Archive for November 23rd, 2021

23/11/2021

Colonialism and Solidarity

Human Wrongs Watch

By Francine S. R. Mestrum*

What do welfare states have to do with Europe’s colonial past?

A look at the idea of global solidarity
A look at the idea of global solidarity | Image from Wall Street International.

22 November 2021 (Wall Street International)*Colonialism is difficult to write about. History is highly political since, always written by the winners while the voices of the losers are smothered.

More than five hundred years after the ‘discovery’ of America by Christopher Columbus and the conquest of the Mexica capital of Tenochtitlan, discussions still continue as to whether the ‘black legend’ of the cruelties committed by the Spaniards is deserved, and whether the Mexicas correctly understood the intentions of Hernan Cortés.

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23/11/2021

Arms Trafficking, a ‘Defining Factor’ in Undermining Peace 

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Small arms trafficking is a “defining factor in undermining peace and security”, the Director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) told the Security Council on Monday [22 November 2021] during a ministerial debate.

UNDP/SEESAC | Small arms and light weapons are collected and sorted for destruction at a facility in Serbia.

Robin Geiss said that that diversion and trafficking of arms “destabilizes communities and exacerbates situations of insecurity, including by committing serious violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law, as well as violence against women and children in various contexts”.

The Council met under the chairmanship of Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard as one of the signature events of Mexico’s November presidency.

23/11/2021

Current System Will Not Protect Us from the Next Pandemic, ‘which Could Happen at Any Time’ 

Human Wrongs Watch

(UN News)* — Efforts to reform global pandemic preparedness and response are happening too slowly, the World Health Organization’s (WHOIndependent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response said on Monday [22 November 2021]. 

© UNICEF/Srishti Bhardwaj | A nurse prepares a physician for the COVID ward at a hospital in New Delhi, India.

Presenting the findings of a six-month accountability report, Co-chairs Helen Clark, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, former President of Liberia, warned that “uneven” progress in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause illness, deaths and economic losses.

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