Released today, Landmine Monitor 2021 finds that clearance work remains behind target in most affected States Parties while exceptionally high numbers of casualties from landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) were registered in 2020. New use of antipersonnel landmines, including improvised types, was limited to a handful of countries and mostly by non-state armed groups. The report also shows how the pandemic disrupted mine action efforts with the temporary suspension of demining operations and face-to-face risk education sessions, and created new challenges in accessibility to and supply of assistance to victims. The report is launched in advance of the Nineteenth Mine Ban Treaty Meeting of States Parties, from 15 to 19 November, hosted by the Netherlands.
The suffering of rural communities across northeast Syria controlled by the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) is being amplified by Turkish-backed armed groups. Already struggling with severe climate change-linked drought, these areas have experienced even more severe water shortages since May, when the Syrian National Army (SNA) built three earth dams in areas under their […]
“Our hearts, thoughts, feminist fists and fire are with you all” On October28th, during Women, Peace and Security week at the UN Security Council, influential local women activists from Sudan, Palestine, Myanmar and Iraq discussed how international actors can provide feminist support to non-violent women activists and movements. Gender inequality and the lack of women’s […]
In the night of Sunday 24 to Monday 25 October, the army in Sudan, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, staged a military coup. As a result, Prime minister Abdallah Hamdok and other officials have been arrested and kidnapped. PAX strongly condemns the coup and calls on the EU and member states to take action.
A massive leak of over 10,000 tons of heavy fuel oil flowed from the Baniyas Thermal Power Plant on Syria’s coast into the Mediterranean Sea in the early morning of August 23, 2021. Within days, the black toxic substance quickly spread over hundreds of kilometers, washing across the beaches of Syria and dumping tar balls of oil on the shores of Turkey and Cyprus. This was a dangerous incident waiting to happen, as new remote sensing analysis over a period of three years conducted by PAX shows. Using commercial and public satellite imagery, the fourth report in a series of Environment and Conflict Alerts outlines how oil leaks from ruptured underwater pipelines, leaks from mooring oil tankers, and discharged polluted wastewater have turned Baniyas into an environmental hotspot.
PAX and other civil society organizations are organizing a debate on the relationship of the Netherlands and the EU with Latin America on 25 October. Central to the debate is the statement that the Netherlands and the EU need a clear policy and strategy towards Latin America, specifically on the themes of democracy, rule of law, responsible trade and human rights.
PAX and its partners in the ‘Musawat’ program will host the online conference ‘Digital Rights and Freedom of Religion and Belief in the context of Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine’ on November 3 and 4. With the conference, the organizers want to create a dialogue about increasing online discrimination in the Middle East and freedom of religion and belief.
Afraa Hashem, one of the main characters in the award-winning documentary ‘For Sama’, joined the discussion to tell her personal story to underscore the necessity of seeking full and comprehensive justice in Syria. “Me, my family, and my people have certainty that justice is inevitable for us. And for the future generations that follow us. We will not lose hope for our real freedom. This is Syria, this is our legacy. We will not stop.”
In South Sudan, for generations now, too many lives have been lost or severely damaged, families have been torn apart, whole landscapes have been destroyed, development has been severely hindered and once again millions of people are facing hunger. For how long can people bear this going on? Here is the urgent call of the Ecumenical Network of South Sudan (ENSS, Europe and North America hub).
How is the situation in Hawija, the Iraqi city that was hit hard by a Dutch bombardment? PAX traveled to the city to talk to its residents. Many of them lost family, income and a future. Colleague Roos Boer reports in this blog.
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