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Peter Daou

2008 Deadliest Year for Aid Workers

There are many ways to help make a difference, from donating to important causes to raising awareness to pressuring elected officials. Each is a critical function and should be lauded.

A few courageous individuals choose to go out in the field and put their lives on the line. They deserve our utmost respect:

Soaring violence in Somalia and Afghanistan helped make 2008 the most dangerous year on record for aid workers, with 122 killed while carrying out their work, a report showed on Monday.

Aid work is now more risky than U.N. peacekeeping as attacks become increasingly politically motivated in some countries, researchers said.

Last year marked a surge in violence against international relief workers and local U.N. contractors such as the truck drivers who deliver food aid in Sudan's war-torn Darfur region.

There has also been a dramatic increase in kidnappings over the past three years. The latest in Sudan took place on Saturday when unknown armed men snatched two female aid workers, a French and a Canadian, from their compound in southern Darfur.

Altogether, 260 humanitarian workers were attacked in 155 serious incidents in 2008 -- compared with 27 incidents in 1998, according to figures compiled by the Center on International Cooperation (CIC) in New York and the Overseas Development Institute in London.

Karzai Orders Review of Controversial Afghan Marriage Law

An update to a story we've covered on Dispatch:

Afghan President Hamid Karzai said he has ordered a review of a new law that critics say could legalize marital rape and restrict women's rights.

President Karzai said the Justice Ministry will study the law "very carefully." He vowed that if there is anything of concern, it will be sent back to parliament. The Afghan leader said concerns may have arisen because of mistranslation or misinterpretation.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday was among several world leaders who sharply criticized the law, which is intended to regulate family life within Afghanistan's Shi'ite community.

At a news conference in France, Mr. Obama called the law "abhorrent" and said his administration's views had been communicated to the Karzai government.

The United Nations Human Rights chief, Navi Pillay, said the legislation bars women from refusing sex with their husbands unless they are sick, and it forbids them from leaving their homes without their husband's permission. 

The law is an abomination and hopefully the international outcry is having an effect.

World Autism Awareness Day

It affects 1 in 150 kids:

As World Autism Awareness Day - designated by the United Nations as Tuesday, April 2 - winds down, the spotlight is on why the disorder is on the increase, why the causes still elude researchers, and why early diagnosis is so important.

“We know autism is on the rise and we know there is a genetic predisposition,” says Dr. Cathy Pratt, board chairperson for the Autism Society of America (www.autism-society.org). “The controversy is over what is the trigger that actually causes it to occur. A lot of research is on what triggers it. I think that we will find that there are multiple causes. It’s not like a broken arm.”

On Huffington Post, Peter Brown, a friend of Yoko Ono, writes:

World Autism Awareness Day (WAAD) was passed unanimously by the UN General Assembly in 2008. Along with AIDS and diabetes, autism is one of only three health issues to be so observed by the UN. In addition to promoting worldwide knowledge of the autism epidemic and the importance of early intervention, WAAD celebrates the unique creative talents and skills of people with autism, and features community events around the world where individuals with autism are celebrated.

Please go online to bid on a unique "puzzle piece of art", signed by Yoko, at www.worldautismawarenessday.org. Bids start at $1,000. All proceeds go to Autism Speaks, the world's largest advocacy organization for autism awareness and research. With each winning bid is the promise that when the cure for autism is finally found, all pieces will be reassembled to mark the last World Autism Awareness Day.

Human Rights at the Top of the World

This is nice:

Today, Mogens Jensen takes off to the Himalayas where he will be highlighting the importance of Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals.

Among all of the equipment in his backpack, Jensen included two unusual items which he intends to take to the top of Mount Everest: the U.N. flag and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

The expedition will take place toward the middle or the end of May. Before the ascent, Jensen will participate in a ceremony with more than 60 Danish mountain climbers.

At a press conference in Copenhagen yesterday, Jakob Simonsen, the Head of UNDP's Nordic Office, gave Jensen a copy of the Declaration and flag.

”It is a great honour for me to cooperate with the UN and bring the Human Rights to the top and commemorate the anniversary. Human Rights affect us all and should never be taken for granted. For me it is a huge motivation factor bringing the Human Rights to the top of the world,” said Jensen.

(image from flickr)

New Afghan Law: Women Cannot Refuse Sex from Husbands

From an article titled Worse than the Taliban:

Hamid Karzai has been accused of trying to win votes in Afghanistan's presidential election by backing a law the UN says legalises rape within marriage and bans wives from stepping outside their homes without their husbands' permission.

The Afghan president signed the law earlier this month, despite condemnation by human rights activists and some MPs that it flouts the constitution's equal rights provisions.

The final document has not been published, but the law is believed to contain articles that rule women cannot leave the house without their husbands' permission, that they can only seek work, education or visit the doctor with their husbands' permission, and that they cannot refuse their husband sex. [Emphasis added]

On Huffington Post, Taylor Marsh writes, "After what happened in the Swat region, this was easily foreseen, especially with President Karzai's popularity plummeting and an election on the horizon."

The World’s Hungry Exceed One Billion for the First Time

The global economic crisis has hit those who can least afford it:
The global economic crisis has contributed to pushing the number of hungry people in the world above 1 billion for the first time, the head of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper. The credit crunch is exacerbating the impact of soaring food price inflation in 2007 and 2008, which had already boosted the ranks of the chronically hungry from less than 850 million before the food crisis to 963 million by the end of last year. FAO director Jacques Diouf told the FT on Thursday that number had increased, and "unfortunately, we are already quoting a number of 1 billion people on average for this year".
These are staggering figures. One can debate the merits of ethicist Peter Singer's approach to the problem, but it's hard to disagree with Sen. John Kerry, who rightly states that hunger is one of the greatest diplomatic and moral challenges the world faces.

Lights Out

I just switched my lights off - here's why:
From an Antarctic research base to the Great Pyramids of Egypt and beyond, the world switched off the lights on Saturday for Earth Hour, dimming skyscrapers, city streets and some of the world's most recognizable monuments for 60 minutes to highlight the threat of climate change. Time zone by time zone, nearly 4,000 cities and towns in 88 countries joined the event sponsored by the World Wildlife Fund to dim nonessential lights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.

Reports of sexual assault by US military personnel up 8%

A troubling BBC report:
Reports of sexual assault by US military personnel against both fellow troops and civilians rose by 8% last year to 2,923, the Pentagon says. The number of incidents reported in Iraq and Afghanistan rose by about a quarter on the previous year to 163. Pentagon officials say the jump in reports suggests the department's policy of encouraging victims to come forward is bearing results. But they estimate that no more than 20% of attacks are actually reported. "Given the fear and stigma associated with the crime, sexual assault remains one of our nation's most under-reported crimes in both the military and civilian community," said Dr Kaye Whitley, the director of the Pentagon's Sexual Assault and Prevention Office.