UNANIMA: Archives: 2011 August

Registration DPI Conference

UNANIMA still has a couple of places available for any who might want to attend the conference in Bonn, Germany, from 3-5 September 2011. Information must be to Catherine to register prior to 10 August. The theme for the conference is “Sustainable Societies; Responsive Citizens”. UNANIMA and the International Presentation Association are co-sponsoring a workshop on sustainable communities which will take place on Sunday, 4 September.

Strategic Plan

In January 2011, officially the United Nations restructured its efforts on behalf of women: “This is a time of great promise,” said UN Women Executive Director Michelle Bachelet, formerly President of Chile. “We have a historic opportunity to accelerate the achievement of what champions of gender equality have worked towards for years.” The organization merges the work previously carried out by four separate UN entities: UNIFEM, the Division for the Advancement of Women, the Office of Special Advisor on Gender to the Secretary General, and the UN Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women INSTRAW). Since its inception, Michelle Bachelet has been leading the effort to develop a strategic plan to carry out the mission of the new entity which was formed to better focus efforts for women at the UN.

The UN Women board has chosen four areas of special focus for UN Women: violence against women, peace and security, leadership and participation, and economic empowerment. To learn more about what is included in each area and how activities will be carried out click here .

Migration Profiles

Kathie Uhler attended a UNITAR Workshop on Migration Profiles representing UNANIMA International on 30 June 2011. This work builds on the UNANIMA involvement in the Global Forum on Migration and Development that was held in Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) late last year. The Migration profiles represent a sustained, government owned, process of data gathering to evaluate the impact of migration policies and programs on development strategies. In the course of the session details about efforts in Argentina, Moldova and Ghana were discussed in detail.

Featuring the Society of the Holy Child Jesus

Foundress: Venerable Cornelia Connelly

The Society of the Holy Child Jesus is an international community of Catholic women religious who love and serve God in the spirit of the Society founded by Venerable Cornelia Connelly in 1846. The Holy Child Sisters are in North and South America, Europe and Africa.

Mission Statement “…to help others believe that God lives and acts in them and in our world, and to rejoice in the divine presence” (SHCJ Constitutions)

Motto ACTION NOT WORDS- a constant reminder that we Holy Child Sisters are called to be women of action not words!

What We Do

Cornelia Connelly founded a religious group of women who would strive always to respond to the needs of the time and in Cornelia’s words “meet the wants of the age”. Today. Holy Child Sisters carry out their mission to respond to the pressing needs of the world in many ways. Among them are: gender discrimination, empowerment of women and men, ecological issues and welfare of the planet, ecumenical ventures to promote unity, refugees and immigrants.

Some of our special projects and programmes

• Empowerment Programs like Skills training at the Cornelia Connelly Centre in Chad, Summer programs in Bolgatanga, Ghana, Cardoso Catholic Community Multi-faceted Project in Ajegunle, Nigeria, Microlending scheme in the American province for community development, housing and small business projects to provide low- interest loans to the less-privileged.

• Fight for Human Rights, Refugees and Immigrants – Casa Cornelia Law Centre in San Diego, CA (USA) a public interest law firm provides quality pro bono legal representations to thousands of victims of human and civil rights violation globally.

• Care of the Earth and EcoSpirituality – In the American province, this group offers retreat that is open to all. Anyone who wishes to receive ESG e-mailings, can join the list by sending an e-mail to Sr. Terri Mackenzie,SHCJ

• The EcoSpirituality Group in the US, through Terri Mackenzie,SHCJ, has written a program “I Thirst: A Lenten Journey From Desert To Garden” a five-meeting program for individuals or groups during Lent used by groups from the US to India.

• In Europe, Holy Child Sisters work in partnership with the ‘Transition Movement’ that is concerned with reducing energy use, creating alternative energy sources locally, producing more food locally, thereby reducing transport costs and carbon footprints.

• A Holy Child Sister, Sr. Teresa Okure, represents the Catholic Church on the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) and also in Africa, some of the Sisters are actively involved with the Ecumenical Association Of Third World Theologians (EATWOT)

• Holy Child Sisters work closely with COSUDOW, ( an NGO set up to fight against the trade of trafficking in persons by the Major Superiors Conference of Women Religious In Nigeria).

Full report can be found by SHCJ Full report