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South Africa: Election 2009 April 21st, 2009
South Africa, the economic powerhouse of the continent of Africa, holds its fourth democratic general elections on 22 April 2009.
The Africa National Congress (ANC) which has been in power since the end of the apartheid regime in 1994 is expected to win the election with Jacob Zuma becoming President.
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Humanitarian Catastrophe Unfolds in Sri Lanka April 17th, 2009
Human Rights Watch has posted a photo montage of the humanitarian catastrophe in the northern Vanni region of Sri Lanka. Human Rights Watch researcher Anna Neistat says both sides in Sri Lanka’s conflict are violating the laws of war, endangering the roughly 100,000 civilians trapped in a government-declared “no-fire zone.” Tamil Tiger (LTTE) rebels have prevented civilians from leaving the tiny strip of land, while government forces shell the area daily, leading to numerous casualties.
The photos in this slideshow are from a makeshift hospital in Putumattalan that was treating survivors of attacks on April 8 and 9, 2009. Many were women and children who were waiting in a food distribution line in Pokkanai when artillery shells hit.
Socially Responsible Investors Call for Transition to a Low-Carbon, Socially Sustainable Economy April 15th, 2009
Umbrella organizations for the sustainable and responsible finance industry, including the Social Investment Forum, of which the Oblates are a member, have issued an important statement on transforming global capital markets.
They contend that “the current economic crisis affords a unique opportunity and imperative to transition to a low-carbon, resource efficient and socially sustainable economy.” The groups thus have called upon world leaders to respond to the economic challenge facing the global economy by incorporating sustainability and social responsibility measures into both the economic stimulus packages for short-term recovery and the longer-term reform of the credit and investment markets.
Read the full statement (Download PDF)
Immigration Reform Now is Good for the U.S. Economy April 13th, 2009
Recent signals from White House officials that President Obama will address immigration reform this year are welcome. Among the issues of concern is the fate of the 12 million undocumented immigrants living in the shadows of our society.
Ant-immigrant groups are inserting fear and intimidation into the debate with phone calls and emails to the Democratic leadership in Congress to abandon any effort for immigration reform. This opposition comes despite overwhelming evidence that a majority of Americans agree that the current immigration system is broken – they support reform and oppose “enforcement only” tactics.
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G20: Prioritize the Needs of the Poor April 7th, 2009
On April 2, the Group of Twenty (G20) World leaders met in London to discuss the global financial crisis and explore ways to address the situation. Created in 1999, the G20 is a meeting of Finance Ministers on matters of global finance. It is composed of a group of seven (G7) wealthy nations, namely Germany, the United States, Britain, Japan, Canada and Italy; 12 members from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and South Africa (the only Africa nation in the G20) and representatives from the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union.
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