The UN’s Women, Peace and Security agenda has stalled
15/6/2022: Back in 2000 UN member states committed to including women in all peace-building processes. Despite 100 countries enacting national plans to further this agenda, women remain largely absent from conflict mediation.
Source: PassBlue
Ethiopia’s invisible ethnic cleansing
16/6/2022: The Executive Director of Human Rights Watch chronicles the largely invisible campaign of ethnic cleansing that has played out in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray since the civil war began in November 2020.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Global Peace Index falls again
15/6/2022: The Global Peace Index, a measure of peace using 23 indicators released annually for the past 16 years, fell by 0.3% in 2021, the 11th deterioration in 14 years. Countries experiencing violent internal conflict rose from 29 to 38.
Source: Devex
Global forced displacement hits another record
16/6/2022: By the end of 2021 the number of people displaced by war, violence, persecution and human rights abuses stood at 89.3 million, according to the annual Global Trends report. This figure has doubled over the last decade.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
Sudan is wary of third filling of Ethiopia Nile dam
16/6/2022: Sudan’s officials are concerned about an imminent round of filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam without a formative agreement on risk management. A bid by the African Union to mediate between Sudan, Egypt and Ethiopia has yet to bear fruit.
Source: The East African
Statement to the Human Rights Council on Eritrea
13/6/2022: Eritrea’s Human Rights Council membership has not led to greater respect for international standards, according to Human Rights Watch. The government has taken no steps to end its widespread forced labor and conscription and continues to severely restrict basic freedoms.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Cycle of human rights violations continues in Myanmar
14/6/2022: The UN Human Rights Council has been briefed that Myanmar is still suffering from the devastating consequences of the February 2021 military coup, with at least 1,900 killings by the military and one million internally displaced people. Many experts are critical of the international community for its inadequate financial and ethical response.
Source: UN News
Cambodia convicts opposition figures in mass trial
14/6/2022: A Phnom Penh court has convicted around 60 opposition figures as long-serving leader Hun Sen cracks down on dissent ahead of national elections next year. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, in exile in France, had another eight years added to his existing sentence.
Source: CNA
WTO under pressure to reform at overdue Geneva summit
12/6/2022: The World Trade Organization faces a deep internal crisis, as its first summit in years gets under way. Key agenda issues such as patent protection on COVID-19 vaccines and fishing subsidies remain unresolved.
Source: DW
Global nuclear arsenals are expected to grow
13/6/2022: Despite a marginal decrease in the number of nuclear warheads in 2021, nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming decade. There are clear indications that the reductions that have characterized global nuclear arsenals since the end of the cold war have ended.
Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute