BY NATE HAKEN Conflict can devastate the livelihoods of people in the affected communities. But the story of the Ekowe community shows how local mediation efforts can make a big difference for peace in the Niger Delta. The footage for this video was filmed courtesy of the Rural Empowerment Foundation and facilitated by NIDPRODEV/LITE AFRICA. […]
Category Archives: People
Nervousness Surrounds Kenyan Elections
- 12 February 2013
BY NORA LONCSAR* On March 4, Kenyans will once again vote for their local and national leaders. The increase in violence in the last year has raised fears among some national and international observers of the potential for another bloody ballot. In early 2007, the world watched in horror at the events unfolding in Kenya […]
Human Rights & Business Roundtable Annual Report 2012
- 19 December 2012
BY J.J. MESSNER, TIERNEY ANDERSON, ERIN CRANDELL, NATALIE WHITE The mission of The Human Rights & Business Roundtable is to promote the rule of law and open societies. Launched in 1996, the Roundtable was the first forum designed for multinational businesses and mainstream human rights organizations to discuss issues of common concern in an atmosphere […]
Nigeria: Beyond Terror and Militants
- 10 December 2012
BY NATE HAKEN, FILIPA CARREIRA, ELIZAVETA EGOROVA, RACHEL HERSH Not every explosion in northern Nigeria stems from the radicalism of Boko Haram. Nor is every outbreak of violence in the Niger Delta the result of militants fighting over oil revenues. Rather, violence in its different forms is an expression of a broader and deeper fabric […]
Turning the Page on Charles Taylor
- 08 November 2012
BY KENDALL LAWRENCE, NATE HAKEN, PATRICIA TAFT AND NORA LOCASAR On April 26, 2012, the International Criminal Court convicted Liberia’s former president Charles Taylor for his role in the commission of crimes against humanity during the war in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. For Sierra Leone, this brought a dark chapter to a close — […]
Threats in the Straits of Malacca
- 23 August 2012
BY FELIPE UMANA The Straits of Malacca consist of a narrow but lengthy waterway that extends more than 500 miles from the eastern limits of the Andaman Sea to the South China Sea in Southeast Asia. Straddling the sea route between the Indonesian island of Sumatra, the Thai-Malay Peninsula, and the small city-state of Singapore, […]
Responsible Investment in the New Libya
- 28 February 2012
BY J.J. MESSNER Libya is currently undergoing a period of reconstruction after having endured a months-long civil war that brought to an end over four decades of dictatorial rule by Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi. As the country stabilizes and rebuilds, there will be significant interest in new and renewed investment in the country. It will be […]
Roundtable on Conflict-Free Gold
- 06 December 2011
BY SONIA HAUSEN On the 7th of September 2011, members of civil society, government, and the private sector convened in New York City to discuss the World Gold Council’s (WGC) draft Conflict-Free Gold Standards. The day-long Roundtable was facilitated by the independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit organization, The Fund for Peace. WGC, the initiator of the […]
National-Level Implementation Guidance Note for the Voluntary Principles
- 10 November 2011
BY KRISTA HENDRY AND DIANA KLEIN While the Voluntary Principles on Security & Human Rights have grown over the past ten years to include 7 governments, 18 companies, and 9 NGOs, there has been too little focus on national-level implementation within the countries that have challenges related to security and human rights. At the same […]
North Korean WMD Trading Relationships
- 07 April 2011
BY JONAS VAICIKONIS The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), or North Korea, threatens world security by hastening the spread of nuclear weapons and related technologies to state and non-state actors interested in acquiring nuclear weapons. The North uses two pathways to acquire banned nuclear equipment for itself and for others: through state-to-state contact and […]