The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) must organize the protection of the refugees it takes responsibility for in the Sinai, so that they are secure in the camps and do not risk kidnapping, according to a new report authored by Mirjam van Reisen, Meron Estefanos and Dr Conny Rijken, from Tilburg University and European External Policy Advisors (EEPA)t.

An article about the report, written by Van Reisen and published by InDepth NewsViewpoint (IDN), says that the victims of kidnapping endure unspeakable torture, and increasingly women and children are included, tortured and raped.

WTO headquarters in Geneva. (Photo: WTO)

A statement signed by 112 major civil society organizations, which represent hundreds of millions of people in more than 160 countries, supports an Ecuador’s proposal for a special World Trade Organization (WTO) session to review the current scholarship and opinion at the international level on the compatibility of its rules with robust financial regulations. The initiative will be discussed at the WTO’s Committee on Trade in Financial Services on Oct. 1.

Zeyneb Farhat, ATFD. (Photo: Isart)

Tunisian civil society is rallying in support of a 27 years-old woman who accused two policemen of raping her on September 3. The woman and her fiancé were summoned by a judge on Wednesday to face charges of “indecency” brought by those officers. Leading non governmental organizations, including the Tunisian Association of Democratic Women (ATFD) and the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH), have formed a committee to co-ordinate a campaign to defend the couple.

Togolese premier Ahoomey-Zunu opens the workshop to validate the PRSP II. (Photo: Secrétariat Technique du DSRP)

Since the first decade of the 21 century, the World Bank and the IMF have promoted the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSP) as a brand new methodology, better than their controversial structural adjustment plans. But, in spite the change of names, the Bretton Woods institutions still consider economic growth as an unavoidable step in the fight against poverty, with little mention to the distribution of wealth. Togo is an example. Samir Abi, president of non governmental organization Visions Solidaires, analyzed the recently finished second Togolese PRSP validation process.

Ziad Abdel Samad, Executive Director of the ANND. (UN photo)

Arab civil society organizations warned that the European Union (EU) “more for more” approach and the economic model it promotes is inconsistent with the national paths towards democracy and social and economic policies that the region proposes.