Below is an excerpt from an op-ed by Mike Brand just published by IRIN: “There are no opportunities for youth here,” said Yar, a 20-year-old South Sudanese refugee from Jonglei, stuck in the Nyumanzi refugee settlement in northern Uganda. Her words were echoed in conversations I had throughout my two-week visit to the settlements. Since…
On Friday Oct. 6, the Trump administration decided to lift economic sanctions on the genocidal regime in Sudan citing, “the Government of Sudan’s sustained positive actions to maintain a cessation of hostilities in conflict areas in Sudan, improve humanitarian access throughout Sudan, and maintain cooperation with the United States on addressing regional conflicts and the…
**JWW’s Director of Advocacy and Programs, Mike Brand, is in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) visiting JWW’s partner programs, speaking with civil society leaders on the forefront of the pro-democracy movement, and meeting with officials from MONUSCO (the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC). Follow his updates on our blog and social media.**…
I’m back in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) visiting JWW’s partner programs, speaking with civil society leaders on the forefront of the pro-democracy movement, and meeting with officials from MONUSCO…
If you ever wonder whether or not our advocacy makes a difference, here’s your answer: it does! Thanks to the grassroots advocacy done by all of you, and the high-level advocacy we are able to do from our office and in Washington, DC, we make a difference. Yesterday the House of Representatives passed House Resolution 187: Relating to…
The Guardian reported on Feb. 8 that President Trump is expected to sign a memorandum that would suspend Section 1502 of the Dodd-Frank Act, the conflict minerals provision established in 2010 to break the link between minerals and mass atrocities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Conflict minerals are minerals such as tin, tantalum,…
A deal has been reached in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) for President Joseph Kabila to step down from power, paving the way for the country’s first democratic transfer of power. While the deal is clearly a welcomed alternative to Kabila staying in power indefinitely, and will hopefully avoid further bloodshed, major challenges still…
What do South Sudanese See as the Way Forward? It has now been three years since violence first broke out in the world’s newest nation. What began as a fight between different factions of the Presidential Guard on December 15, 2013, quickly grew into a full-blown ethnic conflict that rapidly spread across the country. Mass…
[su_quote]I have said before that we have collectively failed the people of Syria. The Security Council has not exercised its preeminent responsibility with regard to the maintenance of international peace and security…History will not easily absolve us, but this failure compels us to do even more to offer the people of Aleppo our solidarity at…
Last year, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly established December 9th as the International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and of the Prevention of this Crime. This date was chosen because on December 9, 1948. the newly created United Nations adopted the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment…