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10 Facts About the Genocide of Yazidis by ISIL

10 Facts About the Genocide of Yazidis by ISILIslamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State, is an insurgent group operating in Iraq and Syria. Its propaganda is centered around brutality towards its enemies and those who violate Islamic law. Here are 10 facts about the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL.

Top Yazidis Genocide Facts

  1. The Yazidis are a Kurdish religious minority who live in Iraq, Syria, the Caucasus region and some parts of Turkey and Iran. Their religion has elements of Islam, Christianity and Zoroastrianism. The Yazidis were subjected to genocide several times under the Ottoman rule in the 18th and 19th centuries for their beliefs. On August 3, 2014, ISIL attacked the Yazidi living in Sinjar (Iraq).
  2. The most important of the facts about the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL is the orchestrated attack that was a part of a wider offensive to take control of minorities and Christians, who were asked to convert to Islam or pay religious taxes to stay alive. However, the Yazidis were declared infidels and “devil-worshippers” who deserved to be exterminated from the face of the earth.
  3. Tens of thousands of Yazidis had to flee to Mount Sinjar. They remained trapped there for days and many died of hunger and dehydration, while hundreds were massacred by ISIL. On August 7, 2014, the U.S. announced military action to help the trapped Yazidis at the request of the Iraqi government.
  4. Around 10,000 Yazidis were either killed or captured in August 2014 alone, out of which 3,100 were murdered by gunshots, beheaded and burned alive.
  5. In addition to the killings, ISIL systematically separated the women to rape, sexually mutilate and sterilize while many children were sent to training camps.
  6. The sexual violence against Yazidi women captured by ISIL is the most talked about among the facts about the genocide of Yazidis by ISIL. Around 7,000 women were sold as sex slaves or handed to jihadists as concubines. Girls as young as nine were sold off to Islamic State fighters, routinely raped and punished with extreme violence when they tried to escape. Children were killed as a means to punish their mothers for resisting.
  7. Mass graves were found with bodies of older women who could not command a price in the sex market. These mothers and grandmothers were not considered young or beautiful enough to rape, so they were simply taken behind the technical institute to be shot down in Solagh, east of Sinjar.
  8. Videos were recorded of “converted” Yazidi men and boys urging their relatives to convert to Islam and were then shown in all the holding sites. Families that obeyed were reunited. However, ISIL determined in the spring of 2015 that all conversions by Yazidis were false and separated all the reunited families.
  9. The Yazidi shrines of Sheikh Mand, Sheikh Hassan, Malak Fakhraddin and Mahma Rasha were destroyed following the attack. Yazidi homes were marked with symbols to distinguish them from others so that they could be looted and destroyed.
  10. The United Nations has classified the attacks on Yazidis by ISIL as genocide in its report, stating “ISIS has sought to erase the Yazidis through killings; sexual slavery, enslavement, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment and forcible transfer causing serious bodily and mental harm; the infliction of conditions of life that bring about a slow death; the imposition of measures to prevent Yazidi children from being born, including forced conversion of adults, the separation of Yazidi men and women, and mental trauma; and the transfer of Yazidi children from their own families and placing them with ISIS fighters, thereby cutting them off from beliefs and practices of their own religious community.”

– Tripti Sinha

Photo: Flickr

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US Calls for Aid to the Central African Republic

U.S. Congressman Urges More Aid to the Central African RepublicRep. David Cicilline (D–R.I.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said critical aid to the Central African Republic (CAR) was necessary after visiting the country with a congressional delegation in August. He stated that the international community “has to think about the long-term implications of abandoning our efforts to stabilize this country.”

Cicilline specifically criticized the 2017 withdrawal of U.S. special operation forces in the African country. Since the withdrawal, members of the Lord’s Resistance Army, a rebel faction in CAR, have continued to attack civilians, particularly in the country’s southeast region.

Since its independence from France in 1960, CAR has experienced near-constant sectarian violence and political instability, usually caused by religious or ethnic conflicts. Its economy, infrastructure and development have suffered as a result.

The Central African Republic ranks last on the U.N. Human Development Index. More than 60 percent of the population lives in poverty, and only 36.8 percent are literate. Preventable diseases, such as malaria and malnutrition, have contributed to an average life expectancy of 52.3 years.

According to Oxfam, 60 percent of CAR is controlled by rebel groups. In fact, the U.S. suspended embassy operations in CAR from December 2012 to September 2014 due to violence spurred by civil war. This violence also has displaced 600,000 people.

The U.S. has historically provided aid to the Central African Republic. In the past two years, the U.S. spent more than $500 million in humanitarian, development and security assistance to CAR. The U.S. also supported U.N. peace operations in CAR, which sent more than 10,000 peacekeepers to the embattled country.

However, the U.S. recently decreased aid to the Central African Republic. For FY 2017, the U.S. sent $48.6 million in aid to CAR, compared to $64.7 million in FY 2016. USAID also stated their purpose in CAR is to primarily respond to humanitarian crises as opposed to supporting long-term development.

The U.N. mission mandate in CAR ends in November. At that time, the U.N. Security Council can send additional peacekeeping support to the country.

CAR remains a complicated geopolitical issue. Nonetheless, the international community remains committed to providing aid to the Central African Republic to promote stability and development and empower its population to rise out of poverty.

– Sean Newhouse

How a United Nations Declaration Protects Indigenous Groups

How the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Australia Helps Protect Aboriginal and and Torres Strait Islander PeoplesIn 2007, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a new declaration sourced from existing international human rights law. This time, though, the organization focused on a specific marginalized group: indigenous peoples. The strong support of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was a major step toward increasing communication between indigenous peoples all over the world and the U.N. Member States.

Across the globe, indigenous peoples are often marginalized by the law and face harsh discrimination. A large contributor to the increased vulnerability of indigenous peoples to violence and human rights abuses comes from their displacement. Indigenous groups tend to share a common key value based on their land. When they are taken away from that land, many groups find it much more difficult to fully exercise their human rights.

The declaration, though legally nonbinding, is significant because of the participation of indigenous peoples in its drafting. The document recognizes that all of the human rights outlined in previous United Nations declarations apply to indigenous peoples. While the declaration was supported by most countries, Australia, New Zealand the United States and Canada voted against it.

However, two years later in 2009, Australia voiced its support for the law, signaling progression toward advancing human rights for all of its citizens, and closing the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. The country has already been considering constitutional changes based on the document.

Following the formal endorsement of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Australia, the government took crucial steps in implementing the core values outlined in the document. In order to educate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples about their rights, the Australian government distributed a comprehensive guide to the U.N. document.

The guide to understanding the declaration in Australia specifically addresses rights to country, resources and knowledge, as well as self-governance and more. The document has received a large degree of legitimacy, due to support from not only the Australian government but also countries all across the world, making it an important tool for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to invoke when addressing the human rights violations and discrimination to which they may be subjected.

The adoption of the declaration, after its initial rejection, does not create legal obligations for the countries that support it. What it does do, however, is allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to use the language of human rights to influence government policies. The Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sends a clear message that governments cannot avoid international scrutiny for mistreatment of and violations against their indigenous groups.

– Richa Bijlani

Photo: Flickr

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Education in Senegal

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Hunger in Malaysia on the Decline

Hunger in MalaysiaMalaysia has shown remarkable economic progress over the past several decades, with poverty falling from 49.3 percent in 1970 to 23 percent in 1989 and 1.7 percent in 2012. One of the key aspects of the New Economic Policy adopted by Malaysia was creating a “Pro-Poor” policy. According to the World Bank, “the NEP contributed to poverty reduction and helped provide opportunities to poor households.”

However, Malaysia’s Poverty Line Income differs from the standard $1 USD per day (purchasing power parity) poverty line. When converting to international standards, it results in Malaysia having a higher poverty rate.

There has never been a problem of chronic hunger in Malaysia. Many nutrition programs have been incorporated into the rural development programs and have proved successful. According to the World Health Organization, consumption of fewer than 1,960 calories a day is a mark of food poverty. A great indicator of successful eradication of hunger in Malaysia lies in the fact that its daily per capita intake of calories has been consistently above the standard mark. The average was 2,969 in 1999.

The government introduced the Applied Food and Nutrition Programme in 1972 to improve nutrition and alleviate hunger in Malaysia. It aimed to increase the production of nutritious foods and promote supplementary feeding of pregnant and lactating mothers as well as infants and school-going children.

The Nutrition Rehabilitation Programme started in 1989, focusing on malnourished children. Food baskets containing nutritional supplements are distributed to such children on a monthly basis.

The results have been very positive. Only 1 percent of Malaysia’s children under the age of five are severely underweight, while the proportion of moderate underweight malnutrition has declined from 25 percent in the early 1990s to 12 percent in 2001.

Malaysia has overcome poverty through an inclusive approach to growth and equity. But there are still vulnerable groups, like single female-headed households and the elderly. Also, many Orang Asli still face extreme poverty. To move forward, a new consensus has to be built around a poverty line that is more balanced in line with international standards, as was suggested by the UNDP.

– Tripti Sinha

Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About the Somali Civil War

10 Facts About the Somali Civil War
A conflict that began in 1991, the Somali civil war has ravaged the Horn of Africa ever since. The civil war began as an armed resistance to the Siad Barre regime, which grew into a much larger conflict between various competing factions after the overthrow of Barre.

 

10 Facts about the Somali Civil War

 

  1. Over the nearly 30 years of conflict, the war has claimed upwards of 500,000 lives, according to estimates from the Associated Press and Africa News in 2007. Since then, the Armed Conflict Location and Event Dataset reports falling numbers of fatalities in Somalia, although more than 3,000 people continue to die in the conflict each year.
  2. The lasting effects have helped trigger continuous famines and food shortages over the years, with the most recent beginning last year and continuing to today. Not only is food in short supply, the price of a jug of water has shot up more than tenfold and can cost nearly half a day’s wages for some families.
  3. The militant organization al-Shabaab is in control of large tracts of land in southern Somalia that comprise much of the nation’s most fertile lands. This has aided al-Shabaab’s recruitment during famines, as they can promise to feed the poor in exchange for joining the group.
  4. The United Nations Security Council will soon have to vote on whether to extend or end the weapons embargo on Somalia, as the current embargo is set to expire on November 15, 2017. The embargo is a measure, supported by most members of the UNSC, that seeks to take away al-Shabaab’s funding and ways of arming themselves.
  5. Though foreign aid workers are working to help alleviate famine in the areas controlled by Somalia’s African Union-backed government, aid workers are banned from helping within territory controlled by al-Shabaab. This has led to people dying of hunger and thirst mere miles from people able to assist them.
  6. Though there have been a variety of different factions vying for control over the three decades of the civil war, al-Shabaab is currently the leading opposition to peace in the region. The terrorist group numbers between 7,000 and 9,000 members, and seeks to seize control of Somalia and bring it under extremist Islamic control.
  7. One of the major players opposing al-Shabaab are the forces of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). AMISOM is comprised of some 22,000 soldiers from the armies of surrounding African nations that seek to support the legitimate government of Somalia. Since the mission began in 2007, AMISOM has lost upwards of 1,000 soldiers in combat with al-Shabaab, the most recent coming in a late July ambush on an AMISOM patrol, which cost the lives of at least 12 Ugandan soldiers.
  8. According to data from the United Nations Development Programme, 73 percent of Somalians live in poverty and the average life expectancy in the nation is only 52 years. Though the government of Somalia is beginning to make progress, the instability from years of war is making progress hard and keeping the nation in flux.
  9. As a result of the war, over one million Somalians have been displaced from their homes and livelihoods. Those displaced are in serious trouble, as the government still lacks the capabilities to adequately aid them and their situation is only exacerbated by the rising famine and drought.
  10. United States aid to Somalia has been falling in recent years, from its highest at $461 million in 2012 to a mere $212 million in 2016. For a fledgling nation that faces the dual plights of internal conflict and severe famine, such aid is extremely important to ensuring the well-being of their citizens.

The above 10 facts about the Somali civil war are just a brief overview of the long and complex conflict. Though things appear to be improving in Somalia, with the government finally gaining a more secure foothold, the famine and attacks by groups like al-Shabaab still leave the nation in a precarious situation.

– Erik Halberg

Photo: Flickr

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How Medical Anthropology Improves Aid

Medical Anthropology Improves AidMedical anthropology, the study of health and healthcare in the context of specific cultures, exemplifies how the application of social sciences can improve policymaking. Medical anthropologists work within communities and observe health behaviors, which provides them with qualitative data that can inform healthcare-related aid. In this way, medical anthropology improves aid. Medical anthropologists have not only created aid organizations, such as Partners in Health, but also identified health issues in developing nations and discovered ways to make aid implementation more effective.

When Ebola began spreading rapidly throughout Liberia and Sierra Leone, knowing the cause of the disease was not enough to help aid organizations combat it. In 2014, the World Health Organization conducted medical anthropology-based research to pinpoint what was promoting the virulence of the disease. Among other data, the study found that the culture of burial in Liberia and Sierra Leone contributed significantly to the spread of Ebola.

WHO and other organizations’ attempts to quell Ebola include the cremation of the virus’ victims. However, the locals of Liberia and Sierra Leone view such a practice as an affront to their culture and traditions. In these regions, it is customary to have intimate contact with bodies during funeral ceremonies, including washing the corpse and even kissing it.

In order to eliminate the influence of regional funeral customs on Ebola transmission, WHO began promoting culturally compliant alternatives to burial rather than cremation. Funeral ceremonies performed for individuals who have died in war, which do not require a physical body, are now an encouraged alternative for the burial of Ebola victims. For the moment, Ebola outbreaks have been controlled. According to the CDC, over 25,000 cases of Ebola were recorded in West Africa between 2014 and 2016, while only 8 cases were reported from May 2017 to July 2017.

The Ebola crisis is not the only example of how medical anthropology improves aid and contributes to better global health. In 1997, researchers at the University of South Florida searched for cultural explanations for the shocking prevalence of dengue fever in the Dominican Republic. They discovered that, for a start, dengue education needed to be reformed.

In Dominican culture, women are in charge of collecting water for the household, so health organizations teach women how to clean water and prevent mosquitoes, the vectors of dengue fever, from breeding. However, men in Dominican communities control stored water, kept outside the home. The anthropologists discovered that men had not been taught how water sources and dengue were related, and thus left stored water sources uncovered, which allowed dengue-carrying mosquitoes to spawn.

The insight provided by medical anthropology allows aid organizations to implement healthcare reforms in culturally sensitive ways that are cohesive with local traditions, which in turn makes them more effective. Additionally, living within a culture, as many anthropologists do, helps them detect overlooked behaviors that may seriously impact health and healthcare initiatives.

– Mary Efird

Photo: Flickr

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Child Vision: Glasses for Children in Impoverished Countries

Child Vision: Glasses for Children in Impoverished CountriesThere are 100 million young people in the world that have poor vision, and about 60 percent of them lack access to corrective glasses. Glasses are considered a luxury in these parts of the world. This has a big impact on kids in school, as they cannot see the blackboard clearly and lose about half a year of schooling as a result. Child Vision glasses are a cheap alternative to normal prescription glasses for children in impoverished countries.

Child Vision glasses are different from conventional glasses because they are adjustable. Each lens is actually two lenses with space in the middle. After taking a simple eye chart test, kids put on the Child Vision glasses and they can adjust it themselves. They cover one eye and turn a knob that will adjust the glasses.

The knob adjusts the liquid that is inside the lenses. The liquid causes the lenses to expand or contract, thus adjusting the prescription of the glasses. Kids turn the knob until they can see clearly. Once they can see clearly, they take off the adjustors to seal the prescription. Unfortunately, that means that kids only have one opportunity to correct their vision, but it seems that the success rate is high.

Out of all the users of adjustable glasses, 92 percent of them were able to correct their vision. One of the main reasons why glasses are considered a luxury is because of their price. The average price for glasses is about $196. The creators of Child Vision recognized this problem and worked to make the adjustable glasses affordable for those in the developing world. The average cost for Child Vision glasses is €16, or about $19.

One of the best things about these glasses is that they do not need an optometrist to correct their vision. Anyone with basic training can administer an eye chart exam to help kids learn if they need glasses.

Thanks to Child Vision, glasses for children in impoverished countries are now available. These low-cost adjustable glasses are easy to adjust and give to kids. Child Vision is giving kids the glasses they need so they can better participate in school and make the most of their education.

– Daniel Borjas

Photo: Flickr

Hunger in Djibouti: Working Towards Self-Sufficiency

Hunger in DjiboutiDjibouti is a small country on the northeast coast of Africa, bordering the Red Sea, and has been grappling with a severe food and water crisis for several decades. Once a French colony, it now has a population of nearly 1.17 million and ranks 171st out of 193 on the Human Development Index and 93rd out of 125 on the Global Hunger Index.  Despite recently achieving the status of a low-middle-income country, and hunger remains a critical issue for many in Djibouti

Background

Hunger in Djibouti can be chalked up to a few different causes.

  • Drought and Flooding: The country has a hot, desert-like climate, making cultivating crops difficult. The recent drought has made this situation even worse. Most of the population relies on livestock as their main source of income, but this only contributes 3% to the GDP. The livestock has also been heavily affected by the drought and rising temperatures. The recent rainfalls and flooding have not only displaced many Djiboutians but have also led to the deaths of livestock, worsening the hunger issue. 
  • Dependence on Food Imports: Djibouti imports approximately 90% of its food and products. Because it relies on nutritional imports, it is often at the mercy of market prices that its weak economy cannot always support. Even slight variations in food prices can have hugely detrimental consequences for families.
  • Global Economic Shocks: Global economic shocks have led to a significant increase in food prices, making it difficult for many people to afford food. Statistics indicate that the number of food-insecure households increased by 48% in 2023 compared to the previous year. 
  • Conflicts in Neighbouring Countries: The conflict in neighboring countries like Ethiopia and Somalia has resulted in a large influx of refugees in the country (34,000), causing an increased load on the economy of the country and creating further food insecurity. 

Good News

Fortunately, international programs are working toward a lasting solution to hunger in Djibouti. The World Food Programme has been working since the late 1970s to prioritize government support in stabilizing hunger. Projects the World Food Programme has made headway on include providing nutrition to women and children, for refugees, and in schools. In addition, U.N. agencies are working in collaboration with the government to help with severe food insecurity and hunger emergencies and develop long-term solutions to avoid such crises in the future. 

These agencies may not be eliminating hunger in Djibouti entirely. Still, they are working toward providing the people of Djibouti with lasting development plans that have the potential to become self-sustaining solutions.

– Casey Hess
Photo: Flickr
Updated: September 19, 2024