November 2005 e-newsletter
Inter Pares' E-NewsletterCitizen Action: Challenging the Limits
In this e-newsletter:
- Letter of Introduction
- Excerpts from:
- Citizen Action: Challenging the Limits
- Making the Connections: Citizen Action in Canada and the World
- Our Home is our Promised Land
- In Defence of Land and Livelihood
- Engendering Democracy in Sudan
- Promoting Democratic Economies in Africa
- Protecting the Commons
- Publications: Three new documents on food sovereignty
- Action Alert: Ban Terminator Seeds - Join the Campaign
Links
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Inter Pares Web site
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Dear friends,
It is our pleasure to send you our final Bulletin of 2005, Citizen Action: Challenging the Limits, whose title is taken from the theme of Inter Pares' 30th anniversary commemorations. Last spring, public meetings across the country marked three decades of our work for social justice. During these events, many people who have accompanied us throughout these years joined with us to reflect on the meaning of our engagement.
This Bulletin represents an opportunity to share some of the reflections and experiences during this time, including my own thoughts following public events held in Manitoba and British Columbia. We also offer some of the spirit and atmosphere of the 30th anniversary symposium, held in Ottawa in April, through an excerpt from a keynote address delivered by Augusta Henriques. Augusta is a long-time friend and colleague from Guinea-Bissau, and a source of inspiration in our work.
Celebrating thirty years of international activism is also an occasion to celebrate the enduring commitment of our supporters. This international activism has been accompanied here in Canada and overseas by people who, like you, believe that positive social change is both necessary and possible. Thank you for this support.
As always, we invite your responses, questions, and comments on the Bulletin.
Sincerely,
Peter Gillespie
Acting Executive Director
Citizen Action: Challenging the Limits
How many of us have asked ourselves, what difference can one person make? How many of us have wondered, how can I help to preserve and sustain a community in which I and all others feel at home, and where people have secure livelihoods, children receive a good education, and the elderly live with dignity? As Inter Pares marked our 30th anniversary over the past year, reflecting with colleagues, counterparts, and many of our supporters across the country, we have shared many stories of struggle against great odds, of learning from our mistakes, and building on our strengths.
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Making the Connections: Citizen Action in Canada and the World
As part of Inter Pares' 30th Anniversary activities last May, our colleagues Asha El-Karib of the Gender Centre for Research and Training in Sudan, Khushi Kabir of Nijera Kori, Bangladesh and Yao Graham of Third World Network-Africa based in Ghana, traveled to Winnipeg for a public forum entitled "Citizen Action-Challenging the Limits: Towards a New Internationalism." Peter Gillespie of Inter Pares then accompanied Khushi Kabir to Nelson and Comox in British Columbia to share experiences of citizen action for change with Inter Pares' supporters and members of the public. What follows is Peter's report.
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In Defence of Land and Livelihood
Inter Pares has worked with Nijera Kori for many years and, with the support of other Canadian NGOs, documented the social and environmental impacts of the shrimp aquaculture industry on coastal communities in Asia. The report can be found here.
Engendering Democracy in Sudan
While in Ottawa, Asha El-Karib made a presentation to the Canadian Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs on the prospects for ending conflict in Sudan. She stressed the need to "engender" democracy during the peace process and to address the underlying causes of poverty. To read the full transcript of Asha's presentation, please click here. To read a recent interview with Asha which appeared in the September 2005 Bulletin, please click here.
Promoting Democratic Economies in Africa
Third World Network-Africa (TWN-Africa) collaborates with citizens' organizations across the continent to conduct research and education on the impacts of international trade agreements on African economies. TWN-Africa also works with government officials to increase their understanding of what is at stake in the negotiations of the World Trade Organization. Inter Pares has been bringing TWN-Africa's perspective to our own decision-makers, so that Canada may play a more responsible role in promoting democratic economies. To read a transcript from a recent presentation made by Inter Pares Executive Director Molly Kane to the Canadian Senate, click here.
Our Home is our Promised Land
Augusta Henriques is General Secretary of Tiniguena, an organization dedicated to supporting sustainable development in Guinea-Bissau by fostering citizen engagement in the conservation and respect for natural and cultural resources. The following is an excerpt from her opening address to Inter Pares' 30th Anniversary Symposium in April 2005. The complete version of Augusta's keynote address is available here (in French only).
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Protecting the Commons
While Augusta was with us during our 30th anniversary, she received news that Tiniguena's work had led to the official recognition of the Urok Management Plan and of the new Communal Marine Protected Area by the government of Guinea-Bissau for the Urok islands (Formosa, Nago, and Chedia). This recognition provides the Bijagos peoples of Urok with exclusive access and resource use rights over areas that they identified as being of critical importance, thus contributing to the islanders' food security, protecting the biodiversity of the islands' coastal areas from the commercial fishery and unsustainable practices, and empowering communities to manage the resources on which they depend. For more information about the Urok Management Plan, please see Inter Pares' September 2004 Bulletin.
Publications
Voices from the South: Biotech Seeds, Food Security & International Development, by the Working Group on Canadian Science and Technology Policy, 2005
This report is the proceedings from a roundtable entitled Voices from the South: Biotech Seeds, Food Security & International Development, held March 9th, 2005 in Ottawa. This report also presents an evaluation of the Roundtable and surrounding events, all of which sought the inclusion of Southern farmers' voices in the development of Canadian policy in the South on food and agriculture technology, food security, and rural development. Please click here to view this document.
Genetically Modified Seeds, Biodiversity and Food Security: A Critical Assessment of the Impact of Agricultural Biotechnologies on Communities in Developing Countries, by the Working Group on Canadian Science and Technology Policy, 2005
This policy brief was developed by the Working Group as a result of "Voices From the South" (see above), and is intended to provide an overview of the key issues addressed during the events for Canadian policy-makers and politicians. Please click here to view this document.
No More Technological "Silver Bullets": A Policy Brief on Canada's Role in Africa's Agricultural Underdevelopment, by the Working Group on Canada's Policy with Regard to Agricultural Biotechnology and Developing Countries, 2005
This policy brief was prepared by the group currently known as the Working Group on Canadian Science and Technology Policy, in response to a request from the Standing Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs for information on Canadian foreign policies and their effects on agricultural development in Africa. Please click here to view this document.
Action Alert: Ban Terminator Seeds - Join the Campaign
Terminator technology - "suicide seeds" are back! Your action is needed!
Unfortunately Terminator is not yesterday's news. Corporations and governments are again pushing hard to commercialize Terminator technology - plants that are genetically modified to render sterile seeds at harvest. The Canadian government tried to overturn the international (United Nations) de facto moratorium on Terminator in February 2005. To meet this new crisis and re-build global opposition, we ask you to join the new Ban Terminator Campaign and take action with us. Please click here for more information.
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Abonnez-vous à la version française
Inter Pares Web site
PDF version of this Bulletin
This Bulletin on the Web
Inter Pares
221 Laurier Avenue East, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1N 6P1
Phone (1-613) 563-4801 Fax (1-613) 594-4704
Inter Pares works overseas and in Canada in support of self-help development groups, and in the promotion of understanding about the causes, effects and solutions to under-development and poverty. Charitable registration number (BN) 11897 1100 RR000 1.
Please re-distribute this e-newsletter to anyone you think would enjoy it, in its complete and original form only. Copyright 2005 Inter Pares. All rights reserved.
Financial support for the E-Newsletter is provided by the Canadian International Development Agency.
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