This year three members of the FI Staff Team were pregnant, so we followed their journey of expectation from initial joy, through concern and anticipation to the wonderful moment of the birth. Each delivered a healthy baby boy. One sister was not too sure about having a new baby brother. On hearing that the family were going to the hospital to bring the baby home she said: 'why don't we leave him there!’ The collective experience of ‘pregnancy’ made it easier this Advent to walk with Mary through her months of expectation, awaiting the birth of her son into our troubled, divided world.....

There is a paradox in that Advent heralds a beginning, whilst December marks the end of the calendar year. Due to the re-structuring process FI is undergoing to ensure long term sustainability, we too are embracing ‘endings’ and moving into ‘new beginnings’. Both are challenging.  It is an opportune moment to say a special ‘thank you’ to the staff members who are leaving FI, their dedicated and professional competence made it possible for us to accomplish much of what we did in 2012. And as I hand on the baton of leadership to Br. Markus Heinze OFM, I do so with heartfelt gratitude for everyone who shared this phase of the FI journey with me. It was a challenging, humbling and deeply enriching experience.
In these last days of Advent as we wait in expectation with Mary, we pray that the birth of her son Jesus, will bring the gift of justice that all of us are longing for.....
Wishing you Advent and Christmas blessings in abundance from the FI Staff Team.

Sr. Denise Boyle fmdm

Executive Director

“Transnational corporations and other business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights.” This was declared in the Human Rights Council Resolution 8/7 of June 2008. This was the first time that States, which bear the primary obligation for the realisation of human rights, acknowledged that business also has a part to play. In June 2011, the Human Rights Council (HRC) endorsed the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, a document which plays a major role in informing the work of the HRC’s panel of experts in this field, the Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises. The first Annual Forum on Business and Human Rights was held in Geneva in early December.

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FI is pleased to release Franciscans International; Seeking Justice through the United Nations, a collection of case studies which reflect the variety of human rights challenges that FI addresses through our advocacy at the UN. This booklet serves as an introduction to the work of FI, with first-hand accounts of the experiences of our Franciscan partners at the grassroots around the world and their collaboration with FI in bringing crucial human rights issues to the attention of leaders at the highest international level. We invite readers to consider each case study from both a practical and a spiritual perspective.

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Hot on the heels of the 21st session of the Human Rights Council (HRC) and the 14th session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), Franciscans International (FI) hosted human rights defenders from West Papua, Indonesia, in Geneva on November 8th. As part of its Asia-Pacific Advocacy Programme, FI convened a roundtable discussion which brought together representatives from the Permanent Missions to the UN of the Netherlands and Germany, as well as from the Office of the Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, OMCT (World Organization against Torture), and Edmund Rice International.

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The latest publication from UPR-Info “Universal Periodic Review; On the Road to Implementation” serves as an invaluable tool for civil society organisations working to promote and protect human rights. Outlining the findings of a uniquely in-depth analysis of the implementation of recommendations made to States during their Reviews, this study offers important insights into the potential of the UPR as a mechanism to promote human rights, and trends in the implementation of recommendations. No such comprehensive research has ever been conducted on how UPR recommendations are implemented on the ground.The report was launched at a side event organised by UPR-Info.

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