Closer together with our global partners
March 30, 2020
“Caremongering” is a new word and one we hope becomes part of our lexicon as the world unfolds, we hope, towards the creation of more equitable, just, resilient and sustainable societies here at home and for our global partners. Yet, the word, “home” is a curious one. The virus reminds us of many things. One of…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Changing the world one KAIROS Blanket Exercise story at a time
March 30, 2020
Words cannot express the gratitude for every time we are called upon to offer the KAIROS Blanket Exercise (KBE). It is an honour to meet with participants who, for the most part, are on a journey of learning. We have been asked to go where people have little or no knowledge, or who have…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights, Spirited Reflections
KAIROS Canadá condena la violencia que ha sido exacerbada por COVID-19 en Colombia
March 27, 2020
KAIROS: Iniciativas ecuménicas canadienses por la justicia, que aglutina a diez iglesias y organizaciones religiosas, condena los asesinatos de líderes y lideresas sociales a lo igual que el aumento de la violencia basada en género que han acompañado la propagación de COVID-19 en Colombia. El 25 de marzo, KAIROS se enteró del feminicidio de una integrante del…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
KAIROS condemns the violence that has been exacerbated by COVID-19 in Colombia
March 27, 2020
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, which unites ten churches and religious organizations, condemns the assassinations of social leaders and the rise in gender-based violence that have accompanied the spread of COVID-19 in Colombia. On March 25, KAIROS learned about the feminicide of a long-time member of the Organización Femenina…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
KAIROS is NOT going away
March 27, 2020
Dear Friends,I want to reach out to you with solidarity and hope in these perilous times. We send each and every one of you our strength and commitment to weather this crisis together with our eyes and actions clearly focused on those…
Post filed in: Executive Director
Advocates urge protection for migrant workers travelling to Canada amid COVID-19 restrictions
March 25, 2020
Migrant worker advocates want the federal government to improve protections for foreign labourers travelling to Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. The comments come as the federal government reassured farmers that, despite new travel restrictions, foreign workers will be allowed into Canada this…
Post filed in: Migrant Justice
Spirited Reflection: Coping with lockdown, quarantine, staying-at-home
March 25, 2020
A long-time partner of KAIROS in the Philippines, Vernie Yocogan-Diano, shared the following with us to keep up our spirits, to learn from the Igorot and to remind us all worldwide of the choices we face. In northern Philippines, the Igorot (a collective term for Indigenous peoples in the Cordillera mountain region) are composed of several…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific, Spirited Reflections
No new money for oil and gas companies—give it to workers
March 24, 2020
A large collection of health, faith, environmental, labour and social justice groups, including KAIROS Canada, have sent a letter to Prime Minister Trudeau and his cabinet asking that in the federal bailout to the oil and gas industry, expected later this week,…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Was, is, and will always be a saint: Celebrating the life of Oscar Romero
March 24, 2020
On March 30, 1980, I was one of at least half a million people who attended a funeral in San Salvador. It was the funeral of Oscar Romero. For those who may not know, Oscar Romero was the Archbishop of…
Post filed in: Op Eds
Call for churches to do more to address anti-Black racism
March 23, 2020
Even in the midst of the global COVID-19 crisis, churches continue to work together on a range of issues, including that of anti-Black racism in Canada and around the world.Leaders of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada, the Anglican Church of Canada,…
Post filed in: Uncategorized
KAIROS stands in solidarity with partners in the Philippines
March 23, 2020
KAIROS stands in solidarity with partners in the Philippines and around the globe who continue to defend human rights, including the right to health, in the face of this global pandemic. KAIROS partner, the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), has released a…
Post filed in: Asia-Pacific
World Water Day 2020: Taking a watershed approach to climate change
March 20, 2020
“Your watershed is your lifeboat.”In this time of climate emergency, these words by permaculturist Brock Dolman are particularly revealing. The theme of this year’s World Water Day explores how climate change and water are inextricably linked. The impacts of climate change such as drought,…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Op Eds
To better understand the present, they walk through Alaska’s past
March 20, 2020
“Truthful, undeniable and powerful.”“Very eye-opening.”“Incredibly powerful and healing.”“I felt like everyone I knew needed to go through it.”Those are just a few of the responses from Alaskans who have experienced the Alaska Blanket Exercise, an interactive learning tool launched last…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Trailblazer: Autumn Peltier, Indigenous water protector
March 19, 2020
UN Address: Inspiring 13-year-old Water Advocate“I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: we can’t eat money or drink oil.” Autumn Peltier On World Water Day 2018, Autumn Peltier, a young water advocate from Wiikwemkoong Unceded First Nation on Manitoulin…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
Children’s Reflection for World Water Day (March 22)
March 18, 2020
This World Water Day (March 22) share the story of late Grandmother Josephine Mandamin and her powerful message to protect water with the children in your community. Just in time for World Water Day, KAIROS has released a Children’s Reflection…
Post filed in: Ecological Justice
A peace process undermined: Land defense and the non-repetition of violence in Colombia
March 13, 2020
The non-repetition of violence is a cornerstone of Colombia’s Peace Agreement between the government and the FARC—the former guerilla group (now political party). Recently published reports by the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Colombia…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Latin America
Women of Courage partners and International Women’s Week
March 13, 2020
An overview of Women of Courage activities during International Women’s Week. Peruse the photo album at the bottom of this page. EcuVoice – ecumenical voice for peace and human rights in the Philippines “We are women of faith. Today with…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
The OFP commemorates International Women’s Day by highlighting grassroots feminist economies
March 11, 2020
“We are women living in rural and urban areas who are building a grassroots feminist economy.” For International Women’s Day, the Organización Femenina Popular (OFP) co-organized a week of activities with other local organizations who are part of a network known as the Territorial…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Media Release: Church delegation urges Canadian response to Palestinian humanitarian crisis
March 5, 2020
The KAIROS Church Leaders’ Delegation brings its findings on Palestine and Israel to Canadian MPs, March 9 and 10(Ottawa, ON) – A group of church leaders urge the Canadian government to immediately address the worsening humanitarian crisis in Palestine and…
Post filed in: Media Releases, Middle East
Spirited Reflection: Lent, Human Identity and our Environment
March 3, 2020
In pondering Eve’s conversation with the serpent (as in Genesis) and Jesus’ conversation with Satan when he fasted for forty days in the desert (as in Matthew 4:1-11), we see these conversations as saying something about our human identity. In…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
‘Walk with me’ – a lesson plan towards reconciliation
March 2, 2020
Education is key to reconciliation and the key to good education is a lesson plan that sticks.The Blanket Exercise is one such lesson plan. Developed by KAIROS, the Blanket Exercise is based on a method that uses participatory education to weave storytelling and land-based learning into…
Post filed in: Indigenous Rights
Supporting women’s organizations & movements – a strategic approach to climate action
February 28, 2020
“Women and girls are disproportionately impacted by the climate crisis. They have to be part of the solution.”A strategic approach to climate actionDownloadThis report was created by the Nobel Women’s Initiative (NWI) and Equality Fund..
Post filed in: Ecological Justice, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
The Alternative Mining Indaba: A cautionary tale of constructive engagement
February 28, 2020
While in Africa for partnership visits, I took the opportunity to travel to South Africa to participate in the Alternative Mining Indaba in Cape Town and meet with WoMin African Alliance in early February.“Indaba” is a Zulu and Xhosa word…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Ecumenical Network South Sudan and the value of persistent, patient advocacy
February 28, 2020
Concerned about a lack of global interest in the welfare of South Sudan, which for years has been mired in a brutal civil war, the Ecumenical Network South Sudan (ENSS)’s annual gathering focused on enhancing international advocacy and the role…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
A women’s income generating collective in eastern DR Congo
February 28, 2020
A small collective of women is in the process of cultivating new hillside fields and planting sorghum and sweet potatoes for harvesting in June in Nayatende, South Kivu province in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). They have plans to…
Post filed in: Africa, Gender Justice/Women of Courage
Report from the KAIROS delegation to Palestine and Israel last November
February 27, 2020
“Equality is the precondition to justice and peace will be the fruit.”The final report from the KAIROS delegation to Palestine and Israel last November is now available. Delegates will be taking this report with them to Ottawa from March 8-10,…
Post filed in: Gender Justice/Women of Courage, Middle East
Spirited Reflection: One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see
February 26, 2020
Two readings for this Lenten season coming to mind, about seeing and vision: Psalm 121, I lift up my eyes to the hills; and the story of the man born blind that is in the ninth chapter of the Gospel…
Post filed in: Spirited Reflections
