On April 3, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Hillary Clinton announced the launch of the U.S. Global Development Lab, with the goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.
Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator, said at the launch that, “To solve our most intractable development challenges, USAID has established a new way of working, bringing on board the best and brightest staff and new partners, all working in concert to help end extreme poverty.”
In the new program, USAID is partnering with 31 universities, corporations, and foundations in the hope to use science and technology to help find methods of alleviating poverty. These partners are being called the Cornerstone Partners, as they come from a number of different fields.
The Cornerstone Partners include corporations like Cargill, Cisco, Coca-Cola, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Nike, Syngenta and Walmart as well as foundations and organizations like CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Plan, Save the Children, World Vision, the Global Impact Investing Network, the Skoll Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.
In addition, many universities have decided to be part of the Global Development Lab, including the University of California at Berkeley, Duke University, Johns Hopkins Univesrity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute, Texas A&M University, and the College of William and Mary. Sweden has also decided to donate to the creation of the lab.
Together all of these groups have contributed over $30 billion in investments and have also provided technology, experts on the subject, and the capabilities to conduct necessary research and development.
Shah went on to explain the lab by saying that, “The Lab will engage a global community of inventors, academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate leaders in science and technology to invent, test, and scale the most promising and cost effective solutions to end extreme poverty.”
Shah believes that Americans can lead the effort to eliminate poverty, but admits that it will take time. He hopes that by forming these partnerships and creating the Global Development Lab, USAID will be able to help construct the best solutions to worldwide problems.
Prior to being the USAID administrator, Shah served as the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has worked with Clinton before. One example of their work together was when Shah was applying scientific techniques to improve agriculture in conjunction with Clinton’s work on a global food initiative. Shah hoped to combine these efforts, and his operations in USAID work towards that goal.
The Global Development Lab will work on developing cost-effective products that incorporate the newest discoveries in science, but will also work on solving other problems, such as hunger, disease, and literacy. By bringing together the greatest minds from several different fields, the Global Development Lab will have all the necessary resources to reach its goals.
In light of the announcement, Lana Stoll of USAID said, “By tapping into things that really make America what it is, which is our entrepreneurial spirit, our scientific expertise, and our real commitment to help people, you have a real ability to accelerate our impact.”
– Julie Guacci
Sources: TIME, The Skoll Foundation
Photo: Still4Hill
Project Hope Preserves the Legacy of the U.S. Navy
In the world of global development, Project Hope honors the legacy of the U.S. Navy and its service during World War II. Impassioned and committed to serving others, Dr. William Walsh returned to the U.S. from the South Pacific. Across the region, countless children died too young from preventable diseases. He then envisioned a “floating medical center” to provide health education and advanced care. In 1958, it became a reality.
Dr. Walsh directly lobbied U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower, persuading him to donate a U.S. Navy ship. As a hospital ship, the USS Consolation developed to serve the most at-risk countries. For two years, these partnerships “refitted and equipped” the ship it became the SS Hope. With $150, Dr. Walsh and the Navy converted this war-time ship into a peace-time ship. Individuals and corporations partnered to improve the care offered to those in need.
The Navy recruited doctors, nurses, and technologists throughout the country. For every U.S. citizen on-board, he or she had a counterpart in the country served. This counterpart received the necessary training, sustaining U.S. efforts to reduce the burden of disease.
On September 22, 1960 the SS Hope began its initial journey from San Francisco to Indonesia. The ship provided training and direct treatment to the following countries: Vietnam, Ecuador, Peru, Nicaragua, Indonesia, Columbia, Brazil, Jamaica, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Guinea, and Tunisia. Fourteen years and eleven voyages, and the its spirit endures today through the work of Project Hope.
The ship retired in 1974, but Project Hope continues to honor its partnership with the U.S. Navy. Medical volunteers from the Navy provide land-based support, learning from the testimonies of HOPE alumni.
Project Hope advances the health care in developing regions by offering “training, technical assistance, and expert mentoring.” To build the capacity of local healthcare systems, this program must partner with local governments and private corporations. This ensures sustainable improvement, as opposed to immediate relief. Currently, the program aligns with traditional “train the trainer model.”
In times of crisis, its mission to enact lasting change persists. Those serving the region care for those in immediate need but instruct locals throughout the process and restores health facilities.
In addition to promoting health training, this program rehabilitate health facilities. Donations allow Project Hope to improve the distribution of medication and vaccines. Every year, it ships commodities worth 200 million dollars. The U.S. State Department serves as one of the largest donors, and Project Hope ensures this funding arrives safely to the necessary site.
Charity Navigator rates it 67 out of 70 in transparency and accountability. 95.1 percent of its total expenses directly fund services in developing regions, with an estimated three percent contributing to fundraising and two percent to administrative costs. This low overhead cost indicates a commitment to the service.
The SS Hope voyaged the world and today, its destination remains in the hands of those it served. Rather than passively providing resources, it empowers local men and women to steer the program.
– Ellery Spahr
Sources: Project Hope, Charity Navigator
Photo: Wikimedia
USAID and Clinton Launch Global Development Lab
On April 3, the U.S. Agency for International Development and Hillary Clinton announced the launch of the U.S. Global Development Lab, with the goal to end extreme poverty by 2030.
Dr. Rajiv Shah, USAID Administrator, said at the launch that, “To solve our most intractable development challenges, USAID has established a new way of working, bringing on board the best and brightest staff and new partners, all working in concert to help end extreme poverty.”
In the new program, USAID is partnering with 31 universities, corporations, and foundations in the hope to use science and technology to help find methods of alleviating poverty. These partners are being called the Cornerstone Partners, as they come from a number of different fields.
The Cornerstone Partners include corporations like Cargill, Cisco, Coca-Cola, DuPont, GlaxoSmithKline, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, Nike, Syngenta and Walmart as well as foundations and organizations like CARE, Catholic Relief Services, Plan, Save the Children, World Vision, the Global Impact Investing Network, the Skoll Foundation, the National Academy of Sciences, the Smithsonian Foundation, and the Gates Foundation.
In addition, many universities have decided to be part of the Global Development Lab, including the University of California at Berkeley, Duke University, Johns Hopkins Univesrity, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Michigan State University, Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute, Texas A&M University, and the College of William and Mary. Sweden has also decided to donate to the creation of the lab.
Together all of these groups have contributed over $30 billion in investments and have also provided technology, experts on the subject, and the capabilities to conduct necessary research and development.
Shah went on to explain the lab by saying that, “The Lab will engage a global community of inventors, academics, researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate leaders in science and technology to invent, test, and scale the most promising and cost effective solutions to end extreme poverty.”
Shah believes that Americans can lead the effort to eliminate poverty, but admits that it will take time. He hopes that by forming these partnerships and creating the Global Development Lab, USAID will be able to help construct the best solutions to worldwide problems.
Prior to being the USAID administrator, Shah served as the undersecretary for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and has worked with Clinton before. One example of their work together was when Shah was applying scientific techniques to improve agriculture in conjunction with Clinton’s work on a global food initiative. Shah hoped to combine these efforts, and his operations in USAID work towards that goal.
The Global Development Lab will work on developing cost-effective products that incorporate the newest discoveries in science, but will also work on solving other problems, such as hunger, disease, and literacy. By bringing together the greatest minds from several different fields, the Global Development Lab will have all the necessary resources to reach its goals.
In light of the announcement, Lana Stoll of USAID said, “By tapping into things that really make America what it is, which is our entrepreneurial spirit, our scientific expertise, and our real commitment to help people, you have a real ability to accelerate our impact.”
– Julie Guacci
Sources: TIME, The Skoll Foundation
Photo: Still4Hill
5 Guinness World Records in Developing Countries
Established in 1951, Guinness World Records has documented more than 40,000 records from around the world, ranging from the longest DJ marathon to the oldest person in the world. Guinness World Records is the international authority on record-breaking activity. The organization’s mission is to inspire ordinary people to do extraordinary things and to celebrate the world’s best. Record-breaking happens all over the world, even in developing countries.
1. Syria: World’s Largest Mural Made of Recycled Materials.
A group of Syrian artists in Damascus creates the world’s biggest mural made from recycled materials. The mural stretches 720 square meters and is constructed of aluminum cans, broken mirrors, bicycles wheels and other scrap objects. The lead artist, Moaffak Mahoul, had the idea for the mural because he wanted to give ordinary people a chance to experience art and relieve some of the daily stresses of living in a conflicted area. Syria’s civil war has killed more than 140,000 people and forced millions to leave their homes. Many Syrians, including artists, have left the country but a group of artists who remained wanted to give Syrian citizens something to smile about. The mural took six months to complete; it was finished in January.
2. India: World’s Largest App Development Marathon
A total of 2,567 participated in a marathon to develop the new Windows operating system, Windows 8. The 18-hour marathon was held in Bangalore, India in September 2013. The large group was organized into groups of four, each building and developing apps to harness the power of Windows 8. App ideas were accepted into 20 categories including business, education, finance, games and productivity.
3. South Korea: World’s Fastest Internet Connection
South Korea grew from war ravaged into a major tech hub. With an average download throughput of 33.5 megabits per second, South Korea has the world’s best broadband service.
4. South Africa – Most People Washing Clothes Simultaneously
In Johannesburg, South Africa, 1,009 participants took part in a hand-washing gathering as part of Procter & Gamble’s flagship laundry brand, Ariel™, being launched in South Africa. Participants had to beat a benchmark of 496 people washing clothes simultaneously, set in Mumbai, India, in 2011. The clothes used during the record-breaking attempt were donated to the Red Cross.
5. Libya – World’s Largest Irrigation Project
In 1983, the Great Man-Made River Project was created to supply water to Libya’s people and to expand agricultural production through irrigation. The project now extracts 2.5 million cubic meters of water per day from 1,100 wells and 4,000 kilometers of pipelines. Muammar Gaddafi dreamed of providing fresh water to all Libyans and making Libya self-sufficient in food production.
World records happen all over the globe but all Guinness World Records must fulfill four main criteria. The record must be measurable, based on a single variable, verifiable and breakable. Guinness World Records publishes a book of records each year and it is the best-selling copyrighted title of all time.
–Haley Sklut
Sources: Reuters, The Next Web, The Marketing Site, Global Research, Property and Environment Research Center, Guinness World Records
Photo: The World Post
Top Humanitarian Quotes
It’s important that we remember and memorialize the great humanitarians that have left their marks. Here are some great humanitarian quotes:
These humanitarian quotes will hopefully inspire you to become a more active member of society while always staying mindful of those less fortunate. If each of us plays our part, our journey toward harmonious peace will be accelerated.
– Sunny Bhatt
Sources: Brainy Quote, Brainy Quote The Givers
Photo: ZA News Network
Dilma Rousseff Petrobras Scandal
Allegations of corruption on behalf of the Brazilian oil and gas giant Petrobras has unsettled the political opposition in Brazil. The controversy comes amidst allegations that the current President of Brazil, Dilma Rousseff, drastically overpaid Astra Holding for Pasadena Refining, Inc., when she was a member of Petrobras’ Board of Directors in 2007.
Petrobras paid almost $1 billion for the refinery, even though two years earlier the company was sold to Astra Holding for $42.5 million. This wide gap in the sale prices of Pasadena has drawn ire from many of Rousseff’s political opponents.
Following the discovery of the misconduct, the senior executive of Petrobras, Nestor Cervero, was forced to step down and Paulo Roberto da Costa, a former executive director of Petrobras, was arrested on charges of money laundering during his tenure at the company. There are also five federal investigations of Petrobras, including one by the Congressional Budget Office in Brasília.
Political opponents of Rousseff are taking advantage of this discovery by unleashing disparaging remarks about the Brazilian president ahead of presidential elections in October. Rousseff is expected to be a favorite to win the election, and opponents are attempting to whittle her down by focusing press attention on the scandal.
Aecio Neves, the main opposition candidate of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, has called for a parliamentary investigation into the scandal, and has criticized the decision to buy the refinery even though information given to Petrobras was incomplete.
Petrobras also faces allegations that Petrobras employees received $139 million in bribes in exchange for granting oil platform and drilling contracts to SBM Offshore, a Dutch company.
Petrobras has diminished in value over the past few years. In 2008, its shares were trading at $60 and today they trade for less than $12. The market cap has declined by 51 percent in the past three years, and has a debt of $22 billion, a 30 percent increase over 2012 levels. Such a level of debt has resulted in a warning by the financial counsel that the credit rating of Petrobras might soon be downgraded.
According to analyst Jõao Augusto de Castro Neves, Rousseff is not likely to lose her re-election bid in 2014, but her opponents will try to use this issue to continue exerting consistent pressure on her administration in the hopes of currying favors or ministerial positions.
— Jeff Meyer
Sources: Forbes, ft.com
Photo: Portaldeangola
India’s Sanitary Pad Revolution
Arunachalam Muruganantham is leading a sanitary pad revolution in rural India, changing women and girls’ sanitary practices. Out of 355 million females in India who menstruate, only 12 percent of them use sanitary napkins. The others use ash, newspapers, old fabric or sand. In India, women are considered untouchables at the time of their menstruation, and they face stigma and ostracism during their periods. They are banned from public places during menstruation, so they stay indoors, oftentimes reusing their dirty rags. Poor menstrual hygiene not only causes 70 percent of all reproductive diseases in India, but also can lead to maternal mortality, a lower rate of females enrolled in schools and fewer women in the workforce.
In 1998, Muruganantham discovered that his wife, Shanthi, chose to use dirty menstruation rages, rather than sanitary napkins, because sanitary napkins were too expensive. He decided to make a sanitary napkin that his wife and other women in rural India could afford to buy.
He surveyed female medical students, studied used sanitary napkins, and fashioned a fake uterus from a soccer ball filled with goat’s blood. Tucking the soccer ball under his clothing with a tube feeding the blood into his underwear, he ran and walked around to experience having a period. During his mission to create a low cost sanitary napkin, his wife, his mother and his village would abandon him. Due to his unique experiments, he was labeled a mad pervert, but Muruganatham did not give up.
By contacting multiple large sanitary pad manufacturing companies, he discovered what sanitary napkins were made of: cellulose from tree bark. However, the machines needed to break the cellulose down and make the cellulose into sanitary pads were extremely expensive.
After years of hard work, Muruganatham invented a low-cost wooden machine that could break down the hard cellulose to make sanitary napkins, increase sanitary napkin use and create thousands of jobs for rural women. One of his manual machines costs 75,000 rupees, and provides employment for approximately 10 individuals. They can produce 200-250 pads a day, selling for around 2.5 rupees each. Although his invention could have brought him enormous profits, he chose not to sell the machines to big companies. He continues to sell the machines mainly to NGOs and women’s self-help groups.
Muruganatham’s family and community are now supporting his endeavors. He is currently expanding his machines to 106 other countries such as Kenya, Nigeria, and the Philippines. His low cost, locally produced sanitary napkins are empowering women and girls in developing countries while giving them the opportunity to contribute to their local economy. These sanitary napkins reduce unsanitary menstruation practices and are beginning to chip away at the cultural taboo of menstruation that forces women to feel unclean and untouchable because of a completely natural bodily function.
–Sarah Yan
Sources: Business Week, BBC
Photo: The Globe And Mail
The Climb Out of Rural Poverty in Sri Lanka
Even before the devastating tsunami on December 2004 in Sri Lanka, over 25 percent of the population – 5 million people – were living below the poverty line. Sri Lanka‘s definition of poverty is slightly different from the common scale, they define the poverty line as an individual living with the equivalent of $12 a month.
There are an additional 3 million people living on less than $15 a month. According to the World Bank, the rural parts of the country are home to over 4 million people, which is nearly one third of the entire population. After the tsunami hit, over 38,000 people were immediately killed and hundreds of thousands more were put in danger of entering the growing levels of poverty in Sri Lanka after having their entire livelihoods wiped out. The tsunami reminded Sri Lanka, and the world, how vulnerable the rural poor are to natural disasters.
Today, Sri Lanka has largely improved in quality of life and reducing poverty. There are 1.8 million identified as impoverished, but the majority, 84.7 percent, live in rural areas. The amount of people living in poverty has more than halved in both rural and urban Sri Lanka, with a reduction from 16.3 percent in 1990 to 5.3 percent today in urban areas and from 29.4 to 9.4 percent in rural areas. Poverty has even reduced in the estate sector as well, going from 20.5 to 11.4 percent. This decline in poverty indicates that up to 2.6 million people have been rescued from poverty over upwards of 20 years.
Currently, nine out of ten people in Sri Lanka live in extremely rural areas and after a 20-year civil war, in the northern part of the country, 800,000 people were displaced from their houses and as a result their means of life have been jeopardized. Thousands of children were orphaned and there has been a drastic increase in the total amount of households headed by single mothers, which experience significantly more hardship earning money than dual-parent households. Over 40 percent of these rural poor are small farmers who are mostly concentrated in the Uva, Central, Sabaragamuwa, and Southern provinces.
Malnutrition is common among children in these regions because of slow-moving agricultural growth. There is a substantial lack of infrastructure such as electricity, roads, communication and irrigation facilities which limit opportunities for people to produce more of an income.
Fortunately, Sri Lanka, as a whole, has an opportunity to bring in foreign aid and investment to further build the economy up for the future. The government has the current goal 8 percent growth per year, which would involve the present 29 percent investment to increase to 35 percent of the GDP and even more in the years to come. Raising foreign direct investment (FDI) is critical because Sri Lanka will be more likely to receive foreign aid if it is a more attractive investment location. In order to get more foreign aid, the government needs to build better institutions as well as strengthen law enforcement so it can create a more business-friendly environment. The country has recently taken the right steps toward improvement and is on the right track to a better economy and removing the presence of poverty.
– Kenneth W. Kliesner
Sources: Daily Mirror, The Island, Rural Poverty Portal
Photo: The Great Generation
Japan and Australia Sign Free Trade Agreement
Negotiations for a trade such as this has been in the works for seven years, though only now are the extensive efforts coming to fruition. Concluding with a deal on April 7, Japan and Australia finally reached an accord on a free trade agreement between the two countries.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott express mutual respect for one another, citing security and neoliberal economic agendas as important ties that have connected the two men and their respective nations for some time. A Joint Declaration on Security Cooperation, renewed in 2010, was initially signed between Japan and Australia in 2007 as a formal recognition of their devotion to the defense and support of one another. The Declaration came after years of informal cooperation, in such contexts as United Nations peacekeeping operations in the 1990s. More recently, Abbott has praised Japan’s democratic values and presence in international security activity.
Japan’s agriculture lobby, however, expressed concerns of an internationally aggressive competition and was opposed to easing access to food imports. Though Abe clearly favored opening Japan’s economy to increased competition, Australia was understandably concerned that the rigorous final round of negotiations would fall through as a result of the Japanese lobbying group’s hold on the ruling party that it elected. Yet the signed agreement builds on a trade treaty of 1957 that contributed heavily to the positive sentiment between the two nations. The new free trade agreement, then, is expected to build on the great business and cultural relations, and is consequently considered by many trade officials to be the best deal the Japanese economy has ever granted to another country.
The final version of the free trade agreement calls for joint compromise in both economies. While Japan is now required to phase out its current 38.5 percent tariff on Australian beef exports, Japan will end tariffs on Japanese vehicles, electronics and household appliances. Within 15 years, the Japanese beef tariff is expected to reach only 23.5 percent, with a subsequent decrease to 19.5 percent in 18 years. The Australian Trade Ministry also reported that Japan would increase cheese imports and simultaneously phase out tariffs on fruits, honey, vegetables, nuts and wine. Prime Minister Abbot has thus declared that Japan is “Australia’s best friend in Asia.”
Some argue that the free trade agreement between Australia and Japan, in bringing both nations closer to the United States as a result, could risk a free trade agreement with China, Australia’s number one trade partner. However, Japan is Australia’s number two partner, and the political and security ties could make a difference in the long run. After seven years of intense negotiations, one can only hope that Australia and Japan have made the correct decision.
– Jaclyn Stutz
Sources: The Conversation, Sydney Morning Herald
Photo: The Sydney Morning Herald
Anthropologists Aid in the Ebola Epidemic
The current Ebola epidemic in Guinea has drawn doctors, nurses, and epidemiologists from across the globe to help prevent the further transmission of the virus. Not surprisingly, it has also drawn anthropologists.
Many international healthcare workers don’t understand the importance of anthropologists in a disease-outbreak setting, but they are critical in communicating with locals about the body and disease.
An anthropologist’s job is to understand local customs and fears, in this case regarding disease. They work to get communities to cooperate with healthcare workers, which is often very difficult in a foreign setting where the local people have a different understanding of health and disease.
Barry Hewlett, a medical anthropologist at Washington State University, states that today efforts to contain outbreaks such as Ebola must be “culturally sensitive and appropriate…otherwise people are running away from actual care that is intended to help them.”
Hewlett was invited to join a World Health Organization Ebola team during the 2000 outbreak in Uganda. His experiences there prove the vital role that anthropologists play in disease outbreak efforts.
In a report on his experiences in Uganda, Hewlett noted that healthcare workers in the field were having a difficult time convincing the local people to bring their sick family members to clinics and isolation wards. They feared the healthcare workers and thought that once their family member went into the isolation ward they would never come out. Not only that, but the deceased were often disposed of quickly to prevent transmission and relatives were often uninformed about the death of their family member.
“The anger and bad feelings about not being informed were directed toward health care workers in the isolation unit. This fear could have been averted by allowing family members to see the body in the bag and allowing family members to escort the body to the burial ground,” says Hewlett.
The other job of anthropologists is to help doctors understand how the local people perceive the disease.
For example, in the case of Uganda, the locals saw Ebola as a “gemo”, or a bad spirit, which killed people who didn’t honor the gods. Doctors used this traditional belief to show that the gemo could catch you if you stood too close to a sick person.
The current outbreak in Guinea has attracted hundreds of field workers, including anthropologists, to curb the spread of the disease. It is the Zaire strain of Ebola, which is the most dangerous, killing 9 out of 10 of its victims.
Healthcare workers in Guinea have their work cut out for them and anthropologists will be key in communicating with the local people.
– Mollie O’Brien
Sources: MSF, NPR
Photo: RT
Rwandan Genocide: Lessons Learned, 20 Years Later
It was only twenty years ago that the now infamous “Genocide Fax” was sent, a detailed letter to the United Nations headquarters in New York explaining the brewing events leading up to the mass slaughter that we now know as the Rwandan Genocide.
The letter, sent by the then-Force Commander of the UN peacekeeping mission for Rwanda (UNAMIR), General Romeo Dallaire, explained that ethnic Hutu extremists were stockpiling weapons and distributing them to the militias. An informant had also revealed to him that “he has been ordered to register all Tutsi in Kigali” in preparation “for their extermination.” These harrowing discoveries prompted Dallaire to contact UN headquarters, convinced that it was necessary to act. The final line of the letter read, ‘Peux ce que veux. Allons-y,’ translating to ‘Where there is a will there is a way. Let’s go.’
The UN however, decided against acting. Then-Head of UN Peacekeeping Operations, Kofi Annan, instructed Dallaire to essentially do nothing, as “unanticipated repercussions” could ensue.
The repercussions that Dallaire anticipated did ensue, following the tragic plane attack that killed then-President Habyarimana just three months later.
Then came the horrifying Rwandan genocide that claimed nearly one million lives in less than 100 days.
Twenty years later the nation has far surpassed anyone’s expectations. Due to an onslaught of foreign aid and a revitalized Rwandan pride, the country has built itself back and shows no signs of stopping.
Under the leadership of President Paul Kagame, more than one million Rwandans have lifted themselves out of poverty and nearly all children attend school. Investment has nearly tripled since 2005 and economic opportunities abound. Malaria deaths have fallen more than 85 percent, and nine out of every 10 Rwandans claim that they “trust in the leadership of their country.” The transformations that Rwanda has made are far from over, as the country aims to be a middle-income nation by 2020.
These achievements prove just how much can be accomplished in the face of adversity. The Rwandan people have lifted their country out of despair and created a beacon of hope to all of those who still suffer under the dark cloud of genocide.
Not only that, but they have taught us a valuable lesson.
We have a responsibility as human beings to protect each other from such mass atrocities. Unfortunately, the United Nations learned this in a painful way. However, they have now been at the forefront of putting a stop to genocides in countries such as Libya, Kenya and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Twenty years later we remember all of those who lost their lives in the Rwandan genocide, and we thank them for the valuable lesson that we now must put into practice.
– Mollie O’Brien
Sources: The Guardian, The Huffington Post
Photo: Global Solutions