Annie Leonard is an activist who has spent the last ten years travelling around the world fighting environmental threats. In this short movie she gives you a picture of where all the stuff you buy come from, where it goes and how the process of making the product affects the planet.
In the past three decades alone we have used up one third of the planet’s natural resources. If all humans had the same consumption as the Americans, we would need five worlds to cover our basic needs. Make a change in your consumption-habits and save the climate. The poorest countries are the ones who gets affected the most by climate change. Read more about climate change.
Yesterday, on 25th March, fourteen Norwegian organizations demonstrated outside the government’s office against the free trade agreement Norway is about to ratify with Colombia.
After Sudan, Colombia has the second largest amount of internally displaced people in the world. The free trade agreement will affect the indigenous people negatively. Also, during the negotiation of the free trade agreement 41 representatives from the trade unions got killed in Colombia.
If Norway ratifies the free trade agreement it will be the same as accepting these killings, says Vegard Foseide, Changemaker’s Vice-President.
The demonstrators from Norway want the free trade agreement to be reviewed by the parliament, and handed over a list of requirements to the State Secretary of the Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry, Rikke Lind.
Sign the appeal to stop the free trade agreement between Norway and Colombia.
On this Saturday, the 27th of March, you can be a part of a global awareness campaign for climate change. By switching of the lights for one hour starting at 8.30 pm you demonstrate that you are willing to work to create a sustainable low carbon future for our planet. Join the movement together with millions of others from all around the world!
Sandaker School in Oslo is friends with a school in Ramallah, Palestine.This week they have pupils visiting from School of Hope, and today the whole school was gathered to honour their new friends. The Palestinian pupils had a dancing-performance, and everyone cheered out of joy.
Tomorrow, the pupils at Sandaker school will raise money for cultural projects at School of Hope. Some of the money will also go to a kinder-garden run by the school.
Head of the student-panel at Sandaker School plead for peace in Palestine where there has been an ongoing conflict since 1948.
Involve Yourself visited the school, and it was inspirational to experience the enthusiasm and eagerness to understand a new culture and fight for peace in Palestine.
Involve Yourself took to the streets in an effort to find out what people think about human rights. The sun smiled warmly, and so did the citizens of Oslo. There were many opinions walking around the city, and all of them interesting. Most people were happy to be interviewed on such an important subject.
These were the questions we asked:
1. What are human rights?
2. Why is it important to have human rights?
3. What do you think is the most important human right?
And here are the answers:
Pernille and Katia
1. The human rights are the rights put together by the UN.
2. It’s important with human rights because it doesn’t matter where you’re from or where you are. They still count.
3. It’s difficult to pick one when there are so many important ones, but perhaps freedom of speech. That’s like the basis of democracy.
Sondre (19)
1. I would say human rights are about equality between men and women, and the rights to liveable conditions.
2. That people get to decide over their own lives and decide their own future. That’s why they are important.
3. I would say that the right to education is the most important human right.
Beate (21)
1. Human rights are the rights we are entitled to as humans, like the freedom of speech.
2. It’s important with human rights to have privacy.
3. To be able to speak your mind freely is the most important right. It would be boring if nobody expressed their opinions.
Per (18) and Erlend (19)
1. It’s something everybody is entitled to, no matter who you are.
2. It’s important with human rights to make sure everybody lives above a certain standard, and are not abused.
3. We would say freedom of speech is the most important human right.
Ingrid (26)
1. They are rights that apply to all humans. I believe the UN made these rights.
2. It’s important because the world stands together on common rights.
3. They are all so important. It’s hard to tell which one is most important. They’re all there for a reason.
Jon (30)
1. The human rights are laws and rules that tell us how we should treat each other.
2. It’s important with human rights to even out the differences in the world. Everybody should have rights. It’s about equality.
3. I think the most important human right is the right to a place to live.
What would YOU answer on these questions? Comment below
Amnesty has released a new report, saying that women raped in the Nordic countries have little chance of acquiring justice. The rapists are rarely punished for their abuses.
In the report “Case Closed, Rape and Human Rights in the Nordic Countries”, the situation for rape-victims in Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland gets highly criticized. The prosecutions of rapists here rarely end in conviction. The reason for this is often deficient police work ending in cases being dropped. One of the report’s other main conclusions is that prejudice against women’s sexuality weakens their credibility in the justice system, while similar ideas about men’s sexuality, on the contrary enhances the men’s credibility.
Though governments try to reverse this trend, enough is not done. We need to put pressure on the countries’ leaders to secure women’s rights. Men’s attitudes towards women also have to change. That a woman dresses provocative is not an excuse for rape, neither is flirting. No means no!
Involve yourself, and chose a way to contribute to this cause here
Poor countries get ripped off by multinational companies
Between 2002 and 2006, multinational companies have ripped off poor countries by between 98 and 106 billion dollars annually, according to a new report from Global Financial Integrity (GFI).
The countries loose tax money due to a form of mispricing. This arises when transactions are reinvoiced. This happens when goods leave a country under one invoice, which is then redirected to another jurisdiction such as a tax-haven where the price is altered. The revised invoice is then sent to the importing country for clearing and payment purposes. This is presented in the report “Implied Tax Revenue Loss from Trade Mispricing” by the GFI.
Raymond W. Baker, Director of the GFI, writes in the report that “Trade mispricing moves more illicit money across borders than any other single phenomenon.” The money lost for developing countries through this mechanism are roughly comparable to the amount of official development-assistance going into developing countries.
This is money that could help prevent poverty and to ensure a sustainable growth. However, there are ways to prevent this abuse of developing countries. One of the things we can do is inspire the world leaders to require financial transparency. Sign the petition at www.g20transparency.com and help change the world.
Children keep disappearing from Norwegian asylum centres. Many of these may be victims of human trafficking and there is great reason to believe that several have been recruited into organised crime and narcotics.
The problem of disappearing children is continuously increasing and most of them are never found. In the time period 2000-2008, 600 kids disappeared. PRESS – Save the Children Youth thinks the children are an easy target for human trafficking. Last year alone there were 71 children disappearing from asylum centres.
PRESS – Save the Children Youth, expresses the need to prevent this from happening and they are now demanding that asylum-children are given the same treatment as Norwegian orphans. – Nobody would have closed their eyes if this happened to Norwegian kids, says Kirsten Kvalø leader of the organisation, to Dagbladet.
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Yesterday, on 25th March, fourteen Norwegian organizations demonstrated outside the government’s office against the free trade agreement Norway is about to ratify with Colombia.
