Change That Makes Cents

Give a person a fish and you will feed them for a day. Teach a person to fish, and you will feed them for a lifetime.

The saying is familiar to many. It is also the premise behind the United Nations' decision to declare 2005 the International Year of Microcredit.

Microcredit in Nova Scotia -- small loans that help people start their own business -- will be explored at celebrations commemorating March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

"The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is a great opportunity to consider the many implications of racism -- the opportunities that are missed and the lives that are affected," said Michael Baker, Minister responsible for the Nova Scotia Human Rights Act.

In Halifax Regional Municipality, the economic implications of discrimination will be marked in a morning of events with the theme Racism and The Economy: Change That Makes Cents.

Presented by Partners Against Racism -- a coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights -- the program at the Dartmouth Sportsplex will include roundtable discussions on how individuals can make a difference and a keynote address. A Human Rights Award will also be presented by the provincial Human Rights Commission to Just Us! Coffee Roaster Co-op for its commitment to broader awareness.

"Each year, we pause on March 21, to reflect on racial discrimination," said Mayann Francis, CEO of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. "But it is not an issue that can be viewed in isolation. Human rights are about our every day lives and all the every day aspects of life that are touched by discrimination."

In Sydney, concerned citizens will gather at Cape Breton University to consider, among other things, the consequences of racism in sport. The keynote address will be delivered by Wade Smith, a former all-Canadian, Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) athlete who is now the vice-principal of Halifax's St. Patrick's High School. The event will be presented by the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Cape Breton University Human Rights Office, the Cape Breton Regional Municipality Affirmative Action Committee, Scotiabank, and the Office of Health Promotion, Nova Scotia sport and recreation division.

In the region served by the Digby office of the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, students will be encouraged to think about all the effects of racial discrimination with the message "together we can stop racism." Schools, museums and other places of learning are also expected to remind Nova Scotians how far we have come, and how far we have yet to go, in the fight against racism.

"This is a time for Nova Scotia to think about the world, about the real progress we can make and how much impact individuals can have when we work together," said Ms. Francis.

The international aspects of the Year of Microcredit will hit home with even more force in 2006 when Halifax is expected to host thousands of international delegates as they review events linked to the International Year of Microcredit.

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was proclaimed in 1966 as a reminder of the events of March 21, 1960. It was on that day, that police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid in Sharpeville, South Africa.