Who Pays For Christmas? 

AEFJN Ireland:

The Africa Europe Faith and Justice Network (AEFJN) is a faith-based international network of religious and missionaries who work to change European policies and corporate practices that negatively impact on the most marginalised in sub-Saharan Africa. The Secretariat for the network in headquartered in Brussels. Across Europe and Africa there are several antennae, or branches, that constitute the network. Each antenna researches, lobbies and advocates around a small number of issues that are deemed to be of greatest immediate concern in their respective country and in support of the strategic focus of the Secretariat. The Irish branch in its current form, was established in 2021 and builds on the collaboration of 9 religious congregations in Ireland. A key focus of the work to date has been to support the campaign work of the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights (ICBHR) – of which AEFJN Ireland are members - in advocating for a UN binding Treaty and EU regulation of corporate value chains. As part of this work we highlight corporate irresponsibility and human rights abuses that affect individuals and communities living and working in Africa, and how this impacts on the environment. Implicit in this is our collective responsibility to reveal, address, and remedy ongoing abuses.

Some of our key events have included networking with other antennae in Europe and Africa; hosting a series of webinars with key speakers on issues of corporate accountability, human rights abuses, extractive industries in Ireland and Africa; women’s human rights; the SDGs; making submissions to the Universal Periodic Review and supporting ICBHR. Tonight, the focus of our message is ethical consumerism. While Christmas is indeed the ‘most wonderful time of the year’ as Andy Williams reminds us, it is a heightened time where we should practice mindful consumerism for people and planet. To help us to do this, we have 3 brilliant speakers who will highlight the impact of unethical consumerism and guide us through ways in which we must consider and take action as regards our individual and collective responsibilities.