20.02.13 UN World Day of Social Justice Dia de las Naciones Unidas de Justicia Social

On 26 November 2007, the United Nations General Assembly declared that 20 February will be celebrated annually as the World Day of Social Justice. 

En el 26 noviembre 2007, la Asamblea General de las Naciones Unidas declaro que el 20 febrero sera celebrado anualmente como el Dia Mundial de Justicia Social.

Raleigh Costa Rica & Nicaragua's Volunteers on Expedition 13A are individuals who are dedicating themselves to working with people from around the world, inspiring, developing and challenging themselves; working in partnership, learning to build in a sustainable way within communities and to conserve the environment. 

Los voluntarios de la Expedicion 13A de Raleigh Costa Rica & Nicaragua son individuos quienes estan dedicandose a trabajar con personas del todo el mundo, motivandose, desarollandose y desafiandose a si misno. Tambien trabajan en colaboracion, aprendiendo a construir en una manera sostenible dentro de las comunidades, y a conservar el medioambiente.

As part of their first phase every Volunteer Manager and Venturer was asked: What is Social Justice and what does it mean to you? This is what we believe:

Como parte de la primera fase, se preguntaron a cada voluntario: Que es Justica Social, y que significa para usted? Eso es lo que creemos:

Find out more about World Day of Social Justice >

If the world were a village of 100 people

With Social Justice Day fast approaching on the 20th February, we thought you might find the below images incredibly interesting. They consider if the world was actually just a village of 100 people and use statistics to illustrate how many of those within the village would, for instance be educated in higher education, have access to safe and clean water or the languages they would speak.

We put together a range of activities to facilitate discussions and understanding of the problems we are facing globally with the focus being the upcoming social justice day. What do you think of the statistics? Do any of them shock you? How do you feel about social justice? What are you doing to raise awareness of social justice issues where you are?:

*We cannot verify the absolute facts of everything above but believe they are valuable illustration of social justice statistics. Images are from http://www.coolpicturegallery.net/2010/04/if-only-100-people-lived-on-earth.html

Social Justice: Spotlight on CATIE, Working for Sustainable Development through Agricultural Reseach and Learning

Raleigh Costa Rica and Nicaragua's Fieldbase is located in Turrialba, Costa Rica - it is on the site of the Centre for Tropical Agricultural Research and Teaching or, as it is better known, CATIE (Centro Agronómico Tropical de Investigación y Enseñanza).

Main building at CATIE

CATIE is a regional center of excellence, working to help rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean achieve higher levels of sustainable development through integrated management of agricultural and natural resources.  By a combination of cutting-edge scientific research, education and technical cooperation, CATIE works hand-in-hand with families, local organizations, national governments and international partners to influence decision-making and to encourage sustainable development. The aim is to maintain a balance between increased productivity of food and export crops.  Ensuring the sustainability of production systems while promoting a fair distribution of the benefits is also key.

Crop research at CATIE

CATIE’s aims fit very well with Raleigh’s mission of helping young people to learn how to build sustainable communities and conserve the environment. Food security is a vital issue to communities such as our Nicaraguan projects in San Ramon, Siares and Arenilla all located in Nicaragua and Conte Burika in Costa Rica.

More than 100 CATIE research and sustainable development initiatives are taking place in 17 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, including work on the roya disease crippling coffee production that we blogged about on 31 January.  CATIE estimates that over the last decade, at least 100,000 people have directly benefitted from its projects. 75% of those projects are directed toward low-income families and grass-roots level organizations, including women’s

groups and indigenous populations.

CATIE also hosts an improtant tropical botanical garden

UN Day of Social Justice, 20th February

'Social Justice means complete and genuine equality of all people.' Paul George, Executive Director Peninsula Peace and Justice Centre.

The 20th February is UN Day of Social Justice. Social Justice is a broad and complex issue but as Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations expressed: 'Social Justice is an underlying principle for peaceful and prosperous coexistence within and among nations. We uphold the principles of social justice when we promote gender equality or the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. We advance social justice when we remove barriers that people face because of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture or disability.'

We have challenged Raleigh International's Venturers and Volunteer Managers on Expedition 13A to really think about the issues facing us globally and how the work they are undertaking on their projects across Community, Environmental and Adventure phases are helping to positively impact the world we live in. We have asked them to consider how the communities are working towards greater social justice? How has inequality of work rights, in-access to basic public services, issues of race, gender, religion or culture faced them or those they know? How can we all make a difference? What world do we want in 20 years time and how can we help achieve those goals individually and as a group? We will be updating you on their activities and thoughts on social justice with blogs from the Alpha Groups on social justice issues.

Social Justice: Spotlight on Nicaraguan Sugar Cane Workers

Currently in Nicaragua inequalities in social justice, unfair trade, in-access to basic public services such as a health centre and inadequate worker rights have created a situation of terrible inequality and injustice:

The blog readers challenge: Plan a social justice action and tell us about it 

Over the first phase of our projects from today until 20th February our teams will be thinking about social justice issues and we are challenging you to plan a social justice action: What will you be doing to promote the UN Day of Social Justice? Are you going to be promoting it at work or school? Will you begin buying Fairtrade or promoting Fairtrade? Help us shine a light on inequalities faced globally and at home? 

Find out about the UN Day of Social Justice >