News Archives » Social Justice
US Public Comments on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Requested June 9th, 2010
Written comments must be submitted by July 15, 2010
The Department of State and other Federal Agencies are scheduling meetings and inviting comments concerning the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. On April 20, 2010, United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Susan E. Rice announced at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues that the United States is reviewing their position on the Declaration.
Government agencies are currently scheduling meetings with tribal leaders, stakeholders and NGOs to discuss the reexamination of the UNDRIP by the US. Exact dates and locations for the meetings will be announced on their website: http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2010/06/142662.htm
Comments can be sent by email to declaration@state.gov or by mail to S/SR Global Intergovernmental Affairs, U.S. Department of State, 2201 C Street NW., Suite 1317, Washington, DC 20520. Written comments are due by July 15, 2010.
Medicines Patent Pool Formally Established June 9th, 2010
The Board of UNITAID, the European entity funded by an airline tax to support increased HIV/AIDS, Malaria and TB treatment in developing countries, has formally established a Medicines Patent Pool. NGOs and faith-based shareholders concerned about access to medicines among the poor in developing countries have pressed for the formation of a patent pool as a way to lower costs and increase availability of essential medicines.
The Board approved the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between UNITAID and the Medicines Patent Pool Foundation (MPPF) on June 8. The MPPF will be established as an independent organization under Swiss Law. The 3 founders are Paulo Teixeira (Brazil), Charles Clift (UK) and Benard Pecoul (France).
Interested in learning more? Go to other posts on this website and the UNITAID website.
Cuts in International AIDS Funding Risk Lives in Africa June 4th, 2010
As international donors in HIV/AIDS funding, the U.S., World Bank, UNITAID, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, retreat from funding HIV and AIDS programs, years of progress in HIV treatment in Africa are being threatened. The lives of HIV-positive people are increasingly on the line, according to a new report by the international Non Governmental Organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
The report, No time to quit: HIV/AIDS Treatment Gap Widening in Africa looks at eight sub-Saharan countries. It shows how major international funding institutions such as the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), World Bank Treatment Acceleration Project , UNITAID, and donors to the Global Fund, decided to cap, reduce or withdraw their spending on HIV treatment over the past year and a half.
Click here to read more »
UN Human Rights Commissioner Decries Killing of Top Congolese Human Rights Defender June 3rd, 2010
Floribert Chebeya Bahizire, a long-time and deeply committed human rights defender in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been killed.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay expressed shock and great sadness at the news of the Mr. Chebeya’s death. His body was found on the outskirts of Kinshasa on Wednesday. Human rights organizations in Kinshasa reported his disappearance after he was summoned to police headquarters the previous day.
Seamus Finn, OMI and Faith Consistent Investing Profiled in the Huffington Post May 27th, 2010
Fr. Seamus Finn, Director of the Oblate JPIC Office, along with three other ICCR members, will soon appear on The Daily Show, highlighting their work on banking and financial sector reform. Read this fine profile on Fr. Seamus in the Huffington Post written by Katherine Marshall, Senior Fellow at the Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs at Georgetown University: Mission Improbable: Priests on Wall Street.
