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Update from the United Nations September 26th, 2011
UN welcomes South Sudan as 193rd Member State
On July 14th the General Assembly admitted the Republic of South Sudan as the 193rd member of the United Nations, welcoming the newly independent country to the community of nations. South Sudan’s independence from the rest of Sudan is the result of the January 2011 referendum held under the terms of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) that ended the decades-long civil war between the North and the South. Learn more…
World Population Nearly 7 Billion!
As the world population approaches seven billion, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stressed in July that ending global poverty and inequality is the key to unleashing the great human potential for prosperity and peaceful coexistence, while protecting the planet and safeguarding the natural resources that sustain humanity. “Later this year, a seven-billionth baby will be born into our world of complexity and contradiction,” Mr. Ban said in a message to mark World Population Day, observed annually on 11 July. Learn more…
UN Reports Progress Toward Poverty Alleviation
Some of the world’s poorest countries have made impressive gains in the fight against poverty, but the least developed countries still lag in efforts to improve living standards, the United Nations said in a report by DESA, showing significant overall progress towards achieving the global targets against extreme poverty.
67 Million Children Deprived of Education
67 million school-aged children are deprived of education, mainly due to financial or social hardship, in many cases stemming from poverty or armed conflict. At the opening of the high-level segment of the ECOSOC Council’ Annual Ministerial Review on 4 July, Deputy Secretary-General Asha Rose Migiro warned that “getting kids into school is only half the battle.”
Statement on Nuclear Weapons
Papal Nuncio to the UN, Archbishop Francis Chullikatt made a significant statement on the Church’s rejection of nuclear war and nuclear weaponry at the 3rd Session of the Prepatory Committee for the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Go to: www.holyseemission.org and click on press releases.
Nobel Laureates Urge End of Nuclear Weapons November 17th, 2010
The Dalai Lama and other Nobel Peace Prize laureates from the last four decades gathered last week in Hiroshima to urge the end of nuclear weapons. The Nobel laureates issued an appeal on November 14th for China, the United States, Egypt, Iran, Israel and Indonesia to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delay.
Read the story by IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis…
What’s Happening at the UN? February 18th, 2010
Commission on Social Development
The 48th Session of the Commission for Social Development met at UN HQ in New York February 3-12. The theme was “Social Integration,” taking into account its relationship with poverty eradication, full employment and decent work for all. Learn more about the CSD…
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US Prelate Highlights Church’s Opposition to Nuclear Weapons February 18th, 2010
Archbishop Edwin O’Brien, a member of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference Committee on International Justice and Peace, reiterated the church’s opposition to nuclear weapons in an address to the Global Zero summit in Paris earlier this month. The gathering brought together 200 international leaders to develop strategies to eliminate nuclear weapons.
The archbishop underlined the Church’s moral teaching on nuclear weapons, based on its commitment to protect human life. Drawing on the principles of just war teaching, Archbishop O’Brien stated, “Nuclear war-fighting is rejected in Church teaching because it cannot ensure noncombatant immunity and the likely destruction and lingering radiation would violate the principle of proportionality.”
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Carl Kabat Released from Jail – Took Stand in His Own Defense December 23rd, 2009
Carl Kabat, OMI – jailed for an anti-nuclear protest in Colorado – was released on Tuesday. He took the stand in his own defense, and was sentenced to time served and released.
Fr. Kabat fired his attorneys and decided to say his peace on the stand. In a written question during their delliberations, one juror asked why he wouldn’t rather just protest outside the perimeter of the fence peacefully.
“Why in the Civil Rights (era) did they march down the street when they said, ‘You can’t march down the street?’ Because it’s wrong,” Kabat answered. “I guess I think it’s up to us to try to get rid of these things.”
Deputy District Attorney David Skarka asked him simply, “Are you above the law?
Kabat replied: “All wrong law, yes. God’s law is above all these man-made things.”
