Ceasefire in DRC Challenged By Fighting

Ceasefire in DRC Challenged By Fighting

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of the Congo – In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, intense fighting between government forces and insurgents loyal to General Laurent Nkunda have forced the army to withdraw from its positions in the northeast.

Gabriel de Brosses, the military spokesman for MONUC, the United Nations peacekeeping force in DRC stated that “the fighting started early in the morning Monday and afterwards MONUC sent in heavy patrols to monitor the situation and some of the fighting resumed this morning,”

Army commanders have withdrawn from the area in order to meet strict orders from President Joseph Kabila that only allow soldiers to use defensive and not offensive force. Presently, the Congolese government is attempting to provide a peaceful solution to this violent situation.

According to Colonel Delphin Kahimni, government forces were attacked on three fronts in the North Kivu province. Presently, President Kabila declines to negotiate with the armed rebels.

According to Muzong Kodi, a DRC analyst with London-based Chatham House, believed that the DRC government has handled the situation poorly by not negotiating with the rebels. Kodi stated, “Nkunda is going to try as much as possible to force the government to the negotiating table, which the government is not going to want-otherwise they will lose face and there is a lot of pressure from the politicians in the area and a large portion of the population not to negotiate with Nkunda.”

During this year alone, more than 300,000 people have been displaced in the DRC. Many of the refugees flee from General Nkunda’s troops. In a site located twelve miles west of Goma, more than 10,000 people are being housed in camps. The United Nations refugee agency reports that over 4,000 people were seen arriving to those camps just this week. The conditions in the sites are very poor. Thousands of people live in crowded areas, while others squat in school buildings.

For more information, please see:

VOA news: Fighting in DRC Challenges Ceasefire 25 September 2007

VOA News: Displaced DRC Citizens Relocate Amid Lull in Fighting 24 September 2007

BBC: Rebel breaks DR Congo ceasefire 25 September 2007

BRIEF: UN Approves New Force for Chad and CAR

The United Nations Security Council today unanimously approved a new European Union-UN peacekeeping force to be sent to Chad and the Central African Republic.   The new troops are being sent to protect civilians in the Darfur area.  The purpose of the new mission, called a “multidimensional presence,” is to end cross-border incursions into villages and refugee camps by fighters from Sudan.  The mission is authorized to operate for an initial period of one year.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – New Force to head to Chad and CAR – 25 September 2007

AFP – UN endorses sending peace force to Chad, CentAfrica – 25 September 2007

BRIEF: Nigerian Militants Call Off Truce

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region called off a ceasefire on Sunday and promised a fresh campaign of violence and kidnappings of oil workers.  A voluntary ceasefire had been agreed to in May following the inauguration of President Umaru Yar’Adua.  The calling off of the ceasefire is in response to the arrest of one of their leaders by Nigerian authorities and claims that the talks have failed.

The Niger Delta holds all of Nigeria’s oil, and is responsible for 95% of hard currency earnings, although most of the people of the Delta live in poverty.  Corrupt officials take millions of dollars meant for basic services and development, and many are accused by civil rights groups of having involvement in the trade of crude oil stolen from pipelines across the region.  President Yar’Adua ordered an investigation last week into the alleged links between government officials in the Niger Delta and the violent criminal gangs.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Nigerian Militants Call off Truce – 24 September 2007

USA Today – Nigerian militants vow further attacks – 23 September 2007

Reuters – Nigerian oil rebels threaten attacks after arrest – 23 September 2007

Yemen to combat child labor

A new official report stated that Yemen’s phenomenon of child labor is closely related to the country’s high poverty rates.  The report, released by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, claimed that children with families affected by poverty were more likely to be employed as child laborers.  High poverty rates mean that there is a high population of families affected by poverty, and as a result, more child laborers.  The report concluded that as long as high levels of poverty persist in Yemen, Yemen will also be battling child labor.

Recent statistics show that the number of child laborers in Yemen is increasing.  A 1999 census show that there are 700,000 child laborers in Yemen.  The census also shows that in rural areas, 95% of children work.  Also, in 1999, ILO estimated that 19.2% of children aged 10-14 worked in Yemen.  The increase in child laborers is related to the increase in the number of dropouts from school.  Jamal Al-Shami, director of Democracy School, claimed that there are over 2 million children in Yemen who are not attending school; most of whom will end up illiterate.

On September 5, Yemen’s Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, working in cooperation with UN’s International Labor Organization (ILO), launched the first national policy to limit child labor.  The report also suggested that the government adopt a program whose purpose was to identify the poorest communities in the country.  These communities would be targeted by national and international aid programs so that their dependence on child labor would lessen.

A delegation from ILO spent a week in Yemen, meeting with their counterparts in Yemen.  There main focus of the meetings was to design a method of identifying sources of decent work in Yemen.  One reason for the high rate of poverty in Yemen is that there is a shortage of “decent work”.  ILO defines “decent work” as “productive work in which rights are protected; work that generates an adequate income; and work with adequate social protection. It also means sufficient work, in the sense that all should have full access to income-earning opportunities.”

For more information, please see:
News Yemen- Poverty aggravates child labor in Yemen: official report– 22 September 2007

Yemen Observer- ILO delegation to combat child labor in Yemen and present Decent Work Strategy– 18 September 2007

News Yemen- Labor ministry and ILO announce first policy against child labor– 5 September 2007

Yemen Times- Yemen: Fears over possibly rising number of child labourers– 5 September 2007

BRIEF: Nigerian Militants Call Off Truce

LAGOS, Nigeria – The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), a militant group in Nigeria’s oil-rich Delta region called off a ceasefire on Sunday and promised a fresh campaign of violence and kidnappings of oil workers.  A voluntary ceasefire had been agreed to in May following the inauguration of President Umaru Yar’Adua.  The calling off of the ceasefire is in response to the arrest of one of their leaders by Nigerian authorities and claims that the talks have failed.

The Niger Delta holds all of Nigeria’s oil, and is responsible for 95% of hard currency earnings, although most of the people of the Delta live in poverty.  Corrupt officials take millions of dollars meant for basic services and development, and many are accused by civil rights groups of having involvement in the trade of crude oil stolen from pipelines across the region.  President Yar’Adua ordered an investigation last week into the alleged links between government officials in the Niger Delta and the violent criminal gangs.

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Nigerian Militants Call off Truce – 24 September 2007

USA Today – Nigerian militants vow further attacks – 23 September 2007

Reuters – Nigerian oil rebels threaten attacks after arrest – 23 September 2007