UPDATE

November 2006

 Anti-Demand Campaign:  The Steering Committee for UNANIMA International’s anti-demand campaign has
 worked with a draft of a vision statement for the campaign developed by Patricia Mulhall, CSB.  Soon we will
 have  consult with members internationally prior to finalizing the statement and moving ahead with the campaign.

 Poverty Forum:  To mark the end of the first United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty, the UN will hold an International Forum on the Eradication of Poverty from 15-16 November in New York.  The forum will identify the main challenges to be faced in the next decade to achieve the millennium development goal of eliminating extreme poverty for at least one half of the world’s population who lives on less than $1 a day.  The NGO subcommittee on the eradication of poverty in which UNANIMA International participates is one of the collaborating organizations.  We are the first generation to actually have the resources to achieve this goal.

 Commission on the Status of Women:  Although the Commission doesn’t happen until the end of February, UI is working now to prepare a delegation to carry the message of ways to eliminate discrimination and violence against girls.  Marie Zarowny, SSA, has been networking with the Mouvman Vin plis Moun in Haiti.  This movement works with and for Resteveks –children, mostly girls, exploited to do household work for wealthier families.  Our delegation will include the general coordinator of the movement Renise Alcé and a young women who was a restevek herself and is currently a monitor in the movement, Roodnir Joseph. 

 Through the work of the CCVs, the delegation will also have a young woman from Togo who works through the radio in her country to keep the people alert to the violence against girls there – particularly the violence in the schools.  Magnoudewa Pitekelabou will be accompanied by CCV Sister Covadonga Orejas who works to empower young people in Togo.

 Finally, we will have two women from Peru, Ana Maria Mamani Vilca, snjm, and María Soledad Cortez Santiago. They work with a program to teach non-violence in the family and will be giving a workshop during the Commission meeting.

 First Global Forum on Migration and Development set for July 2007 in Belgium
As we reported in September, with the start of the General Assembly, the governments held a high level dialogue on the issue of international migration.  To continue the work on these issues, Belgium has offered to host such a forum on Migration and Development in July 2007 in Brussels. Many European countries support the forum and would like NGO input. Hence, Belgium is also willing to hold a separate meeting for NGOs prior to the actual forum. UNANIMA members who live in Europe and might be interested in attending the NGO meeting prior to the forum are invited to communicate with their congregation’s representative on the UNANIMA International board.

 New Web Page
We have posted a new page on the web site listing the representatives and staff of UNANIMA International along with their pictures.