For more information please visit: http://www.youth2010.org/

For more information see our post in Spanish

While the resolution is not legally binding, it is an important step toward the formal recognition of the Human Right to Water by the international body. The UN Human Rights Council has been deliberating this issue for several years and advocates hope this consensus vote in favor of the right to water will stimulate that work further.

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Read the UN Resolution…

The 18th international Aids conference in Vienna ended Friday with one strong message: Despite the financial crisis the fight against HIV/AIDS must not decrease.

The International AIDS Conference is the premier gathering for those working in the field of HIV, including policy makers, persons living with HIV and other individuals committed to ending the pandemic. It is an opportunity to assess the process, evaluate recent scientific developments and lessons learnt, and collectively chart a course forward against the global HIV/AIDS pandemic. Given the 2010 deadline for Universal Access set by world leaders, AIDS 2010 coincided with a major push for expanded access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support. With a global economic crisis threatening to undermine public investments, the conference helped keep HIV on the front burner by demonstrating the importance of continued HIV investments to broaden health and development goals.

AIDS 2010 also gave an opportunity to highlight the critical connection between human rights and HIV; a dialogue begun in earnest in Mexico City in 2008.The selection of the AIDS 2010 host city was a reflection of the central role Vienna has played in bridging Eastern and Western Europe, and allowed for an examination of the epidemic’s impact in Eastern Europe.

New data, presented in Vienna shows that HIV therapy significantly reduces more than just the consequences or effects of the disease and mortality. For a well treated person, it is practically impossible for the virus to be passed on, as heterosexual infections are reduced by more than 90 percent. At the same time TB infection is reduced dramatically due to therapy.

Read our earlier post on this issue…

Download and listen here: http://faithandimmigration.org/action/available-now-listen-national-faith-call-immigration (Please note that the audio starts at minute 1:10)

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Testifies before Congress on the ethical imperative for reform of the U.S. immigration system

Bishop Gerald F. Kicanas of Tucson, Arizona, Vice-president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops testified before Congress – House Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, Refugees, Border Security, and International Law – on the ethical imperative for reform of the U.S. immigration system. View the entire testimony of Bishop Gerald Kicanas of Tucson here: http://www.usccb.org/comm/archives/2010/10-134.shtml

Ways to Engage your Congregation:

Clergy Resources on Immigration. Discover “5 Ways to Engage your Congregation” on our new page for pastors and church leaders at www.faithandimmigration.org/clergy

This Alert also includes an action to Make Mercury Pollution a Thing of the Past.

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The Missionary Oblates JPIC offices will be represented by Fr Tomáš Vyhnálek OMI, the current JPIC coordinator for Europe who is based in Vienna. Fr. Tomáš interned with the JPIC office in Washington D.C. and VIVAT in New York.

Catholic Organizations have scheduled a pre-conference event which is being organized by the Catholic HIV/AIDS Network and Caritas International, with local hosting by Caritas Austria. The Catholic event will encourage networking on good practices in the field, shared prayer and reflection on the values and Catholic teaching that motivate the Catholic Church’s response to the HIV pandemic, and joint learning through workshops on topics of urgent concern. The importance of sharing best practices lies in the fact that while the Catholic Church and religious communities provide a significant part of the AIDS services offered, especially in developing countries, this contribution is often unrecognized at international conferences.

For more information see: http://www.aids2010.org/

“…….The Millennium Declaration represents the most important promise ever made to the world’s most vulnerable people. The MDG framework for accountability derived from the Declaration has generated an unprecedented level of commitment and partnership in building decent, healthier lives for billions of people and in creating an environment that contributes to peace and security.”

“The Millennium Development Goals are still attainable. The critical question today is how to transform the pace of change from what we have seen over the last decade into dramatically faster progress. The experience of these last ten years offers ample evidence of what works and has provided tools that can help us achieve the MDGs by 2015. The Millennium Development Goals summit in September will be an opportunity for world leaders to translate this evidence into a concrete agenda for action….”

This report is based on a master set of data that has been compiled by an Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG Indicators led by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, in response to the wishes of the General Assembly for periodic assessment of progress towards the MDGs. The Group comprises representatives of the international organizations whose activities include the preparation of one or more of the series of statistical indicators that were identified as appropriate for monitoring progress towards the MDGs,

The Report is available in PDF form [80pp]. Download PDF

The report is available in PDF form in all UN languages, including: English,  French, and Spanish

A State District Judge in Houston has scheduled a hearing to listen to evidence on whether there’s a substantial risk that the death penalty law allows for the possible execution of an innocent person. The hearing, expected to last two weeks, will begin on November 8 and will likely include testimony from experts on the death penalty around the country. Early in March the same Judge ruled in a capital murder case that the Texas death penalty statute is unconstitutional.

World Coalition Against the Death Penalty- 2010 Annual General Assembly

On June 12 and 13, the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty convened in San Francisco, marking the first international abolition meeting in the United States. The World Coalition Against the Death Penalty Assembly was an historic occasion that brought together death penalty opponents from all over the world. The conference was an opportunity for American death penalty opponents to learn from activists elsewhere and share strategies for worldwide death penalty abolition. The conference featured panel discussions led by community activists, victim’s families, wrongfully convicted death row prisoners, and former members of law enforcement who are opposed to the death penalty.

Upcoming International Events on the Death Penalty:

• October 10: International World Day Against the Death Penalty

The 8th World Day Against the Death Penalty will be dedicated to the USA which carried out executions and handed down more than hundred death sentences in 2009.

• November 30: “Cities for Life” Initiative, sponsored by the Community of Sant’Egidio

On this day, cities around the globe are invited to make a visible gesture to their citizens and to the world. More than 1,000 cities around the globe will floodlight a monument symbolizing opposition to the death penalty and a concrete commitment to build awareness about the issue in society.

Recommended Resource:

• CATHOLIC MOBILIZING NETWORK TO END THE USE OF THE DEATH PENALTY

In 1992, the General Assembly of the United Nations declared 17th October the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The JPIC Commission of the USG/UISG aims to promote awareness of the need to eradicate poverty and destitution in all countries, particularly in developing countries. A prayer service was prepared for the Commission by the NGO ‘Social Justice Ireland’. (Download PDF of the prayer service)