Action Mesothelioma Day 4 July 2014

 

 

Yesterday was Action Mesothelioma Day here in the UK.

 

AMD is a day of events aimed at raising funds and/or awareness in relation to asbestos-related illness. I became interesed in the issue a few years ago when a friend of mine died as a result of exposure to asbestos whilst working for a roofing company and each yeasr I like to do my bit to publicise the event, usually by posting details at http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com or elsewhere.  It`s not much, but it`s what I can do.

 

For details of this year`s events and actvities, contact Debbie Neale via http://www.mesothelioma.uk.com  .

 

I understand that one of the groups concerned has created a petition, which you can view at http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/59014 . The petition, headed `Provision of Research Funding into Asbestos Related Diseases`  will be live until 9 January 2015.

 

If you want to sign the petition, all well and good. If you prefer to learn more about the subject, and/or about a few of the groups involved in this years` AMD, here are some links  ;

 

www.asbestossupport.co.uk

 

www.hasag.co.uk

 

http://www.hse.gov.uk/asbestos

 

 

 

 

 

 

Updates ; Fiji

The Minority Rights Group has published a new report, Fiji ; The Challenges and Opportunities and Diversity.

The report comes at a time when Amnesty International and Labour Start are expressing concerns about the situation in Fiji.

The MRG report is "based on evidence drawn from exclusive interviews across the diversity of Fiji`s ethnic groups and aims "to provide insight into the underlying causes and consequences of ethnic tensions in Fiji."

  Links ;

http://www.minorityrights.org/11850/reports/fiji-the-challenges-and-opportunities-of-diversity.html

http://www.minorityrights.org/643/publications/publications.html

Updates ; Minority Rights Group September 2012 (Kenya)

The Minority Rights Group has issued a press release condemning "ongoing retaliatory attacks" between the Orma and Pokomo ethnic groups in Kenya`s Tana River Disrict.

The group has praised Kenya`s "new and progressive constitution" and has urged the Kenyan government to build on the "postive environment" this has created by taking "immediate steps to protect the lives of  affected communities and prevent a further escalation of violence.""

MRG`s Director of Policy and Communications, Carl Soderburgh, is quoted as saying "These attacks are related to poverty, competition for scarce resources and marginalisation of minorities...If governments in East Africa continue with policies like the privatization of rangelands, commercial ranching and sedentarisation of nomads, without the participation of communities, peace will continue to elude the region."

For more information ; http://www.minorityrights.org/7962/press-releases/press-releases.html

Global Ban on Asbestos #2

On 22 June 2012 I posted a brief note on the sad death of my good friend Chris a few years ago from the effects of an industrial disease contracted whilst working with asbestos.


I also mentioned this year`s Action Mesothelioma Day (6 July 2012) and the fact that the theme for the day was to call for a global ban on asbestos.


Mesothelioma UK have now released the first of two bulletins giving details of events that took place on the day.


By definition, many of the groups involved in the day are community-based groups more accustomed to raising funds/awareness and providing support to people in difficulties than with being part of a co-ordinated campaign. Nevertheless, all the groups involved contributed in their own way and I congratulate them all.


I particularly liked the Hampshire Asbestos Support and Awareness Group, who like a number of groups, had to abandon a plan to release doves as an act of remembrance due to severe weather conditions but stated defiantly "the rain spoilt nothing about the day". That`s the spirit !


Returning to the campaign itself, two events may be of particular interest.


In Manchester, the meeting was addressed by Canadian campaigner Kathleen Ruff who spoke about the Quebec Government`s decision to fund the re-opening of the Jeffrey Asbestos Mine which is expected to extract and export 5 million tonnes of asbestos over the next 20 years. Most is expected to go to countries such as India that have no restrictions on the importation of asbestos.


A number of MPs addressed the meeting, and I believe all of these were from the Labour Party. Amongst them was Jim Dobbin MP who had asked the Prime Minister and the International Development Secretary, both Conservatives,  to encourage international communities to oppose this decision.  To his credit, Prime Minister David Cameron agreed to raise the issue at a meeting with the World Health Organisation later that day.


In Leicester, that city`s first elected Lord Mayor, Councillor Abdul Razak Osman, also endorsed the call for a global ban and spoke of the need to support those whose goverments have no restrictions on the importation of asbestos.


If you would like to know more about the campaign, or about the events that took place on the day, please contact Liz Darlison or Tracey Heseltine at www.mesothelioma.uk.com .







  

Global Ban on Asbestos

Three years ago my oldest friend died from the effects of having worked with asbestos in his youth.


For that reason, I like to promote awareness of the dangers of asbestos and in particular to give a plug to the UK`s annual Action Mesothelioma Day, which takes place this year on 6 July 2012.


The theme of the day this year is to call for a global ban on asbestos.


I have posted various items relating to issues around asbestos at http://angpav.blogspot.com and http://bookshelvesandbrownale.blogspot.com over a period of time, including a number of fairly recent items.


Anything anyone can do to promote awareness of this cause, perhaps by the use of blogs and social networking sites, would be very much appreciated.

African Rights

"Spurred by popular uprisings in North Africa, pressure to respect the rights of all Africans is growing across the continent, but political leaders are standing in the way, says the internationally respected lobby group, Amnesty International."

That`s the opening paragraph of an unsigned article posted on the allAfrica website ( http://allafrica.com  ) on 24 May 2012.

To read the full article, including a link to Amnesty`s report, click here ;

http://allafrica.com/stories/201205240011.html

As I`ve explained before, I`ve decided to brighten up the blog occasionally with pics of a few items of my own. This picture, by a Zambian artist named Patrick Kamanga, was purchased from a shop in Nottingham, UK,  probably during the 1980s. It has no real connection with the story on the All Africa site, but I thought it would make things a bit more interesting. 

Updates ; Minority Rights Group May 2012

The Minority Rights Group has posted a number of news items online in the last couple of weeks, items relating to human rights/the rights of indigenous peoples around the world.

To learn more, click on these links ; 

www.minorityrights.org

www.minorityvoices.org

A Trip to the Library

Staying in the UK, a recent decision by the London Metropolitan University to dispose of two of it`s special collections has proved controversial.

The collections concerned are the Women`s Library and the Trade Union Congress Library. The university has said it is looking for a new home, a new owner or a new sponsor for these.

Cynics have suggested that this because the LMU has been caught `upgrading` figures on the number of students it has in order to get more state funding. I myself had no idea that was the case and couldn`t possibly comment !

A lively campaign is underway in respect of the Women`s Library, which houses everything from early suffragette memorabilia to the archive of the National Women`s Register. For details, see my article Save the Women`s Library , posted earlier today at http://angpav.blogspot.com. 

At present there does not seem to be an equivalent campaign in respect of the TUC collection. However, these sites may be of interest ;

www.londonmet.ac.uk/libraries/tuc

www.unionhistory.info

www.londonmetunison.org.uk

Hopefully new homes and/or new sources of funding will be forthcoming for these unusual collections. As I`ve said elsewhere, it`s worth remebering that documents and artefacts aren`t the only assets these collections have, there`s also the expertise of the staff that maintain them and their familiarity with the stock.

Updates ; The Freedom Project

American media types CNN have launched their own anti-slavery intiative, The Freedom Project.

For more information, visit them at ;

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com

http://edition.cnn.com

No doubt there will be ultra-leftists and other ideological purists who decry the involvement of CNN, who I assume to be a privately-owned media multi-national, in this campaign. Myself, I know very little about the company and to be honest I`m not really interested in them one way or the other, but I do welcome the high profile they can give to this issue.  A quick skim through their web pages shows they have been in touch with the International Labour Organisation, Anti-Slavery and others, and as far as I`m concerned that`s all to the good.

There are of course many organisations involved in this issue ; Anti Slavery, Amnesty International, the ILO and Human Rights Watch spring to mind. All I would suggest to anyone interested in these matters is that they check out a few and see which one you personally think deserves support.

Fight Crime, Invest in Kids

Fight Crime, Invest in Kids (California) is an association of Police Chiefs, District Attorneys and survivors of violent crime opposed to education cuts in California, particularly in respect of pre-school education.

They draw upon an impressive body of research among impoverished African-American youngsters in Michigan to support their contention that pre-school education appears to lead to lower levels of offending and higher levels of achievement in later life.

To learn more, see my posting from earlier today, `Meanwhile, Back in the States #4`, at http://angpav.blogspot.com .

Updates ; The Endorois People of Kenya`s Rift Valley

The Endorois people of Kenya are a semi-nomadic indigenous group of around 60,000 people who for centuries have made their living herding goats and cattle in the Lake Bogoria area of the Rift Valley.

In the `70s, their land was appropriated from them by the Kenyan government to create the Lake Bogoria National Reserve.

In February 2010 the African Union adopted a decision by the African Commission on Human and People`s Rights recognising indigenous people`s rights over traditionally occupied land and their right to be involved in, and to benefit from, any development affecting their land.

The decisions made by the AU and ACHPR were generally considered to be a landmark development.

Additionally, it is now considered best practise to involve local communities from the outset when establishing nature reserves and similar projects.

Two years after this historic decision, the Minority Rights Group has criticised "the Kenyan government`s lack of commitment to ensuring justice for the Endorois people" and has urged the authorities "to immediately restore ownership to the community of their ancestral lands around the Lake Bogoria National Reserve".

For the full story, see MRG press release "Two Years on From African Commision`s Ruling, Kenya Continues to Drag it`s Feet..." dated 1 Feb 2012, at www.minorityrights.org .

Update ; Minority Rights and Wrongs

Following disturbances in the Sudan recently, Minority Rights Group International has issued a press release, `Urgent Measures Needed...` dated 5 January 2012, which can be found in the `News` section of their website.

This fascinating organisation always has something interesting to say, often on matters that are largely ignored by the media.

In their `Minorities in the News` section, it was sobering to see two linked reports from last month ;

`MRG condemns campaign of disinformation and threats... ` followed, unfortunately by   `MRG expresses condolences over the death of human rights activist` . I hope that anyone reading this will also take a couple of minutes to read these.

MRG has no membership and relies on sales, subscriptions and donations.   At present, it receives funding from a number of  charitable/philanthropic organisations and from some governments. While it`s true that funding from governments could be a bit of a contentious issue, particularly when an organisation has no membership and therefore by definition cannot be democratic, there`s no evidence that I know of to suggest this has actually been a problem to date.