News Archives » United Nations
America Magazine Examines Climate Change November 29th, 2012
A November 19, 2012 editorial in America magazine examines the issue of climate change. The editors note that “Hurricane Sandy was the latest in a series of extreme weather events that the overwhelming majority of scientists say is related to global climate change.” They go on to say that, “The decision not to address climate change at all in the presidential campaign now seems foolish. Both Republicans and Democrats deserve blame for this state of events . . . Until climate change is seen as an issue that affects all Americans, indeed the entire international community, we will fail to make progress in addressing its effects. Climate change is an issue that is vital to the common good and should be treated as such…”
“…Here is where the Catholic community can help. In an address in 2006, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized that climate change is not a political issue but a human one . . . That same year, the U.S. bishops helped launch the Catholic Climate Covenant to bring climate change to the attention of all people of faith. The church directs our attention to where it should be focused: on the poor, who suffer the ravages of climate change more than anyone else.”
“In conclusion”, the editors at America say, “Climate change is an issue that transcends borders and demands an international response. The United States can and should play a key leadership role in this effort. Perhaps, moved by the plight of the storm’s victims and prompted by a renewed commitment from people of faith, it will finally assume that responsibility.”
Learn more on climate change and global warming at Catholic Coalition on Climate Change
International Day for Human Rights November 29th, 2012
December 10, 2012 is International Human Rights Day. On this day, 64 years ago, member nations of the newly formed United Nations signed into International Law the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
This doctrine of human rights adopted by the United Nations has its antecedents in Catholic Social Teaching – in the basic concept of human dignity.
What does the Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantee?
Click here to read more »
Summer/Fall VIVAT Newsletter Available September 14th, 2012
Learn about what VIVAT International members and staff are doing on international peace and development issues. Read the latest VIVAT on-line newsletter, VIVAT News for July/August/September, 2012.(Download the PDF)
United Nations Fights Human Trafficking September 7th, 2012
In New York, the NGOs (non-governmental organizations) through their Stop Trafficking in Persons Committee is focusing on world sports events where sponsoring businesses can make a big difference in stopping human trafficking. In particular, task force members wrote letters to the London Olympics Organizing Committee and all Olympic sponsors asking them to take a public stand against human trafficking. Companies can prevent human trafficking by evaluating their supply chains in order to end forced labor, child labor, and unscrupulous recruitment practices.
The United Nations Global Initiative to Fight Human Trafficking, UN.GIFT, has as its mission to promote a global approach to the problem of trafficking in persons. Trafficking criminal networks are so extensive that they cannot be dismantled by governments alone. Trafficking is an organized crime so it must be fought in an organized way. UN.GIFT makes an effort to involve all stakeholders — business, academia, governments, civil society and the media – in partnerships against trafficking.
For further details or to support UN.GIFT, go to www.ungift.org/knowledgehub/en/about/index.html
UN News… August 31st, 2012
DID YOU KNOW THAT EVERY DAY THE UNITED NATIONS:
- Provides food to 108 million people in 74 countries
- Vaccinates 40 per cent of the world’s children, saving 2 million lives a year
- Assists over 34 million refugees and others fleeing war, famine or persecution
- Fights climate change and leads a campaign to plant 1 billion trees a year
- Keeps the peace with 116,000 peacekeepers in 17 operations on 4 continents
- Fights poverty and helped 300 million rural poor achieve better lives in the last 30 years
- Monitors, promotes, protects and develops human rights worldwide.
(From the Outreach Division, Department of Information of the United Nations)
ANNUAL MINISTERIAL REVIEW: PROGRESS ON INTERNATIONAL GOALS
Each year the UN Economic and Social Council holds an annual ministerial review, in which various countries share their progress on implementing international goals at a national level, including the Millennium Development Goals. Brazil and Kenya, two countries in which the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate and VIVAT International minister, were included this year. Both countries focused on specific initiatives by which they have promoted full employment and productive capacity, essential for achieving poverty eradication, and acknowledged the many difficulties still ahead.
