Tshisekedi, Kagame to meet in Angola over Congo war
6/7/2022: Angolan President Joao Lourenço, who is also the chairman of the International Conference for the Great Lakes Region, will hold talks with the two leaders with the aim of brokering peace between Rwanda and DR Congo. The countries have been at loggerheads following counter accusations of support for rebel groups in eastern DRC.
Source: The East African
ICC double standards have no place in global justice
1/7/2022: As the International Criminal Court marks its twentieth anniversary, Amnesty International has warned that its legitimacy risks being eroded by a selective approach. For example, recent attention to alleged war crimes in Ukraine contrasts with reticence in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Source: Amnesty International
Landmines: US moves closer toward global ban
21/6/2022: The Biden administration has stated that the US will destroy stocks of antipersonnel mines except those needed for the Korean peninsular. The policy sets the goal of ultimately joining the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, also known as the Ottawa Convention.
Source: Human Rights Watch
Eliminate nuclear weapons before they eliminate us
21/6/2022: The UN Secretary-General has addressed the First Meeting of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, taking place in Vienna. The treaty was adopted in July 2017 and entered into force in January 2021.
Source: UN News
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
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 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
Ethiopia’s complicated barriers to peace
7/6/2022: There has been some progress in negotiations between the main warring parties since the start of this year. But movement towards meaningful talks has been slow on account of mistrust and the complexity of the issues.
Source: African Arguments
South Sudan’s sluggish peace deal fuels further instability
30/5/2022: South Sudan’s transitional government is due to wrap up in less than 10 months. Yet the country’s future looks as bleak as it did in 2018 when rival parties signed a deal to end a crippling civil war that killed nearly 400,000 people.
Source: The New Humanitarian
Top UN Envoy hails two-month renewal of Yemen truce
2/6/2022: A truce between the Government in Yemen and Houthi rebels has been renewed for an additional two months, the UN Special Envoy for the country has announced. Over the past two months civilian casualties have dropped significantly and the parties have been meeting under UN auspices to discuss nationwide military de-escalation.
Source: UN News