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COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The white man charged in the shooting deaths of nine black parishioners at a South Carolina church last year is competent to stand trial, a federal judge ruled Friday....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Even people who said they'd already done their shopping online came out for Black Friday to spend time with family members or just for the fun of looking....
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Students and administrators raised concerns about a Tennessee school bus driver's behavior behind the wheel in the weeks before a crash that killed six children....
MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- President-elect Donald Trump pressed forward Friday with two more administration picks, as failed Green Party candidate Jill Stein took new steps to force recounts across key Midwestern battlegrounds that could complicate Trump's push for national unity....
NEW YORK (AP) -- Following the death of Florence Henderson, the matriarch of "The Brady Bunch," here's a look at the other cast members from the iconic TV show:...
ACAPULCO, Mexico (AP) -- Soldiers and police fanned out Friday across the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, chasing a wounded gang leader and trying to quell a wave of violence that included the discovery of hidden graves holding dozens of bodies and a camp where gunmen stored the severed heads of nine rivals in a cooler....
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- It will be one of many unusual things about a Donald Trump administration: a long-distance first lady....
The Ethiopian Catholic Church through different religious congregations and diocesan desks is supporting women discover their potential through various skills training available in Church-run promotion centres.In most parts of Ethiopia, the lack of financial independence and lack of awareness, lack of educational opportunities leave women victims vulnerable to Gender Based Violence. Having realised this, the Church is making efforts to eradicate such problems through women’s promotion centres now found in various parts of the country. The promotion centres have been lauded as a successful strategy of raising awareness and potential among women. As centres, they become hubs that build capacity among women thus enabling them engage confidently in various entrepreneurial activities.Progress about the success of the promotion centres was disclosed this week on 24 and 25 November when the Ethiopian Catholic Church’ Social and Development Commission (ECC SDCO) marked the int...
The Ethiopian Catholic Church through different religious congregations and diocesan desks is supporting women discover their potential through various skills training available in Church-run promotion centres.
In most parts of Ethiopia, the lack of financial independence and lack of awareness, lack of educational opportunities leave women victims vulnerable to Gender Based Violence. Having realised this, the Church is making efforts to eradicate such problems through women’s promotion centres now found in various parts of the country. The promotion centres have been lauded as a successful strategy of raising awareness and potential among women. As centres, they become hubs that build capacity among women thus enabling them engage confidently in various entrepreneurial activities.
Progress about the success of the promotion centres was disclosed this week on 24 and 25 November when the Ethiopian Catholic Church’ Social and Development Commission (ECC SDCO) marked the international day for the elimination of violence against women. The commission marked the event by bringing together women from the promotion centres in the country thus giving them an opportunity to share experiences. The day was held in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa.
Speaking about the event, Programme and Fund Mobilisation Manager for the promotion centres, Shiferaw Mamo, said that over the years tens of thousands of women have passed through various programmes at the centres and have gone on to become very successful entrepreneurs.
“We have witnessed many stories of women who were subjected to stay at home depending only on the kindness of their husbands for a living. The worst part of such cases was that when the men passed away or (went away) the women were left caring for their families without any means of income. Our programmes helped such women discover their potential to do more and supported them to engage in small scale businesses based on their desired field. The women from the centres have become successful in supporting even their husbands financially and changed the lifestyle of their families, some even becoming famous business women,” Mamo recalled.
There are more than 50 women promotion centres run by the Catholic Church in Ethiopia. Apart from training in skills, the centres serve to ensure holistic development of vulnerable women and support women to engage in savings.
Some of the women promotion centres have evolved into fully-fledged vocational training institutes.
(Makeda Yohannes, ECS Social Communications and PR Department in Addis Ababa)
Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va
At the end of their November Plenary in Antananarivo, the bishops of Madagascar have issued a pastoral statement marking the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. In their statement, made available to the media, the Malagasy bishops dedicate the country to the Divine Mercy of God and hail relations with the Holy See.“We dedicate today the destiny of our beautiful country, Madagascar, and its children confronted with all kinds of miseries: Non -respect for life, abortion, crimes against humanity, irresponsible exploitation of our natural wealth, crime, insecurity, thirst for power and money, injustice, corruption, fear of truth, egoism, a spirit of hatred, vengeance and so many other evils ...” the Bishops pray.On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of relations with the Holy See, the Bishops praise the warm ties.“We invite the people to pray for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations bet...
At the end of their November Plenary in Antananarivo, the bishops of Madagascar have issued a pastoral statement marking the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. In their statement, made available to the media, the Malagasy bishops dedicate the country to the Divine Mercy of God and hail relations with the Holy See.
“We dedicate today the destiny of our beautiful country, Madagascar, and its children confronted with all kinds of miseries: Non -respect for life, abortion, crimes against humanity, irresponsible exploitation of our natural wealth, crime, insecurity, thirst for power and money, injustice, corruption, fear of truth, egoism, a spirit of hatred, vengeance and so many other evils ...” the Bishops pray.
On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of relations with the Holy See, the Bishops praise the warm ties.
“We invite the people to pray for the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and Madagascar,” the statement reads.
In their statement, the Bishop also lament the fact that in Madagascar, truth has become a casualty in public discourse.
"Madagascar is poor with regard to men (and women) of wisdom …... we lack wise men (and women) because truth has been banished (from our society), we no longer give it its rightful place. This is why it is essential to educate young people, from an early age to love truth and only then will we have a generation that is not only responsible but one that is also steeped in truth. It is a great challenge that we face today, " the bishops emphasised.
(Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va)
The Bangladesh High Court on Tuesday, ordered an explanation from officials involved in the violent eviction of thousands of indigenous Santal people from their ancestral lands by a sugar plantation and mill in the northern Gaibandha district.About 2,500 Santals, mostly Christians, were forced off disputed land in the northern Gaibandha district by workers from the Rangpur Sugar Mill with support from the local administration on Nov. 6-7. Three Santal men were killed and over 20 people, including police officers, were injured in a series of clashes as the Santals tried to resist eviction attempts. The attackers also looted the villages of tribal people and their livestock and set fire to 600 squatter homes.The court ordered 12 government officials and bodies, the police, the managing director of Rangpur Sugar Mill and local lawmaker, Abul Kalam Azad to explain their role in the eviction that left three people dead.Two Santal women filed a petition with the High Court on Nov. 21. J...
The Bangladesh High Court on Tuesday, ordered an explanation from officials involved in the violent eviction of thousands of indigenous Santal people from their ancestral lands by a sugar plantation and mill in the northern Gaibandha district.
About 2,500 Santals, mostly Christians, were forced off disputed land in the northern Gaibandha district by workers from the Rangpur Sugar Mill with support from the local administration on Nov. 6-7. Three Santal men were killed and over 20 people, including police officers, were injured in a series of clashes as the Santals tried to resist eviction attempts. The attackers also looted the villages of tribal people and their livestock and set fire to 600 squatter homes.
The court ordered 12 government officials and bodies, the police, the managing director of Rangpur Sugar Mill and local lawmaker, Abul Kalam Azad to explain their role in the eviction that left three people dead.
Two Santal women filed a petition with the High Court on Nov. 21. Jyotirmony Barua, the petitioners’ lawyer said the move was taken after the authorities didn’t respond to legal notices sent earlier." Two legal notices were sent to the respondents, seeking explanation for the eviction and torture of indigenous people but they went unanswered. So, we have sought the attention of the court," Barua said.
Rabindranath Soren, president of the National Adivasi Council, a tribal rights body covering northern Bangladesh, explained why they decided to approach the court.
"We don’t have any trust in the local police and administration as they are biased in favor of the sugar mill," Soren said.
Swapan Murmu, a Santal man, filed a case with police on Nov. 16 against 500 unnamed people in connection with the attack on tribal people. Police have arrested 17 suspects so far, according to Subroto Kumar Sarkar, officer-in-charge of Govindaganj police station.
However, Soren called the investigation a "whitewash" and a "ploy" to drive the case in favor of the abusers. "Swapan Murmu is not a local or a victim, but he has been used by police to drive the case and frame charges the way they want. So, we have sought the intervention of the court in order to get justice," he said.
However, Sarkar denied the allegations. "The law and investigation will follow their own paths, and we have no intention to drive it in anyone’s favor," he said.
The local church and church groups have been offering aid to affected tribal people, said Father Samson Marnadi, parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Church in Dinajpur, which covers the area. "We have been providing shelter and food to evicted homeless people who had nowhere to go, while Caritas and the Missionaries of Charity have been offering food and other basic supplies," Father Marandi said.
"We are behind the people, but we can’t fight for them in court because it will create serious problems for the church and church groups as politicians and the local administration are involved in the issue," added Father Marandi, a tribal Santal himself.
On Nov. 10, hundreds of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists had formed a human chain and held a protest in Dhaka to advocate for the Santal cause. The same day, ten Bangladeshi religious, social and human rights groups including the Catholic Church's social action agency, Caritas signed a petition and demanded a "judicial investigation."
The reason for the dispute lies in the fact that "After 1962, the government bought 774,000 hectares of land that belonged to the Santal, where they grow sugar cane,” a clergyman explained.
“The agreement provided that the land would be used only for this type of crop. If another crop was introduced, the land would go back to the original owners. In 2003, the local government suspended sugarcane production and so local Tribals asked for their land."
There are about three million indigenous tribal people out of Muslim-majority Bangladesh’s population of 160 million. Most of the tribal people are Buddhist, Christian or Hindu; almost half of the country’s estimated 600,000 Christians hail from tribal communities.
Tribal people are vulnerable to various abuses at the hands of opportunists largely due to land and property disputes as they are largely illiterate and don’t have land documents.
(Source: UCANews.com)
