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Written by prmart07 on Apr 30, 2008

“Sexual violence” is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as: “any sexual act, attempt to obtain a sexual act, unwanted sexual comments or advances, or acts to traffic, or otherwise directed, against a person’s sexuality using coercion, by any person regardless of their relationship to the victim, in any setting, including but not limited to home and work.” Over the past five years of the violent conflict in the Darfur region, women and girls living in refugee camps, and rural areas have been exposed to a plague of sexual violence.

Men from the Sudanese Armed Forces, the militia or the Janjaweed,...

Excremental politics

Written by johncollins on Apr 28, 2008

Colonization takes many forms, including land confiscation, expulsion, murder, torture, and the systematic assault on indigenous identity. And then there is this. As Israel prepares to celebrate the 60th anniversary of its founding, people in Gaza are literally drowning in shit.

The subtitle of Johann Hari's column in The Independent this morning says it all: "How did a Jewish state founded 60 years ago end up throwing filth at cowering Palestinians?"

Hari, mind you, is no anti-Israel crusader--far from it. As he makes clear in his column, he is well aware of the need to move beyond the usual polemical attacks and defenses that characterize so much discourse on Israel. He wants to be fair:

I would love to be able to crash the birthday party with words of reassurance. Israel has given us great novelists like Amos Oz and A.B....

Take Action! Help in the Fight to End Extreme Poverty

Written by prmart07 on Apr 28, 2008

Poverty, hunger, and disease affect nearly one sixth of the world's
population. Author, economist, and scholar, Jeffrey Sachs, suggests in
his book, The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for our Time,
"Our generation's challenge is to help the poorest of the poor to
escape the misery of extreme poverty so that they may begin their own
ascent up the ladder of economic development."

Sachs, who may often be seen educating some of the world's biggest stars, like Angelina Jolie and U2's, Bono, believes that every human is entitled to "basic standards of nutrition, health, water and sanitation, shelter, and other minimum needs for survival, well-being, and participation in society." He believes that rich countries, like the United States need to do more to...

Sexual Violence Awareness: The World Health Organization in Bangladesh

Written by prmart07 on Apr 27, 2008

Gender-based violence is a major health and human
rights problem throughout the world. Between 2002 and 2003, The World
Health Organization (WHO) led The Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women,
which collected data from over 24,000 women in Bangladesh, Brazil,
Ethiopia, Japan, Namibia, Peru, Samoa, Serbia and Montenegro, Thailand,
and the United Republic of Tanzania. The Study gathered information on
women’s experiences of violence using an effective cross-cultural
survey with a particular focus on violence by intimate partners. There
is also data on non-partner violence, sexual abuse during childhood and
forced first sexual experiences.

In Bangladesh,...

UN Troops Complicit in Arms, Gold and Ivory smuggling in the DRC

Written by dshafer on Apr 27, 2008

This article is certaintly going to wake up a few people to the problems in the DRC, and problems in the UN. This is a must read, check it out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7365283.stm

Hundreds are abducted by the LRA

Written by Camcau06 on Apr 25, 2008

Amnesty International has recently released information on the hundreds of individuals reported as kidnapped in central Africa. The UN and Central African leaders are being advised to reach out and “secure the release of the 350 men, women, and children thought to be abducted by the Lords Resistance Army. ” Since 1987 the LRA, led by Joseph Kony, has been abducting children from their homes and training the males as militiamen and using the females as sex slaves. The LRA is a rebel army located mainly in northern Uganda, and some parts of the Sudan. The rebel group has committed numerous unimaginable acts...

Child Marriage

Written by Jon Cardinal on Apr 24, 2008

In March 2001, the BBC reported
that the United Nations Children’s Fund or UNICEF was demanding an end
to child marriage, which “condemns millions of young girls to a life of
misery and pain.” UNICEF noted that about half of the population of
women in some countries is married by the age of 18 because of poverty,
tradition and family pressure. This practice deprives young girls, in
particular, their personal freedom and their right to an education, as
they are often pulled out of school prematurely for the marriage.
The World Health Organization’s World Report on Violence and Health classifies child marriage as a “customary” form of sexual...

AFRICOM's History of US-Africa relations: A Lesson in Oversight

Written by awball04 on Apr 24, 2008

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science." -Charles Darwin

I was perusing the AFRICOM website today and came across a few interesting findings, but none more so than the "Fact" Sheet of US-Africa Relations Chronology. In light of Bush's recent trip to Africa, the United States Department of State released a timeline in order to give a (partial) history of US-Africa relations. As is always the case, our government's understanding of history, let alone its...

Who Cares?

Written by Seanedwardwatkins on Apr 24, 2008

There have been many stories in recent weeks over the overall economic downturn in the United States. Just today there is one on MSBC about new home sales plunging 8.5 percent , the lowest since 1991. The dollar is now at a record low , gas prices will be around 4 dollars a gallon over the summer and food prices are skyrocketing.

I currently reside in Ohio, a state that is always incredibly important to presidential elections. I teach a Popular Culture class and have the students bring in news articles each day. The frustrating issue is that they, for the most part,...

Chinese Influence in Africa

Written by awball04 on Apr 23, 2008

Much of the discussion that revolves around the creation of the US African Command Center (AFRICOM) deals with the notion that the increased US interest in Africa comes at a time when Chinese development and economic exploration in Africa is at an all-time high. Despite the US downplaying this claim, there is no doubt that China is still very interested in investing in Africa. Just today, a few news releases back up this claim, and convey both a positive and negative appreciation for China.

The UN announced today that as many as 300,000 people have died in the Darfur region of Sudan in the past five years. Whether or not you believe it is genocide,...

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