12 May 2015
The Mediterranean migrant crisis calls for collective action focused on the immediate need to save lives or else it will represent ‘a moral failure of the first order’, one that undermines international law and security, Peter Sutherland, the UN Special Representative for International Migration warned. (more…)
8 July 2014
On 3 July, at a two-day conference in Accra, the capital of Ghana, West African countries and international health organizations adopted a new common strategy to fight the Ebola epidemic. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the virus has killed at least 467 people in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia since February 2014. (more…)
Source: Reuters | West African authorities adopt common strategy to fight Ebola
4 June 2014
On 2 June, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated that African Union peacekeepers from the Republic of Congo who are stationed in the Central African Republic have been accused of committing human rights abuses, including torture, killings and detentions. The allegations were made by witnesses, local officials and residents who were interviewed during an investigation by HRW. (more…)
Source: Reuters | African Union peacekeepers accused of abuses in Central African Republic: HRW
25 March 2014
On 24 March 2014 a senior US military official confirmed that the US is sending 150 special troops and at least four military aircraft to Uganda in order to search for the fugitive warlord, Joseph Kony. In 2005 the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Kony, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
(more…)
Source: The New York Times | More U.S. Troops to Aid Uganda Search for Kony
Source: The Washington Post | US sends more troops, aircraft to search for Kony
Source: The Guardian | US sends special forces to Uganda to hunt for brutal warlord Joseph Kony
18 February 2014
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for solidarity and concerted action by the United Nations and regional organisations to help the people of Central African Republic (CAR), warning that ‘dark clouds of mass atrocities’ are looming over the nation.
Thousands of people are estimated to have been killed in the conflict in the CAR. The conflict has also left an estimated 2.5 million people – well over half of the country’s 4.6 million residents – in need of humanitarian assistance.
Ban Ki-Moon said: ‘[o]ur commitment to protect civilians is only as meaningful as the political, military and financial muscle deployed to defend them’ and that ‘[t]his will be a crucial opportunity to fortify our collective efforts – a chance to show that cooperation between the UN, AU, EU and others can help the people of the CAR at their time of need.’