Defend International warmly welcomes Australia’s recent apology to its indigenous peoples for the pain and indignity they endured under the Government’s past laws and policies. DI hopes this initiative will rekindle respect and recognition of Indigenous rights.

Defend International is supporting an Arms Trade Treaty to prevent and eradicate the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons. The UN Group of Governmental Experts on a global Arms Trade Treaty held its first session in New York on 11-15 February 2008. The GGE represents a historical step towards an international instrument to combat the rise in armed violence.

The United Nations Children’s Fund annual report on global child health, The State of World’s Children Report 2008, was released on 22 January 2008. Child survival and primary health care for mothers, newborns and children are “sensitive barometers of a country’s development and wellbeing and as evidence of its priorities and values” says UNICEF.

Defend International strongly condemns the terrorist act against Mrs. Bhutto and expresses deepest sympathy with her family and the families of all those who lost their lives, as well as with the people of Pakistan.