Alyn Ware
(RLA 2009 Laureate) said: “of course, it is imperative to prevent the
spread of nuclear materials to non-state actors. But why aren’t similar
resources being dedicated to eliminating the current arsenals of nuclear
weapons to ensure that nuclear weapons will never again be used by
accident, miscalculation or intent?”.

Alyn Ware was also recently involved in the adoption of a resolution
by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU, a global organisation of most of
the world’s parliaments) on the same topic. The resolution, adopted
after 12 months of consultations and negotiations, calls on parliaments
to “work with their governments on eliminating the role of nuclear
weapons in security doctrines” and to “urge their governments to start
negotiations on a nuclear weapons convention or package of agreements to
achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world”.

Regarding the Crimean crisis, Uri Avnery
(RLA 2001 Laureate) considers that all of the opposing parties seem
to “have some justice on their side. Many of the battle cries are
bogus.”

His analysis
of the Crimean secession draws upon lessons from history: the Nazi
annexation of Austria, Kosovo and the First World War. Uri wryly points
out the hypocrisy of Russia’s opposition to the secession of Kosovo
whilst noting the right of a sizable national minority, living in its
homeland, to secede from a state it does not like.

The lesson to
be learnt is how vital it is “to create conditions that make the
minority want to stay in the majority state,” he writes. “Generous
economic, political and cultural policies can achieve this. But for that
you need the wisdom of farsighted leaders, and that is a rare commodity
everywhere.”

On the eve of the International Women’s Day, Dr. Denis Mukwege (RLA 2013 Laureate), together with a group of Congolese men, launched a new project: V-Men Congo.

V-Day,
from which the initiative took its name, is a global activism movement
aiming to end violence against women and girls. This new initiative
focuses on the extreme violence faced by women in the Congo, combined
with the rousing question, “Where are the men in this debate?”

As DRC has been dubbed “the worst place in the world to be a woman”, the
programme works towards achieving gender equality, as part of a
sustainable development strategy.

The core group of the local
version of this project is formed by men coming from different
professional backgrounds: law, teaching, sports, science, security and
activism. 

The Trade Agreements between the EU, Canada and the USA: A look Behind Closed Doors

“Saving the Congo Forests” documentary

Rene Ngongo (RLA 2009 Laureate), was featured in Africa24Media’s Faces of Africa documentaries series, “Saving the Congo forests”. The film introduces the work of the conservationist and that of ‘OCEAN’, the organisation he founded.