COUNTRIES OF CONCERN


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In these pages, we focus on regions and countries of our world that are in the midst of particularly difficult conflicts and struggles. These regions and countries highlight both the high price of injustice and the role of external forces in shaping and sustaining regional conflicts.

These pages are designed to help us make the link between seemingly unconnected issues like ecology and human rights, or trade and armed conflict. They offer basic background on the country or region, and lift up the analysis and perspective of our partners. And they offer action suggestions for both short term actions when lives are at risk, and longer term action that reaches the roots of the struggles faced by these countries.

Teachers and students alike should feel free to download any of these documents for public use. Feedback is welcome. Please note that external links found here will open in a new window, and that KAIROS is not responsible for the content of external sites. Nor do we necessarily endorse all of the content found in external sites.


KAIROS' work is currently focussed on five countries/regions:




COUNTRIES OF CONCERN NEWS

Take action: Ask the government to clearly identify Israeli settlement products sold in Canada

A Palestinian boy passes grapes through the bars at an Israeli checkpoint in the occupied West Bank.

(Support for a United Church of Canada action) The United Church of Canada is inviting the ecumenical and justice community to write to the Foreign Affairs and Trade ministers, asking for proper identification of Israeli settlement products in Canadian stores and an end to tax exemptions for products from the settlements. The United Church is [...]

Update on the Situation of the OFP

OFP Image

A few weeks ago we wrote to you with grave concerns about the safety and security of the leadership and families of the Popular Feminist Organization (OFP), our partner in Colombia. KAIROS and the OFP are grateful for your response, which has made a difference.

Alternative Mining Indaba 2013

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Ian Thomson, KAIROS Program Coordinator for Ecological Justice through Corporate Accountability, represented KAIROS at the Alternative Mining Indaba, held February 3-5 in Cape Town, South Africa. Here, he shares his reflections and news from the Indaba (Zulu for ‘meeting’), including a report on the ongoing impact of the August 2012 police attack on striking mine workers in Marikana.

Is the new BlackBerry 10 conflict free?

Conflict Cell Phones

This article first published in 'rabble' Much of Canada is abuzz with news of Research in Motion's launch of the new BlackBerry 10 smartphone. Canadians are understandably both proud of the Waterloo-based RIM, and anxious about its future. Many Canadians are hopeful this new phone succeeds as the company plays an important role in the [...]

Urgent action: Serious threats to Colombian partners and their families

Yolanda Becerra, OFP director (middle of photo), at the 2012 Women's Tribunals in Colombia.

UPDATE – Feb.20, 2013 Thanks to all  who responded to the urgent action we circulated on February 15 (below) regarding threats to the leadership of  the Organizacion Femenina Popular (OFP. We have received an inspiring response of more than 150 copies of personal letters to the President of Colombia calling for safety and security of these women. These [...]

Congolese massacre victims denied justice in Anvil Mining lawsuit

Bill C-23

Two years ago, a group of Congolese citizens launched a class action lawsuit in a Quebec court against Anvil Mining Ltd., alleging that the company was complicit in widespread atrocities committed during an October 2004 raid by the Congolese military in the town of Kilwa, Democratic Republic of Congo. The company allegedly provided logistical support [...]

Colombia can now buy prohibited automatic firearms from Canada

Candles and stones in Colombia

On December 13th, 2012 the Government of Canada eased its ban on automatic firearms sales to Colombia and added Colombia to its Automatic Firearms Country Control List (AFCCL).  Although controls remain on exporters, Canadian gun merchants now have the possibility of selling fully automatic weapons with high-capacity magazines — banned in Canada — to Colombia. [...]

Advent 4: Do we dare dream of transformation?

Women prepare to testify at alternative courts in Colombia this November.

We are only a couple of days before Christmas when we will meet the baby who comes to transform our lives and our world.  Before we welcome Jesus, we hear again from voices on the margin. The stories about Mary and Elizabeth, two women unlikely to be pregnant, are a break from patriarchy.  The priest [...]

Honouring human rights defenders in photos: A KAIROS slideshow for International Human Rights Day

Signs at an October 2012 Saskatoon walk calling for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women

KAIROS marks International Human Rights Day, December 10, and the following week of celebration by commemorating the courageous work of our human rights partners in Canada and in the Global South. Through our migrant justice, Indigenous rights, women of courage and partnership programs, KAIROS strives to support the work of these partners whose daily work is to [...]

A Deadly Typhoon Strikes the Philippines- and it’s not Typhoon Pablo

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A reflection from the Philippines by Norma P. Dollaga, a deaconess serving The United Methodist Church in the Philippines. Her organization KASIMBAYAN is a member of EcuVoice, the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines, a KAIROS partner in the Philippines since 2001.  Background to Deaconess Norma’s reflection: On December 3, super typhoon [...]