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Network Newsletter  Rights and Democracy Network Number 18 January 24, 2008 Newsletter Sections |
Glendon College welcomes Ontario Delegations to the 2008 Regional Event
For the second consecutive year, Glendon College will host the Ontario Regional Event, bringing representatives from Rights & Democracy Delegations from across Ontario to York University’s Glendon College in Toronto from February 29 to March 2, 2008.
This innovative and participatory event will focus on the theme of “Diversity & Equality: From Misunderstanding to Inclusion”. The event will bring together students, government representatives and members of different communities to discuss the issues and develop ways for students to promote the universality of rights for every single individual, despite differences. The Glendon Delegation will ensure that the event is garbage-free and carbon-neutral. For more information about the regional event, contact Sophie Rondeau at srondeau@dd-rd.ca.
Three Winnipeg Delegations co-host Western Regional Event
For the first time ever, three Delegations will co-host a Regional Event. The three Winnipeg-based Delegations, the University of Manitoba, the University of Winnipeg, and Collège universitaire Saint-Boniface, will welcome a representative from each of the 10 Delegations across the western provinces, as well as Network members in Winnipeg, from March 7-9, 2008. Each campus will host one day of the three day event.
With the Olympics being held in China this year, and in Vancouver in 2010, the Delegations will explore the theme of sports and human rights. Rights & Democracy’s China Regional Officer Jean-François Lesage will discuss the state of human rights in China on the eve of the Olympics, and several leaders from sports organizations have been invited to speak about how sports can be a tool for promoting and realizing human rights. The Delegates will bring a presentation from their own Delegations, which will include a sportswear sweatshop fashion show, put on by the Malaspina Delegation, which will expose the conditions in which sports uniforms and clothes are made. For more information about the regional event, contact Elana Wright at ewright@dd-rd.ca.
Sharing experiences about the MDGs in Nepal and Burkina Faso with Canadian students
The 8 Goals for a Better World Coalition, a group of Canadian organizations and student groups concerned with global issues who have come together to support the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), have invited Robin Sitoula, a student leader from Nepal, and Aymar Kabore, a student leader from Burkina Faso, to share their experiences of working towards the realization of the MDGs in their own countries. Members of the Coalition, including Rights & Democracy Delegations, WUSC local committees, and Oxfam Quebec clubs, will work together to present this speaking tour during International Development Week from February 3-9, 2008, at McGill, Université de Montréal, Université de Sherbrooke, University of Toronto, York University’s Glendon College, University of Ottawa, and Carleton University.
For more details about events taking place on your campus, visit: www.8goals.ca.
Farewell to Mireille, our favourite Network international liaison officer!
One of the first members of the Rights & Democracy Network and a founding member of the Sur la piste des réfugiés project at Université Laval, Mireille Ouellet has contributed enormously to the Network. She has recently completed a year-long contract with the Network as International Liaison Officer. But, no rest for her! She has since begun a contract as Project Officer with Rights & Democracy’s South Sudan commissioner training project. The Network team thanks her for her heart-felt commitment to the Network and toward the members of the Delegations she worked with. She made an impressive contribution to the internationalization of the Network. We wish her well in her new challenges. She may have moved on in her career, but she will always be a member of the Network!
Operation “On the Refugees' Path”: On the Road in Quebec
Six members of the Rights & Democracy Delegation at the Université Laval have returned safe and sound after a winter trek from Quebec City to the Gaspésie from January 8 to 13, 2008, which they called “Operation Sur la piste des réfugiés. The Delegation took on this challenge to bring public awareness to issues related to the integration of refugees.
For more information about their project, visit: http://www.rightsdemocracy.net/en/reseau/nouvelles/2008-01-09.htm
Don’t miss their blog (in French):
http://www.surlapistedesrefugies.net/blogue/
Malaspina University-College Delegation presents its 4th annual Film Award
On February 23rd, for the 4th consecutive year, the Malaspina Delegation is presenting the Student Film Award, in conjunction with the Nanaimo Global Film Fest and the Malaspina Media Studies Department. The award, given to a Malaspina student interested in creating a film on a human rights issue, includes a media mentor, $1000 for the production of the film, and the necessary equipment to produce it. The film then has its premiere at the following Nanaimo Global Film Fest that will take place a year later. The Delegation will also be presenting a Sweatshop Fashion Show during the Festival’s Fair Trade Bazaar. Organizer Angela Pringle describes the Sweat Shop Fashion Show they held in December: “The show drew a huge crowd and many of the other vendors commented on it being the highlight of the day! With Christmas lights lining the runway, and spectators shoulder to shoulder in the room, the models strutted and danced their way up and down the run way while information [about the sweat shop conditions in which the clothes were made] was given by the announcers. It was all played out with a lot of hilarity and fun, but the point definitely was well taken”. If you would like to organize a Sweatshop Fashion Show on your campus, visit: http://en.maquilasolidarity.org/en/node/654, for step-by-step instructions on how to do it. Leading up to the Film Festival, this January 24th, the Delegation will be presenting a film featuring an interview with Ishmael Beah, a former child soldier and author of “A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier”, followed by a pub night fundraiser for the Ishmael Beah Foundation. 
Glendon to present a diversity of films
The Glendon College Delegation, in preparation for the Ontario Regional Event which it is hosting, will present a selection of films on this year’s theme, "Equality and Diversity", from January 28-31.
Movies will be shown at 7 pm and there will be fair trade refreshments available to purchase. They have also arranged for several guest speakers to discuss the issues addressed in the films.
A list of movies and speakers will be available soon on the Delegation's page.
www.rightsdemocracy.net/yorkglendon
Sierra Leone Switches On
By Kate Press
Kate Press, the founder of the Carleton University Rights & Democracy Delegation, is now the Project Advisor with the Peace and Development Corps (PADCO), a Sierra Leone-based, youth-focussed volunteering program, which aims to alleviate poverty and consolidate peace. Kate came to work in Sierra Leone with Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO), an international development charity that sends skilled professionals as volunteers overseas to share skills and build capacity.
Candlelight dinner is no longer romantic. It's routine. I just celebrated my eighth month of living in Freetown, Sierra Leone without electricity. Every morning on my way to work I drive past the paradoxically darkened windows of the National Power Authority (NPA) Government office also known as 'Electricity House.
Freetown is one of the few capital cities in the world that does not benefit from a consistent power supply. For the past 25 years the nearly completed Bumbuna Hydro-Electric Project, situated a few hours outside of Freetown, has symbolized a seemingly unattainable goal. This 88 metre dam will one day be able to create 50 Megawatts of electrical power (Freetown, a city of over 1 million, would require approximately 35 Megawatts). Until that time comes however, anything with a plug necessitates a fuel guzzling generator.
To read more: http://www.rightsdemocracy.net/en/reseau/18-kate.htm
Great Lakes Region of Africa: The Challenges Facing Civil Society
The indispensable contributions of civil society organizations struggling against sexual violence and unregulated mining operations in the Great Lakes Region of Africa will be the focus of a three day series of public conferences in Montreal on January 22 to 24. The conference series will hear testimonies from representatives of organizations based in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi and Rwanda as well as experts on Canada’s involvement in the troubled African region.
To read more: http://www.dd-rd.ca/site/media/index.php?lang=en&subsection=news&id=2217
Gaza situation 'extremely fragile', warns UN political chief
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22 January 2008 – The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is extremely fragile, the top United Nations political official told the Security Council today as he strongly urged Israel to allow the “regular and unimpeded” delivery of fuel and other basic necessities to the area.
Stressing the support of UN for the humanitarian needs of the Palestinians living in Gaza, B. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told a meeting on the situation in the Middle East that the crisis in Gaza and southern Israel has escalated dramatically in the past week.
To read more: http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25377&Cr=palestin&Cr1=
International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust
The United Nations designated 27 January -– the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz death camp -- as an annual International Day of Commemoration to honour the victims of the Holocaust, and urged Member States to develop educational programmes to instil the memory of the tragedy in future generations to prevent genocide from occurring again, and requested the United Nations Secretary-General to establish an outreach programme on the "Holocaust and the United Nations", as well as measures to mobilize civil society for Holocaust remembrance and education, in order to help prevent future acts of genocide.
The Holocaust was a turning point in history, which prompted the world to say "never again"". The significance of this UN resolution is that it calls for a remembrance of past crimes with an eye towards preventing them in the future.
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.
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Liaison Officer: Elana Wright
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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)
