On April 15, 2010 Oxfam released a new report, “Now, The World Is Without Me”: An investigation of sexual violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The report, which was commissioned by Oxfam and conducted by the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, is an extensive study of rape victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The […]
American’s are quite used to shopping and having few issues returning unwanted or defective merchandise for a refund or exchange, it’s in some sense a cultural norm. However what happens when the same logic is applied to a child? Can one adopt a child and then decide this is not what they thought they were […]
The Catholic Church is once again making headlines, as yesterday many papers broke the news of German Bishop Walter Mixa’s resignation letter to Pope Benedict XVI. Mixa, has been accused of hitting children and is currently under investigation for misappropriating funds from a children’s home (DerSpiegel). Today Mixa officially resigned from his post. The Catholic […]
A version of this article appears at the website atlantic-community.org. The Atlantic Community is a foreign policy think tank based in Berlin and Washington D.C. International Humanitarian Law (IHL) is at a crossroads. Though first implemented to reduce war casualties and prevent atrocities, over the course of the last fifty years the nature of armed […]
Today April 22, 2010 is Earth Day and it’s not only a day to remember to recycle and take a day off from the car, but it is also a day to teach our children about protecting the environment. Today is a day to learn how to safeguard the future children across the globe. To […]
UN concerned DR Congo exit would worsen sexual violence The battle against sexual violence will likely suffer if the United Nations peacekeeping force pulls out from the Democratic Republic of Congo, the UN special representative on sexual violence in conflict Margot Wallstrom warns. DR Congo authorities are pushing for an end to the UN mission. […]
Today,Tuesday April 20, is SAAM Day of Action. The day was set for to nationally to create increased awareness on sexual violence prevention. Across the country events are taking place and various community action campaigns are in effect, much of which, along with additional resources can be found at The National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC). […]
Jessica D’Itri I am reading The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why it Matters by B.R. Myers, an associate professor at Dongseo University in Busan, South Korea. The book purports to explain the national myth that informs the worldviews of North Koreans. The author refutes the standard trope that North Korea is […]
Recently I posted the piece Yemen Fights to Ban Child Marriages, for which a law to set the minimum age for marriage in Yemen at 17 years-old is under heavy debate and protest. While the battle to pass the law rages on the situation of child brides in Yemen has turned deadly. A 12-year-old Yemeni […]
North Koreans are increasingly defying their government to tap into foreign radio broadcasts, according to Peter Beck of the Wall Street Journal. In his recent article, Beck highlighted the high barriers that North Korean civilians face to receive information from foreign sources. All radios sold in North Korea have their dials permanently fixed to the […]
It is true that the world is shrinking, but that doesn’t mean we’ve all caught up with the pace that our global world is moving in. Our daily lives preceded that of what is happening across the pond and in the far reaching corners of the world we have often yet to hear of. However […]
On this day in 1914 a God was born. His name was Kim II Sung, born to a Christian family; his father a preacher. For more than 60 years, the Kim dynasty has ruled North Korea. For all these years and even today, April 15th is celebrated as the day of the flower. The flower […]
A campaign has launched to get the U.N. to adopt a new crime, ‘ecocide’, into the Rome Statute as the fifth crime under its jurisdiction in addition to genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression. The campaign is being run by a British U.N. activist, Polly Higgins that had a minor recent success with […]
European politicians can sell something when they speak about poverty. The ideas are solid. The rhetoric lofty. But let’s face the stark reality; some are just not willing to commit capital and time to meet targets to reduce poverty. Resolving the issue of poverty and homelessness requires a more inclusive approach that takes into account […]
Polio battle is gaining ground Efforts to halt the spread of polio are making progress thanks to better engagement with religious figures in Nigeria and a focused effort on reaching remote areas and migrant populations in India. The two are among the last countries battling to eradicate the disease, and despite the progress polio campaigners […]