If the TV show Pointless asked contestants to name countries with UN peacekeeping missions then the Central African Republic would almost certainly be a ‘pointless’ answer: one that no-one was able to guess. Yet, in this country with a population smaller than Scotland (4.6 million) thousands were murdered, raped and mutilated at the end of…
Next month, South Sudan will celebrate its first birthday. While this should be cause for elation, we must pause to recognize that the world’s youngest nation may perhaps also be the most vulnerable. The peaceful secession of South Sudan last July was a remarkable outcome after decades of conflict and dispute. The agreement to…
Here, in my five-day diary, I reveal how I survived on porridge, water and vegetable soup as part of my Live Below the Line campaign 2012. THE RULES I have to live on £1 a day for five consecutive days. Worldwide, 1.4billion people live on this. Thankfully, my £1 a day is just food and drink, not everything…
My colleagues on the Economic Affairs Committee in the House of Lords could hardly have chosen a worse time for their report, published on 29 March 2012, opposing the all party commitment to 0.7% of UK GDP as the target for our nation’s international development aid. While politicians and pundits in Britain might be…
