Monusco

From the Congo to the UN: ‘Hear the Cries of Women and Girls’

December 31, 2015

In the developed world, women fought and struggled to gain their rights and eventually created a space in which these rights could be expressed. Violence does indeed occur in the developed world, but it cannot be compared to what is happening in countries that are plagued with persistent, systematic conflict. Women in the developed …

WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Ironing Out the Kinks in the UN’s New Human-Rights Initiative

August 12, 2015

by Gerrit Kurtz

BERLIN — In December 2013, Jan Eliasson, the United Nations deputy secretary-general, went on a selling spree. In a series of briefings, he presented a new initiative to UN member states and to the rest of the world. In his address to the General Assembly, Eliasson said, not mincing words: “In improving the way …

WORLDVIEWS

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Russ Feingold on Congo: First, End the Conflict

April 6, 2014

by Ryan Villarreal

Last year marked major progress toward finding a peaceful resolution for the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s achingly long conflict, rooted in decades of civil war, regional incursions, ethnic tensions and resource pilfering. Throughout the many years, women have borne the brunt of the fighting, caught in the crossfire between rival militias and governments …

Africa, Gender-Based Violence, Human Rights

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UN Peacekeeping Deaths Reach 102 in 2013

January 1, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

The United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations tried to maintain calm in many regions in 2013, but none more so than in Africa. In December alone, it lost numerous peacekeepers in three missions on the continent. By year’s end, the department lost 102 peacekeepers, including those who died from accidents and illnesses, and 36 …

Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council

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WORLDVIEWS

War Crimes Against Women and Girls Must Be Prosecuted

November 4, 2013

by Navi Pillay

There is now overwhelming evidence that conflicts exacerbate pre-existing gender discrimination and put women and girls at heightened risk of sexual, physical and psychological violence. One appalling example of this evidence is the report recently to the Human Rights Council by the International Commission of Inquiry on Syria, which highlights the threat and …

Gender-Based Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Congolese Women Grow More Demanding of Local Governments

June 7, 2013

by Mavic Cabrera-Balleza

A global women’s organization with wide experience in peace-building recently brought together scores of prominent women from six African nations to take well-defined steps for dealing with the root causes of the persistent sexual violence occurring in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Declaring that peace in eastern Congo could bring peace to the entire Great Lakes area …

Gender-Based Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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GOINGS-ON

Mali Peacekeeping Mission’s New Envoy and Other Appointments

May 21, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed Albert Gerard Koenders as the first special envoy to Mali under a new peacekeeping mission created by the Security Council in late April. Additionally, the next executive director of the Security Council’s Counterterrorism Committee Executive Directorate is most likely to be announced soon, with the front-runner being Jean-Paul …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Peace and Security

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Congo Army Rapes Detailed in UN Report as Special Brigade Arrives

May 15, 2013

by Tala Dowlatshahi

The cycle of sexual violence that has been churning throughout the eastern half of the Democratic Republic of the Congo has refused to stop, despite all the steps the United Nations has taken over decades to end the epidemic. Just last fall, systematic rapes, committed by the Congolese Army, occurred in an area around …

Africa, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council, Women

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A New UN Brigade Will Make Combat Moves in Congo

April 11, 2013

by Lorraine Boissoneault

For the first time, the United Nations Security Council has passed a resolution allowing UN troops to go on the offensive in a mission against armed rebels. The combat intervention brigade will operate as part of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the northeastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Monusco). …

Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council

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GOINGS-ON

Mary Robinson, New UN Special Envoy for Central Africa?

March 13, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

Mary Robinson, a former president of Ireland, United Nations high commissioner for human rights and philanthropist, is said to be the main candidate for the new United Nations special envoy post for the Great Lakes region in central Africa. The area generally covers Burundi, northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda and some …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Peace and Security

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Illegal Gold Mining Runs Rampant in Eastern Congo

February 26, 2013

by Lorraine Boissoneault

Gold is now one of the most problematic conflict minerals in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and United Nations Security Council sanctions on the illegal mining of natural resources, including gold, have done little to prevent smugglers from profiting, says a new report from a German foundation. The foundation, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, is …

Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council

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Congo Miners See Hope While Rebels Sow Unrest

October 17, 2012

by Dulcie Leimbach

Important progress in controlling the mining of tin, tantalum and tungsten in the troubled eastern region of Democratic Republic of Congo has been achieved, says a report from the Enough Project, a Washington nonprofit group focused on Africa. Yet renewed fighting that began in the spring between regional militias and Congolese national troops, who …