Tag Archives: Justice

A New Cycle of Functional Commissions at the United Nations will begin in 2019

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The 57th Session of the Commission for Social Development will be held in New York from 11 – 21 February 2019.   The priority theme for the session is ‘Addressing inequalities and challenges to social inclusion through fiscal, wage and social protection policies.’ Among the ways of taking part in the commission are the following – attending the session, preparing a written statement, delivering an oral statement, engaging in side events/parallel events and joining the discussion wherever it is happening.   We have prepared a  written statement which is now on the Commissions website in  Spanish, French, and  English

‘En nuestra experiencia, como organización que trabaja a nivel comunitario, las políticas de protección social y las políticas que garantizan un salario mínimo vital a todos los trabajadores son fundamentales para reducir la pobreza, lograr la igualdad entre los géneros y promover el trabajo decente y la inclusión social.’

‘D’après l’expérience acquise dans le cadre des travaux que l’organisation mène au niveau local, les politiques qui assurent à tous les travailleurs une protection sociale et un salaire minimum vital sont fondamentales pour réduire la pauvreté, atteindre l’égalité des sexes et promouvoir l’emploi décent et l’inclusion sociale.’

‘In our experience, as an organization working at the grassroots level, social protection policies and policies that ensure a living wage for all workers are fundamental to reducing poverty, achieving gender equality, and promoting decent work and social inclusion.’ 

Opp for NGO's

Sign up for NGOs in consultative status with ECOSOC to express interest in delivering an oral statement during the general discussion will be open online from 7 January to 24 January 2019.  What points do you suggest we make at that time?   Write your suggestion in the comment box and we will use them.

On Day 12 ‘Orange the World Campaign’ Good Shepherd Sisters in the Philippines are featured in the Global Sisters Report

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“Wearing orange on the 25th of every month is a practice followed by a number of sisters and staff of the Religious of the Good Shepherd, Province of the Philippines-Japan. But on Nov. 25, Good Shepherd-run institutions and centers in the Philippines were especially ablaze in orange to commemorate the start of the 18-day anti-violence against women campaign in keeping with the United Nations’ “Orange Day” campaign to raise awareness and prevent violence against women and girls.’  Read the full story at Global Sisters Report    Congratulation to all and well done!

 

Attending the Ninth Session of the Conference of Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 15 – 19 October 2018, Vienna

Here is the link to the agenda of the conference – both the schedule for the formal events of the Conference and Side Events.  Today I had the opportunity to deliver a statement in relation to Item 2 (b) Trafficking in Persons Protocol.   Many of the points raised in the statement are the difficult points in the various negotiations taking place during the conference including  allocation of sufficient resources.

“We are more conscious than ever of the interconnections between systemic root causes including poverty, gender inequality, the persistence of patriarchy, misogyny, DEMAND, gender based violence, including non-state torture, and sexual exploitation coupled with weak legislation, poor budgetary allocations and a dismal record in the number of persecutions recorded.  All these factors compound to facilitate the flourishing of this criminal activity that violates human rights, and prey on peoples vulnerabilities and desires for a life of dignity and wellbeing.”   The recommendations follow from this paragraph. COP 9 Vienna 2018 Statement Final    See   You Tube Video

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Yesterday, Mirjam Beike deliver a statement in Geneva  “We delivered a statement at the 4th Session of Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on Transnational Corporations in Geneva, in collaboration with the Sisters of Mercy, Mercy International Association and the Mining Working Group.”  The original statement (longer version) can be found here:

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Some photographs from Vienna

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‘Raising the Needs of the Girl Child’ at the High Level Political Forum on July 12th

WGG HLPF 2018 Side Event Flyer July 12

The Working Group on Girls was honored to be joined by Her Excellency, Ambassador Sima Bahous of the Permanent Mission of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jourdan to the United Nations, to raise the needs of the Girl Child during the first week of the High Level Political Forum .  Her Excellency (center)  was warmly welcomed to the event by the Moderator Deisha, and Laura both Working Group on Girls, Girl Advocates.

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Her Excellency highlighted the fact that the SDGs do not exclude the girl child nor is the girl child confined to SDG 5.  In fact, the girl child is impacted for the better by implementation of all the goals but particularly by SDGs 6, 7 and 11,  under review this year.  The education of girls is key to their empowerment and further, girls are change agents in their communities and in society.  They are often affected by social stigma and misunderstanding.  We must never stop advocating for equality and justice.

Winifred Doherty introduced the theme from the perspective of the SDG’s under review.  Read the text Raising the needs of Girls

Panelists included Dr Rimah Salah, Former Deputy Executive Director of UNICEF, who starting by saying that in both peace and war the girl child is subjected to so much.  She lives in the ‘shadow of inequality’  relegated to care taking, cooking, childbearing, collecting firewood and fetching water – the unpaid labour, which is often not regarded as important by the society.   Peace and sustainable development are indivisible elements towards the girl child’s empowerment and well being.    These elements call for innovative and transformative approaches coupled with  social protection and the implementation of her human rights as outlined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW).  Girls are not a trivial group.  Migrant, displaced and refugee girls should not be criminalize.  In fact they are agents for peace.

Mavic Cabrera-Balleza, CEO, Global Network of Women Peace Builders, shared with us the names and experiences of girls affected by war and how being engaged in the  “Girl Ambassadors for Peace” program brought healing, voice, empowerment towards leadership and being agents of peace.    Her sharing provided a moment of moving from head to heart and solidarity with girls who are most affected.   Mavic outlined some of the challenges helping girls who are illiterate to know and understand Security Council Resolution 1325.  Can you imagine the pain experienced when a girl child is a discriminated against as a  ‘terrorist widow’?   How promote a narrative of peace?  How change mindset from ‘violence is cool’ to ‘peace is cool’?  How shift the burden from the girl child to the perpetrator?   Techniques include participatory theater and economic empowerment.

Devika Kumar, presented an initiative she undertook following a visit to India and discovering the harsh reality for girls there during their menstruation days caused by lack of opportunities to use and have access to menstrual hygiene products.  In response to this reality Devika created the MAHI project See more here    Here are some statistics about the reality

  • 23% of girls in rural areas drop out of school due to menstruation
  • 53% of school girls were never provided any type of education about menstruation
  • 27% do not have access to pads, tampons, or other management materials

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WGG Girl Advocate Deisha and Laura did a fabulous job – Deisha moderating and Laura responding to the panelists presentations.  Both Advocates recalled their experiences with WGG over the past two years from the ‘Girls Speak Out’ on October 11 to the Commission on the Status of Women and how they have developed and grown – deepening their understanding of the issues that girls face, assuming leadership roles and taking their seats at the table on behalf of all girls.

 

 

Catching a glimpse of Good Shepherd advocacy work from Paris to Indonesia, and from Washington to Santiago Chile.

An unusual moment to catch such a glimpse of advocacy work undertaken by Good Shepherd around the same time around the world.

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Cristina Durante and Catherine Mutindi were actively engaged in the OECD meeting in Paris. Director of Good Shepherd International Foundation , Cristina Duranti participated on April 17th together with Amnesty International and other panelists at #Cobalt session at #OECDminerals in Paris, to present our DRC program in Kolwezi and discuss abuses suffered by the most vulnerable in the cobalt mining communities.  Catherine presented on community-based approaches to ending child labour in Kolwezi during an NGO sponsored side event.  This side event was in collaboration with Care and Protection of Children – CPC Learning Network  Photographs are from Facebook.  Catherine is with the co-found of CPC Learning Network Mark Canavera.    Read more    See the documentary

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Once again children to the fore – now from Indonesia!  Congratulations to  Maria Anggelina, who  won Hermann Gmeiner Award 2018.  Maria Anggelina is an Administrative staff, Kindergarten of Good Shepherd Sisters, Batam, Indonesia 
Maria Anggelina is a champion for the cause of children and marginalised women in Indonesia. She is particularly active in trying to save children who have been trafficked to Batam, an island in Indonesia’s Riau Archipelago. As part of her work with the Good Shepherd Sisters, Ms Anggelina and a team cooperate with law enforcement, the military, social services and church organisations to combat human trafficking on the island. Thanks to their efforts, at least 40 victims have been rescued and returned to their home villages. Seeing many cases, especially ones where children from her own hometown have fallen victim, makes Ms Anggelina very grateful to have been cared for by SOS Children’s Villages Flores in Indonesia. She realises, if it were not for SOS Chlldren’s Villages, she could have been a victim of trafficking herself. By raising the awareness of parents and children, Ms Anggelina hopes to reduce the number of trafficking victims.  Read more

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The National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd are organizing a Human Trafficking Conference for Tuesday, May 15, 2008

In Santiago Chile, the regional preparatory meeting for the High Level Political Forum (HLPF) which will take place in New York, July 9-18, 2018 is presently happening.  The High Level Political Forum meets annually  to evaluate implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.   We have two members present at the meeting in Santiago – Marta Iris and Erika Sanchez.  Hedwig Joehl attended a similar meeting in Geneva.  Georgette hopes to attend in Beirut (April 24 to 26)  and Donatus will attend with the Sisters from Senegal at Dakar (May 2 – 4) the meeting for Africa.  Read more HEREErika 5

Click on – Video Clip

 

 

Acompañando el camino del Crucificado a través de los ODS/Accompanying the path of the Crucified through the SDGs

S_2018_SDG_Poster_without_UN_emblemAcompañando el camino del Crucificado a través de los ODS

8th station

 

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Accompanying the path of the Crucified through the SDGs

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This is the translated text of the Spanish and pictures are not included.  Thank you Rohan Dominic of the Claretians!

International Day of the Girl 2017 – Yes, it is that time of the year again!

IDG 2017International Day of the Girl 2017 is almost here!  We celebrate the 6th annual day on WednesdayOctober 11, 2017.  Every year Good Shepherd around the world celebrate the day in amazing ways and I am sure that this year will be no different.  The International Day is preceded by 11 days of action starting on October 1 and concluding with ‘Girls Speak Out’ at the United Nations when girls initiate, prepare, and moderate the session speaking to world leaders of  girls’ experiences around the world.

What unique challenges are girls facing just because they are girls?  There are so many unusual challenges girls have to deal with today, from injustice in society, their community and in the workplace, to unfairness in opportunities in education, or gender violence, sexism, war, climate change, trafficking in person, sexual exploitation, migration and many others. There’s no right or wrong answer here. What’s important is how you define “crisis” or “injustice” and how you or a girl you know dealt with it.

The International Day of the Girl is our day to celebrate girls everywhere -– to celebrate our power, our voices, and our unique place in this world.  On August 4th you were sent a request to share stories.  The request was for creative work by girl sharing on ‘What it is like for you to be a girl facing injustice?”   While the closing date has gone for inclusion in the ‘Girls’s Speak Out’ it is not too late to share with the GSIJP Office and we will feature them on Winifred’s Blog and  on Day of the Girl Summit website and the GSIJP social media sites

Here’s how:
  1. Be a girl (or group of girls) up to 18 years old
  2. Describe the whole situation in any format that you want to express yourself. It can be a monologue, a story, a poem, a piece of visual art, a video, or a song. Be creative!
    • What happened?
    • Who was there?
    • When was it?
    • Where were you?
    • Why did you do what you did?
    • What was the outcome?
  3. Send us your inspirational story! Email your submission and consent form to:  gsijpoffice@gmail.com  and winifreddohertyrgs@gmail.com with your name, age, country, and contact information no later than October 13, 2017  

Full information can be found here. Be sure to include this consent form with all submissions.

GSIJP Office will be taking the leadership for Day 8 of the 11 days of action bringing attention to the importance of girls’ human rights and demands #JusticeForGirls.

 

Part of the Good Shepherd Team in NY attending the Girls Speak out 2016 – visitors from Australia, Tanya Corrie and Rome Monique Tarabeh and some pictures from last year.  Check out posting of October 2016 on this blog.

 

Check out this resource prepared by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girls Scouts WAGGGS – Hong Kong – Resource for IDG 2017

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Another resource is from 2015 entitled #Start the Convo: a guide to having healthy, meaningful and respectful discussion on gender equality #Start the Convo

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HLPF (High Level Political Fourm) July 11, 2017

Those of us attending the HLPF, now in its second week are overwhelmed with words.  Yesterday,  July 17th the National Voluntary Reviews begun, and continue today and tomorrow.

One highlight of the first week was our side event at the Irish Mission to the UN.Screen Shot 2017-07-04 at 12.44.53 PM

IMG_3134It was a great event … great sharing, collaboration and real implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals from India to Kenya to Mexico – reaching the furthest behind! I will be forgiven by my other religious colleagues at the UN for saying that Donatus Lili from Kenya made an excellent

Presentation The event was live streamed on Facebook  and there were numerous photos.

 

 

 

 

The dedication and commitment of sisters  – Daughters of Charity, Presentation Sisters, Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Loretto) and ourselves with our mission partners can never be underestimated.  This was truly an event illustrating the the words of the gospel – “the kindom is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into about sixty pounds of flour until it worked all through the dough.” This yeast of ministry is truly the transformative agent toward the ‘world we want’ and full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.   Towards the end of the discussion there was a reference to spirituality that informs such commitment and Ambassador Donoghue concluded yes, but in the political arena it is a moral imperative.

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Advocacy Campaign #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights

The Campaign #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights has just launched a 15 page CAMPAIGN TOOLKIT  #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights – Global Days of Action – 8-24 March 2017.  ¿QUÉ ESTÁ EN JUEGO? en español

I am going to highlight some points of entry as I can hear you say “I don’t have time to read 15 pages.”  “I  don’t know anything about tax.”  “What is #TaxJustice?”

Page 8      7 Reasons Why We Need #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights   Print out the sheet for reference.   #TaxJustice is when taxes are fairly raised and fairly spent.

  • Tax is the key building blocks of society
  • Tax is the most sustainable source of Government revenue
  • Tax avoidance and tax breaks to big business costs developing countries
  1. #TaxJustice helps girls get a better education
  2. #TaxJustice reduces women’s and girls’ unpaid care burden.
  3. #TaxJustice helps women get life saving health services.
  4. #TaxJustice reduces violence against women and girls.
  5. When multinational corporations and the very rich don’t pay their fair share of tax, it hurts women most.
  6. #TaxJustice helps access to clean water that keeps women safer and builds their economic power.
  7. #TaxJustice provides social protection for women.

Focus this topic in a community meeting, a justice prayer, a Lenten reflection, a capacity building session with girls and women.  Use the  Powerpoint – Getting the Conversation Started.  How does #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights link with our Position Papers?

If you use social media there are many suggestion as to what to write – for

  • Facebook: go to page 12 of the toolkit … pictures that you can use are already prepared In English, French and Spanish  Alternatively like me on Facebook and share my Facebook posting with your friends.
  • Twitter see pages 9, 10, 11 and 12   Pages 11 and 12 are prepared tweets  My twitter handle is @winifreddoherty @gsijp  retweet the messages.

If you are a little more adventurous get engaged in a national campaign – Write a letter – the template is prepared.

Lastly there are key dates to be aware of:

  • March 2 Oxfam International will launch a report on women’s economic empowernment
  • March 8th International Women’s Day
  • March 13 -24 is the Commission on the Status of Women – Theme:  “Women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work.’
  • March 15 ActionAid International will release a new report on macroeconomics and violence against women
  • March 16 #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights forum in NY
  • March 22 World Water Day – Ensure the Human Right to Water.

Your GSIJP Team in New York will be fully engaged in CSW 61.  We are delighted to welcome Sr. Jane Joan Kimathi from Kenya to join us.

 

 

Advocacy March 8th to 24th

The Global Alliance for Tax Justice is a growing movement of civil society organisations and activists, including trade unions, united in campaigning for greater transparency, democratic oversight and redistribution of wealth in national and global tax systems.

The Global Alliance for Tax Justice comprise the five regional networks of Africa, Latin America, Asia-Australia, North America and Europe, which collectively represent hundreds of organisations.  The website is in ENGLISH and SPANISH

This campaign is launching on March 8th – International Women’s Day and ending on March 24th when the Commission on the Status of Women ends its 61st session with an outcome document on ‘Women’s Economic Empowerment in the changing world of work.’  See ENGLISH and SPANISH    A copy of the  ‘draft agreed conclusion’ (English only) has been published. This will form the basis for negotiations among member states during the Commission.  While there is mention of the establishment of universal social protection floors (page 4 (m)  to ensure access to social protection for all there is no reference as to how these floors could be financed.

#TaxJustice is a call to our governments to stop the global scandal of corporate tax dodging, end illicit financial flows, and transform inequitable fiscal policies in order to fund and fulfill women’s rights.  An excellent overview of the issue WHAT’S AT STAKE?  ¿QUÉ ESTÁ EN JUEGO? is on one page ENGLISH and SPANISH   Print out and bring these points to discussion groups.

“There is an  urgent need to raise domestic revenue for the gender-sensitive public services, social protections, and infrastructure essential to women’s equal human development and equality. Emphasize that progressive tax policies are required to advance women’s rights and economic equality.”

“Hay una urgente necesidad de recaudar un ingreso doméstico para los servicios públicos que comprenda un enfoque de género, así como protección social e infraestructura esencial al desarrollo humano igualitario de las mujeres y a la igualdad. Enfatizar que se necesitan políticas fiscales progresivas para potenciar los derechos de las mujeres y la igualdad económica.”

ORGANIZING TEAM

The #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights Global Days of Action campaign is an initiative of the Global Alliance for Tax Justice, GATJ Tax & Gender and Global Action Working groups, and committed partners including Public Services International, the International Trade Union Confederation, Association for Women’s Rights in Development, Center for Economic and Social Rights, ActionAid, Christian Aid, Oxfam and Tax Justice Network.

Suggestions towards Good Shepherd Action:  

a) During the days of 8-24 March, post on your Facebook and/or Twitter account what you are learning about #TaxJustice for Women’s Rights.

b) Alternatively, read what is posted on my Facebook page or the GSIJP Facebook page. LIKE and SHARE with your friends.  Ask questions for clarification – answer questions – make suggestions.

c) Many suggestions are available on the website

d) Use the following hashtags: #IWD2017 / #taxjustice / #womensrights / #UNCSW17

Looking forward to seeing you on Facebook and Twitter.

Sugerencias para la acción de Buen Pastor:

a) Durante los días del 8 al 24 de marzo, publica en tu cuenta de Facebook y / o Twitter lo que estás aprendiendo sobre #TaxJustice (Justicia Fiscal) por los Derechos de la Mujer.

b) Alternativamente, lee lo que se publica en mi página de Facebook o en la página de Facebook de la OIJPBP. Haz clic en “ME GUSTA” y COMPARTE con tus amigos. Haz preguntas para aclaración – responde a preguntas – haz sugerencias.

c) Muchas sugerencias están disponibles en el sitio web.

d) Utilice las siguientes etiquetas hashtag: #IWD2017 / #taxjustice / #womensrights / #UNCSW17

Espero verles en Facebook y Twitter.

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