At a conference entitled ‘’Woman as Promoter of Hope,’’ organized by the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) on the occasion of the International Women’s Day 2019, British Ambassador to the Holy see, H.E. Sally Axworthy once again affirmed the work of Religious sisters.

‘’In partnering with Religious sisters, we can make change, have impact and address the global challenges we are working with, ’’ stated Ambassador Axworthy.

Ambassador Axworthy spoke of how women in policy and especially foreign policy, work with Religious sisters towards achieving foreign policy objectives. She referred to two specific areas (1) the prevention of sexual violence and (2) in combatting modern slavery.

Full report: https://zenit.org/articles/feature-in-partnering-with-religious-sisters-we-can-make-change-and-tackle-global-challenges-affirms-british-ambassador-to-the-holy-see-sally-axworthy/

Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.

Today, the Conference of INGOs celebrated World NGO Day for the first time at the Council of Europe with a debate on “Why do we need NGOs? – (I)NGO contribution to the work and to the mandate of the Council of Europe”.

The event gathered a variety of stakeholders, including representatives of Civil Society, Permanent representations of Council of Europe Members States, prominent Human Rights activists, students and members of the Secretariat of the Council of Europe. We were particularly delighted to welcome Marcis Liors Skadmanis, founder of the international calendar day for Non-governmental organizations, ‘World NGO Day’.

INGOs enjoying participatory status with the Council of Europe are partners of the Council of Europe bodies and institutions with regard to standard setting, monitoring and implementation of activities. However, most of them agree that there is room for improvement to make this contribution less sectorial and more visible.

In certain national contexts, some NGOs and their leaders bear a heavy toll, often endangering their lives and their freedom, in order to defend human rights, democracy and the rule of law. The Council must defend them and defend the space in which they operate. This is a culmination for the  implementation of the standards promoted by the Council of Europe.

The Conference of INGOs, as a collective body, serves as a protective space for NGOs, guardian of the democratic role that NGOs play in the Member states and the Council of Europe. This democratic role and participation of NGOs in the Council of Europe should not be taken for granted. NGOs must be appreciated and valued as an incubator of the democratic innovation, adaptable to internal and external conditions and challenges.

An invitation to build a common vision, with some recommendations to enhance civic space at the Council of Europe and in Member States, will be addressed to the Committee of Minister shortly.

In light of the complexities of human trafficking and how criminals continue to develop new and manipulative ways to prey on the vulnerable, as international movements, Conferences of Religious, Social Centres, Third level educational institutions and businesses have the capacity to contribute jointly to the promotion and implementation of Laudato Si in areas related to work and labour.

‘’Challenges facing the world of work today are numerous at the global level. Let us just name a few : 1.5 billion workers are involved in precarious forms of work, with wages insufficient to raise a family, short terms contracts if not no contracts at all, not to mention the victims of trafficking, a big part of them being women, and children involved into child labour. 800 million workers are still living in poverty, under the threshold of 2 dollars a day. The globalisation that we have witnessed over the last forty years has paralleled a trend leading to greater inequalities, both between countries and within countries. Finally, it seems that we are entering what some would a call a fourth industrial revolution: the impact of robotisation, new technologies is probably the continuation and also an amplification of the previous phases of industrialisation and automation. The development, yet still uneven, of artificial intelligence in different sectors of the economy, from public to private services, in domains ranging from health to the automobile industry, may have drastic consequences on the way we shall understand human autonomy, initiative, and responsibilities in a world where interconnectivity and relations could become more intensive and invasive. Is this the future we want? Are these changes inevitable or is there a discernment to be conducted.’’ Fr. Pierre Martinot-Lagarde SJ.

Full article at : http://jesc.eu/the-future-of-work-labour-after-laudato-si/

Prepared by Anne Kelleher, RENATE Communications.

Course Tackling HT outline from International Centre for Parliamentary Studies.

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