Monthly Archives: November 2008
UN Secretary General Condemns Mumbai Attacks
Ban Ki-moon on the tragic events in Mumbai:
“Such violence is totally unacceptable,” Ban’s spokeswoman said in a statement. “The Secretary-General reiterates his conviction that no cause or grievance can justify indiscriminate attacks against civilians.”
“He calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice swiftly,” the statement said, expressing sympathy for the families of the victims and solidarity with the people and government of India.
Note that in addition to hotels, a train station and a popular cafe, the attackers targeted hospitals.
Resources/updates:
Video from MSNBC:
Thinking of Refugees this Thanksgiving
For those of us in the United States, Thanksgiving is a time for reuniting with family over an enormous feast. It is also a time to think of those less fortunate. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo right now, over 200,000 people have been recently uprooted from violence. Day to day survival is a struggle and a peace process so far is elusive. Fortunately, international organizations like the World Food Program and UNICEF are fighting to keep up with humanitarian demands. It is an uphill struggle, but without their involvement the situation would be much, much worse. If you are looking for ways to help, the World Food Program’s Fill the Cup campaign is a good way to get involved.
100,000 Pakistani Rupees to Burn a Schoolgirl
An update to the story of acid attacks against Afghan schoolgirls:
The police in Kandahar have arrested 10 Taliban militants they said were involved in an attack earlier this month on a group of Afghan schoolgirls whose faces were doused with acid, officials in Kandahar said Tuesday.
The officials said that the militants, who were Afghan citizens, had confessed to their involvement in the attack on the schoolgirls and their teachers on Nov. 12 and that a high-ranking member of the Taliban had paid the militants 100,000 Pakistani rupees for each of the girls they managed to burn. [emphasis added]
The girls were assaulted Nov. 12 by two men on a motorcycle who were apparently irate that the girls dared to attend high school. The men drove up beside them and splashed their faces with what appeared to be battery acid.
The Wall Against Hunger
A great initiative (and good use of technology):
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today called for people from all walks of life to join its online “virtual wall” to fight hunger, an initiative that will provide free meals for nearly 60 million children worldwide who go to school hungry.
For a small donation “The Wall Against Hunger” allows individuals to post their picture on a website – which several celebrities and sports personalities have already pledged to join – and email their wall images to friends as well as bookmark them to their social networking websites.
Susan Rice to the United Nations
ABC News is reporting that Obama confidant, former Assistant Secretary of State and member of President Clinton’s National Security Council, Susan Rice is slated to be the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations. This is great news. The fact that President-elect Obama is entrusting US diplomacy at the United Nations to such a close adviser is a sure sign of the high priority to which the new administration will place US-UN relations. Deeper still, her background as a regional Africa expert will come in handy. About 2/3rds of all discussions at the Security Council are about situations in Africa.
More broadly, Rice is known in foreign policy circles as an innovative, forward thinking foreign policy wonk who pays special attention to the connectivity of today’s threats and challenges. As a diplomat, I expect her to be fairly sharp-elbowed, which is not a bad quality for Turtle Bay!
Here is how UN Foundation head Tim Wirth described Rice to Spencer Ackerman a couple of weeks ago.
Rice saw connectivity in the world’s problems, instead of viewing them through the traditional prism of individual state power.“She was one of the few people to live in the foreign-policy world who understood global issues, transnational issues like human rights, climate change and terrorism,” said Wirth, who worked with Rice when she was at the NSC and who now heads the United Nations Foundation. “The foreign-policy community is largely about political relationships. That’s what drives the [typical] foreign-policy world. But the new one is transnational problems, problems that don’t have passports.”
UPDATE: I should also note that Rice has been a leading critic of the current administration’s Darfur policy, which she described as a policy of “bluster and retreat.” When she sets foot at first avenue, I expect her to focus like a laser beam on Darfur. The fledgling peacekeeping mission and stalled peace process could certainly use the help. Read more
In Praise of Denmark
My week long trip to Ethiopia wrapped up yesterday and I would be remiss if I did not offer a word of praise for the people who made this possible for me: the Danes.
Denmark is a country of only about 5 million and has an Gross National Income (GNI) of $311 billion. Yet a staggering 0.8% percent of its GNI is allocated for foreign development assistance. This makes Denmark one of only five countries that have internalized a United Nations goal that at least 0.7% of developed countries’ GNI be dedicated to foreign development assistance. By comparison, the amount of official development aid as a percentage of GNI is 0.38% for France, 0.27% for Canada, and 0.16% for the United States.
Denmark’s generosity, though, is not driven entirely by altruism. Rather, foreign aid is seen as a way for Denmark to punch above its weight in global affairs. It was this impulse that drove Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen to establish the Africa Commission, which met in Addis Ababa last week and was the reason for my coming.
The African Commission is made up of a number of foreign leaders and dignitaries including Deputy UN Secretary General Asha Rose-Migiro, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, and the African Union Commissioner Jean Ping among others. They met in Addis to discuss ways to increase employment opportunities for Africa’s bulging youth population. The need is great. Some 46% of Africans are between the ages of 5 and 25, a vast majority of whom are uneducated and underemployed.
The current government of Denmark is center-right, which was reflected by commission’s singular focus on ways in which the private sector can be incentived to invest in African youth. (Indeed, the traveling Danish press made hay over a statement by Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen that the previous government engaged in fluffy, “aid socialism.”) Despite this focus on the private sector, civil society was not shut out of the meeting. The Danish government sponsored a parallel African Youth Panel, which included some 60 dedicated, innovative and amazingly bright social entrepreneurs from all across Africa. After a week of hashing out ideas among themselves, the youth delegates presented the Commission with their own recommendations.
The Commission will meet again in Copenhagen in May 2009 and offer a final set of recommendations on how to increase the effectiveness of foreign development assistance. I will certainly stay on the story.
Finally, on a separate note, the African Commission is clearly top foreign policy priority for Denmark. But the country’s biggest moment in the international spotlight comes in December 2009, when world leaders meet in Copenhagen to discuss a successor international climate change treaty to the Kyoto Protocols, which are set to expire in 2012. It was pleasantly shocking to me as an outsider to witness the extent to which climate change permeated nearly every aspect of this meeting. This includes the carbon offsets the government bought to fly me there to thematic discussions about how climate change will affect employment opportunities for African youth.
I already pointed out Denmark’s relative aid generosity. Other countries could do worse than following Denmark’s lead on climate change as well.
Acid Attacks: Burnt But Not Defeated
Earlier today, I posted about the savage stoning of 13-year-old rape victim Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow, saying that “it’s difficult not to become disillusioned with the grim reality that this kind of brutality continues across the globe and that it’s more often women and children who bear the brunt of it.”
Speaking of women and children bearing the brunt of violence, last week we heard about acid attacks on Afghan schoolgirls:
No students showed up at Mirwais Mena girls’ school in the Taliban’s spiritual birthplace the morning after it happened.
A day earlier, men on motorcycles attacked 15 girls and teachers with acid. The men squirted the acid from water bottles onto three groups of students and teachers walking to school Wednesday, principal Mehmood Qaderi said. Some of the girls have burns only on their school uniforms but others will have scars on their faces. One teenager still cannot open her eyes after being hit in the face with acid.
“Today the school is open, but there are no girls,” Qaderi said Thursday. “Yesterday, all of the classes were full.” His school has 1,500 students.
To get a visceral sense of what these women and girls endure, watch this clip:
Orphans of Ethiopia
OROMIA PRECINCT, ETHIOPIA–There are an estimated 6 million orphans in Ethiopia, a country of 82 million. There are a number of causes for this shockingly high number — periodic droughts, food insecurity, lack of access to contraception and exceptionally high birthrates in rural areas among them. What it all boils down to, though, is that this is a desperately poor country.
Still, even amid a situation this tragic, I came across a place of hope and inspiration. On the outskirts of Addis there is an orphanage sponsored by SOS Enfants Ethiopie, a French charity. The orphanage cares for over 300 children ages 5 to 18 and is also something of a community resource center. Children come here from a separate SOS Enfants Ethiopie sponsored orphanage that cares for children from zero to five. Once they arrive, they are provided health care, education, meals, and around the clock care. And of course, there is play-time.
Some of the children are placed in foster families in the community. Those who are not remain at the orphanage until the age of 18. For children who qualify for university (by passing tests equivalent to an American SAT) the orphanage will pay student fees and a stipend. For the students that do not qualify for university, there are a number of on-site vocational training facilities, including a metallurgy shop (welders are in high demand around Addis), a woodwork shop, horticultural training, clothes making and embroidery. Members of the outside community are also given training here, free of charge providing they send at least one of their children to school.
The orphanage has about 40 staff, including cooks, cleaners, teachers, expert crafts men and women who teach in the vocational schools, a full-time staff member dedicated to finding employment for graduates, nurses, a pediatrician, farm hands, security guards, social workers and couple of managers. Perhaps most shocking is that the orphanage employs all these people, cares for 300 hundred children, maintains its facilities, and engages in extensive community outreach with annual operating budget of under $600,000.
Of course, considering the scope of the problem, orphanages like this are fighting an uphill battle in Ethiopia. Still the dedication of the staff was truly inspirational.
More pictures with captions after the jump. Check out SOS Enfants Ethiopie for more information about their important work.
Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow
I want to go back to Vanessa’s post about the stoning of 13-year-old rape victim Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow:
It doesn’t get worse than this. Last week, 13-year old Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow was stoned to death in Somalia by insurgents because she was raped. Reports indicate that was raped by three men while traveling by foot to visit her grandmother in conflict capital, Mogadishu. When she went to the authorities to report the crime, they accused her of adultery and sentenced her to death. Aisha was forced into a hole in a stadium of 1,000 onlookers as 50 men buried her up to the neck and cast stones at her until she died. When some of the people at the stadium tried to save her, militia opened fire on the crowd, killing a boy who was a bystander.
More from the BBC:
A witness who spoke to the BBC’s Today programme said she had been crying and had to be forced into a hole before the stoning, reported to have taken place in a football stadium. … She said: ‘I’m not going, I’m not going. Don’t kill me, don’t kill me.’ “A few minutes later more than 50 men tried to stone her.” The witness said people crowding round to see the execution said it was “awful”.
I wrote about the story on Huffington Post and Daily Kos, expressing hope that “we can all work with the incoming administration to begin creating conditions in which we can banish this barbaric and malevolent behavior from our planet.” In response, some commenters expressed doubt that we could curtail such monstrosities, arguing that Darfur is an example of global activism yielding dubious results.
Admittedly, it’s difficult not to become disillusioned with the grim reality that this kind of brutality continues across the globe and that it’s more often women and children who bear the brunt of it.
Still, when we consider Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow’s unthinkable fate, one thing is for certain: though we may never eradicate this type of violence, we can’t let our doubts stop us from doing everything we can to prevent it from happening. And in the 21st century, the Internet affords us the opportunity to raise awareness on a greater scale than ever before — witness the Facebook page dedicated to Aisha and the many blog posts and articles about her. We can only hope that as our world becomes more networked, there’s a corresponding increase in our collective ability to protect other innocents like Aisha Ibrahim Duhulow. Read more
-
The top United Nations refugee official today voiced his alarm at new inflows of refugees into Rwanda and Uganda, fleeing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 8,200 refugees have crossed from DRC into Rwanda since 27 April, according to staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These are in addition to the 55,000 Congolese refugees that Rwanda is already hosting.
-
Syria: U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan is urging Syria’s government to accept U.N. conditions for expanding the distribution of humanitarian aid to roughly 1 million Syrians in need of assistance, the United Nations said today. Meanwhile, three vehicles belonging to … Read more
-
Sustainable Future Symposium; ICT for Development; IAEA/Iran; Global Financial Transaction Tax; and more
Partnerships and development cooperation among countries will play a key role in accelerating sustainable development, the Secretary-General of the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), Sha Zukang said today, stressing that assistance will need to focus on helping developing countries find longer-term solutions to eradicate poverty and transition into a green economy.The two-day Australia High-Level Symposium, “Shaping a Sustainable Future – Partners in Development Cooperation,” which began today, seeks to facilitate an informal dialogue on development cooperation among high-level policymakers, multilateral and civil society organizations, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.
-
DR Congo; South Sudan; UNHCR and OIC; and more
Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, today voiced concern over the human rights situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has experienced a recent upsurge in violence. Mr. Šimonovic said he was “appalled” by the heightened levels of recent violence triggered by defections in the Congolese armed forces, including former members of certain militia groups, and welcomed joint efforts between the peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), humanitarian actors and the authorities to protect civilians and respond to human rights violations.
-
Asia-Pacific Human Development Report; Syria; Horn of Africa; UNRWA
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region must find ways to continue to grow economically and lift millions out of poverty while also responding to climate change and environmental concerns, according to UN report released today, which stresses that new methods of production are needed to meet this goal.UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012 argues that policies and actions in the region will have a global impact as it is home to more than half of the world’s population and half of the planet’s megacities.
-
SG on Rio/Post-2015 Development; Syria; Middle East; Global Fund; and more
Appealing for flexibility in reaching agreement on a final outcome document, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today, emphasized the need for Member States to agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the Rio+20 conference while also announcing the appointment of three co-chairs to his High-Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Planning. We should agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals that build on the Millennium Development Goals … find better ways to measure progress that goes beyond Gross Domestic Product …and advance action to improve people’s lives through decent work, social protection and the empowerment of women and young people,” the UN chief said in his address to the UN General Assembly.
-
Syria; Guinea-Bissau; UNAIDS; Afghanistan; and more
Amid concerns from the international community over the prospects of a “full civil war” in Syria, the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, said today that the ongoing levels of violence and human rights abuses in the Middle Eastern country are unacceptable and the UN observer mission is possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize it.
-
Peacebuilding; South Sudan; Indigenous Issues; Rwanda
The United Nations is determined to do everything possible to assist societies torn by war from sliding back into conflict, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an audience in the United States capital today, adding that while there have been setbacks, peacebuilding remains a crucial element of the world body’s efforts.In a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D. C., Mr. Ban highlighted the work of the UN’s 16 peacekeeping operations and 15 political missions in the area of peacebuilding – a core mandate of the Organization.
-
Counter-terrorism; South Sudan; Iran; Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and more
At the Security Council’s high-level debate on Counter-terrorism today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said today he hoped Member States will decide to create the position of a UN Counter-Terrorism Coordinator to promote better coordination, collaboration and cooperation among all players.Mr. Ban told the Security Council, during its debate on threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts, that terrorism is a significant threat to peace and security, prosperity and people, and the global community continues to pursue a robust and comprehensive response.
-
Sudan/South Sudan; North Korea; Afghanistan; “Born too Soon” report; and more
The Security Council today adopted a unanimous resolution calling on Sudan and South Sudan to immediately end hostilities and resume negotiations within two weeksto resolve all outstanding issues, and voiced its intention to take appropriate measures if the parties do not comply. The Council decided that the two countries shall, among other measures, “immediately cease all hostilities; unconditionally withdraw all of their armed forces to their side of the border; activate, within one week, the necessary border security mechanisms; and immediately cease hostile propaganda and inflammatory statements in the media”.
