EarthAction

Peace Educator and Engaged Buddhist Dr. Paula Green Dies Aged 84

The renowned and internationally respected American peace-builder, psychologist, educator, and engaged Buddhist Dr. Paula Green has died at the age of 84. She passed away on 21 February due to complications related to cancer.

Dr. Green, founder and executive director of the Karuna Center for Peacebuilding NGO, had 40 years’ experience as a psychologist and a peace educator and mentor in intergroup relations and conflict resolution. She was also on the National Council of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the steering committee of the International Network of Engaged Buddhists (INEB).

“Paula Green was very suddenly diagnosed with end-stage lung cancer, which spread throughout her body. She passed away last night,” shared INEB executive secretary Somboon Chungprampree. “This is very sad news. Paula has contributed so much over many years to the world and to our engaged Buddhist circles.” 

Dr. Green received plaudits and international recognition for her peace-building efforts in the Middle East and Bosnia, and was selected as one of the Unsung Heroes of Compassion award for 2009, which was presented to her by His Holiness the Dalai Lama in April of that year. The Unsung Heroes award is given to “individuals who, through their loving-kindness and service to others, have made their communities and our world a better place.” She also won the first-ever Prize for US Peacebuilding from the Alliance for Peacebuilding in 2018; the Outstanding Human Rights Activist Award from Kean University in 2015; the Psychology of Peace and Justice Prize from Psychologists for Social Responsibility in 2012; and the Leadership and Service as a Peacemaker Award from the Symposium for Engaged Buddhism in 2010.

“In my journey as a peace-builder, whether in my home country of the US or across the world in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe, I have been privileged to serve as a peace-builder, educator, and dialogue facilitator, partnering with courageous and resilient community leaders in some of the world’s most difficult circumstances,” Dr. Green stated about her work. “It has been my mission to encourage those separated by war, enmity, prejudices, or perceived differences to seek understanding, discover common ground, learn new skills, and increase their capacity to promote peaceful societies for the benefit of all.” (Paula Green)

Read more at Buddhistdoor.net

2018 EarthAction Report & Request

December 2018

 

Dear Friend of EarthAction,

Our current President and his allies, with their domestic and foreign policies, judicial appointments, rhetoric, insults, and name-calling have set our country and the world on a very dangerous course.

EarthAction has a key role to play in limiting the damage and getting the world back on track to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. That's why we need your support now, more than ever.

With your contributions over these last 26 years, EarthAction has made real progress in finding solutions to many of the world’s most pressing issues. Our work has helped to educate children around the world, provide health care to women, protect the lives of indigenous peoples and immigrants, stabilize our climate, and reduce the risk of chemical, biological and nuclear wars.

As one of our generous friends, you have—and will continue to play—a critical role in changing our national and global political landscape forever. I urge you to make a donation that will enable us to continue and expand our work in 2019.

There is so much more we can do, with your help. This is the time of year when many of us make our most meaningful donations to help change the world. I hope you’ll include EarthAction on your list of causes to support. Click here to contribute on our website, or send a check to EarthAction, PO Box 63, Amherst, MA 01004. Please make the most generous gift you can.

EarthAction remains unique in its ability to build global political will and create positive solutions on such a wide diversity of issues. Whenever there are opportunities to make change towards a world with more peace, justice, and environmental protection, we are at work making sure people understand the issues, appreciate what’s at stake, and know how to add their voice for change.

Your support is what makes it possible.

With gratitude for your generosity,

Lois Barber
Co-Founder & Executive Director

 

P.S.  Can't help spilling the beans a little … as you'll read in our EarthAction 2018 Campaign Report, Best Climate Solutions has given its 2018 International Award to our Climate Scorecard Spotlight Project for our “effectiveness in Communicating Climate Change Threats and Opportunities.” I'm very proud and very grateful for your help to make this possible. This is one more example of what we're doing together for democracy, peace, and the environment. Your donation today will help us continue that critical work in 2019. Click here to donate. Many thanks.

UN Secretary-General to release new disarmament initiative on Women's Day for Peace and Disarmament

On May 24, United Nations Secretary-General Antóio Guterres will release Securing our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament, a new initiative to address the humanitarian impact of armed conflict and the increased threats from arms races, international tensions and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

The UNSG will release the agenda at a special event at the University of Geneva which will be live-streamed, making it possible to watch the UNSG's presentation and follow-up discussion on your smartphone, laptop or computer.

May 24 is also the Women's International Day for Peace and Disarmament. Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND) are using the occasion to release Common security for a sustainable and nuclear-weapon-free world, a joint parliamentary statement commemorating the day and supporting the UNSG's initiative.

The statement, which has been endorsed by leading female parliamentarians from around the world, call for 'diplomacy, conflict resolution, common security and law to address security issues, rather than the threat or use of force.'

It notes that 'The United Nations was established with an array of mechanisms through which nations can resolve conflicts, negotiate disarmament and achieve security through diplomacy not war. These have been supplemented by additional common security mechanisms such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe. We urge governments to make better use of these common security mechanisms, and especially to replace reliance on nuclear deterrence with reliance on common security.'

175th birthday of Nobel Peace Laureate Bertha von Suttner

The joint parliamentary statement also highlights the 17th anniversary birthday of Bertha von Suttner, the author of Lay Down Your Arms and the first woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.

'As women legislators (current and former) from around the world we are inspired by peace visionaries like Berta von Suttner to reach beyond our national borders and different political persuasions to embrace the common interest of all humanity for peace and disarmament.'

Follow-on from Ban Ki-moon's nuclear disarmament initiative

PNND and UNFOLD ZERO actively promoted former UNSG Ban Ki-moon's Five-Point Proposal for Nuclear Disarmament which was supported worldwide and was influential in advancing a framework for a nuclear-weapon-free world.

It is hoped that the new initiative of Antóio Guterres will be even more influential in moving the international community to step back from militarism and war, and to replace this with more comprehensive use of law, diplomacy and common security.

READ MORE AT UNFOLD ZERO

Handcarts vs. Drudgery

Photo from KoruCarts Facebook Page

Some 40 million people (mostly women and children) frequently carry heavy loads, often to the detriment of their health, security, education and development (UNDP). 37% of Africa's population is at least 30 minutes away from a water source (WEDO).

Many organisations are drilling for water, and providing pumps closer to communities, though this can produce mechanical and social problems of its own. The water must still be contained and carried, often more frequently than before.

What can we do to reduce the load-carrying drudgery that is impeding progress for so many?

Supermarkets provide us with shopping carts so we can easily gather and carry our goods. Would it not be reasonable and appropriate, if the load-carriers were provided with their own form of shopping cart, a durable handcart?

Unfortunately, such handcarts are rarely available in areas where they are most needed, and wheelbarrows make a poor substitute.

Non-profit KoruCarts were created to - 

• Design and test a range of suitable and acceptable handcarts.
• Provide handcart-related advise and technical services.
• Promote the concept of handcart distribution for developmental purposes.
• Establish partnerships with governments and humanitarian organisations.

We now offer a range of handcart designs that you can import or have made locally.

This is the steel KoruCart Alpha model, which can be made in four capacities and wheel sizes -

Other styles and materials are available, including sheet-metal and wickerwork.

Please consider how EarthAction and KoruCarts could defeat drudgery, using handcarts.

You can contact KoruCarts at korucarts@gmail.

READ MORE

 

World Future Council Calls for Better Protection of Refugee Women and Children

Credit: World Future Council

On Monday, 19 September, for the first time in the history of the United Nations, Heads of States and Governments will address the large movements of refugees and migrants at a high-level summit during the General Assembly. The milestone event aims to strengthen governance of international migration and create a more humane and coordinated system.

More than 21 million people were forced to leave their countries in 2015, over half of whom are under the age of 18. In just five years, the number of child refugees has risen by 77 per cent, while the proportion of women refugees reached 47% in 2015.

María Fernanda Espinosa, Ambassador of Ecuador to the United Nations in Geneva and Co-Chair of the Ending Violence against Women and Girls Commission, World Future Council, says: “Refugee women and children face various security risks at every stage of their journey. They are still not sufficiently protected and often do not even find adequate support, such as psychosocial assistance, in their destination countries. We therefore call on world leaders to tackle this serious challenge and take effective and binding measures to ensure the safety of refugee women and children.”

In an appeal to the governments and institutions of the world published in March 2016, the World Future Council called for rigorous measures to protect refugee women and children from violence. The WFC is currently putting together a report on best practices to protect refugee women and children against violence to promote existing and proven practices. The report is expected to be published at the end of the year.

Thanks to the World Future Council for this post. For more information, visit the WFC website. Contact your president or prime minister today and ask him or her to do everything possible to protect the lives of refugees, especially the lives of women and children.

Today is International Women's Day!

9 things you can do on International Women's Day  Today, March 8, is International Women's Day (#IWD2016), first celebrated in 1909. In recent years, the annual event has gained recognition, giving a chance to celebrate achievements in the women's movement and to inspire further progress through both local and international action. The 2016 theme for International Women’s Day is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality."   While too many women all over the word still suffer from violence and rights abuses, it is important to recognize the amazing work Indigenous women are doing in making change happen in all realms of life and in claiming their rights and transforming violence into power and action.    On International Women's Day stand in solidarity with women.  1. Read our issue of the Cultural Survival Quarterly devoted to Indigenous women.      2. Celebrate some of the amazing Indigenous women working to make change happen around the world, like Olga Montúfar Contreras.  Share their inspiring stories #IWD2016.      3. Read UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigeous Women's Report on Indigneous Women and Girls According to a report released in September 2015 from United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Indigenous women all over the world experience a “broad, multifaceted and complex spectrum of mutually reinforcing human rights abuses” due to their particular position of vulnerability amongst patriarchal power structures. Also, read the Special Rapporteur's presentation on on strengthening indigenous women's access to justice and protection against violence.        4. Listen and Share Radio Programs by and about Indigenous Women.  6 spots available on the World Conference of Indigenous Women (English) Ta'Kaiya Blaney speaks on the environment (English)     5. Learn about Indigenous Women's Rights.   Watch and share this video by Asia Indigenous Peoples' Pact.              6. Learn about how to use the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women         7. Learn about the epidemic of murdered and missing Indigenous women. Over 800 Aboriginal women have gone missing or been murdered in Canada in the past 20 years, and their cases are rarely investigated by police. Read Amnesty International's report Stolen Sisters, a report on violence against Indigenous women in Canada.    8. Watch this video on Maasai women's perspective on land rights.     9. Visit the UN Women's Day website.   Find out how to get into the conversation via Twitter and other forms of social media. #IWD  #IWD2016  #WomensDay  #internationalwomen'sday        Thanks to Cultural Survival for these materials.

"Info Ladies" in Bangladesh Bring Info to Ladies

Photo of bicycling "info ladies" courtesy of The Guardian 

For many in Bangladeshi villages, a computer is something they may not have seen until recent years.  Now they have access Internet thanks to women known as “info ladies” who bring Internet to these villages by bicycles.

These info ladies bike into Bangladeshi villages and provide thousands of people with laptops and Internet connection. This service has been especially beneficial to women, who are the top receivers, giving them access to government services and allowing them to have contact with their distant loved ones.

In Bangladesh, only 5 million of the population of 152 million had access to the Internet. This service was created in 2008 by a local development group called D.Net that recruits and trains women for three months to use the computer, the internet, printer, and camera and then provides these women with bank loans to buy the equipment.

This is amazing because not only does this service provide millions of people with access to Internet and services, but it also creates jobs for women who are unemployed.  Both the “info ladies” and those being served in these villages are empowered by this project. 

These “info ladies” also provide communities with education.  They will meet with teenage girls to discuss health care and subjects that are not generally discussed, like reproductive health.  They also give villagers a voice by providing them with the tools to initiate changes in government services.

These services are both free, or come at a small cost but the especially positive aspect of the work of these women is that they are empowering other women with the tools to succeed, with information, with access to technology, with education, and giving women a voice.  This is a huge step forward in terms of development and in terms of women’s empowerment, especially in a country with a high level of gender inequality.