This year, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has chosen ‘responding to the trafficking of children and young people’ as the focus of the World Day.
This year’s campaign highlights the fact that almost a third of trafficking victims are children. The theme draws attention to the issues faced by trafficked children and to possible action initiatives linked to safeguarding and ensuring justice for child victims.
To mark the day, RENATE members internationally on 25 July, logged on to the live launch of the publication ‘’Inherent Dignity: An Advocacy Guide to Preventing Trafficking for the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation and Realising the Human Rights of Women and Girls Throughout their Lives,” co-authored by Angela Reed, rsm.
The launch took place at the UN, with Chris Cervenak, International Lawyer and Human Rights Activist as Moderator and the following panellists- Angela Reed, Co-author of the publication; Jane Connor, Assistant Secretary General, Victims’ Rights Advocate for the United Nations; Winifred Doherty, olcgs, NGO Representative to the UN, Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd.
Full recording available at: https://t.co/rCc9hATvzg
Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.

 
A two-days course on ‘Strategic Nonviolent Action’ was organised by the ERSTE Foundation NGO Academy and offered to non-governmental organisations from Eastern and Central Europe. The course took place in Belgrade, Serbia, 7-8 June, 2018. It was led by Srđa Popović, Siniša Šikman and Sandra Kačavendić from CANVAS. RENATE member, Aneta Grabowska, took part in this course on behalf of PoMOC Association from Poland.
Please click the link below to read the full report: Strategic Nonviolent Action – a course held in Belgrade by ERSTE Foundation NGO Academy, 7 – 8 June, 2018.

 

 
A two-day workshop on ‘Combating Hate Speech online and offline’ was organised by the ERSTE Foundation NGO Academy and offered to non-governmental organisations from Eastern and Central Europe. The workshop took place in Vienna, Austria, 25-26 June, 2018. It was led by Barbara Unterlerchner & Dieter Gremel from ZARA (Zivilcourage und Anti-Rassismus-Arbeit, Eng.: Civil Courage and Anti-Racism Work). RENATE member, Aneta Grabowska, took part in this workshop on behalf of PoMOC Association from Poland.
Workshop description
This workshop used interactive methods to teach media literacy considering the following:

• How do I best react to attacks and aggression on the net as a person as well as an organisation?
• How can I actively combat hate speech?
• How can I support victims of online hate speech?
• Where and how can I find help as a victim?
• How do I report hate speech on Facebook, YouTube & Co.?

Its aim was to develop effective responses and creative counterstrategies in dealing with discriminatory and racist slogans, try out different lines of argumentation and thus expand personal communication competences in the event of verbal conflicts, aggressive rhetoric and hate speech online and offline. Participants had a chance to gain media literacy and knowledge of digital media and online hate. They could gain an insight into the psychology of prejudices and discrimination mechanisms, analyze reasons for aggressive behaviours and hone their counterstrategies and communication skills.
Lecturers

Barbara Unterlerchner manages the newly created Austrian counselling service against online hate #GegenHassimNetz, https://beratungsstelle.counteract.or.at/  She is a lawyer, a trainer and a criminologist. From 2010-2017 she worked at the White Ring in Vienna as head of the department of victim support and victim rights. She has professional experience in the field of asylum law, in counseling and monitoring of victims of domestic violence, and she participated in several national and European projects on the subject of trafficking in human beings, violence in the family and the support of crime victims.
Dieter Gremel is a psychologist, trainer and organizational consultant focused on experiential learning (IOA®) and systemic perspectives and a psychotherapist (Systemic Family Therapist) i.A.u.S. (la:sf). He is a founding Member of NHBE – network for experiential learning, consulting and development and associate partner at https://metalogikon.com His main fields of consulting and training are: Diversity Management, Teambuilding and Group Dynamics, Participation Process and Decision-Making Processes, Self-Development.
The time of the training in Vienna was well spent and enriching for the 17 participants from 9 European countries including: Albania, Austria, Bosnia&Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Serbia. They learned about ZARA and its mission to give legal counselling to victims of discriminatory behaviour & racism. The name ZARA is a German acronym for ‘’Zivilcourage und Anti-Rassismus-Arbeit”, which means ‘’Civil Courage and Anti-Racism Work” in English. The organisation was founded in Vienna in 1999 and is a nationwide ngo. There are three pillars of ZARA’s activities: counselling, prevention and public relations. ZARA defines civil courage as follows: ‘’civil courage starts with the perception of wrongs and the feeling of responsibility and results in the need to act, i.e.: in having the courage to actively stand up for someone who is wronged. This may mean the risk of being exposed to disadvantages oneself and of having to run counter to societal and public regulations or tendencies.” More about ZARA at: https://zara.or.at/
Training participants were taken through different stages of interactive exercises which led them step by step to gain an understanding of different goals and strategies to argue. They had a possibility to learn about their own assertiveness by completing a self-assessment questionnaire. A very valuable experience was ‘building the wall of terror’ to which everybody could contribute by adding hate slogans / stereotypes which she / he experienced or is aware these exist in her / his country. This made the basis for further exercises in groups of three, where rotating roles of an offender, defender and an observer were played. All were advised to follow their moral compass.
Compliments to all the trainers! Thank you to the organisers for making the workshop happen!
Aneta Grabowska.
(Workshop Description comes from the official information from the organisers)
Keywords/Tags:  hate speech, hate, offline, online, civil courage, Vienna, Austria, ZARA, Barbara Unterlerchner, Dieter Gremel, ERSTE Foundation, NGO Academy, PoMOC Association, workshop, course, training
 

‘’The cry of the earth is intimately connected to the cry of the poor.’’ Pope Francis.
Increases in the numbers of people displaced worldwide due to poverty, strife, war, harsh economic downturns and the impacts of climate change, render the most vulnerable to human trafficking and exploitation, as well as facing situations critical to life and death . Such concerns informed the conference participants attending a Conference at the Vatican City, organised by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, led by Cardinal Peter Turkson to celebrate the third anniversary of the publication of Laudato Si.’
The international conference was designed ‘’to follow the ‘see-judge-act’ trajectory of the encyclical’’ and to ‘’engage persons and groups who can develop the Laudato Si’ message.’’
Conference participants acknowledged the sense of urgency and the need for renewed efforts to engage in further exploration, understanding, reflection and action to address ‘the possible collapse of the planet.’ Cardinal Parolin emphasised that ‘’To take care of our common home, to save our common home, is one of the most urgent issues of our time,’’ Cardinal Parolin, at the Laudato Si’ Conference, 2018.
In this regard, Denise Boyle, fmdm, (who facilitated the RENATE Assembly in Rome, November 2016), Team Leader Mercy Global Action and Adele Howard, rsc, shared the work of the Mercy International Association in promoting reflection and action on the themes of Laudato Si.’ Specifically by means of the Mercy International Reflection Process (MIRP), as recorded in the MIRP Handbook, which calls upon all in the Mercy networks worldwide, to ecological conversion and to work for ‘’…the radical change which present circumstances require’’ (Laudato Si.,’ 171).
For further information on the Mercy International Reflection Process, please contact Denise Boyle, fmdm, at the Mercy International Centre, 64 Baggot Street Lower, Dublin, Ireland.
Full report at: https://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/35333
Pope Francis address to the conference delegates is available at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/speeches/2018/july/documents/papa-francesco_20180706_terzoanniversario-laudatosi.html
 

 
Theme: Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies.
 

 
Human Trafficking and Exploitation of people were on the agenda during discussions at the High Level political forum (HLPF) 2018 on Sustainable Development  (9-18 July) which concludes this Friday, bringing a further and strengthened commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
It is increasingly accepted that poverty, civil unrest and displacement of persons contribute to the circumstances where vulnerable people fall victim to traffickers poised to profit from the vulnerability of others. A key dimension of the RENATE Strategic Plan (2016-2021) is work towards the achievement of the SDGs.
The following Goals were specifically focused upon at the HLPF gathering:

• Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
• Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
• Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
• Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
• Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.
• Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development, that will be considered each year.

 
A glance through the  SIDE EVENTS will give you an indication of the discussions during the nine days of the meetings.

• Side Events Programme (9-13 July)
• Side Events Programme (16-18 July)

47 countries are carrying out Voluntary National Reviews and you can view the video on same (02:41).
The Report of the UN Secretary General on Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals, is also available at : https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/18541SG_SDG_Progress_Report_2018_ECOSOC.pdf
The Sustainable Development Goals Report 2018 can be accessed here
Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.

To mark the occasion of the World Day against Trafficking in Persons, Talitha Kum invite us to join an online webinar on Friday, 20 July at 14:00 (Rome time), for an update on the activities of the Talitha Kum network against human trafficking. Full details at:  https://uisg.us12.list-manage.com/track/click?u=8d871d8272fe1798b9fab76e5&id=742ac33841&e=fd8a2144b1
Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.
 

In London, an innovative new app – Safe Car Wash App- has been launched by the Santa Marta Group, the Catholic Church’s anti-slavery project, and The Clewer Initiative, the Church of England’s campaign against modern slavery – amid concerns about slavery and exploitation in Britain’s 18,000 hand car washes.
The capital’s 10,000 black-cab drivers, represented by the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association, LTDA, are being encouraged to support the Safe Car Wash app, an unprecedented attempt to map the extent of slavery in hand car washes in London and across the country.
The app is aimed at eradicating modern slavery in the hand car wash industry. In order to help to develop a more accurate picture as to the scale of the modern slavery problem in the car wash industry, Nottingham University’s Rights Lab have agreed to analyse the data collected from the app over a six-month period and to report back in early 2019.
The publicity around the introduction of the safe Car Wash app is an attempt to support victims of modern slavery and encourage people to identify the signs of exploitation in their local communities.
RENATE members are interested in the extent to which this new app can be introduced and replicated internationally, in a wider and dynamic attempt to combat modern slavery.
For more, please see: https://renate-europe.net/london-cab-drivers-safe-car-wash-app/
Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.

 
RENATE Core Group members (Imelda Poole, IBVM, Adina Balan, CJ, Ms. Ana Stakaj, Gabriella Korn, SSCJ,  Ms. Ivonne van de Kar, Marie Hélène Halligon, OLCGS and Monica Chickwe, SOM; apologies from Dagmar Plum, MMS) were welcomed to Romania by Adina Balan, where they gathered for a week’s reflection in early July, on the work completed during their term of office, which concludes in November this year.
It was a very industrious time.  Apart from it being a week of discernment in planning for the future, informed by the mandate achieved at the Assembly in Rome (November 2016) and the Strategic Plan 2016-2021, much time was given not only to the dialogue on skype re the new website for RENATE but also the writing of many documents for uploading on to various parts of this website.
In addition to the above, the Core Group dedicated the week to preparations for the next Working Board meeting, which will take place in Lviv, UKRAINE, 4 – 9 November 2018. Notifications for the meeting have issued to the Working Board members, where new Core Group members will replace outgoing Core Group members and a new cycle of  leadership begins.
We look forward to a productive and fruitful Board meeting, details of which will issue in due course.