World News and Trends: UN troops assault those they're assigned to protect
A particularly ugly side to UN peacekeeping missions is the number of situations where troops under the UN banner have sexually assaulted and abused the very people they are assigned to protect.
A particularly ugly side to UN peacekeeping missions is the number of situations where troops under the UN banner have sexually assaulted and abused the very people they are assigned to protect. Since 2004, nearly 180 soldiers, police and civilian employees have faced disciplinary action for sexual abuse, according to a UN spokesman. The UN has investigated 319 peacekeeping personnel during that span.
Compounding the problem is the fact that the UN cannot discipline some 80 percent of the 100,000 personnel serving in peacekeeping operations—they can only be disciplined by their home countries.
A recent BBC investigation found that in Haiti and Liberia, children had been raped and forced into prostitution by UN peacekeeping troops. Another investigation found that in Congo, soldiers had sex with women and girls for food or money. (Source: Associated Press.)
An Article from:
Good News Magazine: January - February 2007
Course Content
Jerold Aust
Jerold Aust has served in the ministry for 52 years, as a public speaker for 58 years, a published writer for 38 years, and is employed by UCG’s Media and Communications Services. He is a Senior Writer, interviewer, and editor for Beyond Today Magazine and has taught Speech Communication for UCG’s ministerial online program and the Book of Revelation for ABC.
Jerold holds a BA in theology from Ambassador College, Pasadena (1968), an MA in Communication from California State University, Fullerton (1995), a distance-learning Ph.D (2006), and a Famous Writers School diploma in non-fiction writing (1973). Additionally, he studied post-grad communication at University of Southern California (1995), radio, TV, voice-overs, and Public Relations at Fullerton College (1995-1996), and graduate communication at Wichita State University (1978). Jerold has taught communication at the University of South Alabama (7 years) and ABC (17 years). His published works include, Ronald Reagan’s Rhetoric: Metaphor as Persuasion and EZSpeakers: Public Speaking Made Easy in 7 Steps. Jerold's overarching goal is to share with humankind its incredible destiny!
John Ross Schroeder
John died on March 8, 2014, in Oxford, England, four days after suffering cardiac arrest while returning home from a press event in London. John was 77 and still going strong.
Some of John's work for The Good News appeared under his byline, but much didn't. He wrote more than a thousand articles over the years, but also wrote the Questions and Answers section of the magazine, compiled our Letters From Our Readers, and wrote many of the items in the Current Events and Trends section. He also contributed greatly to a number of our study guides and Bible Study Course lessons. His writing has touched the lives of literally millions of people over the years.
John traveled widely over the years as an accredited journalist, especially in Europe. His knowledge of European and Middle East history added a great deal to his articles on history and Bible prophecy.
In his later years he also pastored congregations in Northern Ireland and East Sussex, and that experience added another dimension to his writing. He and his wife Jan were an effective team in our British Isles office near their home.
John was a humble servant who dedicated his life to sharing the gospel—the good news—of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God to all the world, and his work was known to readers in nearly every country of the world.
