operating in the promotion of human development.
A recent op-piece in the New York Times by John Allen drew attention to the significance of the Pope's remarks. In a context where the universality of human rights and the consequent universality of their applicability are being questioned by those who make the claim that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents a Western world view and is therefore not relevant for other regions of the world, the Pope's rejection of a relativist constructivist reading of human rights is very timely. His forthcoming visit and address to the United Nations in New York will now take on an added significance.
There were a recognition that the Catholic Church represents a major presence in the world of NGOs and human rights. More than one speaker referred to the fact that the Catholic Church through its institutions, schools, hospitals and global network of priests, religious and lay people is the largest faith-based organised presence in the developing world. Indeed, many UN agencies are beginning to acknowledge that faith-based NGOs and Churches have a role to play in promoting development and defending human rights.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI spoke to the group in a private audience. While the media mis-represented the Pope's speech as critical of, even hostile to, the United Nations, this was not the case. He did refer to the moral relativism that he believes is the over-arching ethical framework for some agencies operating in the promotion of human development.
A recent op-piece in the New York Times by John Allen drew attention to the significance of the Pope's remarks. In a context where the universality of human rights and the consequent universality of their applicability are being questioned by those who make the claim that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights represents a Western world view and is therefore not relevant for other regions of the world, the Pope's rejection of a relativist constructivist reading of human rights is very timely. His forthcoming visit and address to the United Nations in New York will now take on an added significance.
ERI Board Announced
21/12/07 12:38 Filed in: News
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Juvenile Justice
11/12/07 08:48 Filed in: Information
Edmund Rice International is involved
with the issue of juvenile justice through the various centres and
individuals who are providing services to young people in trouble
with the law. Sometimes the young people who are currently
receiving education in LifeCentres or Flexible Learning Centres
have experienced trauma and difficulties arising from encounters
with juvenile justice systems that continue to remain poorly
informed about the actual realities and circumstances of young
people in distress.
In some countries, particularly in Latin America, juveniles are detained in penal centres without just cause and very often are simply remanded there while awaiting trial. Except the trial never takes place. A young person can remain in these life-denying situations for up to two years before being released. Juvenile justice can often amount to fairly callous juvenile injustice. ERI is working with human rights defenders in such in such institutions to explore ways in which all involved in systems administering juvenile justice can become aware of the human rights context for working with young people in detention.
An important resource for understanding how the Convention on the Rights of the Child has relevance for those working with young people in detention is the advocacy support, information and research provided by the Juvenile Justice Panel. They are a UN mandated agency to coordinate efforts to improve the situation for young people in detention worldwide.
In 2009 the UN Special Rapporteur on Education will focus on the educational needs of young people in detention. This will provide a useful and important focal point for ERI advocacy work in the area of juvenile justice particularly in the context of countries that may invite the Special Rapporteur to make a country visit.
In some countries, particularly in Latin America, juveniles are detained in penal centres without just cause and very often are simply remanded there while awaiting trial. Except the trial never takes place. A young person can remain in these life-denying situations for up to two years before being released. Juvenile justice can often amount to fairly callous juvenile injustice. ERI is working with human rights defenders in such in such institutions to explore ways in which all involved in systems administering juvenile justice can become aware of the human rights context for working with young people in detention.
An important resource for understanding how the Convention on the Rights of the Child has relevance for those working with young people in detention is the advocacy support, information and research provided by the Juvenile Justice Panel. They are a UN mandated agency to coordinate efforts to improve the situation for young people in detention worldwide.
In 2009 the UN Special Rapporteur on Education will focus on the educational needs of young people in detention. This will provide a useful and important focal point for ERI advocacy work in the area of juvenile justice particularly in the context of countries that may invite the Special Rapporteur to make a country visit.
International Human Rights Day
10/12/07 08:48 Filed in: News
Today
is International Human Rights
Day. Each year on December
10th the international community celebrates the anniversary of the
1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Next year, 2008, will
be the 60th Anniversary of this important date in our calendar of
human achievement. Edmund Rice International is committed to
promoting this Anniversary, as are indeed many other NGOs
throughout the world. It is important for us to begin the work of
promulgating and implementing in our own spheres of action this
significant ethical document.
Without this shared, common statement of human values the world would be a poorer place. Without this document it would be virtually impossible to call states and individuals to account. There was a view widely shared in some quarters that following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Eastern bloc Communism there would be a widespread acceptance of human rights and that the task of promoting them would be easier. The reverse is the case. Our world is more than ever a place where human rights abuses are commonplace.
More significantly, the new battleground of human rights is the sphere of economic, social and cultural rights. These rights to to the heart of who we are as human beings. Over the next ten to fifteen years it will be important for all who believe in the capacity of the human person to live with dignity and to struggle for a better and more human life for all human beings to become human rights defenders.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Without this shared, common statement of human values the world would be a poorer place. Without this document it would be virtually impossible to call states and individuals to account. There was a view widely shared in some quarters that following the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of Eastern bloc Communism there would be a widespread acceptance of human rights and that the task of promoting them would be easier. The reverse is the case. Our world is more than ever a place where human rights abuses are commonplace.
More significantly, the new battleground of human rights is the sphere of economic, social and cultural rights. These rights to to the heart of who we are as human beings. Over the next ten to fifteen years it will be important for all who believe in the capacity of the human person to live with dignity and to struggle for a better and more human life for all human beings to become human rights defenders.
Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography
Partnership with Franciscans International
29/01/07 20:57 Filed in: Events
On January 18th, 2007, the Christian Brothers and the Presentation Brothers signed an Agreement with Franciscans International to collaborate in the promotion of social justice and human rights in Geneva. This new partnership is a response to the Chapter 2002 call ¨to network for global justice¨ in the context of the Prophetic Call to Justice.
Franciscans International, together with Dominicans for Justice and Peace and the Marist Brothers Bureau of International Solidarity, are a significant presence in the area of social justice and human rights. Already in the 1980s the Franciscan family had established an NGO for the purpose of engaging in advocacy actions at the United Nations in New York. In 1996 Timothy Radcliffe proposed that the Dominicans would collaborate with the Franciscans in setting up an office in Geneva. From a modest presence in 1997 that began in a student room in the Cité Universitaire, consisting of Father John Quigley OFM and Alessandra Aula, the Franciscans International Geneva office now consists of twenty people, all engaged in advocacy support initiatives linked to the various United Nations entities located in Geneva. In 2005 the Marist Brothers signed a partnership agreement and there are currently three Marist Brothers engaged in advocacy work in Geneva. Franciscans International also has offices in New York and Bangkok, as well as local nodes in various countries.
Mike Hasenmüeller (FI), Donal Leader, and Chris Duckett (FI)
Indicating the significance of the Edmund Rice International partnership agreement with Franciscans International, the signing ceremony was attended by the local Swiss Provincial of the Dominicans, the Marist Brothers, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and by the Head of the Human Rights Section at the Irish Mission in Geneva. It was a very moving ceremony that began with the evocative Liam Lawton musical reflection, ¨Pity Then the Child¨, a piece specially composed to mark the beatification of Edmund Rice.
It is anticipated that an international community will be established in Geneva to support the work of Edmund Rice International. The community will be composed of Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers. There will also be, in time, Edmund Rice International interns associated with the community. All will be working in the Franciscan International offices on the rue Varembé, a very convenient location that is about ten minutes from the UN complex and within easy reach of almost all the major NGO offices in Geneva.
Those involved in the advocacy support work will be engaged in developing status reports, emergency action interventions and country shadow reports on issues identified by the worldwide Edmund Rice community. An important aspect of the work will be the development of strong links with local projects, initiatives and communities around the world.
Although Edmund Rice International is an incorporated body with legal status, it will take time for it to acquire representative status at the United Nations. Achieving this status will be totally dependent on the degree to which the Edmund Rice community around the world can demonstrate and implement strong advocacy actions in the areas of education, child rights, support for the Millennium Goals, and the struggle to combat HIV/AIDS.
Major Award to the ERC in Sydney
14/12/06 10:29 Filed in: Events
The Edmund Rice Centre in Sydney,
Australia, has been awarded the Australian Human Rights and Equal
Opportunity Commission (HREOC) Human Rights Award for Community
Organisations 2006. The Award recognised the Centre's work
uncovering the fate of deported asylum seekers, as well as the
broader human rights work of the Centre.
Marking Human Rights Day, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) held its annual Human Rights Lunch and Awards, hosted by Julie McCrossin. The Awards recognise the efforts of those in a range of fields working to promote human rights.
Senior researchers Zeena Elton and Dr Ben Spies-Butcher received the Award on behalf of the Centre.
"Receiving this human rights award is a significant honour. The award specifically recognises research into the fate of deported asylum seekers, but more broadly recognises the importance of achieving rights based Reconciliation with Indigenous Australians, sharing our history and our country, and ensuring we treat those who come to our shores seeking asylum with dignity and compassion" Dr Spies-Butcher said.
"It is a tribute to the many volunteer networks, and the broader social movement of which we are apart. From researcher Margaret Hetherton and Dominican Sisters Mary Britt and Carmel Leavey, who helped to uncover the fate of deported asylum seekers, to the many other volunteers, from all backgrounds, faiths, cultures and ages who we work with to fight for human rights and the dignity of the person." he said.
"The Edmund Rice Centre staff would also like to thank the continuing support of Indigenous elder Patrick Dodson who has been a great inspiration and mentor for our work" said Ms Elton.
ERI congratulates ERC Sydney on this major award. It is testimony to the power of advocacy and to the capacity of the Edmund Rice spirit to mobilise so many different people on behalf of the poor, the dispossessed and the marginalised.
Well done ERC Sydney!
Marking Human Rights Day, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) held its annual Human Rights Lunch and Awards, hosted by Julie McCrossin. The Awards recognise the efforts of those in a range of fields working to promote human rights.
Senior researchers Zeena Elton and Dr Ben Spies-Butcher received the Award on behalf of the Centre.
"Receiving this human rights award is a significant honour. The award specifically recognises research into the fate of deported asylum seekers, but more broadly recognises the importance of achieving rights based Reconciliation with Indigenous Australians, sharing our history and our country, and ensuring we treat those who come to our shores seeking asylum with dignity and compassion" Dr Spies-Butcher said.
"It is a tribute to the many volunteer networks, and the broader social movement of which we are apart. From researcher Margaret Hetherton and Dominican Sisters Mary Britt and Carmel Leavey, who helped to uncover the fate of deported asylum seekers, to the many other volunteers, from all backgrounds, faiths, cultures and ages who we work with to fight for human rights and the dignity of the person." he said.
"The Edmund Rice Centre staff would also like to thank the continuing support of Indigenous elder Patrick Dodson who has been a great inspiration and mentor for our work" said Ms Elton.
ERI congratulates ERC Sydney on this major award. It is testimony to the power of advocacy and to the capacity of the Edmund Rice spirit to mobilise so many different people on behalf of the poor, the dispossessed and the marginalised.
Well done ERC Sydney!
Asuncion
10/12/06 18:29 Filed in: Human Rights
Asunción, 5 de diciembre. En una pelea
"casa por casa" se convirtió
esta noche la protesta desencadenada poco después del mediodía cuando
un tribunal de sentencia calificó de homicidio culposo la
responsabilidad de los propietarios del supermercado Ycuá Bolaños que
ordenaron el cierre de las puertas al iniciarse un incendio de grandes
dimensiones que produjo la muerte de 360 personas el 1 de agosto de
2004.
Read More ...
esta noche la protesta desencadenada poco después del mediodía cuando
un tribunal de sentencia calificó de homicidio culposo la
responsabilidad de los propietarios del supermercado Ycuá Bolaños que
ordenaron el cierre de las puertas al iniciarse un incendio de grandes
dimensiones que produjo la muerte de 360 personas el 1 de agosto de
2004.
Read More ...
Kiribati: an Island Nation under Threat
07/12/06 09:41 Filed in: Information
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Edmund Rice Youth Chicago
04/12/06 15:36 Filed in: News
Brother Kevin Cawley in New York has
recently brought my attention to the existence of a new Edmund Rice
website. It is the website of Edmund Rice Youth
in Chicago. It is directed at young people who have been to
Christian Brother schools in the Chicago metro area. The young
people are anxious to link up with the global Edmund Rice
Community. Like their counterparts in other parts of the world,
they are beginning the journey of weaving together faith,
community, action for justice and initiating the great project of a
life lived fully. Brother Patrick Martin is the convenor of the
group.
Young adult groups may be interested in making contact with this new expression of the Edmund Rice life and spirit. The Chicago group can be contacted through their website or by directly emailing Brother Martin at the following email address: pbmartin@brrice.org.
Good luck to the Windy City! Go Cubbies!
Young adult groups may be interested in making contact with this new expression of the Edmund Rice life and spirit. The Chicago group can be contacted through their website or by directly emailing Brother Martin at the following email address: pbmartin@brrice.org.
Good luck to the Windy City! Go Cubbies!