[sust-mar] Intl Human Rights Day Today! List of resources & upcoming events

[Tamara Lorincz]

Hello Sust-Mar,

I wanted to share these upcoming events and resources with you below. Please feel free to distribute.

In recognition of International Human Rights Day, today, December 10, this year’s theme relates to 'Equality' and Article 1 of the UDHR – “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights”: https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-day

In solidarity for peace, earth, justice and human rights,
Tamara

(1)

WEBINAR TODAY! “Current Challenges in the Fight to Eliminate Violence against Women and the International Response.

Friday, December 10th at 12noon (EST) -
Ms Reem Alsalem, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women, it’s Causes and Consequences.
In commemoration of the 1989 Montreal Polytechnique Massacre, the event is taking place on United Nations Human Rights Day, December 10th 2021 (at 12 noon EST).
On December 10th in 1948 the Universal Declaration of Human Rights  was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly.
FOR MORE INFO on this event and the bio of the speaker, please visit the website of the Montreal Council of Women  https://montrealcouncilofwomen.ca/en/events/our-events/friday-december-10-2021

(2)
*ICYMI: CANADA WILL SPEND MUCH MORE ON MILITARY IN MIDST OF PANDEMIC & CLIMATE CRISIS
I wanted to share with you the very disappointing, highly problematic and profoundly irresponsible keynote address that our new Minister of Defence Anita Anand gave at the Halifax International Security Forum two weeks ago: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/news/2021/11/halifax-international-security-forum-opening-keynote.html

She said, "Rather than cutting back on defence spending, our government has pledged to grow our defence investment by more than 70 per cent, between 2016 and 2027. We will not waver in this commitment. Our national interest demands no less. Despite the global pandemic, we are still on track to increase our defence spending from 18.9 billion dollars in 2016-17 to 32.7 dollars billion in 2026-27.  And despite supply chain issues and other industry challenges, over 90 per cent of our major capital equipment projects are on schedule and on budget.  We live in times that require Canada to step up, and we are doing just that."

In the midst of the pandemic and catastrophic climate change, Canada is increasing military spending.

Canada's military spending has gone up dramatically over the past because of our membership in NATO and meeting the 2% GDP target, it will increase even more over this crucial decade for the climate. We are increasing military spending to buy new carbon-intensive fighter jets, frigates, armed drones, tanks and to conduct dangerous, destabilizing operations with NATO & US. Please see page 6 of NATO's Defence Expenditures report to see how much Canada's military spending has risen over the past few years: https://www.nato.int/nato_static_fl2014/assets/pdf/2021/6/pdf/210611-pr-2021-094-en.pdf

Minister of Defence Anand also irresponsibly said this “And through Operation PROJECTION, Canadian warships work in lockstep with our partners to maintain a meaningful, and interoperable, Allied presence in the Indo-Pacific region and around the world, as we saw with the sail-through in the Taiwanese strait. In Central and Eastern Europe, our Forces are hard at work supporting allied assurance and deterrence measures.  Currently, Canada leads one of NATO’s four multinational enhanced Forward Presence Battle Groups to deter Russian aggression in the Baltics and Poland.”

Without UN authorization and to provoke conflict in China, Canadian warships have been in the South China Seas with the US and the UK.

Please read the whole speech if you can. Notice that Minister Anand doesn't even say 'peacekeeping' once. Canada's peacekeeping commitment to the UN is at its lowest level. Canada is ranked 66th with only 57 soldiers on UN peace support operations: https://peacekeeping.un.org/sites/default/files/02_country_ranking_42_sep2021.pdf   By contrast, Canada has 540 soldiers in Latvia leading a NATO battlegroup: https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/services/operations/military-operations/current-operations/operation-reassurance.html

It is Canada, US and NATO that are the aggressors. This situation is very serious and as nuclear weapons are in the mix.

(3)
ICYMI: US MASSIVE MILITARY BUDGET PASSES THE HOUSE
Two days ago, the US House of Representatives approved a massive $768 billion military budget & defence bill. It’s the highest military spending since WWII.
It’s $25 billion more than Biden wanted. It includes spending for more nuclear weapons.
Read and weep: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/12/defense-spending-bill-778-billion-military-china-russia.html

(4)
NOTHING FEMINIST ABOUT FIGHTER JETS OPEN LETTER
Two weeks ago, WILPF-Canada and VOW sent this letter “Nothing Feminist about Fighter Jets” to Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland, Minister of Defence Anand and Minister of Women and Gender Equality (WAGE) Marci Ien, you can read it here: https://wilpfcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/Women-Against-Fighter-Jets_Letter_v3.pdf

Please see the great photos of the actions two weeks for "No New Fighter Jets" across the country: https://worldbeyondwar.org/dozens-of-protests-across-canada-demand-cancellation-of-planned-purchase-of-88-fighter-jets/?link_id=8&can_id=08297aacfa6299b1025e006dffcf983d&source=email-wbw-news-action-new-chapters&email_referrer=email_1368610&email_subject=wbw-news-action-we-took-over-a-pipeline-company-office   Please send an email to your MP, not to waste $77 billion to buy 88 new fighter jets. We cannot have a feminist foreign policy with fighter jets.

(5)
FACT SHEETS ON CANADA’S CARBON BOOTPRINT & NATO: A THREAT TO PEOPLE & PLANET
I wanted to share with you the two 2-page fact sheets that I made for the Women’s International League for Peace & Freedom (WILPF)-Canada on “Canada’s Carbon Bootprint: The problem of military emissions and military expenditures”: https://wilpfcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/01-Military-Emissions-and-Military-Expenditures_Fact-Sheet.pdf  and “NATO is a Threat to People and the Planet: Rapidly reducing carbon emissions impossible with NATO's rising militarism and military spending": https://wilpfcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/02-NATO-is-a-Climate-Criminal_Fact-Sheet.pdf   Please feel free to use and share widely.

(6)
ONLINE Event Invitation: Hands Off Venezuela! Elections Report Back + Online Picket Action
Tuesday, December 14, 2021 at 7-9 PM EST
10th Monthly Online Picket Action
U.S./Canada: Hands Off Venezuela!
End Sanctions on Venezuela!
Free Alex Saab!
Organized by the Mobilization Against War and Occupation (MAWO)
Go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/1098223694324710/?source=6&ref_notif_type=plan_user_invited&action_history=null

(7)
WEBINAR: Canada and the Five Eyes
Wednesday December 15, 7PM ET/4PM ET
Free and open to the public.
Register: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_igQwN1nvTVuezRy50vsSqg
The US, UK, New Zealand, Australia and Canada “Five Eyes” is a seven-decade old intelligence-sharing framework. With 2,700 employees and a $700 million budget, the Communications Security Establishment is Canada’s main contributor to the Five Eyes. Recently, the NSA-led alliance has been at the centre of Washington's growing conflict with China.
Join Communications Security Establishment expert Bill Robinson, Professor Radhika Desai and others to learn more about the Communications Security Establishment and Five Eyes.
Presented by the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute.
SPEAKERS:
Bill Robinson is a Citizen Lab Research Fellow and expert on the Communications Security Establishment.
Dr. Radhika Desai is a professor at the Department of Political Studies, and Director, Geopolitical Economy Research Group, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada.
Moderated by Bianca Mugyenyi, Canadian Foreign Policy Institute

(8)
ONLINE OPEN MEETING: VOW Meeting on the Worsening Crisis between Ukraine & Russia: What are Canada's and NATO's Roles? What Can We Do for De-escalation & Peace?
Thursday, December 17 at 7:30 PM
The Canadian Voice of Women for Peace is having an open discussion about the ongoing and worsening conflict between Ukraine and Russia and about Canada’s and NATO’s roles in the conflict. We will also discuss the broader region and Canada leading a NATO battle group on Russia’s border. Most importantly, we will find ways that we can raise our voices for de-escalation, peace and resolution. What should/can Canadians do?
VOW Peace is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.
Topic: VOW Meeting on the Worsening Crisis between Ukraine & Russia: What's Canada's and NATO's Role
Time: Dec 16, 2021 07:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84614600984?pwd=TnNhZGl3UFdUcHRzVGFBUG9hVWw3UT09
Meeting ID: 846 1460 0984
Passcode: 608797
One tap mobile
+13462487799,,84614600984#,,,,*608797# US (Houston)
+14086380968,,84614600984#,,,,*608797# US (San Jose)

(9)
WEBINAR: Saturday, December 11 Webinar (9 AM EST) Democracy: China, Cuba, Venezuela vs US.
Saturday, Dec. 11 at 9am
Register Free:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-summit-for-socialist-democracy-tickets-213591837937<http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-summit-for-socialist-democracy-tickets-213591837937>
About this event:
On December 9-10, Biden is hosting a ‘Summit for Democracy’, “bring together leaders from government, civil society, and the private sector to set forth an affirmative agenda for democratic renewal” and to “defend against authoritarianism”. The geopolitical theme of this is, of course, to close ranks in the capitalist world against China, Russia, Cuba, DPRK, Venezuela and other countries. The ideological theme is to reaffirm the superiority of capitalism and so-called liberal democracy.
Our event will challenge the dominant narratives around democracy, will highlight the democratic systems prevailing in socialist societies, will discuss the plutocratic nature of neoliberal capitalism, and will expose how the concept of democracy is leveraged in support of a deeply undemocratic and violent imperialism.
Confirmed speakers include:
Cheng Enfu (Principal Professor, University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Carlos Ron (Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for North America, Venezuela)
Isabel Monal Rodríguez (Director of the Department of Marxist Studies, Academy of Sciences of Cuba)
Luna Oi (Vietnamese blogger and broadcaster)
Kiyul Chung (Visiting Professor, Tsinghua University, China; Korea University, Tokyo, Japan)
Layla Brown (Assistant Professor, Northeastern University, US)
Zhai Guoqiang (Deputy Director of the Institute of International Law, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences)
Elias Jabbour (Professor, Rio de Janeiro State University, Brazil)
Roland Boer (Professor, Dalian University of Technology, China)
Danny Haiphong (Co-editor, Friends of Socialist China; Contributing editor, Black Agenda Report)
Ju-Hyun Park (Writer and organizer, Nodutdol)
Moderator: Radhika Desai (Professor, University of Manitoba, Canada)
The event is organised jointly by Friends of Socialist China and the International Manifesto Group, and is co-sponsored by the Morning Star, the International Action Center, Nodutdol and Qiao Collective.
Register Free:
www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-summit-for-socialist-democracy-tickets-213591837937<http://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-summit-for-socialist-democracy-tickets-213591837937>


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