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International AIDS 2012, July 22 – 27: Turning the Tide Together July 28th, 2012
The following issues were discussed at the International AIDS Conference this week:
Oblates at the AIDS Conference
Faith-Based Organizations Meet To Discuss HIV/AIDS Response at the 2012 International AIDS Conference
On the sidelines of the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012), faith-based organizations and leaders came together to discuss their efforts to respond to the HIV/AIDS epidemic. One faith gathering, titled “The Summit on the Role of the Christian Faith Community in Global Health and HIV/AIDS,” was held at Georgetown University. Other faith based pre-conferences included the International Catholic AIDS conference at American Catholic University and the InterFaith International Conference on AIDS. Members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) – in which the Oblates are active – presented on one of the panels about the long-standing faith-based dialogs with pharmaceutical companies.
France To Launch Financial Transactions Tax To Help Fund Global AIDS Response
“A new tax on financial transactions is set to launch in France in August, and could generate billions of dollars to help fund the global fight against HIV/AIDS,…We want to create additional innovative financing instruments. This is the aim of the tax on financial transactions which my country has decided to implement,” said French President Francois Hollande, speaking in a pre-recorded video message at the plenary session of the International AIDS Conference.
Secretary Clinton Reaffirms the United State Government’s Commitment To an ‘AIDS-Free Generation,’ Pledging More Than $150M For Global Efforts
In a speech delivered at the XIX International AIDS Conference last Monday, United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton underscored the United States commitment to achieving an ‘AIDS-free generation’ and announced more than $150 million in additional funding. The breakdown of the pledge is as follows:
- $80 million, to be dedicated towards preventing mother-to-child transmission abroad, with the goal of eliminating it by the year 2015;
- $40 million allotted for voluntary male circumcision in Africa to decrease risk of transmission of the virus;
- $15 million for research on interventions;
- $20 million toward bolstering country-led efforts to expand HIV-related services;
- $2 million funding for civil society groups to reach key populations affected by HIV
Marching with AIDS activists near the White House
Oblates at the Global Village, The Heart of the International AIDS 2012 Conference
The Global Village at the International AIDS Conference has been a platform for communities, activists and practitioners representing diversity and solidarity. The Oblates were represented by JPIC Staff George Ngolwe, summer Fellow Fr. Ashok Stephen OMI (Sri Lanka), who attended several sessions at the global village, and Fr. Joseph Phiri OMI (Zambia) who took time from his busy academic schedule to volunteer at the Conference. See elsewhere on the JPIC website for the photos from the AIDS conference.
The next International AIDS Conference will be held in Melbourne in July 2014
Watch: Fixing the Future! July 25th, 2012
- The Oblate-sponsored Community Supported Garden at La Vista is a good example of the community based economic alternative highlighted in Fixing the Future.
Fixing the Future is both a film and a project to help communities across America become aware of the sustainable, community-based economic alternatives developing everywhere in the US.
Host David Brancaccio, of public radio’s Marketplace and NOW on PBS, has traveled across the country to visit people and organizations that are attempting a revolution: the reinvention of the American economy. The film features communities using sustainable and innovative approaches to create jobs and build prosperity. Fixing the Future highlights effective, local practices such as: local business alliances, community banking, time banking/hour exchange, worker cooperatives and local currencies.
Oblates Attend HIV-AIDS Conference in Washington, DC July 24th, 2012
Oblate JPIC Staff, George Ngolwe and friends at the 2012 Washington DC AIDS Conference
Fr. Ashok Stephen OMI at the 2012 Washington AIDS Conference. Novartis is fighting an 'anti-evergreening' provision of the law in India.
Female AIDS Activists at the Washington DC AIDS Conference
Fr. Ashok Stephen OMI with Advocates for the Robin Hood Tax marching in Washington, DC
Marching with AIDS activists near the White House
Victory Against Vulture Funds! July 23rd, 2012
Jubilee USA Stopped Vulture Funds in New York State; Courts Stopped Them in the UK
In June, Jubilee USA – of which OMI JPIC is a member – launched a campaign to stop vulture fund legislation from passing in the New York State Legislature. Vulture funds were attempting to get Bills through that would have promoted and protected vulture funds in New York State courts, making it easier for vultures to litigate against poor countries.
Jubilee mobilized more than 4,000 New York Jubilee members to take action, calling and writing their Assembly Members and Senators to stand with the poor and not with the hedge funds.
The Wall Street Journal’s Jacob Gersham wrote how important this work was: “The path became trickier for Elliott on Friday, when an alliance of religious groups that supports debt relief for developing nations, Jubilee USA Network, entered the fray by issuing a mass alert about the bill. It said the proposed law could be wielded in poorer regions and “litigate poor countries into submission.” Read the full article in the Wall Street Journal.
UK Courts Rule Against Vulture Funds, Support DR Congo
In a surprise decision in the Jersey Isles, the UK’s Privy Council overturned a prior ruling, siding with the Democratic Republic of Congo against vulture fund FG Hemisphere. FG Hemisphere was seeking $100 million from the DRC for a debt the vulture fund bought for just $3 million. While having initially lost the case, the DRC has won on final appeal. While the UK passed a law in 2010 limiting the amount a vulture fund could claim from impoverished countries, it did not apply to crown protectorates, like Jersey, where vultures funds could still pursue cases. This decision was pleasantly unexpected and a cause for celebration.
Faith Communities and the Urgency of Climate Change July 18th, 2012
Solar on the roof at the Oblate Parish in Chula Vista
“The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events- more powerful storms, longer droughts, bigger fires, excessive heat waves shattering temperature records and severe floods, along with the visible evidence of receding glaciers and dying coral reefs – are warnings that human activity is changing Earth’s climate in troubling and often unpredictable ways. They are portents of even graver dangers ahead.”
“Both the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States and the United Kingdom’s Met Office have confirmed the link between anthropogenic climate change and the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events. As the planet warms, these types of weather phenomenon won’t be mere aberrations – they will be the new normal. And it is going to get much worse.”
Thus begins a clear and succinct argument for the urgency of the changes underway on our planet and the moral power of the faith message. The article by Michael Stafford titled, “Faith must confront climate change with a single moral voice” concludes with a highly relevant call of people of faith to action on climate change: “chose life” so “that [we] and [our] descendants may live” (Deuteronomy 30:19).
Read the article posted on the ABC Religion and Ethics website…
Looking for local resources on climate change and energy conservation for your parish? Interfaith Power and Light is active across the country and can offer a wealth of information, speakers and practical guidance to promote sustainability, from discounts on energy saving lightbulbs to going solar! Search for a local affiliate on their national website, Interfaith Power & Light. There are IP&L chapters in 39 states. Find a chapter in your state!
