Colombia's President Juan Manuel Santos with FARC’s top leader Rodrigo Londoño Credit: UN Mission in Colombia
Colombia marked a major milestone this week in ending its 52 year-long conflict with FARC when the UN certified disarmament of the rebel group as complete. This is a step — and a very consequential one — toward an enduring peace for the country.Still, despite this accomplishment, the road to a lasting peace is still quite long–with some big obstacles in the way.
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Photo Credit: TIKSA NEGERI / Reuters
Nearly a year of protests against land reform issues and heavy-handed government policies is starting to take its toll on Ethiopia, who earlier this month announced a six-month state of emergency. Often hailed as a rising star and economic stronghold of Africa, the growing discontent highlights the limits of authoritarian development as well as the hypocrisy of the West when it comes to human rights abuses.
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Photo Credit: UNHCR/Christophe Vander Eecken
This week France started the long-awaited shutdown of the notorious Jungle refugee camp outside the city of Calais. Billed as a humanitarian measure, the eviction of nearly 7,000 refugees and asylum seekers in the camp is becoming just as controversial as the camp itself as questions remain about what will happen to those who once called the Jungle home.
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Photo Credit: UNHCR/Arielle Moncure
Delegates of the Refugee Congress meet with members of the U.S. Congress as part of their national meeting. Sharing their stories, of how they came to the U.S. and their experiences once here, gives insight to the lawmakers responsible for setting refugee policy and programs designed to help new refugees integrate into their new lives in America.
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Photo credit: UNDP-Zambia
Despite being considered one of the most stable democracies of southern Africa, Zambia is facing a serious political crisis ahead of local, parliamentary, presidential elections and a constitutional referendum. With only a week left before the polls, changes to the constitution, questionable appointments to the Constitutional Court and an expected close election makes many observers worried that a contested result is now an inevitable outcome.
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Campaign posters in Turkey, by Osman Orsal (VOA) - Voice of America, Public Domain
Earlier this month, Turkey experienced a surprising coup attempt that shocked the country and international community. A week later, the aftermath is still unfolding. However current developments highlight that while Turkey survived the coup attempt, democracy there is still under threat.
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Refugees and migrants have pitched their tents on a loading dock in Calais, France / Photo Credit: UNHCR/Christophe Vander Eecken
The Brexit fallout contains multitudes, and there is now a good chance that thousands of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants will soon have a far easier time making it to British soil. This could bring the Syrian refugee crisis to the UK in a way it has largely escaped until now.
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Students in Burundi try to take refuge at US Embassy | Photo credit: AFP/Marco Longari
Nine months after President Pierre Nkurunziza upended Burundi’s fragile post-conflict peace by announcing he would stand for a third term in office, all indications are the crisis is getting worse rather than better. New evidence of sexual assault by security forces and growing allegations of mass killings coupled with the staunch unwillingness by Nkurunziza’s government to participate in regional talks aimed at resolving the crisis are leaving many to wonder how bad things will get.
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Photo: Steve Evans via Flickr
January has been a cruel month for the prospects of peace in Ukraine. As the international community mulls new measures against Russia and continues to debate how to best address the conflict, the fighting has reached new levels of intensity.
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Art by AK Rockefeller / Wikimedia Commons
Nigeria’s five year conflict with Boko Haram took a ghastly turn early this month when the rebel group raided the northern town of Baga at dawn, killing as many as 2,000 civilians and sending thousands more across the border to Chad. A week later, two child bombers killed at least 16 people and injured many more after detonating suicide vest at two different markets in Yobe and Borno State. These are the latest events in a new wave of violence by Boko Haram. With Nigeria preparing for national elections next month, the violence will likely both disrupt and raise the stakes even further for the already contentious elections, bringing even more instability to the country.
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