How We Got Here #29

New history podcast is up–long versions of my interviews this week with Haleh Esfandiari, author of My Prison, My Home and Peter Maass who wrote Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil.  There’s also an interview with the Canadian health care expert and former politician Roy Romanow on the origins of the Canadian system. Finally an excerpt that didn’t make it into the radio segment from my interview Tuesday with Anne-Marie Goetz of UNIFEM, The UN Development Fund for Women, about rape as a weapon of war.  I include it in the history podcast  because Goetz includes a great deal of historical perspective in answering the question of why it’s so urgent to address epidemic levels of sexual violence in conflict and post-conflict zones around the world.  More info on HWGH#29 at http://www.theworld.org/history as soon as I have time to post there.

The U.N. focuses on rape as a weapon of war

The UN Security Council held a debate on women and peace and security today at which UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon called for an independent commission of inquiry into the use of rape as a weapon of war in Chad, the DRC and Sudan. Just over a year ago the UN Security Council passed a resolution enshrining rape as a weapon of war as a threat to peace and security–the idea was to take the issue more seriously given the epidemic rates of sexual violence in conflict zones around the world. The resolution, 1820, mandated the UNSG to write a report laying out proposals for action to help prevent sexual violence and punish perpetrators. That report is now out and it includes the proposal for a commission of inquiry that would investigate crimes of sexual violence, identify those responsible and report back on what’s being done to ensure accountability. The report also raises the possibility of a new high level position on sexual violence at the U.N., an idea U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Susan Rice endorsed in her remarks today.

Conspiracy of Silence

UN meeting on tackling sexual violence in conflict–emphasizing importance of including women in peace deliberations.

Afghanistan, Women’s Rights and U.S. Policy

Al Qaeda first, nation-building second. What does that mean for women’s rights in Afghanistan?  Some thoughts in a radio story here:

Related links:

Women and Nation-Building, a study from the RAND Corporation