Bi-weekly News and Opinion Roundup - Aug. 4, 2022 |
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UN experts sent a letter to the Nicaraguan government arguing that the government’s shuttering of hundreds of civil society organizations “represents a clear pattern of repressing civic space.” Some 487 organizations have been shut down in the last month alone. “We regret to see that, once again, counter-terrorism and anti-money laundering legislation is being misused to unnecessarily and disproportionately restrict the activities of civil society and fundamental freedoms,” the UN experts wrote. Read the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights’ press release here. (July 29).
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On July 25, Tunisians voted to approve a referendum for a new constitution significantly expanding the president’s powers and limiting the power of the legislature and judiciary. Fadil Aliriza, a non-resident scholar at the Middle East Institute, explores potential next steps for Tunisia’s president, for the president’s political opposition, and for Tunisian civil society. Read his analysis here. (Aug. 2).
Ahead of a July 25 vote on a referendum for a new constitution that significantly expands presidential authority, Just Security interviewed Amine Ghali, the director of the Kawakibi Democracy Transition Center (KADEM), on the implications of the referendum for Tunisia in general and for Tunisian civil society in particular. Read the interview here. (July 23).
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President Biden will host political leaders from across Africa in Washington D.C. in December for a summit in order to “work towards new economic engagement, promote democracy and human rights, advance peace and security, and address challenges such as food security and climate change as well as the pandemic.” Al Jazeera reports. (July 20).
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In June, the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL), the EU AML/CFT Global Facility, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information in Georgia and the Global NPO Coalition on FATF co-hosted a conference on the “Consequences of the Ukraine Invasion on the AML/CFT regime for nonprofit organisations in the Eastern Partnership.” In its wake, ECNL has published the Tbilisi Principles, an outcome document drawing on input from participants, which offers “recommendations for public, private and civil society sectors to be prepared to temporarily increase their tolerance of risks in order to facilitate vital humanitarian action.” Read ECNL’s synopsis here, and the Tbilisi Principles here. (July 27).
The National Iranian American Council (NIAC) published a memo exploring the causes, impacts, and options for addressing financial access challenges stemming from discriminatory bank account closures, calling on the U.S. “to step in to better safeguard minority communities from discriminatory banking practices.” Read the memo here. (July 21).
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With over 37 million people in the Horn of Africa facing acute food insecurity, the World Health Organization is calling for $123.7 million to bolster emergency healthcare capabilities in the region to “prevent a food crisis from turning into a health crisis.” UN News reports. (Aug. 2).
Warring parties in Yemen have agreed to extend a truce for an additional two months, renewing hope for progress in diplomatic efforts to end the war. Al Jazeera reports. (Aug. 2).
Responding to news that the first grain shipment since the beginning of the war left the port of Odessa, the International Rescue Committee issued a press release hailing the shipment as important progress in addressing a global food security crisis, but emphasizing that these types of shipments “must be guaranteed consistent safe passage.” Read IRC’s press release here. (Aug. 1).
A funding mechanism first implemented in 2017 by the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) called a Humanitarian Impact Bond (HIB) has successfully financed the provision of physical rehabilitation services for over 3,000 people with disabilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Mali, and Nigeria. Read ICRC’s press release here. (July 28).
Jessica Alexander, the Policy Editor-at-large for The New Humanitarian, unpacks challenges and lessons learned from the humanitarian aid community’s response to the war in Ukraine, including efforts to fund and shift decision-making power to local groups, questions surrounding aid neutrality, and double standards in the delivery of aid to meet “middle-class needs.” Read her analysis in the New Humanitarian. (July 25).
Over 345 million people in 82 countries are facing acute food insecurity, according to the World Food Programme, which says it requires $22.2 billion to meet its current target of feeding 151.6 million people in 2022. Reliefweb reports. (July 25).
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A new report by Amnesty International, Death in Slow Motion: Women and Girls Under Taliban Rule, examines the impacts of Taliban policies on women and girls in Afghanistan, where the Taliban “have violated women’s and girls’ rights to education, work and free movement; decimated the system of protection and support for those fleeing domestic violence; detained women and girls for minor violations of discriminatory rules; and contributed to a surge in the rates of child, early and forced marriage in Afghanistan.” Read Amnesty’s synopsis of the report here, and the full report here. (July 27).
Eric Reidy, the Migration Editor-at-large for the New Humanitarian, interviews Tareq Alaows, the first Syrian refugee to run for a seat in Germany’s parliament, on the racist double standards apparent in the divergent policies between the EU response to the 2015 refugee crisis and its response to the refugee crisis stemming from the war in Ukraine. Read the interview in the New Humanitarian. (July 26).
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Mr. Monwar Hossain, the Chair of the UN Peacebuilding Commission (PBC), outlined recent progress made by the Peacebuilding Commission towards inclusive peacebuilding practices. Specifically, he highlighted the commission’s efforts to include “a greater number of local actors, particularly women and youth briefers,” and to develop stronger coordination between the PBC and other UN bodies. UN News reports. (July 27).
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The Biden administration is publicly pushing back against calls from Congress to label Russia as a state sponsor of terrorism. The Senate passed a non-binding resolution calling for the designation last week, and Rep. Ted Lieu (D-CA) also introduced binding legislation that would side-step the administration by having Congress effectively impose the designation itself. The designation could come with serious diplomatic and humanitarian consequences, with Russia threatening to cut diplomatic ties with the U.S. should it move forward, and administration officials warning that it could impact the administration’s ability to exempt certain legitimate activities from sanctions. The New York Times reports. (July 29).
Medea Benjamin, Co-Founder of Code Pink, and Natasha Lycia Ora Bannan, a human rights lawyer and a member of the Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect’s (ACER) steering committee, argue that the Biden administration should remove Cuba from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list, highlighting the humanitarian impacts of the designation and discrediting the Trump administration’s justifications for re-imposing the designation after it was lifted under the Obama administration. Read their analysis in Salon. (July 27).
The U.S. has been negotiating with the Taliban in an effort to secure an agreement to release at least a portion of Afghanistan's frozen reserves to the central bank of Afghanistan, and some progress has been made, with the Taliban saying it “was open to allowing a State Dept-appointed contractor to monitor Afghanistan’s central bank compliance w/ anti-money laundering standards.” Reuters reports. (July 26).
In the first vote on lifting sanctions on Cuba in the House of Representatives since 2015, over 160 House Democrats voted for an amendment led by Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) that “would have suspended enforcement of the U.S. government's ban on financing agricultural sales to Cuba.” Fifty-five Democrats joined 205 Republicans to block the amendment. Common Dreams reports. (July 21).
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