The Global Citizen

NATO and G8 Summits Put Women Empowerment on the Agenda

aweaver — Fri, 25 May 2012 19:45:09 +0000

"We agreed that both, when it comes to economic development and when it comes to peace and security issues, empowering women to have a seat at the table and get more engaged and more involved in these processes can be extraordinarily fruitful. And this is something that we will also be introducing during the G20."

True to his word, President Obama made a historic commitment at the G8 and NATO summits by placing women empowerment as a major part of the summit's agenda this past week. President Obama not only emphasized the importance of protecting women's rights and advancing their participation in the global setting, but recognized that empowering women worldwide is the key to global economic development and international security.

Senate Spending: A Slight Improvement

aweaver — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:42:43 +0000

Yesterday, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State and Foreign Operations resumed a markup of the State and Foreign Operations Appropriations bill, setting their priorities for spending on Foreign Affairs for the 2013 fiscal year. This was an important and revealing moment for the Senate because what they designate money for in the international affairs budget shows where their foreign policy priorities lay. The Senate showed a much stronger commitment to international development and human rights than the House did, and we applaud them for that.

Fortunately, the Senate bill provides $1.6 billion for Contributions to International Organizations (CIO), which is slightly above the level requested by the President. However, for contributions to International Peacekeeping Activities (CIPA), the bill provides $2 billion for UN peacekeeping, which is $100 million less than the President's request.

Letter Urging Obama to RSVP for Rio Covered in the Washington Post

abowen — Mon, 21 May 2012 21:23:28 +0000

Today's Washington Post featured a story about an organizational letter that Citizens for Global Solutions, along with nearly two dozen other groups, sent to President Obama that urged him to attend the Rio+20 Earth Summit this June.

The letter read in part,"Your presence at this Summit would signal its critical importance to all Americans, demonstrate our country's deep concern over urgent global issues that will inevitably affect our security and well-being, and highlight our nation's determination to be a contender in the race to a low-carbon green economy." To read the full letter, click here.

When the Security Council Refuses to Change, Who Pays the Price?

mkaplan — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:47:20 +0000

It was not unexpected, but the news was still dispiriting and depressing. Yesterday, the United Nation's Secretary General's top lawyer effectively put the brakes on a resolution which would have, among other things, urged the five permanent members of the Security Council (known as the P-5) to refrain from using their veto power to prevent U.N. action in situations where genocide or mass atrocities are threatening civilian lives.

A Soapbox You're Going to Want to Get On

cblake — Thu, 17 May 2012 18:37:04 +0000

It all started with a bar of soap in a Pennsylvania hotel room. Derreck Kayongo was spending his first night in an American hotel room when he became aware of the careless custom of replenishing bars of soap every day. Derreck is a native of Uganda and has seen hardship and illness. He thought of the millions of people that all these barely used bars of soap could help, and had the idea to recycle the discarded bars. Thus, in 2009, the Global Soap Project was born.

ICC Prosecutor Asks for More Charges Against Bosco Ntaganda

mkaplan — Mon, 14 May 2012 20:50:59 +0000

Today, ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo announced he would seek new charges against Bosco Ntaganda of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Ntaganda was already charged by the ICC in 2006 for the use of child soldiers in battle. Prosecutor Ocampo is now seeking to add charges of crimes against humanity for murder, ethnic persecution, rape and sexual slavery, as well as war crimes charges for "intentional attacks" against civilians leading to murder, rape, sexual slavery and pillaging. These alleged crimes were committed in the DRC between 2002-2003.

A Hoosier Laments Lugar Loss

mike — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:05:01 +0000

It was a bad and sad day for Indiana on Tuesday.

Senator Richard Lugar not only lost in the Republican primary; Tea Party extremists did their best to humiliate America's finest public servant. A few even trespassed onto the senator's farm and put up the obnoxious "Retire Lugar" campaign signs that popped up like weeds across our state this spring.

Through his work on the school board and as Indianapolis mayor, Lugar set the stage for the remaking of the Indiana capital city into a major, world class city. As senator, he made Indiana a better state, but also globally important.

As an Indiana Republican, Senator Lugar made the party a powerhouse, but often saved the GOP from its worst excesses. The man once known as Nixon's favorite mayor was now deemed too moderate for a strong majority of Indiana Republicans.

Here is what some other, more graceful, Hoosiers posted on facebook on Tuesday night:

A Mother's Day "Gift" from Congress: Cuts for Global Maternal Health

aweaver — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:18:39 +0000

Yesterday, the Republican-led Subcommittee of State and Foreign Operations Appropriations proposed a draft budget for spending on foreign aid, including funding of the United Nations, the State Department, and various peacekeeping operations around the world. The proposed amount was $40.1 billion as a base budget of the State Department, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID ), and international affairs programs in other agencies. Additionally, they allocated $8.2 billion for diplomatic and development programs related to the ongoing wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan.

Mother's Day: The Origin Story

abowen — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:16:22 +0000

This Sunday, we honor the women in our lives that gave us life and shaped us into the people we are today. Daughters, mothers, and grandmothers, will receive flowers, candy, or breakfast in bed prepared by the kids.

But did you know that Mother’s Day was originally founded as a Women’s Day for peace and disarmament? In 1870, Julia Ward Howe, the author of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” advocated for the creation of Mother’s Day, dedicated to promoting “the amicable settlement of international questions, and the great and general interests of peace.”

We can cherish the women who nurtured, protected, and cared for us by sending a Mother’s Day card that honors the original spirit of the holiday. Click here to choose a free e-card that celebrates the special women in your life and commemorates women working for peace around the globe.

Lugar Loses and So Does the World

dkraus — Wed, 09 May 2012 21:35:50 +0000

Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana lost his Republican primary yesterday to Tea Party backed conservative Richard Mourdock, after more than 35 years in the Senate. His defeat is not just a defeat for Lugar and his supporters, but a defeat for American national security and indeed the entire world. In the words of fellow Senate Foreign Relations Committee member Senator John Kerry, "It will soon almost sound cliché to say that America is safer today because of Dick Lugar's 36 years of service in the Senate, but it really does bear repeating."

Lugar's challenger, Richard Mourdock, said in his victory speech, that his campaign was about ideas for the future of both the Republican Party and our nation as a whole. Unfortunately, Mourdock's win is part of a disturbing pattern of election victories for Tea Party ideas, of unilateralists over more moderate, internationally minded Republicans.