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	Natural Resources and Human Rights Initiative by Global Rights   Poverty both a cause and a product of human rights violations is probably the gravest human rights challenge in the world. For decades, Africa resource rich but also home to many of the world’s poorest people has seen state and non-state actors compete for its broad range of natural resources.   The existence of oil, gold, diamonds, and other natural resources across the continent has generated expectations among local communities that exploitation will help propel them out of poverty.   Instead of enjoying new jobs and improving living conditions, however, communities living in and around extractive industry projects often face a host of human rights challenges in violation of national law, international norms, and corporate accountability standards.   Widespread corruption and lack of transparency in how funds are generated and spent have helped ensure that any wealth created by natural resource exploitation benefits a select few.   Global Rights’ Natural Resources and Human Rights Initiative, begun in 2008, builds the capacity of civil society organizations working in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Republic of Congo, and the Republic of Guinea to view these injustices through a human rights lens and to address them by utilizing national and international norms and standards to promote and protect economic and social rights (ESR), such as the rights to participation and information, food, water, health, education, and housing.   We currently partner with six local civil society groups—three in DRC, one in Guinea, and two in Congo—and are working to increase their knowledge of ESR and strengthen their ability to document violations. We are implementing a series of activities aimed at informing local populations about their rights and devising short- and long-term strategies to defend them. These include:   Training partners on how to utilize international human rights standards as a means to identify and challenge social and economic injustices affecting communities in resource-rich areas.   Developing, alongside our partners, research methodologies to document economic and social rights violations associated with the exploitation of diamonds, gold, and oil; and accompanying partners as they conduct research and working with them to produce well-documented reports on ESR violations in target communities.   This essential capacity-building work will result in the development and implementation of action plans and advocacy strategies at the national, regional, and international levels. Visit the related web page
	World Food Day: One in six people go hungry by Caritas Internationalis   One in six people will go hungry on World Food Day 16 October and on every other day too. Caritas says urgent action is needed for the over 925 million people still suffering from hunger.   “We urgently need to concentrate on rehabilitation and prevention to stop more crises in the next years”, said Raymond Younoussi Yoro, Secretary General of Caritas Niger.   Niger was hit by a major food crisis this year that affected around 60% of the population. It’s one of the many countries around the world where starvation is endemic.   The first Millennium Development Goal is to cut by half the number of hungry people by 2015. The international community has committed to achieving these goals, but it seems less likely that they will be met.   The MDG on poverty, if it is achieved, can only be a first target. Caritas has a vision of zero poverty.   No one should be denied the right to food and no one should have to live in extreme poverty. Caritas believes that small farmers should be supported as priority, through investment in small-scale agriculture and involvement of local communities.   Caritas seeks to challenge unjust systems and promote the common good, addressing the structural causes of poverty. Caritas believes that economic structures should put people before profit; we support fairer trade, further debt cancellation and increased aid.   The fallout from the 2008/2009 global economic crisis pushed more vulnerable communities into extreme poverty. The poor in Asia were badly hit. Caritas Cambodia said that the garment industry, construction, tourism and agriculture had all been affected. As factories closed and unemployment rose, more people were in need of their services, while aid levels dropped.   An increasing number of people in Europe and North America faced poverty in 2009 due to the global economic crisis. Thirteen percent of Italy’s 58 million people were considered poor, according to Caritas Italy, with a rising number just above the poverty line. The situation was similar in the rest of Europe.   Children, the elderly, unemployed and disabled were particularly hard-hit. Higher food and fuel prices meant that working and retired people were also in need of help. “Families have real trouble making their income last until the end of the month,” said Francesco Marsico of Caritas Italy.
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