Why Restorative Justice?

By Rocco Puopolo Why Restorative Justice? In our Western culture, there is a tendency to automatically equate justice to punishment, but is it accurate to consider this notion universal?  An even bigger question is, is this kind of definition for justice ultimately...

In D.R. Congo Violence Resumed, What Can you do?

In Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo violence has resumed.  The Congolese army has been fighting with Laurent Nkunda’s pro-Rwanda rebel group in eastern Congo in the Rutshuru territory.  It was around this time last year year that violence resumed, forcing the...

A Different Olympic Story

When President Bush said he was attending the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games despite China’s misdeeds in the international arena, he said it is because the Olympics are about sports, not politics. Did anyone buy that? We like to think that the...

Africa’s Climate Imperative

In recent years, important strides have been made in awareness and action on the issue of climate change, as the undeniable risks are coming more and more into focus.  Yet, while communities around the world are already bearing the burden of a warmer world,...

Making the Case for Aid Reform

When we’re told that U.S. attempts at development in the global south do not work, we respond, ‘it’s because true development has never been tried.’ For decades the U.S. has shipped money and supplies overseas only to see the levels of poverty and devastation remain...

Advocacy Update: Rwanda-Congo Conflict

This article first appeared in the July/August issue of Around Africa   Between March and early May, you may remember signing a petition to the U.S. State Department generated by Africa Faith and Justice Network regarding the Democratic Republic of Congo...

The Ritual of Military Coup in Mauritania

On August 6th, the first democratically elected president of Mauritania, Sidi Mohamed Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, was overthrown in a military coup lead by the head of his presidential guard, General Mohamed Ould Abdelaziz. This happened after 48 lawmakers from the ruling...