Swords into plowshares
About this blog
Swords into Plowshares is the blog of the Peacemaking Program and the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations of the Presbyterian Mission Agency of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Seeking peace. Striving for justice. Together.
Recent posts
- Summer 2013 intern at the Presbyterian Ministry at the United Nations – Onaje Crawford
- Remarks by Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, U.S. Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs at the United Nations, at a Security Council Open Debate on Children and Armed Conflict, June 17, 2013
- Together, We Have the Power to Protect the Ocean
- 1 is too many
- A prayer for World Refugee Day
Categories
- Peace (531)
- United Nations (516)
- Prayer (471)
- Human Rights (424)
- Justice (391)
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Archives
Posts with category: Human Rights
June 16, 2013A prayer for World Refugee Day
June 20 is World Refugee Day.
Here are resources from Presbyterian Disaster Assistance.
Here's a prayer:
God of the journey,
We remember that Mary and Joseph
Had to flee to Egypt,
Taking Jesus to safety,
Leaving home behind.
Remembering,
We pray for sisters and brothers
Around your world
Who are forced to leave their homes.
We pray for brothers and sisters who are
Driven from home by natural disasters.
We pray for sisters and brothers who are
Driven from unnatural acts of violence and persecution.
We pray for brothers who are
Driven from home because of inadequate responses to ...
June 16, 2013
A prayer for refugees
A Prayer for Refugees
Almighty and merciful God,
whose Son became a refugee
and had no place to call his own;
look with mercy on those who today
who are fleeing from danger,
homeless and hungry.
Bless those who work to bring them relief;
inspire generosity and compassion in all our hearts;
and guide the nations of the world towards that day
when all will rejoice in your Kingdom of justice and of peace.
Help us in your work, to take the side of the lowly,
to defend the newcomer, to welcome the stranger.
Help us now to befriend the ...
June 11, 2013
When I was younger ...
by Marissa Costello
When I was younger, I use to joke with my parents that they were forcing me to do child labor for them by carrying two heavy loads of laundry or soda packages.
But child labor is really not something that should not be taken lightly when so many children in the world are deprived of an education and childhood.
On June 12 is World Day Against Child Labour, a day created by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2002. This day is meant to grow worldwide attention to this issue while also reminding us that children around ...
June 2, 2013
The Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts in Bangladesh
by Brendan Welsh
I attended a side event of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which pertained to Article 30 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: an article addressing military activities on indigenous land. The event focused specifically on the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh, home to over half a million indigenous peoples of varying linguistic, tribal, and racial backgrounds.
Shapan Adnan, of the International CHT Commission, told us that before the 1997 CHT Peace Accord, the Bangladeshi government brought 400,000 non-indigenous people into the CHT in response to regional violence and insurgency. During ...
June 2, 2013
Breaking the Silence on Violence against Indigenous Girls, Adolescents and Young Women
by Marissa Costello
Based on available country data, Say No UNiTE reports that, “up to 70 per cent of women experience physical or sexual violence from men in their lifetime – the majority by husbands, intimate partners or someone they know.”
I was surprised to hear there is such violence against indigenous girls, adolescents and young women as well because different indigenous peoples speaking as a previous side event at the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues called Indigenous Peoples and Freedom of Religion stated that women in particular were valued in their culture. I assumed somehow that indigenous women were more ...