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The Accord Coalition for inclusive schooling has backed the renewed proposal that Religious Education should become a National Curriculum subject.

The Accord Coalition for inclusive schooling has backed the renewed proposal that Religious Education should become a National Curriculum subject, as raised in a recent television programme.

Religious Education is currently in the anomalous position of being the only compulsory subject in state maintained schools that is not part of the National Curriculum.

The case for reform was raised again in a More 4 television documentary ‘Faith Schools Menace?’, fronted by scientist Richard Dawkins, which questioned the impact of publicly-funded religious foundation schools.

Accord, which brings together both religious and non-religious organisations and individuals, does not take a 'pro' or 'anti' position on faith schools per se, but works for reform to ensure that all schools have open admissions and employment policy, a balanced curriculum, and positive, civically-oriented assemblies.

In the More4 programme, Dr Dawkins met pupils at one faith school who all rejected evolutionary biology because of what they had been taught about their religion.

Critics of the present RE arrangments, many of whom reject the anti-religious stance for which Dr Dawkins has become well known since leaving his post promoting the public understanding of science at Oxford University, nevertheless agree that taxpayer-funded schools should be properly accountable and inspected for what they teach concerning religion and belief, as for other subjects.

Teaching unions, including the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, one of Accord's member organisations, are among those who have made this point.

Representatives from Accord raised the issue with Nick Gibb, now education minister, prior to the General Election in May 2010.

The chair of the Accord Coalition, Rabbi Dr Jonathan Romain, commented: "The current arrangements for RE are very worrying. In faith schools the RE taught can be very narrow in its scope, while in other schools the quality of RE can also be of a poor quality, which only helps prevent children from developing their understanding of people with different beliefs."

He continued: "The Government must reassess the current arrangements of RE as part of their curriculum review taking place this autumn. A flexible National Curriculum RE syllabus would have many advantages.

"Firstly, it could help ensure that the RE taught in schools is broad and balanced and of a sufficient quality, helping to ensure that children are better prepared for life in our increasingly diverse society.

"Secondly, the current local arrangements for RE are very bureaucratic and expensive and by bringing them to an end the Government will save local authorities around the county many hundreds of thousands of pounds a year at a time when they are under extreme budgetary pressures."

Most schools follow a locally agreed syllabus, which is produced by their local authority responsible for education. Earlier this year, Ofsted released its report, Transforming religious education, which found that the teaching of RE was inadequate in 1/5 of secondary schools in England and urged the Government to reconsider the subject’s current local arrangements.

Meanwhile, in faith schools the RE syllabus taught is determined by the school itself. The RE in these schools is not inspected by the government and can be overtly instructional and fail to expose pupils to other world views than that of the school.

Simon Barrow, co-director of the Christian think-tank Ekklesia, said: "Good teaching about the variety of beliefs that shape our world, religious and non-religious, is vital in our schools, and all pupils should have access to a wide and informative curriculum in this area, not one limited to the horizons of the school's sponsors, whoever they may be."

He added: "Whatever you think of Richard Dawkins - and we are critical of many of his more extreme and superficial views abut religion - the points raised in this week's More4 television documentary on faith schools remain important. All schools funded by the taxpayer should be building bridges not erecting barriers.

"In the area of science teaching, more evidence of the application of anti-evolutionary creationist ideology, which is theologically as well as scientifically untenable, is a matter of serious concern, and something educationists will want to act on."

Two years ago, Ekklesia and the British Humanist Association jointly pressed for clear guidelines on science teaching, in order to stress that the issue was not one where religious and non-religious parents and teachers needed to divide.

In response, the government stressed that creationism and its close relation Intelligent Design, were not appropriate topics for the science classroom, having no scientific foundation.

Now the BHA is calling on the government to re-iterate its commitment to high quality science teaching, and wants it to investigate the charge that a number of faith schools are propagating creationism.

In the More4 film, Dr Dawkins discovered that RE lessons in some such schools present creationism as scientific fact, directly contradicting the evolution components of the national curriculum. In one case, he found that all 60 Year 10 science students at a Muslim secondary school reject the theory of evolution - which is the basis for all the major progress in the biological sciences in the past hundred years.

BHA chief executive Andrew Copson said: "‘This programme highlights why we urgently need a tightening up of the legal requirements. If, as this film seems to suggest, creationism is already being taught as fact in conventional faith schools, then how does the government propose to keep it out of religious ‘free’ schools, which will not have to follow the National Curriculum and are outside local authority control?’

He added: "We are calling on the newly-formed education select committee to conduct a full inquiry into faith schools, looking particularly at their impact on community cohesion, their effect on pupils’ rights, their effect on a balanced curriculum of objective teaching about religious and non-religious beliefs, and the extent to which science teaching may be undermined."

Ekklesia is a founding member of the Accord Coalition. http://accordcoalition.org.uk/

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The Camp for Climate Action is happening now on a site right next to the Gogarburn Headquarters of the Royal Bank of Scotland near Edinburgh. RBS is one of the world's largest investors in oil, gas and coal and recipient of a £50 billion bailout from public funds. Climate Campers secured the site on Wednesday night in advance of the announced 'swoop' and the camp is now well underway. Everyone is invited to join in four days of training and direct action from 21-24 August.

Reports on the newswire: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Photos: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Other camp links: | Website | Call-out | Twitter | Directions | Timeline |

Former World Council of Churches general secretary Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead.

Former World Council of Churches General Secretary, the Rev Samuel Kobia, says a planned January 2011 referendum for Southern Sudan must go ahead in order to prevent the region itself declaring independence - writes Fredrick Nzwili.

"A UDI (unilateral declaration of independence) is the last thing the churches will want to see. It must be avoided at any cost," Kobia, who now serves as the All Africa Conference of Churches special ecumenical envoy for Sudan, told journalists in Nairobi on 17 August 2010.

Kobia spoke as southern Sudanese leaders continued to warn they will declare independence unilaterally on 10 January if the referendum is not held the day before. That date - 9 January - is the one set by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement, signed in Nairobi. The accord sealed the end of a 21-year-long civil war in which more than two million people died.

The Kenyan Methodist pastor, who left his WCC post in December, warned that declaring UDI would be dangerous because it would split Africa and the global community.

"It is clear that there is no other way that will be honourable and credible for the people to exercise their right to self determination," said Kobia of the proposed referendum.

"It would be dignified if it is done within a referendum because that gives the people the freedom to use their conscience, and decide the future and destiny of Sudan," he added.

Kobia warned of deliberate attempts to frustrate the process so that it would appear, for technical reasons, that the referendum could not be held. The churches' special envoy explained it had taken three years after the signing of the peace agreement before a referendum commission was formed, and that it is not yet fully functioning.

Kobia was appointed to his current post with the AACC, which is tied closely to the WCC, in consultation with the Sudan Ecumenical Forum.

"I was asked and I accepted to serve as the special envoy to Sudan that started in March this year. The AACC, WCC, and SEF responded to a request by the SCC and Sudanese Churches to accompany them at this critical juncture of the history of Sudan," said Kobia.

He is expected to sustain diplomatic efforts to seek to save the agreement from collapsing by engaging both the Sudan Peoples' Liberation Peace Movement and the Sudan government, which both sponsored the pact, along with other stakeholders.

"It has been seen as urgent to have a special envoy for Sudan because the country is undergoing a special situation, which requires a special ecumenical attention," said AACC General Secretary the Rev Andre Karamaga, who worked with Kobia at the WCC.

Asked about his position on the referendum, Kobia said he is non-partisan. Some who support independence for Southern Sudan have criticised his appointment, and say he opposes independence.

"What I want to see is a political dispensation where the people of southern Sudan will enjoy their freedom, justice and life in dignity, and I think that is what matters the most," said Kobia.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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A photo exhibition on cross-border traders in Southern Africa has put the spotlight on the need for the free movement of goods and peoples.

A photo exhibition on cross-border traders in Southern Africa has put the spotlight on the need for the free movement of goods and peoples in the region - writes Munyaradzi Makoni.

"We wanted to show the role the sector plays in uplifting communities from poverty, and employment creation, yet the traders are affected by many of the structural deficiencies," the Rev. Malcolm Damon, director of the Economic Justice Network, a grouping of Christian Councils in Southern Africa, told ENInews recently.

Damon, a Methodist cleric, said they gave the traders from Malawi, Tanzania, Swaziland and Mozambique cameras to take photos and tell their own story in a unique way.

The photo exhibition, showing trading scenes within the 14-member Southern Africa Development Community, was launched during the 13-15 August 6th Civil Society Forum in Namibia. The traders captured pictures reflecting poor transport networks, street level bureaucracy, the confiscation of goods, xenophobia, high tariffs, corruption, sexual harassment, and delays at border posts.

Focusing especially on marginalised women, the exhibition, held in a Roman Catholic Church hall in Namibia, ran alongside the 30th SADC (Southern African Development Community) heads of states meeting.

"It is significant to hold the exhibition displaying the potential and also the problem-plagued informal cross border trade - when SADC heads of state and secretariat would meet to discuss problems in the region, and Namibia [is] taking the chair of the regional block," said Damon.

"We hope it will lend weight in lobbying and the engagement to remove barriers and promote free movement of people in the region," he added.

Sudecar Novela, leader of a cross-border organisation in Mozambique, told ENInews that corruption is a nightmare for traders at border posts. He noted that his 25-years trading experience had taught him that the problem could be solved by laws promoting small traders.

"The issue of cross-border trade is a very emotional story. It evokes both sad and happy emotions," said Moreblessing Chidaushe of Norwegian Church Aid. Chidaushe believed that injustices that halt economic prosperity at global, regional and even national levels must be confronted.

[With acknowledgements to ENI. Ecumenical News International is jointly sponsored by the World Council of Churches, the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches and the Conference of European Churches.]

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A sociology professor has attacked the deputy Prime Minister's claim that parenting is more important than poverty in ruining children’s life chances.

Sociology professor Frank Furedi, from the University of Kent, has attacked the claim of the deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, that parenting is more important than poverty in ruining children’s life chances.

Furedi, author of Wasted: Why Education Isn’t Educating, says the Liberal Democrat leader’s remarks show just how commonplace “parent-bashing: has become today.

“Clegg’s attempt to recast the age-old problems associated with poverty as principally a result of parents’ own moral failures resonates with the zeitgeist amongst policymakers and politicians”, writes Furedi on the website Spiked.

For Furedi, “[p]arenting has become an all-purpose causal explanation for virtually every problem afflicting society. Parental determinism minimises the importance of economic, social and cultural factors in everyday life and reduces the complex interaction between social wellbeing and family life to a simple question of moral failure.”

The outspoken academic locates the origins of “parental determinism” in the New Labour era. He writes: “It was Tony Blair’s regime which first promoted the fantasy that the government could fix society’s problems by getting its hands on the nation’s toddlers before their parents had a chance to ruin them. One of New Labour’s key focuses was on ‘early intervention’ - and for Blair, intervention could never be early enough. He believed it was possible to spot tomorrow’s ‘problem people’ even before they were born.”

Since then, Furedi continues, “the myth of parental determinism” has been institutionalised in Whitehall:

“Policymakers in the Lib-Con coalition seem to believe that the quality of parenting can determine just about everything in a child’s future. They even believe that parenting, when done well, can help to overcome society’s structural inequalities... In comparison with parental determinism, the economic determinism of Stalinism or the racial determinism of the old eugenics lobby seem positively subtle. That such voodoo science can shape the thinking of policymakers reflects the exhaustion of the political imagination today,” says Furedi.

Mr Clegg was echoing an earlier and similar statement on education and life chances from Conservative prime minister David Cameron.

Read the whole article here: http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/9442/

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A new US national survey has found that a substantial and growing number of Americans think that Barack Obama is a Muslim.

A new US national survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press and the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life has found that a substantial and growing number of Americans think that that Barack Obama is a Muslim, while the proportion knowing he is a Christian has declined.

More than a year and a half into his presidency, a plurality of the public says they do not know what religion Obama follows.

According to the survey, nearly one-in-five Americans (18 per cent) now say Obama is a Muslim—an increase from 11 per cent in March 2009. Only about one-third of adults (34 per cent) say Obama is a Christian, a sharp decrease from 48 per cent in 2009. Fully 43 per cent say they do not know what Obama's religion is.

The survey was completed in early August 2010, before President Obama's recent comments about the proposed construction of a mosque near the site of the former World Trade Center.

The belief that Obama is a Muslim has increased most sharply among Republicans (up 14 points since 2009), especially conservative Republicans (up 16 points). But the number of independents who say Obama is a Muslim has also increased significantly (up eight points). There has been little change in the number of Democrats who say Obama is a Muslim, but fewer Democrats today say he is a Christian (down nine points since 2009).

The new poll, conducted between 21 July and 5 August among 3,003 respondents, also examines the link between Americans' perception of Obama's religion and their opinion of his job performance, and covers views on the President's approach to religion, including the influence of his religious beliefs on policy decisions.

In addition, the survey explores Americans' attitudes toward churches' involvement in politics and the influence of religion on American life and government, and looks at religion's impact on voting preferences for the forthcoming 2010 congressional races.

The report, including a summary and topline questionnaire, is accessible on the Forum's new web feature, Religion & Politics 2010 (http://features.pewforum.org/politics/).

The Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life conducts surveys, demographic analyses and other social science research on significant aspects of religion and public life in the US and around the world.

As part of the Washington-based Pew Research Center, the Pew Forum does not take positions on any of the issues it covers or on policy debates.

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Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and the Elders group want people and governments to give “more quickly and generously” to flood-stricken Pakistan.

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu and the Elders group of former statespeople want people and governments to give “more quickly and generously” to flood-stricken Pakistan.

The Elders, a network of distinguished independent leaders, have warned that the situation in Pakistan is deteriorating rapidly.

They said said the scale of the flooding affecting nearly 4 million people was “disastrous”. The United Nations has said that the long-term impact of the flooding is likely to impact a further 20-25 million.

Dr Tutu appealed both to governments, communities and individuals to give as generously as they did in the aftermath of the 2004 Boxing Day South Asian tsunami, and also the massive earthquake that struck Haiti in January 2010.

“I urge people all around the world to hold the people of Pakistan in their hearts and in the heart of the human family at this time,” the Nobel Peace laureate declared.

He continued: “Let us not for a moment allow ourselves to feel that some are less deserving of our help than others. It is time for us to stand in solidarity with the people of Pakistan. Please give generously and help to share their enormous burden as they struggle to recover.”

The call for more donations comes as the United Nations General Assembly meets today to discuss Pakistan’s humanitarian emergency.

The UN launched a US$460 million emergency appeal at the beginning of last week. So far, however, just half of that amount has been pledged by the international community.

Aid and development agencies, including the global ACT Alliance of church groups, and the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) in the UK, are warning that the amount of money that has come in so far will not last more than a few months.

To make a donation to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707

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A women-only Lebanese aid ship named after the Virgin Mary plans to break the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel sometime next week.

A women-only Lebanese aid ship named after the Virgin Mary plans to break the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel sometime next week.

The organisers of the aid ship said on 19 August 2010 that they will sail to Cyprus for the first leg of their journey this weekend.

Organiser Samar al-Hajj told reporters: "The ship Mariam will leave for Cyprus on Sunday at 10pm (local time, 19.00 GMT) from the port of Tripoli."

Ms al-Hajj stressed in advance that those on board will not be carrying weapons or arms of any kind, that their purpose and cargo is strictly humanitarian, and that the venture is entirely nonviolent.

The ship is called The Mariam, after Mary the mother of Jesus. It is a Bolivian-flagged cargo ship originally named the Junia Star.

The aim of the aid ship is to bring badly needed assistance to the people of Gaza, who have been beseiged and blockaded by Israel for four years.

The Miriam will carry 50 Lebanese and international women on board. The passengers are said to include a well-known Cypriot singer.

Back in May 2010 Israel casuded international outrage by attacking a Turkish ship that was part of a flotilla of six ships headed for Gaza.

Nine Turkish activists were shot dead by Israeli commandos. The IDF claimed that they were threatened and released doctored film to back this claim. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the soldiers shot first, and those on board claimed they were acting in self defence when invaded without warning.

Previously good relations between Turkey and Israel have been imperilled by the incident.

Israel investigated what happened and vindicated itself, but has refused calls for an impartial international investigation.

The Cypriot authorities have a ban on ships departing for Gaza, and it is not clear what will happen when The Miriam seeks to call there.

Israel has threatened to invade any ship coming into the waters around Gaza.

The Naji al-Ali, originally named Julia, a Lebanese boat organised by journalists, has also said that it will sail to Gaza via Cyprus.

The boat has not yet received any official clearance from Lebanese authorities.

Also on Ekklesia: Harry Hagopian, 'From Turkey to Gaza: Human rights and fundamental freedoms?' - http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12413

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A senior Church of Scotland minister wants the Scottish government to reject a coal-fired power station at Hunterston on environmental grounds.

One of the most senior Church of Scotland ministers has written to the Scottish Government, urging it to consider carefully the impact plans for a new power station that will, the Kirk claims, undermine the Scottish Government’s plans to reduce Scotland’s carbon footprint.

A planning application to develop a coal-fired power station at Hunterston, North Ayrshire, has been submitted for consideration with a closing date of 20 August 2010 for objections.

The Rev Ian Galloway, Convenor of the Church and Society Council of the Church of Scotland, has written on behalf of the Kirk, formally objecting to the development of the proposed coal fired power station at Hunterston, asking Holyrood to reject outright the planning application made by Ayrshire Power.

Mr Galloway is backed by the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev John Christie, in objecting to the new power station.

Ayrshire Power Ltd lodged a planning application for an 1852 MW coal and biomass-fuelled power station at Hunterston on 2 June 2010, with the Scottish Government.

The Kirk has concerns about the likely increase in carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the power plant. The church believes that any such increase in emissions will make the national targets of Scotland’s Climate Change Act difficult, if not impossible, to achieve.

Mr Galloway said: “We are also aware that local congregations have concerns about the implications of the proposed development and its impact on the local environment."

He added: “We share those concerns and support the objections of local communities but in our letter of objection, concentrate on the national implications.”

The Church of Scotland is opposed to the proposed development set out in the planning application on the grounds that:

* Any new coal fired power station without a proven and effective system of carbon capture and storage fitted at the outset, will undermine the Scottish Government’s plans to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

* The technology is not yet sufficiently well developed or proven to deliver carbon capture and storage in plant of this size; and

* The power station would not only be a huge setback for the Scottish Government but would undermine the role [of] all those individuals and communities across Scotland who are taking action to reduce their carbon footprint.

In 2009 the Church and Society Council’s report to the General Assembly noted climate change as being amongst the most important challenges facing humankind.

It stated: “The Church of Scotland is concerned that climate change poses a serious and immediate threat to people everywhere, particularly to the poor of the earth; and that climate change represents a failure in our stewardship of God’s creation. We accept the need to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases urgently to avoid dangerous and irreversible climate change and to promote a more equitable and sustainable use of energy.”

In tackling the challenge of climate change, the Church of Scotland is active in a number of areas. It assists congregations in helping them to reduce their carbon footprint both in their church buildings and their lives.

The Church of Scotland, the country's largest Presbyterian denomination, is a supporter of Eco-Congregation Scotland, a Scottish charity with over 250 congregations committed to taking action to care for the earth.

The Kirk also plays a key role in the Stop Climate Chaos Scotland coalition comprising 60 organisations representing 2 million people across Scotland.

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The Vatican has published the much-anticipated official schedule for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010.

The Vatican has published the much-anticipated official schedule for Pope Benedict’s trip to the United Kingdom in September 2010.

The pontiff, leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics and head of the Vatican City state, arrives on Thursday 16 September in Scotland.

He begins with an official visit to Queen Elizabeth II at her palace in Edinburgh. That afternoon he travels to Glasgow, where he will celebrate Mass at Bellahouston Park. On Thursday evening the Pope will continue on to London, spending the night there.

On Friday 17 September, the Pope’s day will begin with a meeting for Catholic educators at St Mary’s University College. Later in the morning he will participate in an interfaith assembly. In the afternoon he will visit theAnglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, and then lead an ecumenical assembly at Westminster Abbey.

On Saturday the Pope meets with the Prime Minister, David Cameron and with the opposition leader, Harriet Harman. Then he will preside at Mass in the cathedral at Westminster. That afternoon he will visit a nursing home. In the evening he will lead a prayer vigil in Hyde Park, leading up to Sunday’s beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

Pope Benedict will preside at the beatification ceremonies on Sunday 19 September, at Cofton Park in Birmingham. Following that ceremony he will visit the Oratory that Cardinal Newman made famous. His last official activity will be a meeting with the Catholic bishops of England, Wales, and Scotland. The pontiff will return to Rome on Sunday night.

Commenting on the schedule for the papal visit, Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Vatican press office, said that the highlight from a Catholic perspective will be the beatification of Cardinal Newman.

Cardinal Newman is a figure of enormous importance to today’s culture, Lombardi claimed, because he is “the perfect figure to present the dignity of Christian witness as capable of addressing the problems and the biggest questions of modern man, to modern society.”

In addition, the Vatican spokesperson called attention to the Pope’s meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, saying: "We also know that this is a delicate moment for Anglicanism, because of internal debates. It is also a delicate time in relations with the Catholic Church, because these debates also reflect on the relationship between Anglicans and Catholics."

Preparations for the Pope's visit have been dogged by criticism of its cost to the public purse, estimated at up to £20 million, sluggish ticket sales, controversies over sexual abuse, and a funding gap for the pastoral dimension of the visit.

Protesters for women's and gay rights are also intending to make their voices heard as the visit proceeds.

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American Muslim leaders who visited two notorious Nazi concentration camps have roundly condemned Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.

A group of American Muslim leaders who recently returned from visiting the notorious Nazi concentration camps at Dauchau and Auschwitz have roundly condemned Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism.

Their public statement came after a trip organised earlier this month (August 2010).

The visit was was led by Rabbi Jack Bemporad of the Center for Interreligious Understanding in New Jersey, and was co-sponsored by the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in Germany.

In their statement, the Muslim leaders say that denying or justifying the Holocaust violates traditional Islamic ethics.

They declared: "We condemn anti-Semitism in any form. No creation of Almighty God should face discrimination based on his or her faith or religious conviction."

The leaders also pledged to continue the struggle against prejudice and hate speech affecting Jews, Muslims, Christians and all people facing attacks on the basis of their religion, race or ethnicity.

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The United Nations is marking the second-ever World Humanitarian Day by paying tribute to the life-saving work of aid workers around the globe.

The United Nations is marking the second-ever World Humanitarian Day today (Thursday 19 August 2010) by paying tribute to the life-saving work carried out by aid workers around the globe, often in perilous places, to help those whose lives have been torn asunder by conflict, natural disasters and other crises.

Events will be held at UN offices and peacekeeping missions worldwide, with many focusing on those personnel at the front lines who have been killed in the cause of assisting people in need.

In 2009, 102 humanitarian workers lost their lives, compared with 30 deaths among aid workers in 1999. In addition, nearly 280 aid workers were victims of security incidents, more the quadruple the number one decade ago.

The General Assembly proclaimed 19 August as World Humanitarian Day two years ago to commemorate the 2003 Canal Hotel bombing in Baghdad, which claimed the lives of 22 UN staff members, including the world body’s top envoy in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and wounded more than 150 people.

Mr Ban is laying a wreath at UN Headquarters in New York in remembrance of the personnel killed seven years ago.

For many years, humanitarian workers have relied on the idea that they must be protected by all parties to allow them to carry out their work wherever needed.

However, the false perception that aid is delivered only by Western groups or represents one ideological or religious world view has led to relief workers increasingly being targeted, ultimately hurting the world’s poorest and most vulnerable.

Earlier this month, Mr Ban welcomed the United Kingdom’s recent ratification of a protocol expanding an international treaty aimed at protecting UN staff members and other humanitarian workers, thus enabling the pact to enter into force this week.

The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Safety of UN and Associated Personnel provides legal protection to staff delivering emergency humanitarian assistance and to those providing political and development assistance in peacebuilding situations.

It extends the legal protection offered by the 1994 convention on the same subject, which only applies to personnel engaged in peacekeeping operations.

Mr Ban, in a statement, called the Convention “the cornerstone” of the legal regime affording protection to UN and associated personnel operating in hostile and volatile environments.

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The Disasters Emergency Committee in the UK has expressed grave concern following reports of cholera in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

The Disasters Emergency Committee in the UK has expressed grave concern following reports of cholera in Pakistan’s Swat Valley.

With floodwaters affecting a fifth of the country, and stretching for more than 600 miles, the DEC warned that millions of people are at risk of potentially deadly water borne diseases.

Disasters Emergency Committee chief executive Brendan Gormley says: “We are extremely concerned by reports of cholera in the Swat valley. The numbers reportedly affected so far appear to be small but cholera causes acute watery diarrhoea which allows it to spread very quickly in cramped, unhygienic conditions."

“Aid workers greatly fear cholera after a disaster because, without treatment, more than half those infected are likely to die. Cholera can be prevented by providing clean drinking water, good sanitation and rapid treatment of those affected. Our member agencies will be redoubling their efforts to improve the provision of clean water and sanitation to the huge number of people affected by the flooding. Any outbreaks of highly infectious diarrhoeal diseases need to be contained as quickly as possible in order to prevent further deaths,” he added.

Millions of survivors are currently struggling without access to safe water, more than two weeks after the disaster first struck. Merlin, a member agency of the DEC, has seen a significant rise in cases of acute watery diarrhoea throughout the worst affected areas, particularly in young children. With as many as 20% of patients in some areas affected.

Linda Doull, Director of Health and Policy at Merlin, commented: “If left untreated, the rapid loss of fluids caused by acute watery diarrhoea, such as with cholera, can prove fatal within hours."

She continued: “We need to ensure patients have access to medical staff, that enough diarrhoea treatment units are set up swiftly and that the delivery of safe water is made an absolute priority."

“Most cholera cases can be effectively and easily treated with oral rehydration salts, costing just 3p per sachet," she said.

UN officials have said there have been 86,000 suspected cases of acute watery diarrhoea reported so far. Acute watery diarrhoea is one of the main symptoms of cholera although it can also be caused by other water borne diseases.

DEC member agency efforts to treat and prevent waterborne diseases include:

* Oxfam has provided clean water for over 150,000 people by fixing water systems and trucking clean water supplies. As well as purchasing aid in- country, they have sent 19,000 water purification tablets, 455 latrine slabs/squatting plates and six de-watering kits (pumps for cleaning contaminated wells).

* Merlin has delivered 4,000 packets of water purification tablets - enough to make 400,000 litres of safe drinking water - 48,000 packs of oral rehydration salts and 20,000 doses of antibiotics to help fight the rising number of diarrhoeal disease and other infections. They are also setting up 3 Diarrhoea Treatment Units in three districts, capable of treating 300 patients at any one time.

* Save the Children has established a diarrhoea treatment center in Swat for children and adults, and is distributing hygiene kits, and conducting hygiene promotion to prevent rise in water-borne diseases like acute watery diarrhoea.

* Concern have given clean drinking water to 12,400 in Swat and Charsadda.

To make a donation to the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal call the 24 hour hotline on 0370 60 60 900, visit http://www.dec.org.uk or donate over the counter at any post office or high street bank, or send a cheque. You can also donate £5 by texting the word GIVE to 70707

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The National Council of Churches in Australia has welcomed plans for a World Council of Churches delegation to visit the country's Indigenous Peoples.

The National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA) has welcomed the decision by the World Council of Churches to send an international ecumenical delegation to visit the Indigenous Peoples of Australia from 12 -17 September 2010.

The visit is in response to an invitation extended by the NCCA with the view to shed light on the human rights situation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and to show solidarity with the Indigenous people who feel their voices are not heard. The focus of this visit will be the impact of the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER).

The invitation to the WCC was extended following a forum held in 2009 by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission (NATSIEC) of the NCCA.

This forum brought together Indigenous Church leaders from around Australia to discuss the Australian Government’s NTER. The aim of the forum was to show solidarity with Aboriginal people in the NT, and to formulate a common response and plan for action.

A key recommendation arising from that forum was to ask the NCCA to extend an invitation to the WCC to send a Living Letters team to visit the Northern Territory .

Living Letters are small ecumenical teams visiting a country to listen, learn, share approaches and challenges in overcoming violence and in peace making, and to pray together for peace in the community and in the world

A Living Letters team previously visited Australia in 1981 to assess the situation for Aborigines. They travelled around the country for three weeks and met with a wide number of individuals, communities and organisations.

The 1981 report of this visit reflected the concerns, hopes, dreams and aspirations of Aboriginal people as heard by the Living Letters team. The report gave guidance to the Churches and hope to Aboriginal people. Independent points of view proved valuable in highlighting to government the areas where Australia needed to do better.

From this, relations with Indigenous people have improved with better co-operation and representation within Churches, says NCCA. "It is our hope and prayer that a similar outcome can be achieved by a contemporary visit, particularly in relation to the NTER. The NCCA and NATSIEC have consistently expressed concern, along with Church leaders and other organisations, since the inception of the NTER."

The General Secretary of the National Council of Churches in Australia, the Rev Tara Curlewis, commented: “We feel that there is an urgent need to shine a light on the impact of the NTER on Aboriginal people. We welcome the arrival of an international and neutral team to listen, learn and bear witness to the situation for Aboriginal people in the New Territories”.

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For more information on the visit, go to: http://www.overcomingviolence.org/en/peace-convocation/preparatory-proce...

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The Action of Churches Together (ACT) Alliance has made a global appeal for assistance to people affected by flash floods and Landslides in India.

The Action of Churches Together (ACT) Alliance has made a global appeal for assistance to people affected by flash floods and Landslides in India.

The town of Leh in Ladakh, in northeastern Jammu and Kashmir state, experienced deadly flash floods caused by a cloudburst lasting several hours on 6 August 2010. This in turn triggered raging floods and landslides.

Hundreds of homes were destroyed and people marooned, says ACT. More than 200 mud-built houses were washed away. The district hospital is submerged and the radio station damaged. Electricity cables and telecommunication pylons have been damaged or washed away. Assistance is now urgently needed, the development alliance confirms.

The affected area stretches from the village of Phayang on the Rohtang-Leh highway to Nimoo on the Leh-Srinagar highway (a distance of more than 150 km). Five villages were severely affected in the sudden downpour and flash floods, including Choglumsar and Shapoo. Leh town was among the worst-hit areas.

Leh has a population of 117,000, most of whom are taking shelter in the higher mountains around them. Over 200 people are still reported to be missing from the worst-hit village of Choglumsar, where nearly all homes were washed away. Phayang was also badly hit and is completely submerged. Phayang had a population of around 700 Muslim and Buddhist families before the disaster, of which six families are missing and presumed drowned.

Official figures report a death toll so far of around 200, though it is feared this could reach over 500. Around 600 people are reported missing, and at least 350 injured are being treated in an army hospital. Many more people are trapped under collapsed houses and buildings.

ACT Alliance members, Church's Auxiliary for Social Action (CASA) and the Lutheran World Federation/Lutheran World Service India Trust (LWF/LWSIT) are responding to this emergency. Their response aims to mitigate the effects of the flash floods by providing life-saving and life-sustaining assistance to approximately 20,000 affected families.

The ACT Secretariat says it expects to receive elaborated and revised proposals for this response by 26 August 2010, following further in-depth assessments. This will include further proposed recovery assistance and will take account of actual and potential funding contributions as indicated by ACT members and other supporters around the world.

The full ACT report on the Indian flash floods and the response can be read here (*.PDF Adobe Acrobat file) -
http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/retrieveattachments?openagent&shorti...

The government has retained support despite promises of swingeing cuts, the Lib Dems have gained little credit for their coalescing, and Labour has been on the up despite being leaderless and rudderless. Simon Barrow looks at the unreal politics of the parliamentary recess.

It may seem as if formal political life gets replaced by its own burning embers during the parliamentary recess in Westminster, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But surface appearances are deceptive.

David Cameron has already skipped one holiday to pursue his ‘cuts road show’, inviting the great British public to debate how and where the debt-and-recession scalpel should be inserted. Now he's conducting a PR campaign for 'the first 100 days' while on another.

At the same time, the technical war of words between MPs of all parties and the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority over the new system of Commons’ allowances has continued unabated.

Then there’s the Labour Party leadership hustings. The post-Brown and Blair beauty contest rumbles on in partially filled halls and internet chat rooms across the land. It may be attracting comparatively little publicity outside the dedicated politicos – but that will change again in September.

Meanwhile, what passes for an official opposition is in much better shape than most of its movers and shakers would have predicted three months ago - indeed, level-pegging with the Conservatives, according to an 18 August 2010 Guardian/ICM poll.

In the immediate aftermath of the May general election it seemed as if most established political bets were off. The voters had hung precedent out to dry, and the inevitable ‘honeymoon period’ for the new government was not so much aimed at the cabinet and Prime Minister as at the very idea of a coalition administration nuzzled up on the banks of the Thames. Surely “this sort of thing” was meant for the “Celtic fringes”?

Some habits die hard, however. The briefly resurgent Liberal Democrats sunk to a record low of 12 per cent in opinion polls following an arrangement which many of their brightest-eyed supporters saw as a deal with the devil. By contrast, the Conservatives have maintained a dignified public posture while simultaneously engaging in a crafty softening-up exercise for a reduction in public expenditure on a scale that turns Thatcherites green with envy. It's the contortionists who are running the show now.

Equally intriguing has been the persistence of not-so-new Labour. With no clear leader, no defined policy alternative, and a debate on the future shape of centre-left politics that bypasses an electorate more attuned to the impact of emerging policies on the wallet, the party has already clawed its way back from 29 to 37 percentage points.

The general lack of bloodletting and the media focus on Posh and Clegg has helped, naturally. But imagine what new shifts might happen when the Autumn Spending Review reveals the full scale and (for many, not least the most vulnerable) the full horror of the Coalition’s cuts? The architectonic upheaval we have seen in the political landscape looks set to go on for a while longer, and no one is quite sure where it will all end.

In part that may depend upon the outcome of a referendum on voting reform which neither changers nor non-changers want in its present form. The Alternative Vote (AV) belies its name. But it may yet be the last saving hope of those whose motto remains: “We’re all in favour of change. So long as it doesn’t make any difference,” politically at least. Economically, the knives continue to be sharpened and poised.

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(c) Simon Barrow is co-director of Ekklesia. This article is adapted from his regular 'Westminster Watch' column in Third Way, the magazine of Christian social and cultural comment.

Church World Service has urged a more robust response from the international donor community to Pakistan’s devastating flooding disaster.

Church World Service officials have urged a more robust response from the international donor community to Pakistan’s devastating flooding disaster.

The US-based global relief and development agency (http://www.churchworldservice.org/) has voiced even deeper worries over whether or not pledges will be fulfilled.

While the international community has so far committed close to US$229.5 million in support and another US$142 million in additional pledges, those pledge amounts alone are insufficient to cover even the initial three-month relief needs outlined by the United Nations, says Donna Derr, Director of Humanitarian Assistance for Church World Service.

“Thankfully the flood’s death toll has remained relatively low but disasters can’t be measured by just the number of dead,” says CWS’s Derr. “Effective humanitarian response must be measured against the all the people affected, just struggling to survive,” she said.

The initial UN plan calls for US$460 million. The Pakistan Humanitarian Forum, of which CWS is a member, calls on government and private sources to dramatically increase funding in order to save lives.

With offices in Pakistan since 1954, CWS relief and development experts are concerned Pakistan’s already weak social services may crumble without adequate and immediate help now. Millions of Pakistanis risk sinking deeper into chronic poverty for the next generation, compromising human rights and basic needs.

Making pledges pay off on the ground is a chronic challenge among the world donor community. In recent UN appeals for the internally displaced in Pakistan’s northwest, some donors were moderately quick to pledge funding but hesitant to follow through with actual commitments.

Church World Service is continuing to distribute food and non-food items across Pakistan. The agency’s health teams and mobile health units are focusing on providing preventive and curative health services. Another CWS mobile health unit was dispatched on 16 August 2010 to Kewaii Union Council, Mansehra District, rescheduled from its original assignment in Kohistan, which is still inaccessible to aid teams.

As its response expands, CWS’s completed, ongoing and planned activities will benefit a total of 237,950 individuals in seven districts of three provinces, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Balochistan and Sindh, the agency says.

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At least 67 people are missing and 25 injured, nine severely, after mudslides hit a remote town in southwest China's Yunnan Province.

At least 67 people are missing and 25 were injured, nine severely, after mudslides hit a remote town in southwest China's Yunnan Province early on 18 August 2010.

Details are being released by local authorities through the Xinhua News Agency.

Most of the missing people are employees of the Yujin Iron Mine and villagers in the Puladi Township, in the Drung-Nu Autonomous County of Gongshan, where the mudslides struck at around 1.30 am local time.

"I suddenly heard rumbling late last night and then rushed to a safe place with fellow villagers. I hadn't expected mudslides could come so quickly," said Yu Zhizhong, of Litoudi Village, about 10 kilometres from Puladi township seat.

The mudslides were about 300 metres across, villagers and rescuers said.

At least 10 trucks transporting iron ore and 21 houses were buried, said Zhong Zhifang, a spokesperson for local border troops involved in the search and rescue operation.

Roads, power supplies and telecommunications were cut following the mudslides, which were triggered by days of torrential rain, Zhong said.

The first group of 24 border troops arrived at the site, about 17 km from the Gongshan county seat, at 9:30 a.m., and another 103 troops are en route to the area, Zhong said.

The injured had been taken to hospital, Zhong said.

The mudslides also destroyed a bridge and blocked parts of the Nujiang River flowing through the mountains, lifting the water level in the upper reaches by up to six metres, said a statement from the Yunan Provincial Emergency Response Office Wednesday.

The local government had also dispatched rescuers to the area high in the mountains bordering Myanmar, said a spokesman with the government of Lisu Autonomous Prefecture of Nujiang, which administers Gongshan.

The county faced more rain in the next two days, according to local meteorological authorities.

On 26 June in Puladi, a mudslide killed 11 people at the construction site of a hydropower station.

Torrential rains have wreaked havoc across China this summer, incurring the worst flooding and landslides in decades.

A massive mudslide on 8 August in Zhouqu County, in northwestern Gansu Province, left 1,270 people dead and 474 missing.

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In the five years since the 2005 earthquake devastated parts of Pakistan, not one year has gone by in which the people of Pakistan have not suffered from disaster, says Church World Service staff working in the country.

In the five years since the 2005 earthquake devastated parts of Pakistan, not one year has gone by in which the people of Pakistan have not suffered from disaster.

The years 2006 and 2007 brought floods; although not even close to the destruction brought by this year’s floods, people still lost their lives, homes, crops and livestock.

In 2008, a powerful earthquake rendered thousands homeless in Balochistan at the onset of winter. In 2009, millions of people were displaced by the conflict between the Pakistan military and militants in Khyber Pakhtunkwa and Waziristan.

Throughout these years, severe drought and water shortages plagued the agricultural communities, which constantly live with the reality of food insecurity. Now, 2010, a year that was supposed to be a time of new beginnings and the continued road to recovery from previous disasters, has turned into a record-breaking year for flood destruction - and not just in one province, but throughout the entire country.

Resilient is a word often used to describe the people of Pakistan, but this cycle of loss and destruction is truly testing this attribute. Thousands of people have been living in pre-fabricated shelters, still trying to regain their lives and livelihoods lost five years ago.

Entire communities began to experience rebirth - but now these very same people must start over again after the floodwaters are gone. Displaced persons, many who have only recently returned home to Swat and other areas, once again find themselves without homes and property. Farmers who were already struggling with food insecurity have lost or may lose this year’s harvest, thus, pushing them farther away from achieving food security for their families.

Undoubtedly the floods have caused widespread damage to agricultural and croplands, adding further threats of food insecurity to flood-affected families. Particularly affected are the croplands in the province of Punjab, known as the breadbasket of Pakistan - thereby exacerbating the problems facing the country. As sources of food supply remain underwater, families face the possibility of not being able to harvest and sow their crops. Worsening the situation are increased prices for essentials like sugar.

What is most worrisome is the harsh test of time, and a cycle of never-ending disasters: Flood-affected families in Kashmir, Muzaffarabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Balakot had already experienced massive devastation in the 2005 South Asian earthquake.

“People in the affected areas are most vulnerable and they had hardly managed to get their lives back together after the earthquake. Again, everything they had is taken away from them,” said Dennis Joseph, associate director of the CWS program in Pakistan. “At this moment it is not just their material well-being but also their physical well-being, which includes their mental well-being that is important.”

Dennis shared the story of Mehr Nisar, a 50-year-old widow from Punda Balla Village. She told Joseph: “I lost my husband in the earthquake, and I was living in a [pre-fabricated] shelter with my son after that. This has now been destroyed as half of the land under the shelter was washed away.”

There are many more like Mehr Nisar whose lives are at a standstill and await better times.

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This article was contributed by CWS staff in Islamabad, Pakistan. It is reproduced with grateful thanks.

Contributions to support the emergency needs in Pakistan may be made online (http://www.churchworldservice.org/) or by phone in the US (800.297.1516), or may be sent to your denomination or to Church World Service, P.O. Box 968, Elkhart, IN 46515.

Church World Service is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.

Anti-poverty activists have expressed astonishment at George Osborne's claim that massive public spending cuts will create a "more just society".

Anti-poverty activists have expressed astonishment at Chancellor George Osborne's claim that massive public spending cuts will create a "more just society".

Attacking 'deficit deniers' in his recent defence of coalition government policies - which analysts say will hit the poorest hardest through a combination of low wages, unemployment, benefit reductions and increased costs - Mr Osborne, who is a millionaire, claimed that "we are all in this together".

He said that income distribution - which has widened significantly in recent years - is not the only measure of fairness, stressing opportunity over actual outcomes.

But Martin Narey, chief executive of the children's charity Barnado's, said on BBC TV's 'Newsnight' programme yesterday that the government had to tackle the jobs and wages crisis if it was serious about attacking poverty. He described the current minimum wage as "shameful".

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) has also warned that the growing income and wealth gap in Britain makes it more and more difficult for those at the bottom to lever themselves up, rendering talk of opportunity without redistribution illusory.

Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, suggested that the Chancellor "has a different definition of fairness to the rest of us".

He declared: "Mr Osborne's spending cuts are hitting the most vulnerable, his one big tax rise was VAT – the unfairest tax of all – and his economic policies are bearing down on the young, trapped between unemployment and an education sector with not enough places."

"Meanwhile those in banks and finance who caused the recession are back collecting their bonuses and celebrating their biggest windfall, their escape from being asked to make a proper tax contribution to clearing up the mess they made," said Mr Barber.

The Green Party has also attacked the fundamental logic of the cuts, which the Chancellor says are about ensuring that debts are not handed from one generation to the next, calling them "destructive and unnecessary."

Cuts “are not an economic inevitability but an ideological choice”, says party leader Dr Caroline Lucas, the new MP for Brighton Pavilion.

Politicians from the main parties have been “sharpening their axes to slash public spending, forcing those on lower incomes, who depend on public services the most, to pay the highest price for the recent excesses of the bankers," she declared after the budget.

“There is a choice," said the Green leader. "We should ask those best able to pay to foot the bill through fairer taxation... and [tackle the economic crisis] through a basic shift towards a low carbon economy through investment in renewable technologies."

Meanwhile, Church Action on Poverty (http://www.church-poverty.org.uk/) is reminding supporters that there are still three weeks in which to apply for one of its Tackling Poverty Awards.

The awards, for which nominations end on 27 August 2010, will identify and celebrate projects that are providing meaningful and effective support to people of working age living in poverty in the UK.

Mr Osborne is heir to the Osborne baronetcy of Ballentaylor in County Tipperary.

Also on Ekklesia: We are not 'all in this together', by Jill Segger - http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/12859

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