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Engaging Corporations to Stop Human Trafficking October 17th, 2012
Human trafficking – the recruiting, transport, harboring or receiving of persons through force, coercion or fraud – targets vulnerable people who are then exploited through forced labor, bonded (debt) labor, prostitution or other sexual exploitation, or as child soldiers. It is a crime without borders; every country in the world has been touched by human trafficking, whether as a country of origin, transit, or destination for victims.
Thus begins an article on human trafficking describing the work of members of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR). “Leveraging Corporate Power in the Fight Against Human Trafficking,” explains how ICCR work on conflict minerals, the California Transparency in Supply Chains Act, and investor work around the London Olympics has helped to reduce the incidence of human trafficking, and to raise awareness of this heartbreaking issue.
Interested in more information on how corporations can address the issue? Read Corporate Strategies to Address Human trafficking, a joint publication of Christian Brothers Investment Services, ICCR and ECCR.
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty October 17th, 2012
At a time of economic austerity, the UN Secretary-General is urging countries not to forget about the poor. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon issued the following message for the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
Secretary-General’s Message for 2012 on the Eradication of Poverty
Poverty is easy to denounce but difficult to combat. Those suffering from hunger, want and indignity need more than sympathetic words; they need concrete support.
We mark this year’s International Day for the Eradication of Poverty at a time of economic austerity in many countries. As governments struggle to balance budgets, funding for anti-poverty measures is under threat. But this is precisely the time to provide the poor with access to social services, income security, decent work and social protection. Only then can we build stronger and more prosperous societies – not by balancing budgets at the expense of the poor.
The Millennium Development Goals have galvanized global action that generated great progress. We have cut extreme poverty by half and corrected the gender imbalance in early education, with as many girls now attending primary school as boys. Many more communities have access to clean drinking water. Millions of lives have been saved thanks to investments in health.
These gains represent a major advance toward a more equitable, prosperous and sustainable world. But more than a billion people still live in poverty, denied their rights to food, education and health care. We have to empower them to help us find sustainable solutions. We should spare no effort to ensure that all countries reach the MDGs by 2015.
At the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, held in June of this year, leaders from around the world declared that poverty eradication is “the greatest global challenge facing the world today.”
We are now developing the UN development framework for the period after 2015, building on the MDGs while confronting persistent inequalities and new challenges facing people and the planet. Our aim is to produce a bold and ambitious framework that can foster transformational change benefiting people now and for generations to come.
Rampant poverty, which has festered for far too long, is linked to social unrest and threats to peace and security. On this International Day, let us make an investment in our common future by helping to lift people out of poverty so that they, in turn, can help to transform our world.
Ban Ki-moon
This message, as well as those form previous years, can be found on the UN website.
Peace & Life Connections Newsletter October 12th, 2012
From now on, we will be reproducing the Consistent Life “Peace & Life Connections” weekly newsletter on our website. If you are interested in more information, or in subscribing to the e-newsletter, please visit www.consistent-life.org/
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October is Respect Life Month
The Catholic Church in the U.S. designates October as Respect Life Month with a program in its parishes that includes distribution of a set of educational materials. Non-Catholics may find some of the materials suitable as well. Issues of abortion, euthanasia, and the death penalty are normally covered.
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October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month
Coerced abortion is one of many forms of domestic violence against women, and domestic violence also makes women more likely to seek abortions. Domestic violence can result from abortions as well, in the stressful aftermath. Feticide is itself a form of domestic violence – the strong committing lethal violence against the weak.
Coerced euthanasia is also itself a form of domestic abuse against the elderly. The very presence of euthanasia as a “voluntary” option can be pressure against the vulnerable, especially those already subjected to abuse.
We anticipate having more to offer on these points in future October issues. Anyone who has a specific resource or education on this point (or any other) can share it with us at weekly@consistent-life.org.
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World-wide Poverty
Today roughly 1.3 billion people—about one-fifth of humanity—live on what would be equivalent to a little over $1 in the United States.
As an illustration, consider the Indian district of Udaipur, where about half the population lived at this poverty level in 2004: most households living in such poverty owned a bed but more than 90 percent lacked a chair or table; none had indoor running water. The infant mortality rate was 10 percent—a striking fact for pro-lifers.
Such figures are discouraging, but we should also remember that more than half of humanity lived at roughly this level of poverty only about 30 years ago. If we have made genuine progress in the past in reducing poverty, why can we not do so in the future?
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No Exceptions
Long-time CL Endorser Dr. Karen Swallow Prior has written a piece called “No Exceptions: The Case for a Consistent Pro-Life Ethic.” Despite its title, the consistency does refer to abortion alone and not other issues, but it does refer to being consistent on abortion.
Dr. Karen Swallow Prior
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Quotation of the Week
October 2012 Respect Life Statement, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
“Faith Opens Our Eyes to Human Life in All Its Grandeur and Beauty”
“In addition to opening the door to abortion on request for all nine months of pregnancy, the Supreme Court’s decision eroded respect for human life and led to a growing acceptance of death as the “solution” to personal and societal problems.
Euthanasia and assisted suicide are now promoted as answers to declining health and disability. Human embryonic stem cell research, in which week-old embryos are sacrificed, is championed as a means to cure disease. To solve the problem of low fertility, many doctors create human embryos in their clinics, knowing full well that few embryos will survive to birth and the majority will be discarded or die. And the death penalty is still vigorously defended as the answer to violent crime.”
Issue #130 10.05.12; Consistent Life web page/ Join or Donate / Previous Issues / Index
VOICE Wins Significant Housing Agreement with Bank of America October 12th, 2012
On the evening of Monday October 1st, VOICE (Virginians Organized for Interfaith Community Engagement) had a remarkably successful action to push forward mortgage relief for affected homeowners in Prince William County, VA. Following all-day, intense negotiations, last minute accommodations, and a lot of fluid politics, 800+ VOICE leaders packed St Paul United Methodist Church in Woodbridge, VA and emerged with some impressive agreements.
Click here to read more »
Oblate Newsletters from Iquitos, Peru Highlight Work with Indigenous October 11th, 2012
Fr. Seamus Finn, OMI on a recent visit with children at the parish of Santa Clotilde
An interesting and informative series of newsletters from the Oblates in Iquitos, Peru, is now available on the Spanish section of this website.
The Oblates are working in the Parish of Our Lady of the Assumption, located in Santa Clotilde, a town on the Rio Napo in the Amazon rainforest of Peru. It has a population of about 2,000 people and serves as the capital district for about 23,000 people in 100 villages, spread over 400 km. of the Napo River and its tributaries. All transport is river water, with occasional planes. Most are native peoples who continue to live through hunting, fishing and subsistence farming.
Today in the parish, Oblate Fathers Edgar Nolasco OMI, and Roberto Carrasco Rojas OMI, with the Pastoral Coordination, Apostolic Vicariate, San Jose of the Amazon, are working with Norbertine priest and medical doctor, Jack MacCarthy, O. Praem, and many lay workers and volunteers.
For more information and to access the newsletters, please visit http://omiusajpic.org/espanol/global/america-latina-y-el-caribe/peru/peru-iquitos/
