Nobel peace laureate Shirin Ebadi isn’t intimidated by police force. When her human rights group’s office was shut down by Iranian police last year, she told them, “You might have closed my apartment, but you can’t shut my mouth.”
Ebadi, 61, has kept her word. In light of the recent controversial Iranian election, she has called for peace, saying that she expects “the international community to prevent the pursuit of violence by the government.” (more…)
Following a week-long major disaster risk reduction conference this week, 1,800 people from more than 300 organizations and governments came together to ask world leaders to reduce the number of human deaths by natural disasters by 50%. They are requesting that this goal be met by 2015.
Given that last year alone saw 300 natural disasters taking the lives of 236,000 people, the goal is a vital one to be met. (more…)
Remember the old bumper sticker, “Sure you can trust the government; just ask a whale or an Indian”? As much as we’d like to think that the adage no longer applies, sadly, it still does in many places worldwide–including America.
And the United States doesn’t perpetuate land consumption and culture elimination simply within its own lands; no, it does so around the world as well, through many means. In the case of Peru, it’s through a free trade agreement.
Though following the Holocaust the world proclaimed “Never again,” while heartfelt, the sentiment has been proven to be untrue. Genocide is far from dead in our world. Rwanda, Congo and Sudan are just three modern-day examples of genocide–the latter two of which are still engaged in destruction this very second.
And now, following the declaration of “peace” that was made in May, Sri Lanka has been added to this list.
Pope Benedict XVI visited both Bethlehem and a Palestinian refugee camp outside the city on May 13, offering support and solidarity for victims of the 61-year violence. After presiding over an open-air mass in Bethlehem, a city symbolic of Christianity for being the birthplace of Jesus Christ, he continued his day of promoting peace by traveling to the ‘Aida refugee camp outside the city. Given that the United Nations has called for stronger efforts in resolving the violence, his visit was a timely one.