The American military is stretched pretty thin these days. We're in two wars; we have lots of global commitments. On any given day, one third of our troops are actually involved in an operation, one third are getting ready to go and one third have just come back. Busy.
This week we have a little bit of humanitarian and aid worker stereotyping and a look at what DR Congo will be like if peacekeepers have to leave ahead of schedule. Exciting? We think so:
When grappling with the complex category of “climate migration,” much can get lost in translation. First, the term itself is difficult to pin down. If a family loses its livelihood as a result of increased drought and desertification and has to relocate to an urban area for work, is this an example of climate displacement, or are they economic migrants whose powerlessness to provide for themselves is simply compounded by environmental factors? If a national of one country is forced to cross international borders as a result of violent conflict over limited natural resources, how are they different from any other refugee protected under the 1951 Refugee Convention?
This International Women’s Day, I took a moment to consider the many varied points of view that I heard from and about women during our recent Sudan mission. Their stories are applicable to the situation of many women living in crisis situations around the world.
When Valentino Achak Deng, the subject of Dave Egger’s best selling novel What is the What speaks, he allows long pauses between sentences during which you can almost hear his audience holding their breath. On Tuesday night, Refugees International’s Washington Circle featured Valentino as part of a panel discussion on “The Year of Sudan: What Lies Ahead” at the Mexican Cultural Institute.
