Yesterday I attended USAID’s final session of their 2009 Summer Seminar series: Integrating Gender in Agricultural Programs. A USAID Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator of the Bureau of Economic Growth, Agriculture and Trade, kicked off the morning by emphasizing USAID’s goal of sustainable, gender equitable agricultural growth.
A representative of International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) stressed that reducing poverty in Southeast Asia and Africa is impossible without addressing gender issues. She recommended increasing women’s representation in agricultural extension staff, reaching more women through farmer field schools, and integrating gender in needs assessments. Her IFPRI collegue presented her findings on women in higher education in Africa. She noted that although the gender gap in professional staff is narrowing worldwide, the gap remains significantly large in francophone West Africa.
A representative from the Gates Foundation discussed the foundation’s paradigm shift to focus on gender responsive programming away from specific gender targeting; and noted the importance of data, money, technology, and time to focus on gender.
An agricultural economist at the World Bank, also stressed the importance of data and said that the successful integration of gender includes high level political support, resources, and technical guidance and expertise. Significant support for gender-responsive programming exists at the highest levels at the World Bank; and the World Bank plans on doubling investment in agriculture within the next few years. These programs will be built with the following objectives in mind: integrating gender into project design; capacity building; youth; demand driven response; and partnerships.
The final speaker emphasized USAID’s commitment to explicitly focusing on women and including women in the project design/development initiatives. He stressed that hunger will never be reduced if women are not included. A staffer from the Office of Global Women's Issues commented at the close of the seminar, stressing Secretary Clinton and Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues Melanne Verveer's commitment to addressing gender.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Case for Reform: Foreign Aid and Development in a New Era
Last Wednesday (July 22), I attended the Senate Foreign Relations committee hearing titled "The Case for Reform: Foreign Aid and Development in a New Era” to address foreign aid reform, the Administration’s new development agenda and pending legislation to initiate the foreign aid reform process.
Senator John Kerry opened by defining the purpose of the hearing as part of the administration’s commitment to a “vigorous reform process and a bold development plan.” He said Congress would be a partner in these efforts by providing “resources, legislation, and authorities to ensure that our development programs are funded and designed to meet our priorities.” He also stated that he looked forward to working with the administration to shape the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).
Ranking Minority Member Richard Lugar called for the strengthening of USAID’s capacity to run effective foreign assistance programs and noted three deficiencies that the legislation addresses: the deterioration of USAID’s evaluation capacity, the lack of coordination amongst the plethora of US agencies that deal with foreign aid; and the decline in USAID staffing and expertise since the 1990s.
Proposed legislation would:
· Strengthen USAID’s monitoring and evaluation capacity with the creation of an internal evaluation and knowledge center.
· Re-establish a policy and planning bureau, a function that has migrated to the Department of State.
· Require all government agencies with a foreign assistance role to make information about its activities publicly available in a timely fashion.
· Designate the USAID Mission Director as responsible for coordinating all development and humanitarian assistance in-country.
· Create an independent evaluation and research organization that can analyze and evaluate foreign assistance programs across government.
· Provide USAID a human resource strategy to guide hiring and deployment decisions, and develops a high-level task force to advise on critical personnel issues.
· Encourage increased training and inter-agency rotations to build expertise and effectiveness.
Three witness presented testimonies strongly praising the legislation to initiate the foreign aid reform process.
Peter McPherson, President of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and Former Administrator of USAID, pressed for the development of technical and leadership capacity in USAID personnel; emphasized the importance of policy capacity and evaluation at USAID; crafted his vision for the cross agency evaluation function as a think tank; emphasized that long term development goals must be crucial to USAID; and ended by saying that a country’s agenda must be our agenda; thereby emphasizing the huge merit for USG to listen to what countries want.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University presented 10 recommendations to the committee: focus efforts on sustainable economic development; embrace globally agreed upon goals, such as the MDGs; focus assistance on areas of greatest need; launch a specific, sustainable initiative for dry lands; rebuild analytical capacity of USAID to understand problems; reorganize all ODA under USAID; place the USAID administrator at a cabinet level; focus activities on agriculture, health, education, business development, infrastructure, agriculture, and climate change; commit to putting 0.7% of GDP in ODA by 2015, in line with the EDU; and leverage U.S. leadership in finance through increased use of multi-lateral institutions that pool donor finances in support of country-led plans of action that are bolstered by independent technical review, monitoring and evaluation.
David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World and Co-Chair, Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network commended the leadership of the committee for drafting bipartisan legislation to increase the effectiveness of foreign assistance and reform and revitalize USAID. Beckmann called for the immediate appointment of a USAID administrator; the launch of a Presidential Study Directive on global development policy; and the introduction of the bill as soon as possible. He stressed that now is the time for this bill and that it was important to build broad support in the Senate.
During the question and answer session, Senator Corker asked the panelists views on Dambisa Moyo’s (author of Dead Aid) opinion that aid cripples countries. Jeffrey Sachs argued that one cannot paint broad brush strokes to depict foreign assistance, and that the question needs to be “how can we make aid more effective,” rather than, “should we eliminate aid altogether”. Interestingly enough, when Moyo came to speak at school last spring, she mentioned that Sachs was one of her professors when she was a student at HKS.
Senator John Kerry opened by defining the purpose of the hearing as part of the administration’s commitment to a “vigorous reform process and a bold development plan.” He said Congress would be a partner in these efforts by providing “resources, legislation, and authorities to ensure that our development programs are funded and designed to meet our priorities.” He also stated that he looked forward to working with the administration to shape the Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review (QDDR).
Ranking Minority Member Richard Lugar called for the strengthening of USAID’s capacity to run effective foreign assistance programs and noted three deficiencies that the legislation addresses: the deterioration of USAID’s evaluation capacity, the lack of coordination amongst the plethora of US agencies that deal with foreign aid; and the decline in USAID staffing and expertise since the 1990s.
Proposed legislation would:
· Strengthen USAID’s monitoring and evaluation capacity with the creation of an internal evaluation and knowledge center.
· Re-establish a policy and planning bureau, a function that has migrated to the Department of State.
· Require all government agencies with a foreign assistance role to make information about its activities publicly available in a timely fashion.
· Designate the USAID Mission Director as responsible for coordinating all development and humanitarian assistance in-country.
· Create an independent evaluation and research organization that can analyze and evaluate foreign assistance programs across government.
· Provide USAID a human resource strategy to guide hiring and deployment decisions, and develops a high-level task force to advise on critical personnel issues.
· Encourage increased training and inter-agency rotations to build expertise and effectiveness.
Three witness presented testimonies strongly praising the legislation to initiate the foreign aid reform process.
Peter McPherson, President of the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities and Former Administrator of USAID, pressed for the development of technical and leadership capacity in USAID personnel; emphasized the importance of policy capacity and evaluation at USAID; crafted his vision for the cross agency evaluation function as a think tank; emphasized that long term development goals must be crucial to USAID; and ended by saying that a country’s agenda must be our agenda; thereby emphasizing the huge merit for USG to listen to what countries want.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, The Earth Institute, Columbia University presented 10 recommendations to the committee: focus efforts on sustainable economic development; embrace globally agreed upon goals, such as the MDGs; focus assistance on areas of greatest need; launch a specific, sustainable initiative for dry lands; rebuild analytical capacity of USAID to understand problems; reorganize all ODA under USAID; place the USAID administrator at a cabinet level; focus activities on agriculture, health, education, business development, infrastructure, agriculture, and climate change; commit to putting 0.7% of GDP in ODA by 2015, in line with the EDU; and leverage U.S. leadership in finance through increased use of multi-lateral institutions that pool donor finances in support of country-led plans of action that are bolstered by independent technical review, monitoring and evaluation.
David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World and Co-Chair, Modernizing Foreign Assistance Network commended the leadership of the committee for drafting bipartisan legislation to increase the effectiveness of foreign assistance and reform and revitalize USAID. Beckmann called for the immediate appointment of a USAID administrator; the launch of a Presidential Study Directive on global development policy; and the introduction of the bill as soon as possible. He stressed that now is the time for this bill and that it was important to build broad support in the Senate.
During the question and answer session, Senator Corker asked the panelists views on Dambisa Moyo’s (author of Dead Aid) opinion that aid cripples countries. Jeffrey Sachs argued that one cannot paint broad brush strokes to depict foreign assistance, and that the question needs to be “how can we make aid more effective,” rather than, “should we eliminate aid altogether”. Interestingly enough, when Moyo came to speak at school last spring, she mentioned that Sachs was one of her professors when she was a student at HKS.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
*Highlights from the Great Lakes portfolio*
In an effort to illustrate the projects that I have been working on this summer, my supervisor has taken over my blog to share her photos and insights on the current programs and priority populations in the Great Lakes portfolio…. Enjoy!
There are over 50,000 DRCongolese refugees living in three refugee camps in Rwanda. They come mainly from North and South Kivu Provinces. Due to ongoing violence in their home areas the refugees are likely to remain in Rwanda in the near future. The Government of Rwanda along with UNHCR and implementing partners provide protection and basic assistance.
A refugee child outside her shelter in a refugee camp in Rwanda. Food, water, basic health care, primary education and a range of community services are provided for this refugee population.
Refugee kids on their way home from school. There are primary schools in the camps as this is considered an essential component of child protection.
From Zambia to Katanga Province (Eastern DRC)
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June 2009 - Congolese refugees in Zambia boarding the Liemba ship to return home to Katanga Province, SE DRC.
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June 2009 - A widowed refugee has returned to Moba Territory, Katanga Province SE DRC. She is an NGO shelter project beneficiary. A group of neighbors is preparing mud bricks (drying in background) to construct a new home for her. She is currently living in a tiny, unstable, temporary hut.
June 2007 - A Congolese Refugee returnee in South Kivu Province who participates in a vocational training/income generation project. She has learned to make and sell soap.
October 2008 - A refugee girl just arrived at the reception center in Burundi. She has traveled by convoy overland from Tanzania. After immigration procedures she will continue on to her area of origin. Ideally she and her family will find their home and their land but sadly many people find these have been occupied in their absence. Returnees must often work through the national Land Commission or mediation organizations to re-claim their land.
October 2008 Beneficiaries of an NGO livelihoods project show off their goats. Refugee returnees and vulnerable community members receive goats to breed. Project participants contribute initial offspring to new beneficiaries in order to broaden the program's impact.
Congolese Refugees in Rwanda
There are over 50,000 DRCongolese refugees living in three refugee camps in Rwanda. They come mainly from North and South Kivu Provinces. Due to ongoing violence in their home areas the refugees are likely to remain in Rwanda in the near future. The Government of Rwanda along with UNHCR and implementing partners provide protection and basic assistance.
A refugee child outside her shelter in a refugee camp in Rwanda. Food, water, basic health care, primary education and a range of community services are provided for this refugee population. 
Refugee kids on their way home from school. There are primary schools in the camps as this is considered an essential component of child protection.Congolese Refugee Repatriation
From Zambia to Katanga Province (Eastern DRC)
Katanga Province has been peaceful and safe in recent years. UNHCR is facilitating voluntary repatriation for refugees in neighboring countries (mainly Zambia) who wish to return home and re-start their lives.
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June 2009 - Congolese refugees in Zambia boarding the Liemba ship to return home to Katanga Province, SE DRC.+Zambia+and+DRC+072.jpg)
June 2009 - A widowed refugee has returned to Moba Territory, Katanga Province SE DRC. She is an NGO shelter project beneficiary. A group of neighbors is preparing mud bricks (drying in background) to construct a new home for her. She is currently living in a tiny, unstable, temporary hut.Return to South Kivu Province (Eastern DRC)
Return to South Kivu (mainly from Tanzania) is also ongoing however recent fighting in the north part of the Province has understandably made some refugees wary of return few have opted to come home so far this year. Nevertheless, UNHCR and partners have many programs in place to help returnees to reintegrate and to help receiving communities absorb the influx of people. Social services and infrastructure are weak or non-existent to return is very challenging.
June 2007 - A Congolese Refugee returnee in South Kivu Province who participates in a vocational training/income generation project. She has learned to make and sell soap.
Burundi Refugees Returning Home from Tanzania
Thanks to peace in Burundi, UNHCR started facilitating voluntary repatriation for Burundi refugees who had been residing in Tanzania. At the height, there were nearly 1,000,000 Burundi refugees in Tanzania. A first big wave came in 1972. A second major wave came in the 1990s. Nearly 500,000 Burundi have gone home since 2002.
Thanks to peace in Burundi, UNHCR started facilitating voluntary repatriation for Burundi refugees who had been residing in Tanzania. At the height, there were nearly 1,000,000 Burundi refugees in Tanzania. A first big wave came in 1972. A second major wave came in the 1990s. Nearly 500,000 Burundi have gone home since 2002.
October 2008 - A refugee girl just arrived at the reception center in Burundi. She has traveled by convoy overland from Tanzania. After immigration procedures she will continue on to her area of origin. Ideally she and her family will find their home and their land but sadly many people find these have been occupied in their absence. Returnees must often work through the national Land Commission or mediation organizations to re-claim their land.
October 2008 Beneficiaries of an NGO livelihoods project show off their goats. Refugee returnees and vulnerable community members receive goats to breed. Project participants contribute initial offspring to new beneficiaries in order to broaden the program's impact.
Monday, July 27, 2009
On the ground in Dadaab
As I promised, Rachel followed up the Dadaab background piece with an excellently written and informative account of her visit to Dadaab last week. The full blog entry is available at http://rachelgoestokenya.blogspot.com/2009/07/women-in-dadaab-refugee-camp.html
She noted prevalent issues facing women at the Dadaab camp and the steps being taken to combat them, including:
- Gender based violence stemming from factors such as stigmatization, lack of female police officers, incidences of rape when women travel to fetch firewood, and domestic violence.
- Female Genital Mutilation surpassing 96%
- Health issues facing women such as poor maternal health, lack of sanitary pads, and gaps in the provision of mental health and psychosocial services
- Lack of girls’ education
She noted prevalent issues facing women at the Dadaab camp and the steps being taken to combat them, including:
- Gender based violence stemming from factors such as stigmatization, lack of female police officers, incidences of rape when women travel to fetch firewood, and domestic violence.
- Female Genital Mutilation surpassing 96%
- Health issues facing women such as poor maternal health, lack of sanitary pads, and gaps in the provision of mental health and psychosocial services
- Lack of girls’ education
Friday, July 24, 2009
Gender Based Violence (GBV) Proposal Review
Weeks five and six of my internship were dedicated almost exclusively to the review of proposals for NGO programs to combat gender based violence in refugee situations. The 50 submitted proposals that we received were broken into five geographical regions of which each had a review committee composed of at least four Department of State employees in DC and in the field. Three of us, myself included, reviewed all 50 proposals! Following an independent review of the proposals, we met to prioritize funding based on proposal strengths and needs. As a result, we will be allocating nearly $8,000,000 in PRM funds to programs to combat Gender Based Violence.
Funding was prioritized for proposals that best met the following three GBV prevention priorities identified by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM):
- RESPONSE to current, identified gender-based violence issues in the field. Activities may include the provision of health and psychosocial care, livelihoods interventions, legal assistance or other activities that directly address GBV; and should highlight ways in which appropriate referral services are available for survivors.
- PREVENTION of GBV, including sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA). Activities may include public information and rights awareness campaigns among returnees and refugees, with an emphasis on involving men and adolescents in GBV awareness and prevention activities. Target audiences may also include health and social service workers, and justice officials.
- LOCAL CAPACITY BUILDING to respond to GBV in a competent and timely manner. Common emergency response mechanisms such as training for local staff or refugees themselves in prevention, recognition, and treatment of GBV (including victim counseling), or activities to enhance the timeliness of response to GBV could also be considered.
Proposals focused primarily on the following priority populations of PRM:
- Africa: Refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia, refugee returnee populations in Sudan; refugee returnees in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; refugees in Chad and Rwanda.
- Europe, Central Asia and the Americas: Russian Federation: IDP population in the North Caucasus; Colombian refugees and programs that complement ongoing PRM-funded IDP programs; Dominican Republic: stateless persons, refugees and asylum-seekers.
- Asia and the Near East: Burmese refugees in Thailand, Bangladesh, or Malaysia; Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and Afghan returnees in Afghanistan.
Reading through the proposals gave me a deeper understanding of GBV issues affecting women and girls globally, including the following examples:
In southern Sudan, forced marriages are common. To avoid paying high dowries, it is not uncommon for men to kidnap girls to keep as wives. Stigma associated with sexual abuse remains prevalent and as a result, GBV remains largely unreported. Stories include women who are forced to return to their abusive spouses after filing a report.
Many refugees, including unaccompanied minors, forfeit the protection offered by refugee camps and migrate to urban centers such as Nairobi, Kenya to live and work illegally. Unaccompanied girls in this population are extremely vulnerable and report a high incidence of GBV, including rape, forced marriage, and sexual harassment.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been coined “The Rape Capital of the World” and is acknowledged as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. Recent wars have magnified existing rape and sexual exploitation, increasing the acceptability of rape and reinforcing impunity for offenders. Reports indicate that it is difficult to find a woman who has NOT been raped or sexually assaulted.
Rape, used as a method of torture and weapon of war, has become a fixture in the conflict in Colombia. Forced displacement in Colombia has left women highly vulnerable due to a combination of lack of education, lack of access to employment, poverty, and overcrowding in displacement living situations. As a result, rates of GBV against displaced women are higher than the national average. Shockingly, one out of every three displaced women has been forced to have sex with strangers.
The passage of the Shi’a Personal Status Law in March 2009 in Afghanistan has been called a violation of the rights of women in Afghanistan. The law severely restricts women’s freedom and self-determination by denying women the right to leave their home without their husbands’ permission, permitting marital rape and forced marriage, limiting women’s custody rights, and failing to recognize rape as a crime against a person, among others.
Thailand is host to over 140,000 Burmese refugees living in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Within the camps, instances of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (SAE) by humanitarian workers continue and acts of SAE committed by camp-based refugee staff of NGOs, community-based organization staff, and Thai military personnel have particularly been identified as a recurring problem. Barred from employment or other livelihood activities by the Royal Thai Government (RTG), refugees rely heavily on the humanitarian assistance provided by NGOs and the RTG. This dependence renders them highly vulnerable to abuse and acts of professional misconduct by persons employed by these agencies.
Funding was prioritized for proposals that best met the following three GBV prevention priorities identified by the Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration (PRM):
- RESPONSE to current, identified gender-based violence issues in the field. Activities may include the provision of health and psychosocial care, livelihoods interventions, legal assistance or other activities that directly address GBV; and should highlight ways in which appropriate referral services are available for survivors.
- PREVENTION of GBV, including sexual abuse and exploitation (SEA). Activities may include public information and rights awareness campaigns among returnees and refugees, with an emphasis on involving men and adolescents in GBV awareness and prevention activities. Target audiences may also include health and social service workers, and justice officials.
- LOCAL CAPACITY BUILDING to respond to GBV in a competent and timely manner. Common emergency response mechanisms such as training for local staff or refugees themselves in prevention, recognition, and treatment of GBV (including victim counseling), or activities to enhance the timeliness of response to GBV could also be considered.
Proposals focused primarily on the following priority populations of PRM:
- Africa: Refugees in Kenya and Ethiopia, refugee returnee populations in Sudan; refugee returnees in Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo; refugees in Chad and Rwanda.
- Europe, Central Asia and the Americas: Russian Federation: IDP population in the North Caucasus; Colombian refugees and programs that complement ongoing PRM-funded IDP programs; Dominican Republic: stateless persons, refugees and asylum-seekers.
- Asia and the Near East: Burmese refugees in Thailand, Bangladesh, or Malaysia; Afghan refugees in Pakistan, and Afghan returnees in Afghanistan.
Reading through the proposals gave me a deeper understanding of GBV issues affecting women and girls globally, including the following examples:
In southern Sudan, forced marriages are common. To avoid paying high dowries, it is not uncommon for men to kidnap girls to keep as wives. Stigma associated with sexual abuse remains prevalent and as a result, GBV remains largely unreported. Stories include women who are forced to return to their abusive spouses after filing a report.
Many refugees, including unaccompanied minors, forfeit the protection offered by refugee camps and migrate to urban centers such as Nairobi, Kenya to live and work illegally. Unaccompanied girls in this population are extremely vulnerable and report a high incidence of GBV, including rape, forced marriage, and sexual harassment.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been coined “The Rape Capital of the World” and is acknowledged as one of the worst places in the world to be a woman. Recent wars have magnified existing rape and sexual exploitation, increasing the acceptability of rape and reinforcing impunity for offenders. Reports indicate that it is difficult to find a woman who has NOT been raped or sexually assaulted.
Rape, used as a method of torture and weapon of war, has become a fixture in the conflict in Colombia. Forced displacement in Colombia has left women highly vulnerable due to a combination of lack of education, lack of access to employment, poverty, and overcrowding in displacement living situations. As a result, rates of GBV against displaced women are higher than the national average. Shockingly, one out of every three displaced women has been forced to have sex with strangers.
The passage of the Shi’a Personal Status Law in March 2009 in Afghanistan has been called a violation of the rights of women in Afghanistan. The law severely restricts women’s freedom and self-determination by denying women the right to leave their home without their husbands’ permission, permitting marital rape and forced marriage, limiting women’s custody rights, and failing to recognize rape as a crime against a person, among others.
Thailand is host to over 140,000 Burmese refugees living in nine refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border. Within the camps, instances of Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (SAE) by humanitarian workers continue and acts of SAE committed by camp-based refugee staff of NGOs, community-based organization staff, and Thai military personnel have particularly been identified as a recurring problem. Barred from employment or other livelihood activities by the Royal Thai Government (RTG), refugees rely heavily on the humanitarian assistance provided by NGOs and the RTG. This dependence renders them highly vulnerable to abuse and acts of professional misconduct by persons employed by these agencies.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Dadaab
My classmate Rachel and I often end up in similar places at school – classes, seminars, groups – often attributing it to the fact that we share a similar passion for foreign policy, international development, human rights, and the inclusion of former female child soldiers in the DDR (disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration) process. It shouldn’t have been a surprise then, when we both came into contact with the Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya as part of our summer internships!
Rachel travels to Dadaab this week, so we’ve teamed up to give you a multi-blog, multi-continental perspective on the world’s largest refugee site. Here’s some back ground information… check back soon for on-the-ground reporting and photos from Rachel!
Dadaab
Kenya has hosted Somali refugees since 1991 when Somalia descended into civil war. Since the latest conflict in October 2006, Somali refugee numbers in Kenya (mainly in the Dadaab camps) have more than doubled. Dadaab is the world’s largest refugee site and it is composed of three refugee camps: Dagahaley, Hagadera, and Ifo. Currently Dadaab hosts more than 286,000 refugees, the majority of which are from Somalia. Refugees continue to flow into Kenya as fighting and food insecurity in Somalia continues, the majority arriving from the Lower and Middle Juba regions and Mogadishu. UNHCR reports that more than 39,000 new refugees have arrived in Dadaab since the beginning of the year.
Originally built for 90,000 people, Dadaab is stretched beyond its capacity. UNHCR is currently seeking additional land to construct a new camp, but the environmental impact of refugees, border security, and host community development have been hurdles to new land acquisition.
The Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration at the State Department (my home this summer) funds International Organizations such as the UN’s agency for refugees (UNHCR) and NGOs (Non-governmental Organizations) to provide refugee assistance services in Dadaab. In addition, the Bureau also supports programs to combat sexual and gender based violence in the camp.
Combating Sexual and Gender Based Violence
Gender based violence has long been problematic in Somalia, and cultural norms, for example, FGM (Female Genital Mutilation), are one of several contributing factors to the incidence of gender based violence in Dadaab. Other factors include camp congestion, idleness and dependency on humanitarian aid.
UNHCR and NGOs, including CARE, are actively working to combat sexual and gender based violence in Dadaab. CARE uses community leaders and youth and women’s groups as a venue for the discussion of GBV, FGM, and HIV/AIDS. They also provide counseling services to GBV and FGM survivors.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone: Sexual Violence and Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo
Human Rights Watch published Soldiers Who Rape, Commanders Who Condone: Sexual Violence and Military Reform in the Democratic Republic of Congo today. The report names the government army, Forces Armées de la République Démocratique du Congo (FARDC), as one of the main perpetrators of horrific acts of sexual violence against women and girls, contributing to the current climate of insecurity and impunity in eastern Congo. The report looks at abuses of sexual violence committed by the FARDC, efforts to stop it, and why such efforts have failed so far. More specifically, the report looks at the 14th brigade as an example of the wider problem of impunity. Without sufficient food or pay, soldiers have attacked the civilian population to loot and extort goods. As the example of the 14th brigade illustrates, sexual violence by the army continues despite serious efforts by the government, the international community, and Congolese civil society to fight mass sexual violence.
Moreover, almost all military prosecutions of sexual violence to date have focused on lower-ranking soldiers. No senior military figure has been prosecuted for sexual crimes; the criminal responsibility of senior officials, including their command responsibility, is rarely the subject of investigations by military prosecutors. Commanders also continue to protect their soldiers in many instances, obstructing the course of justice. The report suggests that the Congolese government and its international partners should intensify efforts to prevent and punish sexual violence crimes by army soldiers. They should take measures to build the capacity of the weak military justice system; professionalize the army, including by improving living conditions of soldiers; and introduce a vetting mechanism to remove officers with responsibility for past crimes from the army. Since the military justice system remains a weak institution, the report suggests that the government consider establishing a mixed chamber, composed of international and Congolese judges and prosecutors to prosecute high-ranking officers, armed group leaders, and civilian leaders responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual crimes, beyond the few individuals who will be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The full report is available at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/drc0709web.pdf
Moreover, almost all military prosecutions of sexual violence to date have focused on lower-ranking soldiers. No senior military figure has been prosecuted for sexual crimes; the criminal responsibility of senior officials, including their command responsibility, is rarely the subject of investigations by military prosecutors. Commanders also continue to protect their soldiers in many instances, obstructing the course of justice. The report suggests that the Congolese government and its international partners should intensify efforts to prevent and punish sexual violence crimes by army soldiers. They should take measures to build the capacity of the weak military justice system; professionalize the army, including by improving living conditions of soldiers; and introduce a vetting mechanism to remove officers with responsibility for past crimes from the army. Since the military justice system remains a weak institution, the report suggests that the government consider establishing a mixed chamber, composed of international and Congolese judges and prosecutors to prosecute high-ranking officers, armed group leaders, and civilian leaders responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity, including sexual crimes, beyond the few individuals who will be tried by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The full report is available at: http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/drc0709web.pdf
How Can We Improve Aid to Developing countries? Fresh Perspectives on U.S. Foreign Policy: Developing World Voices Discuss Smart Development through O
This morning I attended the panel discussion co-sponsored by Foreign Policy and Oxfam America: How Can We Improve Aid to Developing countries? Fresh Perspectives on U.S. Foreign Policy: Developing World Voices Discuss Smart Development through Ownership. Susan Glasser, executive editor of Foreign Policy, moderated the panel discussion.
Paul O’Brien, director of Oxfam America’s Aid Effectiveness Team, discussed Oxfam’s new framework for aid: ownership is the key to smart development. Oxfam encourages improving information transparency to countries about aid in their countries, increasing capacity building, and improving country control of aid. O’Brien referenced findings from the Brookings Institute that US foreign aid is the most volatile and unreliable, and suggested multi-year funding cycles, which is the current choice of actors such as Oxfam, MCC, and various other countries’ international development agencies.
Andrew Mwenda, a Ugandan journalist, claimed that aid is an ineffective instrument of development policy because current aid policy rewards failure. Also, because aid is given regardless of government capacity, aid disincentivizes governments from creating sustainable revenue streams (like taxes) and applying for aid is easier than creating a functioning economy or tax collection system. He claimed that aid makes governments less accountable to their citizens, and suggested that aid should reward innovation rather than subsidize failure and failing governments. In addition, he claimed aid should target change agents, target pockets of efficiency, and support effective institutions.
Hon. O. Natty B. Davis, II, minister of state, National Coordinator for Reconstruction and Development, and Head of the Secretariat of the Liberia Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC), noted government coordination with donors, capacity building, and government responsibility as important to Liberia’s post-conflict development. He emphasized the need for local capacity building in decentralized government and noted that this is a significant challenge that Liberia faces in the coming years.
Wore Gana Seck, Executive Director of Green Senegal, suggested improving aid by increasing the proportion of aid that reaches the field, putting the needs and priorities of communities at the heart of aid, reducing conditionalities that make aid less effective, and increasing capacity building at the field level.
Paul O’Brien, director of Oxfam America’s Aid Effectiveness Team, discussed Oxfam’s new framework for aid: ownership is the key to smart development. Oxfam encourages improving information transparency to countries about aid in their countries, increasing capacity building, and improving country control of aid. O’Brien referenced findings from the Brookings Institute that US foreign aid is the most volatile and unreliable, and suggested multi-year funding cycles, which is the current choice of actors such as Oxfam, MCC, and various other countries’ international development agencies.
Andrew Mwenda, a Ugandan journalist, claimed that aid is an ineffective instrument of development policy because current aid policy rewards failure. Also, because aid is given regardless of government capacity, aid disincentivizes governments from creating sustainable revenue streams (like taxes) and applying for aid is easier than creating a functioning economy or tax collection system. He claimed that aid makes governments less accountable to their citizens, and suggested that aid should reward innovation rather than subsidize failure and failing governments. In addition, he claimed aid should target change agents, target pockets of efficiency, and support effective institutions.
Hon. O. Natty B. Davis, II, minister of state, National Coordinator for Reconstruction and Development, and Head of the Secretariat of the Liberia Reconstruction and Development Committee (LRDC), noted government coordination with donors, capacity building, and government responsibility as important to Liberia’s post-conflict development. He emphasized the need for local capacity building in decentralized government and noted that this is a significant challenge that Liberia faces in the coming years.
Wore Gana Seck, Executive Director of Green Senegal, suggested improving aid by increasing the proportion of aid that reaches the field, putting the needs and priorities of communities at the heart of aid, reducing conditionalities that make aid less effective, and increasing capacity building at the field level.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Sudan: Improvements in education - but mainly for the boys
Sudan: Improvements in education - but mainly for the boys
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
MALAKAL, 13 July 2009 (IRIN) - School enrolment across Southern Sudan has trebled since the 2005 peace agreement, but the number of girls in class has remained significantly lower than for boys, a new report said.
Commissioned by the Southern Sudanese Education, Science and Technology ministry, the report on Socio-Economic and Cultural Barriers to Schooling in Southern Sudan attributed the low female enrolment to socio-cultural values, norms and practices, with economic realities superimposed on them.
"These factors exert their influence from birth, through the child-rearing practices followed by different communities, initiation and marriage, to old age," it noted. "In some communities. the girl-child is prized for the labour she provides to the family, and for the dowry she brings. This pushes up the opportunity cost of educating a girl, and exposes her to early marriage."
The report was released on 7 July by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to mark Girl's Education Day in Southern Sudan. Only one in five children was in school during the war, it noted, but only one girl in 100 completed a full course of primary schooling. The region has the lowest school enrolment in the world.
"Southern Sudan is considered one of the regions that are seriously off-track in as far as attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is concerned as well as that of attaining universal primary completion," it said.
After the peace agreement, gross enrolment rose by about 23 percent in 2003 and by 35 percent in 2008, and is projected to rise by 55 percent in 2011.
"Following the launch of the Go-To-School initiative on 1 April 2006, enrolment has risen from the wartime estimate of 343,000 to 850,000 by December 2006, and to over 1.3 million by December 2007," the report of a study conducted between August and October 2008, stated.
The schools, however, still lack adequate facilities, including appropriate sanitary provisions for girls. In 2005, more than 80 percent of school-children had no bench to sit on and only 33 percent of schools had latrines. There is also a shortage of trained teachers.
In some communities, boys were missing school because they had to look after cattle or go fishing, noted the study, while the girls in some schools experienced sexual harassment, early pregnancy and child-to-child violence.
Marriage a priority
A school head in Malakal, Upper Nile State, said many girls could not study to higher levels because they were expected to get married.
"Many guardians are still reluctant to let their girls go to school," Williams Gatmon, the head of Both Diu basic school, told IRIN in Malakal. "Among the Southern Sudanese, it is very important for a girl to marry and bring home the dowry."
"The girls particularly find it hard to go to higher schools," Gatmon said on 7 July.
Set up by the Southern Sudanese government in 2002, mainly to cater for returnee children, the school had 75 female students out of 500 pupils. The girls, aged eight to 20, were enrolled in all classes from four to eight.
The school teaches in English, except for a year-eight Arabic class.
The numbers were higher at Akobo town primary school in Jonglei State. The school, which has classes one to eight, had enrolled 960 girls out of 1,695 children from ages six to 20, according to the headmaster Bhan Tut.
There were two female teachers on the staff of 23. "The school has received a lot of support since the [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] - books and other supplies," Tut told IRIN. "The challenge is to pay the teachers on time. As we speak, we last received salaries in April."
Source: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs - Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
MALAKAL, 13 July 2009 (IRIN) - School enrolment across Southern Sudan has trebled since the 2005 peace agreement, but the number of girls in class has remained significantly lower than for boys, a new report said.
Commissioned by the Southern Sudanese Education, Science and Technology ministry, the report on Socio-Economic and Cultural Barriers to Schooling in Southern Sudan attributed the low female enrolment to socio-cultural values, norms and practices, with economic realities superimposed on them.
"These factors exert their influence from birth, through the child-rearing practices followed by different communities, initiation and marriage, to old age," it noted. "In some communities. the girl-child is prized for the labour she provides to the family, and for the dowry she brings. This pushes up the opportunity cost of educating a girl, and exposes her to early marriage."
The report was released on 7 July by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) to mark Girl's Education Day in Southern Sudan. Only one in five children was in school during the war, it noted, but only one girl in 100 completed a full course of primary schooling. The region has the lowest school enrolment in the world.
"Southern Sudan is considered one of the regions that are seriously off-track in as far as attainment of the Millennium Development Goals is concerned as well as that of attaining universal primary completion," it said.
After the peace agreement, gross enrolment rose by about 23 percent in 2003 and by 35 percent in 2008, and is projected to rise by 55 percent in 2011.
"Following the launch of the Go-To-School initiative on 1 April 2006, enrolment has risen from the wartime estimate of 343,000 to 850,000 by December 2006, and to over 1.3 million by December 2007," the report of a study conducted between August and October 2008, stated.
The schools, however, still lack adequate facilities, including appropriate sanitary provisions for girls. In 2005, more than 80 percent of school-children had no bench to sit on and only 33 percent of schools had latrines. There is also a shortage of trained teachers.
In some communities, boys were missing school because they had to look after cattle or go fishing, noted the study, while the girls in some schools experienced sexual harassment, early pregnancy and child-to-child violence.
Marriage a priority
A school head in Malakal, Upper Nile State, said many girls could not study to higher levels because they were expected to get married.
"Many guardians are still reluctant to let their girls go to school," Williams Gatmon, the head of Both Diu basic school, told IRIN in Malakal. "Among the Southern Sudanese, it is very important for a girl to marry and bring home the dowry."
"The girls particularly find it hard to go to higher schools," Gatmon said on 7 July.
Set up by the Southern Sudanese government in 2002, mainly to cater for returnee children, the school had 75 female students out of 500 pupils. The girls, aged eight to 20, were enrolled in all classes from four to eight.
The school teaches in English, except for a year-eight Arabic class.
The numbers were higher at Akobo town primary school in Jonglei State. The school, which has classes one to eight, had enrolled 960 girls out of 1,695 children from ages six to 20, according to the headmaster Bhan Tut.
There were two female teachers on the staff of 23. "The school has received a lot of support since the [Comprehensive Peace Agreement] - books and other supplies," Tut told IRIN. "The challenge is to pay the teachers on time. As we speak, we last received salaries in April."
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sonia Sotomayor's Nomination Hearing
I attended the nomination hearing of Sonia Sotomayor this morning with one of my co-interns Melissa and Megan, a friend from grad school. After waking up at dawn and standing in varying lines for several hours, were treated to 25 minutes of opening comments by members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, chaired by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Patrick Leahy (D – Vermont). We arrived at the tail end of Senator Sessions (R- Alabama) opening statement and also heard the opening statements of Senator Kohl (D – Wisconsin) and Senator Hatch (R – Utah). We caught the beginning of Senator Feinstein’s (D – California) opening statement and were on our way out of the hearing when a protestor interrupted, shouting: “Senator, what about the unborn? Abortion is murder." He was ushered out by police and escorted down the corridor from which we were attempting to exit.
Melissa (on the right) looks on as police officers take away a protestor who interrupted the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 13, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES POLITICS CRIME LAW) http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Sonia-Sotomayor-George-Bridges-Senate-Judiciary-Committee/photo//090713/480/ad68a880104a4ef38e4961c265e34fc8//s:/ap/20090713/ap_on_go_su_co/us_sotomayor_senate#photoViewer=/090713/ids_photos_wl/r2689158169.jpg
I was rather amazed to be able to attend such an historic event as a member of the public and to watch the hearing process in person. The room was smaller than I expected, but the Senators, seated high above Sotomayor, were more impressive than I imagined. Members of the press corps and administrators filled the room with computers, cameras, and notebooks.
In the short time we were in the hearing room, each senator outlined what they believed were essential qualities for Supreme Court nominees. All Senators spoke to the importance of the procedures and the task that lay ahead. Both the Democrats and Republicans praised Sotomayor and her career, although the Democrats seemed to speak with more confidence in her eventual nomination. Sotomayor only uttered a few words of thanks as her opening statement is scheduled for this afternoon.
Excerpts from the opening statements:
Senator Feinstein
(http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=752fa206-5056-8059-760b-22477bbfda58)
I want to start out with a couple of personal words. Your nomination I view with a great sense of personal pride. You are indeed a very special woman. You have overcome adversity and disadvantages. You have grown in strength and determination and you have achieved respect and admiration for what has been a brilliant legal and judicial career. If confirmed, you will join the Supreme Court with more federal judicial experience than any Justice in the past 100 years. And you bring with you 29 and a half years of varied legal experience to the court. By this standard you are well-qualified.
You have 11 years as a federal appellate court judge. You have participated in 3,000 appeals, authored roughly 400 published opinions. In your six years on the federal court you were the trial judge in approximately 450 cases. For four and a half years, you prosecuted crimes as an assistant district attorney in New York City. You spent eight years litigating business cases at a New York law firm.
What is unique about this broad experience is that you have seen the law truly from all sides.
In my 16 and a half years on this committee, I have held that there are certain qualities that a Supreme Court nominee must possess:
· First, broad and relative experience – you satisfy that.
· Second, strong and deep knowledge of the law and the Constitution – you satisfy that.
· Third, a firm commitment to follow the law – and you have, and all of the statistics indicate that.
· Next, a judicial temperament and integrity – and you have both of those.
· Finally, mainstream legal reasoning. And there is everything in your record to indicate that.
Bottom line: I believe your record indicates that you possess all of these qualities.
Judge Sotomayor, I believe you are a warm and intelligent woman. I believe that you are well-studied and experienced in the law, with some 17 years of federal court experience involving 3,000 appeals and 450 trial cases.
So I believe you too will bring your experiences and philosophies to this highest court and I believe that will do only one thing – and that is to strengthen this high institution of our great country.
Senator Hatch
(http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=74a9c22e-1b78-be3e-e0d6-90c7c973f190)
Judge Sotomayor comes to this committee for the third time, having served on the first two levels of the federal judiciary, and now, being nominated to the third. She has a compelling life story and a strong record of educational and professional achievement. Her nomination speaks to the opportunities that America today provides for men and women of different backgrounds and heritage. The liberty we enjoy here in America makes those opportunities possible and requires our best efforts to protect that liberty. Our liberty rests on the foundation of a written Constitution that limits and separates government power, self-government by the people, and the rule of law. Those principles define the kind of judge our liberty requires, they define the role judges may play in our system of government. ... there must be a vigorous debate about the kind of judge America needs because nothing less than our liberty is at stake. Must judges set aside, or may judges consider, their personal feelings in deciding cases? Is judicial impartiality a duty or an option? Does the fact that judicial decisions affect so many people’s lives require judges to be objective and impartial, or does it allow them to be subjective and sympathetic? Judge Sotomayor’s nomination raises these and other important issues and I look forward to a respectful and energetic debate. The confirmation process in general, and this hearing in particular, must be both dignified and thorough. There are very different and strongly held views about the issues we will explore, in particular, the role that judges should play in our system of government. The task before us is to determine whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor is qualified, by legal experience and especially by judicial philosophy, to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. Doing so requires examining her entire record, her speeches and articles as well as her judicial decisions. We must at the same time be thankful for the opportunity represented by Judge Sotomayor’s nomination and focus squarely on whether she will be the kind of judge required by the very liberty that makes that opportunity possible.
Senator Kohl
(http://kohl.senate.gov/newsroom/pressrelease.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1464=2937)
Your nomination is a reflection of who we are as a country and it represents an American success story that we can all be proud of.Your academic and professional accomplishments - as prosecutor, private practitioner, trial judge and appellate judge - are exemplary.And as a judge, you have brought a richness of experience to the bench and to the judiciary which has been an inspiration for so many.Today, we begin a process through which the Senate engages in its Constitutional role to “advise and consent” on your nomination.This week’s hearing is the only opportunity we, and the American people, will have to learn about your judicial philosophy, your temperament, and your motivations before you put on the black robe and are heard from only in your judicial opinions.The President has asked us to entrust you with an immense amount of power.Power which, by design, is free from political constraints, unchecked by the people, and unaccountable to Congress, except in the most extreme circumstances.Our democracy, our rights, and everything we hold dear about America are built on the foundation of our Constitution.For more than 200 years, the Court has interpreted the meaning of the Constitution and in doing so guaranteed our most cherished rights.The right to equal education regardless of race.The right to an attorney and a fair trial for the accused.The right to personal privacy.The right to speak, vote and worship without interference from the government.Should you be confirmed, you and your colleagues will decide the future scope of our rights and the breadth of our freedoms.Your decisions will shape the fabric of American society for years to come.That is why it is so important that over the course of the next few days, we gain a good understanding of what is in your heart and your mind.We don’t have a right to know in advance how you will rule on cases which will come before you.But we need – and we deserve – to know what you think about fundamental issues such as civil rights, privacy, property rights, the separation of church and state, and civil liberties, to name a few.
When considering Supreme Court nominees over the years, I have judged each one with a test of judicial excellence.
First, judicial excellence means the competence, character, and temperament that we expect of a Supreme Court Justice.He or she must have a keen understanding of the law, and the ability to explain it in ways that both the litigants and the American people will understand and respect, even if they disagree with the outcome.
Second, I look for a nominee to have the sense of values which form the core of our political and economic system.No one, including the President, has the right to require ideological purity from a member of the Supreme Court.But we do have a right to require that the nominee accept both the basic principles of the Constitution and its core values implanted in society.
Third, we want a nominee with a sense of compassion.This is a quality that I have considered with the last 6 Supreme Court Justices.Compassion does not mean bias or lack of impartiality.It is meant to remind us that the law is more than an intellectual game, and more than a mental exercise.
Melissa (on the right) looks on as police officers take away a protestor who interrupted the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee's confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor on Capitol Hill in Washington, July 13, 2009. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst (UNITED STATES POLITICS CRIME LAW) http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Sonia-Sotomayor-George-Bridges-Senate-Judiciary-Committee/photo//090713/480/ad68a880104a4ef38e4961c265e34fc8//s:/ap/20090713/ap_on_go_su_co/us_sotomayor_senate#photoViewer=/090713/ids_photos_wl/r2689158169.jpgI was rather amazed to be able to attend such an historic event as a member of the public and to watch the hearing process in person. The room was smaller than I expected, but the Senators, seated high above Sotomayor, were more impressive than I imagined. Members of the press corps and administrators filled the room with computers, cameras, and notebooks.
In the short time we were in the hearing room, each senator outlined what they believed were essential qualities for Supreme Court nominees. All Senators spoke to the importance of the procedures and the task that lay ahead. Both the Democrats and Republicans praised Sotomayor and her career, although the Democrats seemed to speak with more confidence in her eventual nomination. Sotomayor only uttered a few words of thanks as her opening statement is scheduled for this afternoon.
Excerpts from the opening statements:
Senator Feinstein
(http://feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=NewsRoom.PressReleases&ContentRecord_id=752fa206-5056-8059-760b-22477bbfda58)
I want to start out with a couple of personal words. Your nomination I view with a great sense of personal pride. You are indeed a very special woman. You have overcome adversity and disadvantages. You have grown in strength and determination and you have achieved respect and admiration for what has been a brilliant legal and judicial career. If confirmed, you will join the Supreme Court with more federal judicial experience than any Justice in the past 100 years. And you bring with you 29 and a half years of varied legal experience to the court. By this standard you are well-qualified.
You have 11 years as a federal appellate court judge. You have participated in 3,000 appeals, authored roughly 400 published opinions. In your six years on the federal court you were the trial judge in approximately 450 cases. For four and a half years, you prosecuted crimes as an assistant district attorney in New York City. You spent eight years litigating business cases at a New York law firm.
What is unique about this broad experience is that you have seen the law truly from all sides.
In my 16 and a half years on this committee, I have held that there are certain qualities that a Supreme Court nominee must possess:
· First, broad and relative experience – you satisfy that.
· Second, strong and deep knowledge of the law and the Constitution – you satisfy that.
· Third, a firm commitment to follow the law – and you have, and all of the statistics indicate that.
· Next, a judicial temperament and integrity – and you have both of those.
· Finally, mainstream legal reasoning. And there is everything in your record to indicate that.
Bottom line: I believe your record indicates that you possess all of these qualities.
Judge Sotomayor, I believe you are a warm and intelligent woman. I believe that you are well-studied and experienced in the law, with some 17 years of federal court experience involving 3,000 appeals and 450 trial cases.
So I believe you too will bring your experiences and philosophies to this highest court and I believe that will do only one thing – and that is to strengthen this high institution of our great country.
Senator Hatch
(http://hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=74a9c22e-1b78-be3e-e0d6-90c7c973f190)
Judge Sotomayor comes to this committee for the third time, having served on the first two levels of the federal judiciary, and now, being nominated to the third. She has a compelling life story and a strong record of educational and professional achievement. Her nomination speaks to the opportunities that America today provides for men and women of different backgrounds and heritage. The liberty we enjoy here in America makes those opportunities possible and requires our best efforts to protect that liberty. Our liberty rests on the foundation of a written Constitution that limits and separates government power, self-government by the people, and the rule of law. Those principles define the kind of judge our liberty requires, they define the role judges may play in our system of government. ... there must be a vigorous debate about the kind of judge America needs because nothing less than our liberty is at stake. Must judges set aside, or may judges consider, their personal feelings in deciding cases? Is judicial impartiality a duty or an option? Does the fact that judicial decisions affect so many people’s lives require judges to be objective and impartial, or does it allow them to be subjective and sympathetic? Judge Sotomayor’s nomination raises these and other important issues and I look forward to a respectful and energetic debate. The confirmation process in general, and this hearing in particular, must be both dignified and thorough. There are very different and strongly held views about the issues we will explore, in particular, the role that judges should play in our system of government. The task before us is to determine whether Judge Sonia Sotomayor is qualified, by legal experience and especially by judicial philosophy, to sit on the Supreme Court of the United States. Doing so requires examining her entire record, her speeches and articles as well as her judicial decisions. We must at the same time be thankful for the opportunity represented by Judge Sotomayor’s nomination and focus squarely on whether she will be the kind of judge required by the very liberty that makes that opportunity possible.
Senator Kohl
(http://kohl.senate.gov/newsroom/pressrelease.cfm?customel_dataPageID_1464=2937)
Your nomination is a reflection of who we are as a country and it represents an American success story that we can all be proud of.Your academic and professional accomplishments - as prosecutor, private practitioner, trial judge and appellate judge - are exemplary.And as a judge, you have brought a richness of experience to the bench and to the judiciary which has been an inspiration for so many.Today, we begin a process through which the Senate engages in its Constitutional role to “advise and consent” on your nomination.This week’s hearing is the only opportunity we, and the American people, will have to learn about your judicial philosophy, your temperament, and your motivations before you put on the black robe and are heard from only in your judicial opinions.The President has asked us to entrust you with an immense amount of power.Power which, by design, is free from political constraints, unchecked by the people, and unaccountable to Congress, except in the most extreme circumstances.Our democracy, our rights, and everything we hold dear about America are built on the foundation of our Constitution.For more than 200 years, the Court has interpreted the meaning of the Constitution and in doing so guaranteed our most cherished rights.The right to equal education regardless of race.The right to an attorney and a fair trial for the accused.The right to personal privacy.The right to speak, vote and worship without interference from the government.Should you be confirmed, you and your colleagues will decide the future scope of our rights and the breadth of our freedoms.Your decisions will shape the fabric of American society for years to come.That is why it is so important that over the course of the next few days, we gain a good understanding of what is in your heart and your mind.We don’t have a right to know in advance how you will rule on cases which will come before you.But we need – and we deserve – to know what you think about fundamental issues such as civil rights, privacy, property rights, the separation of church and state, and civil liberties, to name a few.
When considering Supreme Court nominees over the years, I have judged each one with a test of judicial excellence.
First, judicial excellence means the competence, character, and temperament that we expect of a Supreme Court Justice.He or she must have a keen understanding of the law, and the ability to explain it in ways that both the litigants and the American people will understand and respect, even if they disagree with the outcome.
Second, I look for a nominee to have the sense of values which form the core of our political and economic system.No one, including the President, has the right to require ideological purity from a member of the Supreme Court.But we do have a right to require that the nominee accept both the basic principles of the Constitution and its core values implanted in society.
Third, we want a nominee with a sense of compassion.This is a quality that I have considered with the last 6 Supreme Court Justices.Compassion does not mean bias or lack of impartiality.It is meant to remind us that the law is more than an intellectual game, and more than a mental exercise.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Ending the Atrocity - Stop Rape Now: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict
Today I attended Ending the Atrocity - Stop Rape Now: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict part of the Council of Women World Leaders’ Madeleine K. Albright Women Voices at the Aspen Institute Series. Ines Alberdi, Executive Director of UNIFEM, moderated the discussion between the Honorable Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission and Chair of the Council’s Ministerial Initiative, and Ambassador Melanne Verveer, United States Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues.
I found out about the event after my classmate Kelsey, who happens to be interning for Vice-President Wallström in Brussels, saw my posting about of the Eve Ensler Op-Ed. Interestingly enough, we happen to both be working on issues of SGBV this summer and this event was a perfect complement to my work the past two weeks on SGBV. I also happened to run into another classmate, Sabrina, at the event - another champion of human rights, or to borrow Secretary Clinton's words, a champion of Women's Rights Are Human Rights. Even though my classmates are scattered across the globe, I'm happy to find that we have seemingly converged on similar topics and areas of interest this summer.
Ms. Alberdi outlined the UN’s actions to end sexual violence during and after war through the Stop Rape Now: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict campaign (UN Action). The UN Action group is composed of 12 UN agencies working to prevent all forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence in conflict, in a concerted effort to support national efforts to prevent sexual violence, improve coordination, amplify advocacy, and respond to the needs of survivors. She discussed two UN Security Council Resolutions specific to sexual violence: Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000) which acknowledges that war affects women and men differently and that women should play a central role in conflict resolution; and Resolution 1820 (2008) which builds on 1325 to recognize sexual violence as a weapon of war and a concern to international security. She outlined four key issues to stem SGBV: combating impunity, increasing advocacy, ensuring women full and equal participation in the peace process, and funding services for survivors.
Ambassador Verveer outlined USG efforts to combat SGBV, including mainstreaming women’s issues into foreign policy to protect and empower women, as well as developing a multisectoral approach to the issue. She highlighted the twelve year crisis in the DRC as an example of the use of rape as a tool to destroy communities and the lack of adequate means to hold perpetrators accountable. She stressed that leadership and political will are necessary to transform the UN Resolutions (1325 and 1820) from rhetoric into action.
Vice-President Wallström stressed the importance of including and empowering women in the peace process, citing that of the 13 major peace agreements since 2000, none have had a woman moderator. She called for specific action to improve the international response to SGBV, noting that the international community needs: better reporting; improved implementing instruments; more specific UN resolutions (using the Children in Armed Conflict Resolution as an example); justice system reform to remove impunity and forgiveness for perpetrators; more awareness raising; building of technical capacity; and commitments from donors to truly end sexual violence in conflict. She noted that that rape must be classified as an illegal weapon of warfare and a weapon of mass destruction; and also stressed that it is important to end impunity, build effective mechanisms, and work with survivors.
I found out about the event after my classmate Kelsey, who happens to be interning for Vice-President Wallström in Brussels, saw my posting about of the Eve Ensler Op-Ed. Interestingly enough, we happen to both be working on issues of SGBV this summer and this event was a perfect complement to my work the past two weeks on SGBV. I also happened to run into another classmate, Sabrina, at the event - another champion of human rights, or to borrow Secretary Clinton's words, a champion of Women's Rights Are Human Rights. Even though my classmates are scattered across the globe, I'm happy to find that we have seemingly converged on similar topics and areas of interest this summer.
Ms. Alberdi outlined the UN’s actions to end sexual violence during and after war through the Stop Rape Now: UN Action against Sexual Violence in Conflict campaign (UN Action). The UN Action group is composed of 12 UN agencies working to prevent all forms of gender-based violence, including sexual violence in conflict, in a concerted effort to support national efforts to prevent sexual violence, improve coordination, amplify advocacy, and respond to the needs of survivors. She discussed two UN Security Council Resolutions specific to sexual violence: Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace, and Security (2000) which acknowledges that war affects women and men differently and that women should play a central role in conflict resolution; and Resolution 1820 (2008) which builds on 1325 to recognize sexual violence as a weapon of war and a concern to international security. She outlined four key issues to stem SGBV: combating impunity, increasing advocacy, ensuring women full and equal participation in the peace process, and funding services for survivors.
Ambassador Verveer outlined USG efforts to combat SGBV, including mainstreaming women’s issues into foreign policy to protect and empower women, as well as developing a multisectoral approach to the issue. She highlighted the twelve year crisis in the DRC as an example of the use of rape as a tool to destroy communities and the lack of adequate means to hold perpetrators accountable. She stressed that leadership and political will are necessary to transform the UN Resolutions (1325 and 1820) from rhetoric into action.
Vice-President Wallström stressed the importance of including and empowering women in the peace process, citing that of the 13 major peace agreements since 2000, none have had a woman moderator. She called for specific action to improve the international response to SGBV, noting that the international community needs: better reporting; improved implementing instruments; more specific UN resolutions (using the Children in Armed Conflict Resolution as an example); justice system reform to remove impunity and forgiveness for perpetrators; more awareness raising; building of technical capacity; and commitments from donors to truly end sexual violence in conflict. She noted that that rape must be classified as an illegal weapon of warfare and a weapon of mass destruction; and also stressed that it is important to end impunity, build effective mechanisms, and work with survivors.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Eve Ensler talks out about Sexual Violence in the DRC
Eve Ensler wrote this op-ed in the Washington Post on June 30th. As the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls, Ensler has been outspoken against GBV in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A Broken U.N. Promise In Congo
By Eve Ensler
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo -- Just over a year ago, in answering whether sexual violence in conflict was an issue that the U.N. Security Council should take on, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proclaimed, "I am proud that, today, we respond to that lingering question with a resounding 'yes!' " With this statement, and with the cooperation of other power brokers at the table, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1820, which finally recognized sexual violence as a widely used strategy of warfare and cleared the path for the council to respond to it worldwide.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to report to the Security Council today on implementation of Resolution 1820. What will we learn? A year after adopting the resolution, Congo remains the worst place on the planet to be a woman. Over 12 years, in a regional economic war for resources, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped and tortured, their bodies destroyed by unimaginable acts. The Security Council's implementation of Resolution 1820 in Congo -- the very place that inspired it -- has been an utter failure.
Rape as a weapon of war has increased in eastern Congo since June 2008. In January, military operations were launched in North Kivu with the supposed goal of arresting the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and neutralizing his National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) troops as well as the FDLR, the former Rwandan Hutu genocidaires. Even now, with Resolution 1820 in place, no one considers the women. Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch, just back from the front lines in both North and South Kivu, told me Monday that in nearly all the health centers, hospitals and rape counseling centers she visited, rape cases had doubled or tripled since January.
Rapes continue to be committed with near complete impunity. While the number of criminal prosecutions has risen marginally, only low-ranking soldiers are being prosecuted. Not a single commander or officer above the rank of major has been held responsible in all of Congo. Rapes by the national army are increasing, too. MONUC, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, is not only allowing perpetrators to go unpunished but is also providing logistical support to them for their movements in the field. A blacklist of war criminals and rapists who were commanders in current operations was shown to the Security Council, which gave it to President Joseph Kabila. Despite incriminating evidence, none of the commanders was removed. Resolution 1820 was supposed to make the United Nations more sensitive to the issue of sexual violence. How is it possible that in the past year, the United Nations became complicit in supporting rapists as commanders in its operations?
The U.N. spin on operations in the Congo is upbeat. The secretary general lauded their success in a March 8 commentary in the International Herald Tribune. Successful for whom? Chantal, a 3-year-old who was raped so brutally by militia soldiers that she died on the way to the hospital? All her sisters were raped, too.
Resolution 1820 must be enforced with seriousness by the Security Council and the secretary general. Arrests need to be made immediately of known rapists and war criminals at the highest levels. The United Nations must stop supporting military actions, because they are doomed in Congo. And the root economic causes of the war need to be addressed with the leaders of countries in Africa's Great Lakes region who commit violence to reap benefits from Congo's minerals, as well as their Western corporate partners. They, too, are liable for these atrocities.
President Obama and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice should send a very clear message to the world. It is within U.S. power, as a member of the Security Council, to push for measures to end impunity and to carve out an enduring peace through careful diplomacy for the people of Congo.
A few days ago, I sat in a dark shack with 30 survivors of rape. These women had fled their villages after being brutally terrorized and had randomly found each other. They banded together to form a grass-roots group called I Will Not Kill Myself Today. The women of eastern Congo are enduring their 12th year of sexual terrorism. The girl children born of rape are now being raped. What will it take for the United Nations to finally do something meaningful to stop the violence? The women are waiting.
Eve Ensler, a playwright and activist, is the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
A Broken U.N. Promise In Congo
By Eve Ensler
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
BUKAVU, Democratic Republic of Congo -- Just over a year ago, in answering whether sexual violence in conflict was an issue that the U.N. Security Council should take on, then-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice proclaimed, "I am proud that, today, we respond to that lingering question with a resounding 'yes!' " With this statement, and with the cooperation of other power brokers at the table, the Security Council unanimously adopted Resolution 1820, which finally recognized sexual violence as a widely used strategy of warfare and cleared the path for the council to respond to it worldwide.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is to report to the Security Council today on implementation of Resolution 1820. What will we learn? A year after adopting the resolution, Congo remains the worst place on the planet to be a woman. Over 12 years, in a regional economic war for resources, hundreds of thousands of women and girls have been raped and tortured, their bodies destroyed by unimaginable acts. The Security Council's implementation of Resolution 1820 in Congo -- the very place that inspired it -- has been an utter failure.
Rape as a weapon of war has increased in eastern Congo since June 2008. In January, military operations were launched in North Kivu with the supposed goal of arresting the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda and neutralizing his National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP) troops as well as the FDLR, the former Rwandan Hutu genocidaires. Even now, with Resolution 1820 in place, no one considers the women. Anneke Van Woudenberg of Human Rights Watch, just back from the front lines in both North and South Kivu, told me Monday that in nearly all the health centers, hospitals and rape counseling centers she visited, rape cases had doubled or tripled since January.
Rapes continue to be committed with near complete impunity. While the number of criminal prosecutions has risen marginally, only low-ranking soldiers are being prosecuted. Not a single commander or officer above the rank of major has been held responsible in all of Congo. Rapes by the national army are increasing, too. MONUC, the U.N. peacekeeping mission, is not only allowing perpetrators to go unpunished but is also providing logistical support to them for their movements in the field. A blacklist of war criminals and rapists who were commanders in current operations was shown to the Security Council, which gave it to President Joseph Kabila. Despite incriminating evidence, none of the commanders was removed. Resolution 1820 was supposed to make the United Nations more sensitive to the issue of sexual violence. How is it possible that in the past year, the United Nations became complicit in supporting rapists as commanders in its operations?
The U.N. spin on operations in the Congo is upbeat. The secretary general lauded their success in a March 8 commentary in the International Herald Tribune. Successful for whom? Chantal, a 3-year-old who was raped so brutally by militia soldiers that she died on the way to the hospital? All her sisters were raped, too.
Resolution 1820 must be enforced with seriousness by the Security Council and the secretary general. Arrests need to be made immediately of known rapists and war criminals at the highest levels. The United Nations must stop supporting military actions, because they are doomed in Congo. And the root economic causes of the war need to be addressed with the leaders of countries in Africa's Great Lakes region who commit violence to reap benefits from Congo's minerals, as well as their Western corporate partners. They, too, are liable for these atrocities.
President Obama and U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice should send a very clear message to the world. It is within U.S. power, as a member of the Security Council, to push for measures to end impunity and to carve out an enduring peace through careful diplomacy for the people of Congo.
A few days ago, I sat in a dark shack with 30 survivors of rape. These women had fled their villages after being brutally terrorized and had randomly found each other. They banded together to form a grass-roots group called I Will Not Kill Myself Today. The women of eastern Congo are enduring their 12th year of sexual terrorism. The girl children born of rape are now being raped. What will it take for the United Nations to finally do something meaningful to stop the violence? The women are waiting.
Eve Ensler, a playwright and activist, is the founder of V-Day, a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
DIsabled Congolese Musicians
http://www.nowpublic.com/culture/disabled-congolese-musicians-become-world-hit
What an amazing, dedicated group of Musicians!
From the website:
A group of Congolese musicians is using music to overcome obstacles – both economic and social – that come with being disabled in a poor country. Called Staff Benda Bilili, they are on course to be a global sensation and are looking forward to their first European tour. A remarkable achievement for anyone from a war-torn country, let alone for musicians who live as paraplegics in the slums of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
What an amazing, dedicated group of Musicians!
From the website:
A group of Congolese musicians is using music to overcome obstacles – both economic and social – that come with being disabled in a poor country. Called Staff Benda Bilili, they are on course to be a global sensation and are looking forward to their first European tour. A remarkable achievement for anyone from a war-torn country, let alone for musicians who live as paraplegics in the slums of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
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