Climate change hits the poor hardest.
August 14, 2008
The developed world has created the problem but the developing countries will feel the heat of climate change the most!
Everyone has heard about climate change but what is it really? What can we do about it? How can we take responsibility so that the impact will not be the hardest on those least able to cope?
This month JustAct looks at the Garnaut report and how the Make Poverty History campaign is responding to the climate crisis.
Check out how you can make a difference at www.justact.org.au
Antony and Tess [Read more]
It’s Fairtrade Fortnight!
May 8, 2008
So, this month we are taking action about the unfair conditions of workers around the world who produce our daily (or more!) cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate. Workers who produce for FAIRTRADE label products receive much better conditions and pay… but the majority of products for sale in the Australian market are not under the FAIRTRADE label.
Find out more about how you can make a difference at www.justact.org.au – check out the Actions…
Enjoy Fairtrade Fortnight and make sure your next cuppa is fair!
Tess and Antony
Honour Amos, Jeremiah, Jesus and Jameson – use FAIRTRADE products
April 17, 2008
Rev Jameson Mabviko is a member of the Kasinthula Cane Growers (KCG) in
JustAct - close the gap
April 17, 2008
| April 22, 2008 |
This month we are taking action to close the gap in indigenous and non indigenous Australians’ life expectancy. Health issues are affecting Indigenous Australians all across the country, even here in
JustAct action - ATMs away from Pokies
November 8, 2007
Action x 1
Visit local pokie venues and report if they have ATMs, how many and where they are located in the venue (foyer, bar, bistro etc). Also identify where the next nearest ATM to the pokie venue is outside of the venue itself. Send the details to Mark at mark.zirnsak@victas.uca.org.au
For all the action ideas and information visit JustAct’s new action
The Issue
Research has shown that automatic teller machines (ATMs) in pokie venues help feed problem gambling behaviour and are not heavily used by other patrons in the venue. This action asks you to help get ATMs out of pokie venues to reduce problem gambling in Victoria.
Problem gambling causes people to lose their homes, their savings, can cause family breakdown, is a factor in domestic violence and can contribute to people committing suicide.
“From a person who never gambled before, it turned my life into a nightmare. It turned me into a cheat, a thief and emotionally unstable. Previously, I was a sane person who managed and enjoyed life very much.
Once my life changed dramatically, I became unemployed, I lost all hope, my self esteem was gone and I had to cope with a family suffering.
From mental illness and being unable to cope and support my family, I found hope and support in the hotels with poker machines. I found my interest with the machines became more and more addictive. My emotional problems became greater as I depended on the machines.
I felt I was not capable of doing any job and I depended on the machines to survive. It was only the fact that I became seriously ill that probably saved my life. I lost my friends, relatives, superannuation and I went bankrupt.
Poker machines seduce a person suffering from emotional issues and they exploited me.”
Person in counseling with Gambler’s Help Central
New JustAct website (and action!)
September 19, 2007
Check out the new JustAct website!
Comparing our Standards
Did you know that the amount humanity currently consumes is more than the earth can sustain? How is this possible? Think about the world as being a bank account. If we simply live off the interest then (theory has it) we can sustain the capital indefinitely. However, if we start eating into the capital then we can do it for a little while, but eventually we will be left with no money. If we curb our spending, we can allow the interest to build again in order to make it more sustainable.
What are the real costs of spending? Find out.
Step 1
Discover what the average environmental costs are for the amount of consumption in your suburb in Australia.
Step 2
Now calculate how your own consumption impacts on the environment with the Eco-calculator.
Step 3
If we are serious about global equality we need to cut down on our own consumption. There is a direct link between how we use the Earth’s resources and the poverty that millions live in. Start changing this today!
Develop your own Action Plan and calculate the amount of resources you will be saving when you start living that Plan.
Good luck. And remember together we are changing this world!
For all the actions visit JustAct site
JustAct Non-violent Protest Against People Trafficking - Sat 25th
August 24, 2007
Come along and join us in the JustAct non-violent action on human trafficking!!!
Stop the Traffik!
Saturday 25th August 2007
12 noon for the non-violent briefing
Wesley Uniting Church
148 Lonsdale St,
Melbourne
Meet in the garden at the front of the church.
12:30pm start walking through the city to Federation Square.
Feel free to bring your friends!!!
On-the-day-contact will be Kerryn 0419 530 903 (Yep the JustAct number!)
Why Stop the Traffik?
The aim of the action is to raise awareness about the issue of global human trafficking and to make a statement about the way the Federal Government can be responding to the issue. We will be seeking media to cover our action and will also be handing out information to people who are interested.
http://www.stopthetraffik.org/
What to wear
Face masks and plastic chains will be supplied. YES we want people to notice us!!
If you can, wear black or white head to toe (a hooded jumper would be great if you have one!).
This walk is a non-violent action and we ask that participants respect the principles of non-violence that will be outlined in the briefing.
We will have a media liaison and a police liaison person at the protest as resource people.
As a Uniting Church organised event the UCA covers legal liability.
http://www.justact.org.au
Find Your Voice… Have a Say… Act with Justice in Mind…
JustAct Action - Who’s intervention in NT?
August 24, 2007
This month JustAct are looking at the Australian Government’s intervention into indigenous communities in the Northern Territory as a response to the findings of The Little Children are Sacred report. A lot has been said about this plan, from criticism to welcoming the move from a wide range of Australians. This action is to help you understand what the report actually said, and what the Government intervention covers, and what position the Uniting Church has on the Australian Government’s plan of action.
See the site for background and all the details: www.justact.org.au
STOP THE TRAFFIK! People shouldn’t be bought or sold
July 18, 2007
| July 26, 2007 | ||
| 6:30 pm | to | 10:00 pm |
2007 marks the 200th year since the long campaign to end slavery in the British Empire resulted in their government passing the Abolition of the Slave Trade bill. The story of the campaign to end legal trading of people in Britain is the subject of the new film Amazing Grace.
Come and see the film with JustAct on Thursday 26th July, 6:30pm, Westgarth Cinema. More information in invitation attached.
Disturbingly a similar slave trade across the world is operating today. HUMAN BEINGS right now are being bought and sold throughout the world. This trade in people is the fastest growing way people are caught in slavery.
2.4 million people are enslaved as a result of human trafficking. 1.2 million children are trafficked each year.
People are trafficked into prostitution, begging, forced labour, military service, domestic service, forced illegal adoption, forced marriage and so on. This trade turns people into goods that are sold for as little as $30!
People are not commodities.
They should not be bought and sold.
This trade in human beings must STOP.
See attached invitation to to see Amazing Grace the film and come and learn more about Stop the Traffik, a campaign to end the modern day trade in PEOPLE.
JustAct Action: Marketing that Kills – the selling of breastmilk substitutes throughout the world
February 26, 2007
Action
Refuse to support companies whose marketing practices endanger the lives of mothers and babies world wide, breaking the World Health Organisation’s international code of practice!
How
Gather evidence and boycott! And let the companies know you are refusing their products and why.
THE ISSUE
- This action is about choice, freedom of information and the lives of babies across the world.
- It is about multi-national companies using false and manipulative information and restricting choice of parents through their marketing of breast milk substitutes, endangering the health and lives of babies and mothers world over.
In the Philippines
In the Philippines alone, 16,000 babies die each year because of inappropriate feeding. Often they are fed breastmilk substitutes (that is any food, including formula, which is given to babies in replacement of breastmilk) from a very early age. Only 1.4 percent of 6month olds are exclusively fed breast milk throughout the Philippines. The World Health Organisation and UNICEF have found that the fierce marketing of baby milk formula throughout the country, and indeed the world, misleads parents into believing infant formula is equivalent or superior for their child. This sophisticated marketing of breastmilk substitutes creates millions of dollars profits for multinationals at the expense of the health of babies, which contributes to low breastfeeding rates and higher rates of death among babies.
Unfortunately this is not an isolated occurrence!
The UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre estimates that 2 million infants die around the world every year because they are not adequately breastfed. Where water is unsafe a bottle-fed child is up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhoea than a breastfed child.
TAKE ACTION
Visit JustAct for more information and which companies we are targeting!
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