MAY/JUNE 2005

May 1st, 2005

So we have another term of Labour. Perhaps Tony Blair will see the need to make policy changes but the leaked report that he plans to replace the Trident nuclear system, rather than scrap it, is not encouraging.

EDITORIAL So we have another term of Labour. Perhaps Tony Blair will see the need to make policy changes but the leaked report that he plans to replace the Trident nuclear system, rather than scrap it, is not encouraging. He certainly cannot claim to be a “Man of Peace” unlike our new pope. Now we must wait to see whether Pope Benedict XVI will have a different approach to the needs of the Church from that of the former Cardinal Ratzinger. As the “Pope’s Enforcer” he had a very different role from that of the “Servant of the Servants of the Poor”. We pray for him in his awesome task.

There will be an early opportunity to test campaign promises on Development programmes when we see what happens at Edinburgh in July. All the parties promised to support MAKEPOVERTYHISTORY. We have to wait and see. The Rough Guide to a Better World was funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) but carries the caveat “The views are not necessarily those of DFID.” We must challenge the government to make the Guide their policy with no qualifications. Let them listen to Bob Geldof.

The continuing tragedy in Bhopal shows what can happen when big business uses its muscle to avoid taking responsibility for its actions. Union Carbide would not have been allowed to operate a plant in the US the way they did in India and the US courts would have insisted on proper compensation.

Nan encourages applications for a quiet, peaceful weekend free from stress in lovely surroundings at Barmoor. Highly recommended. Note: the views expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily coincide with those of the Commission. In memoriam

Chris Dove

Pope John Paul II had a high regard for Pax Christi International and at an audience in 1955, marking their 50th anniversary he said: “Movements like yours are precious. They help draw people’s attention to the violence which shatters the harmony between human beings which is at the heart of creation. They help to develop conscience, so that justice and the search for the common good can prevail in the relations between individuals and peoples.”

Time and again, in places associated with the worst deeds of humanity, the Pope inspired hope and determination for constructive change:

In Drogheda (1979) “I appeal to young people caught up in organisations engaged in violence … Do not listen to voices which speak the language of hatred, revenge, retaliation…” In Hiroshima (1981) “To remember Hiroshima is to commit oneself to peace… Let us promise our fellow human beings that we will work untiringly for disarmament and the banishing of all nuclear weapons..” Before the Iraq war (2003) “War is never just another means that one can choose to employ for settling differences between nations.”

Members of Pax Christi, and all who seek peace, will make Pope John Paul II’s heartfelt prayer their own:

“Hear my voice, for it is the voice of the victims of all wars and violence among individuals and nations… Hear my voice, for I speak for the multitudes in every country and every period of history who do not want war and are ready to walk the road of peace.”

May he rest in God’s peace. Source: Pax Christi International. April 3 2005

The Rough Guide to a Better World and how you can make a difference. Foreword from Bob Geldof “It’s really only the poor who die earliest. We don’t die of our corruption, or our AIDS, or malaria, or other illnesses, or our trade rules, or starvation, or our political insecurity, or our debt burdens, or our summer droughts. But the poor do. They die from all of the above. The euphemism for this mass premature dying is “lack of development”. “We must not accept people dying nightly on our screens forever. That is an intolerable and unacceptable view of the future. And even if they are unseen and mute and unheeded we must remain alert to that other world, those other fellow human beings. They whisper to us through the unfair trade of the supermarket shelves and the exploited raw materials in our petrol stations. But we know they’re there.”

First, the good news True, the situation has improved, even in Africa. The number of children who die before reaching their fifth birthday halved between 1960 and 2001. The number of adults who cannot read or write fell from 53% in 1970 to 27% in 2001. Over the last twenty years the number of children attending primary school in the world has gone from eight out of ten to nine out of ten. But the big difference depends on where you live. If you live in a developing country, in 1960 you could expect to live until you were 46, today you can expect to live until you are 64, but in the UK men can expect to live to 75 and women to 79. There remains an enormous global poverty problem. For over one billion people who live on less than one US dollar per day [less than what many of us spend on a cup of coffee or a bottle of water], life does not feel that much better. Two billion, a third of all of us living on this planet, do not have access to decent sanitation. More than 100 million children don’t go to school and 10 million children die before their fifth birthday, largely from preventable disease.

The challenges Though there are signs that development is working, no one is pretending that it is fast enough for those hundreds of millions of people who continue to live in poverty. We live in a world of deep global inequalities where developed countries invest $600 billion a year on defence, and $300 billion in agricultural subsidies, but provide just $56 billion a year in aid to the developing countries. Water and sanitation Every year 2.2 million people die from diseases directly related to drinking contaminated water. The task of collecting water falls to women and children. Diarrhoea alone claims the lives of nearly 6,000 children a day.

Disease Just as an individual is impoverished if he or she cannot get medical treatment for their illness, so too is a country if it is unable to provide good health care for its people. If the work force is ill, then the economy suffers. So while improving the health and average life span of poor people is a justifiable end in itself, it is also fundamental to economic development. And yet a whole range of diseases from leprosy to trachoma, which would be quickly treated in the UK, continues to plague lives in developing countries. For many diseases, well researched, well funded strategic programmes of immunization are vital in protecting the health of people in developing countries. For example, just 5 years ago, more than 70% of Cambodian children were infected with intestinal worms. Infected children weigh up to 2 kilos less than healthy children, they have a much higher chance of becoming anaemic. But once anti-parasitic treatment has been administered, infected children regain their health. They also show a dramatic increase in their short- and long-term memory, as well as their reasoning capacity and reading comprehension. School absenteeism drops by up to 25 percent.

Population growth It is a commonplace to hear people claim that global population growth is the real reason that so many people remain poor. This is a popular myth – but rising population does make a difference. The population of the planet is set to grow to 10 billion by 2050. Developing countries will experience most of this, further diminishing scarce resources. But there is a reason for this. When life is so vulnerable for poor communities, is it so surprising that having a large family is so important? Who else will look after you in your old age, when there is no social security and no old people’s homes? Of course, uncontrolled population growth places pressure on limited resources, but when essential services like safe water and sanitation are provided, and so improved public health, families choose to have fewer children. And this is what happened here in the 19th century. Education The single most effective way to reduce poverty is to invest in the education of girls. Just a few years of basic education empowers women to have smaller and healthier families, and to enjoy a higher standard of living. Each year of schooling increases individual earnings by a worldwide average of about 10%, according to the World Bank. Energy Our very survival as a species depends on respecting our global environment. While the primary culprit is the fossil fuel consumption of the industrialised world, the primary victims are poor communities in the developing world. With predictions of rising global temperature and increasing sea levels, leading to more extreme weather (floods, hurricanes, drought and heat waves), developing countries will be the most exposed. Egypt, for example, could lose 12% of its land from a 1m rise in the sea level. For the people of Tuvalu, in the South Pacific, rising sea levels are spreading salt throughout the country’s low-lying arable land making it unusable.

Speaking out on behalf of poor people “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.” Proverbs. Public protests can succeed: remember Drop the Debt and Ban Landmines. This year 2005, with the UK hosting the annual G8 meeting and holding the presidency of the EU, this country is particularly influential on international issues. This gives UK campaigners an opportunity to demand an end to debt and to MAKE POVERTY HISTORY. It is up to us. Source: The Rough Guide to a Better World. DFID

The Bhopal Disaster 20 years on

On the night of 2 December 1984, more than 35 tons of toxic gases leaked from a pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, owned by US-based multinational Union Carbide Company (UCC). It devastated the local community. More than 7,000 died within days of the disaster, and 15,000 more died in the following years.

Today 100,000 people continue to suffer from associated illnesses, including respiratory disease, breast and cervical cancer, and anxiety and depression. UCC’s decision to store ultra-hazardous material (methyl isocyanate) in bulk in Bhopal, without introducing corresponding safety precautions, left it unable to contain the gas leak, although the company knew two years before the incident that the plant was unsafe. Afterwards the company refused to divulge information about the chemical content of the leaked substances, making it difficult to treat the victims.

Survivors’ organisations have campaigned tirelessly for justice – including fair compensation, adequate medical assistance and treatment, and full economic and social rehabilitation. But they have had little success. Even today, the plant site has not been cleaned up, so toxic wastes continue to pollute the environment and contaminate the water supply of surrounding communities. Incredibly, no one has ever been held to account for the catastrophe. Two decades later, survivors of the tragedy have yet to receive fair compensation or proper medical assistance and support. UCC and Dow Chemicals denied responsibility for the leak and the resulting damage and all attempts to bring the company to justice through the US and Indian courts have failed so far.

In 1989, the Indian government cut short further attempts to pursue UCC through the courts by agreeing a settlement of US$470 million. Successful claims resulted in minimal payments which began only in 1992. By September 2004, around US$330 million remained with the Reserve Bank of India – the government resumed payments only in November 2004.

To mark the anniversary of the disaster in Bhopal, Amnesty International issued a report which exposed the continuing effects on the local community. The report calls on the Dow Chemical Company [which took over UCC in 2001] to act immediately to clean up the site, ensure survivors receive adequate compensation, and face justice in the Indian courts. Following the media coverage the report received, the Indian authorities took a positive first step by having engineers visit the plant to determine how much toxic waste there is and how it can be destroyed. Another key demand is for Dow Chemicals to pay for a clean-up operation and provide full redress to the victims. On publication of the report, Dow Chemicals issued a statement saying they would consider it in full and respond in writing.

Amnesty International is awaiting that response. Source: Amnesty Action Spring 2005

Being poor is very expensive! In a time when people are owing more on their credit cards than ever, the risk of getting into serious debt is greatly increased. The home credit industry – the door to door people – flourishes because they lend to people who can’t get credit from banks or building societies. But the cost of these loans is extremely high – rates of interest can range from 160% to 800%!

Lenders become trapped in growing levels of indebtedness and lenders’ interest is to see that they never get free.

In a Credit Union, the rate of interest charged is limited by law, supervised by the Financial Services Authority. But the important difference is that people take control of their money and cut out the loan sharks.

Commission contacts Barbara Hungin Chair 01642 784398 Sr Mary Walmsley CJ Secretary 01904 464917 Nan Saeki Treasurer 01904 783621 Chris Dove Editor 01947 825043 email: dove.whitby@ukgateway.net or 22 Blackburns Yard Whitby YO22 4DS website:www.ayton.info/middlesbroughjp

Barmoor weekend

Probably, most of us living in Yorkshire have heard of and even visited Hutton-le-Hole, a beautiful village a few miles North-West of Pickering, right on the very edge of the heather moors, known as the North York Moors.

Since 1993, members of our Diocesan Justice & Peace Commission have gathered in this village in a former Quaker home called Barmoor for a weekend away together to enjoy the countryside, prayer, discussion and tranquillity. This year will be our twelfth visit and we will be there from 3rd to 5th June. We are always happy to welcome friends and sympathisers; justice and peace are at the heart of our talks and concerns.

The house can sleep up to 27 people under dormitory conditions. We do our own catering, arriving in time for supper on the Friday (for which we all bring a dish from home) and leaving after lunch on the Sunday. The cost is no more than what it costs to pay for the house and the food, i.e. £30 per adult, and £15 for children. We do not use commission funds for this event but pay for ourselves.

If you think this is something you would like to do, please contact Nan Saeki, the Treasurer (contact details in this Newsletter). We are not allowed to take more than 27 people, so it will be a case of first come, first served. All enquiries welcome.

Commission Meetings in 2005 21 May Middlesbrough. St Francis of Assisi AGM & “Make Poverty History” CAFOD Campaign Lesley Ann Knights 16 July Filey. Mercy Convent Day of Reflection. Fr Tony Storey 17 Sept Middlesbrough. St Francis of Assisi