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MMS UN News Letter -Feb

Dear Sisters, Associates/Friends

You are receiving this news letter through our renewed website      www.mms-un.org. Thanks to Mr. Colin Benko, the efficient Computer Volunteer.

6 to 15 Feb: Commission for Social Development: The 51st session of the United Nations Commission for Social Development was held at UN Headquarters in New York. The priority theme this year was “promoting empowerment of people in achieving poverty eradication, social integration and full employment and decent work for all.” Particular attention is also given to the empowerment of vulnerable groups, such as people with disabilities, youth, the elderly, and others. On the previous day, a Civil Society Forum had been convened by the NGO committee on Social Development, with a well prepared declaration to the Commission. Many of us used it as a tool for advocacy during the session. We got a chance to deliver a 3 minute oral intervention too. (Posted in our …

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Medical Mission Sisters Statement to the UN

Oral Statement for CSocD 51,by Celine Paramunda the  representative  of Society of Catholic Medical Missionaries, an Ngo in special consultative status with ECOSOC. Our members are present in 5 continents involved in achieving health and other MDGs .

 Madam Chair, distinguished delegates,ladies and gentle men,

 Mahatma Gandhi’s words are relevant even today, ‘the world has enough for everyone’s need, but not enough for everyone’s greed”. One of the main challenges for social development is lack of resources/revenues to the governments. In order to tackle poverty, we need to address some of its root causes.  Third World Resurgence 2012 gives us following evidences where the money is going and where our attention needs to be focused to.

Last Nov members of the British Parliament were shocked at a report by Reuters that the Starbucks chain had paid no corporate income tax over the previous 3 years despite sales of1.2 billion …

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MMS & UN Newsletter – Vol. #2 January 2013

Dear Sisters, Associates and Friends, warm Greetings from the cold US!
 
The UN Call for action : 1.UNICEF and UN women have released an online news letter on the Global Consultation on Inequalities, now available for comments/discussions in Jan/Feb. For more info:-
http://uncsd.iisd.org/news/unicef-un-women-launch-newsletter-on-inequalities-consultation/
 
2. Global Campaign to change the culture of food waste initiated by UNEP & FAO:-1.3 Billion Tons of food wasted or lost each year, which is sufficient to feed the hungry.  More info: www.Think,Eat,Save . Nearly one-third of the people in Bangladesh lack access to nutritious food, and nongovernmental organizations in the country are seeking to hold the government accountable for food scarcity through a constitutional amendment.

3. The UN has started a my world project  : an online voting to get the feed back from global citizens on what they feel should be the top priorities, policies and  focus of a post- 2015 global …

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Our Violent Economy is Hurting Women

Violence against women is as old as patriarchy.

Traditional patriarchy has structured our worldviews and mindsets, our social and cultural worlds, on the basis of domination over women and the denial of their full humanity and right to equality. But it has intensified and become more pervasive in the recent past. It has taken on more brutal forms, like the murder of the Delhi gang rape victim and the recent suicide of a 17-year-old rape victim in Chandigarh.

In India, rape cases and cases of violence against women have increased over the years. The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reported 10,068 rape cases in 1990, which increased to 16496 in 2000. With 24,206 cases in 2011, rape cases jumped to incredible increase of 873 percent from 1971 when NCRB started to record cases of rape. And Delhi has emerged as the rape capital  of India, accounting for 25 percent of …