RIGHT LIVELIHOOD AWARDS 

DR. IRENE FERNANDAZ

2005 RIGHT LIVELIHOOD AWARDS HONOUR PIONEERS FOR JUSTICE, FAIR TRADE AND CULTURAL RENEWAL

The 2005 Honorary Right Livelihood Award goes to one of Mexico’s greatest living artists and community philanthropists, Franscisco Toledo.

The SEK 2 million Award is shared by Maude Barlow and Tony Clarke from Canada, Irene Fernandez from Malaysia, and the organisation First People of the Kalahari, and its founder Roy Sesana, from Botswana.

More.....

WORLD AIDS DAY

<

WORLD AIDS DAY GATHERING WITH PLANTATION WOMAN WORKERS IN

Angsoka Hotel, No. 24, Jalan Changkat Jong

36000 Teluk Intan, Perak

i. To increase awareness of the plantation woman workers on HIV/AIDS to reduce their vulnerability.

ii. To remember and learn from the struggles of PLWHA

iii. To increase awareness of the plantation woman workers on STIs and Reproductive Health to reduce their HIV/AIDS vulnerability.

iv. To share and learn from the experiences of plantation woman workers on issues relating to Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS

Ø Distribution of information brochures and red ribbons to participants.

Ø Welcome address by representative of the woman plantation workers and a representative of Tenaganita. Briefing on World AIDS Day 2005 by Maneyvannan of Tenaganita.

-----MORE

---

WTO -WANCHAI HONGKONG

CAMPAIGN ON PARAQUAT BAN AT WTO HONG KONG

My name is Nagamah Raman, I am working in Malaysian Palm oil Plantation as a Pesticide Sprayer.I work 8 hours a day .I spray 8 hours a day , I am paid RM 14 (US3.50) per day.

In Malaysia more than 30,000 workers, mostly women, work as Pesticide Sprayers, Among the pesticides we handle daily is Paraquat which is a highly toxic chemical, and the Malaysian Government has classified it as a Class (1A) poison.

Most women pesticide sprayers have suffered the various serious effects of paraquat. Bleeding in the nose, blur vision, chest pain, back pain, problems in reproductive health, skin problems are common complaints. Not only are they affected, but their family members too, especially their children.

----MORE

---

Worldwide Appeal

Plantation Women

Worldwide Appeal to the Malaysian Government to Maintain Paraquat Ban

Plantation Workers at Malaysian Parlimen

Paraquat Kills! There is no antidote for it! Don't lift the ban on Paraquat!

These were the urgent calls made by a group of Malaysian plantation workers at the Parliament House last week, on April 20, 2005.

More....

Photo: PAN AP

Malaysian Parlimen

WOMEN PESTICIDE SPRAYER EFFECTED BY PARAQUAT POISON

Voice for the voiceless

JULY 27 marked the 10th anniversary of the release of the Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Treatment of Migrant Workers at the Detention Camps memorandum by IRENE FERNANDEZ, co-founder and director of Tenaganita.

Despite all this, she continues to speak up for the rights of migrant workers. In this interview with CINDY THAM, she talks about her Nobel Peace Prize nomination...

JULY 27 marked the 10th anniversary of the release of the Abuse, Torture and Dehumanised Treatment of Migrant Workers at the Detention Camps memorandum by IRENE FERNANDEZ, co-founder and director of Tenaganita. Fernandez paid a high price for speaking out on behalf of those who could not. She was found guilty in 2003 of ‘maliciously publishing false news’ under Section 8A (1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984.

The appeal is pending. Fernandez, 59, who is also deputy chief of the women’s wing and supreme council member of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, could not run in the 2004 general election. In the meantime, her passport has been impounded by the court, restricting her travel overseas. Despite all this, she continues to speak up for the rights of migrant workers.

In this interview with CINDY THAM, she talks about her Nobel Peace Prize nomination [Fernandez is one of two Malaysian nominees, the other being Zainah Anwar of Sisters in Islam, nominated for the 1,000 Women for the Nobel Peace Prize this year], the rights of migrant workers and what needs to be done to ensure those rights are protected.

Image Migrant worker

First of all, congratulations on being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Fernandez:

More.....

COALITION AGRICULTURAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL MEETING AT PENANG

STATEMENT OF THE COALITION OF AGRICULTURAL WORKERS INTERNATIONAL

"Fight for Jobs" "Fight for Wages" "Fight for Land"

To Claim Our Rights and Dignity

JUNK WTO!

We, the Coalition of Agricultural Workers International reaffirm our resistance against globalisation, WTO and TNCs.

Agricultural workers including landless seasonal farm labour, bonded workers, Dalits and fisheries workers toil under the worst conditions of work and pay in farms, plantations, poultry and livestock farms and fishing boats. Most of us do not have job security, hired on a seasonal and daily basis. In many cases pay is very low, much lower than what is legally allowed, while working and living conditions are not according to decent standards. In many cases we are exposed to toxic chemicals and hazardous technologies used in plantations and farms.

The onslaught of globalisation driven by WTO, transnational corporations (TNCs), international financial institutions and supported and colluded by national elites, through the dumping of produce, trade liberalisation, competition and deregulations, have ruined and devastated our lives, livelihood and land.

------more

---

LOGIN:EDITPAGE |OFFICE