*** 3rd “Get Organised for Human Rights” -MST Brazil and Dignity International have the pleasure to announce the 3rd Global Linking and Learning Programme on “Get Organised for Human Rights” aimed at Community Organisers. The programme will take place in Sao Paulo, Brazil from 17-24 August 2010. The programme will bring together between 20- 25 community organisers/leaders from different struggling communities and social movements from around the world. The programme will build on:

1. The achievements and partnerships forged at the 1st and 2nd Get Organised for Human Rights Learning programme organised in 2008 in Kenya and in 2009 in Thailand.

2. “Get Up Stand Up – Stand Up for Your Human Rights” community human rights learning process that the partners have been engaged in over the past few years;

3. The Global Assembly of the Poor – which gained momentum at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January 2007;

4. Towards a “Dignity for All” bottom up global campaign which will focus on pushing governments to respect, protect and fulfill the rights of people in urban and rural areas whose realities are currently being ignored by the state and which was taken further at the World Social Forum in Belem in 2009.

This “Get Organised for Human Rights” learning programme will build on the past activities, the process to date and involve and strengthen existing partnerships as well as extend contacts with some groups/movements with whom we do not yet have a direct relationship.

The programme objectives are four-fold:

1. Share and take stock of urban poverty (as well as some discussions on rural poverty) - locally and globally including field visit to urban settlement communities;

2. Sharpen our understanding of human rights and how our daily struggles for survival are intricately linked with our human rights struggle;

3. Community organising exchange to sharpen our skills as community organiser based on human rights;

4. Strengthen the global network of grassroots partnership amongst Dignity International partners to strategise an advocacy plan in fighting poverty locally and globally

Watch this space in September’s Dignity Newsbulletin for a summary of the programme and feedback from our participants.

*** Trade Unions: G20 Risks Tipping Global Economy Back Into Recession – According to the International Trade Union Confederation, representing 176 million workers in 156 countries, the outcome of the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors meeting in Busan, Korea, on 5 June risks plummeting the world back into a severe recession. “The G20 Finance Ministers said they were meeting at a ‘critical juncture’ to secure global recovery and address economic challenges and risks” said ITUC General Secretary Guy Ryder. “They have failed on both counts. Their decisions risk undermining recovery, whilst they have failed to move forward the agenda for re-regulating financial markets.” To read more CLICK HERE>>>

Source: ITUC

*** Severe Poverty Looms for World’s Elderly - GENEVA – “Societies are abandoning traditional care practices for older persons, who are left stranded in rapidly increasing numbers,” warned UN Independent Expert Magdalena Sepulveda during the presentation of her report on human rights and extreme poverty to the Human Rights Council. “Nowadays, investment in social pensions is crucial to protect the rights of the elderly.”

“Conventional family structures cannot cope with the pace at which the world population is ageing without more support from States,” Ms. Sepulveda said, noting that the elderly population is one of the fastest growing segments of society – the number of persons over 60 is likely to double by 2050. “What is not changing is that older persons leave or are pushed out of the workforce, that people become frailer as they age and that their need for health care services increases. It is essential that States take older persons into account during policy-making.” To read more CLICK HERE>>>

Source: OHCHR

*** COHRE: Women’s Housing Rights Under the Spotlight at UN – On 8 June 2010 COHRE urged the UN Human Rights Council, meeting in Geneva, to encourage governments to tackle discrimination against women in housing issues. COHRE said that restitution programmes for women who have lost their homes due to forced eviction should further gender equality – not further entrench women’s exclusion from housing, land and property ownership. To read more CLICK HERE>>>

Source: COHRE

*** Nigeria: Illegal Demolition of Makoko Community - The Social and Economic Rights Action Center (SERAC, is deeply concerned about the recent acts of lawlessness, indiscipline and brutality perpetrated by officials of the Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) Brigade.  Between Monday April 19 and 22, 2010, officials of the KAI Brigade assisted by the heavily armed policemen invaded a section of the Makoko community, in the Yaba Local Government Area of Lagos and forcibly evicted the residents by destroying their homes,  properties and livelihoods.  As a result of this action, over one thousand people, including women, children and elderly were rendered homeless and pushed deeper into chronic poverty.  This action was carried out without adequate notice, consultation, compensation or the provision of alternative accommodation in violation of the rule of law and the fundamental rights of the affected residents.  See full press statement>>>

Source: SERAC

*** Danish Institute Hosts “Toward a Rule-based China” - The Danish Institute for Human Rights and The European Association of China Law Studies is hosting a conference on Chinese Law, 17 - 18 June. The conference, conducted in English, is called "Towards a Rule-based China" and takes place at the Danish Centre for International Studies and Human Rights (DCISM) in Christianshavn, Copenhagen.

You can join the conference via the website www.ecls.eu.
See the preliminary program for more details (word).

Source: DIHR

*** International Trade Union Confederation World Conference - 2nd ITUC World Congress - Delegates to the 2nd ITUC World Congress will be converging on Vancouver 21 – 25 June, coming from countries which are all experiencing, in different ways and to different degrees, the impact of the global crisis. For the people they represent that has often meant acute hardship and great insecurity. To access more information on the ITUC World Congress, including the agenda, programme and biographies of the leadership, CLICK HERE>>>

Source: ITUC

*** OHCHR Meetings

*** Gender in Economics Toolkit - Women are often the first to lose their jobs, first to forego healthcare and education, and first to enter flexible labour markets with poor working conditions during IFI-imposed economic reforms. Gender Action prepared this gender toolkit for civil society organisations conducting research, monitoring and advocacy on the international financial institutions (IFIs) and commercial banks in order to support efforts to ‘engender’ their work. June 2010. (pdf) [Access the Toolkit here>>>]

Source: Gender Action

*** Report: China Workers’ Movement on the Rise - Emboldened by the successful strike of their colleagues at Honda’s transmission plant last week, about 250 workers at the company’s exhaust plant in Foshan went out on strike Monday 7 June demanding higher wages and overtime payments.

This followed an almost identical strike action at Taiwanese-owned Merry Electronics in Shenzhen’s Bao’an district, on Sunday morning. A few hundred workers blocked the factory entrance at around 8.am and the crowd eventually grew to more than one thousand, spilling out on to the main road in Dalang sub-district. The workers held up banners demanding higher pay and less strenuous working hours. On Monday, around 20 workers at Foshan Fengfu Autoparts staged a demonstration at the factory entrance as the morning shift arrived, and by evening around 250 workers had reportedly joined the strike. The plant employs around 460 people, including 300 front line workers. Like their colleagues at the transmission plant, strikers were demanding that in addition to higher wages, they be allowed to elect their own, more representative, trade union chair.

The Foshan strike followed a well-established pattern in China whereby one successful strike in the same company, locality or sector ignites another. In China Labour Bulletin’s latest research report on the workers’ movement, we cited several such examples from 2007 and 2008.

It seems inevitable that unless the issue of low-pay in the Pearl River Delta, and elsewhere in China, is dealt with quickly and effectively, more and more strikes are likely to follow.

*** Symposium on Enforcement of ESCR Judgments, 6-7 May 2010 - I n the last two decades, there has been a remarkable rise in the numbers of economic, social and cultural rights (ESC rights) judgments in all regions. However, in many jurisdictions there are a few or, in some cases, many judgments that remain unimplemented. While some of these cases have resulted in broader and indirect impacts despite non-implementation, the lack of enforcement poses not only an issue for the victims affected but also consequences for those who promote the relevance and impact of human rights law as a useful framework for ensuring economic and social justice.

An important step in addressing these challenges is to analyse the reasons for implementation or non-implementation of particular decisions - is it the character of the cases (e.g., negative or positive obligations), the legal framework and judicial structure, political variables or the identity of the applicants and civil society partners. Equally, it is important to analyse what strategies have worked in different contexts to ensure implementation.

Concept Note (For Writers) (91K) [download]

Logistics - Funded Participants (584K) [download]

Logistics - General (581K) [download]

Agenda - Symposium Enforcement (348K) [download]

Source: ESCR-Net