Hearts to the Future International

03/10/2013

We want to thank the African Center for Democracy and Human Rights Studies for inviting HFI to their NGO forum for the third time and to the 53Rd Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People's Right for two years in a row. Even though we were unable to attend the 50th session in Banjul and the 52nd session in Ivory Coast, we have responded to ACDHRS that we will be attending both the 53rd Ordinary Session and NGO forum in Banjul, The Gambia this April.

10/29/2012

HFI is supporting Global-I for the AUC Congo Week. Visit www.heartstothefuture.org/congoweek to take part

10/28/2012

BOYCOTT on BUSINESSES THAT BENEFIT FROM ISRAEL SETTLEMENTS:
A United Nations independent expert today called on the world body’s General Assembly, as well as civil society, to take action against Israeli and international businesses that are profiting from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory.

“My main recommendation is that the businesses highlighted in the report – as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise – should be boycotted, until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards,” the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Richard Falk, said in a news release issued as he presented a report on his work to the Assembly.

Highlighting the activities of companies such as Caterpillar Incorporated of the United States, Veolia Environment of France, G4S of the United Kingdom, the Dexia Group of Belgium, Ahava of Israel, the Volvo Group of Sweden, the Riwal Holding Group of the Netherlands, Elbit Systems of Israel, Hewlett Packard of the USA, Mehadrin of Israel, Motorola of the USA, Assa Abloy of Sweden, and Cemex of Mexico, the Special Rapporteur noted that a wide range of Israeli and international businesses are involved in the establishment and maintenance of the Israeli settlements.

“All Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have been established in clear violation of international law,” said Mr. Falk.

“Yet today Israeli settlements control over 40 percent of the West Bank and between 500,000 and 600,000 Israeli citizens are living in Palestinian territory,” he added. “In the last 12 months alone, the settler population has increased by over 15,000 persons.”

He drew the Assembly’s attention to developing international law and standards concerning businesses and human rights, including the UN Global Compact and the UN Guiding Principles on Businesses and Human Rights.

“The principles outlined in the Global Compact are clear,” Mr. Falk said. “Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights and ensure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.”

The Global Compact is a strategic policy initiative for businesses that are committed to aligning their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. The Guiding Principles, endorsed by the Human Rights Council, provide a global standard for preventing and addressing the risk of adverse impacts on human rights linked to business activity.

Mr. Falk also noted guidance developed by the International Committee of the Red Cross that points to the prospect of corporate and individual criminal responsibility for violations committed during a situation of armed conflict.

“In short, businesses should not breach international humanitarian law provisions. Nor should they be complicit in any breaches. If they do, they may be subject to criminal or civil liability. And this liability can be extended to individual employees of such businesses,” the Special Rapporteur said in presenting his report.

Mr. Falk noted that he had written to all the businesses mentioned in his report, and that positive responses were received from some of them.

“It is encouraging to be informed that Assa Abloy has moved its Mul-T-Locks factory from the West Bank to Israel, and that the Dexia Group, G4S, and Cemex are looking for ways to bring their operations into line with their commitments under the UN Global Compact,” he added.

Independent experts, or special rapporteurs, are appointed by the Geneva-based Human Rights Council to examine and report back on a country situation or a specific human rights theme. The positions are honorary and the experts are not United Nations staff, nor are they paid for their work.

10/28/2012

ATTACK ON A DOC IN CONGO:
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemns in the “strongest possible terms” an attack which took place on Thursday night at the home of Dr. Denis Mukwege, a physician internationally known for his work with r**e victims in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to Mr. Ban's spokesperson.

“He is outraged to learn that armed men entered the home of Dr. Mukwege and held his family at gunpoint, ultimately killing his security guard,” the spokesperson added in an overnight statement.

According to media reports, Dr. Mukwege – the founder and Director-General of the Panzi Hospital in the city of Bukavu, located in the province of South Kivu, in the eastern DRC – and his family were not hurt in the attack on their Bukavu home.

Dr. Mukwege's efforts to help victims of sexual violence also includes serving on a special high-level panel, appointed by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which produced a report in 2011 which highlighted the deprivations endured by thousands of victims of sexual violence in the DRC, including the lack of access to medical and psychological treatment, amongst others.

“Dr. Mukwege's extraordinary and heroic work has saved the lives of tens of thousands of Congolese, many thousands of them women and girls who have been the victims of sexual violence in eastern DRC,” Mr. Ban's spokesperson added. “He continues to be a force for good, and Panzi Hospital a haven for the most vulnerable.”

He added that the UN chief calls on the DRC Government to ensure the safety and security of Dr. Mukwege and his family, and to make every effort to identify those responsible for the attack and hold them accountable.

10/28/2012

WHO calls for help in teh Sahel:
Countries gripped by a hunger crisis in West Africa’s Sahel region urgently need additional help to combat a series of intestinal-worm and other Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) that have spread in the wake of regional flooding, the United Nations health agency said today.

According to the UN World Health Organization (WHO), simple de-worming interventions will ensure that people can fully benefit from the food aid distributed.

“Humanitarian (agencies) should come out in full force and support de-worming activities in affected countries as malnourished children and adults are very susceptible to contracting these NTDs, transmitted via contaminated water, soil and parasites,” said WHO’s African Regional Director, Dr Luis Gomes Sambo, in a news release.

NTDs are a group of poverty-associated chronic infectious diseases – such as bilharzia, roundworms, hookworms and whipworms – that are endemic in poor and rural populations in the developing countries of Africa, America and Asia, according to WHO.

The diseases affect over 1.4 billion people worldwide, and cause severe morbidity and mortality, and are transmitted by insect bites, flies, water contact or worms in the soil, and are easily spread in areas of poor sanitation.

Dr. Gomes said the flooding created the “ideal breeding ground” for contracting NTDs and worm-like diseases in the Sahel region, which spans Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, amongst other countries. As a consequence, they are now “more at risk of malnutrition,” he added.

The Sahel region has been gripped by prolonged drought and internal conflict, with nearly 19 million people currently food insecure, including more than one million severely malnourished children under the age five years.

The agency said the number of food insecure people in the region is likely to increase because of the rise in the number of NTD cases, with NTD cases also on the rise because of low quality drinking water and inadequate latrine coverage that coincide with the Sahel flooding.

“The full impact of the Sahel crisis will only be felt in the months ahead on people’s livelihoods,” the health agency noted in the news release. “Integrating de-worming activities is… feasible and cost-effective – costing less than 50 cents to treat a person for a year.”

It added the low cost was “especially important” because only half of $1.6 billion of an appeal for Burkina Faso, Mali, Chad, Mauritania and Niger have been received.

Cholera outbreaks in several countries of the Sahel have exacerbated the situation, and the problem is extending to Central African countries, such as Chad and Cameroon, WHO noted.

10/11/2012

TOO YOUNG TO WED - SAY NO TO EARLY AND FORCED MARRIAGE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=qYleXcpbzKY #!

Every year, throughout the world, millions of young girls are forced into marriage. Child marriage is outlawed in many countries and international agreements...

10/11/2012

The United Nations today marked the first International Day of the Girl Child by calling for an end to child marriage, and stressing education as one of the best strategies for protecting girls against this harmful practice. Happy International Day of Girls and let us give women and girls the education they need. It is their right! Let us prevent them from getting married at an early age and fight poverty by educating them.

10/11/2012

The United Nations today marked the first International Day of the Girl Child by calling for an end to child marriage, and stressing education as one of the best strategies for protecting girls against this harmful practice. Happy International Day of Girls and let us give women and girls the education they need. It is their right!

09/15/2012

Joint UN-Arab League envoy and Syrian President discuss worsening crisis

The Joint Special Representative of the United Nations and the League of Arab States on the Syrian crisis, Lakhdar Brahimi, discussed the ongoing violence and worsening humanitarian situation with President Bashar al-Assad during a meeting in Damascus on Saturday.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Mr. Brahimi said the crisis is getting worse and has serious consequences on the Syrian people, the region and the entire world.

“We discussed this issue. I believe that the President is more aware than me of the scope and seriousness of this crisis,” said the envoy, who arrived earlier this week for meetings with representatives of the Government, the opposition and civil society.

“I informed the President that we, in the name of the United Nations and the League of Arab States, will exert every effort, present ideas and mobilize capacities and potentials required for this situation in order to best help the Syrian people out of this crisis.”

More than 18,000 people, mostly civilians, have died since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began 18 months ago. Amidst reports of an escalation in violence in recent weeks in many towns and villages, as well as the country's two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, UN agencies now estimate that some 2.5 million Syrians are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.

“This crisis is becoming worse by the day,” stated Mr. Brahimi, adding that it is urgent to address it in a proper manner.

Following his visit to Syria, Mr. Brahimi will go to New York to meet with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and the Security Council, “as well as a number of States which have influence, interests, or both, with regard to the Syrian issue,” he said.

Mr. Brahimi earlier this month assumed the peace-facilitation role which had been carried out since February by a former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, with the aim of bringing an end to all violence and human rights violations in Syria, and promoting a peaceful solution to the conflict.