Despite Assurances, South Sudanese Government Continues to Impede Aid Efforts
Last month, the United Nations declared famine in parts of South Sudan with 100,000 people currently facing starvation and a further one million on the brink of famine. Despite such alarming reports, South Sudan’s government has put up roadblocks impeding international humanitarian aid efforts trying to reach those severely affected by the crisis. A recent report by the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs stated that “Aid workers continue to face multiple obstacles to the delivery of humanitarian assistance across South Sudan, including active hostilities, access denials, and bureaucratic impediments.” ...
Corruption Continues to Blight Several African Countries
Transparency International recently released the results of its 2016 Corruptions Perceptions Index, a survey of perceived levels of corruption in the public sectors of 176 countries and territories. “No country,” Transparency International immediately observes, “gets close to a perfect score.” In fact, corruption perceptions grew worse, not better, for most countries in 2016 ...
In Welcome Move, China Announces Plan to End Domestic Ivory Trade
On December 30, China announced a plan to end its domestic ivory trade, phasing out all ivory processing and trade by the end of 2017. Conservationists and human rights activists hope that the move will curb the mass slaughter of elephants in Africa, who face the threat of extinction and whose ivory is used to fund armed groups. China is reportedly the world’s largest elephant ivory market, with 50 to 70 percent of all smuggled ivory ending up in the country ...
The Uncondemned: Story of the First Conviction of Rape as a War Crime
A newly-released documentary, “The Uncondemned,” weaves together the stories of a group of determined survivors of sexual violence, human rights advocates, lawyers, and researchers who overcame obstacles to collectively help prosecute rape as a component of genocide and hold the perpetrator accountable for his acts ...
As Warnings of Genocide in South Sudan Increase, U.S. to Introduce UNSC Resolution for Targeted Sanctions, Arms Embargo
On November 17, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power announced that the United States will introduce a resolution in the U.N. Security Council for targeted sanctions and an arms embargo for South Sudan ...