Peristyl House in Palmyra, Syria.
(Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Commons - http://bit.ly/1K17sDn)
In war, there are casualties. While historical building, monuments, artifacts and artwork is always at risk in conflict, recent actions by extremist groups such as ISIS in Iraq and Syria, and the Al Qaeda-linked Ansar Dine in Mali highlight the difficult position international organizations are in to protect cultural heritage as war rages on.
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Photo: Italian Coast Guard/Massimo Sestini
Ahead of World Refugee Day on June 20, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees released their annual “Global Trends” report on the state of refugees in the world today. The data is staggering. There are now more refugees and internally displaced persons in the world than at any point since World War II – estimated at nearly 60 million that have been driven from their homes by conflict and upheaval.
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As the post-2015 agenda ramps up and the international community prepares for the official launch of the Sustainable Development Goals, the focus is turning to what tools can make the SDGs achievable. One major change that has occurred since the release of the MDGs is the data revolution, where big data can now be used to gauge the progress of goals and identify program gaps. At a meeting this week in Washington, DC, key development stakeholders are tackling the questions of how the data revolution can help achieve health-related SDGs and move closer to universal health coverage across the world.
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Following attacks on several foreign-owned shops in Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa that left seven people dead, several other African states have called for evacuation of their citizens and issued warnings of retaliatory action on South African businesses unless South Africa does something to curtail the rising xenophobic sentiments in the country. Although it is not the first time such xenophobia has erupted in South Africa in recent years, the reaction this time may be a necessary turning point for the ruling ANC and highlights the desperate need for South Africa to undertake social and economic reform.
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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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News broke this week of the surrender of Dominic Ongwen, a top commander in the Lord’s Resistance Army, to US forces in the Central African Republic. One of the five LRA commanders indicted by the ICC in 2005, Ongwen is also the most controversial of the Uganda indictments. While his surrender deals a serious blow to the LRA, whether the LRA’s victims will see justice remains unclear. Ongwen was a child when he was abducted by the LRA and grew up to become a notorious killer. But what are the legal and moral implications of trying a man for crimes against humanity when that man was conscripted as a child?
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The International Criminal Court’s Assembly of State Parties (ASP) is meeting this week in New York. The annual meeting brings together members of the court to elect judges, decide on the next year’s budget and debate possible amendments to procedure and the Rome Statute. But this year’s meeting comes in the wake of the ICC prosecutor withdrawing charges against Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta last week. The current conclusion of the case may end a particularly contentious chapter in the ICC’s short history, but also leaves a lot of unanswered questions about what it means for the court.
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As fighting between the government and pro-Russian rebels continues in Eastern Ukraine, displacement from the conflict is reaching new heights. By October, UNHCR estimated that more than 800,000 people have been displaced, representing the largest displacement of people in Europe since the Balkan wars. It is the latest refugee crisis in a year that has seen several, and is stretching resources thin.
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A second mass grave has been found in rural Mexico a month after 43 student teachers went missing following an altercation with police in the town of Iguala. The missing students, along with the apparent involvement of local police and government officials in their suspected murders, has set off massive protests throughout the country. Things may be getting better south of the border, but rule of law issues continue to plague Mexico.
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