Over the last decade, young women have taken the lead in using online platforms to express dissent, disrupt traditional power structures, and organise campaigns for social and political change, such as #MeToo. However, there has also been a rapid expansion of misogynistic repression, patriarchal authoritarian surveillance and digital gender-based violence.
On International Women’s Day, peace organisation PAX welcomes the approach the Netherlands takes in developing international political leadership with its Feminist Foreign Policy. The recent EU sanctions to punish perpetrators of sexual violence are an example of this.
The National Contact Point for Responsible Business Norway (NCP) admitted the complaints against Norwegian oil company Aker BP and its largest shareholder Aker that were brought by 8 South Sudanese and European organizations, including PAX. They argue that Aker BP’s merger with Lundin Energy’s oil and gas business breached the human rights clauses of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises and that victims of war crimes may be forever denied justice as a result of it. The Norwegian Government expects Norwegian enterprises to comply with the OECD Guidelines. The NCP is an independent advisory body appointed by the government to provide advice and guidance about the Guidelines.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 is causing immense human suffering and loss of life. This war remains equally destructive for the environment, in turn affecting public health, ecosystems, food security and the climate; its consequences will be felt in Ukraine and beyond for decades to come.
In France, proceedings against the large cement company Lafarge are in full swing. The company is charged with complicity in crimes against humanity during the war in Syria. In today’s report Funding Conflict. Heightened human rights due diligence in conflict-affected areas, with a case study on Lafarge and its investors, PAX and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) zoom in on the Lafarge case to advocate for the inclusion of a ‘heightened’ due diligence obligation in upcoming due diligence legislation in the Netherlands and the EU. This obligation should apply to companies operating in conflict-affected areas, as well as their investors.
Peace organization PAX said this in a statement today. After the massive earthquake on Sunday night, Feb. 5, emergency relief is getting off to a poor start because humanitarian aid can barely reach the affected areas. “Right now every hour counts when people can still be pulled out alive from under the rubble. The key is to provide maximum assistance to the victims. The fact that the borders between Turkey and Syria are only open to a limited extent and aid is coming in only sparsely is a disgrace. All victims need help now,” PAX said.
This documentary covers a people-to-people peace process. The Wunlit peace process is often described as one of the most successful local peacebuilding efforts between the Dinka and Nuer in South Sudan and a more recent local peace process between Payinjiar County and Greater Yirol. The 2018 peace agreement between Payinjiar and Greater Yirol has led to a tremendous decrease in security incidents as well as an improvement of community members’ perceptions. The people interviewed for this documentary are among the many courageous people working for peace on a daily basis in South Sudan.
Developments in the Western Balkans are not positive. Thus is the grim conclusion from the report ‘Dealing with the past, surviving the present’ that PAX presented on January 18. The presentation took place in the presence of representatives of local groups from Bosnia, Serbia, Kosovo and North Macedonia. Rising tensions in Kosovo and the wish of several countries to join the European Union, the report provides answers to what victims of war need.
As many people in the world are celebrating Christmas season, the traditional festival of lights, Ukraine is faced with a brutal winter. The destructive Russian invasion and subsequent air campaign with drones and cruise missiles targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is plunging the country into darkness, with widespread humanitarian and environmental consequences. A new PAX Environment and Conflict Alert (ECA) on Ukraine has documented how continues bombing of critical infrastructure has damaged over 213 amount of powerplants and more than 63 substations, resulting in widespread health and environmental risks. Millions of Ukrainians are relying on electricity for heating, cooking and transportation, which is particularly needed in the harsh cold winter months.
ING and Aegon keep investing in companies involved in the production, maintenance or modernization of nuclear weapons. This is stated in the new Don’t Bank on the Bomb study by peace organization PAX and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).
more resultresults