Franciscans International, together with Dominicans for Justice and Peace and the Marist Brothers Bureau of International Solidarity, are a significant presence in the area of social justice and human rights. Already in the 1980s the Franciscan family had established an NGO for the purpose of engaging in advocacy actions at the United Nations in New York. In 1996 Timothy Radcliffe proposed that the Dominicans would collaborate with the Franciscans in setting up an office in Geneva. From a modest presence in 1997 that began in a student room in the Cité Universitaire, consisting of Father John Quigley OFM and Alessandra Aula, the Franciscans International Geneva office now consists of twenty people, all engaged in advocacy support initiatives linked to the various United Nations entities located in Geneva. In 2005 the Marist Brothers signed a partnership agreement and there are currently three Marist Brothers engaged in advocacy work in Geneva. Franciscans International also has offices in New York and Bangkok, as well as local nodes in various countries.
Indicating the significance of the Edmund Rice International partnership agreement with Franciscans International, the signing ceremony was attended by the local Swiss Provincial of the Dominicans, the Marist Brothers, the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary and by the Head of the Human Rights Section at the Irish Mission in Geneva. It was a very moving ceremony that began with the evocative Liam Lawton musical reflection, ¨Pity Then the Child¨, a piece specially composed to mark the beatification of Edmund Rice.
It is anticipated that an international community will be established in Geneva to support the work of Edmund Rice International. The community will be composed of Christian Brothers and Presentation Brothers. There will also be, in time, Edmund Rice International interns associated with the community. All will be working in the Franciscan International offices on the rue Varembé, a very convenient location that is about ten minutes from the UN complex and within easy reach of almost all the major NGO offices in Geneva.
Those involved in the advocacy support work will be engaged in developing status reports, emergency action interventions and country shadow reports on issues identified by the worldwide Edmund Rice community. An important aspect of the work will be the development of strong links with local projects, initiatives and communities around the world.
