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Posted 11:16 AM by Mary

CEBO RESOLUTION in support of UN-UDHR EDUCATION CAMPAIGN

RECALLING the longstanding support by Humanists for the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)


Understanding that the UDHR, though enacted in the previous century, remains the strongest and most comprehensive ethical statement of universal human aspiration and accountability that the global community has yet devised


Concerned that progress toward the universal adoption and implementation of the UDHR is at times challenged, diminished or delayed, as national and regional concerns and conflicts take precedence over Universal Human Rights

This body of Humanists Resolves that

Each national body undertake a program of education and advocacy amongst its members with a view to re-educating the public at large, particularly the Youth of each nation, concerning the substance and import of the UDHR, and its relevance for the new century and the new, interconnected environment we are now experiencing.

AND THAT each national body continue to monitor the adoption of the UDHR, both regional and nationally and in the international fora, by using appropriate independent monitoring methods and means and by supporting those established bodies which are working for the support and application of the UDHR.

[It is appropriate that this program of education include, and is not limited to, education through a variety of media, including the dissemination of the UDHR in electronic, digitized forms and formats].

Posted 11:14 AM by Mary

CEBO RESOLUTION in support of UNSC Resolution 1325: Role of Women in peace-building and conflict resolution.

Preamble. This resolution was passed by the Security Council in October, 2000. It recognizes the important role of women in peace-building and pre- and post-conflict situations. Several years of monitoring the impact and implementation of this resolution have determined that support for the resolution must come from all parties, including those national bodies involved in conflict situation, AND in those national bodies who implement the resolution, AND in those bodies who are attempting to gain support for the resolution in the countries in conflict.

EXPLANATION:
In simple terms: we cannot advocate for 'women at the table' in countries in conflict if we do not advocate, lobby, monitor and encourage 'women at the table' in our own national bodies, including legislative bodies, aid bodies, our military organizations, and our own national fora. It is incumbent upon all of us, living in nations at peace, as well as nations in conflict, to monitor and apply the recommendations in UNSC Resolution 1325, in local, regional, national and international agencies and institutions.

[As a specific example, the platform of encouraging equal participation for women in national military service also means monitoring the alarming incidents of rape and sexual abuse in (US) military organizations].

Humanists, as prima facie supports of the UDHR, should be clearly present in advocating for this resolution, in all of national bodies.

Therefore -

This body of Humanists,

RECALLING
Its long support of the United Nations as a global body dedicated to the peaceful resolution of conflict
And to the welfare of all peoples,
And particularly to the welfare of women,

and NOTING the role of Resolution 1325 adopted at the security Council on October 2000, which recognized the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, stressing the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision- making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution,

and also RECALLING the provision of Resolution 1325 which calls upon all parties to armed conflict to respect fully international law applicable to the rights and protection of women and girls as civilians, in particular the obligations applicable to them under the Geneva Conventions of 1949 and the Additional Protocols thereto of 1977, the Refugee Convention of 1951 and the Protocol thereto of 1967, the Convention Security Council - 5 - Press Release SC/6942 4213th Meeting (PM) 31 October 2000 on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women of 1979 and the Optional Protocol thereto of 1999 and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 and the two Optional Protocols thereto of 25 May 2000, and to bear in mind the relevant provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court;

AND also the provision of Resolution 1325 which call on all parties to armed conflict to take special measures to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, particularly rape and other forms of sexual abuse, and all other forms of violence in situations of armed conflict;

And NOTING THAT the report VOICE, INFLUENCE, JUSTICE, SECURITY, published by UNIFEM, 2004 states that “advocacy and women’s participation are strategies that have built DEMAND for better implementation of 1325, but that have a limited impact unless accompanied by gender-sensitive institutional change in the National, Regional and Global institutions that seek to prevent conflict and promote recovery…”

Therefore RESOLVE that:

HUMANIST BODIES encourage their members to support, monitor and advocate for the implementation of UNSC RESOLUTION 1325, at their own NATIONAL and REGIONAL levels, through monitoring implementation in their respective countries and through encouraging their respective countries to lend support to agencies, actors and instruments implementing the resolution in countries affected by conflict, and by taking note of progress in making the following steps, as recommended by UNIFEM:

1) Supporting national dialogues to amplify women’s voice in the post-conflict and peace-building situations in countries affected by conflict,
2) Promoting gender-equality policies for public decision-making, and to reform public administration to improve accountability for meeting women’s needs
3) Supporting gender-sensitive security sector reform: (recruitment of women in the police and military, zero tolerance of sexual harassment, establishing protocols dealing with domestic violence and to process cases of sexual violence)

Labels: 1325 Resolution

Posted 12:33 PM by Mary

For Immediate Release - Contact Bob Ritter at (202) 238-9088
fedwords@americanhumanist.org - www.americanhumanist.org

(Washington D.C., March 06, 2008) The Appignani Humanist Legal Center(AHLC), the legal arm of the American Humanist Association (AHA), sent an information letter today to Morning Star Ranch, an evangelical training camp, advising the religious organization not to accept tax funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for the purpose of "renovating facilities."

"Morning Star Ranch is ineligible for government money," declared Bob Ritter, legal coordinator of the AHLC. "Therefore, if the organization accepts and spends such funds, the organization could later be required to return them."

Ritter explained the legal issue. "Since Morning Star Ranch is a pervasively sectarian organization, any award of tax dollars would be a violation of the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and HUD's own regulations. The government can't use tax dollars to endorse or aid religion; that is a breach of our cherished tradition of church-state separation. And religion is clearly integral to every aspect of Morning Star Ranch's programs. This is why the organization is barred from receiving government funding."

In a 2008 spending bill, which was signed into law by President George W. Bush on December 26, 2007, Senator Sam Brownback and Representative Jerry Moran had inserted an earmark of $595,000 for Morning Star Ranch. According to the Morning Star Ranch website the ranch belongs to World Impact, an evangelical Christian mission organization. The ranch is primarily used for the group's "Christian Leadership Training Program," a two-year program for "single, urban young men, ages 18-25, who have made a commitment to Christ." The facilities, located in Florence, Kansas, are also only "available to other Christian groups."

"HUD's regulations state that organizations that receive government funds 'may not engage in inherently religious activities, such as worship, religious instruction, or proselytization, as part of the programs or services funded under a HUD program or activity,'" Ritter added. "Also, the regulations stipulate that funds can't be used to rehabilitate facilities if those facilities are used for religious activities. These regulations couldn't be more clear; Morning Star Ranch is ineligible for HUD funds due to the religious nature of the organization. Moreover, if the organization is improperly granted the funds, it puts itself at great risk if it accepts and spends those funds."

"Religious groups aren't barred from receiving federal funds," noted AHA Executive Director Roy Speckhardt, "so long as there is some guarantee that the tax monies will be used exclusively for secular purposes. But there is no guarantee of that in this case. Morning Star Ranch is a sectarian religious camp where no Jews need apply, nor any other non-Christians, including humanists. Therefore, transfer of taxpayer dollars to this operation is a clear and outrageous violation of the First Amendment to the US. Constitution."

The AHLC indicated in its letter that it will continue to monitor the earmark and, should Morning Star Ranch apply to HUD for the earmarked funds to renovate facilities, and should HUD grant such funding, a federal court order will be sought to order HUD to recoup any and all funds that may have been granted.