Throughout June, KAIROS will highlight and celebrate Indigenous women working to make change in Canada and the Global South. Through profiles, spotlights and by sharing inspiration, KAIROS will raise up those working to live in a good way and improve society for future generations.

The Canadian phase of Mother Earth and Resource Extraction: Women Defending Land and Water (MERE Hub) launches June 21 during Indigenous Women’s Month. MERE Hub is a living digital hub developed for and in consultation with women land defenders. The first phase focused on Latin America and launched in November 2019.

Sign the e-petition urging Canada to empower the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Business Enterprise (CORE). After a decade-long appeal from Canadian churches, civil society organizations, and labor unions to make Canadian companies accountable for human and ecological violations at their overseas operations, the government created CORE – but without investigatory powers. The Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability, of which KAIROS is a member, launched this petition in May. Please sign it and spread the word!

KAIROS has joined an informal alliance of more than 150 national and local civil society groups to demand that efforts to recover from the COVID-19 crisis move us toward a more equitable and sustainable future.

Co-written by Kirsten Van Houten, KAIROS’ Global Partnerships Coordinator, this op-ed appeared in The Hill Times on May 13: “Our response to COVID-19 must be presented as an act of care as opposed to an act of war. It must recognize that women are at the forefront of the response, and ensure they have seats at decision-making tables and where we maintain positions of leadership. A response that acknowledges women’s continued work as human rights defenders throughout the pandemic and beyond, ranging from challenging militarism to providing humanitarian assistance.”

More than 100 organizations world-wide have signed an open letter, co-written by KAIROS partner Acción Ecológica, MiningWatch Canada, and others, in solidarity with the Shuar Arutam People (PSHA) in the Ecuadorian Amazon. They demand the immediate exit of extractive companies from the territory of the PSHA and from the other Amazonian Indigenous territories to stop the spread of COVID-19.

KAIROS and several of its member churches have signed a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne, expressing grave concern about Canada’s silence on the government of Israel’s plans to propose a vote in the Knesset (likely July 1) to annex a significant part of the occupied Palestinian territories. The letter calls on Canada to publicly condemn Israel’s annexation plans and to uphold international human rights, including the Palestinians’ right to self-determination. 

Webinar: COVID-19 and Migrant & Undocumented Workers

June 9, 3:00 – 4:00 pm EDT.

Join Connie Sorio, KAIROS' Migrant Justice Program Coordinator, for an update on the situation facing migrant workers and undocumented persons during this unprecedented global crisis and learn what you can do to help. Learn more.