Panel Discussions - Thursday, December 03, 2009
Sexual Violence in the DRC “An Affront to All” – Ross Mountain
IPI held a policy forum November 13, 2009 on Humanitarian Action in the DRC: Retrospective on Last 5 Years and Overview of Continuing Challenges that featured Ross Mountain, the Deputy Special Representative of the Secretary General and Humanitarian Coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on the last day of his 36-year United Nations career.
Mr. Mountain made his comment on sexual violence in response to a question from the audience prompted by his presentation of his five years’ experience in the country.
“Let me just comment on the issue of sexual violence in the DRC, which is an affront, I think, to all," he said. He noted that the UN had put together a zero tolerance comprehensive strategy to combat sexual violence in the DRC, but that the practice would end only with the end of impunity for those who commit the crime.
“It will not be the international community that will solve this problem,” he said. “It’s only when the government takes leadership and starts prosecuting people, men essentially, because it’s a fact that if there are no consequences, why should they stop, basically?”
Also participating on the panel was Sir John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Ann Veneman, the Executive Director of UNICEF. Warren Hoge, IPI’s Vice President and Director of External Relations, moderated.
The Global Observatory
Interview with John Prendergast, Co-Founder, Enough Project
Mr. Prendergast discusses the international justice system and the new ground forged by Invisible Children's Kony2012 campaign.
Key Global Events to Watch in May
A list of key upcoming meetings and events with implications for global affairs.
The Global Observatory is a new website by IPI, providing timely analysis on peace and security issues, interviews with leading policymakers, interactive maps, and more.
Recent Events
May 10, 2012
Arbour: What the Rule of Law Means
“In my understanding of the rule of law, fundamentally, what the rule of law means is that it embraces the principle of equality before the law,” Louise Arbour, president of the International Crisis Group (ICG), told an IPI audience on May 10, 2012. Ms. Arbour outlined that this means that no one is above the law and everyone has both equal protection and equal benefit of the law. 
May 03, 2012
Shachtman: Cyber Threats Akin to South Bronx, Not Pearl Harbor
“There’s not a danger of a cyber Pearl Harbor… it’s more like the South Bronx circa 1999, where there’s a danger that it becomes such a tough neighborhood that no one wants to set up shop there and people move out,” Noah Shachtman, editor of the Danger Room blog at Wired magazine and non-resident fellow at the Brookings Institution, told an IPI audience at a panel on cyber security on May 3, 2011.
April 27, 2012
Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems
An April 27th roundtable discussion at IPI titled “Preventing Conflicts in Africa: The Role of Early Warning and Response Systems” examined the progress, prospects and challenges of regional and international early warning and response mechanisms to monitor, anticipate, and mitigate potential conflict situations in Africa.