MULTICULTURAL NEWS AUSTRALIA
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Mar 2023 - Vol 1, Issue 7
Australia assisting Solomon Islands fight against climate change
Five Mediterranean countries call for more EU solidarity on migration
MCNA Newsdesk ustralia is assisting the Solomon Islands in its fight against the impacts of climate change. At the Pacific Islands Forum Leaders’ Retreat, Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that Australia, in partnership
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with the Pacific Meteorological Council, will support the Weather Ready Pacific initiative. This is a Pacific led initiative, endorsed by PIF leaders, to enhance early warning systems and climate resilience. Australia is contributing AUD30 million to
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Women deeply under-represented in govt leadership roles: UN report
Geneva, March 8 (IANS) More women than ever hold political decision-making posts worldwide but gender parity is still far off, according to a report jointly released by the InterParliamentary Union (IPU) and the UN Women. The report, presenting the latest rankings and regional distribution of women in executive positions and national parliaments as of January 1 of this year, showed the number of women in political leadership roles has
increased overall, Xinhua news agency reported. However, women are still deeply under-represented in government leadership roles, and remain a minority as heads of state and government, according to the report. At the very start of this year, 11.3 per cent of countries have women heads of state (monarchy-based systems excluded), and 9.8 per cent have women heads of government. These represent an increase from a decade ago, when figures stood at 5.3 per cent and 7.3 per cent respectively. According to the report, only 13 countries, mostly in Europe, have gender-equal cabinets, with 50 per cent or more women cabinet members serving as ministers. Nine countries have no woman continued on pg. 9
Valletta, March 5 (IANS) Interior ministers of five EU Mediterranean countries has called for more EU solidarity on migration and more efforts to prevent irregular migration. At the end of the so-called “Med 5” ministerial-level meeting held in Malta’s capital Valletta on Friday and Saturday, ministers of Malta, Greece, Italy, Spain and Cyprus signed a joint declaration. The meeting was held just days after a deadly migrant shipwreck off Italy. At least 64 migrants died on February 26 when their boat hit rocks near the coast of
the southern Italian region of Calabria, Xinhua news agency reported. The five ministers agreed that more work needs to be done at a European level to address the root causes of migration and prevent irregular migration, according to the joint declaration released by the Maltese Ministry for Home Affairs, Security, Reforms and Equality. They reaffirmed their position on the need to “strike a balance between (EU) Member States’ responsibilities on the one hand and the need for solidarity on the other,” the joint declaration said.
They also called for more efforts for “the establishment of a permanent and mandatory solidarity mechanism that factors the real needs of frontline Member States and ensures that these needs are fully met through the solidarity contributions”.
Australia boosting agriculture in Bangladesh
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MCNA Newsdesk griculture is a significant part of the economies of both Australia and Bangladesh. Australia’s Commission for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) accompanied by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)
visited Bangladesh recently to hear from project partners and communities about the impact of 25 years of ACIAR’s collaboration with Bangladesh. The delegation, supported by the Australian High Commission in Dhaka, visited project sites in Barisal, Khulna and Jessore. Local farmers told the Commissioners how they have benefitted from agricultural research projects funded by
ACIAR. The Australian High Commissioner (HC) to Bangladesh Jeremy Bruer welcomed the delegates, including Chair Fiona Simson and ACIAR CEO Professor Andrew Campbell, to Bangladesh. Agriculture plays a crucial role in supporting communities and contributing to economic growth in both Australia and Bangladesh.
King Charles to be anointed with animal-cruelty free oil Oak Creek shooting: Sikh March 4 (IANS) The oil protect wildlife and the latest motorcyclist to ride against hate London, which will be used to anoint King formula for the holy oil for King
New York, March 4 (IANS) An Indian-American Sikh is undertaking a 2,700-mile motorcycle ride to mark the 11th anniversary of a 2012 attack on a Gurdwara in Wisconsin that left seven people from his community dead. Gurdeep Singh Saggu, 37, along with Motorcycle Club USA, has planned the week-long ride to Oak Creek Gurdwara to raise www.mcna.org
awareness about their culture and faith, the Los Angeles Times reported. The ride that would end on August 5 in Oak Creek, will pass through states like Arizona, where a Sikh man, mistaken for a Muslim, was killed in a hate crime four days after 9/11. Earlier, Saggu, who is a continued on pg. 9
Charles III during his coronation on May 6 will not not include any ingredients from animals, the media reported on Saturday. The “chrism oil” for the coronation was consecrated on Friday by the Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Anglican Archbishop in Jerusalem, at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where it is believed Jesus Christ died and was buried, reports the BBC. This was carried out in one of the city’s holiest Christian sites, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Previous versions have included civet oil, from the glands of the small mammals, and ambergris from the intestines of whales. There had been concerns about animal cruelty and the need to
Charles’s coronation will be animal free. The new oil includes olive oil scented with a mix of essential oils, sesame, rose, jasmine, cinnamon, neroli and benzoin, with orange blossom also added. It also has a royal family significance, partly using olives grown on the Mount of Olives at the Monastery of Mary Magdalene, which is where the King’s grandmother, Princess Alice, is buried. Justin Welby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, welcomed the use of oil from the Mount of Olives, a site outside Jerusalem with many biblical connections, the BBC reported. “This demonstrates the deep historic link between the
coronation, the Bible and the Holy Land,” said the archbishop. “From ancient kings through to the present day, monarchs have been anointed with oil from this sacred place.” King Charles III’s coronation will take place on May 6 at Westminster Abbey in London. During the ceremony, the King will be crowned alongside Camilla, the Queen Consort.
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