Below are updates on the creation of a United Nations Emergency Peace Service: a standing, individually recruited, rapid response force under the control of the United Nations able to respond quickly to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity from occurring or escalating. Please forward widely.

This update is brought to you by Global Action to Prevent War; a member of the UN Emergency Peace Service Working Group. These updates, along with more information about the UNEPS initiative are posted on our website at www.globalactionpw.org/UNEPS/index.htm. If you would like to receive regular updates on the creation of a rapid-reaction service to prevent genocide and crimes against humanity, please e-mail coordinator@globalactionpw.org.

UNEPS UPDATES:

EVENTS:
1: October Darfur Seminar and UNEPS Launch at the University of Pretoria
2: September Global Action hosts Panel Following Acclaimed Play "Lemkin's House"
3: August UNEPS launch for Military and Governmental Officials in South Africa

ARTICLES:
4: UNEPS Op-Ed: "Constraints in African Peacekeeping"
5: Global Action and UNEPS featured in "Living City" Magazine
6: "Lebanon, Sudan: Who You Gonna Call?"
7: "Problems in the Pacific: Who You Gonna Call?"
8: "For the prevention of genocide: a United Nations Emergency Peace Service"
9: New Report on UN Peacekeeping

PUBLICATIONS:
10: “The United Nations, Peace and Security” New Book by GAPW ISC member Ramesh Thakur

CAMPAIGN RESOURCE:
11: UNEPS Reinforcements in South Africa, Australia and New York! Welcome! 12: ENDORSE UNEPS! New letter of endorsement

EVENTS:

DARFUR SEMINAR AND UNEPS LAUNCH:

On Thursday, October 12 th , The Centre for International Political Studies (CiPS) in partnership with Global Action to Prevent War hosted a seminar at the University of Pretoria entitled, “Darfur: What is to be done?” The seminar culminated in a launch of the UNEPS Publication by CiPS Director Hussein Solomon. For more information, click here.

SEPTEMBER UNEPS PANEL FOLLOWING PLAY "LEMKIN'S HOUSE"

On Friday, September 29th , Global Action to Prevent War hosted a panel on the UN Emergency Peace Service (UNEPS) following a showing of the highly acclaimed play, “Lemkin's House.” Moderated by Global Action's Outreach coordinator Robert Zuber, the panelists included our very own international coordinator Waverly de Bruijn, Citizens for Global Solution's Executive Vice President Don Kraus, and EarthAction's Executive Director, Lois Barber. More details on the event and the play are available here.

AUGUST UNEPS LAUNCH FOR MILITARY OFFICIALS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Global Action to Prevent War and the Centre for International Political Studies at the University of Pretoria (CiPS) successfully launched the UNEPS book to the military and diplomatic community in late August of this year. With the attendance of 235 army, navy and air force officers, members of the diplomatic corps and the military attaches of various embassies, the launch engaged members of the international community in a panel discussion analyzing the prospects of UNEPS in preventing future genocides. It was a tremendous success.

ARTICLES:

UNEPS OP-ED: "CONSTRAINS IN AFRICAN PEACEKEEPING"

Amelia du Rand, Head of the South African office of GAPW and Hussein Solomon, professor at the Centre for International Political Studies at the University of Pretoria (CiPS) and an executive member of Global Action to Prevent War, recently wrote an op-ed that was released to all major South African newspapers on the prospects of UNEPS in aiding the ailing AU forces. To read this op-ed, click here.

GLOBAL ACTION AND UNEPS FEATURED IN ARTICLE IN "LIVING CITY"  

Global Action member Brian D'Agostino published a commentary featuring Global Action in the October issue of the award-winning religious publication “Living City.” In it, he discusses Global Action's efforts in disarmament issues and in promoting the UNEPS initiative, stating “…little will come of peace planning without a movement of individuals and civil society organizations that can hold governments to account. One NGO committed to building such a movement is Global Action to Prevent War and Armed Conflict.” Click here to read the full article.

UNEPS COMMENTARY: "LEBANON, SUDAN: WHO YOU GONNA CALL?"

UNEPS Working Group member Don Kraus of Citizens for Global Solutions recently published a commentary on the UNEPS initiative for "Foreign Policy in Focus" detailing the need for UNEPS and the ineffectiveness of current UN methods to prevent ethnic cleansing and genocide. Using Lebanon and Sudan as examples, Kraus argues, “UNEPS would give the UN the rapid response system that it needs.” To read the full article, click here.

UNEPS: "PROBLEMS IN THE PACIFIC: WHO YOU GONNA CALL?

Professor Stuart Rees of the Sydney Peace Foundation and Annie Herro recently published a commentary on UNEPS in Australia 's “The New Matilda.” In it, the two discuss the prospects of UNEPS in alleviating the prolonged conflict in East Timor, where the Australian government and military continue to be heavily involved. Criticizing the government's focus on attaining a military solution to a complex problem, Rees and Herro make the case for UNEPS in aiding “allegedly failing States in the Pacific.” To read the full article, click here.

FOR THE PREVENTION OF GENOCIDE: UNEPS

Global Action's summer intern, Jessica Finz, writes of the urgency to implement a UN Emergency Peace Service. Detailing the UNEPS proposal and plan of action, Ms. Finz calls on heads of states and civil society leaders to take action to prevent future genocides. This article can be used as a template for future op-eds by members of the UNEPS working group. To read the article, click here.

NEW REPORT ON UN PEACEKEEPING

This research report by the organization the Security Council Report is an important accounting of the changes made to Peacekeeping during the month of August.  Three major resolutions were passed just in August that will increase the number and cost of UN peacekeeping around the world. These new challenges for UN Peacekeeping are extremely relevant for to UNEPS.  The report can be accessed in HTML on their website at www.securitycouncilreport.org.

PUBLICATIONS:

"THE UNITED NATIONS: PEACE AND SECURITY"

GAPW international steering committee member Ramesh Thakur just published a new critically-acclaimed book titled “The UN, Peace and Security.” In it, he discusses the principle of the responsibility to protect in connection to security and further “ examines the transformation in UN operations, analyzing its changing role and structure.” For more information on the book, or to purchase a copy, visit the publisher's website.

CAMPAIGN RESOURCE:

UNEPS Reinforcements in South Africa, Australia and New York! Welcome!

We recently expanded our UNEPS network by bringing on a number of talented individuals Here is a brief introduction:

Amelia du Rand is Head of the South African Office of the Global Action to Prevent War. She is also currently completing her Masters thesis, entitled Transforming war economies: the challenge of post-conflict reconstruction in Sierra Leone at the University of Pretoria . She is presently working with Hussein Solomon on promoting UNEPS. Amelia is already a noted researcher on peace and conflict on the African continent. Her current research focuses on how war economies can be transformed into peace economies.  Among her publications, she co-edited New Partnership for Africa 's Development, Prospects and Changes in association with the Africa Institute of South Africa and African Books Collective.  She also co-authored an Op-ed piece on UNEPS, which is available here.

Annie Herro is working to promote UNEPS in Australia and the South Pacific. Prior to working with Professor Rees, Annie spent two years working on gender and human rights policy in the Global Policy Section of UNICEF Headquarters in New York . She has also worked for local and international human rights NGOs in Sydney , New York and India .  She has an M.A. in Human Rights from Columbia University and a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney . She recently co-authored a piece about UNEPS with Stuart Rees featured on The Matilda called “Problems in the Pacific: Who you Gonna Call?” To access the full article, click here.

Lisa Sweat is the International Democracy and Outreach Intern at the World Federalist Movement, focusing on the UNEPS initiative. Currently, she is an International Studies major and German minor at Emory University and is participating in the Bard Globalization and International Affairs Program in New York City . Her academic interests lie in international conflict and security as well as transitional justice, and since interning at the International Rescue Committee she has taken special interest in helping prevent and alleviate humanitarian crises.

Alice Nascimento is the Program Intern focusing on the UNEPS initiative at Global Action to Prevent War's New York City offices. She is currently completing her undergraduate degree on conflict prevention/resolution with an emphasis on Africa and the Middle East at New York University 's Gallatin School of Individualized Study. As director of the international policy center at NYU's Roosevelt Institution, the nation's first student-run think tank, Alice and a group of her peers are working to develop policy on the Millennium Challenge Account and the systemic problems within the US foreign aid system. She will also be working on a research project with NYU's Africa House, an international house devoted to the study of Africa, its politics and development.

ENDORSE UNEPS!

Global Action to Prevent War has created a new template letter for UNEPS endorsements. If you know an organization that may be interested in endorsing UNEPS, modify this letter and send it to them.