At a hearing on Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight (watch the webcast here, and go to about the 1:07 mark for the fieriest bits), Representative Dana Rohrabacher took a host of unnecessary pot shots at UN peacekeeping, indiscriminately writing off nearly every mission as a "failure" and insulting blue helmets for "incompetence" and "cowardice." The briefer at the hearing, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jane Holl Lute wisely opted not to stoop to Rohrabacher's level, particularly because none of the other committee members shared Rohrabacher's outlandish views. As a former decorated member of the U.S. military herself, though, Lute understandably bristled at Rohrabacher's downright insulting indictment of brave UN peacekeeping personnel.
While Lute refrained from making the following comparison -- though the subcommittee's chair, Rep. Bill Delahunt, did invoke Iraq several times -- the principles of both logic and sound policymaking demand that it be made: if peacekeeping debacles were consistently attributed to troops' "incompetence" and "cowardice," U.S. soldiers would face a string of equally groundless defamations for the imbroglio they are facing in Iraq. That they do not is testament to the double standard that Rohrabacher so eagerly employs to slander UN peacekeepers. At the heart of Rohrabacher's anti-UN agenda -- of which his crusade is of course only an example -- is his ruthless exploitation of a key difference in the political capital generated by two premises: on the one hand, the entrenched dictate of "Support the Troops," and on the other, the much less well-established -- while no less valuable -- imperative to "Support the Peacekeepers."
At a hearing on Wednesday before the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight (watch the webcast here, and go to about the 1:07 mark for the fieriest bits), Representative Dana Rohrabacher took a host of unnecessary pot shots at UN peacekeeping, indiscriminately writing off nearly every mission as a "failure" and insulting blue helmets for "incompetence" and "cowardice." The briefer at the hearing, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Jane Holl Lute wisely opted not to stoop to Rohrabacher's level, particularly because none of the other committee members shared Rohrabacher's outlandish views. As a former decorated member of the U.S. military herself, though, Lute understandably bristled at Rohrabacher's downright insulting indictment of brave UN peacekeeping personnel.
While Lute refrained from making the following comparison -- though the subcommittee's chair, Rep. Bill Delahunt, did invoke Iraq several times -- the principles of both logic and sound policymaking demand that it be made: if peacekeeping debacles were consistently attributed to troops' "incompetence" and "cowardice," U.S. soldiers would face a string of equally groundless defamations for the imbroglio they are facing in Iraq. That they do not is testament to the double standard that Rohrabacher so eagerly employs to slander UN peacekeepers. At the heart of Rohrabacher's anti-UN agenda -- of which his crusade is of course only an example -- is his ruthless exploitation of a key difference in the political capital generated by two premises: on the one hand, the entrenched dictate of "Support the Troops," and on the other, the much less well-established -- while no less valuable -- imperative to "Support the Peacekeepers."
A UN report released today shows significant progress in treating children with AIDS and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, but not without a call for greater efforts.
In 2005, only 11 percent of women were getting drugs to prevent transmission. Thanks to UNICEF's Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS initiative, 31 percent are now getting treatment. There's also been a 70 percent increase in children who are receiving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to 127,000 per year. "That’s enormous progress," says UNICEF Chief of HIV and AIDS Jimmy Kolker.
But obviously more efforts are needed. The report identifies improvements and challenges in four key areas: preventing HIV transmission from mothers to children (PMTCT); providing paediatric treatment, preventing infection among adolescents and young people; and protecting and supporting children affected by AIDS.
The report also addresses how various gender injustices call for women's rights efforts to be embedded within the work being done to decrease the occurrence of PMTCT. Examples include how domestic violence is often a huge barrier to routine testing programs, or the ways that cultural stigmatization prevents many women from seeking PMTCT services. All are addressed in the report, as well as new working strategies to further the progress already made.
Make sure to check out the full report.
A UN report released today shows significant progress in treating children with AIDS and preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV, but not without a call for greater efforts.
In 2005, only 11 percent of women were getting drugs to prevent transmission. Thanks to UNICEF's Unite for Children, Unite Against AIDS initiative, 31 percent are now getting treatment. There's also been a 70 percent increase in children who are receiving anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) to 127,000 per year. "That’s enormous progress," says UNICEF Chief of HIV and AIDS Jimmy Kolker.
But obviously more efforts are needed. The report identifies improvements and challenges in four key areas: preventing HIV transmission from mothers to children (PMTCT); providing paediatric treatment, preventing infection among adolescents and young people; and protecting and supporting children affected by AIDS.
The report also addresses how various gender injustices call for women's rights efforts to be embedded within the work being done to decrease the occurrence of PMTCT. Examples include how domestic violence is often a huge barrier to routine testing programs, or the ways that cultural stigmatization prevents many women from seeking PMTCT services. All are addressed in the report, as well as new working strategies to further the progress already made.
Make sure to check out the full report.
Reuters gets its hands on a letter from the US Special Envoy on Sudan Richard Williamson to the Secretary General in which Williamson blames the UN for the slow deployment of UNAMID, the peacekeeping mission to Darfur. This kind of critique tends to infuriate me. The United Nations cannot waive a magic wand to summon the kind of troops and equipment necessary to make UNAMID a success. Rather, it depends on member states to pony up the cash, personnel and equipment. It is incredibly disingenuous to blame the UN for UNAMID's slow deployment when one's government is not offering troops or equipment -- nor even living up to its basic treaty obligation to financially support UN peacekeeping as a whole. (Right now, the United States is $1.4 billion in arrears in the UN peacekeeping account, which is far from chump change considering that the UN’s peacekeeping budget is only $7 billion annually).
Even if the United States does not want to send troops or equipment to Darfur -- which is understandable -- it could still help the situation by using its diplomatic clout to press for peace in Darfur. UNAMID, after all, will only be successful if there is an underlying peace to keep. One obvious way the United States could help politically and diplomatically is to make Darfur a higher priority in its bilateral relationship with China, which has close ties to Sudan. But so far, many in the United States government have found it easier to scapegoat the UN over Darfur than empower it to succeed there.
Reuters gets its hands on a letter from the US Special Envoy on Sudan Richard Williamson to the Secretary General in which Williamson blames the UN for the slow deployment of UNAMID, the peacekeeping mission to Darfur. This kind of critique tends to infuriate me. The United Nations cannot waive a magic wand to summon the kind of troops and equipment necessary to make UNAMID a success. Rather, it depends on member states to pony up the cash, personnel and equipment. It is incredibly disingenuous to blame the UN for UNAMID's slow deployment when one's government is not offering troops or equipment -- nor even living up to its basic treaty obligation to financially support UN peacekeeping as a whole. (Right now, the United States is $1.4 billion in arrears in the UN peacekeeping account, which is far from chump change considering that the UN’s peacekeeping budget is only $7 billion annually).
Even if the United States does not want to send troops or equipment to Darfur -- which is understandable -- it could still help the situation by using its diplomatic clout to press for peace in Darfur. UNAMID, after all, will only be successful if there is an underlying peace to keep. One obvious way the United States could help politically and diplomatically is to make Darfur a higher priority in its bilateral relationship with China, which has close ties to Sudan. But so far, many in the United States government have found it easier to scapegoat the UN over Darfur than empower it to succeed there.
French linguistic purists are waging a war in defense of the point-virgule (semi-colon), which they say is being driven to extinction by the lazy habits of English speakers.
Starting 5
>>China - China jailed 34-year-old Hu Jia, an outspoken rights activist, for three and a half years on Thursday. The sentence was relatively light for those similarly charged under the Chinese system. Hu Jia is the most prominent activist yet to be sentenced in the recent clampdown.
>>Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has lost control of parliament for the first time since the nation's independence, according to official results released by the Zimbabwe Elections Commisison. The final results from the presidential election have not yet been released, but it appears from the posturing of President Mugabe and the state-run media as if there will be a runoff between the president and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change contends that Tsvangirai has garnered the necessary votes to avoid a runoff. Meanwhile, the British are working on an unprecedented £1-billion-a-year aid and development package for Zimbabwe, to be coordinated by the UN, IMF, EU, and World Bank, which believe that Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, as much as 100,000%, could be brought under control in as little as a year. President Mugabe has turned down similar packages in the past.
>>NATO - Yesterday NATO leaders did not grant a Membership Action Plan (MAP), the path to eventual membership, to Georgia or the Ukraine, whose candidacies were strongly supported by President Bush. They did, however, agree that the two nations would some day join NATO and to review their progress in December. Bush instead won NATO's endorsement for the U.S.'s missile defense system, which coincided with the Czech Republic's announcement that they would install a missile tracking site for the system. NATO also failed to offer Macedonia an invitation to join, due to Greece's objection over the name issue.
>>Ireland - Prime Minister Bertie "Teflon Taoiseach" Ahern unexpectedly stepped down after 11 years in office amid corruption charges. Ahern denied the allegations, and supporters suggest that his political career is not over, floating the possibility of his taking the helm as the first permanent president of the European Union.
>>Cyprus - As Greek and Turkish Cypriots prepare for talks to end the island's division, they tore down barricades and reopened Ledra street, which has symbolized the line of partition for decades.
Yesterday in UN Dispatch
French linguistic purists are waging a war in defense of the point-virgule (semi-colon), which they say is being driven to extinction by the lazy habits of English speakers.
Starting 5
>>China - China jailed 34-year-old Hu Jia, an outspoken rights activist, for three and a half years on Thursday. The sentence was relatively light for those similarly charged under the Chinese system. Hu Jia is the most prominent activist yet to be sentenced in the recent clampdown.
>>Zimbabwe - President Robert Mugabe's ZANU-PF party has lost control of parliament for the first time since the nation's independence, according to official results released by the Zimbabwe Elections Commisison. The final results from the presidential election have not yet been released, but it appears from the posturing of President Mugabe and the state-run media as if there will be a runoff between the president and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai, whose Movement for Democratic Change contends that Tsvangirai has garnered the necessary votes to avoid a runoff. Meanwhile, the British are working on an unprecedented £1-billion-a-year aid and development package for Zimbabwe, to be coordinated by the UN, IMF, EU, and World Bank, which believe that Zimbabwe's hyperinflation, as much as 100,000%, could be brought under control in as little as a year. President Mugabe has turned down similar packages in the past.
>>NATO - Yesterday NATO leaders did not grant a Membership Action Plan (MAP), the path to eventual membership, to Georgia or the Ukraine, whose candidacies were strongly supported by President Bush. They did, however, agree that the two nations would some day join NATO and to review their progress in December. Bush instead won NATO's endorsement for the U.S.'s missile defense system, which coincided with the Czech Republic's announcement that they would install a missile tracking site for the system. NATO also failed to offer Macedonia an invitation to join, due to Greece's objection over the name issue.
>>Ireland - Prime Minister Bertie "Teflon Taoiseach" Ahern unexpectedly stepped down after 11 years in office amid corruption charges. Ahern denied the allegations, and supporters suggest that his political career is not over, floating the possibility of his taking the helm as the first permanent president of the European Union.
>>Cyprus - As Greek and Turkish Cypriots prepare for talks to end the island's division, they tore down barricades and reopened Ledra street, which has symbolized the line of partition for decades.
Yesterday in UN Dispatch
Sameer Lalwani, live blogging from the NATO summit in Bucharest, sets the scene for a meeting today with Afghan President Hamid Kharzai:
Afghanistan is perhaps the centerpiece of the NATO summit (though expansion rates a close second) as it is the first intensive out-of-theater deployment for NATO in its 59 year history. And it has not been easy. One of the reasons for regress and a resurgent Taliban that has been cited by many during this NATO summit in Bucharest is the lack of a coordinating mechanism or actor to harmonize tactical operations with civilian efforts at reconstruction through the [provincial reconstruction teams] and the morass of development aid that is tethered to different national objectives and time lines. A couple weeks ago, U.S. Ambasador to the UN Zalmay Khalilzad wrote an op-ed throwing strong U.S. support behind the United Nations to take on that role of coordination in Afghanistan.