Monthly Archives: June 2020

Amid worldwide protests against the police killing of George Floyd, activists around the US have raised demands for specific policy measures, such as defunding the police. Justifying these demands are the images emerging from the protests, with police officers ramming protesters in vehicles, indiscriminately attacking protesters with pepper spray and exerting excessive force. Local and state policing budgets have nearly tripled since 1977, despite declining crime rates. Even people unfamiliar with the police and prison abolitionist movement are starting, rightly, to envision that public spending could be used in more socially responsible ways.

But beyond the fiscal argument is an ethical one: policing in America cannot be reformed because it is designed for violence. The oppression is a feature, not a bug.

That seems like a radical sentiment only because policing is so normalized in American culture, with depictions in popular media ranging from hapless, donut-chugging dopes to tough, crime-fighting heroes. We even have a baseball team named after a police organization the Texas Rangers.

But its time to look beyond the romanticization of American police and get real. Just as America glorifies the military and Wall Street, and some Americans whitewash the confederate flag and plantation homes, the history of policing is steeped in blood. In fact, the Texas Rangers are named after a group of white men of the same name who slaughtered Comanche Indians in 1841 to steal indigenous territory and expand the frontier westward. The Rangers are considered the first state police organization.

Likewise, as black people fought for their freedom from slavery by escaping north, slave patrols were established to bring us back to captivity. Many researchers consider slave patrols a direct forerunner of modern American law enforcement.

In northern free states, police precincts developed in emerging industrial cities to control what economic elites referred to as rioting, which was the only effective political strategy available to exploited workers. But, as described in the text Community Policing, this rioting was:

actually a primitive form of what would become union strikes against employers, [and] [t]he modern police force not only provided an organized, centralized body of men (and they were all male) legally authorized to use force to maintain order, it also provided the illusion that this order was being maintained under the rule of law, not at the whim of those with economic power.

In other words, police were never created to protect and serve the masses, and our legislative and judicial systems from Congress to the courts to prosecutors have made this clear. Congresss 1850 Fugitive Slave Act, for instance, incentivized law enforcement officials to capture Africans suspected of running away from slavery, paying officials more money to return them to slave owners than to free them.

Instead of expanding the American political project to embrace black people as free citizens, our institutions made caveats to exclude them from the countrys founding principles. Historically, most black people were not considered human, let alone citizens worthy of police or constitution protections. We were property. Even free blacks were, at best, second-class citizens whose status could be demoted at any white persons whims and who fundamentally had no rights which the white man was bound to respect, as the supreme court affirmed in 1856.

Modern court rulings have steadily eroded civil liberties to give police more power and permit racially discriminatory policing, convictions and sentencing. This entrenched history of violent white supremacy is a lot to attempt to reform. So just as 19th-century abolitionists set the terms of their fight beyond incremental improvements to slavery, abolitionists today assert that policing and incarceration must move past modest proposals that fundamentally maintain the system.

The billions of dollars that governments spend on increasingly militarized police can be better used to address the underlying socioeconomic conditions that contribute to police encounters. We should divert resources towards investments in mental health, public education, drug prevention programs, homelessness prevention, community-centered crime prevention and jobs development.

The immediate aftermath of George Floyds killing felt like another police encounter that would lead to yet another viral hashtag with little police reform. But the work of abolitionists has set the bar even higher. We should move past calls for criminal justice reform and instead make demands for freedom.

Malaika Jabali is a writer, attorney and activist whose first short film, Left Out, examines the economic crisis facing black midwesterners

On Tuesday 9 June at7pm BST (2pm EDT) the Guardian isholding a live-streamed eventabout the meaning of George Floyds killing,featuringGuardianjournalists includingUS southern bureau chiefOliver Laughland, reporterKenya Evelyn, writerChris McGreal and columnistMalaika Jabali.Book tickets here

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If youre surprised by how the police are acting, you dont understand US history - The Guardian

In the midst of a global pandemic, many around the world have been deeply disturbed by the alleged murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer in broad daylight. Even more shocking was the fact that three of his fellow officers actively participated. Second-degree murder charges have been laid against the officer who pressed his knee on Floyds neck, and the others have now been charged with aiding and abetting second-degree murder. The debate that has ensued in Canada in the aftermath has been mixed, with some acknowledging that racism exists in Canada, and others outright denying it.

The reality is that Canada, much like the United States, has a history of social injustice and economic inequality between different racial groups. This goes as far back as the first contact between Europeans and Indigenous peoples. Over the centuries, the economic and political imbalances between communities have been redefined with each new wave of immigration, as evidenced by the fact that we scrapped and denounced the head tax, only to impose another variant of it a now normalized right of landing fee.

Racism towards various minority groups exists in Canada still, and anti-black racism is a real problem and is certainly a cause of frustration, but we believe that there is hope. Through solid political and civic engagement with our democratic institutions, social and economic justice can be achieved. Canadian values and, in particular, true conservative principles, have and will continue to shape a fairer and more inclusive Canada. An essential first step is to recognize and admit that there are social and economic challenges to overcome.

Take the current COVID-19 crisis, for example. Data shows that visible minority groups in Canada have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic and the economic fallout resulting from the tough social-distancing measures that have been put in place. This is coming on top of endemic economic and health crises in these communities, yet Canada still refuses to collect ethnicity-related health and mortality data, in contrast to many other OECD countries, including the U.S.

According to Statistics Canada, approximately one in four Canadians could become financially vulnerable due to work interruptions and economic lockdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly concerning for visible minority groups. The Ontario Anti-Racism Directorates 2017 community consultations found that black-Canadians face major obstacles when looking for employment. Even though the black community has achieved much success in many sectors, systemic discrimination puts a significant section of the community at risk. This is especially true during periods of great economic uncertainty, such as we find ourselves in today.

Marginalized communities are negatively impacted in many other ways, as well, including: over-representation in the criminal justice system; lower levels of educational attainment; poorer health and quality of life; restricted access to capital and less property ownership. These outcomes reinforce systemic barriers.

The Association of Black Conservatives (ABC) actively promotes civic engagement and political participation because these are the proven pathways towards reform. It is only through active engagement in democratic politics at all levels municipal, provincial and federal that real and lasting systemic change can be achieved.

Moreover, it is critical that all communities, particularly disadvantaged communities, engage with all political parties and not just left-leaning parties that act as though they are entitled to the visible minority vote. It is essential that marginalized communities are not just in the room, but are also in decision-making positions. This is not about quotas; it is about diversity.

Canada needs to come to terms with the fact that our standards regarding diversity and equity fails to meet acceptable standards in 2020. Sound conservative values, such as fiscal responsibility, an economy that works for all, fairness, opportunity, self-reliance, respect for the rule of law and personal freedom are essential if we hope to level the socioeconomic playing field and allow communities and individuals to thrive.

Economic inequality and social injustice are enduring problems that require sound policies and political commitment. ABC believes in advancing the principles of equity and inclusion for the black-Canadian community and all Canadians. As we look to build a better and stronger country after COVID-19, persistent socioeconomic inequalities in visible minority groups can no longer be overlooked. The True North is stronger and freer when individuals can reach their full potential. We are, after all, our brothers and sisters keepers.

National Post

Ako Ufodike is the chair, and William Luke is a board member, of the National Council of the Association of Black Conservatives.

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Opinion: The conservative path to a fairer country - National Post

Darrow Montgomery

For too long, I have seen and heard the pain and tragedy of a complete devaluing and dehumanization of black men and black people in this country, says Steven Jumper, a 35-year-old black man and D.C. native, as he marched alongside hundreds of protesters to the White House on Sunday. Absolutely, the coronavirus is a real tragedy that is impacting black and brown people at exponential rates, however this is a turning point for this country. Clearly, you can see people are tired. They are sick and tired of being tired.

Jumper knows there are good copshis mother worked for the Metropolitan Police Department for a number of years and has seen them in action. But he also knows that the police treat black people differently. It boils down to structural racism.

Thousands of people have protested in the streets of D.C. for nearly a week, prompted to act after a Minneapolis police officer killed a black man named George Floyd on May 25. Those gathering in the streets risked contracting COVID-19, getting pepper sprayed, and getting arrested because they know police abuse and violence is a regular occurrence in America. The killing of black individuals is the worst manifestation of this type of brutality.

Protesters want law enforcement to be held accountable, as it would appear that police oversight is too meager even though department budgets balloon year after year. And while the protests are not a referendum on any one agency, the D.C. chapter of Black Lives Matter, along with other groups, is calling for local leaders to defund MPD. [Washington Teachers Union demands] greater investment in communities, not policing, says its president, Elizabeth Davis. Organizers are also circulating an online petition to defund the police.

A budget is a moral statement, says Sean Blackmon, an organizer with Stop Police Terror Project D.C. It comes down to a question of who gets this money and resources and why do they deserve it?

It is not enough to simply not give the money to the cops, Blackmon continues. That money and resources need to be redirected intentionally to community-based programs, because it is our opinion that the people in those communities already have everything that they need to keep themselves safe and to keep themselves whole, they just need the resources to do so.

D.C. allocated more money to police and corrections than to programs for jobs, young people, and mental health combined in Fiscal Year 2019. Even though D.C. is facing a $1.5 billion revenue loss for the current and upcoming fiscal years due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Metropolitan Police Department could see its budget increase to well over half a billion dollars if the D.C. Council approves Mayor Muriel Bowsers proposal.

Those calling for divestment point to the agencys own record to back up their position. Images of D.C. police in riot gear deploying pepper spray, surrounding protesters for breaking curfew, and forcing them to seek shelter in a mans Logan Circle home are just a few recent examples. Stop-and-frisk data recorded between July and December 2019, which MPD was slow to release, reveals more than 70 percent of individuals stopped were black. (For context, 46 percent of D.C.s total population is black.)

In 2018, use of force incidents increased by 20 percent and more than one-third of MPD officers reported using force, according to the Office of Police Complaints most recent report on use of force. 90 percent of all reported uses of force involved black community members, and 41 percent of all uses of force involved white officers and black residents. That same year, MPD officers killed three black menDQuan Young, Jeffrey Price,and Marqueese Alston.

Michelle Young, DQuan Youngs aunt, has mixed feelings about the demonstrations taking place downtown and across the country, and questions whether they will bring meaningful change. Her experience with MPD and the departments refusal to release details and evidence leave her feeling cynical.

Its been more than two years since an off-duty officer shot and killed DQuan. Federal prosecutors decided not to charge the officer, and MPD continues to refuse to identify him. Michelle Youngs lawyer submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for video footage of the fatal incident, but MPD has yet to hand it over.

Without the video, George [Floyd] would have gone murdered without anything happening to him, Michelle Young says. It would have been the same thing were going through: he says, she says, and nothing happens.

***

When asked about the defund police movement during a Wednesday press conference, Bowser said, You have my budget, and my budget invests in making sure we have the officers around the city that we need to keep D.C. residents safe. Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Kevin Donahue followed the mayor by defending the budget increases. One of those elements among the many that go into a good police force is recruiting locally, said Donahue, pointing to investments in D.C.s cadet program.

Bowsers proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2021 includes a 3.3 percent increase for the Metropolitan Police Department, bringing its total budget to nearly $580 million. Bowsers proposal allows MPD to continue hiring uniformed officers to offset attrition. The proposal mentions a specific increase of $280,000 for ballistic shields. Her budget also asks for $1.7 million to expand the MPD cadet program from 100 to 150 cadets.

While police represent the traditional approach to addressing crime and public safety, programs within agencies such as the Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement and the Office of Victims Services and Justice Grants represent part of D.C.s commitment to alternative approaches.

Bowsers budget includes some investment in alternative programs, such as the Leadership Academy, which is based at Anacostia High School and provides mentors and wrap-around services to address behavioral issues.

But the mayor has nearly cut other programs that councilmembers and advocates say are more necessary now than ever, as tensions between police and residents escalate. The Office of Victim Services and Justice Grants, for example, saw a cut of $3.6 million from last years approved budget to a total proposal of $50.5 million. The office houses programs that support trauma-informed services and victim services, and provide low-income and underserved people with access to civil legal services.

ONSE, which houses the Leadership Academy, has a total budget of $7.6 million for Fiscal Year 2020. Bowsers proposed budget reduces that to $6.7 million, an 11 percent reduction. One cut in particular$805,000 to ONSEs violence interruption programfrustrated councilmembers during the mayors budget presentation last month. The program, aimed at reducing violent crime without police intervention, is still relatively new, and in response to questions from several councilmembers, City Administrator Rashad Young said the mayor opted to fund a different violence prevention program with better data to support its results.

In the case of violence interruption, the data is a little bit mixed, Young said. We have violence interrupters in communities where we havent seen the kinds of declines in violent crime that we would like.

At-Large Councilmember Robert White expressed his frustration with the mayors decision not to fund the violence interruption program, saying its perhaps too early to cut as opposed to look to improve.

Following President Donald Trumps inflammatory statements over the weekend, in which he threatened protesters with vicious dogs and ominous weapons, White posted a video to Twitter expressing his disgust that the president was antagonizing black communities, deliberately provoking violence against them for protests born out of the belief that the criminal justice system wont work.

In the same video, he called out Bowser for her proposed cuts to the violence interruption program, which he believes is effective at reducing violence while avoiding dangerous interactions between law enforcement and communities.

If in a city like Washington, D.C., one of the most progressive jurisdictions in the country with a majority African American leadership, we cant shed light on a better path, then what hope is there? he says in the video. Every one of us is responsible for turning the tide. Just as racism is not confined to one individual who puts his knee on the neck of another man until he dies, neither is justice the result of one policy, one procedure, but a culmination of many.

One of Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allens top priorities this budget cycle is to significantly increase funding for violence prevention and intervention as D.C. copes with another public health crisis: gun violence. With 67 homicides to date, the city has seen a 10 percent increase in murders compared to this time last year. As Allen and others have said time and time again, policing isnt the only way to resolve public safety problems that are rooted in poverty, housing, and education.

When you see a police budget continue to grow and yet we see violence prevention has to take an 11 percent cut to their budget, somethings not right there, Allen tells City Paper.

Allen, who chairs the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety, says he will not only look to restore funding for violence prevention, but to find savings within MPDs budget. The councilmember knows this will likely elicit a strong reaction, as it did last year when he reduced MPDs budget by cutting empty positions and diverting vacancy savings to other public safety initiatives. MPD called out his actions on Twitter.

Gearing up for the political battle is a big one, Allen says. What I also am hearing from my colleagues in recent days is much more willingness to be able to support, whether we ask those tough questions and when we propose those budget changes and obviously well see how this goes over [the] next several weeks from a budget process standpoint. But thats one of the biggest challenges is being able to overcome that.

Bowser also incorrectly stated on WAMUs Politics Hour last week that she funded a similar violence interruption program out of the Office of the Attorney General, called Cure the Streets. The mayor did not replenish the nonrecurring $3.8 million in the OAGs budget to support the program. An OAG spokesperson says the office will look to fund the program out of their litigation support fund.

***

Jonathan Smith, the executive director of the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, strongly supports reducing funding for D.C. police. MPD is one of the 10 largest local police agencies in the country, and its officers are far from the only ones policing D.C. residents. The U.S. Capitol Police, Secret Service, U.S. Park Police, and Metro Transit Police also patrol portions of the District.

Were the most policed jurisdiction in the country, Smith tells City Paper. We dont need more police. What we need are the kinds of interventions that are going to change lives for people. So if you have a choice between putting a cop in school or an art teacher, an art teacher is going to give you more public safety than a cop is going to.

D.C. has modern use-of-force policies and accountability structures, thanks to reforms over the past two decades that began when the Justice Department investigated MPD in 1999. Among those accountability structures is a civilian oversight body called the Office of Police Complaints that conducts investigations that are independent of MPD. Though, the OPCs budget is far less than MPDsnot even 5 percent of the polices total budgetand OPC sees a 6.4 percent decrease in the mayors proposed budget.

The problem is theyre not working, Smith says. And its not entirely clear what the issue is other than its a cultural problem inside the department.

Evidence of fractured police-community relationships is borne out in conversations with young people living in gentrifying neighborhoods. You talk to young people of color in those neighborhoods and they talk about how its very much like a stop-and-frisk policy. If theyre out on street corners, the cops will come up and roust them off those corners, or theyll come up and make it more challenging and uncomfortable for people to be there, Smith says.

Nassim Moshiree, the policy director for the ACLU-DC, says her organization regularly hears from people who MPD officers confront. It is these daily interactions with police that are motivating individuals to protest day after day.

Children are walking from school and have police cars drive up next to them and flash lights at them and ask them to lift up their shirts without any sort of reasonable suspicion or purpose. Theres a lot of degrading interactions that arent leading perhaps to violence or escalation, but what we keep hearing is that people feel theyre living in a police state in some neighborhoods, like Deanwood or Congress Heights, Moshiree says.

There are some concrete actions that can be immediately taken to further shore up independent oversight of MPD. For example, Moshiree argues that individuals should be able to make anonymous complaints to the Office of Police Complaints, as they arent able to now, and that MPD needs to publicly release the body-worn camera footage that its currently restricting.

But the public also needs to see meaningful discipline when there is police misconduct, organizers and experts say. Reformists disagree about whether police should be in charge of their own discipline, as is the case now, but the process should be transparent.

Of the 473 investigations conducted by the Office of Police Complaints that were completed in 2019, according to a recent report, nearly half of the cases were dismissed based on the merits, while 29 percent were dismissed because a complainant did not cooperate with the investigation or mediation process. Complaint examiners sustained at least one allegation of misconduct in 23 cases. Of those 23 cases, MPD suspended officers without pay in nine of them. Ten were resolved with dereliction of duty reports, which read like a slap on the wrist; some of those cases involved harassment.

A lot of complaints dont make it to this stage because they just give up, Moshiree says.

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The Movement To Defund DC Police - Washington City Paper

As prepared for delivery:Distinguished members of the Peacebuilding Commission,

Excellencies,

Thank you very much for the opportunity to appear virtually before you today.

On behalf of UNDP, allow me to commend the leadership of the Peacebuilding Commission in particular the chairs from Canada, Japan and Colombia for organizing this meeting.

We welcome the opportunity to amplify our recent and recurring engagement with the PBC in our role as the UNs development voice in building sustainable pathways for peacebuilding and tackling violence, conflict and fragility as the largest PBF implementing partner on the ground. And we thank PBSO for the excellent collaboration in facilitating our engagement with the PBC.

You heard from our Administrator two weeks ago on the importance of UN system-wide engagement and strengthening institutions for sustaining peace and peacebuilding in a new post-COVID-19 world.

Today, I will go a bit further to reflect on how we can strengthen the peacebuilding thumbprint in the UN Socioeconomic Framework so that we can help countries recover from this crisis and build back better with more resilience , and security, to future shocks and crisis.

The UN Framework for the Immediate Socioeconomic Response to COVID-19 has five pillars:

Trends and patterns emerging from socioeconomic impact assessments show severe shrinking of fiscal space, policy space, political and governance space, human rights and civic space, erosion of social cohesion; thus pushing SDGs further off-track.

In some countries, economic growth is contracting in double digits; we are seeing sharp increases in prices, decrease in incomes and remittances, and significant job losses, with massive numbers of people at risk of slipping into poverty.

The Human Development Index, for the first time since its inception in 1990, will likely fall. A reduction that would most likely take us back six years .

Countries impacted by fragility, violence and conflict are facing reductions in peacebuilding spaces that will be difficult to reclaim after the end of the crisis.

Overall, there is a serious contraction in critical development and peace gains with the most vulnerable at the greatest risk of being disproportionately impacted by this pandemic.

The impact of COVID-19 is likely to be more severe in fragile and conflict-affected countries, where pre-existing vulnerabilities in health and governance systems, as well as in inter-communal relations, are amplified, thus exacerbating heightened risks to fragility, conflict and violence across communities and borders.

How we collectively respond to the socio-economic impacts of the crisis will have significant consequences on conflict and peace all around the world.

Recognizing the urgency of the crisis, on 23 March, the Secretary-General called for a global ceasefire, urging warring parties to silence their guns to help create conditions for the delivery of aid and to open up space for diplomacy. The response to the SGs appeal has been mostly positive. However, initial gestures of support have not translated into concrete change on the ground. The Security Councils inability to agree on a resolution in support of a global ceasefire has been disappointing.

We need Member States with leverage on conflict parties to use their influence to end these wars. This is especially urgent because COVID-19 has increased risks of violent conflicts, exacerbating existing grievances and inequalities, which were main themes of the protests around the world in 2019.

The social contract between the state and the population is seeing further erosion. In several countries we are already seeing public frustration with the government responses. We also see systematically weak judiciary systems; limiting the protection of human rights and access to justice for many. Potential politicization of governments response could increase political animosity. Weak and uneven government responses could further undermine the social compact and trust.

Despite these challenges, the ceasefire appeal has refocused attention on the urgency to end fighting and the spur stalled peace processes - in order to face a new global common threat.

A few countries are grappling with preparing for elections and the planning for the possibility of delayed or altered elections (with risks of civil unrest and political strife). COVID-19 restrictions could be instrumentalized for electoral purposes and will need to be carefully monitored.

Some governments are restricting freedom of speech and of assembly beyond what is medically necessary, sometimes targeting the opposition. Hate speech and fearmongering against vulnerable populations has proliferated.

Despite challenges of social distancing, local peacebuilders are finding innovative ways to boost opportunities for mutual aid and community-building initiatives using digital solutions to bring communities closer together in sharing life-saving public information on how to survive the pandemic.

Communities led by women and youth are stepping up and forward to strengthen social cohesion between and within local communities as they battle the health pandemic together, building pathways for peace dividends to bloom.

The UN Socioeconomic framework will need to triangulate with existing peace and reconciliation initiatives ongoing in conflict-affected contexts with a strong conflict sensitivity and risk adaptive lens.

Through strong interagency coordination, UNCTs support to countries responses so far have oriented mainly on the immediate crisis response, with a special focus on enhancing institutions, addressing structural deficiencies, supporting most vulnerable people and places; and addressing the harrowing problem of data gaps.

While responding to the pandemic, a few countries with the support of UNCTs(and the UN at large), are already reflecting on the path to recovery. For countries impacted by fragility and violent conflict, our response must be both institutions-based and people-centered. Peacebuilding must be at the heart of a sustainable recovery that (re)builds trust and social cohesion. To bring the dependency cycle to an end , our response must focus on building resilience, institutional capacity and disaster risk reduction while ensuring we remain highly attuned to the conflict drivers and risks as countries recover.

All this will require a robust conflict analysis as part of the socioeconomic recovery assessments.

UNDP is currently reviewing the submissions of 61 countries undertaking socioeconomic impact assessments to ensure that countries are adequately sensitive to the social cohesion and peacebuilding dimensions of COVID-19, including not just the challenges but also the opportunities to secure peace dividends. This is especially relevant for countries impacted by fragility, violence and conflict, or whose transition or peace processes are stalled. Where the peacebuilding lens is weak, UNDP welcomes the opportunity to work with DCO and PBSO to support UNCTs at country/regional levels to strengthen the peacebuilding thumbprint in recovery planning.

Indeed, as the largest recipient and implementer of PBF interventions in nearly to 40 countries, UNDP welcomes the PBFs proactive support to UN Country Teams in Guatemala, Cote dIvoire and Mali to adjust existing projects to address peacebuilding and prevention dimensions of the pandemic.

UNDP would welcome the opportunity to work together with PBSO to help all UNCTs further calibrate existing PBF-funded programming with central funds such as the CERF and the UN COVID-19 Fund to maximize the potential impact on the ground.

UNDP is also working closely with PBSO to accelerate and finalize UN guidance on Conflict Sensitivity, Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace, along with UNICEF, UNHCR, FAO, UN Habitat, WFP, and UNOPS. The guidance note, which is most relevant and timely in the COVID-19 response, should be ready in the coming days and weeks.

UNDP is also working together with partners like the World Bank in fragile and conflict-affected settings using a whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach to explore how we can leverage our resources, expertise, and capacities to help countries recover and build back better. UNDPs strong partnership with the World Bank includes our support to strengthening responsive, accountable and inclusive core government functions in fragile and crisis-affected settings as a core element of sustaining peace and peacebuilding. We are also reflecting on and adapting how core governance institutions (central and local) can and must adapt to this brave new world -- through improved ways of delivering services -- and through the use of digital technologies.

In the meantime, UNDP and DPPA continue to support our 50+ Peace and Development Advisors to help countries adapt to this new reality and indeed, new way of working in a post-COVID world through our joint UNDP-DPPA Programme on Building National Capacities for Conflict Prevention.

In sum, we can and indeed, we must build back better to regain stability and spur peace and prosperity in a world that is now changed forever. Ensuring a strong social cohesion and peacebuilding lens on how societies and institutions recover from this crisis is at the heart of turning the tide on the greatest reversal of human development into a decisive leap forward.

Let me conclude by emphatically stating that , to build a secure world , we must keep massively investing in Human Security! It is an investment with highest return; on Peace and on Prosperity. It is our strongest insurance policy as well as our passport to a secure future !

Thank you.

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Tailoring the Socioeconomic Response to COVID-19 in Peacebuilding Contexts - UNDP

In the heat of the current global campaign and protests against systemic and deeply entrenched racism in the United States of America and other parts of the World which came once again to the limelight with the killing by the White police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota of the 46 year old black man Mr. George Floyd, there was a significant and symbolic event that took place in the White house.

This event with global ramifications which tool place was the signing into law of the Executive order on advancing international religious freedoms by President Donald John Trump.

This momentous occasion was drowned unfortunately by the protests over the killing of the black man in the USA and also the inelegant handling of the aftermath of the huge crises that followed by the United States 45th President did not also help matters thereby relegating the important achievement that is embedded in the Executive Order on advancing international religious freedoms by President Donald John Trump.

Although here in Nigeria, we are also confronting the demon of rape and killings of many teenage girls by their rapists all across the Country and the killings of villagers by the armed Islamists and Fulani herdsmen have escalated, the significance of what President Donald John Trump did around June 2nd 2020 in the imposing complex of White House will forever be a source of encouragement.

There is therefore the need to enlighten the people of Nigeria about the existence of this international persuasive tool that can be relied upon to beat back the increasing threats to lives of religious minorities and Christians in the mostly Moslem North West and the terrorism infested North East of Nigeria which has a significant percentage of Christians even though the Moslems are the majority holding political offices of influence in those states with the exception of only a few.

There is little doubt that the spate of killings orchestrated by the armed Islamists and Fulani herdsmen in places such as Benue, Southern Kaduna State, Plateau, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi are all motivated by the hatred of religious plurality and the fact that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has in the last five years concentrated the strategic security and defence positions in the hands of only Moslem Northerners and therefore relegating millions of Christians to the background.

This act of lawlessness has constituted not only a constitutional threat but a huge national security threat because in the last five years the majority of all those who watch over our national security are all virtually drawn from one tribal grouping and one religious group being the Moslem religion which in itself violates section 14(3) of the Nigerian constitution but this scheming out of Christians in the scheme of things in the defence sector has led to the high rate of violent attacks against Christian communities by armed Fulani herdsmen and in some instances the attackers after destroying these communities occupied by force the farms of these villagers who are forced to flee to cities to live in the internally displaced people's camps whilst their ancestral lands are occupied by occupying forces aided by armed security forces mostly controlled and commanded by Moslems.

Ironically, the President Muhammadu Buhari who is Fulani Moslem does not give a damn and is in denial of all these atrocious and murderous killings which he dismissed as mere farmers/ herders crises which is totally incorrect and deceptive.

The following words captures the imminent implosion that may result from the heavily one sided defence team set up by President Muhammadu Buhari: "Skewed appointments into the offices of the Federal Government favouring some and frustrating others, shall bring ruin and destruction to this nation."- Col. Abubakar Umar (retd), former military governor of Kaduna State to President Buhari.

It is no secret that in a lot of places in Northern Nigeria, like Katsina, Kano, Zamfara and adjoining States, Christians are not allowed official plots of land by the state governors to build their places of worship just as young Christian girls are too often forced into conversion and marriages to Moslems.

The worst of these invidious and insidious attacks against Christian communities pale into insignificance when you compared these institutional apartheid policies of some Northern State governments to the physical violence that are now unleashed on Christian communities by armed Fulani herdsmen seeking to displace them from their ancestral homes and the government does nothing.

The Special Adviser to Mr President on Media Femi Adeshina was quoted as asking persons under attacks to give up their lands than to be buried underneath..

That incendiary, callous and insensitive comments made on national television by no other person than the Special Adviser on Media and publicity to Mr President is to say the least a confirmation that government is unwilling to take steps to stop these attacks.

Then coupled with the total domination of Moslems controlling all internal security architectures in Nigeria you can then know that Nigerian Christians need to look towards United States of America for the implementation of this Executive order on advancing international religious freedoms by President Donald John Trump.

The Bishop of Sokoto Mathew Hassan Kukah who hails from Southern Kaduna State whereby Christian communities have faced torrents of violent attacks by jihadists terrorists has also lost a Seminarian to the dastardly criminal acts of terror attacks and genocide of Christians in Northern Nigeria.

The following was the speech Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah read at the burial of the Seminarian Michael killed by armed Fulani herdsmen recently. Bishop Kukah wrote thus: "Nigeria needs to pause for a moment and think. No one more than the President of Nigeria, Major General Muhammadu Buhari who was voted for in 2015 on the grounds of his own promises to rout Boko Haram and place the country on an even keel. In an address at the prestigious Policy Think Tank, Chatham House in London, just before the elections, Major General Buhari told his audience: I as a retired General and a former Head of State have always known about our soldiers. They are capable and they are well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty. If am elected President, the world will have no reason to worry about Nigeria. Nigeria will return to its stabilizing role in West Africa. We will pay sufficient attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service. We will develop adequate and modern arms and ammunition. We will improve intelligence gathering and border patrols to choke Boko Harams financial and equipment channels. We will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development and promoting infrastructural developmentwe will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester. And I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front.

"There is no need to make any further comments on this claim. No one in that hall or anywhere in Nigeria doubted the President who ran his campaign on a tank supposedly full of the fuel of integrity and moral probity. No one could have imagined that in winning the Presidency, General Buhari would bring nepotism and clannishness into the military and the ancillary Security Agencies, that his government would be marked by supremacist and divisive policies that would push our country to the brink. This President has displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our countrys rich diversity. He has subordinated the larger interests of the country to the hegemonic interests of his co-religionists and clansmen and women. The impression created now is that, to hold a key and strategic position in Nigeria today, it is more important to be a northern Muslim than a Nigerian.

Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah affirmed: "The persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria is as old as the modern Nigerian state. Their experiences and fears of northern, Islamic domination are documented in the Willinks Commission Report way back in 1956. It was also the reason why they formed a political platform called, the Non-Muslim League. All of us must confess in all honesty that in the years that have passed, the northern Muslim elite has not developed a moral basis for adequate power sharing with their Christian co-regionalists. We deny at our own expense. By denying Christians lands for places of worship across most of the northern states, ignoring the systematic destruction of churches all these years, denying Christians adequate recruitment, representation and promotions in the State civil services, denying their indigenous children scholarships, marrying Christian women or converting Christians while threatening Muslim women and prospective converts with death, they make building a harmonious community impossible. Nation building cannot happen without adequate representation and a deliberate effort at creating for all members a sense, a feeling, of belonging, and freedom to make their contributions. This is the window that the killers of Boko Haram have exploited and turned into a door to death. It is why killing Christians and destroying Christianity is seen as one of their key missions."

From series of internet sources we were reminded that last year over Christmas, Islamic State Beheaded 11 Nigerian Christians. Shocking news reports with in depth analysis from the BBC on the ideology that is intent on creating a genocide in Nigeria.

Relatedly a parliamentary debate held 18 months ago in Great Britain contained the warnings of systematic persecution and horrific executions, abductions, and an unfolding genocide in Nigeria that have been wantonly ignored. These terrible executions in Nigeria will be a first test of how the UKs Foreign Office and Aid programmes will be deployed to provide substance to Boris Johnsons very welcome commitment to end such barbarism., says a foreign affairs observer in Great Britain.

The BBC and other news outlets have provided shocking news reports with in depth analysis from the ideology that is intent on creating a genocide in Nigeria.

The reporter then asserted that perhaps this will finally wake up officials in the UKs Foreign Office and in the Department for International Development who insist on saying that Nigerias killings are overwhelmingly a result of climate change, loss of grazing land and poverty.

These may all be factors but to ignore the role of a ferocious ideology is absurd, self-deceiving, wishful thinking. Climate change didnt behead these innocent people whose only crime was their Christian faith.

The Prime Minister has rightly said that In light of mounting evidence that Christians suffer the most widespread persecution We will use the UKs global reach and programme funding to improve the lives of persecuted people. And that We will do everything possible to champion these freedoms. We are determined to use the tools of British diplomacy in this cause, including our permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

These terrible executions in Nigeria will be a first test of how the UKs Foreign Office and Aid programmes will be deployed to provide substance to Boris Johnsons very welcome commitment.

Whilst Great Britain still contemplates what to do to stop the persecutions of Christians in Nigeria, the United States of America may have come to the rescue of millions of Christians facing extinction under the watch of a President who gave all national defence positions in Nigeria to Moslems and therefore this one sided defence team are looking the other way as armed Fulani herdsmen kill thousands of Christians and not one killer is behind bars in the last five years. Below are the contents of the Executive order.

President Donald John Trump said the Executive order on advancing international religious freedoms by was done by the authority vested in him as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. (a) Religious freedom, Americas first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative. Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom. As stated in the 2017 National Security Strategy, our Founders understood religious freedom not as a creation of the state, but as a gift of God to every person and a right that is fundamental for the flourishing of our society.

(b) Religious communities and organizations, and other institutions of civil society, are vital partners in United States Government efforts to advance religious freedom around the world. It is the policy of the United States to engage robustly and continually with civil society organizations including those in foreign countries to inform United States Government policies, programs, and activities related to international religious freedom.

Sec. 2. Prioritization of International Religious Freedom. Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of State (Secretary) shall, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), develop a plan to prioritize international religious freedom in the planning and implementation of United States foreign policy and in the foreign assistance programs of the Department of State and USAID.

Sec. 3. Foreign Assistance Funding for International Religious Freedom. (a) The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Administrator of USAID, budget at least $50 million per fiscal year for programs that advance international religious freedom, to the extent feasible and permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations. Such programs shall include those intended to anticipate, prevent, and respond to attacks against individuals and groups on the basis of their religion, including programs designed to help ensure that such groups can persevere as distinct communities; to promote accountability for the perpetrators of such attacks; to ensure equal rights and legal protections for individuals and groups regardless of belief; to improve the safety and security of houses of worship and public spaces for all faiths; and to protect and preserve the cultural heritages of religious communities.

(b) Executive departments and agencies (agencies) that fund foreign assistance programs shall ensure that faith-based and religious entities, including eligible entities in foreign countries, are not discriminated against on the basis of religious identity or religious belief when competing for Federal funding, to the extent permitted by law.

Sec. 4. Integrating International Religious Freedom into United States Diplomacy. (a) The Secretary shall direct Chiefs of Mission in countries of particular concern, countries on the Special Watch List, countries in which there are entities of particular concern, and any other countries that have engaged in or tolerated violations of religious freedom as noted in the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom required by section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292), as amended (the Act), to develop comprehensive action plans to inform and support the efforts of the United States to advance international religious freedom and to encourage the host governments to make progress in eliminating violations of religious freedom.

(b) In meetings with their counterparts in foreign governments, the heads of agencies shall, when appropriate and in coordination with the Secretary, raise concerns about international religious freedom and cases that involve individuals imprisoned because of their religion.

(c) The Secretary shall advocate for United States international religious freedom policy in both bilateral and multilateral fora, when appropriate, and shall direct the Administrator of USAID to do the same.

Sec. 5. Training for Federal Officials. (a) The Secretary shall require all Department of State civil service employees in the Foreign Affairs Series to undertake training modelled on the international religious freedom training described in section 708(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-465), as amended by section 103(a)(1) of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281).

(b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the heads of all agencies that assign personnel to positions overseas shall submit plans to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, detailing how their agencies will incorporate the type of training described in subsection (a) of this section into the training required before the start of overseas assignments for all personnel who are to be stationed abroad, or who will deploy and remain abroad, in one location for 30 days or more.

(c) All Federal employees subject to these requirements shall be required to complete international religious freedom training not less frequently than once every 3 years.

Sec. 6. Economic Tools. (a) The Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and through the process described in National Security Presidential Memorandum-4 of April 4, 2017 (Organization of the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and Subcommittees), develop recommendations to prioritize the appropriate use of economic tools to advance international religious freedom in countries of particular concern, countries on the Special Watch List, countries in which there are entities of particular concern, and any other countries that have engaged in or tolerated violations of religious freedom as noted in the report required by section 102(b) of the Act. These economic tools may include, as appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, increasing religious freedom programming, realigning foreign assistance to better reflect country circumstances, or restricting the issuance of visas under section 604(a) of the Act.

(b) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may consider imposing sanctions under Executive Order 13818 of December 20, 2017 (Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption), which, among other things, implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114-328).

Sec. 7. Definitions. For purposes of this order:(a) Country of particular concern is defined as provided in section 402(b)(1)(A) of the Act;

(b) Entity of particular concern is defined as provided in section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281);

(c) Special Watch List is defined as provided in sections 3(15) and 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the Act; and

(d) Violations of religious freedom is defined as provided in section 3(16) of the Act.

Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) hereby charges Christian leaders and stakeholders to compile and document evidences of these mass killings of Christians so these data are sent to the President of the United States of America and the Congress of the United States of America for their immediate actions to ensure that the hundreds of killers who are walking the Nigerian streets freely are arrested, prosecuted and punished for these crimes against humanity.

Emmanuel Onwubiko is the Head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria and[emailprotected];www.emmanuelonwubikocom;www.thenigerianinsidernews.com;[emailprotected]

Disclaimer: "The views/contents expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of Emmanuel Onwubiko and do not necessarily reflect those of The Nigerian Voice. The Nigerian Voice will not be responsible or liable for any inaccurate or incorrect statements contained in this article."

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Nigeria In The Eyes Of The World On Freedoms - The Nigerian Voice

In the heat of the current global campaign and protests against systemic and deeply entrenched racism in the United States of America and other parts of the World which came once again to the limelight with the killing by the White police officer Derek Chauvin in Minneapolis, Minnesota of the 46 year old black man Mr. George Floyd, there was a significant and symbolic event that took place in the White house.

This event with global ramifications was the signing into law of the Executive Order on advancing international religious freedoms by President Donald John Trump.

This momentous occasion was drowned unfortunately by the protests over the killing of the black man in the USA and also the inelegant handling of the aftermath of the huge crises that followed by the United States 45th President did not also help matters thereby relegating the important achievement that is embedded in the Executive Order on advancing international religious freedoms by Trump.

Although here in Nigeria, we are also confronting the demon of rape and killings of many teenage girls by their rapists all across the country and the killings of villagers by the armed Islamists and Fulani herdsmen have escalated, the significance of what President Donald John Trump did around June 2nd 2020 in the imposing complex of White House will forever be a source of encouragement.

There is therefore the need to enlighten the people of Nigeria about the existence of this international persuasive tool that can be relied upon to beat back the increasing threats to lives of religious minorities and Christians in the mostly Moslem North West and the terrorism infested North East of Nigeria which has a significant percentage of Christians even though the Moslems are the majority holding political offices of influence in those states with the exception of only a few.

There is little doubt that the spate of killings orchestrated by the armed Islamists and Fulani herdsmen in places such as Benue, Southern Kaduna State, Plateau, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi are all motivated by the hatred of religious plurality and the fact that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari has in the last five years concentrated the strategic security and defence positions in the hands of only Moslem Northerners and therefore relegating millions of Christians to the background.

This act of lawlessness has constituted not only a constitutional threat but a huge national security threat because in the last five years the majority of all those who watch over our national security are all virtually drawn from one tribal grouping and one religious group being the Moslem religion which in itself violates section 14(3) of the Nigerian constitution but this scheming out of Christians in the scheme of things in the defence sector has led to the high rate of violent attacks against Christian communities by armed Fulani herdsmen and in some instances the attackers after destroying these communities occupied by force the farms of these villagers who are forced to flee to cities to live in the internally displaced peoples camps whilst their ancestral lands are occupied by occupying forces aided by armed security forces mostly controlled and commanded by Moslems.

Ironically, Buhari who is Fulani Moslem does not give a damn and is in denial of all these atrocious and murderous killings which he dismissed as mere farmers/ herders crises which is totally incorrect and deceptive.

The following words captures the imminent implosion that may result from the heavily one sided defence team set up by President Buhari: Skewed appointments into the offices of the Federal Government favouring some and frustrating others, shall bring ruin and destruction to this nation.- Col. Abubakar Umar (retd), former military governor of Kaduna State to President Buhari.

It is no secret that in a lot of places in Northern Nigeria, like Katsina, Kano, Zamfara and adjoining States, Christians are not allowed official plots of land by the state governors to build their places of worship just as young Christian girls are too often forced into conversion and marriages to Moslems.

The worst of these invidious and insidious attacks against Christian communities pale into insignificance when you compared these institutional apartheid policies of some Northern State governments to the physical violence that are now unleashed on Christian communities by armed Fulani herdsmen seeking to displace them from their ancestral homes and the government does nothing.

The Special Adviser to Mr President on Media Femi Adeshina was quoted as asking persons under attacks to give up their lands than to be buried underneath.

That incendiary, callous and insensitive comments made on national television by no other person than the Special Adviser on Media and publicity to Mr President is to say the least a confirmation that government is unwilling to take steps to stop these attacks.

Then coupled with the total domination of Moslems controlling all internal security architectures in Nigeria you can then know that Nigerian Christians need to look towards United States of America for the implementation of this Executive order on advancing international religious freedoms by President Donald John Trump.

The Bishop of Sokoto Mathew Hassan Kukah who hails from Southern Kaduna State whereby Christian communities have faced torrents of violent attacks by jihadists terrorists has also lost a Seminarian to the dastardly criminal acts of terror attacks and genocide of Christians in Northern Nigeria.

The following was the speech Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah read at the burial of the Seminarian Michael killed by armed Fulani herdsmen recently. Bishop Kukah wrote thus: Nigeria needs to pause for a moment and think. No one more than the President of Nigeria, Major General Muhammadu Buhari who was voted for in 2015 on the grounds of his own promises to rout Boko Haram and place the country on an even keel. In an address at the prestigious Policy Think Tank, Chatham House in London, just before the elections, Major General Buhari told his audience: I as a retired General and a former Head of State have always known about our soldiers. They are capable and they are well trained, patriotic, brave and always ready to do their duty. If am elected President, the world will have no reason to worry about Nigeria. Nigeria will return to its stabilizing role in West Africa. We will pay sufficient attention to the welfare of our soldiers in and out of service. We will develop adequate and modern arms and ammunition. We will improve intelligence gathering and border patrols to choke Boko Harams financial and equipment channels. We will be tough on terrorism and tough on its root causes by initiating a comprehensive economic development and promoting infrastructural developmentwe will always act on time and not allow problems to irresponsibly fester. And I, Muhammadu Buhari, will always lead from the front.

There is no need to make any further comments on this claim. No one in that hall or anywhere in Nigeria doubted the President who ran his campaign on a tank supposedly full of the fuel of integrity and moral probity. No one could have imagined that in winning the Presidency, General Buhari would bring nepotism and clannishness into the military and the ancillary Security Agencies, that his government would be marked by supremacist and divisive policies that would push our country to the brink. This President has displayed the greatest degree of insensitivity in managing our countrys rich diversity. He has subordinated the larger interests of the country to the hegemonic interests of his co-religionists and clansmen and women. The impression created now is that, to hold a key and strategic position in Nigeria today, it is more important to be a northern Muslim than a Nigerian.

Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah affirmed: The persecution of Christians in northern Nigeria is as old as the modern Nigerian state. Their experiences and fears of northern, Islamic domination are documented in the Willinks Commission Report way back in 1956. It was also the reason why they formed a political platform called, the Non-Muslim League. All of us must confess in all honesty that in the years that have passed, the northern Muslim elite has not developed a moral basis for adequate power sharing with their Christian co-regionalists. We deny at our own expense. By denying Christians lands for places of worship across most of the northern states, ignoring the systematic destruction of churches all these years, denying Christians adequate recruitment, representation and promotions in the State civil services, denying their indigenous children scholarships, marrying Christian women or converting Christians while threatening Muslim women and prospective converts with death, they make building a harmonious community impossible. Nation building cannot happen without adequate representation and a deliberate effort at creating for all members a sense, a feeling, of belonging, and freedom to make their contributions. This is the window that the killers of Boko Haram have exploited and turned into a door to death. It is why killing Christians and destroying Christianity is seen as one of their key missions.

From series of internet sources we were reminded that last year over Christmas, Islamic State Beheaded 11 Nigerian Christians. Shocking news reports with in depth analysis from the BBC on the ideology that is intent on creating a genocide in Nigeria.

Relatedly a parliamentary debate held 18 months ago in Great Britain contained the warnings of systematic persecution and horrific executions, abductions, and an unfolding genocide in Nigeria that have been wantonly ignored. These terrible executions in Nigeria will be a first test of how the UKs Foreign Office and Aid programmes will be deployed to provide substance to Boris Johnsons very welcome commitment to end such barbarism., says a foreign affairs observer in Great Britain.

The BBC and other news outlets have provided shocking news reports with in depth analysis from the ideology that is intent on creating a genocide in Nigeria.

The reporter then asserted that perhaps this will finally wake up officials in the UKs Foreign Office and in the Department for International Development who insist on saying that Nigerias killings are overwhelmingly a result of climate change, loss of grazing land and poverty.

These may all be factors but to ignore the role of a ferocious ideology is absurd, self-deceiving, wishful thinking. Climate change didnt behead these innocent people whose only crime was their Christian faith.

The Prime Minister has rightly said that In light of mounting evidence that Christians suffer the most widespread persecution We will use the UKs global reach and programme funding to improve the lives of persecuted people. And that We will do everything possible to champion these freedoms. We are determined to use the tools of British diplomacy in this cause, including our permanent seat on the UN Security Council.

These terrible executions in Nigeria will be a first test of how the UKs Foreign Office and Aid programmes will be deployed to provide substance to Boris Johnsons very welcome commitment.

Whilst Great Britain still contemplates what to do to stop the persecutions of Christians in Nigeria, the United States of America may have come to the rescue of millions of Christians facing extinction under the watch of a President who gave all national defence positions in Nigeria to Moslems and therefore this one sided defence team are looking the other way as armed Fulani herdsmen kill thousands of Christians and not one killer is behind bars in the last five years. Below are the contents of the Executive order.

President Donald John Trump said the Executive order on advancing international religious freedoms by was done by the authority vested in him as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. (a) Religious freedom, Americas first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative. Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom. As stated in the 2017 National Security Strategy, our Founders understood religious freedom not as a creation of the state, but as a gift of God to every person and a right that is fundamental for the flourishing of our society.

(b) Religious communities and organizations, and other institutions of civil society, are vital partners in United States Government efforts to advance religious freedom around the world. It is the policy of the United States to engage robustly and continually with civil society organizations including those in foreign countries to inform United States Government policies, programs, and activities related to international religious freedom.

Sec. 2. Prioritization of International Religious Freedom. Within 180 days of the date of this order, the Secretary of State (Secretary) shall, in consultation with the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), develop a plan to prioritize international religious freedom in the planning and implementation of United States foreign policy and in the foreign assistance programs of the Department of State and USAID.

Sec. 3. Foreign Assistance Funding for International Religious Freedom. (a) The Secretary shall, in consultation with the Administrator of USAID, budget at least $50 million per fiscal year for programs that advance international religious freedom, to the extent feasible and permitted by law and subject to the availability of appropriations. Such programs shall include those intended to anticipate, prevent, and respond to attacks against individuals and groups on the basis of their religion, including programs designed to help ensure that such groups can persevere as distinct communities; to promote accountability for the perpetrators of such attacks; to ensure equal rights and legal protections for individuals and groups regardless of belief; to improve the safety and security of houses of worship and public spaces for all faiths; and to protect and preserve the cultural heritages of religious communities.

(b) Executive departments and agencies (agencies) that fund foreign assistance programs shall ensure that faith-based and religious entities, including eligible entities in foreign countries, are not discriminated against on the basis of religious identity or religious belief when competing for Federal funding, to the extent permitted by law.

Sec. 4. Integrating International Religious Freedom into United States Diplomacy. (a) The Secretary shall direct Chiefs of Mission in countries of particular concern, countries on the Special Watch List, countries in which there are entities of particular concern, and any other countries that have engaged in or tolerated violations of religious freedom as noted in the Annual Report on International Religious Freedom required by section 102(b) of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-292), as amended (the Act), to develop comprehensive action plans to inform and support the efforts of the United States to advance international religious freedom and to encourage the host governments to make progress in eliminating violations of religious freedom.(b) In meetings with their counterparts in foreign governments, the heads of agencies shall, when appropriate and in coordination with the Secretary, raise concerns about international religious freedom and cases that involve individuals imprisoned because of their religion.

(c) The Secretary shall advocate for United States international religious freedom policy in both bilateral and multilateral fora, when appropriate, and shall direct the Administrator of USAID to do the same.

Sec. 5. Training for Federal Officials. (a) The Secretary shall require all Department of State civil service employees in the Foreign Affairs Series to undertake training modelled on the international religious freedom training described in section 708(a) of the Foreign Service Act of 1980 (Public Law 96-465), as amended by section 103(a)(1) of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281).

(b) Within 90 days of the date of this order, the heads of all agencies that assign personnel to positions overseas shall submit plans to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, detailing how their agencies will incorporate the type of training described in subsection (a) of this section into the training required before the start of overseas assignments for all personnel who are to be stationed abroad, or who will deploy and remain abroad, in one location for 30 days or more.(c) All Federal employees subject to these requirements shall be required to complete international religious freedom training not less frequently than once every 3 years.

Sec. 6. Economic Tools. (a) The Secretary and the Secretary of the Treasury shall, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and through the process described in National Security Presidential Memorandum-4 of April 4, 2017 (Organization of the National Security Council, the Homeland Security Council, and Subcommittees), develop recommendations to prioritize the appropriate use of economic tools to advance international religious freedom in countries of particular concern, countries on the Special Watch List, countries in which there are entities of particular concern, and any other countries that have engaged in or tolerated violations of religious freedom as noted in the report required by section 102(b) of the Act. These economic tools may include, as appropriate and to the extent permitted by law, increasing religious freedom programming, realigning foreign assistance to better reflect country circumstances, or restricting the issuance of visas under section 604(a) of the Act.

(b) The Secretary of the Treasury, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may consider imposing sanctions under Executive Order 13818 of December 20, 2017 (Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption), which, among other things, implements the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act (Public Law 114-328).

Sec. 7. Definitions. For purposes of this order:(a) Country of particular concern is defined as provided in section 402(b)(1)(A) of the Act;(b) Entity of particular concern is defined as provided in section 301 of the Frank R. Wolf International Religious Freedom Act (Public Law 114-281);(c) Special Watch List is defined as provided in sections 3(15) and 402(b)(1)(A)(iii) of the Act; and(d) Violations of religious freedom is defined as provided in section 3(16) of the Act.Sec. 8. General Provisions. (a) Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:(i) The authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or(ii) The functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.(b) This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.(c) This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) hereby charges Christian leaders and stakeholders to compile and document evidences of these mass killings of Christians so these data are sent to the President of the United States of America and the Congress of the United States of America for their immediate actions to ensure that the hundreds of killers who are walking the Nigerian streets freely are arrested, prosecuted and punished for these crimes against humanity.

*** Emmanuel Onwubiko is the Head of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria.

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OPINION: NIGERIA IN THE EYES OF THE WORLD ON FREEDOMS - thewillnigeria