END CHILD LABOR: EVERY CHILD DESERVES THE CHANCE TO GO TO SCHOOL
I am not talking about working with their parents in a shop or the farm on the weekend...I am talking about kids who are sold to traffickers to harvest crops, girls who are sold into prostitution, boys of 9 and 10 who are taken from their homes by defense forces, or so-called liberation armies, to be "child soldiers" - this has to stop and we are committed to it.
- Randi Weingarten, President, American Federation of Teachers
No Limits is proud to join our friends, the United States Department of State, Department of Labor, the American Federation of Teachers, and the International Labor Rights Forum to sponsor an important conference today, June 8th, at the Department of State: Working Together to End Child Labor: It's Time to End the Exploitation of Children.
Conference participants will consider the most effective policies and strategies to protect children around the world from child labor, especially its most dangerous and abusive forms; and to open the doors of education to every child, girls as well as boys.
• 72 million children of primary school age are not in school, denied even the most basic education. Most are girls: as the economic crisis worsens, girls are more likely to be taken out of school, to save school fees or help with chores. In areas hit by HIV/AIDs, girls leave school to care for AIDS orphans whose parents have died of the disease.
• 200 million children around the world are used in child labor; more than half in the most dangerous and exploitative kinds of work. See their faces:
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June 12th marks the Global Day Against Child Labour. We'll be sending you a report on the conference and our recommendations for action.
WOMEN'S HEALTH: AN UPDATE AND AN ALERT
Speaking on our members-only conference call, Senator Barbara Mikulski talked about the Mikulski Amendment in the health care reform bill, which guarantees preventive care and screenings for both men and women at no out-of-pocket cost or co-pay. The amendment is scheduled to take effect six months after the bill's passage.
Now the Department of Health and Human Services is working out what will be included in this important provision. It seems pretty obvious that family planning is preventive care, and most Americans agree. According to a recent poll conducted for Planned Parenthood, 79 percent of women believe family planning is preventive care, and 74 percent of women and men support it being covered at low or no-cost by health insurance.
Yet some anti-choice groups are opposed to the coverage of contraception under this amendment - even though reducing the number of unplanned pregnancies also reduces the number of abortions!
Decisions made by HHS in the next few months will ensure that women's health is fully included in any definition of preventive care - and we'll be watching! Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said, "This is finally the moment to address a fundamental problem facing millions of American women: they need birth control, but for too many women it is not easily accessible or affordable."
JOIN OUR NEXT CALL
We're starting to plan our next members-only call now. Will you be on it? Join No Limits now: Support our work on projects like ending child labor, and speaking up for human rights at home and around the world.
HILLARY ADDRESSES THE FIRST U.S.-INDIA STRATEGIC DIALOGUE
Continuing her work to strengthen alliances with America's partners, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opened the first-ever U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue at the State Department, noting that India is the world's largest democracy:
"Our governments collaborate on nearly any issue you can name," she said, "from fighting terrorism to empowering women to eradicating disease to monitoring the weather to improve crop forecasting. Indeed, India holds a very special place in the hearts of many Americans, including me. My first trip to India 15 years ago was a transforming experience for me and for my daughter, and then for my husband when he was able to go in the year 2000...Together, I believe the discussions that we have in these dialogues will help shape the future of our own nations and improve the lives of millions of Americans and Indians and help also to determine the course of the world in this century. This is both our opportunity and our responsibility."
See the video of Hillary's remarks here:
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/bcpid1705667530?bctid=8982467600
GAY PRIDE MONTH AND A HISTORIC YEAR FOR LGBT EQUALITY
June is Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month, an opportunity to celebrate historic strides for LGBT equality while reminding us of the work that still needs to be done, here at home and around the world. As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in releasing the Human Rights Report: "The idea of human rights begins with a fundamental commitment to the dignity that is the birthright of every man, woman and child."
Among the good news:
• Making Clear that LGBT Rights are Human Rights: In March, the State Department's annual Human Rights Report - the most comprehensive record of human rights practices around the world - contained for the first time in the report's 34-year history documented "societal abuses, discrimination, and acts of violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity", making clear that LGBT rights are indeed human rights. (For an annotated version of the report that reflects all of the LGBT references in the various country reports, check out this document prepared by The Council on Global Equality.)
• Showing International Opinion Can Make a Difference: Last week, Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalang of Malawi were pardoned, after having sentenced to prison for fourteen years, with hard labor, because of their wish to be in a committed relationship. The United States had strongly criticized the court's action as did UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.
• Moving to End Don't Ask Don't Tell: The House of Representatives voted to repeal the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy, which has caused the expulsion of thousands of LGBT Americans from military service. The Senate Armed Services Committee has also voted to begin the process of repeal. This issue will now be decided before the full Senate. Repealing DADT is both the right thing but also the smart thing to do, because America is stronger when everyone has a chance to serve.
THANK YOU
In our last newsletter we asked you to write or call your Senators and ask them to sign the bipartisan letter supporting full funding for the International Affairs Budget, which funds State Department operations. The letter was originally circulated by Senators Kerry, Lugar, Bond, Durbin, and Feinstein.
You were not alone in making this request: every former Secretary of State, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mike Mullen, and more than 50 retired military officers also weighed in, making the case that Hillary's "smart power" policies will make American stronger and safer. And you were heard: 37 members of the Senate signed the letter - nearly triple the number of Senators who signed a similar letter last year!
THE LAST WORD
"I came across a quote which I think summarizes what we feel. Mark Twain once wrote, 'India is the cradle of the human race, the birthplace of human speech, the mother of history, the grandmother of legend, and the great-grandmother of tradition.' And I love the fact that it's mothers..."
- Transcript of remarks by Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton at Reception Honoring the U.S.-India Strategic Dialogue, June 3rd, 2010.
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