Monthly Archives: May 2007
Keeping the Peace: DRC
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the largest and most expensive peacekeeping operation in the world. As of March, there were 18,336 total uniformed personnel, including 16,594 troops, 713 military observers, and 1,029 police, costing over $1 billion per year. But the price of peace is still less than the cost of years of war in Congo, which claimed more lives than any other conflict since World War Two.
From 1998 to 2003 nearly 4 million people are thought to have perished in a civil war stoked by Congo’s neighbors. Today, that fighting has largely, but not completely, subsided. And while it is too early to call the DRC a UN Peacekeeping success story, it is clear that the United Nations Mission in the Congo (called by its French acronym, MONUC) is responsible for overseeing Congo’s significant strides toward peace and democracy in recent years.
World’s first humanitarian video game launched by WFP
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has announced the launch of “Food Force,” the world’s first humanitarian video game for children.
“Children have very few opportunities to understand the realities of a hungry world. By engaging children in a fun and creative way, ‘Food Force’ will help children become better global citizens – now and in the future,” said John Powell, WFP Deputy Executive Director for Fundraising and Communications.
A screen shot of the game is below.
African Union Troubles in Darfur
Colum Lynch reports that the African Union force in Darfur may be on the verge of collapse:
The African Union’s first major peacekeeping mission — once considered the last line of defense for Darfur’s civilians — has been crippled by funding and equipment shortages, government harassment and an upsurge in armed attacks by rebel forces that last month left seven African troops dead.
The setbacks have sapped morale among peacekeepers, many of whom have not been paid for months. It has also compelled the force — which numbered 7,000 troops at its peak — to scale back its patrols and has diminished its capacity to protect civilians, aid workers and its own peacekeepers. In one example, Gambian troops last month failed to aid a Ghanaian peacekeeper who was gunned down in a carjacking incident within 300 yards of the mission’s Darfur headquarters, U.N. officials said.
When the fighting reached its peak in Darfur in spring 2004, the government of Sudan allowed a small number of African Union peacekeepers in to Darfur. Ostensibly, their job was to monitor a nominal cease-fire brokered between the government and rebels–not provide civilian protection. Still, considering the small number of troops, sparse resources at their disposal, and restrictive mandate, the African Union Mission in Sudan conducted itself admirably. In 2005, I interviewed Brian Steidle, a former US marine who served with the AU force. He recalled one incident in which the African Union deterred a government and janjaweed attack on a town of 45,000 by positioning merely 35 soldiers in the town.
GA President: Female entrepreneurs need better government policies
Speaking at a conference on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), President of the General Assembly Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa said that governments worldwide can help lift women and their families out of poverty by introducing more gender-sensitive policies that offer greater employment, taxation and investment opportunities for women.
[Sheikha Haya] called on governments to incorporate gender perspectives into their fiscal and monetary policies. Promoting gender equality and empowering women is one of the eight MDGs.
“Gender-sensitive policies assist women entrepreneurs in accessing markets and obtaining reasonable interest rates for loans, as well as promote decent employment opportunities, fair taxation, and investments in infrastructure,” she said.
Keeping the Peace: Liberia
Ten years ago, I would have sounded crazy should I have predicted that Liberia would become a functioning democracy by 2007, and that Charles Taylor, the Liberian warlord turned president, would be in jail awaiting prosecution for war crimes. And rightly so — in 1997, Liberia was a singularly dismal place on earth. Taylor had just been elected president after leading a bloody insurgency characterized by the recruitment of child soldiers, wide-spread rape and mutilation. Taylor’s popular support, however, was less from admiration than fear. Prior to the election, throngs on the street chanted, “He killed my ma, he killed my pa, I’m going to vote for him!” Better to vote him president than have him lose the election and turn his wrath against the people.
UN indigenous forum takes on land, resource issues
The United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues opened its two-week session today in New York, where more than 1,000 indigenous representatives will take on issues related to lands, territories and natural resources.
These matters are widely viewed as central to indigenous peoples’ efforts to gain recognition for their rights. “With the increasing desire of States for more economic growth, senseless exploitation of indigenous peoples’ territories and resources continues unabated,” said Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum, which will meet from 14 to 25 May.
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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