Resources from the May-June 2015 NewsNotes
Torture Awareness Week (June), Campaign Nonviolence national conference (August), a book on drones, a report on climate change, and a kit to teach peace.
UN: Reports from CSW59, “Change is coming”
Held two decades after the 1995 Fourth World Conference on Women, which took place in Beijing, a repeated theme at this year’s Commission on the Status of Women was that, in too many places, not enough progress has been made.
Trade: No consensus for Fast Track, TPP
The proposed Trade Promotion Authority (TPA, "Fast Track") legislation, touted as bipartisan, is opposed not only by most Democrats and some Republicans, but also by civil society groups representing consumers, faith communities, immigrant rights organizations, labor, public health advocates, and environmentalists.
U.S. bishops: “Improve in-country refugee program for minors”
In a recent press release, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) stated, “The Central American Minors (CAM) program ... which allows children in Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador to apply for asylum and humanitarian parole in the U.S. from their home countries, is a tool that helps save children’s lives.”
Eliminate detention bed quota for immigrants
The U.S. has the largest immigration detention infrastructure in the world. The expansion of this system in recent years is partly due to the immigration detention bed quota, policy passed by Congress under which 34,000 immigrants are held in ICE detention at any given time: “. . . funding made available under this heading shall maintain a level of not less than 34,000 detention beds.” This policy is unprecedented; no other law enforcement agency operates on a quota system.
World Bank projects displaced 3.4 million
“Evicted and Abandoned: The World Bank’s Broken Promise to the Poor” is a global investigation that reveals how the World Bank has regularly failed to follow its own rules for protecting vulnerable populations.
Cambodia: Worker rights abuses in garment industry
Opportunities for Cambodian workers to share in the prosperity of that country's garment industry come at the price of exploitation and abuse.
Myanmar: Cardinal Bo’s message
Myanmar has seen rays of hope as it moves away from the military junta to a more inclusive, democratic system of government. The Catholic community was given a boost in December 2014 when Pope Francis named Charles Bo the country's first cardinal.
Africa: Concerns about U.S. military policy
At its April 2015 meeting, in light of President Obama’s summer trip to East Africa, the Washington, D.C.-based Advocacy Network for Africa (ADNA), of which the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns is a member, adopted a final draft of a statement on several important U.S./Africa policy issues
Angola: Detained activists must be freed
In mid-March, Amnesty International released the following statement on the situation of human rights activists in Angola.
Africa: Democratic elections
In 2015, 14 African nations will hold presidential and legislative elections; by the end of 2016, 25 countries will have held elections.
Guatemala: The violence and the vision
This article by Sr. Ann Braudis, published in the May-June 2015 NewsNotes, relates something of the struggle in Guatemala during recent decades: it reflects on where the majority of indigenous and poor people find themselves today.