United Nations Millennium Declaration
On September 8, 2000, one year and three days before September 11, 2001, 188 countries signed the United Nations Millennium Declaration. The world recognized its collective responsibility to uphold the principles of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level.
They agreed on specific goals to be achieved by 2015:
• Reduce by half the proportion of people living on less than a dollar a day. Reduce by half the proportion of people who suffer from hunger
• Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary schooling
• Reduce by two thirds the mortality rate among children under five
• Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
• Halt and begin to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS
• Halt and begin to reverse the incidence of malaria and other major diseases
• Integrate the principles of sustainable development into country policies and programs.
• Reverse loss of environmental resources
• Reduce by half the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water
• Achieve significant improvement in lives of at least 100 million slum dwellers ( by 2020)
• Develop further an open trading and financial system that is rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory, that includes a commitment to good governance, development and poverty reduction—nationally and internationally
• Address the least developed countries’ special needs. This includes tariff- and quotafree access for their exports; enhanced debt relief for heavily indebted poor countries; cancellation of official bilateral debt; and more generous official development assistance for countries committed to poverty reduction
• In cooperation with pharmaceutical companies, provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countriesIn cooperation with the private sector, make available the benefits of new technologies — especially information and communications technologies.
It is possible to meet these goals. Wealthy nations agreed to gradually increase to 0.7% of their national incomes the amount they give for development aid for poor countries. So far Britain is half way to this goal at 0.34%, France is at 0.41% and the U.S. is at the bottom with 0.18%.
A UN Summit meeting of world leaders this September, the fifth anniversary, will progress made toward meeting the goals. Just prior to that the G-8 (major industrialized nations) will meet in Scotland. Tony Blair has promised to make talking poverty in Africa a focus and would love to have President Bush as an ally.
The U.S. has created the Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). $1 billion was allocated to it in 2004. Strong guidelines have been adopted, thanks to groups like Bread For the World. However, the funding is not sufficient and no money has been spent. Meanwhile the US will spend $400B on the military and $100 or so on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan this year. 20,000 people die each day from extreme poverty. In The Democratic Republic of the Congo 1,000 people die every day of preventable diseases like diarrhea and malaria. (That’s like being hit by a tsunami every five months.) President Bush and Congress need to hear about our support of the Millennium Development Goals and urge them to act quickly. People are literally dying for it.
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Death Penalty Update- Good News |
Since you last read “Issues”.....
Not only did Kenney Richey get a new trial .....US Court of Appeals 6 th Circuit in a 2-1 decision overturned the death sentence of Kenny Richey. Richey has maintained his innocence throughout his 18 years on Ohio’s death row. The decision was based on ineffective counsel and insufficient evidence against him. According to the majority, “We find that counsel’s incompetent handling of the sole forensic expert in this case fell far below the wide range of acceptable professional standards, and that absent counsel’s grave mistakes, there is a reasonable probability that the three-judge panel would have at least had a reasonable doubt as to whether Richey set the fire that ultimately caused the death of Cynthia Collins.”
Not only did the US Supreme Ct. rule against the execution of juveniles ... On March 1, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, 5-4, in Roper v. Simmons that the execution of juvenile offenders who committed their crimes before the age of 18 constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the 8 th Amendment The Court’s finding that the juvenile death penalty is cruel and unusual punishment confirms what we all know and what science has recently proven—that kids are different than adults, are less culpable, and do not qualify as the “worst of the worst” criminals to justify a sentence of death
Not only did the New Mexico House of Representatives pass abolition legislation ..New Mexico House of Representatives voted to abolish the death penalty. The vote was 38 to 31 and our side picked up some Republicans. The bill now moves to Senate committee for action.
Not only did Derrick Jamison have his death specified charges dismissed ..After 17 years on Ohio’s Death Row and 3 years awaiting retrial at Hamilton County Courthouse Derrick Jamison’s case was thrown out today due to lack of evidence.
Not only did 65 abolitionist volunteers help make the Dead Man Walking Play and the week long series of death penalty awareness raising events at Xavier University a great success ......
Not only did the City of Oberlin Ohio pass a moratorium resolution .....
BUT ALSO...Cincinnati had a successful Write-a-thon ...to commemorate International Abolition Death Penalty Day ... 47 people joined together in an act of grassroots lobbying, to write over 150 letters and make this "funraiser" and Fundraiser too!!!!!!! Thanks to all.
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Abolition Now! |
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In May of 2005 world leaders, mayors, and citizens around the world will be at the United Nations in New York to review the fate of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a treaty in serious disarray, its disarmament obligations ignored by the Nuclear Weapons States while they accuse other nations of nuclear proliferation.
In this historic year, the Mayors of Peace Emergency campaign has proposed a reasonable timetable for achieving a nuclear weapon free world by 2020, with negotiations to begin in 2005 and to conclude by 2010, with global nuclear disarmament implemented no later than 2020. International lawyers and disarmament experts have drafted a Model Nuclear Weapons Convention for use in such negotiations (see www.lcnp.org ). All that is lacking is the political will to get started. Abolition Now! asks individuals, citizen groups, and community and civic leaders to help create the political will by inviting all to make a personal commitment to support the call for a nuclear weapons free world through actions leading up to the negotiation and adoption of a Nuclear Weapons Convention.
Abolition Now and United for Peace and Justice urge people to attend May 1st Mass Demonstration for Global Disarmament in New York City’s Central Park. IJPC will coordinate transportation to demonstration. Please let us know ASAP if your interested we can have an idea of numbers –a van? 2 vans? a bus?
Abolition Now also urges Mayors to sign on to Mayoral Statement in Support of the Commencement of Negotiations on the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. A small Cincinnati contingent will meet with Cincinnati Mayor Charlie Luken. Find more information and action suggestions on www.abolitionnow.org
Other Anti-Nuclear Activities to know about:
• International Peace Walk (from Oakridge TN –Mar 12 to United Nations –May 1)
• Cincinnatians to Abolish Nuclear Weapons meets monthly. Contact Carol Rainey at 513-232-5053 for more info.
Info about NPT:
*The NPT prohibits almost all states from acquiring nuclear weapons, and in return requires the United States and other nuclear-armed countries to negotiate the elimination of their nuclear arsenals. But sixteen years after the end of the Cold War, there are still nearly thirty thousand nuclear weapons in the world.
*The Bush administration also opposes the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty; and negotiated an arms reduction agreement with Russia - the Moscow Treaty - that contains no verification requirements. The administration has thus abandoned the decades-old process aimed at controlling and eventually eliminating nuclear arsenals globally.
*In 2002, U.S. released a Nuclear Posture Review, undermining NPT, deciding to include nuclear weapons in the full range of weapons to be used against countries with which the U.S. has major disagreements.
*If the most powerful country that has ever existed asserts the right to use nuclear weapons to ensure its security, we shouldn’t be surprised to see other countries follow suit. As responsible global citizens, we must demand a more sustainable concept of universal security based on human and ecological needs.
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Janitors all across the Greater Cincinnati area are uniting to end poverty wages and lack of affordable healthcare in the contract cleaning industry. Their vision is an industry that creates jobs which offer working people the means to provide a dignified living for themselves and their families: full-time work, health benefits, and a decent wage.
Justice for Janitors is a nationwide campaign of the Service Employees International Union that began in 1985 in Pittsburgh and Denver. The campaign represents an opportunity for Cincinnati to confront the challenges of an economy increasingly dependent on low-wage, part-time service sector jobs. It represents the opportunity to create good jobs for the city's poorest neighborhoods. And it represents the opportunity for communities historically divided from one another to refuse to fight over the bottom rung of the social and economic ladder, and unite in the cause of good jobs and dignity for all. Over the years, Justice for Janitors has worked successfully to win better wages, benefits, and job security for janitors who clean buildings in over 25 major cities and suburbs.
To get more involved with the effort:
• Log on to www.cincijanitors.org and sign up to receive e-mail updates and action alerts
• Sign onto an open letter supporting janitors. Call 513721-3096 (SEIU-Local 3 Office) for more info.
• Attend the Janitors Campaign Community Kickoff Event on April 12 th (Time and location to be announced soon!)
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After nearly four years of a national boycott, the Coalition for Immokalee Workers (CIW) and Taco Bell have reached a historic agreement!
March 8, 2005 (IMMOKALEE/LOUISVILLE) – In a precedent-setting move, fast-food industry leader Taco Bell Corp., a division of Yum! Brands (NYSE: YUM), has agreed to work with the Florida-based farm worker organization, the Coalition of Immokalee Workers (CIW), to address the wages and working conditions of farmworkers in the Florida tomato industry.
Taco Bell announced today that it will fund a penny per pound “pass-through” with its suppliers of Florida tomatoes, and will undertake joint efforts with the CIW on several fronts to improve working conditions in Florida’s tomato fields. For its part, the CIW has agreed to end its three-year boycott of Taco Bell, saying that the agreement “sets a new standard of social responsibility for the fast-food industry.”
“As an industry leader, we are pleased to lend our support to and work with the CIW to improve working and pay conditions for farmworkers in the Florida tomato fields,” said Emil Brolick, Taco Bell president. “We rec- ognize that Florida tomato workers do not enjoy the same rights and conditions as employees in other industries, and there is a need for reform. We have indicated that any solution must be industry-wide, as our company simply does not have the clout alone to solve the issues raised by the CIW, but we are willing to play a leadership role within our industry to be part of the solution,” Brolick added.
In 2004, Taco Bell purchased approximately 10 million pounds of Florida tomatoes, representing less than one percent of Florida’s tomato production. Taco Bell serves more than 35 million consumers each week in more than 6,500 restaurants in the U.S. Taco Bell has recently secured an agreement with several of its tomato-grower suppliers, who employ the farmworkers, to pass-through the company-funded equivalent of one-cent per pound directly to the workers.
For more info, see www.ciw-online.org
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