September 2005 e-newsletter
Inter Pares' E-NewsletterTransforming Power: Women, Peace and Democracy
In this e-newsletter:
- Letter of Introduction
- Excerpts from:
- Transforming Power: Women, Peace and Democracy
- Searching for Justice in Latin America
- Karen Women's Organization: Empowerment, Equality and Freedom
- Between Hope and Uncertainty: The Peace Process in Sudan
- Action Alert: CPP and Human Rights
- Public events: Inter Pares' 30th anniversary - Trade Justice Tour
Links
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Dear Friends,
We are pleased to send you the September 2005 issue of the Inter Pares Bulletin, entitled Transforming Power: Women, Peace and Democracy.
In this Bulletin you will read about some of the inspiring efforts supported by Inter Pares to eradicate violence against women in Asia, Africa and Latin America. In situations of militarization and conflict, women are often the direct targets of violence. We highlight extraordinary stories about women from Burma, Sudan, Guatemala and Peru who are challenging militarized violence and working to make the world a safe and just place for all.
We have also included an insert about the Canada Pension Plan. In our work we have learned that militarized commerce is sometimes being financed by the pension contributions of Canadians and are underwriting serious human rights violations. We invite our friends and supporters to write to the Minister of Finance and request that Canada Pension Plan investments be subject to social and environmental screening to ensure that Canadians are not contributing to harmful activities, either at home or internationally.
With your support, Inter Pares continues to accompany the efforts of women and men all over the world for peace and justice. As always, we welcome your questions and comments.
Sincerely,
Rita Morbia
Transforming Power: Women, Peace and Democracy
On a rainy spring day in Ottawa, Inter Pares staff gathered at our office to meet with some of our closest counterparts. They had travelled from great distances to be with us. Asha El-Karib from the Gender Center for Research and Training had arrived from Khartoum, Sudan; Khushi Kabir from Nijera Kori had travelled from Dhaka, Bangladesh; and Diana Avila from Project Counselling Service had made the journey from Lima, Peru.
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Searching for Justice in Latin America
One of the most profound social silences in countries struggling to come to terms with the consequences of past violence and strife is the systematic sexual abuse suffered by women. In times of conflict, women's bodies are destroyed as a means to humiliate the enemy community and tear apart the social fabric. Inter Pares' program in Latin America supports women survivors who are coming forward to break this silence, to claim truth from the shadows of the past, and to search for healing and justice on their own terms.
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Karen Women's Organization: Empowerment, Equality and Freedom
The motto of the Karen Women's Organization (KWO) is 'empowerment, equality, freedom' - words that succinctly capture the aims, hopes and dreams of Karen women. Karen State is one of the largest in eastern Burma and home to the Karen people as well as many other ethnic nationalities. During Burma's independence struggle in the 1940s, Karen political leaders never entered into an agreement with the central government, but today the Karen people are key in the struggle for democracy and national reconciliation in Burma. As a result, repression by Burma's military dictatorship in Karen State is severe; human rights violations include forced labour, forced relocation, systematic rape, torture, and extrajudicial killings.
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Between Hope and Uncertainty: The Peace Process in Sudan
In January 2005, the Sudanese government and the southern opposition Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). However, violence continues to affect people's lives and women's demands are dismissed out of hand. It is in this context that the Gender Center for Research and Training pursues its struggle for human rights, gender equality and socio-economic change in Sudan. Asha El-Karib, director of the Gender Center, recently visited Inter Pares and explained how the CPA was affecting her work in Sudan.
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Action Alert: CPP and Human Rights
Do you know how your Canada Pension Plan Premiums are invested?
Most Canadians are familiar with the Canada Pension Plan through their regular payroll deductions. The Canada Pension Plan (CPP), instituted in 1966, was an important social policy initiative to deal with the income security of post-retirement Canadians.
What few Canadians realize is that the federal government, through an Act of Parliament in 1997, created the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), an independent crown corporation. The CPPIB invests pension funds by buying publicly traded shares (equities) of Canadian and foreign companies. The stated aim is to earn sufficient returns for the fund so that it can continue to pay the pensions of Canadians. Today it is one of the largest investment funds in the country with assets of more than $70 billion.
An investment program funded through compulsory public contributions raises the obvious question about how the CPPIB makes decisions about where to invest, and whether socially responsible criteria are used in making investment decisions. Surprisingly, the CPPIB uses no such criteria.
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Public events: Inter Pares' 30th anniversary - Trade Justice Tour
In honour of our 30th anniversary, Inter Pares is holding public events across the country. All events are free. Please bring your family and friends and join us if you will be in the following cities for our fall Ontario events on trade justice and international citizen action: Kingston, October 3rd; Toronto, October 5th; Ottawa, October 7th. Please visit http://www.interpares.ca/30th for more information. We hope to see you there!
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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.
| Reviewed September 13, 2005 |  |
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