More than 60,000 people have been forced from their homes by fighting in South Kordofan, in the border region between north Sudan, and the soon to be formed Republic of South Sudan. Caritas fears a humanitarian crisis is rapidly developing due to the conflict and a lack of access to the affected population by the humanitarian community. Coadjutor Bishop Michael Didi Adgum Mangoria of El Obeid, whose diocese covers the worst hit areas, says people have been fleeing from the fighting, trying to escape the conflict if they can. Bishop Didi said: “The war must end immediately. There is great suffering among the people. The international community must do all it can to support a return to a negotiated peace settlement.” Continue reading Sudan: bishop urges immediate end to conflict
Daily Archives: June 18, 2011
International Day of the African Child
Human Rights Education Associates
16 June 2011 — In 1976, thousands of black school children took to the streets of Soweto, South Africa. In a march more than half a mile long, they protested the inferior quality of their education and demanded their right to be taught in their own language. Hundreds of young boys and girls were shot down by security forces. In the two weeks of protest that followed, more than a hundred people were killed and more than a thousand were injured. Continue reading International Day of the African Child
Water fight: A new Catholic issue emerges in Italy
VATICAN CITY ([ http://www.catholicnews.com/data/briefs/cns/20110614.htm ]CNS) — A referendum in Italy has spotlighted an emerging social justice issue for the Catholic Church: access to safe water as a basic human right. Italians went to the polls June 12-13 and voted overwhelmingly to revoke a decree that imposed the privatization of water resources. The issue stirred an unusually intense debate, with church leaders arguing that water is the archetypal “gift from God” that should not be polluted by the profit motive. Continue reading Water fight: A new Catholic issue emerges in Italy
Brazil Amazon: Sixth murder since May amid land rows
A rural worker has been shot dead in Brazil’s Amazon – the sixth murder in a month in the region, amid conflicts over land and logging. The body of Obede Loyla Souza was found in dense forest close to his home in the nort . The 31-year-old had argued with illegal loggers in the area, the Catholic Church’s Pastoral Land Commission said. Violence in the Amazon prompted the Brazilian government last month to offer more protection for activists. Police believe Mr Souza was killed last week, but news of his death was only confirmed on Tuesday. He was found close to his home in a settlement for landless rural workers near the town of Pacaja. ‘Marked man’ The Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) said Mr Souza had received death threats after a run-in with loggers, who were reportedly cutting down chestnut trees illegally. Continue reading Brazil Amazon: Sixth murder since May amid land rows
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