Justice & Peace Workers' Bulletin

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June – October 2010, No.2

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A Silent Moment

What’s Going On in Asia?
Australia	JPC- Brisbane’s Initiatives Promoting the Message of Peace
Sri Lanka	Holistic Wellness: Rehabilitation Program for Survivor families of Torture, Prisoners and Disappeared
Regional	JPW Meeting 2010
	Justice and Peace Action Workshop 2010

Issues of Concern/Events

· Ex-detainee Vincent Cheng Barred from Speaking in History Seminar (Singapore)

· Garment Workers’ Strike for Wage Adjustment (Cambodia)

· Ankor Wat May Collapse (Cambodia)

· Who Celebrates the Victory of War? (Sri Lanka)

· A Day Conversing Concern on Women living in Rural Area

Listen to the Peoples

· 13-year-old Girl Got LKR 100,000 Bail for Stealing LKR 5

· Prayer for the Upcoming Election in Myanmar

· Advocating for Creation

Justice and Peace Resources

· UNIFEM Releases Video Series

· Regional Forum for Human Rights Defenders and Women Human Rights Defenders

· Wiki Space of JPIC Formation

A Silent Moment

Prayer for peace

The suffering of Cambodia has been deep.
From this suffering comes Great Compassion.

Great Compassion makes a Peaceful Heart.
A Peaceful Heart makes a Peaceful Person.
A Peaceful Person makes a Peaceful Family.
A Peaceful Family makes a Peaceful Community.
A Peaceful Community makes a Peaceful Nation.
And a Peaceful Nation makes a Peaceful World.

May all beings live in Peace and Happiness.

By Venrable Maha Ghosananada

(A prayer shared in JPW Meeting 2010 by Bob Maat,
a former Jesuit who has stayed in Cambodia for 30 years and have been attending the Peace Walks in the Country.)

“Wheel of Peace”- Stone craving in

the Mindol Metta Karuna Reflection Center

What’s Going on in Asia

Australia

JPC- Brisbane’s Initiatives Promoting the Message of Peace

On the last Sunday in September each year, the Australian Church celebrates Social Justice Sunday to remind Catholics of their responsibility to be engaged in action for justice. In conjunction with this special day, the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference issues an annual Social Justice Sunday Statement.

This year, the Bishops’ Statement, “Violence in Australia: A Message of Peace”, encourages Catholics to respond to the many forms of violence in Australia by embracing Jesus’ radical message of peace.

The Archdiocese of Brisbane’s Catholic Justice and Peace Commission seeks to promote the Statement in Catholic parishes in its Archdiocese by meeting locally with representatives of deaneries (regional groupings of parishes within the Archdiocese). Participants studying the document are provided with a briefing on associated resources and are offered possibilities for action in response to the Statement.

The Australian Bishops’ Statement is appropriately written in a “See-Judge-Act” format. It first briefly outlines the nature and level of violence in Australia, including various forms of structural violence. It then reflects on this violence and how Christians respond by considering Jesus’ non-violent, peace-making action. Finally, the Statement asks a series of questions which lead the reader to consider how she might be a peacemaker within her own life, her family, her community and nationally. The document is available at <http://www.socialjustice.catholic.org.au/>

While the Brisbane Archdiocesan meetings certainly seek to ensure that as many parishes as possible promote the Statement and reflect on it at parish Eucharistic celebrations on Social Justice Sunday, the meetings also aim to develop long-term working relationships between the Commission and parishes.

With this in mind, the Commission has offered to work with parishes to develop local initiatives which respond to the challenge of the Statement. One of the ways it can assist parishes in this objective is to connect parishes with organisations which offer further opportunities for raising awareness and developing skills. Specifically in relation to the topic of this year’s Statement, the Commission has started a dialogue with the Franciscan organisation, Pace e Bene, so that the resources and training opportunities it offers might be made available to parishes wanting to help Catholics to become active, non-violent peacemakers.

The Brisbane Commission is enthusiastic about the possibilities this collaboration offers. The skills which Catholics could develop through participation in the Pace e Bene training programs will enable them to initiate action on a range of issues in the community from domestic violence and school bullying to tensions between different ethnic groups in the community and the oppressive treatment of Australia’s Indigenous people.

Source: Peter Arndt ( the Justice and Peace Commission- Brisbane)

Sri Lanka

“Holistic wellness” - Rehabilitation Program for Survivor families of Torture, Prisoners and Disappeared

Human Rights Office – Kandy organized a 3-day programme on 24 - 26 September 2010 at Monte Fano Retreat House, Ampitiya, for 50 members of survivor families from several provinces.

With the theme of “Holistic wellness”, the programme broadened the concept well-being, which covers the well-being of a person physically, mentally and spiritually.

Another focus of the program was to empower the participants to help each other. This time, five couples were trained as family counselors to support survivor families by rebuilding their family units and reconnecting family bonds.

“Knowledge shared brings fulfillment” was greatly experienced by the participants especially when a participant, who was released from prison about 2 months ago, volunteered to teach scientific dressmaking for the group. His attempt was greatly appreciated by others.

Source: Fr. Nandana (Human Rights Office-Kandy)

Regional

JPW Meeting 2010 “Network-Building to Overcome Violence”

The 8 th Networking Meeting of Justice and Peace Workers Asia Pacific Forum was held on 6-10 September 2010 in Cambodia. With the theme of “Network-Building to Overcome Violence”, 43 participants, including religious and laity from justice and peace commissions and affiliated groups in Asia-Pacific region, learnt about the violence in the past and the restoration of peace in the country through visitation to the Killing Fields, Toul Sleng (the secondary school turned into an interrogation centre where Khmer Rouge tortured and killed millions people) and Banteay Prieb (shelter workshop for landmine victims and polio victims run by the Jesuits).

The sharing and discussion sessions took place at the Mindol Metta Karuna Reflection Centre in Siem Reap. Starting with the welcome mass by Bishop Kike of Battamgbang, in which he preached on gospel of Luke 6:12-19, saying Jesus chose his 12 apostles who were ordinary people to carry on his work, thus we were also called as ordinary people to continue his work on earth.

To strengthen the solidarity, participants shared the issues faced by the locals in different countries and identified commonalities and differences of issues in different places. Five thematic groups are formed to circulate resources and develop the capacity of JPW network to deal with the violence. They are Land, Cluster Bombs, Minority People, Women and Migrant workers.

The Co-organizing Team for JPW Meeting 2012 was also formed and the Meeting will be held in Sri Lanka.

Source: excerpts of Meeting Report, prepared by Bernadette Lau (Caritas Singapore) and Gloria Bon (Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Sisters- Malaysia)

Justice and Peace Action Workshop 2010

The ideas of “Justice and Peace” may not be strange to Catholics but often, it may have been narrowly understood as social action, direct action or action on political issues. Although a just structure is essential for a peaceful society, the work for Justice and Peace is not only about socio-political issues, but ranges from public sphere to private life.

While Hong Kong people’s awareness of social justice is rising, it is a time to reflect on our response to injustices so as to improve the skills of justice and peace work in future. Thus Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples organized a 2-day Justice and Peace Action Workshop in July 2010 for local people in Hong Kong.

In the Workshop, participants practiced strategizing for actions through different exercises such as Causal Tree Analysis, role-plays, flow charts, etc.

The Workshop expected to broaden participants’ understanding on “strategizing”, from a tactical level to an integral approach to eliminate injustices effectively.

Participants found that which kind of action to be taken in response to injustices was mainly based on their understanding of the problem and its causes; however, symptoms were easily mistaken as root causes.

During the workshop participants from different backgrounds shared how they started be involved in justice and peace work and also on their prospects, struggles and confusions in their journey.

Here are some comments from the participants:

As an IT guy, your sensibility, interest and concern on social issues would really blunt by the work in a private sector. This workshop energizes me again.

During the Workshop, we tried to judge on what we see, especially through mass media, but the fact we see may not be true. Thanks to the workshop, I learned how to break down and analyze an issue, to think wide enough and deep enough.

Kwan Lam

Ice cream, political development in HK, oppression of political activities in Singapore, watermelon, role paying, small group discussion, ways to advance social peace and justice…… The Workshop which took place in July has passed a few months, but all these things are still in my mind. Although I just knew about the Workshop coincidentally and have no expectation of it, I got the chance to discuss in depth with the others about social peace and justice during the Workshop. I realized that to make people concern about the society, not only on the economic, but also the political, structural and people’s livelihood, , vigorous [direct?] actions are not the only way. For example, I can make use of my occupation to affect people around me. I hope that ACPP can establish a platform for people to practice justice and peace in future, so that we can work on something meaningful for the society.

Diki Chan

Source: Wanyu (Asian Center for the Progress of Peoples)

Issues of Concern/Events

Ex-detainee Vincent Cheng Barred from Speaking in History Seminar (Singapore)

Vincent Cheng, the speaker at the "Remember May 21st"- the commemoration event of “Operation Specturm” last year, was prohibited from speaking at the National University of Singapore (NUS) History Seminar, themed as “Singapore's History: Who Writes the Script” held on 4 June at the National Library.

The organizer NUS History Society has apologized to Mr. Cheng and offered to read his speech at the event. Cheng responded that he was not surprised and was looking forward to speaking in another occasion.

NUS History Seminar 2010 also invited Yong Mun Cheong and Dr. Loh Kah Seng and Mrs. Jean Marshall to speak in the event.

Vincent Cheng was arrested in “Operation Spectrum” on 22 May 1987, in which 16 members associated with Catholic Organization for justice and peace and human rights were charged under Internal Security Act. JPW Bulletin 2009 No.2 < http://acpp.org/jpwb/jpwb0902.htm#Singapore> also covered the incident and its commemoration event.

Source: NUS History Society (http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=119761384725642&ref=mf)

Garment Workers’ Strike for Wage Adjustment (Cambodia)

Garment factory workers launched a 4-day strike on 13-16 September 2010 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, with participation of workers from the Coalition of Cambodian Apparel Workers Democratic Unions (C-CAWDU), the National Independent Federation of Textile Unions of Cambodia (NIFTUC) and 13 other unions. They demanded from employers a wage adjustment to meet the minimum living standards.

Garment Workers Attacked

It was reported that protestors have been subjected to different forms of harassment by the government officials, such as physical attacks, legal threats against organizers, and the court-sponsored retaliation against union members.

Leaders of the strike were threatened to be investigated. Some of the courts called for workers who led the strike to be suspended from their work pending an investigation too. About 92 union workers were ordered from different courts to be suspended from their work. Active union members were under work suspension of their factories. These actions taken by the government violate of Article 12 of the Cambodian Labour Law, which prohibits discrimination against union members.

Negotiation Commission

On 16 September 2010, the Minister of Social Affairs, Veteran & Youth Rehabilitation, Ith Sam Heng, proposed a meeting between the government and union representatives to be held on 27 September 2010. Union leaders then accepted this proposal and called for workers to suspend the strike and go back to work. However, the intimidation and threats from the government have not stopped.

Although the estimation of the number of protestors varied, both unionists and government officials stated that more and more workers joined the walkout as it went on.

Union and factory representatives met with government officials on 27 September, agreeing to establish a commission, with five members each representing from workers and manufacturers, in order to reach an agreement over monthly income.

Unionists also prompted some major clothing distributors, including the Walt Disney Company and Levi Strauss, to issue a call for reconciliation.

“We urge all parties to respect the process and engage in good faith dialogue to find a solution, show commitment to constructive action for a long term solution and refrain from any inflammatory action or counterproductive rhetoric, and find a solution that is inclusive of all parties’ concerns and provides a long term stability for the industry,” they wrote in a letter to the government, unions and the Garment Manufacturers' Association in Cambodia.

On 7 October 2010, the Prime Minister called for the companies to drop all law suits against union leaders and come back to the negotiation table. However, most of the workers dismissed after joining the strike are still outside the factory. The companies refused to reinstate their jobs.

Textile industry is Cambodia’s third-biggest foreign currency earner, employing an estimated 300,000 of Cambodia's 13.4 million populations who are also bread winner of the families in the rural area.

A report stated that the average living cost in Phnom Penh is USD91 per month while according to the Cambodia Institute of Development Study, Cambodian workers need at least USD72 per month to survive with about $57 for basic needs and another USD15 for their dependents. Although the figures varied, the renewed statutory minimum wage obviously failed to meet the workers’ basic needs. In July 2010, the four-year-old minimum wage of USD55 was raised to USD61 and would not be adjusted until2014.

Sources: Community Legal Education Center, Truthout and VOAnew.com.

Ankor Wat May Collapse (Cambodia)

When we were enjoying the environment in Siem Reap, where the JPW Networking Meeting 2010 was held, the place was under an imminent threat of the rapid and unregulated development of tourism.

The ancient temples, Ankor Wat, was established on a base of sand, kept firm by a constant supply of groundwater that rises and falls with the seasons, but which is now being used to supply hotels and city nearby.

Water has become a precious commodity in Siem Reap, particularly during the dry seasons, when tourist number are highest.

“If we pump too much water, the ground water goes down…… we will have a problem with the sand layer under the temple, so the temple can collapse,” according to the Cambodian government‘s Ankor conservation body.

Although there are no sign of the temple collapsing, new measures are needed to protect the heritage and the environment. Visitors also have responsibility to respect the place and treasure the water and other resources there.

Source: The Guardian in Siem Reap through South China Morning Post (local daily in Hong Kong)

Who Celebrates the Victory of War? (Sri Lanka)

18 June 2010 has been declared as a public holiday by the Sri Lankan government to celebrate the victory of the 3-decade long civil war. It is worth thinking, not only Sri Lankans but international community, what has the “victory” brought to the country and peoples and who benefits most from the “victory”. Here is a summary of articles on the post-war situation.

Everyone in the Country?

Tamils in the country, especially in the North, are grieving and mourning for family members and friends injured, detained, disappeared and killed. Tamils were easily framed as members of Liberation Tamils Tiger of Eelam (LTTE) and thus falsely charged of threatening State’s security, especially in the last few months of the war. Perpetuators have not been held accountable for the loss of innocent lives.

Commemorations for the civilians who died in the war were threatened to be stopped. While in some cases, clergy who organized commemorations were taken to the military quarters for questioning; some clergy were told not to organize the event for sake of their families’ safety. On 17 May 2010, Nallur Temple in Jaffna, a venue of an inter-religious event, was surrounded by the police and military. People who came to take part in the event were simply told to leave or participate with leaving their personal details in police record. A priest who wanted to build a small and simple monument for civilians killed was warned by the army to stop.

Media and information Minister Keheliya Rambukwella explained in a Media discussion at the Ministry auditorium in May that official of the government has explicated that the Tamil people have a right to light a candle and commemorate their children and kith and kin who died in the war and perform religious rites, but they cannot be allowed to make a public campaign of it.

The threats of commemoration activities have not only deteriorated the reconciliation within the country but also violated the rights to freedom of religion and expression.

Survivors of the War?

A Catholic community has observed the predicaments of the war affected families as follows:

“More than10,000 people in both North and South have died and many have lost their bread winners, and so many have been disabled. More than a million have been displaced or lost their original place of abode. People below the age of 30 have lived their whole life in a war affected zone in the North and East. Some children have never seen a formal school. Many have been in refugee camps for a long time. All these families have undergone very difficult times in bearing such agonies.”

People have been eagerly waiting for the rehabilitation and reconciliation programme to restore freedom, human rights and justice in the country. Instead they saw the deteriorating justice and criminal system and centralizing state’s power.

Authorities?

Under the current Government, with President of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his relatives in most of the major positions in the government, the 18th Amendment Bill has been hastily enacted on 8 September 2010, bypassing the constitutional procedure of legislation.

Although the Government argued that the Amendment was essential to strengthen and enlarge the democratic and sovereign rights of the people, it has first diminished the check and balance system of the government. According to the Amendment, the President can seek re-election any number of times and is entitled with all the privileges, immunities and powers of a Member of Parliament, including voting. Moreover, a few independent commissions within the governmental structure are to be under the authority of the President.

So far, except for the United States (US), no other countries have reacted to the amendment. The Rajapaksa government has declined remarks of US and declared that this was an internal Sri Lankan affair.

Peace does not mean absence of the war but realization of well-being of individuals and their communities. Although the civil war has ended one and half year ago, the victory for all the peoples in the country still has a long way to go.

Sources: Groundviews, the Lankaenews and Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka

A Day Conversing Concern on Women Living in Rural Area

International Day of Rural Women

Every year 15 October, celebrations and events were held in more than 100 countries around the world to magnify rural women’s voice in public. It is the International Day of Rural Women! The International Day was established in 1995 during the 4th United Nations World Conference on Women. Since 1997, empowerment programmes are organized by the Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF) annually. WWSF also sent an open letter to rural women with different topics every year. The open letters did not only bring public’s attention to rural women but also invite groups, committees and NGOs to highlight the situation of rural women according to local context.

Claim Your Right and Your Daughter’s Right to Education

Recognizing education is a fundamental work to overcome poverty and other hardship in rural women’s life, this year, the WWSF has highlighted the rights to education as theme of the open letter. The letter also shared the inspiring story of the laureate of the WWSF Prize for Women’s Creativity in Rural Life, Narmada Baldeva Gond. As an Adivasi woman who has never received a formal education, she has become a community leader who empowers people to protect the land by non-violent means.

Copy of the letter could be found at:

<http://www.woman.ch/uploads/15oct/WWSF-15Oct.2010-E-Openletter.pdf>

“For your daughters, make sure they have equal opportunities to attend and learn in school. ……For you, seek out and attend formal or informal trainings to learn or improve your knowledge of skills useful to you and your community – including literacy. …… Do not let any lack of formal education stop you: you can do great things.”

From “Open Letter 2010”

Rural Women is not only an issue about women but also related to many other issues, such as land, environment, political participation, etc. Please find out more information at < http://www.woman.ch/index.php?page=poster-open-letter-2009&hl=en_US>, may you also find possibility of collaboration.

Source: Sr. Sutisa (Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Sisters)

Listen to the Peoples

13-years-old Girl Got LKR 100,000 Bail for Stealing LKR 5

13-year old girl was found holding 5 Rupees in her hand when Ramyalatha returned home and heard some noise under her bed. Ramyalatha called the Thebuwana police station of Kalutatara district and reported that the little girl has stolen 5 Rupees but nothing else. The police arrested the little girl and sent her to court. The little girl was later released on LKR100,000 surety bail.

Although theft is unacceptable, the bail order is unreasonably huge comparing to what has been stolen. Why would she steal LKR 5 if she was able to pay the bail? What the case has revealed is not only the irrationality of the court but also many other children in the country who have fallen in the same predicament as the girl did.

The little girl arrested was the only child remaining in the family when the other 2 sisters were sent to a children’s home. Her father has committed suicide after suffering for a long time with cancer. With the partly paralyzed mother, the little girl can only live on donations from others.

Dramatic however, the story of the little girl is not a rare case in Kalutara district. In the past few months, there have been mothers who threw their children to Kaluganga River as they cannot afford the very minimum needs of living.

Rather than the girl who stole money because of no choices, the structural violence which forces people to do wrong or death should be accused of the crime.

Source: Ravaya’s article in a local newspaper, translated and edited by Fr. Nandana

Prayer for the Upcoming Election in Myanmar

Dear RVA Listeners, Dear friends who love Myanmar, I wish you the Grace of Peace in your hearts!

I believe that everyone is eagerly waiting the 7th of November this year. We should! We ought to look forward to that! Everyone, who wants to promote justice, liberty and development of the country, is interested in that.

It is the responsibility of every citizen to choose and to have the authentic leaders of the country. Likewise, every citizen has immense responsibility to promote peace and development of the country. We, who are advancing to a systematic democracy without partiality of race or religion, can obtain any position of the Government. We have to serve our country in any position for peace and development of the country. Blessed are those who [in]spire the higher position in order to serve the country.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of Myanmar (CBCM) and Myanmar Council of Churches (MCC) have sent a prayerful greeting to our Senior General Than Shwe. The main points are as follows:

1. We are glad that you have fixed the date of the General Election

2. All Christian Churches are always praying for the country

3. We are praying that there may be justice, freedom, peace and development in our country

4. Since the Election Day, 7 November 2010, Sunday, is the Sabbath day for Christians, we will be praying for the success of this General Election.

The CBCM and MCC have sent a joint letter exhorting to all Christians. The main points are as follows:

· Lift up your prayers for the country because there is no impossibility with God.

· You are responsible especially to choose the representatives who promote justice, liberty, equality, unity and development of the country.

· Learn to elect accurately and responsibly in accordance with the principles of the General Election.

· Since it is written as a free election, there should be no compulsion, no perjury, no bribery, no threat

Dear People of God, despite praying unceasingly, all the lay people and Christians are responsible to get involved in politics. Every citizen is expected to be in service for the good of the country. This is the inevitable duty. Everyone can choose anybody in any party. This is the disciplined democracy. As bishops, priests and religious, we will pray for the election and encourage you; however, we do not have a right to speak which party to choose. We could only guide the path to justice, liberty and unity; support truth and discourage falsity and injustice.

Dear People of God, everyone is responsible for peace in Myanmar which is a part of the world; to sow the seeds daily, namely, forgiveness, understanding and reconciliation. Everyday, everyone broadcasts the news: good news or bad news- words filled with aggression, revenge and gossip would make us pessimistic and negative signs, which will eliminate the unity.

In order to be optimistic and positive signs, let us be bearers of Good News: sowing the seeds of love, forgiveness and understanding as authentic children of God. May your aspirations for the country of Myanmar be a reality in near future.

Let’s keep the justice, liberty and development of the country in our prayers!

Responding to the Upcoming Elections, the first in the past 20 years, and possible concerns, Archbishop Charles Bo of Yangon has addressed this above message, which was broadcasted in Radio Veritas Asia.

Advocating for Creation

Echoing with the annual theme of the Archdiocese of Bombay, Pamela shared her experience of advocacy to stimulate the parishioners to think of more creative and effective actions to advance the betterment of the environment.

Before sharing her experience working with people suffering in pollution, Pamela affirmed the initiative to “care for creation”, by citing “A Call to Action” (Octogesima Adveniens, 1971) in which Pope Paul VI asked all Christian “accompanied for each individual by a livelier awareness of personal responsibility and by effective actions.”

Pamela related that “20 years ago, a village in Maharashtra suffered a serious pollution. What should we do at that time? Empathize or feel sorry about that? We chose the former. We carried out a fact-finding study, and used it to file a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on behalf of the villagers. Apart from that, we also focused on community building and educating the villagers about their rights. 14 years later, the villagers won in court. Also, an NGO was set up to focus on issues concerning the depletion and destruction of the earth’s resources and looking for sustainable living.

A lot of similar cases such as Narmada Valley Development Project, fishing villages along the coastline of Uttan, Gorai, Manori and ore-rich Orissa, people are being beaten, imprisoned, tortured and maimed for trying to resist a development leading to destruction of the earth’s limited resources. Many have lost their lives under the name of development but their spirit has not broken.”

Pamela concluded that “Advocacy can influence others and make changes. It is about building relationships and recognizing the interdependency of our relationships, which Jesus would expect from us.”

Here are Pamela’s suggestions for the action to the Parish:

• Look at the equity angle, the long-term effects of the destruction and the plight of the victims.

• Adopt the Rights Based Approach to analyze.

• Pledge an adequate budget for an ongoing plan.

• Form an advisory team to research and study.

• Think global, act local.

• Plan advocacy campaigns and strategies for different target groups

• Network with groups locally, nationally and internationally to make informed impact.

• Use the Catholic Social Teachings to ground all our efforts in Caring for Creation.

But, what is the best action to motivate more people to care for the creation and to protect the environment? Pamela said, “from my experience the answer is self-involvement, prayer and discernment about my role in the larger canvass because only when pushed in the water can we learn to swim!”

Source: Pamela (ACPP- Hotline India-Mumbai)

Justice and Peace Resources

UNIFEM Releases Video Series

In time for the UN (United Nations) Summit on the Millennium Development Goals 2010, United Nations Development Fund for Women, in collaboration with UNTV, has produced a series of five videos highlighting select MDGs from a gender perspective. Introduced by internationally renowned TV journalist Daljit Dhaliwal, all videos are now available for download in English, French, Spanish and Russian (all languages). <http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=1167>

Source: Sr. Sutisa (Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd Sister)

Regional Forum for Human Rights Defenders and Women Human Rights Defenders

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) has been holding the regional forum for human rights defenders and women human rights defenders (HRD Forum) every other year since 2001. This year, the HRD Forum, with theme of “Recognizing the Role of Human Rights Defenders and Women Human Rights Defenders in Strengthening and Building a Democracy”, will be held in Manila, Philippines, from 2-4 December 2010. The Forum is co-organized with the Task Force Detainees Philippines (TFDP), as convener of FORUM-ASIA members in the Philippines, and the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD-IC).

Application form is available on: https://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dHBRUWVlR0JnSldwdHM0cmtDdFFzVkE6MA or send a response to hrd@forum-asia.org. Please submit before 29 October 2010 (Friday). Subsidy is available upon approval. For more details, please call Mar or Sara at +66 2 653 2940 extension no. 705.

Source: The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development

Wiki Space of JPIC formation

The Wiki space of JPIC formation <http://jpicformation.wikispaces.com/> is a portal of JPIC Commission of the USG/UISG:

There you will find various resources for organizing Christian communities in spirit of JPIC, such as methodology, rationale and belief!

Moreover, booklets on different social issues prepared by working groups and the JPIC manual of the Franciscans (OFM) are also handy material kits for JPIC community organizing. Please go and start developing your communities in practice of JPIC!

Source: Fr. Francisco O'Connaire