This week, Pope Francis urges “diplomacy and dialogue,” and calls for peace in conflict zones. UN envoy reports “historic progress” for Colombia peace process, although challenges continue.
Pope Francis urges “diplomacy and dialogue,” calls for peace in conflict zones
Pope Francis is once again speaking out for peace in the world. The pope said at the Sunday Angelus on October 13, “Let us pursue the paths of diplomacy and dialogue to achieve peace,” Vatican News reported.
Regarding the current Middle East conflicts, Pope Francis the crowd that he is close to all the populations involved in Israel, Palestine, and Lebanon. He called for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping troops there to be respected. This comes after last week, the UN said that Israeli tank fire had wounded two peacekeepers at the headquarters of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) in Naqoura.
The pope also appealed for peace and humanitarian aid to Ukrainian victims of Russian attacks, saying that Ukrainians should not be left to freeze to death.
Another country that Pope Francis called for peace in was Haiti. He said that he had been following the situation in Haiti, where brutal gang violence has been plaguing citizens. Most of Haiti’s capital, Port-Au-Prince, is in control of gang members. Pope Francis asked everyone to “pray for an end to all forms of violence,” Catholic News Service reported.
Haiti needs continued support to help its population through the country’s unfolding humanitarian crisis, according to experts. The U.S. government response, they say, has so far been creative but insufficient. To learn more, read here.
UN envoy reports “historic progress” for Colombia peace process, although challenges continue
On October 15, The UN’s envoy to Colombia reported “historic progress” on Colombia’s peace process, although challenges continue. Special Representative of the Secretary-General Carlos Ruiz Massieu said that recent government initiatives include a rapid response plan with development projects, public investments, and services.
These initiatives, he said, reflected an “important re-centreing” of the peace process, UN News reported. Massieu welcomed the government’s plan to focus on rural reforms. This plan, he said, would bring the benefits of peace to peasants who had lost land during conflict.
Massieu acknowledged that challenges continue in Colombia’s peace process. He noted that in some regions, social leaders and signatories to the country’s peace agreement still face violence and threats from armed groups battling over territory and strategic routes linked to illegal economies. Massieu said that one such community under threat by armed groups are peasant organizations working to advance rural reform.
Communities that live under such threats face challenges such as the recruitment of minors, Massiu stressed. There is also the “social control” over women and girls, he said. Addressing conflict, Massiu said, requires a “comprehensive and complimentary approach.”
Colombian rural women and girls are overwhelmingly victimized by armed conflict actors (i.e. guerrilla, military, paramilitary). Reports show different dimensions of sexual violence in Colombia, ranging from violence used for social control to sexual slavery and violence within armed operations and armed forces. To learn more, read here.
Tara Abhasakun
Tara Abhasakun is a journalist in Bangkok. She has reported on a range of human rights issues involving youth protests in Thailand, as well as arts and culture. Tara's work has appeared in several outlets, including Al Jazeera and South China Morning Post.
