Clair MacDougall

ckmacdougall.com

Clair MacDougall is an independent journalist who reports throughout Africa and is now based in the Sahel region, reporting on the security and humanitarian crisis there. She holds an honor's degree in political theory and a master's degree from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism. In February 2021, she won an award from the International Center for Journalists for her article on the first official death of a UN peacekeeper from Covid-19, published in PassBlue and The Daily Beast.

WOMEN AS CHANGEMAKERS

‘Peace Inc.’ Has Failed. This Expert Proposes a New Way to Peacemaking

Clair MacDougall

• May 24, 2021

Séverine Autesserre, a former humanitarian-aid worker, award-winning researcher and professor of political science at Columbia University, has become one of the foremost thinkers on international peace-building in the last decade. Following “Peaceland,” a book critically exploring the parallel worlds of United Nations peacekeeping missions, and “The Trouble With the Congo,” which examines the failed peace efforts …

Peace and Security, Security Council, Women as Changemakers

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COVID-19

Ebola Fighters in Africa Call for Covid Vaccine Equity, but It May Be Too Late

Clair MacDougall

• May 10, 2021

Liberian Dr. James Soka Moses remembers the West African region’s devastating Ebola outbreak as if it were yesterday: the roaring ambulances, the patients lying on the floor and spilling outside of treatment facilities, the smell of vomit and the sight of death and suffering that still comes to him in flashbacks seven years later. …

Africa, Covid-19, Health and Population

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A Wedding Party Hit By French Forces in Mali Killed Mostly Civilians, UN Report Says

Clair MacDougall

• March 31, 2021

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — From above, the photographs show a stretch of charred land in the middle of the desert and a mass grave covered in dried tree branches, where people living around Bounti, a village in central Mali, said those who had been killed by French airstrikes were buried. On the ground were …

Africa, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council

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UN Probe Details Atrocities in Mali and Civilian Deaths From French Airstrikes

Clair MacDougall

• February 8, 2021

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — A recent United Nations investigation has documented years of grave human-rights violations, including war crimes and other atrocities, in Mali that have gone unpunished as the UN peacekeeping mission there struggles to stabilize the troubled West African nation. A highly detailed, 336-page report on the abuses, obtained in full by …

Africa, Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations

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TOPIC: WOMEN

The Sole Woman Running for President of Burkina Faso Says: ‘I Will Win’

Clair MacDougall

• November 19, 2020

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Monique Yéli Kam’s war room is not a typical campaign headquarters for a national presidential candidate. A dusty white marquis stands next to stacked blue chairs fanning out to a balcony that leads to a room where teenage boys jostle to play a soccer video game. Upstairs in her apartment, …

Africa, Governance, Women

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As the Nobel Peace Prize Is Awarded to the World Food Program, Famines Loom

Clair MacDougall

• October 10, 2020

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — David Beasley, the head of the World Food Program, this year’s just-announced Nobel Peace Prize winner, has warned that the number of people facing starvation could double next year, to 270 million, if the agency is unable to raise enough money to cope with the crisis. “2021 is going to be …

Humanitarian Aid, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

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After Resisting, the UN Redeploys Peacekeepers to Protect Dr. Mukwege, Amid Death Threats

Clair MacDougall

• September 9, 2020

Dr. Denis Mukwege sat behind a desk in a sharp suit with a red tie and his eyes framed by thick black glasses, as his image was live-streamed from eastern Congo during a human-rights meeting of the European Parliament in Brussels on Aug. 31. Dr. Mukwege spoke matter-of-factly about women who had been buried …

Africa, Gender Violence, Secretary-General

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COVID-19

En‌ ‌Malí,‌ ‌la‌ ‌Primera‌ ‌Muerte‌ ‌de‌ ‌un ‌Pacificador‌ ‌de‌ ‌la‌ ‌ONU‌ ‌por‌ ‌Covid-19‌ ‌Mantiene‌ ‌a‌ ‌Su‌ ‌Familia‌ ‌Adivinando‌ ‌

Clair MacDougall

• August 5, 2020

OUAGADOUGOU,‌ ‌Burkina‌ ‌Faso‌ ‌–‌ ‌Fernando‌ ‌Guillén,‌ ‌un‌ ‌jugador‌ ‌de‌ ‌22‌ ‌años‌ ‌y‌ ‌YouTuber,‌ ‌encendió‌ ‌su‌ ‌computadora,‌ ‌tomó‌ ‌un‌ ‌sorbo‌ ‌de‌ ‌agua, y ‌respiró‌ ‌hondo‌ ‌y‌ ‌agradeció‌ ‌a‌ ‌Dios‌ ‌por‌ ‌estar‌ ‌vivo ‌antes‌ ‌de‌ ‌comenzar‌ ‌su‌ ‌transmisión‌ ‌en‌ ‌vivo‌ ‌a través de‌ ‌videojuegos‌ ‌desde‌ ‌su‌ ‌habitación‌ ‌en‌ ‌San‌ ‌Antonio,‌ ‌Texas. ‌Sentado‌ ‌en‌ ‌una‌ ‌silla‌ ‌de‌ ‌juego‌ ‌de‌ ‌respaldo‌ …

Africa, Covid-19, UN Peacekeeping

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COVID-19

In Mali, the First Death of a UN Peacekeeper From Covid-19 Keeps His Family Guessing

Clair MacDougall

• July 27, 2020

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — Fernando Guillén, a 22-year-old gamer and YouTuber, switched on his computer, took a sip of water and a deep breath and thanked God for being alive, before beginning his live stream on video games from his bedroom in San Antonio, Tex. Sitting in a high-backed gaming chair and dressed in …

Covid-19, UN Peacekeeping

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Clair MacDougall

‘Peace Inc.’ Has Failed. This Expert Proposes a New Way to Peacemaking

Ebola Fighters in Africa Call for Covid Vaccine Equity, but It May Be Too Late

A Wedding Party Hit By French Forces in Mali Killed Mostly Civilians, UN Report Says

UN Probe Details Atrocities in Mali and Civilian Deaths From French Airstrikes

The Sole Woman Running for President of Burkina Faso Says: ‘I Will Win’

As the Nobel Peace Prize Is Awarded to the World Food Program, Famines Loom

After Resisting, the UN Redeploys Peacekeepers to Protect Dr. Mukwege, Amid Death Threats

En‌ ‌Malí,‌ ‌la‌ ‌Primera‌ ‌Muerte‌ ‌de‌ ‌un ‌Pacificador‌ ‌de‌ ‌la‌ ‌ONU‌ ‌por‌ ‌Covid-19‌ ‌Mantiene‌ ‌a‌ ‌Su‌ ‌Familia‌ ‌Adivinando‌ ‌

In Mali, the First Death of a UN Peacekeeper From Covid-19 Keeps His Family Guessing

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