Africa
Living Courage and strategies for change
November 19, 2011
At each public event, participants have been asked the same question as the speakers: From your experience, what have been the most successful strategies for defending women’s rights and ending violence against women? The discussion has been both rich and…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Chantal Bilulu: la femme doit se mettre debout. Women must stand up
November 9, 2011
Chantal Bilulu, director of women’s and children’s programs at Héritiers de la justice offers this reflection to people of courage: Dans plusieurs pays du monde, la femme est victime des violences de toute genre. C’est pourquoi il est necéssaire que…
Post filed in: Africa, En français, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Canada’s responsibility in advancing women’s roles in peacebuilding and defending human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo
October 27, 2011
The conflict that raged in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) from 1996 to 2003 was the world’s deadliest since the Second World War. Despite an official end to the fighting, violence and insecurity still prevail in the eastern region…
Post filed in: Africa
Representing Rebecca Nyagai Kafi
October 20, 2011
Sermon, Vancouver Chinese Presbyterian Church, 16 October 2011 (Pastor Morgan Wong of Vancouver Chinese Presbyterian Church had invited Rebecca Nyagai Kafi of the Sudan Council of Churches to preach at the English and Chinese services in his church. When Rebecca…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Middle East
Living Courage in Victoria
October 18, 2011
By Glenys Verhulst Glenys Verhulst is a volunteer with the Victoria Philippines Solidarity Group, a small, grassroots organization that seeks to raise awareness about and seek justice for human rights issues that link Victoria and the Philippines, including mining and…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Jill Harris on visiting Penelakut Island with Chantal
October 14, 2011
BY JILL HARRIS As I told different stories from personal experience and from what I had witnessed, Chantal agreed that many of these were similar to stories in her context. The visit by KAIROS’ Women of Courage, Living Courage tour was…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Lawsuits on mining-related abuses will test limits of Canadian law
July 7, 2011
Four groundbreaking lawsuits have been launched in Canada over the past two years by plaintiffs alleging that they or their family members suffered grave human rights violations linked to the activities of Canadian mining companies operating abroad. KAIROS is hopeful…
Post filed in: Africa, Ecological Justice
Women’s Rights : Instruments for Lasting Peace
May 14, 2011
‘Women’s Rights : Instruments for Lasting Peace’ contributes research and analysis to the KAIROS Women of Courage Initiative , a program of research, education, networking and advocacy to promote women’s rights and support women’s rights defenders in the global South….
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
KAIROS commentary on demonstrations in the Middle East and North Africa
February 4, 2011
From Tunisia to Sudan, political change is sweeping across the Middle East and North Africa
Post filed in: Africa
What’s next for Sudan?
January 16, 2011
Voting wound up Saturday afternoon in Southern Sudan’s referendum on self-determination. A local singer in Juba referred to this entire process as simply “doing the paper work” of secession. It’s true, the result may be foregone. But now that voting…
Post filed in: Africa
An inspiring story from Sudan
January 14, 2011
I read the article below in the Juba Post this morning. It’s one story of many, but it’s similar to what we witnessed at a couple of polling centres over the last week and I think it’s worth excerpting here:…
Post filed in: Africa
Inside an observation mission
January 13, 2011
There are only 2 days of voting left (assuming that the Referendum Commission doesn’t extend voting). Several observation teams are discussing preliminary statements, including the Carter Center and the EU. We are, as well. What to put in a statement…
Post filed in: Africa
Images from the Referendum in Southern Sudan
January 12, 2011
Posted are some images from the referendum on self-determination in Southern Sudan taking place January 9-15, 2011. Day One Yei Day Two Congo Road Day Three Maridi Road Day Four Juba Road ——————————————- John Lewis, KAIROS International Human Rights Coordinator,…
Post filed in: Africa
Self-determination: some questions remain
January 8, 2011
It’s hard not to get caught up in the enthusiasm the people of Juba feel for the coming days. Tomorrow, Jubans and their neighbours throughout Southern Sudan begin voting in a referendum on splitting up Sudan. In a few months,…
Post filed in: Africa
The virtue of patience: freedom and lost luggage
January 7, 2011
Good people have many virtues, including patience. By that account, the people of Southern Sudan must be good people. They have exercised remarkable patience over the last few decades, waging a struggle for independence which included 20 years of war…
Post filed in: Africa
SpOILer?
January 6, 2011
There is a lot of talk of oil in Juba. The referendum on splitting up the country which begins on Sunday will begin to clarify positions on who benefits from the considerable oil revenues of Sudan. It won’t be the…
Post filed in: Africa, Ecological Justice
Will there be blood?
January 5, 2011
It’s the question on everyone’s mind: will war break out after the referendum? The short answer is: I don’t know. And it’s possible, nobody does. The president of Sudan, Omar Al Bashir, was in town on Tuesday saying all the…
Post filed in: Africa
Juba, finally
January 5, 2011
After a journey that lasted too long (sailing up the Nile would have been quicker) I am in Juba, Southern Sudan. What is immediately apparent is that, if this town is going to become a new national capital (and it…
Post filed in: Africa
Sudan, Canada, and the struggle for self-determination
December 16, 2010
“Respect the outcome of the referendum, embrace peace and resist any call to return to war.” Women’s groups of Sudan, Khartoum, December 2010. 6 years is a long time to wait. But after six years of interim peace, the people…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
The Struggle for Mining Accountability Continues in the Wake of Bill C-300
October 28, 2010
KAIROS is deeply disappointed by the defeat of Bill C-300 at its third reading in the House of Commons. The private member’s bill, which would have created new mechanisms to hold Canadian mining, oil and gas companies accountable when they…
Post filed in: Africa, Asia-Pacific, Ecological Justice, Latin America
Sudanese and Canadian church support historic South Sudan self-determination referendum on January 9, 2011
October 10, 2010
South Sudan will hold an historic self-determination referendum on January 9, 2011 called for in the historic 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement ending the North-South civil war in Sudan. A Sudanese ecumenical delegation lead by the Sudan Council of Churches, a KAIROS-funded…
Post filed in: Africa
Update on the fate of Congolese human rights defender Golden Misabiko
October 6, 2010
On August 31st, KAIROS issued an urgent appeal for the release of Golden Misabiko, the 53-year-old President of the Katangan branch of the Association africaine de defense des droits de l’homme, ASADHO-Katanga, a respected Congolese human rights organization. Click here to…
Post filed in: Africa
The excitement builds: Our bags are packed. We’re ready to go.
August 13, 2010
It’s just two days before we leave on the Women of Courage delegation and the excitement is building. We just heard on Wednesday that Chantal Bilulu, our delegate from the Congo, received her visa from the Colombian Embassy in Nairobi…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Women of Courage gathering and delegation
July 20, 2010
From August 15–25, 2010, KAIROS partners and supporters from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Philippines and Canada will travel to Colombia as part of the KAIROS Women of Courage delegation. They’ll visit Colombian communities that face militarization and daily…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Reflections on returning from the Eastern tour
June 18, 2010
We have just arrived back from the Eastern tour. It has been such a privilege to accompany Naty and Isaiah over last few days. They are both powerful and inspirational speakers, able to convey the devastating impacts of climate change…
Post filed in: Africa, Latin America
Eastern Tour: St. John’s – Make It Right
June 14, 2010
The eastern leg of the “Not Business as Usual” tour kicked off in my home province of Newfoundland with a walk on the rocky beach at Middle Cove, a meal of fish and chips in Beachy Cove and a day…
Post filed in: Africa, Ecological Justice, Latin America
Another human rights defender killed in the Congo
June 4, 2010
(PDF version of this article) KAIROS is deeply saddened to learn of the death of Floribert Chebeya Bahizire earlier this week in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. Floribert was the executive director of La Voix des Sans-Voix (Voice of the…
Post filed in: Africa
Sudan Clings to Precarious Peace
May 6, 2010
“For the first time in 24 years, Sudan has held multiparty elections. The vote, which took place between April 11 and 15, fulfilled one of the key conditions of the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which ended Africa’s longest running…
Post filed in: Africa