ConflictVoice

This extract is from Al Jazeera. Views expressed are the author’s own. An air raid on a camp packed...

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 00:51:30 +0000

This extract is from Al Jazeera. Views expressed are the author’s own.

An air raid on a camp packed with displaced women and children has killed at least five people and wounded 45 others, including 31 children, according to the aid agency Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF).

The Kenyan military admitted carrying out Sunday’s attack on the town of Jilib, where the camp for internally displaced persons (IDP) is located, but said the raid targeted al-Shabab fighters who are linked to al-Qaeda…

This article is from The Guardian Global Development by Tracy McVeigh. Views expressed are the...

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 11:22:58 +0000

This article is from The Guardian Global Development by Tracy McVeigh. Views expressed are the author’s own.

Fears are growing that the forthcoming elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo will trigger a new wave of violence, amid reports that militias are re-forming.

One of Congo’s leading peacemakers, Henri Ladyi – who has been called “Africa’s Schindler” for his work rehabilitating child soldiers in the republic’s eastern region – said he feared years of hard work in demobilising…

Literacy Programs for Afghan Police Under Threat Because of USA Pullout From UNESCO

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 08:57:35 +0000

Literacy Programs for Afghan Police Under Threat Because of USA Pullout From UNESCO:

The State Department today announced that it is halting a $60 million payment to UNESCO that is due in November because of decades old prohibition against funding any UN entity that accepts…

Amb. Rice: Leading from behind? That’s 'whacked.'

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 01:56:33 +0000

Amb. Rice: Leading from behind? That’s 'whacked.':

So, what does Susan Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, really think of the so-called doctrine “leading from behind.”

“That’s just a whacked out phrase,” Rice told Turtle…

UNESCO Votes To Admit Palestine. What’s Next?

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 18:33:26 +0000

UNESCO Votes To Admit Palestine. What’s Next?:

A Special Guest Post from Senator Timothy Wirth, President of the UN Foundation

As the eyes of the world are focused on the Palestinian statehood bid at the United Nations in New York, another…

10 Years Changes in Afghanistan

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:37:07 +0000

10 Years Changes in Afghanistan:

During the Taliban regime women were locked up in at home, they were not allowed to go out for shopping or work in the public places. Since the fall of the Taliban in late 2001,…

In the past few days, there have been signs that Somalia and Kenya are coming back into the press....

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 07:26:46 +0000

In the past few days, there have been signs that Somalia and Kenya are coming back into the press. However, given how fragmented the reporting has been, it is still hard to assess how Somali and Kenyan civilians have been affected by the recent Kenyan military incursion into a Somali border area, as well as the ongoing food crisis. This pick of the week brings together some of the latest news and pictures from the Horn of Africa to give a better sense of the situation on the ground.

1.‘…

D.R. of Congo/U.S.A: Conflict-Free: A Growing Movement

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 19:18:34 +0100

D.R. of Congo/U.S.A: Conflict-Free: A Growing Movement

Africa: New Social Network for African Radio Broadcasters

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 06:06:51 +0100

Africa: New Social Network for African Radio Broadcasters

Goodbye, no-fly

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 05:59:23 +0100

Goodbye, no-fly:

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to end the NATO-led no-fly zone over Libya, marking the conclusion of a controversial military conflict that deeply divided the…

This article is from AFP by Jenny Vaughan. Views expressed are the author’s own. SHERKOLE, Ethiopia...

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 03:22:25 +0100

This article is from AFP by Jenny Vaughan. Views expressed are the author’s own.

SHERKOLE, Ethiopia — The two holes where the bullets entered Sudanese refugee Abseta Afalla’s calf are still raw, a grim reminder from the boiling civil war in Sudan’s Blue Nile state he fled from.

It still pains him to walk on his wounded leg, so he spends most of his days lying in his tent in this refugee camp in Ethiopia, close enough to the border to still hear the sound of regular aerial bombings in the…

Map of the Day: Global Homicide Rates

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 09:57:37 +0100

Map of the Day: Global Homicide Rates:

There were 468,000 homicides around the world in 2010. More than a third (36 per cent) of those are estimated to have occurred in Africa, 31 per cent in the Americas, 27 per cent in Asia, 5 per…

This extract is from Newsline, by Afia Salam. Views expressed are the author’s own. Nothing hits one...

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 22:59:31 +0100

This extract is from Newsline, by Afia Salam. Views expressed are the author’s own.

Nothing hits one more than the phrase ‘water, water everywhere, but not a drop to drink,’ when passing through those parts of Sindh hit by the monsoon rains that started in August and laid to waste most of the province within just a couple of weeks. What makes people angry though is the fact that it needn’t have been so. Yes, the region received unprecedented rainfall, but the disaster that followed was…

Afghanistan Security Forces Face Big, Big Test Next Month

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:08:50 +0100

Afghanistan Security Forces Face Big, Big Test Next Month:

In a statement from Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the insurgent group threatened yesterday to use violence against anyone involved in a loya jirga that will be convened in Kabul next…

Seven billion people and shrinking?

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 12:12:24 +0100

Seven billion people and shrinking?:

Sometime around Halloween, the United Nations will celebrate the birth of the world’s 7th billion baby. As U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told world leaders in New York last month, the 7th…

USAID Launches New PSA Campaign for the Horn of Africa

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 06:50:24 +0100

USAID Launches New PSA Campaign for the Horn of Africa:

Last month, USAID Administrator Raj Shah announced the launch of a new USAID Social Media and marketing campaign to connect Americans to the crisis in the Horn of Africa. USAID – F/W/D (Famine,…

The Afghan Women’s Writing Project was set up in 2008, inspired by the novelist, Masha Hamilton, who...

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 20:08:43 +0100

The Afghan Women’s Writing Project was set up in 2008, inspired by the novelist, Masha Hamilton, who wanted to provide the incredible Afghan women that she knew with a forum to share their stories. This arena, unbiased by the media or the influence of male relatives, allows these women to assert their voices, even if they often have to do so secretly and without the knowledge of their families.

In honour of Channel 16’s multi-partner ‘Green Scarves for Solidarity’ campaign, we will…

Happy UN Day — Now How About Not Abandoning UNESCO?

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 17:24:08 +0100

Happy UN Day — Now How About Not Abandoning UNESCO?:

66 years ago today,the Charter of the United Nations officially entered into force and the United Nations was born. Ever since, October 24 has been commemorated as UN Day. So, happy UN Day,…

New Security Council Takes Shape

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 03:51:41 +0100

New Security Council Takes Shape:

Azerbaijan bested Slovenia in the sixteenth round of elections for a two year Security Council seat representing eastern Europe. The Security Council for the next 12 months is now all set. Here…

This is an original piece from Egypt. The author’s details have been withheld for their own safety....

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 16:38:47 +0100

This is an original piece from Egypt. The author’s details have been withheld for their own safety.

Last year hundreds of Muslims wept for those who died in the bombing of a church in Alexandria and joined Christian protesters dressed in black. At churches across the country, Muslims joined Christian friends and neighbours on Christmas to act as shields against potential attacks by Islamist militants, and to show solidarity. Some activists printed T-shirts showing the religious symbols of…