Seoul International Women‘s Peace Symposium, South Korea National Assembly
Mairead Corrigan Maguire
Good Morning, Jo-eun-achim-imnida,
I am very happy to be back in Korea and would like to thank the Organizers for their kind invitation.
I have very happy memories when, three years ago (2015) I participated in the visit of Women Cross the DMZ.
We visited Pyongyang and Kaesong and then crossed the DMZ to participate in peace events in Seoul.
I was very moved by the great kindness shown to us all by our North Korean hosts and by all the women when we marched in Pyongyang and Kaesong with 7,000 of our Korean Sisters.
They had a passion for peace and Korean reunification and called for a Peace Treaty, reunification of divided families and women’s leadership in Peacebuilding. Three years later we are now on the verge of a Peace Treaty!
As the political situation on the Korean peninsula continues to shift, our #WomenPeaceKorea: A New Era delegation with Women Cross DMZ spent the day demonstrating for peace and women’s representation in the process.
Our delegation of 30 women security experts and feminist peace activists from around the world participated in the second historic DMZ Peace Walk today [in Paju, South Korea.
They marched alongside 1,200 South Korean women mobilizing for a peaceful resolution to the Korean conflict.
During the opening ceremonies we heard from Young-Soo Han, President of the National YWCA of Korea, about the significance of the march. The 5.5 km Peace Walk began by crossing the Tongildaegyo (Unification Bridge).
27 May 2018 (Wall Street International)* — Looking at the so many forms of life that surround us, one cannot but feel wonder and excitement. So many forms of animal life, so many flowers, insects, birds, with the most intricate form of mating and the most incredible ways of survival under the most difficult conditions.
18 May, 2018 (UN Women)*— When Huong Nguyen experienced a traumatic assault during her time as a migrant domestic worker in Taiwan Province of China, her employer helped her contact the police and provided her full salary.
Elisa Fernandez, UN Women Head of Office in Viet Nam speaks. Photo: UN Women/Phuong Anh
“When he tried to rape me, I used a pencil to fight back and ran away. My employer was very supportive, others are not so lucky,” said the 44-year old, now back in her native Viet Nam.
24 May 2018 – Moscow, Russia (UN Environment)* — The Arctic is one of the earth’s most fragile ecosystems, disproportionally affected by climate change and warming at twice the average rate of the rest of the planet.
To garner global attention and support for the rapidly disappearing ice in the Polar regions, UN Environment is organising the ‘last ice hockey game in the Arctic’ in spring 2019.
The game is spearheaded by legendary Russian ice hockey player Viacheslav Fetisov, who was designated UN Environment Patron for Polar Regions this week.
(Greenpeace)*— Insurance companies have been warningabout the potential impacts of climate change for decades. These are the institutions that are supposed to protect us from catastrophic risk. And yet many of the same companies continue to insure and fund fossil fuel projects.
To this date, insurance companies have invested more than $600 billionin fossil fuel companies. Imagine if they spent that on renewable energies instead?
21 May 2018 (UN Environment)*— The European Union’s top court recently backed an almost complete EU-wide ban on the use of three insecticides, which studies have linked to declining bee populations.
Chemicals giants Bayer and Syngenta had gone to the European Court of Justice hoping to get the restrictions on neonicotinoids overturned.
The ban relates to the outdoor use of three neonicotinoids – clothianidin, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam – and is expected to come into force by the end of the year. It will prohibit outdoor use of the chemicals (they may still be used inside greenhouses).
Cox’s Bazar, 22 May 2018 (IOM)*– A major canal dredging and renovation project is underway to protect local residents and refugees in southern Bangladesh from impending monsoon floods.
Local labourers work on a section of the canal in Hakimpara. Photo: IOM 2018.
The project is one of several initiated by IOM, the UN Migration Agency, to safeguard hundreds of thousands of people in Cox’s Bazar ahead of heavy monsoon rains and the cyclone season.
26 May 2018 (Wall Street International)— Human nature has two sides: It has a dark side, to which nationalism and militarism appeal; but our species also has a genius for cooperation, which we can see in the growth of culture.
Our modern civilization has been built up by means of a worldwide exchange of ideas and inventions. It is built on the achievements of many ancient cultures.
China, Japan, India, Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, the Islamic world, Christian Europe, and the Jewish intellectual traditions all have contributed. Potatoes, corn, squash, vanilla, chocolate, chilli peppers, and quinine are gifts from the American Indians.
HUMAN WRONGS WATCH 