The Imburi are spirits that are said to inhabit the forests of Gabon, in Equatorial Africa, and who cry out for those who can hear them at times of impending violence and danger. The Imburi are now crying out loudly on the increasing dangers and forced migration in Goma, capital of the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo – democratic in name only.
The July 31, 2024 ceasefire agreement – never fully effective – has now been broken. Troops of the Tutsi-led militia known as M23 along with regular military of Rwanda are advancing toward Goma, the capital of North Kivu. The Association of World Citizens has members in Goma who keep us informed of the critical situation there – getting worse each day.
(C) UN News
People in the neighboring province of South Kivu are frightened and have started to flee. There are a large number of displaced persons in both North and South Kivu, and some have fled across the frontier into Burundi. Many people are living in displaced persons camps in difficult situations despite the efforts of the United Nations (UN), the International Committee of the Red Cross, and humanitarian aid organizations.
This eastern area of the Congo has been the scene of fighting at least since 1998 – in part as a result of the genocide in neighboring Rwanda in 1994. In mid-1994, more than one million Rwandan Hutu refugees poured into the Kivus, fleeing the advance of the Tutsi-led Rwandan Patriotic Front, which now comprises the government of Rwanda. Many of these Hutu were still armed, among them the “génocidaires” who, a couple of months before, had participated in the killing of some 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutu in Rwanda.
Today, there is still large-scale occurrence of serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law by all parties with massive displacement of populations, plundering of villages, systematic rape of women, summary executions and the use of child soldiers. There is a report from the UN Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of Congo of December 27, 2024 which outlines clearly the disintegrating situation.
Thus, there is a need to create an enabling political environment which would help develop the rule of law and a vital civil society – a vast task that the Imburi are not sure will be carried quickly enough.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
The January 20, 2025 inauguration of President Donald Trump has brought into sharp focus the turbulent and complex world society in which we live. As peacebuilders and citizens of the world, we face the same challenges as President Trump but with a different style and with far fewer resources at our command. We make plans but then are called to work for conflict resolution in unanticipated ways.
There are four policy challenges which face both President Trump and World Citizens: armed conflicts, currently ongoing and potential, persistent poverty in many areas, the erosion of international law and faith in multinational institutions, particularly the United Nations (UN), and the consequences of climate change.
The ongoing and potential armed conflicts are neither new nor unexpected. The Israeli-Palestinian tensions exist at least since 1936 and increased after the creation of the State of Israel. There may be some possibilities for negotiations in good faith. We must keep an eye open for possible actions.
Tensions with Iran are not new. The Soviet forces in part of Iran was the first conflict with which the UN had to deal in its early days. However, the rule by the Ayatollahs has made matters more complex.
The Russian-Ukrainian war grinds on with a large number of persons killed, wounded, and uprooted. Again, we must look to see if a ceasefire and negotiations are possible.
In Asia, the armed conflict in Myanmar between the military in power and the ethnic militias dates from the creation of the Burmese State at the end of the Second World War. A potential armed conflict between Mainland China and Taiwan dates from 1949 and the Nationalist government’s retreat to Taiwan. The potential armed conflict between the two Korean States dates from 1950 and the start of the Korean War.
The armed conflicts in Africa are no longer in the headlines, but they date from the early 1960s and the breakup of the European Empires: the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, the States of the Sahel.
Thus, we all have a poor record of armed conflict prevention and mediation. Armed conflicts should remain at the top of both the governmental and nongovernmental agenda for action.
(C) U.S. Embassy France on Instagram
Persistent Poverty: Despite the UN Decades for Development, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Article 22 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states that everyone is entitled to the economic, social, and cultural rights indispensable for his dignity and free development of his personality, persistent poverty exists in many parts of the world. One consequence of persistent poverty is migration from poorer to richer areas, both within countries and from poorer to richer States. Migration is a hotly debated issue in many countries, as right-wing nationalist groups make anti-migration their battle cry. Migration is likely to become an even more heated topic of debate as President Trump tries to carry out his proposal for a mass deportation of immigrants from the USA.
Linked to persistent poverty are trade issues and the protectionist trends in many countries. President Trump has proposed higher tariffs for good coming into the USA. This policy may set off tariff wars. Obviously to counter persistent poverty, world development policies must be improved – easier said than done!
The Erosion of International Law and Faith in Multinational Institutions: Armed conflicts and persistent poverty are closely related to the third issue: the receding United States (U.S.) involvement with the UN, the World Bank, the IMF, the World Court and other multinational organizations. Some of the foreign policy authorities appointed by President Trump are overtly critical of the UN and the International Criminal Court. There has already been an Executive Order to halt U.S. funding of the World Health Organization. However, there is no unifying vision of what a new world society would involve. The battle cry of “Make America Great Again”, if repeated by each State for itself, “Make Panama Great Again”, could be a loud concert but not conducive to positive decision making.
The Consequences of Climate Change: The fourth major group of issues concerns the consequences of climate change and the ways to lessen its impact. During the campaign for the presidency, Trump threatened to pull the USA out of the Paris Climate Agreement, and he has now signed an Executive Order doing so. The issue of climate change has been brought to the world agenda by scientists on the one hand, and by Nongovernmental Organizations and popular, often youth-led efforts, on the other hand. It is likely that these vital efforts related to climate change will continue despite climate policy resistance by some in the Trump administration.
President Trump said during his inaugural ceremony that “The Golden Age of America begins now… We stand on the verge of the four greatest years in American history.” We will have to watch closely and judge in four years. What is sure for peacebuilders and citizens of the world is that we stand on the verge of four more years of serious challenges. Thus, there is a need for cooperative and courageous action.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Edward Said, the late Palestinian-American scholar (and my Princeton University classmate), said, “Writing is the final resistance that we have against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history.”
Today, we see inhumanity, injustice, and armed violence in the wider Middle East: the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, the Golan Heights, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen with an impact in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey.
In many of these Middle East conflicts, there were no contacts to be cut. The process of creating contacts must start from point zero. Thus, peacebuilders must develop political legitimacy by trying to develop contacts with politically active groups and by bringing in new voices such as feminist constituencies. There is a need to engage conflicting parties – governments, armed groups and militias – so that there can be negotiations in good faith and an end to armed conflicts. The increasingly complex nature of conflicts requires diverse forms and levels of peacebuilding. This complexity makes the remaking of communications difficult. There needs to be flexibility, innovation, and cooperation.
A poster of Edward Said on the West Bank separation wall in Ramallah, Palestine (C) Justin McIntosh
Both formal and informal efforts are needed to create a web of alternative approaches with the ability to seize the initiative when there is an opportunity for action. Our focus here is on informal approaches which can be carried out by Nongovernmental Organizations (NGOs) such as the Association of World Citizens (AWC).
Social media is a recent form of contact beyond the older face-to-face approach. Social media has become an important mobilizing force. It can drive debates and political change, but it can also be used to divide societies, incite violence and xenophobia. For peacebuilders, social media allows direct access to the general public. Thus, for peacebuilders, they need to learn to use social media creatively.
For NGOs such as the AWC, the first step is an analysis of the nature and the parties in the conflict. Information can be gathered from people already active on the issue such as academics and members of other NGOs. For the wider Middle East conflicts, there are citizens from these countries living in Europe and the U.S.A. as well as persons who visit Middle East countries regularly. It is important to get a wide range of views. For organizations such as the AWC, with consultative status at the United Nations (UN), it is possible to discuss with UN Secretariat members and with diplomats.
Resolving armed conflicts and lowering persistent tensions involves a change in the attitudes that are at the core of the conflict. We work to create possibilities for dialogue and confidence-building so as to increase mutual trust. Remaking contacts is a way of facilitating better communications between leaders holding antagonistic views, thus promoting cross-cultural communications. As we begin 2025 with tensions in the Middle East at a high level, creative action is needed. Join in this vital process.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
“Always we have to remember that the wide, free sense of equality and kinship which lies at the root of Internationalism is the real goal. Always, we have to press on toward that great and final liberation – the realization of our common humanity, the recognition of the same great soul slumbering under all forms in the hearts of all races – the one guarantee and assurance of the advent of world peace.”
Edward Carpenter, The Healing of Nations, 1914.
As we approach the end of 2024 and make plans for 2025, it is useful to see the challenges which confront us in our conscious commitment to world citizenship. We are all able to envision a better future in which there is global cooperation. Such positive goals require leadership and the active participation of world citizens from around the globe. We need to make a personal commitment to be Earth stewards, protecting the planet for future generations. We need to break down barriers between people in order to reduce suspicions and tensions. Enormous creativity and effort are required to develop a safe and sustainable world society.
While we plan these positive steps, we must not underestimate the strength of the narrow nationalist currents planning to build new walls or enlarge existing walls. One could list the examples in many parts of the world. Narrow nationalists are in power in a number of countries or are waiting on the edges of power.
Thus, as Edward Carpenter wrote as the First World War broke out, we must press on to the realization of our common humanity.
Earth is our common home, Let’s protect it together (C) Bernard J. Henry/AWC
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
The flight of the Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad on December 7, 2024 from Damascus to Moscow has opened a radically new period for Syrian politics. There are many different armed militias, ethnic and religious factions working to gain influence in the post-Assad situation. There are also outside powers – Iran, Russia, Turkey, and the USA which have been playing a role for some time and are not likely to fade from the scene overnight.
Women played only a minor direct role in the al-Assad administration and only minor roles in the groups opposing the Assad government, especially once the opposition became militarized mid-2011. Now, we must strive so that women can play a positive and active role in developing the new structures for a new Syria. Excluding women from peacebuilding neglects a rich source of skills, insights and energy. It is important to recognize that women are not a homogeneous group: education, class, ethnic group identity condition how individuals are affected by conflict.
We have seen with the Taliban administration in Afghanistan what can happen when women are not actively structured to play a role before there is a change in government. While not as vocal as the Afghan Taliban, there are most likely men in Syria in Jihadist factions who wish to keep women secluded and powerless.
Thus, women activists need to promote a vision that goes beyond the negotiation table. Negotiations to structure the new government are likely to begin in the next few days. There had been earlier negotiations among Syrian factions held at the United Nations in Geneva in 2014 with few or no women involved. Women face major challenges to engage in formal peace negotiations. Exclusion is often the norm. Therefore, women need to organize quickly now to spearhead Syrian civil society and reconciliation activities.
In the period after mid-2011 when opposition to the al-Assad government became an armed uprising, many Syrians left Syria for neighboring countries such as Lebanon and Turkey but also more widely to other countries in Western Europe. Some of these refugees were whole families with men present. In many cases, it was women with their children. Women had to learn skills in order to earn a living. They also started to get organized in mutual help organizations. These skills can be used today as the refugees return to Syria.
With the departure of al-Assad, the prisons have been opened. Men, often activists and intellectuals, have been liberated. They will want to play a role in helping develop new structures. However, they are related to different opposition factions and may have different view of what should be a future Syria.
We, on the outside and who are not Syrians, can try to support Syrian women involved in peacebuilding initiatives that are inclusive of both women and men. There is a need for relevant and timely support. We must see what avenues are open and how local conditions evolve.
Prof. René Wadlow is the Association of World Citizens.
THE ASSOCIATION OF WORLD CITIZENS URGES IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE IN COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY TO HELP FREE SYRIA’S INMATES BURIED ALIVE BY THE ASSAD REGIME
Paris, France December 10, 2024 International Human Rights Day
The Association of World Citizens (AWC), a Nongovernmental Organization (NGO) in Consultative Status with the United Nations (UN) is alarmed to hear from its sources in Syria that a considerable number of inmates in the prisons once run by the Assad regime are trapped in their cells because the computer-based system allowing the opening of the doors has been jammed and cannot be brought under control.
In the infamous prison of Sednaya and other places, the freedom fighters who just liberated Syria from fifty-five years of dictatorial, dynastic rule by the Assad family have discovered many people held, most of them merely on political grounds, in cells whose opening is electronically managed and is now jammed beyond any possible repair by any specialists in their ranks. As a result, those inmates are now running out of food or oxygen when not both, obviously risking death any moment now.
The AWC urges all international institutions, relevant NGOs and national governments to urgently bring whatever computer technology assistance possible to the Syrian liberation movement and help save those inmates from death caused by computers evidently programmed by their former masters to embody the vicious cruelty of the regime even after its demise.
Bernard Henry External Relations Officer
Cherifa Maaoui Liaison Officer, Middle East & North Africa
L’ASSOCIATION OF WORLD CITIZENS APPELLE A UNE ASSISTANCE INFORMATIQUE IMMEDIATE POUR LIBERER LES PRISONNIERS DE SYRIE ENTERRES VIVANTS PAR LE REGIME ASSAD
Paris, France 10 décembre 2024 Journée internationale des Droits Humains
L’Association of World Citizens (AWC), Organisation Non-Gouvernementale dotée du Statut Consultatif auprès de l’ONU et active à ce titre au sein du Conseil des Droits de l’Homme, s’alarme d’apprendre de ses sources en Syrie qu’un nombre considérable de détenus dans les prisons jadis dirigées par le régime sont pris au piège dans leurs cellules car le système informatique permettant l’ouverture des portes est bloqué et ne peut être ramené sous contrôle.
A la prison de sinistre mémoire de Sednaya et en d’autres endroits, les combattants de la liberté qui viennent de libérer la Syrie de cinquante-cinq ans de règne dictatorial et dynastique de la famille Assad ont découvert de nombreuses personnes détenues, la plupart pour de pures raisons politiques, dans des cellules dont l’ouverture est gérée électroniquement et se trouve aujourd’hui bloquée au-delà de toute réparation possible par des spécialistes combattant dans leurs rangs. Le résultat en est que ces détenus arrivent à court de nourriture ou d’oxygène, quand ce n’est pas des deux, chaque instant les rapprochant plus encore, bien entendu, de la mort.
L’AWC appelle toutes les institutions internationales, toutes les ONG compétentes et tous les gouvernements nationaux à apporter en urgence toute assistance informatique possible au mouvement de libération syrien et d’aider à sauver ces détenus d’une mort que leur causeraient des ordinateurs programmés, à l’évidence, par leurs anciens maîtres pour incarner la vicieuse cruauté du régime même après sa chute.
Bernard Henry Officier des Relations Extérieures
Cherifa Maaoui Officier de Liaison, Afrique du Nord & Moyen-Orient
The ceasefire between Israeli troops and the Hezbollah militia is good news in an area deep in armed conflicts. After a year-long period of hostilities, we must strive so that the ceasefire holds, becomes permanent, and that the United Nations (UN) forces are able to carry out their mandate.
The ceasefire between Israeli forces and those of Hezbollah started at 4 AM on November 27, 2024, a conflict that has killed some 4,000 people, displaced more than one million in Lebanon and some 60,000 in Israel. As the ceasefire started, some Lebanese were already starting to return to their homes at day light although many houses in villages near the frontier have been destroyed.
The “Cessation of Hostilities” text which sets out the terms of the ceasefire calls for the ability of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line (the de facto border between Lebanon and Israel) to return safely to their lands and homes.
The ceasefire was negotiated by diplomats from the USA and France. Amos Hochstein was the lead United States (U.S.) negotiator. The U.S. and France will continue to have diplomats to follow the ceasefire process and to deal with any violations or unsolved tensions. There have already been accusations of violations of the ceasefire by both sides. The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) – some 10,000 soldiers, will again be able to control the Blue Line frontier. There is currently discussion on adding members to the UN force.
The ceasefire was able to be developed as there was a convergence of interests among leaders in Israel, Lebanon, Hezbollah and Iran which is a strong supporter of Hezbollah. Many in Israel, including in the active military, are exhausted by the armed conflicts and must continue operations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Lebanon faces economic and political difficulties provoking a growth of the already strong sectarian tensions. Hezbollah’s military and leadership has been seriously weakened by Israeli actions. However, the movement continues, and new leaders are coming to the fore such as Hassan Fadlallah, a Hezbollah deputy in the Lebanese Parliament. With a new Iranian President and a new U.S. administration, Iran’s leaders may want to see what policies President Trump will develop toward Iran.
Turning the 60-day ceasefire into a permanent peace accord will not be an easy task. There are territorial disputes along the Blue Line which have not been solved in the past, a consequence of the 2006 war. Today, all the parties lack peace-oriented leaders. As noted, the ceasefire is in the current interest of all the leaders, but such situations can change due to internal political factors.
Thus, there is an opportunity for Nongovernmental Organizations to continue promotion of a permanent ceasefire and to advance stability for the region. It is an opportunity for which we must organize with others.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Sudan’s armed conflict which began on April 15, 2023 is between two former allies. On one side is General Abdel Fattah Al Burham of the Sudanese Armed Forces; on the other side is General Mohamed Hamdan Dagulo, known by his battle name of Hemedhi of the Rapid Support Forces. The conflict, which has spread to 14 of the 18 provinces of Sudan, has killed and wounded tens of thousands of civilians, displaced nearly 8 million people, and forced over two million to flee to neighboring countries. The agriculture of the country is disorganized, and many people face acute hunger.
There has been an appalling range of human rights and international humanitarian law violations including indiscriminate airstrikes and shelling against civilians, hospitals, and vital water services. The warring parties and their respective militia allies have made rape a weapon of war and have organized markets where women are sold for sexual slavery.
Rape harms not only the woman raped but also the whole family system. Often, the husband repudiates his wife. The whole family may scorn her. In a country where “the family” is a wide circle of people, the repudiated woman has few people to whom to turn for support. As was done by the “Islamic State” (IS, or Da’esh) in Iraq and Syria, sexual slave markets have been created where women are bought or exchanged.
So far, efforts by the United Nations (UN) and regional governments for a ceasefire and negotiations have not led to constructive action. Thus, the conflictual situation requires close cooperation among UN agencies, humanitarian and peace Nongovernmental Organizations.
Prof. René Wadlow is President of the Association of World Citizens.
Association of World Citizens 