Pax Christi: Give gift of prayer for peaceful Bethlehem Christmas!

This Advent, we remember Bethlehem, where Christians have revered the place of the Christ Child's birth for the last two thousand years. They are the so-called living stones of the Church in the Holy Land. They are the men and women native to this land who have faithfully carried on Christ’s mission and witness through conflict and strife through so many ages.

In a sign of solidarity and encouragement to our fellow Christians in the land of Jesus’ birth, the international Catholic peace organization, Pax Christi, has organized a “prayer and good wishes” campaign to celebrate Advent and Christmas with the Christian community in Bethlehem. Anyone can be a part of it! All you need is a computer and the internet and you can give the gift of prayer and hope to someone who needs it most…

Tracey McClure spoke to the Senior Policy Advisor for the international Catholic peace organization Pax Christi, Fr. Paul Lansu about the initiative, on its 11th year. He explains how you can send your prayer of peace to the Holy Land's Christians!

CLICK HERE

SHARE THE STORY: Volunteering for the MDGs

Dear volunteers, colleagues, friends, and partners,

Today we are starting a global discussion (www.facebook.com/unvolunteers) to Share the Story about volunteering to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We can meet the Goals, but only if we complement essential government action with the engagement of millions of people through volunteer action. Already, individuals are contributing their expertise; communities are taking steps to improve their lives; and decision makers are increasingly realizing the value of volunteerism. These stories don’t make the news, but they are changing the world. We invite you to join volunteers and others in the volunteer movement as they share their experiences and challenges in tackling some of the world’s big issues related to environment, hunger, education, maternal health and HIV/AIDs.

The discussion we start today on www.facebook.com/unvolunteers will culminate in a 24-hour, online film festival (4 December) that will showcase the best video stories we have received from volunteers, communities, civil society, non-governmental organizations and United Nations partners. We are extremely grateful to the UNV volunteers filming in around 30 countries who have volunteered to be a part of this initiative. Their diverse stories will give us a unique insight into the daily realities of volunteering. To enable a truly inclusive discussion, along with their stories, we also invite other colleagues and partners to share stories of their own. We welcome these contributions, both as final video pieces and as part of the online discussion.

The festival will run for 24 hours, so that no matter where you are in the world you can participate. To celebrate International Volunteer Day (IVD), on 5 December 2010, a number of UNV field colleagues will also showcase the films and the discussion as part of their events.

But the story does not stop with the last film of the festival. As with all the best stories, it will inspire debate and dialogue next year when we mark the tenth anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers (IYV+10) and continue all the way to 2015, the globally-agreed deadline for achieving the MDGs. It is your collective contribution to this global initiative that we start today which will enable substantive dialogue on how volunteering is changing our world, for the MDGs, for each other and for our future.

It's your story, it's our story, so let's share it.

Join the discussion and Share the Story today.

Flavia Pansieri
Executive Coordinator
United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme


Campaign Contacts:

About the campaign: sharethestory@unvolunteers.org
About the videos: video@unvolunteers.org

Share the Story
Visit www.facebook.com/unvolunteers

Phone: +49(0)2288152220

Pax Christi International Youth attends historic conference on cluster munitions in Laos

The "First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention of Cluster Munitions" will be held in Vientiane, Laos PDR from 9-12 November. Pax Christi International Youth will be represented by Pax Christi’s International disarmament Officer Stijn Van Bever, who will participate in the Youth Leaders Forum of Mines Action Canada.

On August 1 the ban on cluster munitions entered into force. The convention on cluster munitions defends countries that ratified the convention to use cluster munitions, to manufacture or to invest in the production of these weapons and obliges them to destroy the remaining stock. The ban on cluster munitions is regarded as a historical moment of the year long campaign by the Cluster Munitions Coalition, an international coalition of actors from the civil society. Pax Christi International was a founding member of the Cluster Munitions Coalition.

The ban on cluster munitions is an historical step in the campaign against this terrible weapon. While this restriction is not globally applicable, it will make countries that would use the weapon more reluctant. The actual situation is not an ending point: large countries and major arms producers like the U.S., Russia or China have not yet signed the convention. Many countries that signed the convention have not yet ratified it. Moreover, there are still funds and commercial entities that are investing in companies that manufacture these weapons.

This meeting will lay the foundation for future engagement on the Convention by bringing together for the first time States Parties to the treaty, UN agencies, international organizations, civil society, and cluster bomb survivors. States will share progress and plans for implementation, with the aim of drawing up a blueprint to translate the treaty into action and meet the lifesaving obligations they have consented to be bound by.

Pax Christi will have several representatives in Vientiane. One of them is Stijn Van Bever, youth representative and Pax Christi International disarmament officer. He is selected by Mines Action Canada, to participate in their 2010 Youth Leaders Forum. Stijn will as well take part in the skills building sessions and real-time practice opportunities for topics such as lobbying and advocacy strategies; fundraising and grant management; media relations; volunteer management provided by Mines Action Canada, as he plans to attend sessions of the State Meeting and the conference organized by the Cluster Munitions Coalition. He hopes that Pax Christi and all presented youth campaign leaders can contribute to a global ban on these weapons by developing new initiatives in the campaign against cluster munitions so that a global ban may soon be realized.

UN summit confident of achieving MDGs on time if world delivers

While expressing deep concern that progress has fallen far short of what is needed, the United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) held in New York from 20-22 September ended with confidence that with renewed global commitment the targets to slash hunger, poverty, disease and a host of other social ills can still be achieved by 2015.

“This Summit has laid a solid foundation for the progress we need in our quest to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the internationally agreed deadline of 2015,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon during the closing session of the MDG Summit. “The Summit outcome document sends a clear sign that you remain committed to the goals even in a difficult international environment,” he added.

Video:

http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/webcast/2010/09/secretary-general-ban-ki-moon-closing-statement-mdg-debate.html (5:48 minutes)

Statement: http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=4798

Website: http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/index.shtml

Outcome document: http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/pdf/mdg%20outcome%20document.pdf

Get the Inside Story on the MDG Summit

Dear Friend,

Nearly 140 world leaders joined President Obama in New York yesterday to discuss progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). While much of the talks took place behind closed doors, you can get the inside story on what happened by joining our global briefing call this Thursday:

http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/MDGBriefing

This summit in New York may have taken place 4,000 miles from Africa, but it's a watershed moment for the continent.

The last time these leaders gathered, in 2000, they made eight landmark promises to the world's people - the Millennium Development Goals.

In the 10 years since, governments have made progress towards those goals - but not nearly enough. Some of the promises of the MDGs are in danger of being broken.

The MDG summit is an opportunity for all of us to re-affirm our commitments to the world's poorest people - and for our leaders to agree to a concrete plan to fulfill the promises of the MDGs.

Our call will be an opportunity for you to find out what you can do in your own faith community to help. Charles Abugre Akelyira, Deputy Director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign in Africa, will fill us in on outcomes from the summit and what our next steps should be.

Also joining the call will be Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur of Malaria No More, who serves as the UN Secretary-General's Special Envoy for Malaria. She'll discuss how faith communities and African government leaders are halting deaths from malaria - one of the MDGs.

Don't miss our briefing on Thursday:

http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/MDGBriefing

Susie McShane
Tony Blair Faith Foundation

P.S. Have you seen this video? President Jimmy Carter speaks with feeling about why we as people of faith must draw attention to extreme poverty. Watch it now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwwlbBNY3I8

Tony Blair Faith Foundation - MDG Call on Africa

Dear Friend,

Next week marks a historic moment in the fight against extreme poverty.

World leaders are gathering in New York to discuss progress towards the Millennium Development Goals. It's a golden opportunity for us to urge our leaders to do more to honour their promises to the world's poorest people.

Learn more about what took place at the summit, and what you can do to make noise to end extreme poverty.

Join us Thursday, 23 September, for our next free Faiths Act Global Briefing call: Voices from Africa on the MDGs.

RSVP here:

http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/MDGCall

The call will take place at 13:00 EDT, 18:00 BST, 20:00 UTC.

Our speakers are uniquely equipped to speak to ways we can all help fulfill our promise to the world's most vulnerable people.

The call will feature a dialogue between Faiths Act Fellow Alum Pritpal Kaur Riat and Charles Abugre Akelyira, the United Nations Development Programme's African Director on outcomes from the UN MDG Summit.

Pritpal will also speak to an advocate for interfaith cooperation to fight malaria as well as a Faiths Act supporter from Uganda.

Hear how communities on the ground in Africa are experiencing the impact of the MDGs - and don't miss the online webcast accompanying the call!

http://www.tonyblairfaithfoundation.org/MDGCall

By learning about the issues and making a noise in your community, you will join people around the world in directing the international community's attention to the plight of the world's poorest and most vulnerable people.

Hope you can join us.

Best

Kate

Kate Millar
Tony Blair Faith Foundation

A Million Minutes for Peace

21 September 2010 - A Million Minutes for Peace

Each year Pax Christi International Member Organisations join thousands of other organizations worldwide to mark the UN International Day of Peace on 21st September. The day is also observed as an International Day of Prayer for Peace. This day offers opportunities for (faith) communities to hold events, worship and prayer vigils, and forum on peace-related themes in your area or country. All Member Organisations of Pax Christi International are invited to focus on this International Day. More information is available in 2010-0467-en-gl-PE.

Odyssey Networks invites us all to join them on this day in their campaign ‘A Million Minutes of Peace’. They call on all people around the world to stop at noon and pray for peace for one minute- in their own way. No matter what your religious affiliation is, make a pledge to join in on this initiative. It only takes a minute.

For more information and to sign up for the campaign CLICK HERE.

More information on the International Day of Peace CLICK HERE.

Pax Christi Youth - Millennium Development Goals Summit Videos!

Peace = Future, the math is easy

Youth for Peace and Development

In commemoration of 2010 as the International Year of Youth: Dialogue and Mutual Understanding

This year, the International Day of Peace (21 September) falls within the same time period as a major summit on the UN Millennium Development Goals, the world’s largest anti-poverty campaign. The Summit brings world leaders together at the United Nations in New York from 20 - 22 September.

The United Nations is looking for stories from young people around the world who are working for peace.

Send your stories to Anna Fritzsche at ousg-dpi@un.org and Eleonore Kopera at kopera@un.org.

Youth, peace and development are closely interlinked:

·Peace enables development, which is critical in providing opportunities for young people, particularly those in countries emerging from conflict.

·Healthy, educated youth are in turn crucial to sustainable development and peace.

·Peace, stability and security are essential to achieving the Millennium Development Goals, aimed at slashing poverty, hunger, disease, and maternal and child death by 2015.

Apply to be a Faiths Act Fellow: MDGs

Apply now to join the 2011 Faiths Act Fellowship

The Faiths Act Fellowship is a year long paid opportunity for young leaders to work towards the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to end the scandal of extreme poverty.

After one month of training in London, Faiths Act Fellows are placed into pairs and matched with development organisations and NGOs in local communities. There, they work for the rest of their Fellowship year to build partnerships across faiths and mobilise communities in support of the MDGs whilst developing their own interfaith leadership skills.

Faiths Act Fellows can demonstrate how faith can play a hugely positive force in the world through an exciting, motivating, demanding and moving experience.

Applicants must be between the ages of 20 and 27 and citizens or legal residents of Canada, India, the United Kingdom, or the United States.

We're looking forward to another amazing year of the Faiths Act Fellowship. I hope you'll be a part of it - either by applying yourself or by spreading word of this amazing opportunity to an extraordinary young leader you know.

Thank you,

Hannah Wallace
Faiths Act Programme Manager

World Council of Churches Stewards Programme 2011

Apply now: Stewards Programme 2011

Young Christians from around the world are invited to apply to the World Council of Churches (WCC) stewards programme for one of two hands-on learning experiences at major ecumenical meetings in 2011, the WCC Central Committee meeting, 8-24 February, and the International Ecumenical Peace Convocation, 12-26 May. Applicants must be between the age of 18-30 years.

During the meetings stewards will work in the areas of worship, conference room, documentation, press office, sound, and other administrative and support tasks.

The WCC Central Committee meets every 18 months in Geneva, Switzerland to monitor and set directions to the Council's work. The meeting brings together about 150 church representatives, advisers and observers from WCC member churches and associated organizations worldwide. Twenty stewards will help to make this event happen.

The International Ecumenical Peace Convocation (IEPC) will gather some 1000 participants from all over the world in Kingston, Jamaica. Participants of many different backgrounds will witness to the peace of God as both gift and responsibility of the entire human family. The IEPC stewards programme will have 45 participants, with one third of them coming from Jamaica and the Caribbean.

Before the meetings, stewards follow an ecumenical learning programme which exposes them to the key issues of the ecumenical movement worldwide. The last phase of the stewards programme, following the meeting, focuses on designing ecumenical projects which stewards will implement back home.

Being a steward means hard work, but it is also a unique ecumenical experience of togetherness with young people from different churches, countries and cultures.

Applicants are invited to send in the application form:

· by 30 September 2010 for the Central Committee

· by 30 November 2010 for the IEPC

Download the application form HERE.

Violent Actors, Peaceful Alternatives: A Faith-Sensitive Training Toolkit for Youth

Open publication - Free publishing - More youth

International Year of Youth: their year, their voice

From the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs:

The International Year of Youth, commencing on the United Nations annual Day of Youth, 12 August 2010, celebrates and focuses on the importance of youth around the world. The contributions of youth to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are fundamental for success and Youth Conferences with the United Nations reflect the role youth play in achieving development. Youth are the future of the UN, and the future of all development. Events surrounding this year aim to make young people more visible in the international development agenda.

To read more click HERE.

Youth Forum Representative Stijn Van Bever on Vatican Radio

A step forward in the fight against the global arms race has occurred, with the Oslo treaty banning cluster munitions or submunitions entering into force on Sunday 1st August.

Cluster munitions contain hundreds of bomblets, can be dropped over a large surface area, and not all explode on impact. This poses a major threat to civilians long after conflicts have ended. Today, the global stockpile of these bombs has risen to more than one billion according to the Coalition Against Weapons Munitions. The Oslo treaty has so far been signed by 107 countries but only 37, including France, have ratified.

What does this entry into force mean and what will be the outcome? Stijn Van Bever, working on the issue of disarmament at Pax Christi International, speaks to Vatican Radio on this issue.

The interview is in French but you can access it by clicking HERE. You will need Real Media Player to access the recording.

Take Action: Sign Up for Arms Down! via @constantcontact

Take Action: Sign Up for Arms Down! via @constantcontact

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter

Check out my @constantcontact newsletter

European Youth Forum - Statement on MDG Review Summit

Ahead of the high level summit which will take place in September in New York, and in this year of 10th anniversary and review of the MDGs, the YFJ Board adopted a position paper which we encourage you to disseminate and to use in your MDG advocacy. The main messages relate to the need to step up efforts in order to achieve the MDGs by 2015, but also to involve youth and look beyond 2015.

Please find the paper attached.

Blogging from the Religions for Peace European Inter-religious Youth Network (EIYN) Regional Summit 2010

Disarmament for Development
Paris, France
25-27 June, 2010

Visiting our friends Taoufik and Lama as they forward their Arms Down! campaign - disarmament for Development.

I will be uploading videos for all of you to see.

Get excited!

- Jess

Our Blog Experts Carry On...

Hey guys! 'Working' photos for those of you who haven't seen my facebook album.
xox - your fearless leader jess