KAIROS Times - March 2020

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KAIROS Times, March 2020

Report from the KAIROS delegation to Palestine and Israel

The final report and recommendations from the KAIROS delegation to Palestine and Israel last November are now available. Delegates will share it with government representatives when they visit Ottawa the week of March 9.

MERE Hub wants YOU

KAIROS invites you to contribute to the Canadian phase of Mother Earth and Resource Extraction: Women Defending Land and Water (MERE Hub), a digital platform on the gendered impacts of resource extraction. We’re looking for content and feedback.

Children’s Reflection for World Water Day

This World Water Day (March 22) share the story of late Grandmother Josephine Mandamin and her powerful message to protect water with the children in your community. It can be used as part of a classroom lesson, worship service or even during bedtime reading at home!

This Children’s Reflection is the first in a series of resources to be released by KAIROS as part of its Reconciliation in the Watershed program. The program aims to help communities become more knowledgeable of their local watershed, nurture right relations with people and the earth and take action to protect water and the land.

We stand with the Wet’suwet’en peoples

KAIROS stands with the Wet’suwet’en peoples and calls on government and industry to uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples as expressed in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Indigenous rights are lived responsibilities, by Niigaan James Sinclair

Pipelines, mines and projects that extract resources while compromising the earth and water are not the only solutions to escape poverty. The ‘path forward’ is to understand that Indigenous communities want a path out of poverty but not at the cost of the cultural fabrics that make Indigenous peoples who they are.

Ecumenical Network South Sudan and the value of persistent, patient advocacy, by Jim Davis

Concerned about a lack of global interest in the welfare of South Sudan, which for years has been mired in a brutal civil war, the Ecumenical Network South Sudan’s annual gathering focused on enhancing international advocacy and the role of the South Sudan Council of Churches in peacebuilding processes.

A women’s income generating collective in eastern DR Congo, by Jim Davis

A small collective of women is in the process of cultivating new hillside fields and planting sorghum and sweet potatoes. Estranged from their extended families and communities after experiencing sexual gender-based violence, these women are getting another chance, thanks to support from KAIROS’ partner, Héritiers de la Justice.

Reporting from South Africa: the Alternative Mining Indaba, by Jim Davis

KAIROS’ Jim Davis traveled to South Africa to participate in the Alternative Mining Indaba and meet with members of the WoMin African Alliance. He reports on the communities that came together to deliver their messages to the extractive companies that impact them.

Upcoming

International Women’s Day – March 8

World Water Day – March 22

National Aboriginal Languages Day in Canada – March 31

For upcoming KAIROS events:

KAIROS Calendar

Featured Partner Work - South Sudan women build momentum for peace at mass fasting and prayer events

KAIROS is encouraged by the recent formation of a transitional coalition government in South Sudan. The country has been plagued by a brutal civil war that has killed almost 400,000 people since the country’s birth in 2011.

The South Sudan Council of Churches-National Women’s Programme (SSCC-NWP) likely had a hand in this development. Its women peacebuilders have painstakingly laid the groundwork for peace for years. Just last summer, beginning in July, they gathered thousands of women for collective fasting and prayers, culminating in A National Day of Fasting and Prayers for Peace on September 19 in Juba, the nation’s capital. SSCC women mobilized an event at the State House, or Presidential Palace, involving 1,200 people, including the President, two Vice Presidents, the Chairman of the National Assembly, Ministers of government, the Governor of Jubek state, the Deputy Chair of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement / In-Opposition, and generals of the armed forces.

And, on September 21, SSCC-NWP celebrated the International Day of Peace in Malakal, located in the Greater Upper Nile Region. More than 6,300 people participated in women-focused programming at Malakal Stadium. The event included internally displaced persons from the nearby Protection of Civilians camp.