All articles

Sat

Jan

2024

Elective Military Corps Programs in Schools Should Not Be Forced Upon Minority and Low-income Students

Submitted by nnomy

Thu

Jan

Veterans bring ‘military ethos’ to schools

Submitted by hannah on Thu, 22/01/2015 - 13:51

The pupils of year five at St Aloysius Catholic primary in Roby, Liverpool stand shoulder to shoulder, listening closely as the man in combat trousers and army boots outlines the task ahead.

Dressed in their blue PE shorts and white tops, they stand tall as the instructor speaks. First they have to imagine they are stranded in a desert and work out what they need to survive.

Bleak refugee camp life leads children to join armed groups

Submitted by hannah on Wed, 21/01/2015 - 16:16

(Mweso) January 20, 2015 — "I joined twice, because I had nothing to do," explains Pierre, a 17-year-old former child solider in the Democratic Republic of Congo. "The first time was in 2006. The recruiters in the camp promised me food, a job, and a military career. It didn't take much to get me to go into the bush and try my luck."

A humanitarian organization found Pierre two years later and sent back him back to a camp for the internally displaced persons (IDPs). When asked which organization, Pierre shrugs, "white people."

Read the rest of the article at Jesuit Refugee Service

Wed

Jan

Welcome Semih: new WRI staff member working on youth militarisation

Submitted by hannah on Wed, 21/01/2015 - 14:55

There will be many changes in the WRI office this year. Firstly, we say goodbye to Javier Gárate after ten years working in the office. There will be a chance to say goodbye and thank you to Javier next month! Taking over from Javier as WRI's Nonviolence Programme Worker in mid-February will be Andrew Dey.

Also for the first time, thanks to support from the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, we are able to appoint a part-time staff person dedicated to the Countering the Militarisation of Youth Programme, which up until now has been part of the Right to Refuse to Kill Programme. Semih Sapmaz will be starting 2 days/week in the WRI office from February. We will be fundraising to ensure this role continues beyond the one year we have already funded.

Mon

Jan

Army recruitment office told to remove ‘God and Country’ poster

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 19/01/2015 - 12:24

By Kellan Howell - The Washington Times - Saturday, January 17, 2015

A poster with the message “On a mission for both God and Country” on display outside a recruiting station in Phoenix was removed Friday morning after it was brought to the attention of the the Army Recruiting Command.

Tue

Jan

Petition to End Finnish Conscription and Imprisonment of Conscientious Objectors

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 13/01/2015 - 15:43

Sign the petition

Call of action for Avaaz network to end conscription in Finland and in support of freedom for conscientious objectors.

Finland is one of the last remaining countries in Europe that still has conscription. Finnish society and national culture are very militaristic and conscription is upheld primarily because of militaristic values and traditions. Even the armed forces admit they don't need all the conscripts and the size of reserve forces was cut by about 1/3, from 350 000 to 230 000 active reserve troops [Ministry of Defence, Finnish Army].

Tue

Jan

Don't Go!

Submitted by Gary on Tue, 13/01/2015 - 15:35

Classic antiwar animation that portrays the tragedy and loss of participation in the act of war from the perspective and innocence of a soldier in combat.

Don't Go!

Tue

Jan

Before You Enlist! The Real Deal in Joining the Military

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 13/01/2015 - 12:30

Straight talk from soldiers, veterans and their family members tells what is missing from the sales pitches presented by recruiters and the military's marketing efforts. Produced by Telequest, Inc with support from AFSC. See http://youth4peace.org for more info.

Source: http://www.beforeyouenlist.org/

Before You Enlist! The Real Deal in Joining the Military

Tue

Jan

Youth and militarization: challenges for mobilization for peace

Submitted by hannah on Tue, 13/01/2015 - 11:17

On December 20 the amendment to article 13 of law 418 from 1997 came into effect. This reform agrees that higher education institutions do not need to demand presentation of a military ID card as a requirement to obtain an undergraduate degree. What young people have to say.

By Alekos Muñoz *. This action taken by the Chamber of Representatives towards the Colombian student youth is to be celebrated. However, as young people, we must recognize that most of us do not study in higher education institutions. Moreover, many cannot access education because of the multiple socioeconomic problems that we are facing in the country.

Mon

Jan

The geography of military recruitment

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 12/01/2015 - 12:35

Military recruitment tactics are increasingly fine-tuned to where a person lives, and how they perceive the world’s geography

‘The basic argument is that military recruitment has a geography. It happens in certain places, and maps on to broader trends in society – particularly inequality,’ says Matthew Rech, a researcher at Newcastle University who specialises in geopolitics and military recruitment.

‘There’s also an imagined geography to military recruitment. The military has to persuade people of a particular vision or version of the world, which is based on assumptions of cultural difference and otherness,’ says Rech.

Different services present the world in different ways. ‘The Royal Air Force, for instance, is distinct. It promises world travel. There’s also an idea bound up in the theatre and romance of flight. The pilot is a transcendent person,’ he says.

Mon

Jan

Child soldier numbers soar amid conflict in Central African Republic

Submitted by hannah on Mon, 12/01/2015 - 11:05

The number of child soldiers recruited by armed groups in the Central African Republic have quadrupled since the outbreak of a bloody civil war two years ago, a report says.

Up to 10,000 children, some as young as eight years old, are being forced to fight, carry supplies and perform other frontline roles compared to around 2500 at the beginning of the crisis in December 2012, the research by aid agency Save the Children has found.

Children recruited by armed groups often become victims of physical and mental abuse, and some have been ordered to kill or commit other acts of extreme violence.

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Countering Military Recruitment

WRI's new booklet, Countering Military Recruitment: Learning the lessons of counter-recruitment campaigns internationally, is out now. The booklet includes examples of campaigning against youth militarisation across different countries with the contribution of grassroot activists.

You can order a paperback version here.