Peace & Security – Page 50

Peace & Security2016-06-072023-07-10

New Study Faults Lack of Transparency in Arms Trade

By Rodney Reynolds

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study on the international trade in small arms and light weapons confirms the long standing traditional secrecy in the global market place.

Released June 6 – to coincide with the Sixth Biennial Meeting on the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms – the study pointedly says “export authorizations remain the most opaque dimension of small arms reporting”.

The 2016 Transparency Barometer, which evaluated the reporting practices of 49 countries, identified only three countries – Germany, the UK and the Netherlands – as “the most transparent major small arms exporters”.

Peace & Security2016-05-092023-07-10

Praises Roll in for Re-elected Equatorial Guinea President

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – After the disputed re-election of the longest-serving ruler of Equatorial Guinea in April 24 polls, opposition leaders and local organizations decried it as “not credible.”

According to the election results supervised by a minister of his own party, President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo swept the polls with nearly 94% of the vote.

But most known members of the opposition were either barred from participating or boycotted the elections in protest. An African news team – Africa24 – was reportedly detained for hours at the airport despite having the proper paperwork from the Information Ministry.

With his victory, the 73-year-old President Obiang – who has already served 37 years – will serve another 7-year term.

Because the country is oil-rich, the government has friends around the world. Critics, however, point to the country’s poverty index – ranking 144 out of 187 countries on the United Nations’ 2014 Human Development Index.

Peace & Security2016-03-222023-07-10

Empower Refugees to Become Agents of Their Own integration

News Insight by Inge Missmahl*

BERLIN (IDN) – One dark night in Aleppo, Alima decided to flee. For months, she had been worrying about her two children being wounded, raped, or killed. This was not home anymore, there was only destruction around her, and she had to protect that space within herself, which was still alive and gave her meaning: to be a mother and enable a future for her children.

Alima saw no other option than leaving behind everything she had ever known to seek safety from the bombs and the violence around her – in another country where she was determined to build a new life.

Alima arrived in a new country, which was surprisingly different from the one she had imagined – from the color of the sky to the smell of food. Furthermore, she found herself suddenly living together with many other strangers, squeezed into a tight facility where opportunities for privacy were basically non-existing. This was especially unsettling for someone coming from a culture that strictly separates private and public life.

Peace & Security2016-02-142023-07-10

Countering Religious Hardliners Through Dialogue

TOKYO (IDN) – Religious identity, which in a broader context is perceived as belonging to a certain faith, is a topic of heated debate these days, mainly because a religious sense of belonging is directed toward achieving a certain goal by inflicting harm on others. The ongoing debate has been intensified in recent years with the concept of a clash of civilizations winning support among a group of Western academics and intellectuals.