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Network Newsletter  Rights and Democracy Network Number 17 December 20, 2007 Newsletter Sections |
Deadline Coming Soon ! 2007-2008 Network Project Fund Deadline and 2008 World Youth Forum Application
Delegations across Canada are putting the finishing touches on project proposals for activities that will take place next semester, in time for the December 31st deadline. For assistance in developing your project ideas and for any questions about your proposal, please contact either Elana Wright at ewright@dd-rd.ca or Mireille Ouellet at mouellet@dd-rd.ca.
Many of these Delegation projects will qualify the members of the project team to apply as "young development activists” to the World Youth Forum which will be held in Quebec City in August 2008,which will bring together 600 of the world's most dynamic young activists in the field of sustainable development from 120 different countries. The deadline for applications for Canadian youth is also December 31st. For more information about the Congress, and to apply, visit: www.wyc2008.qc.ca.
Working together to achieve the Millennium Development Goals:
International Development Week 2008
This year, International Development Week (IDW) will be held from February 3-9, 2008. Organizations across Canada will use this week as an opportunity to build awareness about Canada’s role in international development, and also to take a look at our role in development individually as global citizens. IDW is a good time to join together with other groups on your campus who are committed to development, and to realizing the Millennium Development Goals. The 8 Goals for a Better World Coalition, which includes the Rights & Democracy Network, WUSC, the Canadian Federation of Students, Oxfam Québec, as well as other student groups, will be inviting one student leader from Nepal and one from Burkina Faso to share their experiences of working towards the Millennium Development Goals in their countries, and to discuss with
students here in Canada about their role in helping to achieve them. If your Delegation would be interested in co-hosting one of these speakers on your campus, please contact Elana Wright at ewright@dd-rd.ca.
For more information and ideas for activities on your campus during IDW 2008, visit the 8 Goals for a Better World coalition website at: http://8goals.ca/.
The Network has a new look!
The Network will be launching its new easier-to-use and more dynamic website this winter. We also have new posters, bookmarks and stickers which Delegations can use for your recruitment activities and events throughout the year. Send an email to network@dd-rd.ca if you’d like to receive some for your Delegation.
On the Refugees’ Path at UQAM in May 2008
In May 2008, the Delegation at UQAM (Université du Québec à Montréal) will present the 4th edition of « On the Refugees’ Path », a prize-winning Network project that explores the realities of refugees and displaced people. The cornerstone of the project is an interactive experience of 24 hours in the life of a refugee, which allows a group of participants to experience some of the difficult realities of living in a refugee camp. The Project Team has just been formed, and they will plan the other activities, which will possibly include an information forum featuring organizations that work with refugees and displaced persons, presentations and personal testimonies by refugees, displaced persons, as well as representatives of organizations working closely with them, an artistic component, which could include photo exhibits, theatre, and dance, as well as documentary film screenings.
This year’s project team includes a member who will offer a gender analysis, thereby ensuring that a feminist perspective is incorporated into all aspects of the project. Network members and/or Delegations are encouraged to get involved in this project by organizing simultaneous or satellite events on refugees issues on their own campus, by partnering with the UQAM Delegation, by volunteering, and/or by publicizing the event. Send an email to network@dd-rd.ca if you’d like to get involved.
For more information about previous editions of “On the Refugees’ Path”, visit: http://www.surlapistedesrefugies.net. (French only).
Winnipeg Delegations bring their recommendations from the No More Landmines Youth Symposium to Waterloo and Ottawa
On November 30, the University of Winnipeg and University of Manitoba Delegations hosted a “No More” Landmines symposium, which harnessed the creative energy of high school and university students to look at the Landmines Ban treaty and the Ottawa Process. The student discussions were fuelled by presentations by Lloyd Axworthy, Vanna Minn, a landmines survivor, Paul Fawcette from the Canadian Landmines Foundation, and journalist Chris Cobb. The young people’s ideas were distilled into a set of recommendations, which were presented at the “Symposium on the 10th Anniversary of the Ottawa Treaty Banning Landmines” in Waterloo, ON on December 1, by three representatives from the Winnipeg symposium, including Cameron Derksen, the Deputy Chair of the University of Winnipeg Rights and Democracy Delegation. Then, on December 3 in Ottawa, the student representatives facilitated a discussion at the Mines Action Canada Global Town Hall which focussed on how the next generation of civil society activists can advance humanitarian causes, where the Winnipeg representatives presented many of the ideas generated at the Manitoba symposium, which were then presented at the plenary session.
For more information about the Symposium, visit:
http://www.rightsdemocracy.net/en/reseau/bulletin.php?bulletin=16&lang=en#2
On December 3, 1997, the world came to Ottawa to sign the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction, widely known as the Ottawa Treaty because of the leading role Canada played in its conception, negotiation and realization. The Ottawa Treaty is lauded as one of the most successful bodies of international humanitarian law.
In the past ten years, 155 countries have joined the Ottawa Treaty; the number of people injured or killed annually by anti-personnel landmines has decreased drastically to 15-20,000; over 40 million landmines have been destroyed; the obligation to assist affected individuals and communities is respected and prioritized; the global trade of the weapon is effectively nil; and thousands of square kilometers of land have been returned to civilians, allowing them to work and move free from the fear of losing life or limb.
Source : Mine Action Canada, http://www.minesactioncanada.org/home/index.cfm?fuse=Resource.Anniversary
Memories of a Busy Uganda
By Daniel DeLury
Daniel, a member of the University of Saskatoon Delegation and a then- Masters student in Sociology, spent 3 months in Mbarara, in Uganda, supporting local efforts to better the situation of children affected by AIDS.
Accepting the Ugandan internship took more belly than reason. When I was informed I had been accepted for the internship, I was planning on completing my Masters thesis by September. This internship landed right in my prime writing time. It would take more than three months out of my work and would push my graduation time back to May.
See all the Stories from the Field
The Nairobi Declaration
Seeking justice for women survivors of sexual violence in conflict situations
Rights & Democracy has been working for over ten years on the issue of sexual violence against women and girls in conflict situations, and specifically on the need for reparation for sexual crimes in times of conflict. The Women’s Rights program at Rights & Democracy coordinates the Coalition for Women’s Human Rights in Conflict Situations, which brings together survivors, activists, community workers, lawyers, and advocates from around the world who are committed to ensuring that sexual violence committed against women and girls in conflict situations are adequately examined and prosecuted. The Coalition seeks solutions to the invisibility of women’s human rights abuses in conflict situations, to condemn the practice of sexual violence and other inhumane treatment of women as deliberate instruments of war, and to ensure that these are prosecuted as war crimes, torture, crimes against humanity, and crimes of genocide, where appropriate.
Women survivors, activists and jurists from Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and DRC joined their sisters in Peru, Chile, Guatemala, Colombia, India, France, Great Britain, Belgium, United States and Canada to develop the Nairobi Declaration, which calls for reparation for these survivors. They have done so in the hopes that women's NGOs, women's network and human rights NGOs throughout the world will endorse this Declaration, and that committed States will seek to ensure that international, regional and national mechanisms – both judicial and non-judicial – understand the benefit and value of this Declaration and start promoting its principles.
Members of the Coalition will come together in Montreal in late January to continue their work. Members of the Network members who would like to learn more about the Coalition and participate in their work should contact Elana Wright at ewright@dd-rd.ca.
For more information about the Coalition, visit the website: http://www.coalitiondroitsdesfemmes.org/site/main_en.php
Jean-Paul Hubert appointed Interim President of Rights & Democracy
Rights & Democracy is pleased to announce the appointment of Jean-Paul Hubert as Interim President.
Mr. Hubert led a distinguished career in Canada’s Foreign Service, serving as Ambassador to Senegal, Belgium, Argentina, Switzerland and the Organization of American States among other high profile appointments. He will serve as Interim President of Rights & Democracy while maintaining his current position on the faculty of the School of Applied Politics at the University of Sherbrooke.
To read more: http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/media/index.php?id=2184&subsection=news
Secretary-General welcomes Assembly’s call for death penalty moratorium
18 December 2007 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has welcomed today’s adoption by the General Assembly of a resolutioncalling for a moratorium on the death penalty, saying he is heartened by signs that capital punishment will eventually be abolished worldwide.
In a vote this morning in a plenary session at the Assembly, 104 Member States voted in favour of the resolution, 54 voted against and 29 abstained – a slight rise in the number in favour compared to when the Assembly’s third committee voted on it last month. All resolutions are non-binding.
“Today’s vote represents a bold step by the international community,” Mr. Ban said in a statement released following the Assembly’s action. “I am particularly encouraged by the support expressed for this initiative from many diverse regions of the world. This is further evidence of a trend towards ultimately abolishing the death penalty.”
To read the full story: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25116&Cr=general&Cr1=assembly
2008: International Year of Languages
The United Nations, recognizing that genuine multilingualism promotes unity in diversity and international understanding, proclaimed 2008 the International Year of Languages. The United Nations pursues multilingualism as a means of promoting, protecting and preserving diversity of languages and cultures globally, emphasized the paramount importance of the equality of the Organization’s six official languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). For more information, visit: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2007/ga10592.doc.htm
The Network’s on-line forum announces job and internship opportunities in Canada and around the world. To access the forum, you must be a member of the Rights & Democracy Network. Become a member by signing up here: http://www.rightsdemocracy.net/en/membres/devenez_membre.htm
If you are already a member, visit the Forum’s jobs and internships section by clicking here: http://www.droitsdemocratie.net/network-forum/index.php?login_lang=en
Network News is a newsletter published by the Rights & Democracy Network.
The Network Team:
Coordinator: Sophie Rondeau
Liaison Officer: Elana Wright
Liaison Officer - International: Mireille Ouellet
Administrative Assistant: Diane Migneault
Webmaster: Sylvain Aubé
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Available issues :
Issue 31 (June 1st, 2010)
Issue 30 (March 16, 2010)
Issue 29 (November 9,2009)
Issue 28 (September 25, 2009)
Issue 27 (July 28, 2009)
Issue 26 (March 27, 2009)
Issue 25 (January 29, 2009)
Issue 24 (December 9, 2008)
Issue 23 (October 29, 2008)
Issue 22 (August 27, 2008)
Issue 21 (July 23, 2008)
Issue 20 (April 24, 2008)
Issue 19 (March 27, 2008)
Issue 18 (January 24, 2008)
Issue 17 (December 20, 2007)
Issue 16 (November 27, 2007)
Issue 15 (November 6, 2007)
Issue 14 (October 18, 2007)
Issue 13 (September 25, 2007)
Issue 12 (September 11, 2007)
Issue 11 (Summer 2007)
Issue 10 (April 13, 2007)
Issue 9 (November 2006)
Issue 8 (August 2006)
Issue 7 (May 4, 2006)
Issue 6 (April 12, 2006)
Issue 5 (March 21, 2006)
Issue 4 (March 1, 2006)
Issue 3 (February 16, 2006)
Issue 2 (January 31, 2006)
Issue 1 (January 17, 2006)
