ADF

Militaries Mobilize Against a New Enemy Soldiers, police and civilians join forces to halt the spread of one of earth’s deadliest diseases. Two-year-old Emile Ouamouno lived in a home like many others in his native Guinea. His small, rain forest village of Meliandou was close to the borders with Liberia and Sierra Leone. Like most in the region, his family gathered its food from the plants and animals found in the area. Wild fruit bats are among the plentiful and popular food sources. Several varieties are indigenous. The boy’s family had hunted two types — the hammer-headed bat and Franquet’s epauletted fruit bat…

A Ugandan General Leads The African Union Mission To Confront The Deadly Virus Maj. Gen. Julius Oketta of Uganda spoke with ADF on October 1, 2014, about the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA), for which he serves as head of mission. He arrived in Monrovia, Liberia, on September 6 in advance of further deployments. The following interview has been edited to fit this format. ADF: Please tell us a bit about your background in the military and the Ugandan Parliament. OKETTA: I went through the rank and file and then command from platoon to division…

Mediation strategies can help end conflict and lay a foundation for lasting peace Nations trying to prevent or defuse conflict are experimenting with all types of peacekeeping strategies. They build coalitions of nations to intervene, enact sanctions, use high-tech devices such as drones for surveillance and train elite rapid-reaction units. But too often one aspect of conflict resolution is ignored or used only as a last resort: mediation. History shows that mediation –– resolving disputes through dialogue –– is a cost-effective and bloodless way to bring about a stable peace. But it is not as simple as gathering warring parties around a…

Sophisticated equipment becomes more affordable and serves as a force multiplier in peacekeeping With unmanned aircraft changing the dynamics of warfare, it should come as no surprise that the technology is changing peacekeeping as well. Since the end of 2013, the United Nations has used unmanned aerial vehicles, also known as UAVs and drones, to fly over the volatile eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The 5-meter-long drones monitor remote regions that U.N. peacekeeping troops can’t reach. The drones, equipped with cameras, heat-signature equipment and night-vision technology, can conduct surveillance in the dark and detect movement below a thick tree…

After a series of crises, the African Union creates a new rapid-response mechanism for military intervention In October 2014, Mali’s Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Diop spoke before the United Nations Security Council and pleaded for help. His speech came after several bloody weeks during which insurgents set roadside bombs and launched motorbike attacks against peacekeepers in the nation’s troubled north. The attacks killed nine Nigerien Soldiers in Gao and 10 Chadian Soldiers in Kidal. “The international community must send these terrorists a strong message,” Diop told the U.N. “That’s the only message that they understand.” Diop went on to make a suggestion.…

Efforts are Underway in Somalia and Elsewhere to Protect Civilians in Peacekeeping Missions As African Union forces tried to take back Mogadishu, Somalia, from al-Shabaab insurgents, they were faced with a deadly dilemma. Al-Shabaab had entrenched itself in the capital city’s Bakara Market, on top of a hill in the city’s business district. From the densely populated area, the militants recruited members, extorted money from traders, and dug deep ditches around the market to keep out tanks and military vehicles, Voice of America reported in 2011. “The problem is that Bakara is a very difficult place,” Rashid Abdi, a Somalia…

It’s danced to Tchaikovsky’s famous melody, but it’s not your traditional Christmas Nutcracker: South Africa’s Joburg Ballet has set the ballet in the Kalahari Desert among ancient Bushmen paintings. The winter theme has been replaced with sun, sand and baobab trees. The role of the Sugar Plum Fairy is instead played by a sangoma, or traditional healer, and the famous Russian Dance is performed in overalls and gumboots. Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere comes around midsummer so “trying to pretend that it’s winter outside is a little bit ridiculous,” said Dirk Badenhorst, CEO of the Joburg Ballet. “So the idea…

Zimbabwe’s cricket team beat Australia for the first time in 31 years on August 31, 2014, as Captain Elton Chigumbura led his team to a three-wicket win in a one-day, three-team international tournament in Harare. Zimbabwe’s only previous success against Australia, one of the world’s top-ranked teams, came in their first meeting in 1983. Since then, Zimbabwe had endured 27 defeats and one abandoned match. “I had to be there at the end, and the most important thing was to stay calm under pressure,” Chigumbura said. “The guys have worked really hard for this, and the pleasing thing was that…

South Sudan’s capital, Juba, hosted the Festival of Fashion and Arts for Peace to raise money and awareness of the plight of thousands of South Sudanese who have been affected by the country’s political crisis. The world’s newest nation has been besieged by a political crisis, where at least 10,000 people have been killed since fierce fighting erupted in South Sudan in December 2013. But organizers behind the August 2014 festival hoped to inspire South Sudanese to come together and showcase some of the country’s riches, including culture and fashion. In its second edition, the festival aimed to promote peace…

VOICE OF AMERICA Kenya is renowned for its distance runners who have won races all over the world. But not all Kenyans are built for speed. Some are built for power. The Kenyans showed their prowess again at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, where they won 10 gold medals. Nine of the 10 golds came in running events, while Julius Yego made history as the first Kenyan to be crowned Commonwealth Games champion in the javelin. Yego’s winning throw of 83.87 meters came in the third round of the javelin competition. The 25-year-old decided to pass on his…