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Category: World Touch

Agencies Launch $18m Education Scheme

Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF country representative, said he expects the return on the investment in childhood learning to be “extremely high.” He cited a recent study which shows that every dollar spent on early childhood care and development (ECCD) returns as much as $12 on the value of human development. Hozumi also said that investing in the most disadvantaged children is “justifiable, first and foremost, from the viewpoint of human rights.”  Teresita Inciong, ECCD Council head, said early childhood education will improve the country’s high dropout rate. “Ages from zero to four years old are crucial for brain development and it’s irreversible if we fail to catch up,” she said at the launch of the project in Quezon City. The project will be implemented by UNICEF with the Departments of Social Welfare, Education and ECCD. Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said that the project will focus on children who are in the most disadvantaged condition, especially those trapped in the conflicts in Mindanao. The project will also help the government establish more day care centers on isolated islands as well as relocation sites for displaced children, she added. The country has only 45,000 day care centers, most of them managed by day care staff who earn a meager allowance of about $12 a month.  

www.ucanews.com

Prison Population’s “Unprecedented Increase”

“This is one of the major human rights problems within the United States, as many of the people caught up in the criminal justice system are low income, racial and ethnic minorities, often forgotten by society,” Maria McFarland, deputy director for the U.S. program at Human Rights Watch, said. In recent years, as a consequence of the imposition of very harsh sentencing policies, McFarland’s office has seen new patterns emerging of juveniles and very elderly people being put in prison. “Last year, some 95,000 juveniles under 18 years of age were put in prison, and that doesn’t count those in juvenile facilities,” she noted. “And between 2007 and 2011, the population of those over 64 grew by 94 times the rate of the regular population. Prisons clearly aren’t equipped to take care of these aging people, and you have to question what threat they pose to society.” According to the new CRS report, a growing number of these prisoners are being put away for charges related to immigration violations and possession of weapons. But the largest number is for relatively paltry drug offenses – an approach that report author Nathan James, a CRS analyst in crime policy, warns may not be useful in bringing down crime statistics. “Research suggests that, while incarceration did contribute to lower violent crime rates in the 1990s, there are declining marginal returns associated with ever increasing levels of incarceration,” James notes. He suggests that one potential explanation for this could be that people have been increasingly incarcerated for crimes in which there is a “high level of replacement.” Of course, the U.S. prison population’s blooming needs to be traced back to changes within the federal criminal justice system. Recent decades have seen an expanding “get tough” approach on crime here, under which even nonviolent offenders are facing stiff prison sentences. Arguably, the single most important element in explaining the record incarceration numbers, both at the federal and state levels, could be “mandatory minimum” sentencing requirements, under which federal and state law over the past two decades has automatically required certain prison sentences for certain crimes, particularly for drug offenses. “Particular attention should be given to reforming mandatory minimums and parole release mechanisms as policies that can work to reduce state prison populations.”  

www.ipsnews.net/ Carey L. Biron

Persecution Of Christians Getting Worse

Sadly, it is now customary for the so–called “house” churches, which are less easy to control, to be targeted by the Chinese government. But there is another factor that has made the situation even more difficult and that is the government and the Communist Party have a specific aim. Taking into account the past 7 years, it is clear that persecution continues to worsen, on the basis of an annual 24.5 % growth rate. According to ChinaAid’s analysts, persecution in 2012 was not just a continuation of the practice, developed in 2008 and 2009, of “targeting “house” church leaders and churches in urban areas,” or the 2010 strategy of “attacking Christian human rights lawyers groups and using abuse, torture and mafia tactics.” Neither was it a continuation of the 2011 strategy of increasing the intensity of the attacks against Christians and “house” churches that have an impact on society. There was a change of strategy and the reason for this can be found in a document issued by the Ministries of Public Security and Civil Affairs. This document, which was written by the State Administration for Religious Affairs, roughly outlines three phases of the operation. The first, from January to June 2012, foresaw intense and secret inquiries into “house” churches across the country and the creation of a set of archives on these. The second phase should last between 2 to 3 years and be based on the gradual elimination of registered “house” churches with the aim of closing all of these down definitively, over a ten–year period. Indeed, various carrot and stick methods were used to achieve this; churches were closed down and church leaders were sent to labor camps in an attempt to convince them to enter the State and Communist Party-controlled church system. The report, however, does end on a slightly optimistic note. “The church … is still standing firm, flourishing like the cedars of Lebanon and fruit trees planted by the streams, bearing much fruit at the appointed time.” 

www.vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/ Marco Tosatti

Fighting Fundamentalism

Imams and Muslim preachers from Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Mauritania and Algeria took part in the meeting; together, they signed a declaration in which Salafist fundamentalism is described as “a destructive thought that has spread through the Sahel over the past years, sullying the image of Islam and the Muslims.” This opposition, therefore, has a religious motive: the rejection of tolerance or support in contrast with the teachings of the Koran. Hence, imams in the Sahel urge all Muslims to “speak out against violence, extremism and fanaticism” and to spread “a culture of peace and peaceful coexistence with other communities.”It is in order to fulfill these aims that participants at the meeting chose to create a proper league, electing Abdou Daoud Bourima, a Nigerien imam, as president and Algerian General Youcef Mechria as secretary general. Of course, the bodies they are targeting are groups such as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb and the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa which strike against Christians and foreigners, in the name of “the fight against the Western invaders.”  “Only religion,” Imam Bourima said, is capable of unmasking these fanatics.”  

www.vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/Giorgio Bernardelli

The Last Frontier

In the U.S., President Barack Obama wants to give legal status to eleven million immigrants by granting them citizenship. Meanwhile, in Tijuana, approximately ten thousand people are sleeping in the streets or in burrows along the river that marks the border, waiting to get past it either legally or illegally. “Many of the people living here have been forced to leave the U.S. and will not give up on the idea of returning.” Fr. Ernesto Hernandez Ruiz, a Salesian, runs the “Padre Chava” refectory that prepares meals for Tijuana’s destitute, most of whom are migrants. He serves a thousand meals six days a week. The Salesians are present in many of the cities located along the border that separates Mexico from the U.S.: Mexicali, Nogales, Ciudad Juarez, Ciudad Acuna, Piedras Negra and Nuevo Laredo, which are mainly used as transit routes for merchandise (and drugs). But, for the Salesians, Tijuana is more important because this is where most human movement takes place. Ever since the prohibition era, California’s residents see Tijuana as a city that has gone off the rails. Once you’ve crossed the border, it’s all about alcohol and no limits, at low prices. Mexico, on the other hand, sees it as the city of hope, of dreams and of a better future. But, for many, that dream ends up crashing against the big wall. “We guarantee the destitute a meal because those who go hungry are capable of anything,” Fr. Ernesto said. He is well aware of the fact that human traffickers are very active in Tijuana. Crossing the border costs about $1,000 and those who cannot pay it all in one go incurs a debt which then has to be paid back once they reach the U.S. and find a job. If people do not pay up, their families back in Mexico pay the price. “We try to persuade migrants not to stay here, Fr. Ernesto explained, but to go back to their country of origin. We have even signed agreements with transport companies so that they can travel back at discounted prices. But it is not easy because they will not accept defeat after spending their whole lives dreaming of a better life in the United States.”  It is eight o’clock in the morning and food is being handed out. Fr. Ernesto has to go. There are hundreds of people waiting in line. The queue which stretches for about one kilometer seems never–ending, as always. It tails off in the center of Tijuana, between Avenues Melchor Ocampo and Internacional. The wall is just a few meters from there. The elderly, women, children and men (there were mostly men) who turned up today got something to eat. Tomorrow, who knows? 

www.vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/ Davide Demichelis

The Wall Of Discord

Abuna Mario has been celebrating Eucharistic liturgies and praying the Stations of the Cross, as well as rosaries, among the olive groves in Cremisan Valley since October, 2011. This time, the Mass has an important objective: the Court of Appeal in Tel Aviv is expected to rule on the appeal presented against building work commencing on the land in question. The appeal was presented by the owners of this land, including the local Salesian House. In his appeal, Fr. Cornioli wrote: “Join us in prayer and may God enlighten Israeli judges. According to the priest, only an “insane mind could have planned the trail for this shameful wall of division” which has “nothing whatsoever to do with keeping the area safe but, it is simply aimed at robbing our families of our land and stifling the life of our communities.” The wall would ruin “one of the Holy Land’s most magnificent areas of natural beauty” and dispossess over 50 Christian families of their land.  

www.vaticaninsider.lastampa.it

Sea Gypsies Battle For Survival

Maramakami and his wife have since moved to Tacloban, a developing city in Leyte province, in a bid to find a more stable source of income. “There is no more money in the sea, no more fish to hunt, and diving in deep waters for a few coins was getting tiring. It was no longer attractive – my wife also didn’t like it.” Theirs is a vicious cycle which is common among sea gypsies, an ethnic minority here. Mainly based in Mindanao, an island to the south, many of the country’s estimated half a million sea gypsies are leaving their homes as their way of life – based around fishing – is slowly disappearing. The Internal Displacement Monitoring Center of Norway has reported that more than a quarter of million people were displaced in Mindanao between January and October last year alone, almost all due to conflict and natural disasters.  The degrading Philippine coastline also plays a part in this migration. The Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR) has reported that 10 out of 13 fishing grounds in the country are heavily exploited due to illegal and unregulated fishing off this archipelago. Home to the second largest reef system in Asia, only 4% of this marine habitat in the Philippines remains in excellent condition, BFAR says. “About 1.2 million jobs in the fishing, tourism and food sectors would be directly affected by poor ocean management,” says Vince Cinches of Greenpeace Southeast Asia. Maramakami says Cebu became overrun with other sea gypsies diving for coins near the port. Earnings inevitably shrank. That’s why he again moved on to Tacloban where he goes door–to–door selling trinkets – necklaces, bracelets and earrings made of seashells and other materials mostly taken from the sea, the only source of livelihood he has known. “We’ll continue roaming until we have a permanent place where our future is secured,” he says. He earns between 150 and 200 pesos (US$3.75 and $5) per day. But there are many sea gypsies living in Tacloban who beg for a living, he adds. “They don’t have much in the way of an education to get a job.” Still in his mid–20’s, Marakami and his wife are among the lucky few sea gypsies to have received a small plot of land from the government just outside of Tacloban in the town of Isabel. “I haven’t thought of my future children yet,” he says. “For now, the important thing is that the two of us survive each day.”  

www.ucanews.com/ Ronald Reyes

Pope Benedict Resigns

Giovanna Chirri, the journalist who first sent out the news, through the ANSA agency, said that she just couldn’t believe her ears when she heard the first words of the declaration the Pope was making that Monday morning, 11 February, in front of a consistory of cardinals who were meeting to decide on the canonization of a new group of saints. Benedict XVI was reading it in Latin but she made it out immediately, got confirmation and sent it out. “I gave out the news and then just sat down and began to weep,” she told a fellow journalist.

Fr. Fernando Domingues, MCCJ

Agencies Launch $18m Education Scheme

The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund, have launched a joint US$18 million project to help about four million poor children in six Philippine cities. Entitled “Early Learning for Life,” the project will operate in targeted areas of high need across the country.

www.ucanews.com

Prison Population’s “Unprecedented Increase”

The research wing of the U.S. Congress is warning that three decades of “historically unprecedented” build–up in the number of prisoners incarcerated in the United States have led to a level of overcrowding that is now “taking a toll on the infrastructure” of the federal prison system. Over the past 30 years, according to a new report by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the federal prison population – not counting with the states’ system – has jumped from 25,000 to 219,000 inmates, an increase of nearly 790%. Swollen by such figures for years, the United States has incarcerated far more people than any other country today, imprisoning some 716 people out of every 100,000.

www.ipsnews.net/ Carey L. Biron
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