"HORN OF AFRICA AT A CRITICAL STAGE," proclaims the very prominent headline on the homepage of United Nations World Food Program. The urgency is not without reason, as a statement released by Oxfam today underscores.
Facing a "perfect storm" of drought and rising food prices, the number of people in Ethiopia in need of emergency assistance has jumped from 4.6 million to 6.4 million in less than four months. This would be bad enough, but there are 7.2 million additional Ethiopians who receive only some small support from their government.
From Oxfam's statement: "Today's figures, terrible as they are, show only half the picture. Over 13.5 million Ethiopians are in need of aid in order to survive. The number of those suffering severe hunger and destitution has spiraled. More can and must be done now to save lives and avert disaster," said Oxfam's country director, Waleed Rauf.
Namely, donor countries can step in and provide the $260 million needed for aid efforts in the country. WFP has only received a third of the funds it needs to deliver food, and, without further support, it will likely have to scale back operations to even more dangerous levels.
Watch this video for more.
UPDATE: Aid agencies say that the number of people in need is even worse.
You may recall that in the Vice-Presidential debate, Governor Palin came down hard against the Government of Sudan and even recommended a no-fly-zone over Darfur. Since then, the intrepid ABC news investigative team discovered that "Palin owns up to $15,000 in Legg Mason International Equities, which the McCain-Palin campaign specified is the Legg Mason International Equity Fund. That Fund owns shares in two companies the Genocide Intervention Network labels 'highest offenders' because, in that organization's judgment, they empower the government of Sudan at the expense of the country's marginalized populations."
Upon learning of the Legg-Mason-Sudan connection, a McCain-Palin spokesperson said that the Governor will divest from the fund. This sets a great example. Thanks, Gov.
(The following was originally written in August 2008.)
Commentators looking to explain the recent Russo-Georgian conflict by analyzing American foreign policy have found no dearth of candidate provocations. America's support for Georgian membership in NATO, its recognition of Kosovo's independence, and its open planning to install missile defense programs in Eastern Europe all likely contributed to Russia's willingness to exert its influence in the region by force. By and large, however, these speculations have focused on the proximate causes of the past few months. The most significant American contribution to instability in Georgia, however, may actually have occurred some 15 years ago--and its story provides more resounding lessons for U.S.-UN policy than it does for U.S.-Russia relations.
The UN Security Council yesterday extended the mandate of the small, unarmed UN observer mission in the Abkhazia region of Georgia, where violence between Russia and Georgia in early August has created an unclear situation for the future of the province. This ambiguity is the reason that the Security Council's reauthorization of UNOMIG, as the mission is known, is for a provisional four months, instead of the customary twelve. And while the 134 UN military observers can continue to play a small role, it is as yet uncertain who will be doing the actual peacekeeping.
Mr. Ban noted that it seemed unlikely that the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) peacekeeping force in the Abkhazia region would have any role in the separation of forces between the two sides, and it was still unclear what arrangement, if any, would fulfil this function. "Under these circumstances, it is too early at this stage to define the role that UNOMIG may play in the future," he told the Council. "But as long as international involvement in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict is seen as helping to prevent future conflict, UNOMIG may be called upon to make a contribution. In this respect, I have received formal indications from the Georgian and Abkhaz sides that they support the continuation of the Mission."Since the outbreak of conflict in Abkhazia some 15 years ago, the principal peacekeepers have been Russian and Georgian troops. Why, one might legitimately wonder, was a more robust United Nations peacekeeping presence not established early on in this tense stand-off? I wrote this piece about a month and a half ago to answer that question -- and to point out why a little bit of foresight, along with more consistent support for UN peacekeeping, can go a long way in preventing fragile scenarios like the one in Georgia today.
Former Finnish President and career peacemaker Martti Ahtisaari.
Ahtisaari is perhaps best known in UN circles for the "Ahtisaari Plan" for a stable, self determining Kosovo. But he has had a long career as a peace negotiator and conflict manager. From the Washington Post
The Nobel committee cited the "significant part" he played in resolving the Aceh crisis, a success which came on the heels of a tsunami that had devastated the province and other parts of Indonesia. That was only a recent success in a long career of mediation that included efforts in Kosovo, Namibia and more recently in Northern Ireland, where he helped inspection weapon's caches as part of efforts to disarm the Irish Republican Army. The [conflict management nonprofit he founded] also has been active trying to improve security for United Nations personnel in Iraq. "Throughout his entire adult life, Ahtisaari has worked endlessly to solve several long-lasting conflicts," said Ole Danbolt Mjoes, chairman of the five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee. "He's an outstanding international mediator. His efforts and achievements have demonstrated the important role of mediation in solving international conflicts." Ahtisaari, in a radio interview quoted by the Associated Press, said he felt his work in Namibia was "absolutely the most important" negotiation he helped manage. Then a South African-occupied territory, Namibia was the scene of a decades-long conflict between South African troops and the South West Africa People's Organization, a liberation movement that drew support from neighboring Angola.Congratulations, Mr. Ahtisaari. A well deserved award! (picture from Flickr)
Word is, the president will take North Korea off the list of state sponsors of terror as early as today. The Washington Post reports that this move comes on the heels of threats by North Korea to re-start its nuclear facility at Yongbyon, where International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors were barred from entering earlier in the week.
Meanwhile, the Secretary General released a new report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea.
Although their veracity could not be independently confirmed, reports from a range of sources continue to cite a high number of public executions. There is allegedly a crackdown on petty economic criminals, whose number has increased owing to the current serious food shortages and difficult living conditions, which have also led to an increase in the number of kkotjebi (homeless children). When forcibly repatriated, nationals who had left the country without State permission continue to face interrogation, mistreatment and sometimes torture, followed by imprisonment and forced labour. Punishment for the family members of defectors has reportedly been used as a deterrent to prevent defection. There have been continued accounts of prisoners being subjected to forced labour, ideological rehabilitation and sometimes torture, many of whom allegedly suffer from malnutrition and chronic diseases. Female prisoners are allegedly subjected to sexual assault and forced abortion. The trafficking of women for the purposes of prostitution and forced marriage also continues to be reported. (emphasis mine)This probably should not come as a surprise, but it is very disturbing nonetheless. And it is probably fair to say that these kinds of abuses will continue regardless of North Korea's nuclear status or whether or not it is on a State Department list of state sponsors of terror. UPDATE: "No decision has been taken yet," says a State Department spokesperson on the question of removing North Korea from the list of state sponsors of terror. Consultations with the Russian Foreign Minister are pending.
Singer-Songwriter and AIDS activist Annie Lennox discusses the stigma surrounding children with HIV.
An editorial in Kenya's Daily Nation thinks that the international community's response to the pirate crisis has been too focused on a military solution.
[I]nstead of sabre-rattling in a situation as fraught with danger as this, maybe the United Nations should be thinking of employing the services of negotiators skilled in the art of handling hostage situations.The United Nations has passed two resolutions authorizing countries to use naval force to combat piracy. And NATO is ready to comply, agreeing to send its warships to join those of the United States and Russia off the coast of Somalia. But this does not mean that international organizations are not engaged in negotiations. In fact, it's been negotiations that have resulted in the potential ransom deal with the Ukrainian ship and today's release of a Japanese ship that pirates had seized. The Daily Nation's broader point, though, is valid; the response to lawless bandits marauding cargo and passenger ships with impunity will require a significant commitment and reorientation of strategy. One key process, as I argued here, is connecting the anarchy at sea to the anarchy on the ground. This means seriously delving into the messy and difficult realities of Somali politics and working to forge a government that enjoys widespread legitimacy and can both protect its civilians and control the terrorist threat on and offshore. Preparing a military component to an international anti-piracy strategy, in short, by no means precludes other, equally important initiatives. I do believe, though, that dealing with such intransigent law-breakers -- not to mention simply protecting ships and humanitarian aid convoys -- requires the mobilization of naval resources. And plus, the pirates still seem to have eyes for nothing but the money. (Image from flickr user Ligadier Truffaut using a Creative Commons license)
When I cited international reports that had laid eyes on the cargo manifest of the Ukrainian ship hijacked by pirates en route to Kenya South Sudan, I was confident that the documentation told the whole story. However, the Kenyan government -- which obviously does not want to be seen as undermining a peace between North and South Sudan that it helped mediate -- seems to have staked its defense on the meaning of four little letters on this potentially damning piece of evidence. The Economist raises this possibility that I had not considered:
Much will turn on the real meaning of the acronym GOSS, evident as the buyer on the manifest. Most people take this to mean the Government of South Sudan, meaning that the tanks were destined for that region. The Kenyans say it means the Kenyan army's own General Ordinance Supplies and Security, proving that the tanks were going to Kenya.My guess is that the tanks were in fact headed to Sudan -- yet it does seem amazingly coincidental that the Kenyan army does in fact have an organization with the initials GOSS. We can be sure, though, that the pirates currently holding onto the cargo were not intended to be the ultimate recipients.