Social Science Research Council

The controversy over whether HIV positive individuals should be deployed as peacekeepers took a new turn this week when Sergeant Sipho Mthethwa of the South African National Defence Force was deployed as a peacekeeper to Sudan. Originally, the SANDF had refused to deploy Sgt. Mthethwa, who is a musician, because he was openly living [...]

Today, the report of the AIDS, Security and Conflict Initiative is launched. Almost ten years after the UN Security Council first discussed HIV/AIDS as a threat to international peace and security, the agenda has moved on. Rather than projections made on the basis of alarm, anecdote and surmise, there is now solid evidence on which [...]

In the early days of AMIS deployment, the Sudan government raised fears that peacekeepers from sub-Saharan Africa would be bringing HIV/AIDS into Darfur, and talked about screening incoming troops for HIV. At the time, Khartoum was opposed to increasing the AU peacekeeping presence, and these statements must be interpreted in that light. Nonetheless, there are [...]

(The following essay is posted on behalf of Selma Scheewe. The author based this essay on her Thesis titled “Sexual Violence and HIV/AIDS in Conflict-ridden Darfur”, at the University of Groningen.)
Introduction
Sexual violence is a prominent aspect of many recent conflicts. In the media and the reports of humanitarian agencies, this sexual violence is often linked [...]