Updates

The intensive conflict of recent months in the Kivus region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has given way to stalemate. Amid a continuing dire humanitarian situation, alliances between...

The United States on July 21 cut a small element of 2012 military financing support to Rwanda while boosting help to other regional armies. Washington cited its concerns over evidence of Rwandan...

Neglected diseases, a group of tropical illnesses especially endemic in low-income countries, constitute a major market failure. As such, they need to be controlled by means of appropriate public...

Pressure has increased for an international peace support intervention in Mali. On July 5 and July 7 respectively, the UN Security Council (UNSC) and the Economic Community of West African States...

UN peace envoy Kofi Annan is attempting to secure international agreement on a transition plan for Syria ahead of talks in Geneva tomorrow. The conflict has escalated sharply in recent months,...

Somalia's main transitional leaders are meeting in Ethiopia this week for talks on implementing the 'Roadmap'. Somalia's biggest Western donors, and the leaders of the Transitional Federal Government...

Islamist militants claimed responsibility for yesterday's attack on a gas pipeline in eastern Yemen, which they said was in revenge for the killing of an al-Qaida leader. Al-Qaida flourished in...

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir yesterday threatened to give South Sudan's government "a final lesson by force". His comments mark the latest escalation in violent rhetoric between Khartoum...

Last year was a watershed for the 'responsibility to protect' (R2P) principle, marking both the tenth anniversary of the influential Commission report which argued for its adoption by the...

President Mahamadou Issoufou will continue to call for international support in dealing with the fallout from the Libya crisis. In the near term, the increased profile should help his administration...

With several interim meetings concluded without major progress, international climate policy negotiators are preparing for this November's annual UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa. The...

In recent months, issues relating to alleged violations of human rights and war crimes during the final stages of the civil war (ie early 2009) have acquired prominence in international forums and...

The UN Security Council voted unanimously yesterday to extend the mandate of the UN Stabilisation Mission in the Congo (MONUSCO) until end-June 2012. MONUSCO's mandate is largely unchanged, despite...

Violence has triggered an increase in the number of people forced to leave their homes and migrate to other places within Mexico. The phenomenon is an example of unexpected effects that probably were...

UN-authorised protection of civilians (POC) actions in Libya and Ivory Coast have been unprecedented in their show of military might and willingness to use force against the main parties to the...

April 6, 2011 SUBJECT: Aid and corruption in post-conflict states. SIGNIFICANCE: Aid disbursements are a key element of post-conflict interventions, since promoting economic growth is considered...

December 9, 2010 EVENT: The Polisario movement on December 7 called on the UN to investigate Morocco's clearing of a Sahrawi protest camp outside Laayoune last month. SIGNIFICANCE: Riots and violence...

November 8, 2010 SUBJECT: Criticism of humanitarian operations. SIGNIFICANCE: Despite rapid humanitarian aid mobilisation following the January earthquake, recent evaluations of the response have...

November 5, 2010 SUBJECT: Conflict early warning systems. SIGNIFICANCE: The importance of conflict early warning systems has increased significantly in recent decades, primarily owing to the...

October 20, 2010 EVENT: Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government troops may recently have committed rape and murder in North Kivu province, according to a UN envoy on October 14. SIGNIFICANCE:...