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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
Some places almost never get the attention they deserve. One of these is the Democratic Republic of Congo. A vast country of some 80 million people, at the heart of Africa. It has struggled since independence in 1960 with a poor colonial legacy, cold war manipulations, venal and incompetent governments, and a succession of wars.
A new report from Save the Children has revealed another dimension to this silent crisis, showing that children are bearing the brunt of sexual violence in war. It says that in current and former warzones from Sierra Leone to Liberia, Congo to Colombia, more than half of the victims of sexual violence are children.
William Hague's is a welcome voice drawing the world's attention to the urgent need to tackle conflict-related crimes of sexual violence. However, it is also a reminder that governments and the international community have yet to prove they take their obligations on this issue seriously.
I ask the other G8 countries, on behalf of the many rape survivors we at CARE have assisted over the years in DRC and other war-torn states, to listen to the voices from Goma and act to end the heinous crime of warzone rape.
In August last year, I wrote an op-ed for the International Herald Tribune calling for Western powers to arm the Syrian insurgents. Over six months later, the case is even more compelling than before.
There is... a desperate need for help in restoring and maintaining the fabulous wealth of historical monuments across the country, ravaged by years of instability, war and neglect.
Britain is often vocal about human rights abroad, while not meeting its own standards at home.
At long last, a policy on Syria that makes sense. This week, prime minister David Cameron indicated that Britain was ready to bypass an EU arms embargo and deliver arms to Syria's opposition fighters - much to the horror I expect of Bashar Assad.
The officially stated UK government rationale justifying arming Syria's rebels relies upon at least two flawed assumptions. The first is that pouring sophisticated weaponry into a war zone already awash with weapons will save civilian lives.
Of course, neither the Falkland Islanders nor the UK need America's support for the referendum but the US should back its allies. All the Falkland Islanders are asking for is recognition of their right to self-determination - a right guaranteed by the United Nations Charter and a key principle on which America was founded in 1776.
Russia's foreign and defence Ministers, Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu, arrive in London tomorrow for the first session of the UK-Russia Strategic Dialogue agreed between David Cameron and Vladimir Putin at the London Olympics last year.
A decade has passed since the eruption of brutal violence and conflict in Darfur. In these 10 years, 300,000 people died and three million people were displaced from their homes, fleeing horrifying atrocities.
Not only is the US position over the Falkland Islands a betrayal of the Special Relationship it is also hypocritical. America is a country founded on the rights and ideas of self-determination so it is preposterous to think that the US will not back the right of self-determination of others.
Whichever way Cameron campaigns on the European issue - the elephant in the room at every Tory party conference just as the unions are at Labour's - one half of his party will be unhappy. Whichever way he now goes, it doesn't look like a political happy ending.
Conservative Future is at its strongest for years. With a small but significant number of tweaks, it could become a powerful and fulfilling organisation for many years to come. The next national chairman should be willing and able to support you, listen to you and be your voice in CCHQ, the party and media.
What do I want for Christmas? A genuine democracy and true peace in Burma, the restoration of democracy in the Maldives, an end to religious intolerance in Indonesia, a just and peaceful solution for the people of West Papua, and freedom for North Korea.
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