As I was writing the blog series analyzing the current situation at Dadaab Refugee Camp, I started to think about the need for refugee camps and services in general. A refugee is a person who flees – or who has been displaced – from their home and seeks refuge elsewhere. Many refugees flee in fear …
Tag: United Nations
Aug 03
A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp, Part IV
Yesterday, Ryan wrote the third post in our series discussing the current situation in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. He talked about the need for mental health care and social entrepreneurship services in Dadaab, as they crucial in enabling the refugees to eventually leave the camp and rebuild their lives. Both of these services, along …
Aug 03
Responsibility to Protect and the Arab Spring
We all know that the no-fly zone and military action in Libya is ongoing, but what few people know is that the action was undertaken using the Responsibility to Protect doctrine and as such is fairly controversial. The United Nations enacted Responsibility to Protect (RtoP or R2P) during the 2005 UN World Summit as a …
Aug 03
Free Contraception for All
World Breastfeeding Week was kicked off Monday with the passing of a historical extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Obama Administration. The guidelines of this heavily-debated policy expands on last year’s passed reforms in healthcare regarding free-of-charge preventative services such as …
Aug 02
A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp – Part III
Money allocated for mental health services and social entrepreneurship support in Dadaab could help refugees build a future outside the camp Last week, Rebecca posted the second entry of our series on the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. Much of her post focused on the monetary difficulties related to the camp. She explained how there …
Jul 29
Women in War and Peace
“For it isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.” –Eleanor Roosevelt It is more dangerous in most conflict-stricken areas to be a woman than to be a soldier. Yet, women’s experiences during times of war are often ignored …
Jul 29
A Plan for Dadaab Refugee Camp, Part II
On Tuesday, my colleague Ryan wrote the first installment of a blog series he and I are working on about the Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya. It is the largest refugee camp in the world, built to accommodate about 90,000 people. However, due to the current drought crisis in the Horn of Africa, there are …
Jul 25
Peace and Climate Change
When I think about climate change, what typically comes to mind is the weather: hot days, droughts, and other severe weather events – but all too often there are other effects of climate change that are greatly underestimated. In fact, some consequences of climate change may not have anything to do with the weather at …
Jul 21
Horn of Africa Crisis Worsens
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the Horn of Africa is currently experiencing one of the most severe droughts in history. For countries like Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Djibouti, the drought is forcing families to flee to overcrowded refugee camps and leaving hundreds of thousands of children homeless and malnourished. Unfortunately, conditions in …
Jul 21
Nelson Mandela: Role Model for Youth
It seems that in today’s world, young people look more and more towards actors, singers, and other celebrities as their role models. Though looking up to positive examples set by certain celebrities is not a bad thing, it is important for the youth to remember important figures like Nelson Mandela. Just this past Monday, July …