GLIC REPORT
Social
Kano Leads In Gender-Based Violence As Stakeholders Unite To Combat Crisis
Kano State has been identified as the epic-centre of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Nigeria, according to a recent stakeholders forum in Kano. The alarming statistic, revealed by Hajiya Halima B. Faruk of the Kano State Sexual Referral Centre, has ignited a call to action from various groups and individuals committed to ending this social menace. Hajiya Halima’s statement, made during the ’16 Days of Activism’ commemoration, paints a chilling picture. She confirms that Kano now holds the dubious distinction of having the highest rate of GBV in the nation, surpassing even states plagued by armed robbery and homicide.
Leadership: Kano Leads In Gender-Based Violence As Stakeholders Unite To Combat Crisis December 14, 2023
Security
Tension between Congo and Rwanda heighten the risk of military confrontation.
Tensions between Congo and Rwanda have escalated; heightening the risk of a military confrontation that could draw in Burundi, the top U.N. official in Congo warned the Security Council. President Tshisekedi of Congo has long accused Rwandan government of providing military support to M23 rebels. M23 have been accused of atrocities such as rape and mass killings. The Congolese are complaining of escalating insecurity in their eastern provinces because of renewed M23 crisis. More than 120 armed groups are fighting over land and control of valuable minerals in Congo’s eastern regions. Rwanda’s new U.N. ambassador, Ernest Rwamucyo, accused the Congolese government “and its coalition of illegal armed militia groups and foreign mercenaries” of violating a regionally brokered peace process. He said Congo’s termination of the African regional force “undermines all the regional efforts to bring peace” to Eastern Congo.
AP News: Tension between Congo and Rwanda heighten the risk of military confrontation. December 14, 2023
Security
Fighting spreads to Wad Madani, spared from violence until now
Fighting between the Sudanese army and paramilitaries spread on Friday to the outskirts of Wad Madani, a town so far spared from the violence where hundreds of thousands of Sudanese have taken refuge, an AFP correspondent reported. The Sudanese army prevented civilians from entering the town, which was overflown on Friday by fighter jets and where the sound of explosions could be heard, according to the same source.
African News: fighting spreads to Wad Madani, spared from violence until now December 15, 2023
Politics
Philippines accuses China of targeting fishing boats in South China Sea
The Philippines has accused the Chinese coastguard of using water cannon to “obstruct” three government boats that were conducting regular resupply mission near a reef off its coast in the South China Sea. Chinese Maritime Militia vessels were also reported to have engaged in “dangerous manoeuvres” and deployed a long-range acoustic device that resulted in temporary discomfort and incapacitation to some Filipino crew. The incident took place near the Scarborough Shoal, which is claimed by both countries, and which Beijing seized from Manila in 2012 after a months-long standoff.
Aljazeeral: Philippines accuses China of targeting fishing boats in South China sea December 14, 2023
Politics
UN General Assembly votes by large majority for immediate humanitarian ceasefire during emergency session
The UN General Assembly met on Tuesday afternoon in Emergency Special Session on the decades long Israel-Palestine conflict and as the ongoing crisis in Gaza shows no signs of abating.
UN News: UN General Assembly votes by large majority for immediate humanitarian ceasefire during emergency session December 14, 2023
Environment
Six Dead and More Than 60 Injured After Severe Weather in
The storms and tornadoes, part of a broader stretch of severe weather that swept across the South on Saturday, left a swath of destruction that included parts of Clarksville, near the Kentucky border, where three people died, and communities around Nashville, where three others were killed.
New York Times: Six Dead and More Than 60 Injured After Severe Weather in December 14, 2023
Environment
Delegates at UN climate talks agree to transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels
Nearly 200 countries have agreed to move away from planet-warming fossil fuels — the first time they’ve made that crucial pledge in decades of U.N. climate talks though many warned the deal still had significant shortcomings. The agreement was approved without the floor fight many feared and is stronger than a draft floated earlier in the week that angered several nations. But it didn’t call for an outright phasing out of oil, gas and coal, and it gives nations significant wiggle room in their “transition” away from those fuels. “Humanity has finally done what is long, long, long overdue,” Wopke Hoekstra, European Union commissioner for climate action, said as the COP28 summit wrapped up in Dubai.
AP News: Delegates at UN climate talks agree to transition away from planet-warming fossil fuels December 14, 2023
