Fundamental rights are key to peaceful elections in Kenya
21/7/2022: Independent UN human rights experts have called on candidates standing in next month’s general election to foster civic space to prevent violence. Kenya has a history of contested elections and political violence, marked by human rights violations.
Source: UN News
Zimbabwe chokes on $13 billion China loans
20/7/2022: Zimbabwe is choking under mounting international debt as it begins to pay the price for borrowing heavily from China for infrastructure projects. Debt relief strategies may depend on genuine political and economic reforms.
Source: The East African
Accusation of war crimes for use of landmines in Myanmar
20/7/2022: The Myanmar military is committing war crimes by laying antipersonnel landmines on a massive scale in and around villages in Kayah State, according to Amnesty International. Antipersonnel landmines are inherently indiscriminate and their use is internationally banned.
Source: Amnesty International
Nicaraguan government dismantles civil society
19/7/2022: In the last 6 weeks, Nicaraguan authorities have cancelled the legal registration of over 770 nongovernmental organizations, effectively forcing them to shut down their operations. Civil society groups play a critical role in a country that has no independent state institutions to check on executive power.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Joint Statement by UN leaders on the global food crisis
15/7/2022: Leaders of UN food and finance agencies have again voiced their concern for global food security. They urge actions in four key areas: providing support to the vulnerable, facilitating trade and international supply of food, boosting production and investing in climate-resilient agriculture.
Source: World Food Programme
Simplifying peacemaking in a complex world
12/7/2022: Since the early-2000s, the world has become more complex with a range of new actors complicating efforts to achieve peace, compounded by the inadequacy of the UN. Three former heads of state of Nigeria, South Africa, and Ethiopia reflect on what it takes to end conflict in a meaningful way.
Source: African Arguments
Biden should not renew arms sales to Saudi Arabia
14/7/2022: Reports suggest that the ban on US sales of offensive weapons to Saudi Arabia will be reviewed during the forthcoming visit of President Biden. Since the beginning of the war in Yemen, Human Rights Watch and other groups have documented how the Saudi- and UAE-led coalition has used US weapons in apparent unlawful airstrikes.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Probe into war crimes in Ukraine needs coordination
14/7/2022: A conference hosted by the International Criminal Court has agreed to coordinate efforts to bring perpetrators of war crimes in Ukraine to justice. There are concerns that too many organisations are investigating the evidence.
Source: DW
Open Society Foundation concern for democratic dysfunction
13/7/2022: The President of the Open Society Foundation has painted a gloomy picture of the state of democracy, thwarting the response to many global crises. He sees promise from recent elections in Latin America which have returned progressive, democratic governments to power.
Source: Devex
Aid Transparency Index finds decline in standards
13/7/2022: The 2022 Aid Transparency Index has fallen slightly, the first time the index has not recorded an improvement. The African Development Bank’s sovereign portfolio was identified as the most transparent.
Source: Devex