Unga-Link UK Interactive

Libya    The Responsibility to Protect was the first real conceptual advance by the UN since the simple idea of Peacekeeping was devised in 1956.   Now it’s being tested by the Security Council to see if it’s a practical proposition. It’s a long way from the holy grail of how to intervene to protect people without violence   It would be good to devise a method which was universally applicable for any humanitarian intervention , but we are nowhere near that.
 
As diplomatic problems go Libya is small and simple. The UN and its “coalition of the willing” might be able to manage it without too much collateral damage both physical and political .  The coalition wants to be effective with minimal risk to its own personnel.  Hence the air war with claims of precision bombing and missile strikes which - as is clear from Kosovo & Afghanistan - are not as precise as claimed by their makers.  There will be mistakes and civilian casualties which will make us all wince. Nevertheless what credible alternative is there which can halt Gaddafi’s army?      Pragmatic muddling through may be the least worst alternative .  Real support from other Arab states is desirable especially if the UN is able to bring Gaddafi and other Libyans to the negotiating table. 

Out of this operation may come an intervention method which brings benign results at relatively little cost.

So let’s support the present effort but keep it under critical review.
Keith Hindell

Birmingham UNA Group

Meeting Phil Mulligan 

In November Phil Mulligan, who became UNA-UK Executive Director in September 2010, visited the branch. He was touring the country to meet members, introduce himself and speak about his ideas. 

At another meeting Ravi Kumar, chair of Birmingham UNA, showed two videos about children in Nigeria, some as young as a few months old, blamed for misfortune, branded as “witches” and rejected by their families or treated with extreme cruelty in order to extract “confessions” of sorcery. 

According to a recent report by UNICEF, “Children Accused of Witchcraft,” accusations in witchcraft are on the rise in general in Nigeria, in particular against children and adolescents.

Earlier this year, the Nigerian government formally condemned the practice of abusing children as witches and wizards. Nigeria’s permanent secretary at the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and Social Development, Alhaji Idris Kuta called the practice “unacceptable and should receive outright condemnation.” It was decided that a letter be written to the Nigerian High Commissioner. 

The UNICEF report may be downloaded here: 

www.unicef.org/wcaro/wcaro_children-accused-of-witchcraft-in-Africa.pdf        

The posting I inadvertently deleted will soon be restored, Friends, along with Phil’s smiling face.