International Migration Remains a Bumpy Road

This Tuesday, the United Nations and countries around the world will mark International Migrants Day, an event established a dozen years ago to acknowledge the contributions made by economic migrants. This week, VOANews.com takes an in-depth look at international migration from perspectives in Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the United States.

People have always been on the move in search of a better life.  Today, it’s estimated that more than 200 million people worldwide are working in foreign lands, hoping for a future they couldn’t find at home.  And the numbers are growing each year.

Experts who study this mass migration are working to convince governments that, given the right policies, they have much to gain – whether they are the country migrants are leaving or the one that is their destination.

Read on here

Find migration numbers for Africa above. 

Migrations from Americas

Migrations from Europe

Migrations from Asia

Migrations from Australia/NZ/Oceania. 

Source: VoA

On November 14, President Obama vigorously defended U.N. ambassador Susan Rice during a press conference in the White House’s Rose Garden, perhaps signaling that he was unworried by the possibility of a drawn-out battle with Republicans looking to block Rice’s possible nomination as secretary of state. Rice, who has been criticized for her promoting a now-disproven explanation for the deadly attack on an American diplomatic facility in Benghazi, Libya, apparently has the full support of the president that could nominate her for the highest diplomatic position in the land.

Things are not quite as amicable at U.N. headquarters. As the conflict in the Eastern DRC escalated, and as two U.N. reports provided extensive evidence of official Rwandan and Ugandan support for the M23 rebel group, Rice’s delegation blocked any mention of the conflict’s most important state actors in a Security Council statement. And in June, the U.S. attempted to delay the release of a UN Group of Experts report alleging ties between Rwanda and M23.

Source: The Atlantic

This is article might be moot now that Amb. Rice has dropped out of the running for secretary of state, but I think this is still worth reading. Also worth reading…Rwandan Ghosts

b-sama:

African ministers at the United Nations General Assembly to day called for expanding the Security Council to include permanent representation for their continent and stressed the vital role of socio-economic development in ensuring peace.

“The working methods of the Security Council must be revised to ensure democratization, and its membership must be expanded to include new permanent and non-permanent members of the developing world, particularly Africa, the cradle of civilization,” Algeria’s Foreign Minister, Mourad Medelci, said in his remarks to the 67th Assembly’s General Debate, taking place at UN Headquarters in New York.

united-nations:

A landmark resolution on indigenous women was adopted this month at the 56^th session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).

The resolution recognizes the key role of indigenous women in ending poverty and hunger and calls on Governments to strengthen policies for…

UN peacekeeping troops are backing a Congolese army drive against jungle-based rebel groups that is expected to displace at least 100,000 people and trigger a new wave of instability and human rights abuses across war-ravaged eastern Congo, aid workers and independent analysts have warned.

The new offensive by 5,400 troops of the Democratic Republic of Congo army (FARDC), largely unreported until now, began in South Kivu province, bordering Rwanda and Burundi, on 15 February and is being extended into North Kivu, bordering Uganda, this month.

The push into remote areas in the west and north of the two provinces is targeting the Rwandan Hutu rebel group the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), local armed groups known as mai-mai, and remnants of Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army, sources said.

Fears are growing that civilians will be caught up in the offensive, dubbed Operation Perfect Peace, and that the fragile calm of the past year, when the FARDC withdrew many of its regiments for reorganisation and retraining, will be shattered.

“The international community is struggling to keep a lid on eastern Congo,” said Anais Lafite, Oxfam’s provincial co-ordinator for South Kivu, based in Bukavu. “They are trying to maintain the status quo for fear that worse might follow … About 100,000 people have already been displaced since last October. It’s estimated the current operation could displace a further 100,000.”

Read on here

Source: The Guardian 

thegoodnewsiz:

Growing inequality, environmental decline and “teetering” economies mean the world must change the way it does business, a UN report concludes.

Health and education must improve, it says. Subsidies on fossil fuels should end, and governments must look beyond the standard economic indicator of…

The United Nations resolution passed on Wednesday allowing increase of AU troops in Somalia will see the number of Ugandan forces in Mogadishu rise from 5,160 to 6,860.

The resolution also admits Kenya as the fourth African troop-contributing country with 4,700, while Burundi will add 1,000 troops.

Djibouti, the third country, which deployed one battalion last year, will add 850 combatants.

The spokesperson of the AU forces in Somalia, Lt. Col. Paddy Ankunda, said the boost will allow them start the second phase of the mission-expanding the military offensive outside Mogadishu.

“We will now launch Phase Two - which is expansion into South West of Mogadishu. We are targeting Gedo and lower Juba, central regions of Bay and Bakool and also some parts of Hiiraan. The idea is to chase al- Shabaab and capture the key towns as quickly as possible,” he said.

Read on here

Source: AllAfrica

obruniradio:

dynamicafrica:

The UN says the number of Malian refugees fleeing to neighbouring countries to escape fighting between Tuareg rebels and the military has doubled over the past 10 days.

More than 44,000 thousand people have crossed into Mauritania, Niger and Burkina Faso.

Amnesty International described the fighting as the worst human rights crisis in northern Mali for 20 years.

The regional group Ecowas has condemned the Tuareg rebels for their offensive.

The Azawad National Liberation Movement (MNLA) took up arms last month following the return of many Tuareg fighters from Libya, where they had fought alongside Col Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.

The BBC West Africa correspondent Thomas Fessy says the area affected by the fighting is now relatively calm.

Both sides claim to control the north-eastern oasis town of Tessalit, near the border with Algeria.

The resurgence in fighting follows two years of relative peace between the government and the Tuareg.

(cont. reading)

(Source: )

dynamicafrica:

A new United Nations report shows that almost 2,000 communities across Africa abandoned female genital mutilation/cutting (FGM/C) last year, prompting calls for a renewed global push to end this harmful practice once and for all.

According to the report, issued by the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the total number of communities renouncing FGM/C has now reached 8,000 over the last few years.

“These encouraging findings show that social norms and cultural practices are changing, and communities are uniting to protect the rights of girls and women,” said UNFPA Executive Director Babatunde Osotimehin, on the International Day of Zero Tolerance to FGM/C, which is observed on 6 February.

To mark the Day, Dr. Osotimehin and UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake issued a joint statement renewing their commitment to put an end to the practice.

“We call on the global community to join us in this critical effort. Together, we can abolish FGM/C in one generation and help millions of girls and women to live healthier, fuller lives,” they stated.

FGM/C refers to a number of practices which involve cutting away part or all of a girl’s external genitalia. The practice - recognized globally as a violation of the human rights of girls and women - has no health benefits, causes severe pain and has several immediate and long-term health consequences, according to UN agencies.

Read more: http://t.co/NN1G17U7

(Source: )

dynamicafrica:

An exceptional harvest, good rains and food deliveries by numerous aid agencies have helped end famine in Somalia but food stocks could run out again in May, the United Nations has said.

“Famine conditions are no longer present,” said a statement released on Friday from the office of Mark Bowden, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Somalia.

The famine, which was declared in July 2011, killed tens of thousands in south and central Somalia. More than 2.3 million Somalis, almost one-third of the population, are still in need of aid.

“Millions of people still need food, clean water, shelter and other assistance to survive and the situation is expected to
deteriorate in May,” the statement cited Bowden as saying. 

Three conditions

Grainne Maloney, who works for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital, told Al Jazeera that there has to be three outcomes for a famine to exist.

“The first is elevated mortality. At least two deaths per 10,000 people per day. Second, elevated malnutrition, meaning 30 per cent of children are acutely malnourished. And third, at least 20 per cent of population cant reach their food need,” Maloney said.

“So, although the magnitude and severity of the crisis have been reduced, we are still in an extreme crisis as 31 per cent of Somalia’s population continue to require some level of humanitarian assistance.”

The UN said the current harvest would provide just 10 to 20 per cent of this year’s food needs. It warned food stocks could run out in May, ahead of the main August harvest.

“We have less than 100 days to avoid another famine,” said Jose Graziano da Silva, director general of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation.

“The crisis is not over. It can only be resolved with a combination of rains and continued, coordinated, long-term
actions that build up the resilience of the population and link relief with development.”

While aid deliveries to some 180,000 people in camps in the capital Mogadishu have improved the situation there, conflict in southern and central Somalia is still hampering aid deliveries to the worst-hit areas.

Read on here 

Source: Al Jazeera

(Source: )

united-nations:

In Democratic Republic of the Congo, gender-based violence has had devastating impacts on societies and individuals. In this UNICEF video, the topic is being addressed in discussion groups of boys.

“What I like most is when we talk about falling in love” That just serves as a reminder…people may disagree, but I don’t believe anybody grows up inherently violent. It’s a recursive process and these discussions groups are the first step to beginning a new process of peace and empathy.