The Foreign Service Journal, May 2012

10 F O R E I G N S E R V I C E J O U R N A L / M A Y 2 0 1 2 But a backlash soon developed. In a March 9 Associated Press article ( www.ap.org ), R odney Muhumuza reports that some Ugandans accuse In- visible Children of, variously, exagger- ating the current situation on the ground, oversimplifying a complicated history, being “colonialist” and self-pro- moting, and not spending enough di- rectly on the people it intends to help. Invisible Children has acknowl- edged that its video overlooked many nuances, but maintains it only in- tended the documentary to put the conflict “in an easily understandable format.” It also points out that money directly benefiting the cause accounted for more than 80 percent of its spend- ing from 2007 to 2011. For more detailed background on the Lord’s Resistance Army and efforts to assist its victims, we invite you to read two previous articles in the For- eign Service Journal : “It’s Time to Win the Battle for Uganda’s Children,” by State Department employee Michael Orona, in our July-August 2004 issue; and Associated Press reporter George Gedda’s description of “A Quest for Peace in Uganda,” which we published in February 2007. Both issues are available in our on- line archives ( www.afsa.org/fsj ). — Steven Alan Honley, Editor Highlighting Human Rights Three years ago, the Council on Foreign Relations ( www.cfr.org ) launched its Global Governance Guide, a media resource intended to highlight vital global issues for an on- line audience. Each section of the site uses visual and interactive features to delve into nonproliferation, finance, oceans governance, climate change, conflict prevention, public health and counterterrorism. The CFR has now added a human rights component to the Guide, com- prising an eight-minute video, a time- line of significant events, issue briefs, a matrix of pertinent institutions, an in- teractive map displaying countries that are signatories to human rights agree- ments, and a list of resources. The site focuses on four facets of the topic: legal protection, capacity building, response to atrocities, and women’s and chil- dren’s rights. For each of these areas, the cover- age acknowledges the real progress the international community has made since World War II, but calls for addi- tional measures. For instance, the legal protection discussion centers on the many inconsistencies in interna- tional law and the need for more coun- tries to ratify human rights treaties to bring their protections into effect. While the Guide doesn’t single out the United States for failing to live up to its soaring rhetoric, it does call on Washington and its allies to treat human rights as a universal priority, rather than a peripheral concern. —David J. Barton, Editorial Intern Blood Money Talks In the December 2010 edition of Cybernotes, we reported that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization ( www.un esco.org ) ha d deferred acceptance of a $3 million donation from Equatorial Guinea to establish the UNESCO- Obiang Nguema Mbasogo Interna- tional Prize for Research in the Life Sciences, named for the country’s pres- ident. UNESCO’s executive board took that action in response to near-univer- sal condemnation of the idea of cozy- ing up to Africa’s second-longest- serving dictator. (Obiang’s 32-year C Y B E R N O T E S WWW.AFSA.ORG When contacting an advertiser, kindly mention the Foreign Service Journal. AFSA Insurance Plans hirshorn.com/afsa AFSA Scholarship http://www.afsa.org/Sch olar- ships/PlannedGiving.aspx AKA Hotel residences stay-aka.com Arlington Court Suites Arlingtoncourthotel.com Clements Worldwide clements.com Diplomatic automobile DiploSales.com McGrath Real Estate Services McGrathRealEstate.com ProMax promaxrealtors.com SDFCU sdfcu.org Tetratech Tetratech.com WJD wjdpm.com