Happy World Refugee Week

By Adam Valvasori

Love these ads from UNHCR via Osocio (scroll down for more)


I'm tired of refugees being used as a political football in Australia. I was getting depressed to see us going backwards on this very basic human rights issue. But then today I heard a report from the Red Cross which makes for good news about how most Australians do care! Phew!

The Australian Red Cross says much of the political debate over asylum seekers and refugees is out of step with community attitudes. Its survey of 1,000 people across the country indicates that most Australians are sympathetic towards the plight of refugees:

• 86% of people would flee to a safe country, if they lived in a conflict zone and were under threat.
• 94% of these people would use all their money and assets to get to a safe country.
• 31% know of someone who has come to Australia escaping persecution or conflict in another country.
• 83% agree that people fleeing persecution should be able to seek protection in another country.
• 83% are willing to assist a refugee in their community settle in Australia.
• 67% agree that refugees have made a positive contribution to Australian society.

Right now it's World Refugee Week - June 20 (World Refugee Day) to June 26. Check out the Refugee Council of Australia for more details...

So why not spend a few minutes watching these videos:

Refugees are not intruders, criminals or somebody else's problem - they are people escaping persecution. Seeking asylum is their right, not their crime. This video stars former child soldier and refugee Emmanuel Jal. He's now a successful rap artist.



I also really like this video "Refugee Like Me" by Purple Pictures.

"Labels" was created by Australian Red Cross and MTV Australia to raise awareness about the discriminatory labels sometimes placed on refugees and asylum seekers in Australia.

Live Below The Line

By Rachel Muraca - Customer Service



Text & images taken from 'Live Below The Line'.

There’s not much you can do with $2. In fact, you can’t even buy a beer, a burger, or a bus ticket. Shockingly, the 1.4 billion people currently living below the Extreme Poverty Line survive on this small amount every day.

Internationally, the Extreme Poverty Line is defined as US$1.25 a day – the equivalent of $2 in Australia. 1.4 billion people in our world live below this line – lacking the basic choices and opportunities that most Australians take for granted.

From the 2nd – 6th August, we invite you to Live Below the Line - to live on less than AU$2 of food per day. For five days in August you will experience one of the basic challenges faced daily by those living in extreme poverty – struggling to obtain the basic food requirements each day. You will sacrifice the things you take for granted… Your resourcefulness will be put to the test… But it will become one of the most rewarding weeks of your life.

By living on $2 of food a day, you’ll help Australians understand the obstacles faced by those currently living in extreme poverty. Your involvement will not only be enlightening to yourself. It will engage your friends and family to be challenged by some of the realities of extreme poverty.

Take the challenge from 2nd-6th August, and raise money for life-changing education programs.

Your support can help the following projects that are working towards a world without poverty:

Poverty Education Program in Australian schools

The Global Poverty Project is igniting a grassroots movement to improve the lives of 1.4 billion people. We’re delivering our feature presentation 1.4 Billion Reasons at schools around the nation, to give Australian students the knowledge and resources they need to become leaders in the movement to end extreme poverty. By inspiring thousands of students around the country we will build a movement of poverty advocates and leaders – and make a world without extreme poverty, a reality.

Life changing educational opportunities in Papua New Guinea, South Africa, East Timor

The Oaktree Foundation are fundraising for communities like Yangis, in Papua New Guinea, where children and young people are getting access to vital educational opportunities for the first time. Fifteen years ago, the community school in Yangis shut down because of difficulties retaining government teachers. For a whole generation, children and young people haven’t had the opportunity to go to school.
Sign up to help train teachers, refurbish school buildings, get great teaching resources and provide everything necessary to give kids in developing countries an incredible education.

Visit Live Below The Line for more information or to join this wonderful cause.

The Body Shop continues to lobby for Australian sheep welfare

By Adam Valvasori - Values Manager

The Body Shop Adelaide Central Plaza meet with Independent Senator For South Australia- Nick Xenophon.


The Body Shop Hobart meet with Tasmanian Greens Primary Industry spokesperson - Kim Booth MP.


This week three more TBS stores met with elected representatives to present their Humane Chains from our campaign in April to stop live sheep exports. Congratulations to our teams in Geelong, Adelaide and Hobart!

Corinna Rantanen from TBS Adelaide Central Plaza spoke optimistically of their meeting saying "I truly believe Senator Xenophon was alarmed at just how many animals die on route to the middle-east every year."

The Geelong region saw a great response to their efforts in collecting Humane Chain links in their local Body Shop. Store managers brought over one thousand paper chains to the office of The Hon Richard Marles. Em Donoghue, Values Leader reported that Mr Marles "acknowledged the fact that without the efforts of community members like all of the Body Shoppers out there, issues as prevalent as Live Export would go overlooked by the broader community."

Perhaps the best result so far from our MP meetings has been from Kim Booth MP - the Tasmanian Greens Spokesperson for Industry. They met with TBS Hobart yesterday on the lawns outside Parliament House and even put out their own media release about it... I wanted to copy & paste a quote from it here... but the whole thing is so great, I'm giving you the whole thing:

Greens Receive Petition Against Live Animal Exports

The Tasmanian Greens today took receipt of a petition against live animal export containing over 1000 signatures that was collected by staff working at The Body Shop in Hobart.

Greens Primary Industry spokesperson Kim Booth MP said live animal export is a sickening practice that exposes livestock to extreme conditions during their journey, and to inhumane practices upon arrival, and it also exports meat-packing and processing jobs from Australia.

“The export of live animals is a sickening and inhumane process that leads to incalculable suffering for thousands of Australian livestock, damages Australia’s good name, and exports jobs out of our country,” said Mr Booth.

“Very few Australians actually support this practice. Instead of live exporting hundreds of thousands of low-quality animals, Australia should be encouraging change and innovation in our primary industries.”

Mr Booth also thanked staff from The Body Shop in Hobart for campaigning on this appalling issue, and for collecting over 1000 signatures, as well as The Body Shop company itself for resourcing the campaign and involving staff from its Australia-wide network of outlets.

“It is really encouraging to see a private company educating and involving its staff in pushing for more ethical and humane practices.”

“After only a few weeks The Body Shop staff collected more than 1000 signatures against live animal export, and it is interesting to hear just how enthusiastic most people were to sign up for this campaign.”

“My thanks go out to all The Body Shop staff who were involved in collecting this petition, not to mention those people who signed it. The Greens will continue to push for a ban on live animal exports, and a return to exporting humanely, locally, processed livestock as chilled meat,” said Mr Booth.

So what can you do about it?

• If you're feeling inspired by the work you've read about, you too can meet with your MP. Email WSPA who can help you out humanechain@wspa.org.au.
  
  
• If you're feeling a little shy, please make sure you at least send your MP a letter - it's easy peasy from www.humanechain.org - you don't even have to know who your MP is!
  

Each of the 63,000 Humane Chain links being delivered to an MP’s office or that was displayed in our stores during the campaign symbolises a member of the MP’s community demanding an end to live sheep exports. The list of MPs that have now met with The Body Shop staff to receive our Humane Chain includes:

• Ms Jodie Campbell MP
• The Hon. Alexander Somlyay,
  
• Ms Kerry Rea MP,
  
• The Hon. Bruce Billson,
  
• Mr Brett Raguse MP,
  
• Mr Petro Georgio MP,
  
• Dr Mal Washer MP,
  
• Annette Ellis MP,
  
• David Bradbury MP,
  
• Jon Sullivan MP,
  
• Senator Nick Xenophon,
  
• The Hon Richard Marles
• Kim Booth MP

Your Beauty & Worth Cannot Be Measured

26,151 customers and staff of The Body Shop had their say over the last four weeks; supporting The Body Shop & The Butterfly Foundation in asking Nicola Roxon (Hon. Minister for Health & Ageing) to make eating disorders a major health priority.
Support from the Government was requested in the following areas-

• Greater self esteem and body image education in schools
• Research initiatives into eating disorders and body image issues
• Greater access to effective treatment options for those with eating disorders
• More resources for carers who are supporting loved ones with an eating disorder

The ‘Your Beauty and Worth Cannot be Measured’ campaign was also created to highlight the dangers of restrictive dieting and excessive exercise to a wide audience, encouraging them to believe that beautiful, healthy people come in all shapes and sizes and we are so much more than what we weigh.

For further information on eating disorders, body image and self esteem please go to The Butterfly Foundation website www.thebutterflyfoundation.org.au/