It is the first of its kind to be written by the APPG in response to the worrying increase of persecution against Ahmadi Muslims and other religious communities in Pakistan.
A number of religious communities including Ahmadi Muslims, Hindus, Christian and Shias have long been victims of persecution in Pakistan due to its discriminatory laws. The laws have stifled freedom of religion, promoted state-sponsored persecution and acted as a catalyst for violent extremism in Pakistan.
As a result, religious communities are denied fundamental human rights to practice their faith and engage in society without fear of harassment, discrimination or violence.
The effects of such persecution are not limited to Pakistan alone, as anti-Ahmadi hate has also surfaced in the UK. The most extreme example of this was the brutal murder in Glasgow of Ahmadi shopkeeper Asad Shah in 2016, who was killed on grounds of faith.
There has also been a worrying development of hate preachers coming to the UK and the rise in hate speech on satellite television, the internet and social media that is feeding intolerance and extremism.
The recent return of book buyers to stores in Italy in the Italian book market has helped the overall market bounce back from showing a year-over-year revenue loss of 20% through April 18 to down 11% as of July 11, according to a study conducted by the research department of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) based on data provided by Nielsen and IE – Informazioni Editoriali.
Overall market revenue was valued at approximately €533 million, representing a 11% drop compared to €600 million for the same period in 2019.
Perhaps even more heartening is the news that bookstore and online sales (excluding Amazon), which had fallen by 70% in weekly sales between March and April, have bounded back, showing as much as a 2.5% hike over 2019 for the week ending on July 19. Sales had shifted significantly over this period from bricks-and-mortar stores, which had been locked down, to online sales, but these too are returning to a more normal rate; typically, retailers account for some 70% of overall sales and in recent weeks have accounted for about 56% of overall sales, up from a low point of 52% earlier in the spring.
The AIE noted that the next several months will indicate whether or not the shift from retail stores to online purchases is a temporary phenomenon or has accelerated a shift that has already been underway for several years.
BRUSSELS — In order to address the arrival of migrants and asylum seekers, countries often take measures, such as border control and migrant quotas, that tend to deal with immediate issues. In recent years, however, there has been growing recognition of the need for a long-term view that takes into account the underlying causes of migration.
The contribution of the Brussels Office of the Baha’i International Community (BIC) has included focus on the underlying drivers of migration and it has encouraged thinking in this regard. The Office has been creating discussion spaces, including with the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, to explore with policymakers and civil society organizations some of these drivers.
Rachel Bayani of the Brussels Office speaks about the relevance of certain spiritual concepts to these discussions. “The Baha’i principle of the oneness of humanity has profound implications for how people in one place consider the impact of their decisions and actions not only on their own surroundings but on the whole of humanity. A new approach to policy responses to migration and displacement should consider this principle, because the well-being of Europe cannot be advanced in isolation from that of the rest of the world.”
One of the drivers that the Office has drawn attention to has been the link between agricultural policies and the causes of migration in Africa. In the most recent gathering on this topic, the Brussels Office of the Baha’i International Community (BIC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations co-hosted an online discussion last week, bringing together over 80 policymakers and other social actors from Africa and Europe.
Slideshow 5 imagesSome of the participants at an online discussion hosted by the Brussels Office of the Baha’i International Community (BIC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, bringing together over 80 policymakers and other social actors from Africa and Europe to explore links between European agricultural policies and the adverse drivers of migration and in Africa.
“In recent years, there has been an acknowledgement that more attention needs to be given to factors compelling people to leave their country of origin,” says Ms. Bayani. “We wish to examine how different policy areas, including agriculture, trade, investment, and the environment impact the drivers of migration.”
“Tracing the positive and negative consequences of policies is difficult, but this should not prevent efforts to do so in order to develop long-term strategies with the well-being of all humanity in mind.”
Participants at the gathering traced the path that migrants often take from rural areas to cities, and from there to other countries and continents. Discussions cast a light on how economic and environmental crises, the loss of land by farmers, and other factors that drive people to leave rural areas in Africa have ripple effects across the continent and beyond.
“Where migration starts is where the people are in rural areas. If people are discontent in their rural areas, they are pushed to cities, and then further abroad,” said Geoffrey Wafula Kundu, Program Coordinator for Migration at the African Union Commission.
Jannes Maes, president of the Council of European Young Farmers, noted that positive cultural attitudes around farming, particularly among rural youth, are an important element in strengthening rural communities in any part of the world.
“Changing the mindset toward farming will require removing barriers,” says Mr. Maes. “The main barriers—in Europe but also those that we hear from our African colleagues—are access to land, to supply chains, and to investment, even if there is no ‘home-grown capital’ to build on. These have to be tackled by the whole of our societies.”
Slideshow 5 imagesPerforming soil analysis at the Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education, a Baha’i-inspired organization in Uganda.
Jocelyn Brown-Hall from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations says, “… we want to make sure that agriculture is part of the solution and is not overlooked when it comes to migration.”
Leonard Mizzi of the European Commission Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development observed that actions now being taken to effect a sustainable economic recovery from the coronavirus crisis provide an opportunity to create more resilient agricultural systems. “COVID has exposed fragilities around systems such as trade. What type of food systems will be more resilient to future shocks? … If we don’t have a systems approach that will really address these things, we cannot recover. Solutions from the top down will not work. We need a farmer- and human-rights-driven process.”
Kalenga Masaidio of the Kimanya-Ngeyo Foundation for Science and Education, a Baha’i-inspired organization in Uganda, explained the importance of allowing rural communities to participate in generating knowledge about agricultural systems.
“The main issue is empowering individuals and rural community members so that they can take ownership of their own social, economic, and intellectual development,” says Mr. Masaidio. “Rather than us thinking that solutions to these problems will always come from outside… development should start right from the rural communities.”
Slideshow 5 imagesPhotograph taken before the current health crisis. Several Baha’i-inspired organizations in Africa have carried out initiatives enabling rural communities to participate in generating knowledge about agricultural systems. “When efforts to contribute to social progress draw on both science and insights from religion, opportunities and approaches emerge that would otherwise not be visible,” says Rachel Bayani.
Reflecting on these discussions, Mrs. Bayani, states: “The pandemic has so prominently highlighted flaws in the international order and how unity is needed to tackle any problem efficiently. Simply having a space where policymakers and social actors across continents can think together in light of a heightened understanding of our essential oneness is an important step in addressing an issue of international concern.
“When efforts to contribute to social progress draw on both science and insights from religion, opportunities and approaches emerge that would otherwise not be visible.”
The advance marks the achievement of a critical target in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): to reduce the transmission of hepatitis B in children under age five to under one per cent by this year.
The news coincides with World Hepatitis Day, commemorated annually on 28 July to raise awareness of the disease, a viral infection of the liver that causes a range of health problems, including liver cancer. The theme for 2020 – “Hepatitis-free future” – has a strong focus on preventing the disease which attacks the liver, one of the five main strains, among mothers and newborns.
“No infant should grow up only to die of hepatitis B because they were not vaccinated”, said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Today’s milestone means that we have dramatically reduced the number of cases of liver damage and liver cancer in future generations.”
Preventing mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B is the most important strategy for controlling the disease and saving lives, Dr. Tedros said.
WHO is calling for united and intensified efforts to test pregnant women, provide antiviral prophylaxis to women who need it, and expand access to hepatitis B immunization and its all-important birth dose vaccine.
Globally, more than 250 million people live with chronic hepatitis B infection, according to WHO. Infants are especially vulnerable – and 90 per cent of children infected with hepatitis B in their first year of life become chronic carriers. Each year, the disease claims nearly 900,000 lives.
Greater access to vaccine ‘birth dose’ needed
Infants can be protected from hepatitis B through a safe and effective vaccine that provides over 95 per cent protection.
WHO recommends that all infants receive a first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine as soon as possible after birth – preferably within 24 hours – followed by at least two additional doses. Three-dose coverage during childhood, reached 85 per cent worldwide in 2019, up from 30 per cent in 2000.
However, access to the first critical dose within 24 hours of birth remains uneven. Global coverage is 43 per cent. Coverage drops to 34 per cent in the eastern Mediterranean region and only 6 per cent in Africa.
“Expanding access to a timely birth dose of the hepatitis B vaccine is the cornerstone of efforts to prevent mother-to-children transmission,” said Meg Doherty, WHO Director of Global HIV, Hepatitis and STI Programmes. In sub-Saharan Africa, where the birth dose of hepatitis B vaccine has not yet been introduced, “it is a priority to assure that protection as early as possible”.
COVID-19 hampering progress
A new modelling study by Imperial College London and WHO found that disruptions caused by COVID-19 to WHO’s hepatitis B vaccination programme, could have a serious impact on efforts to reach targets in the global strategy.
Under a worst-case scenario, the study projects that 5.3 million additional chronic infections could be seen in children born between 2020 and 2030, and one million additional hepatitis B-related deaths among those children later on.
Hepatitis C, once deadly, now highly curable
Speaking at a press conference from Geneva, Dr. Tedros said 325 million people live with hepatitis B or C. Each year, 1.3 million people lose their lives to these diseases.
The first-ever global hepatitis strategy, adopted by countries at the 2016 World Health Assembly, calls for an end to viral hepatitis by 2030, reducing new infections by 90 per cent and mortality by 65 per cent.
“Even talking about hepatitis elimination would have once seemed a fantasy”, Tedros said, “but new drugs have transformed hepatitis C from a life-long deadly disease into one in most cases can be cured in 12 weeks.”
While medicines remain too expensive for patients in many countries, the UN health chief pointed to cases of “incredible” progress, notably in Egypt, where 60 million people have been tested for Hepatitis C and linked to treatment, free of charge. There has also been progress in eliminating hepatitis B in Asia, where childhood immunization coverage is high, including the all-important birth dose.
Asked about the average cost of a 12-week treatment for hepatitis C in high, middle and low-income countries, Dr. Doherty said the price has fallen from $3,000 to $60 today.
The price is right
“In many ways, we now have prices that will allow us to end hepatitis C,” she said. “This is essentially a cure.” The goal now is to find “the missing millions” of people who have not yet been identified as infected – and to test and treat them so they no longer pass on the virus.
COVID-19 has only made this goal more daunting. With supply chains and services disrupted, resources diverted, and the political focus shifted to containing the pandemic, there is a real risk of losing gains made.
“Like so many diseases, hepatitis is not just a health problem, it is an enormous social and economic burden”, Tedros stressed.
The executive committee of the World Council of Churches has approved a new date for the WCC 11th Assembly, which will now be held in Karlsruhe, Germany, from August 31 to September 8, 2022.
Initially planned for 2021, the event was postponed by one year because of the gravity and uncertainties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, the WCC said.
“Inspired by the theme ‘Christ’s love moves the world to reconciliation and unity,’ our fellowship will come together as a whole in prayer and celebration in Karlsruhe,” said Rev. Ioan Sauca, interim WCC general secretary.
“Being the most diverse Christian gathering of its size in the world, the assembly will be a unique opportunity for the churches to deepen their commitment to visible unity and common witness,” Sauca said.
“We will draw renewed energy for the WCC’s work far beyond the event itself.”
Bishop Petra Bosse-Huber, from the Evangelical Church in Germany, said that the host churches welcomed the WCC’s acceptance of a renewed invitation to hold the 11th Assembly in Karlsruhe.
The assembly symbol was presented to the WCC executive committee on July 27.
The WCC said the design was inspired by the dynamic expressions and variety of the ecumenical movement in its search for Christian unity and promotion of justice and peace.
The symbol has a cross, a dove, and a circle alluding to the concept of reconciliation. It has crossed paths representing the various journeys, movement, freedom, and vibrancy of life that drive the WCC and its churches worldwide.
The WCC brings together churches, denominations, and church organizations in more than 110 countries and territories throughout the world, representing over 500 million Christians as it strives for gobal Christian unity.
It includes most of the world’s Orthodox churches and Anglican, Baptist, Lutheran, Methodist and Reformed churches, and many United and Independent churches.
Marco Respinti, Director of Bitter Winter reports that it has already introduced to its readers the new book by its editor-in-chief Massimo Introvigne, Inside The Church of Almighty God: The Most Persecuted Religious Movement in China, published in 2020 by Oxford University Press. In this video book trailer, its author Massimo Introvigne explains some key features of the book.
Joining the presentation are fellow scholars J. Gordon Melton (Baylor University, Waco, Texas), Holly Folk (Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington), and Bernadette Rigal-Cellard (University of Bordeaux, France) who discuss how this new study by Introvigne emphasizes little-known aspects of this persecuted Chinese Christian movement.
Many members of this movement have flown into Europe escaping alleging repression and government violence and are having problems to get the status of refugees granted and this is why Rosita Šoryté, president of the International Observatory of Religious Liberty of Refugees (ORLIR), comments on the book’s possible use on asylum cases.
(Image by Studio Incendo via Wikimedia Commons)Hong Kong anti-extradition bill protest, August 18, 2019.
Myanmar’s Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, a regional Catholic Church One of Asia’s most prominent has criticized China’s new security law in Hong Kong saying it “destroys the city’s high degree of autonomy.”
Bo is the president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences and called for all people in Asia to pray for Hong Kong and China “with great insistence.”
“I am concerned that the law poses a threat to basic freedoms and human rights in Hong Kong.
“This legislation potentially undermines freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, media freedom and academic freedom. Arguably, freedom of religion or belief is put at risk,” he said, the Catholic publication Crux reported July 2.
Conversely, the Anglican Archbishop of Hong Kong, Paul Kwong, has backed the new security law introduced by China.
He said that international criticism of the law, which gives the state wide-ranging powers to suppress opposition, is not an expression “of Christian charity but of anti-China sentiment.”
‘SERIOUS VIOLATION OF ACCORD’
The UK Government has described the new law as a “clear and serious violation” of the terms under which it handed Hong Kong back to China. It has offered three million Hong Kong residents a path to British citizenship.
Archbishop Kwong defended the law in a strongly worded letter to the Church Timesnewspaper.
He wrote that he welcomes the new national security law, “although it is one that I wish were not necessary” and insisted it will not threaten religious freedom.
For his part, Bo, in his July 1 statement said China’s action “brings a most significant change to Hong Kong’s constitution and is offensive to the spirit and letter of the 1997 handover agreement” with the United Kingdom.
The 1984 Joint Declaration signed by Britain and China on the handover of Hong Kong said that the city would have its own special status.
That accord preserved the freedoms Hong Kong had under British sovereignty after it was transferred to China, creating the “one country, two systems” policy.
The new security law came into effect on June 30 and outlaws secessionist, subversive and terrorist acts, as well as any collusion with foreign powers in interfering in the city’s affairs.
It allows suspects to be sent to stand trial in mainland China if Beijing deems that it has jurisdiction.
UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab says the Beijing-imposed legislation “is a clear and serious violation” of the 1984 agreement.
Cardinal Bo said that while a national security law “is not in itself wrong,” he said “such legislation should be balanced with protection of human rights, human dignity and basic freedoms.”
“Hong Kong is one of the jewels of Asia, a ‘Pearl of the Orient,’ a crossroads between East and West, a gateway to China, a regional hub for free trade and until now has enjoyed a healthy mixture of freedom and creativity,” the cardinal said.
“The imposition of the law by China’s National People’s Congress seriously weakens Hong Kong’s Legislative Council and Hong Kong’s autonomy. It radically changes Hong Kong’s identity,” he added.
Bo noted that that religious institutions on Mainland China are “suffering the most severe restrictions experienced since the Cultural Revolution.”
“Even if freedom of worship in Hong Kong is not directly or immediately affected, the new security law and its broad criminalization of ‘subversion,’ ‘secession’ and ‘colluding with foreign political forces’ could result, for example, in the monitoring of religious preaching,” the cardinal said.
It could result in the criminalization of candlelit prayer vigils, and the harassment of places of worship that offer sanctuary or sustenance to protesters.
ARCHBISHOP SUPPORTS NEW LAW
Anglican archbishop Kwong said that he supports the right to peaceful protest.
But in his letter he said months of “wider violence”, which Hong Kong’s legislature had failed to quell, had made the law “necessary for our wellbeing”.
The rioters had committed acts “which cannot be tolerated in any country”.
European Union Minister for Foreign Affairs Joseph Borrell said in a statement last week that the EU took stock of serious challenges to Hong Kong’s autonomy, stability and freedoms over the past year: “[W]e will not simply stand back and watch as China attempts to curtail these freedoms even more, with its imposition of the draconian national security law.”
“It is in the whole world’s interest that Hong Kong can thrive both as a part of China and as a vibrant and unique international business center and crossroad of cultures based on its high degree of autonomy as enshrined in the Basic Law.”
The WorLd Environment Day Program was held on 9th June 12.00 pm onward EU TIME for three hours. There were 12 speakers from different countries. The inaugural address was given by Her Highness First Vice President of European Parliament Ms Mairaid McGuiness. She highlighted the Biodiversity strategy being followed by Europe to restore the Environmental Challenges. Her Grace Sister Jayanti talked on the Three Basic Principles of Non-Violence, Compassion & Respect which can bring inner peace. All the speakers highlighted how to safeguard our environment in different ways. This was broadcasted live on HFE Facebook, website and YouTube.
I sincerely thank you all for being with Hindu Forum Europe and encouraging us to engage in Nature-friendly & social activities.
Inequality, an issue which “defines our time”, risks destroying the world’s economies and societies, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a hard-hitting speech on Saturday.
Mr. Guterres was delivering the 2020 Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture, held online for the first time, in light of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The lecture series, held annually by the Nelson Mandela Foundation, on the birthday of the first democratically-elected President of South Africa, aims to encourage dialogue by inviting prominent personalities to discuss major international challenges.
Mr. Guterres began by noting that the COVID-19 pandemic has played an important role in highlighting growing inequalities, and exposing the myth that everyone is in the same boat, because “while we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts, while others are clinging to the drifting debris.”
While we are all floating on the same sea, it’s clear that some are in superyachts while others are clinging to the drifting debris – António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations
Global risks ignored for decades – notably inadequate health systems, gaps in social protection, structural inequalities, environmental degradation, and the climate crisis – have been laid bare, he said. The vulnerable are suffering the most: those living in poverty, older people, and people with disabilities and pre-existing conditions.
Mr. Guterres pointed out that inequality take many forms. Whilst income disparity is stark, with the 26 richest people in the world holding as much wealth as half the global population, it is also the case that life-chances depend on factors such as gender, family and ethnic background, race and whether or not a person has a disability.
However, he noted that everyone suffers the consequences, because high levels of inequality are associated with “economic instability, corruption, financial crises, increased crime and poor physical and mental health.”
The legacy of colonialism and patriarchy
UN Photo/Evan SchneiderProtests have been occurring daily in New York City against racism and police violence, following the death of George Floyd.
Colonialism, a historic aspect of inequality, was evoked by the Secretary-General. Today’s anti-racist movement, he said, points to this historic source of inequality: “The Global North, specifically my own continent of Europe, imposed colonial rule on much of the Global South for centuries, through violence and coercion.”
This led to huge inequalities within and between countries, including the transatlantic slave trade and the apartheid regime in South Africa, argued Mr. Guterres, and left a legacy of economic and social injustice, hate crimes and xenophobia, the persistence of institutionalized racism, and white supremacy.
Mr. Guterres also referred to patriarchy, another historic inequality which still resonates: women everywhere are worse off than men, and violence against women is, he said, at epidemic levels.
The UN chief, who described himself as a proud feminist, said he was committed to gender equality, and has made gender parity a reality across senior UN posts. He also announced his appointment of South African international rugby captain, Siya Kolisa, as a global champion for the Spotlight Initiative, which aims to engage men in fighting violence against women and girls.
‘Everyone must pay their fair share’ of tax
Turning to contemporary inequality, Mr. Guterres said that the expansion of trade, and technological progress, have contributed to “an unprecedented shift in income distribution”. Low-skilled workers are bearing the brunt, he warned, and face an “onslaught” from new technologies, automation, the offshoring of manufacturing and the demise of labour organizations.
Meanwhile, he continued, widespread tax concessions, tax avoidance and tax evasion, as well as low corporate tax rates, mean that there are reduced resources for social protection, education, and healthcare – services that play an important part in reducing inequality.
Some countries have allowed the wealthy and well-connected to benefit from tax systems, but “everyone must pay their fair share”, said Mr. Guterres, and governments need to tackle the “vicious cycle” of corruption, which weakens social norms and the rule of law, and shift the tax burden from payrolls to carbon, which would help to address the climate crisis.
A New Global Deal
UNICEF/UN0143514/Karel PrinslooA student learns with the help of a computer tablet provided by UNICEF at a school in Baigai, northern Cameroon, Tuesday 31 October 2017.
Although climate change is a global problem, the effects are felt most keenly by those countries which are least to blame. The issue is likely to become more pronounced in the coming years, and millions risk malnutrition, malaria and other diseases; forced migration, and extreme weather events.
The only way towards a fair and sustainable future for all, he suggested, involves what he called a “New Social Contract”, which allows young people to live in dignity; women to have the same prospects and opportunities as men; and protects the vulnerable, and a “New Global Deal”, which ensures that power, wealth and opportunities are shared more broadly and fairly at the international level.
As part of the New Social Contract, labour market policies would be based on constructive dialogue between employers and workers, and would ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The Secretary-General called for new social safety nets, including universal health coverage, the possibility of universal basic income, boosted investment in public services, and, to reverse long-standing inequalities, affirmative action programmes and other policies to address inequalities in gender, race or ethnicity.
The UN chief explained that quality education for all, and the effective use of digital technology, will be crucial to achieving these aims. This would mean doubling education spending in low and middle-income countries by 2030 to $3 trillion a year: within a generation, all children in low- and middle-income countries could have access to quality education at all levels.
Governments also need to transform the way children are taught, said Mr. Guterres, and invest in digital literacy and infrastructure, and help them to prepare for a rapidly changing workplace that is being upended by technology.
The Secretary-General outlined some of the ways that the UN is supporting these efforts, including The Roadmap for Digital Cooperation, launched at the United Nations in June, which promotes ways to connect four billion people to the Internet by 2030, and “Giga”, an ambitious project to get every school in the world online.
‘We stand together, or we fall apart’
The UN chief ended his major strategic vision statement, by invoking the importance of international cooperation and solidarity. “We belong to each other”, he said. “We stand together, or we fall apart”.
The world, he concluded, is at breaking point, and it is time for leaders to decide which path to follow. The choice presented by Mr. Guterres, is between “chaos, division and inequality”, or righting the wrongs of the past and moving forward together, for the good of all.
EURONEWS – CD Aves, A Portuguese football team has become the latest victim of the harsh economic reality of the coronavirus pandemic with other football clubs in Europe also fighting to stay afloat.
CD Aves, which is based in northern Portugal, has seen players leave after it was unable to pay their salaries on time.
Just two years after the high of winning the Portuguese Cup, the club is now going through a huge financial and institutional crisis.
It has now been announced that it won’t be able to play the last game of the season in Portimão.
Aves is already relegated but the match is decisive for Portimonense and the other clubs involved in the relegation battle.
Club and SAD, the company that runs professional football, don’t see eye to eye and the COVID-19 pandemic has only complicated an already difficult situation.
In France, Ligue 1 side Bordeaux is also at open war with its majority shareholder.
The situation of the historic club has seen thousands of supporters take to the streets in protest and was a campaign issue in the last local election.
For now, the “Girondins” have been saved by a last-minute investment but the management has already warned that austerity is here to stay.
It seems to be an inevitable path in European football as more clubs face the new economic reality of the pandemic.
Even at FC Barcelona, the club with the highest payroll in world football, the crisis is making itself felt. Its bright constellation of stars has suffered a 70 percent wage cut during the suspension of La Liga, Spain‘s top tier league.
UN Photo/Evan SchneiderProtests have been occurring daily in New York City against racism and police violence, following the death of George Floyd.
