April 2026
This photo of the RENATE Country Board was taken in Madrid on March 25th
This photo of the RENATE Country Board was taken in Madrid on March 25th
Interprovincial Justice Desk Updates – April Issue
Dear Sisters and Friends,
You are most welcome to the April edition of the Interprovincial Justice Desk Updates. As always, this issue contains a wide range of items which we hope will both inform and inspire you. Please feel free to engage with whatever resonates most with you, and we would greatly appreciate it if you could share this update with others who may not have easy access to the internet.
We warmly welcome any contributions from you—articles, references, photographs, events, or reflections—so please do not hesitate to get in touch.
This month, I would particularly like to draw your attention to the following:
· A recording of the APT Ireland “20 Years” webinar, attended by over 100 participants
· An article I published in Independent Catholic News based on this event
· Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (Ireland) – Upcoming webinar: “Mind Our Earth – Our Mined Earth” on April 28th at 7pm (registration link below)
· An Irish Times article highlighting the alarming issue of children in care going missing and being trafficked into lives of crime
· A recent article from The Tablet on trafficking in Cameroon, kindly shared by one of our Sisters in England
· Graphic: Should Ireland Remain Neutral?
· National Justice and Peace Network (NJPN) – Just Talk Conference and latest newsletter (I serve on the NJPN Executive)
· Updates on the Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) and recent changes
· Recording of the recent IPA Prayer Service
· An invitation in England to an evening with Bishop John Arnold, focusing on engagement with politicians on environmental issues
· NJPN in-person event in Sheffield on food sustainability
· Information on the risks faced by minors fleeing Ukraine
· Presentation Sisters celebrating International Women’s Day 2026
· Sr. Paoula Mourad’s update from the OLA Justice Desk, including the latest OLA JPIC Newsletter
· Ruhama and the ongoing issue of human trafficking
· Finding Hope – reflections on navigating despair and fostering meaningful conversations
· A call to action to protect the rights of those seeking asylum in Ireland
· Recording of last month’s Trócaire Lecture
· The impact of ongoing aid cuts in the most vulnerable regions of the world
· Families paying the price of war
· Recordings from the CSW70 session, where I had the privilege to present on the need for future research
· Edmund Rice International Human Rights Training
· Judicial concerns regarding a missing child, again highlighting the dangers of trafficking in Ireland
Many thanks for your time and attention. Please remember that you are always very welcome to make contact with the Justice Desk.
Brian
APT Ireland at 20 Years of Age: Twenty years ago, a small group of determined women gathered in Dublin with a shared conviction: human trafficking could no longer be ignored. What began as a conversation became a movement. Today, Act to Prevent Trafficking in Ireland (APT) marks two decades of awareness, advocacy, and action—yet the crime it seeks to end remains deeply embedded in Irish society. The recent APT 20th anniversary webinar was both a celebration and a stark reminder: progress has been made, but the fight is far from over.
Act to Prevent Trafficking at 20: Ireland’s Fight Against a Crime Hidden in Plain Sight
I had an article published in Independent Catholic News in respect of the recent APT Ireland Webinar. (below)
The Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network - Irish Antenna, have prepared a new webinar, - Mind Our Earth - Our Mined Earth - on Tuesday April 28th at 7pm for all, and this takes account of ongoing extraction in Ireland and in Africa and the environmental and local costs to all impacted. Details below:
To register to attend this online webinar please click the following link:
A recent article from the Global Sisters Report highlighted the abuse of women and girls caught up in coal mining communities in South Africa: In South Africa's coal belt, girls disappear — and Catholic sisters quietly pull them back. We hope you can join us for what promises to be an informative webinar on the wider impacts of mining in Africa and in Ireland.
At the end of April, the Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network Ireland will host an evening webinar on the human and environmental impact of mining, featuring speakers from Africa and Ireland. Booking details will follow in the next newsletter, but for now, save the date: Tuesday 28th April, 7.00-8.30pm Irish time.
Having recently been invovled in the preparation of our UPR submission: One of the issues that is constantly and regularly encountered is that of children going missing from care. There is evidence that many of these children, who are amongst our most vulnerable are likely being trafficked into lives of crime.
The issue of Ireland's neutrality is once again on the agenda and there appears to be moves to water down the current triple lock. Many are against this move. This graphic offers some insight into current thinking. Just like peace, neutrality needs to be worked on - constantly.
As members of the National Justice and Peace Network UK, we are currently involved in planning the forthcoming annual Justice and Peace Conference in Swanwick this July.
You can learn more about the NJPN by following the link to their newsletter below. You also have the option to subscribe, so each new edition is delivered directly to your inbox.
This article explores the impact of the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) on businesses and communities across Europe. Designed to require companies to identify and address human rights abuses and environmental harm throughout their supply chains, the directive represents a landmark step towards greater corporate accountability and protection for people and the planet. However, recent revisions have significantly diluted its scope and ambition—reducing the number of companies covered, removing key climate obligations, and weakening enforcement mechanisms . These changes risk undermining both its effectiveness and its promise, marking what many see as a concerning step backwards at a time when stronger, not weaker, safeguards are urgently needed
We offer a recording of the recent IPA Women and Children's Prayer Service.
Dear friends,
What a blessing it was to gather with you for the IPA Women and Children Prayer Service in celebration of International Women’s Day. Whether you joined us live or were with us in spirit, we are truly grateful for the sense of unity, reflection, and prayer that marked our time together.
It was a beautiful moment to honour the dignity, strength, and voices of women across the world, and to remember our shared responsibility to continue working for justice, compassion, and care in our communities.
For those who were unable to attend, or for anyone who would like to revisit the gathering, the recording of the service is available below:
Access the Prayer Service Recording:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1S98U7KOjxSK11RV8p35rj82ikt94ApI4/view?usp=sharing
We hope the recording offers another opportunity to pause, reflect, and reconnect with the spirit of the service.
We look forward to coming together again at future prayer gatherings. Until then, may the prayers shared continue to bring light, hope, and strength to women and children everywhere.
With gratitude,
Bandiswa Mlangeni
6:30pm, April 13th ONLINE MEETING
With Bishop John Arnold, The Diocesan Environmental Leads Network & Friends
With the May local elections fast approaching, now is an important time to let politicians know your views on climate and justice. Following a meeting with the Catholic Diocesan Environment Leads of England and Wales, an alliance of organisations has come together to offer parishioners guidance on key environmental issues and to help them engage local politicians in dialogue about defending our common home and safeguarding the dignity of all our brothers and sisters.
Register here: https://tinyurl.com/delpolitics
For those near Sheffield there is an open invitation to in-person event on APril 25th next that is being run by the NJPN. Details below:
Four years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the situation facing displaced children and young people across Europe has shifted from emergency response to a prolonged and increasingly fragile reality. This joint statement brings together organisations across Europe to highlight the growing risks for unaccompanied and separated children as they navigate uncertain legal frameworks and fragmented protection systems. As the European Union considers the future of temporary protection and long-term pathways, urgent attention is needed to ensure that children’s rights, safety, and development remain central. Cross-border movements—often undertaken in search of stability, education, or family reunification—are exposing children to heightened risks of exploitation, trafficking, and disappearance. Without stronger coordination, sustained support, and clear legal protections, these vulnerabilities will deepen, with lasting consequences for a generation already shaped by displacement.
Four years into the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the under noted organisations across Europe issue this joint statement to warn of the urgent need to address the needs and risks facing unaccompanied and separated children and young people displaced from Ukraine as the EU considers the future of temporary protection and longer-term pathways for people displaced from Ukraine. What began as an emergency response has become a protracted, structurally fragile situation in which children and young people’s safety, development, and future prospects are increasingly shaped by fragmented systems rather than coherent protection frameworks. What is at stake for children and young people? Discussions between networks at a meeting held in Brussels in December last year identified cross- border movement as a compounder of risks for unaccompanied and separated children and young people displaced from Ukraine. As they move between EU Member States and in and out of Ukraine in search of education, work, family reunification, or stability, they may fall off the radar of national child protection systems and become exposed to risks of going missing, exploitation and trafficking, simultaneously disrupting education, employment pathways, continuity of care and access to services and support. These risks do not occur in isolation: they are amplified by a lack of reliable information for children, legal uncertainty around future status and registration during onward movement, weak information sharing between national child protection systems and a lack of risk assessments.
The gradual winding down of humanitarian funding and absent or fragmented cross-border coordination mechanisms has direct consequences for children’s daily lives. Individual best interests assessments are delayed or absent; continuity of care across borders is fragile; and long-term planning for education, housing, and legal status is increasingly out of reach.
While this statement focuses on unaccompanied and separated children and young people displaced from Ukraine, many of the risks described reflect broader and long-standing protection gaps affecting unaccompanied and separated children across Europe, irrespective of country of origin. Fragmented guardianship systems, uneven access to legal support, and limited cross-border case cooperation continue to leave many children exposed to harm. Addressing these systemic weaknesses is essential not only to protect children from Ukraine, but also to strengthen Europe’soverall child protection architecture in cross-border contexts.
How do children and young people feel?
Young people themselves describe lives shaped by uncertainty. The voices of young people displaced from Ukraine, heard through Missing Children Europe’s You Decide youth participation initiative, highlight difficulties re-registering for protection after moving countries, fear of losing legal status when turning 18, and reliance on shrinking NGO support simply to secure housing or continue studies.
“You study, you learn the language, you try to integrate… but you don’t know if you will be allowed to stay. Life feels temporary.” — Member of the YoU Decide Youth Board
For many, the transition to adulthood coincides with an abrupt loss of guardianship, accommodation, and legal assistance. As the end of temporary protection approaches, these systemic gaps riskhardening into long-term exclusion. Without clarity at the EU level, children and young people displaced from Ukraine who have spent their formative years in Europe face interrupted education, stalled integration, and heightened susceptibility to exploitation. Fragmented legal frameworks and limited cross-border coordination translate directly into lived vulnerabilities: confusion about rights, reliance on informal information channels, and declining trust in protection systems designed to safeguard them. This moment represents a critical juncture requiring strengthened implementation of existing EU and international child protection obligations, including best interests procedures, guardianship, and cross-border case cooperation. Child protection in cross-border contexts cannot be left to ad hoc national responses. Sustained EU leadership, coordination, and funding are required to prevent foreseeable harm and uphold children’s rights.
Recommendations for the European Union, Member States, and Civil Society
1. Provide national and regional clarity on post-temporary protection residency pathways for unaccompanied and separated children and youth displaced from Ukraine as well as their caregivers, ensuring continuity and stability of residence status where needed and access to services across borders.
2. Support projects developing minimum standards for cross-border case cooperation, including shared referral pathways, best interests assessments, data protection and child-safe data- and information-sharing mechanisms across Member States and Ukraine and across national authorities and civil society organisations, including networks of organisations working with children.
3. Invest in guardianship, free legal assistance, and specific safeguards for children transitioning into adulthood, including third country nationals, to prevent statelessness and abrupt loss of support when a youth turns 18.
4. Make resources available for prevention and response mechanisms for missing children, child trafficking, and exploitation, including strengthened child helplines and hotlines, particularly when considering voluntary, safe, and dignified returns to Ukraine.
5. Strengthen knowledge-sharing and awareness-raising on cross-border risks for children displaced from Ukraine, by supporting training, thematic exchanges, and communication campaigns for professionals, networks, and communities working with children.
6. Support child- and youth-centered information and participation initiatives at EU level, co- designed with displaced children from Ukraine, to ensure access to accurate, rights-based guidance during cross-border movement and status transitions.
7. Ensure victim-centred, trauma-informed, child-sensitive and intersectional approaches across all protection, asylum, migration and justice procedures affecting displaced children from Ukraine, including early identification of victims, access to generic and specialised support and safeguards against secondary victimisation.
8. Guarantee victim-sensitive, child-friendly access to safe justice for unaccompanied and separated children experiencing violence, abuse or exploitation across Member States, and strengthen integrated child protection systems to ensure cross-border continuity of care, support and protection.
Without decisive EU action and sustained investment, the risks facing unaccompanied and separated children displaced from Ukraine will intensify. With it, Europe can prevent avoidable harm and secure children and young people’s safety, development, and futures.
Key Cross-Border Risks for Unaccompanied and Separated Children and Young People Displaced from Ukraine identified during the Network of Networks Meeting, December 2025.
Signatories
• Kids in Need of Defense (KIND)
• Missing Children Europe (MCE)
• Association for Integration and Migration (SIMI)
• Asylkoordination Österreich
• Caritas Europa
• Child Friendly Justice – European Network (CFJ-EN)
• Child Circle
• Childfund Alliance
• Child Helpline International
• Consiglio Italiano Per I Rifugiati - Italian Refugee Council (CIR)
• COFACE Families Europe
• eLiberare
• European Lawyers in Lesvos (ELIL)
• European Network on Statelessness (ENS)
• Edustajat Turvapaikanhakijalapsille - National association serving guardians for
unaccompanied minors around Finland (ETU)
• Eurochild
• Fundacja Dajemy Dzieciom Siłę (FDDS)
• Hope and Homes for Children
• Immigrant Council of Ireland (ICI)
• International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (ICSC)
• International Falcon Movement-Socialist Educational International
• Institute for International Criminal Investigations
• La Strada International
• Make Mothers Matter
• Platform for International Cooperation on Undocumented Migrants (PICUM)
• PLAN International
• Polskie Forum Migracyjne (PFM)
• Right 2 Protection
• Save the Children Europe
• Sempre a Frente
• Slovenska Filantropija
• Terre des Hommes International
• Ukrainian Child Rights Network (UCRN)
• Ukraine Civil Society Forum (UCSF)
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
Our Presentation Sisters celebrating International Women's Day 2026
Sr. Paoula Mourad has taken over at the OLA Justice Desk and has shared this OLA JPIC Newsletter HERE with us.
For many survivors of human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation that come to Ruhama, exploitation did not start on the street. It started with: A DM. A job offer. A promise. It can start with someone they know, someone that they think cares for them, a family member or a friend.
From the HOPE & COURAGE COLLECTIVE
Part of overcoming the overwhelming despair of the moment we're in, is understanding that it's by design. There are powerful authoritarians who are counting on you being so overwhelmed and devoid of hope that you can't imagine a better future. But only by imagining it, by refusing to surrender our hope, by building collective movements - can we make that future happen. What gives you hope in hard times?
Title: Protect the Right to Family: Act Now for People Seeking Asylum in Ireland
Subtitle: As sweeping new asylum laws threaten to delay family reunification and weaken protections, contact your local TD and speak up for children, families, and individuals in need of safety.
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Take action now to ensure that the rights of those seeking asylum in Ireland are protected ⬇️
In June 2026, Ireland will begin implementing the International Protection Bill, the most radical reform of asylum law in state history.
Under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact, the government is proposing significant changes to family reunification rights, meaning that refugees in Ireland could be forced to wait for 2 years before even applying to be reunited with their families.
You can take action by contacting your local TD and asking them to speak up for the voiceless - children, families, and individuals seeking asylum in Ireland.
🚨Email them here: https://lnkd.in/eFr5ccD8
hashtag#ActOnThePact hashtag#PactCheck hashtag#EUMigrationPact hashtag#HumanRights
I am happy to share the recording OF THE RECENT TROCAIRE LECTURE with you which is now available here: (and below)
Dear Participants,
Thank you for registering to attend, online, the St. Patrick’s College Maynooth Annual Trócaire Lent Lecture 2026.
We were delighted to welcome Dr. Hugo Slim to Maynooth last week and he gave a superb paper on “Care for Creation Amidst the Cries of War ~ Working for Peace in the Earth Community”.
Title:
UK Aid Cuts Put Millions at Risk — Act Now
Subtitle:
With lifesaving support slashed and millions facing deeper poverty, urge the UK Government to restore aid to 0.7% before irreversible harm is done.
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Dear Friends
Today more details emerged of UK aid cuts - African aid is going to be more than halved. We don’t know the full details for each country yet but this is going to be devastating for countries like Ethiopia.
Tell the UK Government to think again and return aid to 0.7% immediately.
Click HERE to Take Action NOW
The UK has lost its first line of defence in cutting aid- it will make the world a much less safe one. The cuts mean less access to safe water and food security, with more people living in poverty with limited access to a livelihood and a future.
UK aid cuts are projected to hurt 55 million people globally, depriving them of access to basic services. It is a short-sighted decision that must be reversed.
Since the brutal American aid cuts were announced, US lawmakers have managed to claw back more aid from the US President’s proposals. It is therefore possible to reverse these unconscionable cuts.
The UK Government must think again. Lives are at stake.
Please sign our petition now before it’s too late.
Yours in solidarity,
Anne Callaghan
SCIAF Advocacy and Campaigns Officer
Irish Times letter in today's paper March 14th
Title:
RENATE at CSW70: Advancing Justice for Women and Girls
Subtitle:
Explore highlights and recordings from our global webinar on access to justice, tackling human trafficking, and strengthening equitable legal systems.
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On 11th March, RENATE had the privilege of contributing once again to the 70th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW70). This year’s theme, strengthening access to justice for women and girls, promoting inclusive and equitable legal systems, and addressing the structural barriers that perpetuate inequality, speaks directly to the heart of RENATE’s mission.
The webinar brought together more than 85 participants from across the world and created a valuable space for reflection, dialogue, and shared commitment to addressing human trafficking and the many forms of injustice faced by women and girls today.
We are especially grateful to Mr. Brian O’Toole, RENATE Working Board Member for Ireland and one of the presenters at the event, who kindly undertook the work of gathering and compiling the webinar recordings so that they could be made available to our wider network.
By following this link you will find recordings of each of the individual presentations and accompanying slides where available.
We warmly encourage you to:
• Watch the recordings, particularly if you were unable to attend the event.
• Share the page with colleagues, partners, and others who may be interested in RENATE’s work.
Once again, our deepest gratitude to Brian for his generous work and continued commitment to the work of RENATE.
With every good wish,
RENATE Communications Team
Your invitation to Human Rights Training that is being offered by Edmund Rice Internatinoal
Please find attached two posters, informing about upcoming events organised by Edmund Rice International and which you are invited to attend whenever your diary permits.
The attachments are two separate posters but refer to the same events, i.e. Human Rights & Advocacy Training via four webinars, on 25 March; 1 April; 29 April and 6 May, beginning at 14:00 (Irish Time), each lasting just 90 minutes. These are training webinars and come at no cost to you , other than your time!
The following themes will be addressed: Human rights and Advocacy, the UN Human Rights mechanisms, the SDGs and Advocacy, Care of the Earth in the light of Laudato Sí and the SDGs.
Please remember to REGISTER via the link on the posters in order to receive the Zoom link to attend.
This promises to be a most valuable and informative series of webinars. Looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible at the webinars,
CLick HERE to register.