Archive for 2021
Thank you for supporting KAIROS in 2021
December 27, 2021
KAIROS is blessed with so many inspiring grassroots partners in Canada and globally who are doing incredible work thanks to faithful supporters like you. Every day KAIROS works for Indigenous rights, migrant rights, ecological sustainability, gender justice, human rights, and…
Post filed in: Executive Director
KAIROS honours the life and work of Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu
December 26, 2021
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. When we see others as the enemy, we risk becoming what we hate. When we oppress others, we end up oppressing ourselves. All of…
Post filed in: Africa
Migrant food providers thanked through gratitude dinners
December 22, 2021
As the end of the year draws near, organizations in Ontario held dinners to show support and gratitude to the temporary foreign workers who play a vital role during the harvest season. As the migrant workers prepared to head home…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
20 years of kairos moments for migrant justice #KAIROS20
December 21, 2021
I started working for KAIROS in November 1997 when it wasn’t yet called KAIROS. I was employed by the Inter-Church Action for Development, Relief and Justice (ICA), which served as the ecumenical funding arm of the churches and was one of the ten ecumenical organizations that became KAIROS in 2001. I served as…
Post filed in: #KAIROS20 Anniversary, Migrant Justice
Letter to the Editor: The Canadian Energy Regulator’s outlook for a net-zero 2050 is alarming
December 16, 2021
Beth Lorimer is the KAIROS Ecological Justice Program Coordinator, and their letter to the editor was published in The Globe and Mail today: “The level of oil and gas production in the Canadian Energy Regulator’s outlook for a net-zero 2050…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Call on the International Criminal Court to resume investigation in the Philippines
December 13, 2021
KAIROS and member churches and church organizations have sent an open letter to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, calling on him to re-open the investigation for crimes against humanity committed under the auspices of the War on Drugs in the Philippines. Such an investigation is needed to…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Women’s rights organizations deliver change globally #16DaysOfActivism
December 13, 2021
Women’s rights organizations across the globe commemorated the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence with campaigns, events, activities, and mobilizations. Whether virtually or through in-person actions, the Women of Courage: Women, Peace and Security partner organizations drew attention to not only the daily and structural forms of violence but…
Post filed in: En Español, En français, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
KAIROS launches Women of Courage podcast
December 10, 2021
Today, we are extremely proud to launch a new audio podcast, Women of Courage. This podcast series will provide an additional effective and accessible platform to highlight the voices and work of partners – women-led human rights organizations, women peacebuilders, land defenders and environmental activists, in discussions of current and…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Grassroots women’s informal peace efforts in South Sudan #16StoriesofCourage
December 9, 2021
Although religion and faith are important parts of the daily lives of much of the world’s population, their links with the Women, Peace and Security (WPS) agenda are not often discussed, particularly in terms of opportunities. In South Sudan, the South Sudan Council of Churches’ National Women’s Programme (NWP) is bringing…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Women community leaders #16StoriesofCourage
December 8, 2021
| en español | Local, grassroots women human rights defenders are community leaders whose work towards collective empowerment leaves a lasting legacy. “I have been part of the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP) for 23 years. My life in the OFP has been an example of…
Post filed in: En Español, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Climate change’s assault on ecosystems is violence against women
December 7, 2021
To be truly feminist, Canada must fully consult women — particularly land and water defenders — to lay the groundwork for community-driven and inclusive clean energy economies, writes Jane Thirikwa with @kairoscanada. #16StoriesofCourage
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Op Eds
Engaging men and boys to end violence against women #16StoriesofCourage
December 7, 2021
Patriarchy and the dominant, harmful expressions of masculinity link to all forms of violence against women and other marginalized groups. Incorporating men and boys into the work to end Violence Against Women is essential to examining root causes and creating a safer, more…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Gendered impacts of resource extraction #16StoriesofCourage
December 6, 2021
| en español | The negative impacts of large-scale resource extraction materialize in the form of violence against the land and also against women. In Intag, Ecuador, communities came together in defense of the land and water and passed a municipal ordinance declaring the…
Post filed in: En Español, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Enhancing socio-economic conditions for women in the West Bank through agriculture #16StoriesofCourage
December 5, 2021
The agricultural sector is the cornerstone of Palestinian economic development; however, it has not been able to play its strategic role because of the dispossession of land and the denial of access for farmers to agricultural areas, water resources, domestic and external markets. …
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Ancestral knowledge and reciprocal relationships with the land #16StoriesofCourage
December 4, 2021
To safeguard Mother Earth from extractive violence, Indigenous women land protectors are guided by ancestral knowledge and Indigenous understandings of the importance of reciprocal relationship with human and non-human entities. “I know I was guided to be here and protect…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Voices at risk – women human rights defenders #16StoriesofCourage
December 3, 2021
Women human rights defenders and peace activists are being criminalized, attacked and murdered in the Philippines in the government’s “war on terror” which has become a war against its own people. In August, Zara Alvarez, a well-known human rights defender…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Statement on the violent removal of Indigenous land defenders by the RCMP
December 2, 2021
Promises of reconciliation are empty when the RCMP continues to arrest Indigenous people on their own land. KAIROS Canada joined members of Climate Action Network – Canada (CAN-Rac) to call on federal ministers Marco Mendicino and Marc Miller and BC…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Indigenous Rights
Women’s inheritance and land rights #16StoriesofCourage
December 2, 2021
| en français | Across the global South, rural women suffer widespread gender-based discrimination in laws, customs and practices that cause severe inequalities in their ability to access, control, own and use land and limit their participation in decision-making at…
Post filed in: En français, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Opportunities and highlights from the Regional Gatherings
December 1, 2021
The three KAIROS regional gatherings – Great Lakes-St. Lawrence, Prairies North, and Atlantic – that happened in November were opportunities to share how the KAIROS network is learning and acting for justice, particularly for reconciliation. You may also be interested in reading Reflections on the Regional Gatherings….
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Regional News
Finding your roots in the Treaties: Reflections on the Regional Gatherings
December 1, 2021
The deeper we are connected to our ancestral roots, [the more we find] we are all in the same place because we have all been taught, no matter where we are at or where we come from on this planet, we are being taught…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Regional News
KAIROS denounces the harassment by armed actors against the OFP
December 1, 2021
In the midst of the 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence, the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP), a KAIROS women, peace, and security partner, reports that OFP members as well as the Women’s Centre in the municipality of San Pablo are being harassed through stalking by armed actors. Harassment,…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Women, consent, and community consultations #16StoriesofCourage
December 1, 2021
| en español | Indigenous women must be central to decision-making spaces, such as community consultations on potential extractive projects in their territories. In Guatemala, Maya women mobilize their communities in community-wide referendums guided by Indigenous governance. Community consultations are…
Post filed in: En Español, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Canada must act now to stop Duterte’s war against the Filipino people
November 30, 2021
I work with human rights defenders and peacebuilders in some of the most dangerous places in the world. I fear for their safety, and sometimes my worst fears come true. This happened in August last year. Zara Alvarez, a well-known human…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Economic empowerment to address gender-based violence #16StoriesofCourage
November 30, 2021
Violence against women (VAW) is the most pervasive violation of human rights worldwide. VAW is also an economic issue, which carries significant costs to individuals, households, the public sector and society. In situations of protracted conflict, VAW includes economic abuse – controlling…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, 2SLGBTQQIA people #16StoriesofCourage
November 29, 2021
There is a strong correlation between the presence of extractive projects and violence against Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people. In protecting the land and water, Indigenous women land defenders are also enacting women’s rights and Indigenous self-determination. “We decided that we’re…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Women survivors of armed conflict can become women human rights defenders #16StoriesofCourage
November 28, 2021
| en español | Through psychosocial support, legal accompaniment, and human rights training, women survivors of armed conflict can become women human rights defenders. Indeed, women are key to peacebuilding in conflict and post-conflict settings. “I believe that if I had…
Post filed in: En Español, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Women and post-conflict rebuilding #16StoriesofCourage
November 27, 2021
In times of conflict, women and children make up the majority of the population who take refuge outside their country’s borders. Post-conflict, women’s reintegration and contributions to peace and reconstruction have long been underestimated. Women are a driving force for peace, often on the…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
