The Global Compact for Migration was adopted on Monday by leading representatives
from 164 Governments at an international conference in Marrakesh, Morocco,
in an historic move described by UN Chief António Guterres as
the creation of a “roadmap to prevent suffering and chaos”.

In the video below, UNICEF explains why the
​Compact has the potential to change communities and lives.

12/3: NGO CSW NY  Forum Planning Committee
12/4: - ChildFund Alliance: Child Migration Event 
         - UDHR Event Hosted by the Holy See Mission
12/5: - One-on-one with the General Assembly President
         - Financing for Social Development
12/6: - Working Group on Girls 
12/7: - CSocD Youth Event Planning Meeting
         - Genocide Convention Event
12/10: - UDHR Event Hosted by the Permanent Mission of Italy
           - UDHR Event on Inequality, Climate Change, and New Technology
12/11: - CSTIP Meeting 
12/12: NGO Mining Group
12/13: - CSocD Breakfast Meeting with Missions
           - Migration Meeting 
​

This past week, Sr. Janet Kinney and Sr. Susan McCarthy presented the 2018 Peace and Justice Award to James Martin, SJ.

In addition to being a member of the Society of Jesus and Editor at Large of America Magazine, Fr. Martin has written 13 books, edited 4 others and written numerous articles and opinion pieces in the national and international press. He has been a commentator for mainstream media to include CNN, NPR, Fox News and TIME Magazine and was appointed by Pope Francis as a consultant to the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications.
 
With this award, we recognize his work as an avid learner, an author, a communicator, an advocate for the poor, and a witness to the Gospel Call to Love. 
Thank you for all of your efforts in pursuit of peace and justice Fr. Martin! 

"We are all imperfect people, struggling to do our best in the light of our individual vocations. We are all pilgrims on the way, loved sinners following the call we first heard at our baptisms, and that we continue to hear everyday of our lives." 

​
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 as a common standard of achievement for all peoples and all nations.
The Universal Declaration – the most translated document in the world, available in more than 500 languages - is as relevant today as it was on the day that it was proclaimed.

Please click the image above for more information. 

We are pleased to share with you this Advent & Epiphany Devotional Journey "Walking Towards Hope", which was developed by the Interfaith Immigration Coalition Partners.
Please click the image below to open the document.   

 We remember and pray in a special way for those individuals and families in the migrant caravan who are far from home, seeking a better life.
 
For an excellent overview and perspective on their situation see:
​FROM MIGRANT CARAVAN TO EXODUS: MYTHS, ORIGINS, IMPLICATIONS

​Faith and I give special gratitude for your shared commitment to global justice – and send our wishes for a very blessed Thanksgiving!

10/31- World Cities Day Event at Permanent Mission of Germany
11/1-11/7 - Parliament of World Religions in Toronto
11/1- Working Group on Girl Meeting
11/7 - RUN Meeting 
11/8/ Migration Committee Meeting
11/9- Practical Solutions to Eradicate Human Trafficking UNHQ
11/14 - Financing for Sustainable Development Meeting
​11/16 - UN International Day for Education Event

2018 Theme: Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities
This year, the United Nations has selected the theme Building Sustainable and Resilient Cities; because cities need support to become resilient and develop their capacity to absorb the impact of hazards, protect and preserve human life and limit damage to and destruction of public and private assets while continuing to provide infrastructure and services after a crisis.

​PGJ Will be represented at the World Cities Day event today. 

Christopher Martin recently published his research on addressing multigenerational poverty using microfinancing efforts in Uganda and the impact of student engagement on addressing these issues.  Please enjoy the article below: 

10/25: Who Rules the World? #GirlsRule Briefing @ UNHQ
10/31: World Cities Day Event
11/1: Working Group on Girls Monthly Meeting
11/1-11/7: Parliament of World Religions (Kathleen Nolan, OP & Janet Kinney CSJ)**
**if you are attending this, please contact Sr. Janet!
11/7: RUN Monthly Meeting

Executive Director, Sr. Janet Kinney and Sr. Susan McCarthy, RDC - Board member of PGJ are on the Bus  October 21st - 27th!

You can find updates on the Partnership for Global Justice Facebook Page as well as on Twitter! 

Thursday Oct. 18th: Orientation for Funding for Sustainable Development
Tuesday Oct. 23rd: Spirit of UN Awards
Thursday Oct. 25th: Girls Rule Briefing @ UNHQ

​

By Janet Kinney, CSJ

Today was another early day for the 9 sisters and NETWORK staff who are traveling on the Bus this week. Each day begins with contemplative prayer in Simone’s room, where the sisters sit in quiet and listen to the stirrings within our hearts, recalling the people we met the prior day. After a period of extended quiet, we lift their intentions, mingled with our own and then one by one, share the fruits of our contemplation. Part of the program the prior evening was an illustrative example acted out by the sisters of how the tax cuts impact real people. One sister shared in this morning’s prayer about a conversation with a woman who came up to her afterwards and said “I am the Nicky you spoke about. I live in HUD housing and I am so fearful that if cuts are made to the social net programs I use and need, I will lose my apartment.” As the sister gazed into her face she saw a middle age woman of pallid complexion, simply dressed who was doing the best she can, day by day, yet living on the edge and carrying all the uncertainty that this stark reality brings to her life.

We ended our prayer, gathered our suitcases and stepped onto the bus, fortified by our faith, called to be bearers of hope to those we will meet this day. Leaving Seneca Falls a little after 8 am, our first two stops will be lobby visits with Representative Tenney (New Hartford) and Representative Faso’s (Kingston) offices. Sister Betsy will share these experiences in her blog for today.

As evening dusk begins to fall, we arrive in Morristown, New Jersey. Our hosts are the parishioners of Church of the Redeemer. We are greeted warmly by Reverend Cynthia Black, and introduced to Mayor Tim Dougherty. We shared a meal with the parishioners in the parish hall where we were told that they serve over 70,000 meals to individuals and families in need in their community. Rev. Black shared that their church was founded by the Abolitionists; they are also a “Green Faith sanctuary.”

After dinner, we moved to the church for the program.

Simone gives a brief introduction to the trip, but the real purpose of this evening’s program is a live podcast interview with Jesuitical, which is sponsored by America magazine. Zac Davis and Ashley McKinless moderated the conversation with Simone and Richelle Friedman, another ‘NOTB.’ Simone and Richelle shared moving stories from the road trip and explained why the Republican tax plan is so devastating to over 60% of the country’s population and encouraging all to get out the Vote for the midterms. After the podcast concludes, all gathered are invited to sign pledge cards and move outside to sign the bus. It is a beautiful moonlit night – Rev. Black “signed the bus” with a Church of the Redeemer bumper stick with this slogan ‘supporting the separation of church and hate since 1852.’ Clearly all we heard and experienced of these parishioners embodied these words.

​After the podcast, all participants moved outside to sign We are provided hospitality by the Filipini sisters at their Filipini Villa Walsh, a 100 + acre campus which includes a an all girls academy, grades 7-12. Sister Ascenza and Sister Alice greet us and after showing us our rooms, we gather briefly to give gratitude for the people we have met and the graces we have received.

​I am humbled by these experiences, and enriched by the desire of so many good people in this country who truly want to be a caring community for others, in contrast to the negative rhetoric and policies that are being implemented by the current administration. This trip is all about bringing hope to those who are discouraged by all that they are seeing happening in our country. I am richly blessed for these days shared with my sisters and those we have met on the road to Mar a Largo.

Sr. Janet and Faith attended the UN event celebrating the International Day of the Girl Child on October 11th. There were phenomenal speakers and performers representing girls from all over the country and all over the world. 

Thursday 10/11: NGO Committee on Migration
Wednesday 10/17:  Committee on Social Development
Thursday 10/18: Orientation for Funding for Sustainable Development

In the info graphic below, you can find the Special Report released by the IPCC. 

10/3/18 - RUN Meeting 
             - Financing for Sustainable Development 
10/4/18 - Working Group on Girls
10/5/18- Fordham Law Symposium: 100 Years of Women
10/9/18- The Committee to Stop Trafficking in Persons
10/10/18 - NGO Mining Group
Upcoming Events: 
​10/11/18 - NGO Committee on Migration
               - Day of the Girl Speak Out Event

By Doretta Cornell, RDC

The 73rd meeting of the UN General Assembly began on September 18 and comprises many different sorts of meetings, giving the heads of state opportunities to discuss major concerns and crises among themselves.  The General Debate, in which heads of state address the Assembly, began on Tuesday, September 25. In these talks, leaders generally lay out their attitudes and hopes for the future of the UN and the world, as well as outline difficulties they see and suggestions for solving them. These are long sessions; Tuesday’s session began at 10 am, with an address by the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly and only concluded at 9:10 pm, with the statement by the President of Morocco. Links to videos of these talks may be found at this link. A list of the speakers from the debates can be found here.

United States President Donald Trump began by touting his accomplishments (at one point eliciting laughter from the Assembly) and negotiations with North Korea, and reiterated his determination to contribute less to UN Peacekeeping, his disdain for the Commission on Human Rights and International Criminal Court, and his refusal to be part of any international agreement on migration or refugees. Focusing on Iran as a source of disruption and threatening more sanctions against them and against China, he repeatedly said he considers only American citizens, and accused everyone else of taking unfair advantage of the United States. He made no mention of climate change or of Russia’s incursions into other nations’ territories. Iran’s president responded to Mr. Trump’s accusations and threats by declaring it would not be moved by them.

Other leaders called for increased multinational collaboration to address climate change, migration and refugees, and the 2030 Agenda, and to end the conflicts and situations of peoples such as the people of Syria, Yemen and the Palestinians. Some called for action by the Security Council. Many declared their continued commitment to the United Nations and expressed confidence in its agencies to alleviate the current suffering.

Since September 18, U.N. agencies, such as the Security Council, Human Rights Commission, Peacebuilding Committee, Major Committees of the UN, Groups of Nations (such as the Group of 77 and the Group of Least Developed Countries) and Advisory bodies have been meeting each day to address more specific issues. Please see the Partnership blog for more information during these important weeks at the United Nations.

​

This week the Partnership for Global Justice has been/will be represented at the following events:
​
Monday, September 24th: High Level Event on Global Compact on Refugees,
                                    Data Driving Change
                             Achieving the SDGs via a More Sustainable Financial Sector
              Can Finance Regulation from Below (i.e. worker force) Help Us Achieve the SDGs?
Tuesday, Sept. 25th: Migration & Structural Transformation in Africa,
                                   Fighting Plastic Pollution: a Global Race to the Top
Wednesday, Sept. 26th: Building Momentum on Mental Health in the SDG Era                                              High Level Event on the Global Compact on Migration - Road to Marrakesh
Thursday, Sept. 27th: Regional Action on Environmental Democracy to Fulfill the Vision of                                           the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals Agenda
Friday, Sept. 28th: ALCOHOL, NCDS AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT - Where Do                                       We Stand & Where Do We Go? 

On Monday Sept. 17th, we attended a service that brought together faith-leaders, UN Staff, NGO participants and the public in preparation for this week's opening of the General Assembly.  Some of the special guests who gave reflections and remarks at this service included His Excellency Archbishop Luis Castro Quiroga, I.M.C. (Archbishop of Tunja, Colombia), His Excellency Mr. António Guterres (Secretary-General of the UN), and Her Excellency Ms. María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés (President of the 73rd Session of the GA).

The Global Climate Action Summit is taking place this Wednesday through Friday in San Francisco.
The key themes of this summit are healthy energy systems, inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities, land and ocean stewardship, and transformative climate investments.

Feel free to watch the Summit program live on September 12th-14th via YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. ​

Here are some upcoming events you may wish to learn more about or attend via webcast:

“We the Peoples… Together Finding Global Solutions for Global Problems”
The 67thUN DPI/NGO Conference
22-23 August 2018, UN Headquarters, New York
​
Concept Note:
'We the Peoples’… with this simple introduction, the United Nations Charter lays out an ambitious and noble mandate. The impetus for creating such an Organization came from an understanding, after two world wars, that a global framework for working together was essential to avoid a repeat of the catastrophic suffering. Yet today, skepticism is rising worldwide about the value of multilateralism and the United Nations faces the challenge of remaining relevant and effective. Secretary-General António Guterres recognized this when he took office, declaring: “We need to re-assert the value of multilateralism; only global solutions can address global problems.”
This Conference is an opportunity to discuss concrete ways to take the UN’s people-centered mandate forward, in closer partnership with civil society. The re-positioned UN development system will offer a platform for non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to work more effectively with the UN to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development – and to communicate and advocate for it.
Feel free to watch it live on the 22ndand 23rd:
webtv.un.org/live/
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As reported by our Colleagues from the NGO Committee on Migration:
 
                            Call to Action: Support Refugee Resettlement

Our colleagues at the Scalabrini International Migration Network have issued an alert to U.S. citizens that the Domestic Policy Council in the White House, led by Stephen Miller, is currently discussing the number of refugees to be admitted to the United States during Fiscal Year 2019 (1 October 2018-30 September 2019). Despite the fact that the U.S. set a record low limit on the number of refugees it would settle in FY2018 (just 45,000), it is currently projected to resettle less than half that number by the end of the fiscal year.

The Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) asks that you contact the White House (202-456-1411) and members of Congress (Senate: 202-224-3121; House: 202-225-3121) and ask for a presidential determination of 75,000 refugees for FY 2019.

According to recent Pew Research Center analysis, Canadian and Australian citizens may also want to consider contacting their government representatives about sharp declines in refugee resettlement in their respective nation.                                                                                                                                    

HIGH LEVEL POLITICAL FORUM
Lastly, from the recent High Level Political Forumproceedings held in July, as summarized by
Doretta Cornell, RDC:
 
Toward a More Sustainable World: HLPF
 
The opening session of the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) included some interesting ideas about what we need to do to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs ) by 2030, which is only 18 years away. A few of the speakers’ thoughts on this are included here:
 
The first, Alex Steffen,of Worldchanging.com, pointed out a great obstacle to achieving them:
We right now have two incompatible economies at work, one working toward implementing the SDGs and creating a more just world, and the other predatory one in which corporations and other entities are creating a purposeful delay.  This is slowing the development of sustainable solutions, acting against needed legislation and other tactics that put profit before the good of people and planet. Sustainable energy, for instance, would disrupt the dominance of fossil fuel companies. We cannot negotiate between the two economies, but must work to disrupt the predatory one if we want a sustainable future.
 
Ms. Asa Regner, of Sweden, Assistant-Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN Women, reminded us that great progress is being made toward gender equality.  She notes that more girls are attending school for longer time, for instance. She then focused on the still-great challenges facing women and girls. For example, 30% of people in the world do not have clean water, and 80% of the water they do have is collected by girls. She also mentioned Turning Promises into Action, a new (341- page!) report from UNWomen, outlining an agenda to achieve gender equality. 
 
The first panel of the day, Reviewing Progress in Achieving the SDGs, focused on the importance of accurate data to implementing the SDGs.  Especially in developing countries, there is not enough funding for data collection. 
 
To be useful for the SDGs, data must be “disaggregated,” showing the statistics for each local place and for different groups. For instance, aggregated data on income for a nation might show that people in that country have a decent income. However, disaggregated data may show that young women in rural areas receive very low income for their labor.  Disaggregated data, therefore, is essential to identify those who are suffering most.
 
Moderator Emily Pryor, of Data2X gave examples:  Finland’s data showed women were working three times much more than men, and more if they had children, so the government made policies to make paternity leave more accessible. In another country, the new data showed that, in spite of laws against domestic violence, one in three women were reporting incidents. The data gives them grounds for making changes.
 
Sofia Monsalve Suárez, Secretary General of Food First Action Network (FIAN International), pointed out that useful data will not only count numbers (quantitative) but must include  qualitative data B  what various people’s experience is, especially referring to human rights and effects on women. She also warned us watch for manipulation of data, especially for political or financial ends. Grace Bediako, of Ghana’s the National Development Planning Commission, echoed this, pointing to Nigeria’s use of such data to assess the impact on the people of large government projects. In planning roads in remote areas, for instance, what effect will it have on the people who live there? Are roads what the people need most? 
 
Another aspect of data we need to monitor is how they are interpreted:  Pádraig Dalton, of Ireland’s Central Statistics Office, pointed out that data be couched in words that can easily translate to needed policies, using the language of legislators, not data experts.
 
ENJOY THE LAST TWO WEEKS OF AUGUST  !!  ----     Sister Janet

PGJ is excited to announce the opening of registration for our annual meeting.  To learn about our annual meeting, please see the below flyer.  For more information about registration and travel suggestions, please click here.  

Here are some upcoming events you may wish to learn more about or attend via webcast:

August 8, 2018
Our Friends at the Catholic Climate Movement have been preparing all sorts of guides and events to celebrate the Season of Creation, an annual celebration of prayer and action to protect creation.  It is celebrated by Christians of all traditions around the world. The season begins September 1, the Day of Prayer for Creation and runs through October 4, the Feast of St. Francis. The theme of this year’s celebration is “walking together.”

See Celebration guide for helpful prayer, activities, event suggestions:
http://seasonofcreation.org/guide/

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLES

​The 2018 theme will focus on the current situation of indigenous territories, the root causes of migration, trans-border movement and displacement, with a specific focus on indigenous peoples living in urban areas and across international borders. The observance will explore the challenges and ways forward to revitalize indigenous peoples’ identities and encourage the protection of their rights in or outside their traditional territories.
The observance of the International Day will take place on Thursday 9 August 2018 from 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm in the ECOSOC Chamber at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

Webcasts
http://webtv.un.org
www.facebook.com/UNWebTV
www.facebook.com/unpfii

Shortened link of our event website
http://bit.ly/idwip2018
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Center for Migration Studies Updates
CMS Migration Update is a weekly digest of news and other information related to national and international migration. It is designed to educate faith leaders regarding vulnerable immigrant populations, developments in the immigration field, pastoral resources and the religious touchstones of diverse faith traditions on migrants and newcomers.
http://cmsny.org/cms-migration-update/
If you are interesting in subscribing to this weekly update, there is a link on their website to do so:
http://cmsny.org/mailing-list/

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67th UN DPI/NGO Conference
The 67thUN DPI/NGO Conference will be here in two weeks and Partnership for Global Justice will be attending!  Look for our updates – August 22 & 23rd!
https://outreach.un.org/ngorelations/67th-dpingo-conference
 
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Have a good week!
Sister Janet

The Sustainable Development Knowledge Hub has released a new update.  To view this update, please click here.