Group items tagged

An uncomfortable article about the UN in Congo. It talks about how the UN has spent billions of dollars and more than a decade on trying to keep peace, but they've accomplished very little.

These rapings are atrocious, and I'm surprised that its coverage on the media has been so meagre, considering the long history of the crisis in the Congo. While the U.N. has not been able to improve the Congo significantly, I'm wondering if the problems lie in the desolateness of the area (no lines of communication, etc) or in the management of the U.N. bases there. I believe that the U.N. could be doing more, but I don't think they should be the only solution; the local economy and infrastructure must improve as well so that better communication and control can be established.

What was most shocking to me about this article was the scale on which this is happening in Congo and how open the attackers are about it- raping an 80 year old woman, raping women with UN peacekeepers right up the street. The rapists have absolutely no limits. Scary and very sad. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

I was shocked (and horrified) to see that such a small group of men could harass and rape over 200 women, including an 80 year old, with UN peacekeepers located up the street. It was equally shocking that the Congo government (police, law enforcement etc) has been unwilling or unable to do anything about this (the article cited them as often "too drunk" to do much about it). It's sad and heart wrenching that the UN has so far been unable to come up with a plan to help these people, and perhaps even more sad that their own government hasn't done anything. It's notable that Congo is being called the "UN's crowning failure" and their greatest failure so far.

This spring I watched a play at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival called "Ruined". It was about women in the Congo: a "ruined" or raped woman runs a bar for soldiers and hires girls to show them a "good time". It was a really heart-wrenching play. I assume that "demolished", the word the woman uses, is, like "ruined", just another translation for "raped". It's interesting that they use a word that signifies total destruction, but also fitting. "Ruined" women often cannot find husbands, or are beaten or killed by their families out of shame. It is so bizarre and disgusting that rape has become such a common side-effect in the Congo. I wonder how accepted it is among the soldiers, or if they receive any punishment for their actions (I'm leaning towards no). I feel as though rape has by now become integrated into the military culture in the Congo. It's not just catching individuals, it's trying to thwart a whole mentality. Which will be very difficult to do, since they have much greater force than the UN presence. The description of how people try to stay as close to UN escort trucks as possible and camp outside the UN houses really illustrates the fear and feeling of defenselessness they must feel. It must be terrifying to live in the Congo right now, both as a villager and a UN worker. I understand why there are no women soldiers stationed there.

Russia has been accused of abusing their veto power by vetoing a UN resolution that would halt Aleppo airstrikes. Russia has supported the Assad regime, which has led to disagreements with the US.

"A total of 184 countries on Wednesday voted in favour of a resolution to demand the end of the US economic blockade on Cuba, for the 29th year in a row, with the United States and Israel voting against"

(Wikipedia) "The United States embargo against Cuba prevents American businesses, and businesses organized under US law or majority-owned by citizens of the United States, from conducting trade with Cuban interests. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modern history."

From drug trafficking to illegal fishing, transnational crime is growing. This is a transcript of a "third committee" meeting addressing some of the issues of transnational criminal organizations today. We've talked a lot about recognized and legal transnational organization, this article illuminates the fact that the aforementioned are not the only flavor available.

The UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan has been accused of a "complete and utter failure" to protect civilians in one of the most dangerous and volatile parts of the war-ravaged country.

An article analyzing the way that Trump's UN speech could impact peoples' view of Iran. The demeanors of both presidents (Trump and President Rouhani of Iran) are compared. The legitimacy of Rouhani's "facts" are also called into question. 

The state run public distribution system collapsed in North Korea in the 90s, forcing people to work in informal markets such as bribery. Right now, reporters asses that bribery (typically to state officials) seems to be the number one way that people are accessing their food, healthcare, shelter, and work. Due to the constant threat of possible arrest, some state officials are able to extort extra money and favors as well. Women are also being found to be more vulnerable to abuse, brokers, and traffickers.

I'm not surprised at the amount of corruption that has been uncovered. I'm mainly interested in how they are able to control the public image of the government so well. I'd like to know more about how the information about all of the North Korean government's shortcomings is kept under wraps.

See this article from 2018: "Inside A North Korea That Is Changing - But At Its Own Pace" NPR https://www.npr.org/2018/10/01/652037944/photos-inside-a-north-korea-that-is-changing-but-at-its-own-pace

UN climate change chief warns about the exponential progression of climate change. The world is currently on track to reach more than double the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Agreement by the end of the century so a lot will have to be done to find solutions

I am concerned that the larger GDP nations will not have convincing propositions to get smaller nations to pull out of the fossil fuel industries. Even if they do, it is very understandable that such fossil fuel dependent nations will have trouble taking such a huge risk to their economy when countries like the U.S. are heavily invested in fossil fuels themselves, and despite their promises, aren't making any progress either- in fact, the reality is quite the opposite.

TOKYO - Government officials from Japan and North Korea held their first talks in four years on Wednesday, amid hopes that the North's new leader could be trying to reduce tensions with Japan and by extension, the United States.

I find both North Korea's political and social situations fascinating. Kim Jong-Un succeeded his father Kim Jong-Il as the "Supreme Leader of North Korea" in December of 2011, and less than a year later seems to be considering solidifying economic ties with other countries. North Korea has been notorious for its isolationism thus its miraculous that the government is willing to begin talks. It will be interesting to see what will happen In Communist North Korea as Cuba (also Communist) becomes open to US travelers for the first time in decades as long as they are with an educational group.

Let's talk about what we know about North Korea's new leader--hopeful or scary?

I thought this was an interesting article because it called into question the authority Obama really has on the decision to use armed forces in Syria. Since the United States is not directly in danger, the article points out how Obama legally needs to put the decision before the UN security council to make a decision.

I also think it's fascinating that there are parallels drawn between Obama's justification that not intervening in Syria would give the message that Syria's violation of the ban on chemical weapons is okay and Obama's willingness to violate the rule that prohibits use of military force without Security Council authorization. The question raised about which rule is more important is very thought-provoking.

An article about a global summit on biodiversity. It would be interesting to see if countries that disagree politically can set aside their differences to work together on a global problem.

Similarly to what Harrison said, it's interesting to see countries that can't seem to agree on much politically starting to come together here. Good!

It's scary to think that we may need to protect 1/4 of the world's land. I hope that we can make that happen. But at the same time, there are daunting problems facing that possible goal, one of the largest being over population. I clicked on this link in the article (http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/10/17/biodiversity.un.summit.briefing/index.html), and found this excerpt that I thought was great: "The demand for food, energy and clean water is projected to increase sharply, over the next 40 years. The world population is expected to grow from 6.8 to 9 billion people, and disposable incomes will also increase. Agriculture and urbanisation often compete with nature over the same land areas. Under unchanged policy, biodiversity will continue to suffer. If we keep meeting this growing demand, the amount of land used for human activity will expand enormously; not only in the supply of food but also in relation to biofuels. This would mean a further decrease in the space available for natural ecosystems. Biodiversity also reduces as a result of ecosystem overexploitation, disturbance and fragmentation, climate change, soil contamination, and water and air pollution. However, biodiversity is useful and of great importance to humanity, among other things because it stimulates soil fertility, manages water regulation and takes care of essential carbon uptake. In addition, many people feel that preservation of species richness and maintaining valuable nature areas are also our moral obligation." In light of that, I feel even more strongly that people should think hard about how many kids they have and their effect on overpopulation. Maybe each woman should have no more than one child (unless she happens to have twins, triplets, etc.), and strongly consider adopting at least one child. But then population decline means trying to support a proportionally larger elderly generation.... O.o

sorry im late to this but the economic sanctions on my country have finally been lifted!

Just in case anyone else was interested, in looking through the UN Human Rights List, here's the full set. 30 articles. Article 3 sounds a bit like the US preamble.

UN Development Program Playlist

"The strongest reason to end the embargo against Cuba is the massive toll that the policy continues to enact on the Cuban population. Both the Cuban government and the United Nations have estimated that the embargo has cost the Cuban economy $130 billion over six decades. It's also worth noting that the US Chamber of Commerce estimates that the embargo costs the US economy billions of dollars each year, as well. The human toll is harder to quantify, but has clearly been significant. Human rights experts at the UN have urged the US to ease sanctions during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing that such a change will save lives by allowing Cuba greater access to medical supplies and equipment."

An overview of Mexico's most significant climate policy and how it will come into play at COP26.

This seems like good policy in theory, but governments have tended to make big goals and not stick to them, so I wonder if they have any kinds of enforcement for if the goals are not met.

In an urgent call for a radical transformation of the energy sector before it is too late, UN climate experts said on Thursday that national pledges to reduce harmful emissions offer little hope of preventing a climate catastrophe.

Three main goals: mitigation, adaptation, climate finance. Very interesting section about the effect of the war in Ukraine on climate efforts- increase in inflation and supply chain crisis. Lots of countries cannot do everything they committed to

I wonder how many countries have actually decreased greenhouse gas emmissions given the pressure that economic growth has on the energy sector and how renewables have not really matured until recently.