As you know, every month we highlight the work of an Alberta-based NGO (non-governmental organization) working locally or internationally on human development activities. In previous issues of Beyond the Headlines we have featured organizations such as HumanServe International, Change for Children, Cause Canada, Rainbow of Hope, RAFIKI Friends of Rwanda, Sombrilla, Friends of Nepal, Transgenus International and Sphere.

On this issue we have two groups deserving your attention. They are the Fireweed Institute and the Sahakarini Inter-World Education & Development Association …

1. The Fireweed Institute

The Fireweed Institute is an educational institute dedicated to helping people find ways of working and living that are less stressful, more meaningful, and contribute positively to the Earth and the human family.

The mission of the Fireweed Institute is to use transformative learning to inspire and support people as they pioneer sustainable ways of working and living. We engage in this mission as a way to imagine and help create a just and sustainable world. The educational programs include long and short courses, workshops, and presentations that explore different aspects of sustainable living and working. Contact us at:
Fireweed Institute
Box 186 – #14, 9977 – 178 St.
Edmonton, AB > Tel: 433-1830
e-mail: info@fireweedinstitute.org
website: http://www.fireweedinstitute.org

2. The Sahakarini Inter-World Education and Development Association

Sahakarini Inter-World Education and Development Association exists to promote, encourage and assist international aid and development and to assist, encourage and foster development education activity. Sahakarini is currently working in health and education with partners in Haiti, Brazil, India, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. For more information about our projects, contact us at:

Sahakarini Inter-World Education & Development Association
P.O. Box 1685, Camrose AB T4V 1X6
Tel. (403) 672-5465 / Fax (403) 672-0967
E-mail: sahakari@telusplanet.net

As many of you may recall, a while back we started a monthly series of bulletins with the intent to highlight the good work of Alberta-based NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) working in international development and in partnership with the global South; Africa, Asia & Latin America. We have featured groups such as HumanServe International, Cause Canada, Rainbow of Hope for Children, RAFIKI Friends of Rwanda Society, Friends of Nepal, Change for Children and Transgenus International.

On this issue of Beyond the Headlines, our focus is Sphere: The Society for the Preservation of a Healthy Environment and Rehabilitation of the Earth … We hope this information is useful and their creative & courageous work inspires you.

About SPHERE

The mandate of SPHERE is to liase between professionals, industries and businesses internationally for environment friendly objectives; to educate and inform citizens about rules and procedures for preservation and improvement of our natural environment and the public health. SPHERE also leads, initiates and manages remedial projects in collaboration with other organizations.

SPHERE: acts as an information centre and forum about environment and health issues; performs and encourages research into environment and health issues;
develops and promotes ideas and systems for sustainable development such as solar architecture, renewable energy, alternative fuels, technology and medicines; publishes, collects, and distributes information and ideas arranges workshops and conferences for discussion and exchange of ideas; develops curricula and courses for education in solar architecture, renewable energy, alternative fuels, technology and medicines.

For more information about SPHERE, please contact:

SPHERE, Box 67051 Northland Village, Calgary, AB 2L2
Tel. (403) 239-8031 / Fax (403) 239-8031 (*5) / E-mail: rnbasu@iul.net

OTTAWA. Canada risks failing to meet the urgent needs of poor farmers at the WTO agricultural negotiations, according to a coalition of international development and human rights organizations. “The government position as laid out today will disappoint the millions of small farmers in developing countries,” said Stuart Clark, spokesperson for the Canadian Food Security Policy Group. Canadian government representatives at a Food and Trade roundtable refused to endorse most pro-development proposals currently on the table at the WTO talks.

The Canadian Food Security Policy Group called on Canada to back the “Development Box” proposal which would allow poor countries the flexibility they need to promote food security and rural development. It would also provide them with a specific defence against EU and US abuse of current trade rules.

“Abuse of the WTO agreement by the US and EU hurts Canadian farmers as well as those in developing countries,” added Clark, who is a trade specialist at the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. “There is a logical confluence of interest in righting the imbalance in the current rules.

“The current agreement claims to provide “special and differential treatment” for developing countries, but it allows the US and EU to provide massive domestic support and export subsidies to their larger farmers, driving down world prices ” with devastating consequences for the poor.

“Because poor countries have unilaterally lowered their tariffs,” said Gauri Sreenivasan of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation, “subsidized exports undercut the livelihoods of small farmers. Poor countries should not have to make further concessions to defend themselves against unfair trade practices.

“The agriculture talks will have a major impact on the two-thirds of the world’s poor who live in rural areas and on world hunger. An estimated 36 million people died of hunger and hunger related illnesses last year. “Trade can help end world hunger,” said Mark Fried of Oxfam Canada, “but only if unbalanced rules are righted. Canada should stand with developing countries in the effort to ban export subsidies, regulate export credits and food aid, and end food dumping.

“The WTO agriculture talks enter the final stages this month and are expected to conclude by March 2003. The Canadian Food Security Policy Group is a coalition of international development and human rights organizations seeking to promote trade rules that protect and enhance food security in developing countries.

Members include the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC), Canadian Foodgrains Bank Association, Inter Pares, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Oxfam Canada, Partners in Rural Development, Rights & Democracy, Union des producteurs agricoles-developpement international, and World Vision Canada.

Contacts:
Katia Gianneschi, CCIC
613-241-7007, ext. 311

Mark Fried, Oxfam Canada
613-237-1698, ext. 231; 613-850-9723 (cell)

The Canadian Catholic Organization for DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE (CCODP) is urging the Canadian Government to continue resisting pressure from U.S. President George W. Bush to support a unilateral military attack on Iraq.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien yesterday, (see: http://www.devp.org/testA/news/#letter) CCODP President Roger Dubois reiterated the longstanding DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE position that “any military intervention in Iraq must receive prior approval by the United Nations Security Council,” and “be conditional on proof being provided that Iraq is directly involved in supporting acts of terrorism.”

The Prime Minister and the U.S. President discussed Iraq today during a private meeting in Detroit, Michigan. CCODP, along with many other Canadian NGOs and church groups, has been urging the Canadian government for more than two years to do whatever it can to lift all non-military sanctions against Iraq, and to increase Canadian aid for infrastructures, food, health, and education in the country. “Let’s not turn the people of Iraq into victims of the war on terrorism, too”, Mr. Dubois said.

“Further military action will only add to the terrible suffering they have endured since the end of the Gulf War. DEVELOPMENT AND PEACE is the official Catholic overseas development agency of the Canadian Catholic Church, and a member of Caritas Internationalis, the Catholic Church’s Rome-based international aid and development organization.

For further information, please contact:
Jack Panozzo – Toronto 416-922-1592, # 222 jpanozzo@devp.org
François Gloutnay – Montréal 514-257-8711, # 318 fgloutnay@devp.org

On October 1, Toronto City Council strongly endorsed the idea of becoming a
No Sweat city. Councillors voted unanimously in support of a resolution calling on the City to “enact a purchasing policy requiring the purchase of garments, uniforms, or other apparel items from No Sweat manufacturers.”

The aim of the No Sweat policy, which has yet to be developed, will be to improve working conditions in the garment industry by requiring city suppliers to respect international labour standards and local labour laws.

The City of Toronto’s Director of Purchasing is expected to work with the “No Sweat Toronto” coalition in developing the policy. Coalition members include MSN, UNITE, Oxfam Canada, Toronto and York Labour Council, Anglican Diocese of Toronto, Canadian Council for Reform Judaism, high school students, local garment manufacturers, and municipal employee unions. The Coalition is calling on the City to adopt a policy that requires public disclosure of factory locations and independent monitoring so citizens can know where and under what conditions city uniforms are made.

In April, the coalition demonstrated broad support for the No Sweat initiative in a series of rousing deputations before City Council’s Administration Committee. But the coalition faces an uphill battle. Once the No Sweat policy has been drafted by city staff, it must be approved by the Administration Committee before it can go to City Council for approval.

Since April, the chairmanship of the Administration Committee has shifted to Doug Holyday, an unabashedly right wing councillor from Etobicoke. Over the last two years, the City of Toronto has made more than $6.1-million in apparel purchases. The No Sweat motion, brought forward by Councillor David Miller (Parkdale-High Park), is an important first step toward ensuring that these garments are not being made in sweatshops.

Campaigns for No Sweat purchasing policies are also underway at municipalities in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. For information on how to start a No Sweat campaign in your community, including the City of Toronto resolution, a model resolution and model purchasing policy, and other campaign materials, please contact MSN or visit our website: http://www.maquilasolidarity.org

Maquila Solidarity Network / Ethical Trading Action Group
606 Shaw Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M6G 3L6
Tel: (416) 532-8584 / Fax: (416) 532-7688

As you recall early this year we started a new monthly feature (Beyond the Headlines) that focuses on the good work of Alberta-based NGO’s (Non-Governmental Organizations) working on international development projects.

We have featured thus far the courageous & inspirational engagement of groups such as HumanServe International, Change for Children, Cause Canada, Rainbow of Hope for Children, RAFIKI Friends of Rwanda, Sombrilla Refugee Society, and Friends of Nepal Society.

In this issue of Beyond the Headlines our feature group is Transgenus International a group with a mandate is to work in partnership with aboriginal communities around the world. Again, we hope this special feature is informative and useful, and invite you to consider supporting the work of our NGO’s who’s tireless efforts for a better and more just world should be commended…

About Transgenus International

Our Mission is to assist indigenous peoples in alleviating poverty. We engage in a process of capacity building for/and networking with communities, groups and individuals, and are committed to creating opportunities for all peoples and organisations involved. Transgenus engages in capacity building for, and networking with, these communities, groups and individuals. It is committed to creating learning opportunities for all persons and organizations involved in this educational process.

Transgenus International was founded in 1994 through the particular initiative of Dr. Sybille Manneschmidt, a psychologist and anthropologist with an interest in tribal groups around the world; an interest which stemmed from, and is fed by, her extensive travels to, and work in, remote areas of the world. Through her observations and work with these groups, she became convinced that the best way to effect positive change was to answer the needs of these groups as expressed by them, and not as expressed by the state governments or foreign aid organizations.

The first project Transgenus undertook was to raise funds to support a locally based and locally operated health education program for the Kham Magar community in the mountains of Nepal. In 1997, Transgenus, working with the Canadian Peigan Indians (one of the Blackfoot Nations of the western Great Plains of North America), raised money which has gone to the purchase of a 40-foot-diameter tipi. It will be used by the community for ceremonial and cultural events. In 1999, Transgenus focused on a group of Mam-Maya people in the western highlands of Guatemala.

Transgenus worked with Pueblo Partisans, an NGO that supports the Mam-Maya in improving the community’s health, education, literacy, agriculture, and craft production. Transgenus’ 2001 project is to support a group of Samburu women in Kenya. The funds will help initiate a health education project, will assist with the establishment of a potable water system, and will support further activities with a women’s camel ownership program.

After reviewing possibilities, Transgenus chooses a project it wants to support by working directly with the community in question or with local development groups which work directly with the community. To fund each project, Transgenus publishes and sells a calendar based on original photographs of the community which will be the eventual recipient of the funds.

Calendars have been published in 1995 for the Kham Magar, in 1997 for the Blackfoot Peigan, and in 1999 for the Mam-Maya.Transgenus has also become engaged around informing Canadians of the human rights situation in Nepal (see: http://www.canuck.com/transgenus/NepalApr500.html)

Transgenus International
P.O. Box 2154
Pincher Creek, AB T0K 1W0
Fax. (403) 627-3915
Email: sybman@telusplanet.net
http://www.canuck.com/transgenus

Four Canadian non-governmental organizations have come together to commend the Canadian government for its position on Iraq and to emphasize that the United Nations must play the lead role in mediating the international dispute over Iraq.

The North-South Institute, the Canadian Council for International Cooperation, the United Nations Association in Canada and the Mennonite Central Committee are calling on politicians and policy-makers to recognize the key peacemaking role of the United Nations and to ensure the UN has the backing it needs to fulfill its role internationally. “One of the primary reasons that the UN was founded was to establish a collective mechanism to deal with threats to international peace and security,” says Steve Mason, Executive Director of UNA-Canada. “Any state which takes unilateral action against another state sets a dangerous precedent and undermines the very principles upon which our international system is based.”
“The hostilities between the United States and Iraq are of grave concern. They threaten world peace,” notes Roy Culpeper, President and CEO of The North-South Institute. “To attack Iraq would not be a legitimate extension of the “war on terror”. Given Iraq’s agreement to allow weapons inspectors into the country, this is the time to invest in peace, democracy and development, not to continue with threats and military build-ups,” adds Culpeper.
Canadian NGOs, the UN and Iraq feel the focus of international efforts should not be on invasion, but on disarmament, resolution of conflict, and addressing the humanitarian crisis in Iraq.
“There are no grounds in international law for ‘regime change’ to be a legitimate basis for one sovereign state declaring war on another,” says Gerry Barr, President-CEO of the Canadian Council for International Co-operation. “The goal of preventing Iraq from developing and using weapons of mass destruction is important,” Barr adds, “but it should be done under UN auspices and accompanied by an agenda for regional disarmament and development. Canada has a particular responsibility because the Middle East is the second largest market for Canadian arms manufacturers.”
“We commend both Prime Minister Jean Chrétien and Foreign Affairs Minister Bill Graham for insisting that the Iraq crisis be dealt with by the United Nations,” emphasizes Bill Janzen, Director of the Mennonite Central Committees Ottawa Office. “While Iraq should comply with resolutions of the UN Security Council, so should other countries, some of which are violating them in a serious way. A more equitable approach to pressing for compliance would make it much easier to deal with this dispute and with others.” MCC is one of only a few international NGOs with relief and development work on the ground in Iraq.
For more information, please contact:
Lois L. Ross, Coordinator of Communications and Publications
@ The North-South Institute (613) 241-3535, ext. 235

Katia Gianneschi, Media Relations Officer
@ the Canadian Council for International Co-operation
(613) 241-7007 ext. 311

For further information, please contact ausu@ausu.org, or call 1-800-788-9041, ext. 3413.

Hola! We hope your summer has been a most rewarding & energizing one. As you recall, every month we bring you a bulletin under the rubric of ‘Beyond the Headlines’ to highlight the incredible inspiring work of many Alberta-based NGO’s. We invite you to consider supporting in whatever way you are able to do the good work of many of these NGO’s working in international development.

This month’s feature group is Change for Children …

About Change for Children

Change for Children Association (CFCA) is a non-profit, non-governmental, charitable organization based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The organization was founded in 1976 to respond to a growing awareness of the daily atrocities of poverty, oppression and starvation in the world, and the recognition that the poor did not want charity, but that they clamoured for justice.

The name “?Change for Children’ identifies the primary victims of injustice while at the same time suggesting the need for transformation. (It does not mean that our projects involve only children.) CFCA has grown into a network of dedicated people including more than 3,000 supporters, friends, members, and volunteers from across the country. We believe that ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

Change for Children has two primary functions:

We support grassroots development projects initiated and implemented by partner organizations in Latin America and the Philippines, projects that foster long-term self-sufficiency and use local resources rather than relying on a transfer of Canadian technology.

These projects include agricultural production, outreach activities for street children, women’s micro-enterprise, and health and education initiatives. We educate Canadians about the conditions of poverty, oppression and injustice in the South, to bring about an awareness of our global interdependence and to encourage Canadians to play an active role in working for peace, democracy, human rights, and a more just, equitable and sustainable world.

Change for Children is funded by donations from our members and the general public. Project seed funds are usually matched by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) on a two-to-one basis, and often by the Wild Rose Foundation of Alb) Beyond the Headlines — Ch.ems erta on a one-to-one basis. Special projects may receive additional funding from other local, provincial or federal agencies. Change for Children is a dynamic, highly efficient organization, with a very small staff and low overhead.

We are committed to ensuring that our funds are used for maximum benefit. For example: only 2% of our annual budget is used for fund raising initiatives; 92.5 cents of every project dollar goes directly overseas. (With a CIDA 2:1 match of $1.85 that means at least $2.77 goes to the project for every dollar donated.) The remaining 7.5 cents is used for administration, which includes development and submission of project proposals and reports, fees for services to ensure accountability and transparency, and to meet the legal and public obligations that all charities must abide by.

Change for Children Association
10545 – 92 St., Edmonton, Alberta T5H 1V1
Tel: (780) 448-1505 / Fax: (780) 448-1507
E-mail: cfca@web.ca
http://www.changeforchildren.org

The Society of Friends of Nepal (SOFON) exists to:
· Promote education and relief of poverty of the underprivileged communities through training in career skills;
· To increase awareness and appreciation of the problems of underprivileged communities, especially in the global south by organizing educational programs;
· To administer and operate overseas development programs and projects for the purpose of craft skill development within the underprivileged women community of Nepal.

The Society of Friends of Nepal (SOFON) carries out a craft skills development program in Nepal to provide upgraded and modernized training in various craft skills to underprivileged communities of women and youth in Nepal. For more information about our programs or about SOFON, contact us at:

The Society of Friends of Nepal
34 Broadview Crescent, St. Albert, AB T8N 0B2
Tel: (780) 459-6781 / Fax: (780) 459-6781

The Society of Friends of Nepal (SOFON) carries out a craft skills development program in Nepal to provide upgraded and modernized training in various craft skills to underprivileged communities of women and youth in Nepal. For more information about our programs or about SOFON, contact us at:

The Society of Friends of Nepal
34 Broadview Crescent, St. Albert, AB T8N 0B2
Tel: (780) 459-6781 / Fax: (780) 459-6781