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Prayer Resources for International Women’s Day: March 8 February 20th, 2013
A promise is a promise:
Time for action to end violence against women
Prayer/Reflection Resources are available to help commemorate International Women’s Day. (Download PDF)
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?
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UN Update: Fall 2012 November 18th, 2012
POST-2015 AGENDA: THE WORLD WE WANT
In 2000 the United Nations agreed on eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to address the needs of the worlds poorest by 2015. While efforts to achieve the original MDGs continue, the UN has launched a global conversation to determine steps after 2015. An Inter-Governmental Working Group is preparing Sustainable Development Goals, and a High Level Panel of twenty-six members of government, civil society and the private sector is working on a Post-2015 Development Agenda. Beyond2015, a coalition of 400+ organizations, is also addressing this issue. UN Agencies are leading nine thematic consultations and more than fifty national discussions. Countries participating in consultations include Brazil, Peru, Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa; plans are in place to add more countries to the list. For an overview of the entire Post-2015 process, go to www.beyond2015.org (in English, French, and Spanish).
There is a good opportunity for participation in a collaborative effort between the United Nations and civil society: The World We Want Campaign invites people around the world to share their visions for the post-2015 world. Materials are accessible in multiple languages.
Go to www.worldwewant2015.org/ and click on your language.
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TAKING THE CONFLICT OUT OF CONFLICT MINERALS: HOPE FOR CONGO
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100 Years in the Amazon Basin October 18th, 2012
Fr. Seamus Finn OMI with Fr. Roberto Carrasco Rojas OMI in Iquitos, Peru
A recent trip to the Peruvian Amazon served to remind me of the vast expanse of the region and the great diversity that lives within its boundaries. While I was ready for the heat and humidity that Iquitos is known for, I was hardly prepared for the great network of major rivers that are an essential part of transportation in the region…
Read Fr. Seamus Finn’s latest post on Huffington Post
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.
