Rainforest Foundation

The Rainforest Foundation is to protect indigenous people and the rainforests

in Brazil, Guyana, Panama, and Peru. It is the partner with indigenous
communities to obtain legal rights to customary lands and to protect them from
deforestation through technical training, legal and negotiation support, and
advocacy. The Rainforest Fund funds programs that protect indigenous
peoples' rights to their territories and to a healthy environment. Grants help to
fund public awareness campaigns, technology training, community
development, and capacity building. It also funds initiatives that assist
communities in developing long-term development strategies.
The Rainforest Foundation Fund is a non-governmental organization that aims
to protect and support indigenous people and traditional forest populations in
their efforts to protect their environment. The Fund believes that
environmental degradation necessarily violates human rights to life, health
and culture.

The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the

UN General Assembly in 2007.
The Rainforest Fund claims that its work is motivated by its recognition of a
substantial disconnect between such declarations made by the governments
of the world in an international forum, and the actions that those governments
undertake in their own countries.
They mention as an illustration the controversy surrounding the Belo Monte
Dam in Brazil: "While at the United Nations discussions are underway on the
crucial issue of climate change, and governments are finally realizing that they
have to change their pattern of development, in the Brazilian Amazon plans
are well advanced to build environmentally destructive mega-dams along the
Xingu River, the last of the great Amazon rivers in a good state of
conservation."
These are the common issues of Rainforest Foundation. Protecting lands, the
Rainforest Foundation believes that indigenous peoples can defend their
communities, and their rainforests, if they have secure rights to their lands.
Securing indigenous land rights is particularly crucial to conserving the
rainforest as many of the world's remaining large tracts of intact rainforest are
found in traditional indigenous lands.
Building effective local organizations, Indigenous communities in the rainforest
face frequent threats to their homes and livelihoods. The Rainforest
Foundation US provides technical support, legal guidance, and funding for
community training workshops. These workshops train local leaders in
building strong organizations capable of effectively managing social and
economic development projects on their lands.
Influencing climate change policy, Indigenous peoples' lands contain
some of the last remaining expanses of intact rainforest on the planet.
If poorly designed or implemented, climate change policies risk
establishing top-down models for forest protection. Many agreements
are being formed which violate the indigenous communities' right to
Free, Prior and Informed Consent.

Regional Interfaith Youth Networks

REGIONAL NETWORKS, In 2006, Religions for Peace launched six

Regional Interfaith Youth Networks, in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe,
North America and Latin America and the Caribbean. Within their respective
regions, these networks of young faith leaders work to unite the interfaith
efforts of organizations and individuals on a national and local level by utilizing
their own National Interfaith Youth Networks.

ASIA, The Asia & Pacific Interfaith Youth Network (AIYN) was formed in
Ambon, Indonesia in 2005 at the Summit of Asian Religious Youth Leaders to
renew their commitment towards multi-religious cooperation for peace in Asia.
AFRICA, The African Religious Interfaith Youth Network (ARIYN) of the
African Council of Religious Leaders—Religions for Peace (ACRL—RfP)
was launched in 2006 in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania as a platform to connect
religious youth from different countries in Africa and to mobilize shared action
on some of the most urgent challenges facing Africa. EUROPE, The RfP -
European Interfaith Youth Network (EIYN), established in 2006, serves as a
platform aimed at bringing together more than 20 European youth faith-based
organizations and countless young individuals from all religions present in
Europe. LATIN AMERICA & THE CARIBBEAN, In 2005, during the regional
youth pre-world assembly meeting in Villa Carlos Paz, Argentina, the Latin
America & Caribbean Youth Network (LAIYN) was created with youth
participants from Catholic, Protestant, Evangelical, Jewish, Muslim, Baha’i and
indigenous religious organizations. NORTH AMERICA, Members of the North
American Interfaith Youth Network (NAIYN) convened for a retreat in Stony
Brook, New York in April 2011 to plan on how to expand and sustain an
Interfaith Youth Network in North America, as well as shape and advance
the Religions for Peace Arms Down! Campaign in the United States and
Canada. NAIYN takes a grassroots approach, advancing the mission of peace
in different ways across the continent. MIDDLE EAST & NORTH AFRICA,
The MENA region, represented by energetic and knowledgeable young
religious leaders, is growing in passion and capacity. The region has been the
host of multiple winning Innovative Youth Prize winning proposals and
programs in 2016 and 2017, focusing on violent religious extremism, the
refugee crisis and protecting the earth.
 MIGRANT FORUM

Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) appreciates that the Committee on Migrant

Workers is organizing a Day of General Discussion on the rights of
undocumented migrant workers.
MFA is regional membership organization of migrant organizations, grassroots
organizations, faith based organizations and individuals committed to protect
and promote the rights of migrant workers. Since the organization’s inception,
MFA has campaigned for the global ratification and implementation of the UN
1990 Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and
Members of their Families. The MFA is also a member of the Global Steering
Committee for the Campaign for the Migrants Rights Convention.

The MFA submission to the Committee of Migrant Workers is compilation of

statements and articles of MFA members and partners working on the rights
of migrant workers. The first part of the report includes articles from MFA
members in Taiwan and Japan who are working with undocumented migrant
workers. It also includes case studies and articles on undocumented articles
submitted by MFA members to the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of
Migrant Workers.

The second part of the submission includes a statement the MFA regional
Conference on migration under the theme: Current Initiatives and Strategies in
Addressing Irregular Migration.
The third part of the submission includes articles and reports from workshops
on undocumented migrant workers as well as situations of migrants in
detention. The workshops were conducted at various global and regional CSO
activities.
Migration in the age of information technology has become a matter of trade
and commerce. People migrate not out of whim or to afford “better” things in
life but as a means of survival. On many occasions, migration carries a
woman’s face.
Indeed while the 20th century ushered a kind of development that has
transformed the world into one global village, it is not without dreadful
consequences. Transborder transfer of capital to less developed countries
(LDCs) has not improved the lives of the improvised majority. Countries mired
in foreign debt are then pressured into adopting a policy of exporting millions
of workers to stem the tide of massive unemployment and to bail out the local
economy from complete bankruptcy. Women too, are joining the workforce,
not as a result of policies promoting gender equity but often as a measure to
support their families. Migration has become a necessity rather than as a
matter of choice.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainforest_Foundation_Fund#See_also
https://www.devex.com/organizations/migrant-forum-asia-mfa-48046
http://www.ilo.org/dyn/migpractice/migmain.showPractice?
p_lang=en&p_practice_id=58
https://www.rfp.org/where-we-work/interfaith-youth-network/
https://apmigration.ilo.org/network/organizations/migrant-forum-in-asia