World Refugee Day - June 20th, 2007

There are millions of refugees in the world today. Refugees are not simply those who are living in countries not their homes or asylum-seekers but also include internally displaced persons (like those in Darfur and Sudan). June 20th, 2007 is World Refugee Day. Spend a moment visiting the following sites and at least become aware of the conditions of refugees all over the world:

• Human Rights Watch on Refugees
  
• World Vision takes action on child refugee crisis in Iraq.
  
• The UNHCR is the UN Refugee Agency. UNHCR stands for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
  

World Day Against Child Labor - June 12, 2007

It's coming - World Day Against Child Labor. It will be here on June 12th. What can we do? Be aware that there are various events going on around the world to push for elimination of child labor, particularly the worst forms of child labor. If you do nothing at all, at least raise your own personal awareness of child labor and exploitation.

This year, the focus is on the elimination of child labor in agriculture. Child labor in agriculture can be one of the most dangerous forms of labor for children and it accounts for a large percentage of child labor around the world. Click here for more info from the ILO regarding child labor and this year's World Day Against Child Labor. It even has a link to materials on World Day 2007.

You can also check out another organization that works with children and eliminating the worst forms of child labor by clicking here. This will take you to the website for CARE International - a nonprofit organization that works to tackle poverty in various places all over the globe. Take a look.

Child Labor - Child Miners

This is another post regarding child labor. Today I want to focus on child miners. In many areas around the world, particularly where poverty is prevalent, children are exploited to work in mines because of their size. These children are exposed to injuries, health hazards, and dangerous conditions in these mines. This, among other worst forms of child labor, must be eliminated. Children work in mines all over the world, from the Cote D'Ivoire to Niger to Peru to the Philippines, from gold mines to other gem and mineral mines. In mines, risks to children include collapsing tunnels, falling ore, exposure to poor or dangerous air quality, physical strain, and asphyxiation in gold mines.

Follow this link to papers presented by the ILO (International Labour Organization) regarding child labor in small-scale mining - an example from three countries.



Ever heard of the gem tanzanite? It's pictured above. Isn't it pretty? It can only be found in one place - one place in all the world. You might have already guessed....that place is Tanzania, specifically in the town of Mererani. While the stone is beautiful, only recently have I discovered the sad story that lies behind this beautiful gem. Mererani is home to a 300 million dollar Tanzanite industry and yet, according to IRIN (the humanitarian news and analysis published by the UN), 30% of the 200,000 people who live there survive on less than a dollar a day; and even so, people from all over Tanzania move here in hopes of improving their lives by finding that rare gem. And of course, those who suffer the most are the children and their mothers who have to watch their children suffer. Even if the government is working to eliminate this form of child labor in the Tanzanite mining industry, they face obstacles - not enough schools for children to go to and the poverty that still remains, so the children inevitably turn to the mines.

Read the IRIN article on this story. The article was published last September, but is still relevant today. I don't know if any of you own Tanzanite jewelry, but I hope that no one will until the mining conditions have improved for this gem which includes the elimination of all children from the mines.

Wal-Mart Abusing Weak Labor Laws?

As college students, my roommates and I thrived on going to Wal-Mart. 24-hour Wal-Marts were even better as we could go late at night when there would be no crowds; so we'd find ourselves shopping there at midnight or something close to that. Since then I've not gone as there are very few Wal-Marts in the Los Angeles area. Most Wal-Marts are about 45 minutes away from where I live, so I've found other places to shop. But in recent years I've heard some questionnable things about how Wal-Mart goes about doing business and it has not been positive. And...it continues.

Human Rights Watch published an article on 5/1/07 regarding the labor practices of Wal-Mart and their abuses of weak US labor laws. For more specifics and to watch the media presentations, click here. The primary concern was the anti-union stance this retail giant continues to present. Workers are discouraged to organize into unions and many fear loss of jobs and/or benefits if any attempts are made to organize. The company prohibits any distribution of union flyers or talks about unions while other non-union related materials are allowed to circulate.

For those of you who shop regularly at Wal-Mart, this may come as a shock; it did for me years ago. But I think we must be informed consumers and shoppers. I for one refuse to spend my money shopping somewhere that continually violates workers' rights. What do you think? Read the article from Human Rights Watch, or at least see the videos the article has a link to, and decide for yourself.

Global Days for Darfur - April 23 to April 30

And so it continues....action is needed for Darfur. This week is Global Days for Darfur and many events are being organized and held around the country. To see what events are going on, visit the Save Darfur website. There have been a lot of talks but a resolution has not yet been reached. It is imperative that a resolution be reached soon. Find an event near you and participate; or visit the Amnesty International website to find ways you can call or write to your representatives in Congress to press forward on this issue.