Please find below letters sent to Prime Minister Harper, Minister Oda, and Ms. Biggs from our Overseas Partners.
It is these organisations, and the communities that they serve, who are feeling the most dramatic impact of these cuts.
The Faces and Impacts of the CIDA Cut to KAIROS Partnership Program
A brief on the work of KAIROS in Colombia, Congo, Indonesia, Sudan, and Mexico, and the impact of CIDA's funding cuts on our support to local communities and organisations in these countries.
3 KAIROS Partners Stories
1. Héritiers de la Justice in the DR Congo:
their Executive Secretary Pascal Kabangulu was recently assassinated in front of his family (his wife and children are now refugees in Canada) for his knowledge of illicit gold mining and his defense of human rights.
2. Yolanda Becerra of the Popular Women's Organisation in Colombia:
she has received repeated death threats, her associate Esperanza Miranda was assassinated in 2003, and yet she continues to work to give a voice to women and human rights.
3. National Union of People's Lawyers, Philippines:
on November 23, 2009 a brutal massacre in Ampatuan, Maguindanao took place. Among the victims—mostly journalists engaged in monitoring peaceful election-related activity—were Attorney Cynthia Oquendo and Attorney Concepcion “Connie” Brizuela. Both were active and leading members of the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao (UPLM) and the National Union of People’s Lawyers of the Philippines (NUPLP), a KAIROS partner in promoting and defending human rights in the Philippines.
CONGO & RWANDA
Maurice Namwira,
Secrétaire Exécutif
Heritiers de la Justice
"This decision, which falls like a blow from a sword to our hearts, is likely to gravely hurt the great work of the promotion of human rights that we have achieved with KAIROS since 2006 in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Indeed, the support obtained from KAIROS has allowed us to help the victims of rape and of sexual violence as well as support capacity-building on human rights and the principles of democracy among our soldiers, police officers, security agents, tax collectors, territorial administrators, judges, local authorities, etc, through the organization of interpretive days on good governance and transparency through which we manage an exchange with authorities on different questions concerning public life..."
CONGO
Deborah Kitumaini
(wife of assassinated Director of Héritiers de la Justice)
Speech at Press Conference in Ottawa, Dec. 8 2009
"...Human rights defenders also face violence. They are not welcome. They disturb [the accepted impunity of human rights violations]. Several have been assassinated. Others have fled the country. In removing KAIROS funding, hence HJ funding, Canada associates itself with [human rights] violators because it impedes human rights defenders from expressing themselves."
COLOMBIA
Yolanda Becerra Vega
National Director
'Organizació Femenina Popular'
"As you know we work in regions (in Colombia) where armed conflict has resulted in the denial of women’s basic rights. The economic support from you (KAIROS and CIDA) permits us to implement programs which include legal and health services, community kitchens, and other humanitarian assistance that have saved many lives and given possibilities and opportunities to hundreds of women, mothers, wives, daughters, sisters and entire families."
UGANDA
Daisy Owomugasho
Executive Director
African Women's Economic Policy Network (AWEPON)
"To millions of vulnerable African women and children, this means denial of the very basic of human rights. To over 6000 direct women beneficiaries of the AWEPON program on climate adaptation will be fully exposed to the escalating brunt of the impacts of climate change which will expose them to more human rights abuses.
We therefore note with concern that the decision not to fund KAIROS whose programs help AWEPON and other countless organizations, churches and individuals in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, and will reduce the capacity of humanitarian efforts to uphold and protect human rights and freedoms of millions of people across the globe..."
PHILIPPINES
Rev. Rex RB. Reyes, Jr.
General Secretary
&
Fr. Joe Dizon
Promoter
Ecumenical Voice on Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines
"We are partners in the Philippines of KAIROS... a consortium to form
a stronger voice against human rights abuses and pursue a staunch advocacy to promote
peace and uphold human dignity and human rights in the Philippines.
The mass slaughter of 57 persons (among them 30 journalists, 2 lawyers and relatives and
supporters of the challenger to the current governor of Maguindanao in Mindanao, Southern
Philippines) in the worst election related crime this country had ever seen, known as the
Maguindanao Massacre - is the latest of a long list of human rights abuses under the current
administration...
Since its partnership with Kairos Canada, the Ecumenical Voice had done much ... for justice for the victims of human rights violations; and promoting
peace by pushing peace talks between the government and insurgent groups."
MEXICO
Miguel Pickard
Legal Representative On behalf of CIEPAC staff
"For more than eight years CIEPAC has been in partnership with KAIROS. KAIROS’ support has been fundamental in the implementation of our Integral Human Rights program which consists of popular education, accompaniment of community processes, participatory development , development and distribution of educational materials and building capacity especially among the poorest and most vulnerable peoples in the state of Chiapas...."
ECUADOR
Ivonne Ramos
President Accion Ecologica
"As one can see, the cessation of KAIROS' crucial support to our work will no doubt result in the significantly increased vulnerability of our peoples in relation to their social and environmental rights and teh serious consequences of climate change."
SUDAN, TANZANIA, UGANDA, RWANDA, BURUNDI, REPUBLIC OF CONGO, ETHIOPIA, ERITREA, KENYA
Rev. Fred Nyabera
'The Fellowship of Christian Councils and Churches in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa' (FECCLAHA)'
"Our findings, backed by reports of the United nations Panel of Experts on the illegal exploitation of natural resources and other forms of wealth in the DRC, points to a war economy that thrives on severe human rights violations on local communities particularly sexual gender based violence including rape of women, men and children..."
PHILIPPINES
Rep. Neri Javier Colmenares
Secretary General
National Union of People's Lawyers
"... through the support of KAIROS, the NUPL was able to hold a nationwide consultation on the Writ of Amparo, a new remedy for extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances..."
SOUTH AFRICA
Rev. Malcolm Damon
Executive Director
Economic Justice Network
"Mining activities affect the environmental condition of communities by contaminating drinking water, causing pollution and further endangering the lives of these communities. Your support to KAIROS and indirectly to us would have enabled us to build the capacity of these communities to engage with mining corporations and addressed the corporate social responsibility of these companies."
AFRICA REGION
Georgine Kengne Djeutane
Regional Secretary
World Student Christian Federation
"Extensive human rights abuses still occur in several parts of Africa. Most of such violations occur for political reasons, often during the electoral process. Arbitrary detentions, intimidation or arrest, torture, summary executions, censorship and denial of the right of the people to choose their own representative are witnessed during the electoral process in some countries in Africa...
Abrupt discontinuance of funding will weaken our capacity to implement these programs and therefore, young unemployed people in our context we are working with will continue to be targeted by politicians who will use them to propagate violence, use them as soldiers in conflicts zone, more young women will continue to be abused and trafficked..."
ECUADOR
Rev. Nilton Giese
General Secretary
Latin American Council of Churches
"The Latin American Council of Churches, CLAI, represents 178 member churches
and 12 church-related nongovernmental organisations in 20 countries within Latin
America...
With KAIROS, in Latin America CLAI has been able to implement... education within church congregations, communities
and social movements on poverty, ecological aspects related to poverty, and social exclusion, as well as training and the promotion of popular participation in order to overcome situations of poverty and marginalisation."
KAIROS PARTNERS’ LIST 2009 - 2013
Asia-Pacific
- Ecumenical Consortium for JustPeace, Philippines
- KONTRAS, Indonesia
- JATAM, Indonesia (Mining Advocacy Network in Indonesia)
- Pacific Conference of Churches, Fiji
AFRICA
- African Initiative on Mining, Environment and Society (AIMES)
- African Women’s Economic Policy Network (AWEPON)
- All Africa Conference of Churches (AACC)
- Héritiers de la Justice
- Oilwatch International
- Sudan Council of Churches (SCC)
- World Student Christian Federation
Latin America
- Popular Feminist Organization, Columbia
- Latin America Council of Churches (CLAI)
- Ecological Action, Ecuador
- Tepeyac Human Rights Centre, Mexico
- CIEPAC, Chiapas, Mexico
- CEIBA – Guatemala
Middle East
Bat Shalom
Jerusalem Centre for Women
Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Centre
Filastiniyat
