Monthly Archives: July 2017

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Paid domestic work is not recognised in my country, neither socially nor economically. This absence of recognition is experienced by thousands of women who do this type of work, and the valorisation that we receive or lack thereof is reflected in the terms used to describe our work.

The terms that are usually used for people doing paid domestic work are often pejorative. For example, servidumbre (servitude), is a term that originated in feudalism and whose meaning doesnt correspond to the notion of workers as subjects of law. Another term commonly used is domstica (domestic), which evokes the treatment of animals that are tamed to live in peoples homes.

For these reasons, a few years ago, we began insisting on being called domestic workers, as this term reflects that we are indeed subjects of law. However, our recognition as workers should not only be reflected in our designation, but must also manifest in concrete ways on both social and economic levels. In other words, we would like our work to be seen in the same way as any other type of work.

I am one of over two million domestic workers in the country, which represents 10% of women currently employed in Mexico without employment benefits or social security. And today, through this text, I want to claim my rights and those of my compaeras.

Defending my rights as a domestic worker has been a process of building awareness, surmounting obstacles, and personal empowerment.

When I was a girl, I lived experiences that marked my life: poverty and the lack of opportunities, including the opportunity to study. But these were also the factors that allowed me to make important decisions for my life in the future.

At the age of ten, my father sent me to work for a family so that I could continue my studies. However, my heavy workload meant that I worked far more than I was able to study, and the opportunity of having an education became more distant each day.

At the age of 14, I left Oaxaca, my state of origin, to move to Mexico City, a city as big as it was diverse and rife with discrimination. Working in peoples homes was my only option, since I was a minor and had progressed very little in my studies, a constraint that remains common for many women in our country. In fact, female domestic workers have an average of two to three years less education than the rest of the employed population and begin working as domestic workers when they are minors in many cases.

While I abandoned my dreams, I committed myself to taking care of children, keeping houses clean and organised, having breakfast ready, and waiting for my patrones (employers) with a set table and fresh food. This is what all my days looked like for many years: I took care of lawyers, legislators, teachers, feminists, and public workers, and ironically, they did not take my rights seriously. Many of them were afraid that I would leave them. They told me I was like family, and yet would give me leftovers to eat or demanded that I wear a uniform. They would go on vacation, but left me behind to work, since that was when the house had to be cleaned or the piled up work had to be done.

They told me I was like family, and yet would give me leftovers to eat or demanded that I wear a uniform.

In this field of work, affective relationships often blur the lines between labour and voluntary acts of goodwill, but what we seek are working relationships based on mutual respect.

Psychologically, many domestic workers experience blackmail from employers who dont want them to leave. This is especially true when it comes to childcare, since we establish very close relationships with the children, which might in turn make us accept mistreatment from the parents.

Not only did I abandon my dreams and the security of my surroundings, I also experienced racial and class discrimination, as well as exploitation and low salaries because of my age.

But one day, as a teenager, I decided to free my dreams from inside the four walls of a house. Not because the job was indecent, but because I felt I needed to strive towards my goals, regardless of my young age. Many of my compaeras live in conditions of marginalisation and exploitation, with little value given to their labour and to their person.

I realised that domestic work, which remains undervalued and invisible to many, is valuable for workers, but also for employers. It was not the act of caring for an employer that reduced my dignity or violated my rights as a person and a worker, but rather the way most of us have been and continue to be treated. So I learned to claim those rights and seek out dignified work conditions.

I wanted to break barriers and convince other domestic workers, employers, and the government that dignified work and regulation is everyones responsibility and that we must be protected and supported by a just and fair legal framework. So I decided to become a human rights activist after having been discriminated against, mistreated, and exploited as a domestic worker for over 20 years.

Since the age of 29, I have been a part of the Conlactraho foundation, which serves as a trade union school. I served as general secretary there 18 years after its creation, taking up diverse roles in which I had the opportunity to participate in the creation of ILO Convention 189 on domestic workers. I also had the great opportunity to collaborate with colleagues from other continents in the creation of the International Domestic Workers Federation (IDWF). In 2000, I founded the Centro de Apoyo y Capacitacin para Empleadas del Hogar (CACEH), with the goal of creating an alternative space for implementing strategies for the recognition of domestic workers rights and to strengthen the collective organisation for social dialogue at a national level. Until December 2016, I was Latin America's regional coordinator for the IDWF.

This fight has not been an easy process but it has been very satisfying and challenging to bring domestic workers issues into the public agenda. This is because while the public sphere is destined for men, the private sphere is usually destined for women, and often comes with problems of discrimination, mistreatment, abuse, exploitation, and in some cases, child labour.

I had the great opportunity to represent domestic workers in the debates that took place in the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland for the creation of Convention 189, which was approved on 16 June 2011 and whose ratification in Mexico is currently but a governmental promise. While the government appears to be open to ratifying this convention, they do not seem willing to incorporate any of its stipulations into existing Mexican laws.

We aim to dignify the work of the 2.4 million domestic workers and we are convinced that we will be heard.

We now have a collective national organisation where workers can exercise their individual and collective rights, thanks to the creation of the first national domestic workers union in Mexicos history, which is a monumental advancement. These rights include autonomy, collective agreements, and the right to strike or protest if a worker experiences a rights violation, for example, by being fired without justification. This came as the result of more than 15 years of struggle from our sector, which has been socially invisible.

We aim to dignify the work of the 2.4 million domestic workers and we are convinced that we will be heard. This is why we promote the ratification of Convention 189, which will allow for millions of domestic workers to leave their informal conditions and have the ability to exercise their rights as workers, to be recognised and to access justice.

We dont want any of our domestic workers to experience injustices or for any employer to go through complicated procedures if they want to register their employees with social security, as there are currently no appropriate paths to do so.

Due to the lack of legislation in Mexico to protect domestic workers and as a way to support the ratification of Convention 189, we consistently execute a campaign called Ponte los guantes por los derechos de las trabajadoras del hogar!, which translates to Put your gloves on for the rights of domestic workers!

Our struggle reached an international level and the domestic workers of Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Europe are united today through the IDWF, with the mission to turn our rights into a reality.

During the entire process of creating the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores y Trabajadoras del Hogar (SINACTRAHO) which counted more than 100 members when it was established in 2015 community support has been fundamental. This includes other unions, feminist and human rights organisations as well as the employers collective Hogar Justo Hogar, an organisation that was formed recently to raise awareness about how improving the work and life conditions of domestic workers can also benefit employers and society as a whole.

Many of you are employers of domestic workers. After reading these lines, I urge you to call us domestic workers, as we are subjects of law. And I want to invite you to reflect about our labour, which was perhaps invisible to you up until now, because this is an issue that affects all of us.

Ponte los guantes por los derechos de las trabajadoras del hogar!

Put your gloves on for the rights of domestic workers!

A previous version of this piece was published in Spanish at La Silla Rota.

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The work is not undignified, but how you treat domestic workers is - Open Democracy

Jason Isbell wasnt afraid.

Not afraid to stand on stage and sing a raw love song about his wife as she stood by him. Not afraid to let the attention rest on his songs and therefore his most personal thoughts. Not afraid to bust into wildly flaring guitar solos, dueling with his bandmates. Not afraid to hit the big notes. Not afraid to reach deep into his catalog.

In front of 1,600 at SumTur Amphitheater on Wednesday, the country, rock and folk singer-songwriter worked through nearly two hours of music that featured the raw Cover Me Up, the blistering rock of Decoration Day or the empowerment of White Mans World.

Through his last three solo albums, Isbell has proved himself one of the best songwriters of a generation.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Amanda Shires performs with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats performs at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Amanda Shires performs with Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

Jason Isbell performs with his band, the 400 Unit, at SumTur Amphitheater.

John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats performs at SumTur Amphitheater.

Songs are about families and feuds, old cars and new guitars and breakups and bad nights. They contain parental advice, stories about sobering up, memories of finding your place in the world and tales of breaking promises, sometimes to yourself.

Its real life stuff, which is why its so good.

And its all presented with a smooth voiced tinged with a slight Southern twang and some fine players, most of them from Muscle Shoals, Alabama, which is home to the favorite recording studios of the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd and Isbells onetime band, the Drive-By Truckers.

Isbells set started with two songs from his latest album, The Nashville Sound, including the personal song Anxiety and then the rocking Hope the High Road, in which he says hes sick of singing about himself.

And thats Isbells catalog: Songs about his innermost thoughts and journey to get sober and be a good husband and father as well as stories about feuds, ruminations on the state of the world and stories about old cars.

Isbell played songs he wrote that were recorded by the Drive-By Truckers as well as a host of material from his latest three records.

Fans were glued to it all, but were especially appreciative of guitar jams such as Flying Over Water, Stockholm, Codeine and a cover of the Allman Brothers Whipping Post.

Isbell was joined by his band, the 400 Unit, which on Wednesday included his wife, vocalist and fiddler Amanda Shires. Isbell and Shires shared a lot of looks during the set, especially on songs explicitly about their relationship.

Shires stood next to Isbell as he strummed his signature song, Cover Me Up. About their budding relationship and his sobriety, the song saw the otherwise noisy amphitheater crowd grow silent as Isbells aching, powerful voice rang out into the night.

Eventually, Shires fiddle joined him to hold the sound until the entire band joined in to finish out the beautiful song.

Fans stood and cheered afterward, causing Isbell to stop for a moment and address them.

What a great bunch of people you are. Thank you so much for treating us so well, he said. What a great place. This is a wonderful spot for a show. Isbell went on to talk about his love of Omaha in particular.

This is a really great music town, he said. Its always exciting for us to come play music here. A lot of really wonderful songwriters and musicians have come from this part of the country, and we got a lot of friends here. Thank yall so much for being so kick-ass.

See the rest here:

With personal songs, Jason Isbell brings intimacy to amphitheater - Omaha World-Herald

Published on 05.07.2017 15h38 by Journal du Cameroun

The mantra

One of the most turbulent distractions to mainstream global issues is perhaps, youth radicalization and extremism. The deleterious effects of climate change and natural disasters have increased unsustainable socioeconomic practices. Unfortunately, global and local actors seem to misunderstand the potential and actual motivations surrounding this emerging phenomenon. The mantra of hunger and unemployment is dominating local and international debates on the question. But there is apparently more to the question of radicalization and extremism, in relation to hunger and youths unemployment, than it reaches mainstream understanding.

There is global awe about a suddenly obvious proliferation of youth subscription into insurgent activities often propelled by extremist ideologies. That is a known fact. Vis--vis present demographic transitions, there is an ever rising trend of misguided population movements from rural peripheries into urban metropolis leading to alarmingly loud concentration of desperate youths in city centres especially in Africa. To that effect, it is ever more imperative to identify the vulnerabilities upon which youth radicalization and extremism lies. The complications get even worse when we try to answer the question why youths are increasingly being agents of destruction instead of being productive members of their communities.

Different narratives

These trends have provoked several narratives from different development angels. But whether these narratives exist in cluster or not, the question at stake is as we feel the impacts of Boko haram insurgents in North East Nigeria and Far North of Cameroon, Alshabaab insurgents in almost all of Somalia including Kenya and beyond, and the Tuareg insurgent groups in Mali who are just about to completely retreat into the deserts, are these narratives based on old thinking or do they offer new thinking, new forms of measurement and research into the root causes of why youths are increasingly being radicalized and mobilized into extreme groups.

Much has been argued about tackling the unemployment crises that is keeping many youth idle and leaving them vulnerable as destructive agents rather than constructive ones. Other arguments have emerged about the question of alleviating youth poverty as a critical step to mitigating exposure of youths to radicalization through extremist groups. These assumptions are good, but it remains to be seen if the discussion will in fact lead to more research and a greater focus on evidence-based approaches tackling the root causes of the issues.Development efforts have often been driven by assumptions and not evidence, said Keith Proctor, a senior policy researcher atMercy Corps. In a summit held a few years ago at the White House about countering violent extremism, the U.S. government signaled that it was going to look with greater sophistication at the root causes of violence.

The causes of violence

There is no doubt that the narrative often held that poverty and unemployment were the primary motivators of violent extremism, but the factors that lead youths to become radicalized are much more complex. While not the crucial factor, jobs remain important, in part because unemployment, or underemployment, is illustrative of a number of other challenges. What about when youths perceive that they are shut out of important decisions and opportunities?Too often than not, during critical stages in youths lives, social and political exclusion can lead them to a point of anguish or hopelessness.

What were seeing is that its not just about jobs, its a broader marginalization, said Nicole Goldin, director of the Youth, Prosperity and Security Initiative at theCenter for Strategic and International Studies. As many misleading researches continue to Solutions must be genericlive on the old thinking, governments and stakeholders must be clear its not poverty alone that is leading youths into radicalization and extremism because while the vast majority of young Africans for the past half a century live in poverty and most of them are unemployed most of them are also very peaceful. In spite of the acknowledged exploitation of young people as canon fodders, the question of youths not finding identity, purpose and value in society is as important as any critical push factor. However, in all analysis than exist, it is hard to find any that is more important than the other.

Creating holistic approaches

African leaders from local and national levels are crisscrossing around the world looking for solutions to increasing violent conflicts resulting from increased involvement of young people into radicalized extreme groups. That is a sign of false hope. The push factors are self inflicted and solutions must be generic. Apart from push factors, pull factors such as personal rewards associated with membership of a radical group that offers economic gains than the governments does,that adds to ones fame and glory, and provides personal empowerment by owning a few dollars to buy a cell phone or appeal from religious ideology are critical inducements but relegated.

Often neglected are push factors such as corruption, weak governance to drive inclusive growth, lack of rule of law and social justice to address grievances, lack of social inclusion, grievances, a broader lack of opportunities that empower young people perceived marginalization. Disenfranchisement, government corruption, ethnic divisions and exposure to violence are all critical factors,said Proctor from Mercy Corps.

Any effective aversionofthis state of affairs in Africa particularly requires broad based understanding of the push and pull factors. Addressing the question of corruption as it affects the marginalized and disenfranchised groups in society is critical. Creating holistic approaches to identify critical incentives to radicalization and extremism, and developing comprehensive programs that include youths at all level particularly the question of making them to feel a sense of identity, purpose and value, and creating space where they become productive other than being destructive members of the community. This is the task that should keep our government officials waking up early in the morning and sleeping late into the night. It is the task we all should be behind.

Being a COP 23-Column of Era Environment by Tabi Joda

Tabi H. Joda is an entrepreneur, a youth activist from Cameroon and Nigeria. With a considerable working experience: he worked and still works with UN System, UN MDG, World Bank, NOWEI, MILDAS, FIFA etc. He has a Tertiary education in International Studies, Business Management and Information Technology, Development, Environmental Sustainability and Climate change. He is Multilingual and speaks English, French, Arabic, German, Hausa and Fulfulde. Since 2015, he has launched an initiative called plant a tree today to avert climate change.

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Addressing youth radicalization and extremism beyond hunger,unemploy't - Journalducameroun.com - English - (press release) (registration)