Revive Peace Committees At Grassroots, Chiefs Told
Source: Kenya News
Public administrators in Marsabit County have been directed to revitalize inactive peace committees in order to reinforce the peace building process in the region. County Commissioner Evans Achoki also said that the government was analyzing the local pastoralist communities’ appeals for the reinstatement of the national police reservists (NPR) who were disarmed last year. […]
The County Commissioner pointed out that the committees at the locational level played an integral role in maintaining harmony and good neighbourliness among communities.
“Youths from these locations will be recruited as a priority towards this noble course of peace building,” he said adding that the 120 youths recruited from both communities would work together.
The participants who included women, youth and men elders said they had reinvented the peace building wheel after conflicts erupted in the area following killings of students from both sides by suspected bandits.
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Namibia: Changes to Rape, Domestic Violence Act to Be Tabled
Source: allAfrica / Okeri Ngutjinazo
The ministry of justice is set to table amendment bills to the Combating of Rape Act and Domestic Violence Act when parliament resumes in September. The Bills will see the laws on gender-based violence being tighterned the law to allow for harsher prison sentences to be passed and to make it easier to secure convictions. The changes would also see harsher prison sentences for rape offenders and bail conditions tightened.
The proposed legislation also aims to make it easier to secure a conviction by stipulating that the victim’s character, sexual reputation, previous sexual conduct or lack of physical injury during the rape cannot be considered “substantial and compelling circumstances”.
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With the Women, Peace, and Security Act, Washington Could be a Model for the World
Source: Foreign Policy / Jamille Bigio, Melanne Verveer
The U.S. Congress will soon turn its attention to assessing how well the executive branch is implementing the Women, Peace and Security Act. The act, passed in Congress and signed by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017 after years of civil society advocacy and strong bipartisan support, is the world’s most comprehensive law in support of women’s leadership in ending wars and building peace. The law required a whole-of-government strategy on how the United States would promote this goal, laid out training requirements for all appropriate personnel, and required a progress report outlining common indicators to track progress. This week, the House Committee on Oversight and Reform’s Subcommittee on National Security will hold its first-ever hearing on how well things are going.
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