CIDSE Highlights No.26 - May-June 2016

Moving towards more sustainable ways

of living, consuming and producing

30 June 2016

Time to care for our common home

High-level interviews on Laudato Si’
One year ago, CIDSE welcomed Pope Francis' hope for a profound "ecological conversion" and call to end inequalities, and advocated for a fair and binding global agreement on climate change at the UN COP21 conference. On the occasion of the first anniversary, CIDSE looked back at the impacts of the Encyclical on the major political processes that marked 2015 and launched a series of video interviews.
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© CIDSE

Conflict minerals: EU opts for "responsibility for some"

Political agreement reached on 15 June
While EU representatives celebrated the deal, CIDSE pointed to the weaknesses of the agreement that will limit its tangible impacts for populations living near mine areas. Despite huge civil society mobilisation over the past two years, the regulation approved takes a partial approach, as only the importers of metals and raw minerals will have to check their supply chains.
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© Roland Brockmann, Misereor

Making the move towards sustainable lifestyles possible

European Development Days 2016
CIDSE, Fair Trade Advocacy Office, ActionAid, Via Campesina, the International Federation of Catholic Parochial Youth Movements, and FIMARC co-organised a brainstorming lab session at the European Development Days 2016. Through five concrete examples and experiences, this session explored different ways of moving towards more sustainable ways of living, consuming and producing.
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© CIDSE

UPCOMING

CIDSE, eRko (Slovakia) and the Global Catholic Climate Movement will cooperate at the World Youth Day 2016 and run joint activities at the Eco-Youth Festival. (Kraków/Poland, 27-31/07/2016)
A CIDSE delegation will take part in the World Social Forum in Canada together with partners and allies. Planned activities with the support of Development and Peace and CCFD-Terre Solidaire - CIDSE’s Canadian and French member organisations - include workshops and roundtables on ecological justice and alternative models, agroecology, food sovereignty and climate justice, extractives and mining, active citizenship and mobilisation (with a particular attention to the role of youth) as well as on the encyclical Laudato Si’. Secretariat staff will also take the opportunity to visit the office of Development and Peace and meet with our Canadian colleagues. (Montreal, 9-14/08/2016)
CIDSE is organising a workshop on agroecology and climate sustainability during which case studies and experiences from across continents will be discussed. The event is addressed to member organisations’ staff, their partners and external allies. (Brussels, 19-21/09/2016)
A CIDSE delegation will travel to Rome on the occasion of the Civil Society Mechanism meeting (15-16/10/2016) and the 43rd session of the Committee on World Food Security (CFS). (17-21/10/2016)
CIDSE delegates will also travel to Geneva for the second session of the Open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights (IGWG), working together with the Treaty Alliance. (24-28/10/2016)

Watch the CIDSE website for details on upcoming activities: www.cidse.org.

OTHER NEWS

Together with Amnesty International and the European Coalition for Corporate Justice, CIDSE welcomed a “green card” initiative at European Union (EU) level to ensure corporate accountability for human rights abuses launched by eight national parliaments. (18/05/2016)
The CIDSE annual COMED and Fundraising Forum took place in Baar/Switzerland and was hosted by Fastenopfer. Workshops were held on challenges related to engaging with audiences, communicating complex stories, working together as a network, and other topics. (18-20/05/2016)
130 civil society organisations including CIDSE, called on the EU to require European companies to act with due care in tackling conflict minerals trade in an open letter to the Dutch Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the 28 member states. (13/06/2016)
Following the successful conference on ‘Land grab and just governance in Africa’ co-organised with SECAM, AEFJN and AFJN last November, FEC − CIDSE’s Portuguese member organisation − represented CIDSE in a follow-up meeting with Lusophone partners to discuss regional follow-up activities. (Mozambique, 7-10/06/2016). Similar initiatives for French and English speaking African countries are under discussions.
As part of a European tour, Fr. Jesus de Paquete, Second Deputy Secretary General and Director of the Justice, Peace and Development Commission of SECAM (Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar) visited the CIDSE office to discuss joint collaboration. (16/06/2016)
ECCJ, ActionAid and CIDSE welcomed the EU Foreign Affairs Council's Conclusions on business and human rights adopted on 20 June 2016 and called for their rapid translation into practice and decisive action for more access to justice (20/06/2016)
Hosted by CCFD-Terre Solidaire, CIDSE Directors met with partners and allies worldwide in Lyon/France to discuss cooperation and joint efforts in light of CIDSE’s new Strategic Framework. The outcomes of discussions will feed into the operationalisation of the network’s strategy. (20-21/06/2016)

RESOURCES

Publications

CIDSE annual report 2015 (available in EN – ES – FR)
Introducing CIDSE, general leaflet
Report of the EU policy lunch debate organised by the Development and Peace Foundation (:sef) in collaboration with the German BMZ and CIDSE. (Brussels, 11/05/2016)

Videos, blogs and articles

New entries on CIDSE’s blog series on gender equality: One Family at a Time by Salwa Duaibis/Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling (Palestine), Advocating for women rights in Palestine by Amal Syam/Women’s Affairs Center (Palestine), The economics of care and the role of the unions by Maria Tsirantonaki/ITUC (Belgium), Cambodian Sex Worker: “We Deserve a Life of Dignity” by Sophorn Yit/Just Associates Southeast Asia (Cambodia).
Why the state of play on the EU regulation on conflict minerals is not enough to achieve change on the ground, video interview of Abbot Léonard Sandeti/Congolese Bishops' conference (DRC).
Corporate impunity and lack of access to justice in Colombia: How a UN Treaty could help, video interview of Elisabet Pèriz/Tierra Digna (Colombia).
Series of video interviews on Laudato Si’: Harjeet Singh, global lead on Climate Change at Action Aid international; Patrizia Toia, Italian Member of the European Parliament for the Socialists and Democrats Group (S&D); Jean Pascal van Ypersele, Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven and former Vice Chair of the IPCC; Céline Deville, PhD student at the University of Liège and member of the Alter'actifs, a youth collective; Women’s voices on Laudato Si’.
Op-Ed ‘Europe’s unique chance to clean up its trade in minerals’ by Cardinal Oscar Rodríguez Maradiaga, published in EurActiv ahead on the vote on conflict minerals. (15/06/2016)
Op-Ed ‘One year on, the Pope's encyclical on the environment is more relevant than ever’ by Bernd Nilles, published in Christian Today on the occasion of the Encyclical’s first anniversary. (17/06/2016)

MEMBERSHIP NEWS

Congratulations to Clara Pardo Gil who was elected President of Manos Unidas (Spain) for a three-year term and succeeds Soledad Suárez.
Development and Peace (Canada) announced the departure of David Leduc, its Executive Director. Marc Brochu, Director of Administration, will act as Interim Executive Director. Patrick Renz, Director of Fastenopfer (Switzerland) will leave the organisation mid-July and will be replaced as Interim Director by Matthias Dörnenburg, Vice-Director and head of the Marketing Department. We thank both of them for their commitment to CIDSE and wish them well for the future.
Following the results of the ‘Brexit’ referendum in the UK, CIDSE sent a message of solidarity to staff of our impacted members, CAFOD, Progressio, SCIAF, Trócaire as well as UK national staff in other member organisations.