19/10/2012 JUA 22/10/2012 AL Case No Country Mandate(s) Summary of the allegation transmitted AUS 2/2012 Australia Discrimination against women in law and in practice; Extreme poverty; Alleged threat to the enjoyment of human rights of over 100,000 single parents, some of the most marginalized and impoverished members of Australian society, by a number of provisions in the Social Security Legislation Amendment (Fair Incentives to Work) Act 2012, recently passed by the Australian parliament. According to information received, the new Act will move more than 100,000 single parents (over 90% of which are women), from receipt of the Parenting Payment to the Newstart Allowance. The Parenting Payment stands at 90% of the relative poverty line in Australia, while the Newstart Allowance is 77% of the official poverty line. It is alleged that the legislation will have significant and detrimental impacts on the human rights of over 100,000 Australians, many of whom are currently living in poverty, will provide an institutional obstacle to the full enjoyment of human rights for people living in extreme poverty and increase discrimination against sole parents. ETH 5/2012 Ethiopia Indigenous peoples; Allegations received concerning agricultural development in the lower Omo valley associated with the construction of the Gibe III hydroelectric project, as well as the Government‘s ―villagization‖ programme. According to the information received, resettlements of indigenous agro-pastoralist groups is underway in the lower Omo valley and the Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples‘ Region to make way for the Government‘s proposed development plans for the regions. The resettlements are reportedly part of the Ethiopian Government‘s larger ―villagization‖ program instituted in at least four other regions of the country. The villagization program reportedly consists of the relocation of pastoralist, agro-pastoralist and shifting cultivators into sedentary villages where they are supposedly provided with improved social services, housing and infrastructure. Numerous concerns have been raised in relation to this programme, including that the Government has failed to obtain the consent of affected indigenous groups prior to resettlement and the lack of services provided at resettlement sites. The Gibe III hydroelectric project was the subject of previous exchanges with the Government of Ethiopia (A/HRC/21/47/Add.3, case no. ETH 1/2011). Reply A/HRC/22/67 126 Date Type