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New SEC Rules to Reduce the Use of Conflict Minerals August 29th, 2012
The Missionary Oblate JPIC Office applauds the final rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to restrict the use of Congo conflict minerals and increase transparency in extractives-related payments.
On August 22, the Securities and Exchange Commission, in a 3-2 vote, adopted a rule requiring public companies to disclose information about their use of minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo where militias linked to atrocities have profited from mining minerals. Conflict minerals mined in war-torn Congo are essential to the manufacture of high-tech electronics, jewelry and other goods. The rule is know as Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.
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“Slavery in Supply Chains: The Role Businesses and Consumers Can Play in Ending Human Trafficking” August 13th, 2012
Experts from the Alliance to End Slavery and Trafficking (ATEST) in a webcast, addressed the role businesses here in the U.S. and abroad can play to ensure their supply chains are free from slavery. To view the webcast and live chat, please click here.
This webcast is the second in a series of webcasts on the realities of modern-day slavery. To view ATEST’s first webcast on victims of modern-day slavery please click here.
Have something to add? Join the discussion on human trafficking on ATEST’s Facebook page.
Support the Robin Hood Tax August 7th, 2012
A small tax on Wall Street that could transform Main Street
The “Robin Hood” Tax – a small tax on financial transactions – has the power to raise hundreds of billions every year to provide funding for jobs to kickstart the economy and to get America back on its feet. It could help save the social safety net in the US and around the world.
As proponents say: Not complicated. Just brilliant.
The tax would have the added benefit of slowing down the destructive computerized high frequency trading that doesn’t add value to the real economy, but rather undermines the stability of the financial system. High frequency trading has the potential to cause havoc in markets for commodities like wheat and gasoline, which are central to our economies and the lives and well being of hundreds of millions of people.
A tax of less than a half of one percent could raise hundreds of billions of dollars a year. We pay sales taxes, while Wall Street pays nothing.
Support the Robin Hood tax. Show your support here…
Ten Days for Peace August 3rd, 2012
The month of August in Japan begins with a focus on peace. ‘Ten days for Peace’ (Aug. 6-15) is a very important time for the country, as well as for the church in Japan, but especially for the people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Please join the Oblates and others who are remembering this weekend in prayer, and working for peace in the world.
A National Event Calendar shows 71 events planned across the United States this weekend to honor the victims of the US bombings and to call for an elimination of all nuclear weapons.
View the calendar and find an event: http://nuclearweaponsfree.org/calendar/
Read the address from Leo Jun IKENAGA, S.J., Archbishop of Osaka, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Japan (Download PDF)
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.
