NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2010 - IN THIS ISSUE

1) Drums for Justice
- KAIRO' Statement on Canada's Endorsement of UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
- Joint Statement in Response to Endorsement
2) KAIROS Cancun Cop 16 Blog
3) Poll suggests Harper Government out of step with Canadians
4) KAIROS Community


IN BRIEF
- KAIROS letter on police raid of Sudan Council of Churches in Khartoum
- End Tax Breaks on Oil & Gas

POLICY BRIEFING PAPERS
- Can Quantitative Easing Fund Green Jobs?
- Decisive Action Vital at Cancun

FEATURE RESOURCE
The Land, Our Life Campaign Booklet

FEATURE PARTNER
Constantine Dabbagh

REFLECTION
'Women of Courage: then and now' byJennifer Henry

Many thanks to the dozens of groups who hosted a Beat the Drum action in support of climate justice and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples December 4 and 5. We know there are a few more creative events yet to come.

From the Western Door at the Pacific, across the mountains, Prairies and the Canadian Shield to the Eastern Door at the Atlantic, dozens of local churches, community centres, and Friendship Centres gathered to the beat of drums from many traditions. We especially thank all the First Peoples who joined their voices with those of non-Indigenous neighbours, making these circles our first steps toward living out the newly-endorsed UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. May this be a sign of hoped for our common future and right relationships.

We will post pictures as soon as we have a few more, and we welcome your reports and reflections. Many of you held events that the national office didn’t know about… if you didn’t register your event or service of worship, send us details, photos and contact info so that we can thank you and include you in an evaluation.

If you’re just hearing about this for the first time, or if you’re looking for more ideas related to the KAIROS campaign, then get ready for our re-launched petition and our renewed UNDRIPardy quiz show later this month. In January KAIROS will be sharing with you ideas for the June 20 national action in support of the UN Declaration.

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To share your drumming event details with us contact:
Julie Graham
Education & Campaign Coordinator, Dignity & Rights
jgraham@kairoscanada.org
1-877-403-8933 x 233
For more information on our continuing campaign contact:
Sara Stratton
Education & Campaign Coordinator, Sustainability
sstratton@kairoscanada.org
1-877-403-8933 x 241

KAIROS Welcomes the Government of Canada’s Endorsement of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

KAIROS joins with Indigenous peoples in Canada and their supporters in welcoming Canada’s endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, announced in a press release Nov.12, 2010.

The Declaration was adopted by the United Nations on 13 September 2007 by a vote of 144-4. On that day, Canada was one of the four counties to vote against this important international human rights instrument, along with the Australia, New Zealand and the United States. KAIROS has worked for years with Indigenous peoples in Canada and around the world to ensure the successful adoption of the Declaration by the United Nations, and its endorsement by Canada.

Read the full article >>

Joint Statement in Response to Canada’s Endorsement of the 'UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples'

On November 16 KAIROS, along with 29 other civil society, human rights, and indigenous organisations, signed this joint statement.

Read the full statement here >>

CANCUN COP 16 BLOG

On Friday Dec. 3, KAIROS Economic Justice Program Coordinator John Dillon headed to Cancún for the COP 16 UN climate talks. John will be reporting on activities there via the KAIROS blog. We'll also have some guest reflections from Canadian Youth Delegates Maggie Knight and Cam Gray also attending the conference.

Click here to view the KAIROS Cancún blog >>

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For more information contact:
John Dillon
Economic Justice Program Coordinator
jdillon@kairoscanada.org
613-235-9956 x231
toll free 1-877-403-8933

Poll suggests Harper Government out of step with Canadians

As the newest round of UN climate negotiations loomed, an Environics research poll suggested that the Canadian public is far more concerned about climate change than its government.The poll was commissioned by the Council of Canadians, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Canadian Union of Postal Workers, Indigenous Environmental Network, Common Frontiers, Public Service Alliance of Canada and Toronto Bolivia Solidarity.

"Over 80 percent of Canadians agree that too much focus on economic growth and consumerism is a root cause of climate change. They also affirm that industrialized countries – which have historically produced the most greenhouse gas emissions – bear the most responsibility for reducing emissions."

Read the Media Release as well as highlights of the poll >>

KAIROS Community

The struggle for Indigenous rights lost a strong leader in the past month. We include this obituary with respect for and in memory of Patricia Monture, Aywahande ("The one who starts things with words”), Mohawk Nation. Activist worked to help reclaim authentic identity for her people, and learned that Canadian law was not the answer. Globe & Mail, Dec.2, 2010
From the wider KAIROS family: some of you may remember Jean Koning from the 2009 KAIROS Gathering. She is a non-Aboriginal elder who has committed her “retirement” years to truth and reconciliation work in the Peterborough, ON area. She was honoured recently with the YMCA Peace Medallion.

FEATURE RESOURCE

'The Land Our Life' Campaign Booklet

Background information, stories, activities, and prayers for KAIROS’ 2010–2011 'The Land, Our Life' campaign.
20 pages
$5

To order contact:
Caroline Foster
Partners & Network Associate
416-463-5312 x221
1-877-403-8933 x221
cfoster@kairoscanada.org

FEATURE PARTNER

Constantine Dabbagh,
Director
The Gaza Area Committee of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR),
Middle East Council of Churches

Constantine Dabbagh directs the provision of healthcare, education and community services for DSPR in Gaza. In particular, the services focus on mothers and babies, vocational education and the provision of psychological and social health services to an increasingly traumatized population.

The DSPR is an integral part of Palestinian society and operates with support of the churches, ecumenical and secular organizations, serving Palestinian people irrespective of religion, political affiliation, geographical locality, gender or creed.

In the midst of the strife, carnage and blockades Dabbagh has consistently advocated non-violence, a position which has seen him involved in critical negotiations between political factions within Palestine, and the Palestine Authority and the international community.

Constanine Dabbagh will be retiring this year.

Please read our full partner profile on Constantine Dabbagh >>

IN BRIEF

KAIROS letter on police raid in Khartoum of Sudan Council of Churches

KAIROS sent a letter to Sudanese Ambassador Elsadig Almagly and Canadian Minister of Foriegn Affairs Lawrence Cannon expressing its profound concern over a recent police raid.

Read the full letter here >>

End Tax Breaks to Oil & Gas Companies

On November 10, 2010 KAIROS joined with other organizations in Climate Action Network to endorse an open letter to Prime MInister Steven Harper and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty. It calls on the Government of Canada to end tax breaks and subsidies to fossil fuel industries. By continuing to contribute to the growth of these industries Canada is failing to address climate change and to invest in a clean energy future for Canadians.

Read the full letter here >>

KAIROS Policy Briefing Paper #26: Decisive Action Vital at Cancún Climate Talks >>

KAIROS Policy Briefing Paper #27: Can Quantitative Easing Fund Green Jobs? >>

Women of Courage—then and now

A reflection on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women
by Jennifer Henry

Their names are Yolanda, Vernie, Chantal, Fahima, Lilia, Zaynab, Wafa, Theresa, and Jill: women whose contexts are diverse, but whose stories similarly resonate with courage and heart. Whether in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) or in Palestine, in Sudan or in Indigenous communities in Canada, in Colombia or in the Philippines, these women share a fierce commitment to protect and nurture the lives of women and children in places of conflict, or in some cases, of terror. They provide human rights training to women and girls, give legal recourse to daughters who have been raped, offer protection and hope to mothers of missing or imprisoned children, and confront power structures that violate human rights and foster violence. KAIROS is privileged to accompany these women of courage. Through research, advocacy and financial support, we hope to strengthen their capacity to build durable peace from the ground up. Their names were Shiphrah and Puah: midwives in the Egypt of Exodus 1. They lived in a place and time that, like modern day Colombia or DRC, would be labelled a human rights disaster. Fuelled by a myth of scarcity, the king of Egypt peddled in fear, targeting the growing Hebrew population with a strategy of terror. Called before the Pharaoh, the midwives are told to implement his terrible plan of killing Hebrew baby boys. But these women who “feared God” defied the king and let the baby boys live. When summoned to give account they responded with courageous cleverness: “Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive” (Exodus 1: 17-18).

Women & People's Summit of the Americas against Militarization Delegates, Colombia, August 2010

Like contemporary women of courage, these midwives defined themselves by their essential choice—a choice made long before they were summoned to the court of Pharaoh. Their vocation to accompany women and children so transformed them that they were compelled to civil disobedience and risked their own lives. Like women human rights defenders today, the midwives understood their place in the “big picture," resisting systemic policies of harm and terror–what in ancient Egypt proved to be an attempt at genocide. Like the women we accompany today, they were far from naive about power, but rather courageous and ingenious in the face of it.

On November 25, we are invited to strengthen our resolve in the global struggle for women’s rights as we mark the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Activists for gender justice have marked this day since 1981, in remembrance of the brutal 1960 assassination of the three Mirabal sisters, advocates in the Dominican Republic who were seeking a better life for their people. In Canada, November 25 leads also to December 6 and the 21st anniversary of the murders of 14 women at L’École Polytechnique in Montreal. At these times, let us remember women of courage everywhere who put their lives at risk to protect others from violence, striving to partner with them anew in their struggle.

For their acts of courage, Shiphrah and Puah experienced the “kindness” of God. May our living and loving God continue to wrap today’s women of courage in kindness: Yolanda, Vernie, Chantal, Fahima, Lilia, Zaynab, Wafa, Theresa, and Jill, and so many more unnamed. May faith in God compel us into a journey of accompaniment that transforms us as it did the midwives. And may we build a movement that births a peaceful future for women and children everywhere.


* Follow KAIROS weekly 'Spirited Reflections' blog >>