Political Figure in Russia

Hello again!

Sorry I haven’t been posting much this month. It has been hectic! So much work and so many activities! But, I must say, so much fun! February has really been pretty good. I am, though, really ready to be home for a week over spring break. Spring break won’t be necessarily relaxing, but it will be fun and great to see my mom again. I feel like I haven’t talked to her in forever. With the craziness that has been the weather this month, she’s been ridiculously busy or I haven’t been in a place that I can talk, i.e. the library… I’ve quite literally have been living in the library the past few weeks.

Well anyway, one thing that I’ve been doing a lot of recently has been watching the Sochi Olympics. I absolutely love the Olympics, both summer and winter. I might like the winter ones better than summer though. I just love winter much more than summer, including the sports in the winter versus the sports in the summer. Well, one thing that has come along with the winter Olympics in Russia has come news about Vladimir Putin… and this weeks post will be on the one and only Putin…

Putin was born in October of 1952 in Leningrad, USSR. His grandfather was the cool for Lenin, then Lenin’s wife, and later Stalin. His father was a member of multiple communist party committees. Putin’s family had deep connections with the communist government in the USSR.

In 1975, Putin graduated from Leningrad State University with a degree in International Law. While getting his education, he joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and maintained membership until 1991 with the fall of the iron curtain.

After school, Putin joined the KGB, where he was given the job of monitoring foreigners in Dresden, East Germany. When he returned to Russia, he was given the position of surveillance maintenance on students and recruiter at Leningrad State University. He resigned from his position and from the KGB because he did not support the 1991 coup d’état attempt that the hard communist party supporters led with the support of the KGB.

After the fall of the iron curtain, Putin was given a position in Boris Yeltsin’s Presidential Staff. In 1998, he was appointed as head of the FSB and later became a member of the Security Council of the Russian Federation permanently. In August 1999, Putin was named Prime Minister by then-President Boris Yeltsin. Then, in December of the same year, Yeltsin suddenly resigned and Putin took over the presidency. When the upcoming Presidential elections came, Putin easily won the election.

During his first term, Putin altered the Chechnya constitution that declared it as part of Russia.

During his second term, he worked to improve health care, education, housing, and agriculture. He also continued the crack down on Russian oligarchs for fraud and tax evasion that he began during his first term. There were some very negative things that Putin has done as well. He lessened media freedom and has been suspected as the one to order the murders of several people, many of which work within the media.

In 2008, Dmitry Medvedev became president because Putin was limited to two terms as president. Putin became the Prime Minister. During Medvedev’s presidency the constitution was altered so that someone could not be president for more than one term in a row, the key being, in a row. This allowed Putin the run for president again in the 2012 elections, which he won. Putin is the current President of Russia. This election however was criticized for not being very transparent and possibly corrupt, which the entire election process in Russia cannot be considered every democratic to begin with. As a result, there were many protests and Putin responded violently. One protest in Moscow resulted in over 500 arrests and over 50 people injured by the police. One example of Putin’s violence came out in the news when he attacked musical artists, Pussy Riot.

In 2012 and 2013, Putin supported legislation that restricted the LGBT community. This legislation prohibited things like the usage of the rainbow flag. This was an issue as the Sochi Olympics approached.

Well, there is some of Putin’s history. I should go into more issues that Putin has caused, but I will become too heated and want to continue to think rationally. I also really have to study for a computer science quiz that I have tomorrow. The Breakfast Club is also on in an hour and a half and I want all my work to be done by then.

Well, I hope this sort of gave you a good idea of Putin’s background. Let me know in the comments what you think of Vladimir Putin. Here is a quiz to try: Which Vladimir Putin Are You? Enjoy! And enjoy the rest of the Olympics! But remember to keep the dogs of Sochi in your hearts as they face injustice. What events are you still looking forward to see?

Have a great week!

Humanitarian Organizations in Russia

Hello everyone! I hope you had a good week!

This week I will be writing about Humanitarian Organizations in Russia. This will slightly different from the humanitarian organization in South Sudan post, because Russia has recently put unique restraints on NGOs, especially foreign ones, in the country. It will also be a shorter post because mid terms are coming up and I have so much reading to get through. I am currently sitting in library with a large cup of Starbucks coffee and books, notebooks, and folders piled around me wearing my comfiest big sweater, my comfiest jeans, and my warm Toms with my hair pulled back out of my face and ear buds in my ears that are playing “In the Beginning” by the Stills from Spodify.

Well, on to Russia.

When I went to look up works that humanitarian organizations were doing in Russia, I couldn’t find much of any kind. What confused me, however, was that you constantly hear of how people are being mistreated in the totalitarian (or authoritarian depending on your definitions of the two) country. I remembered from the AP Comparative Government class in high school that Russia had been pushing some foreign NGOs out and so that is exactly what I will write about. In the case of Russia it is almost easier to write about the lack of humanitarian organizations than trying to find one to write about.

Putin wants NGOs to allow themselves to be listed as “foreign agents,” which is a term with a very negative connotation. Putin also wants to kick out any of these organizations that he sees as not cooperating with Russian law. But this is difficult to do when Putin continues to change the law and continues to do whatever he wishes without considering the affect a decision will have on the country and its citizens. More and more NGOs are being investigated and it seems that the majority of them are being dissolved right away once they are investigated. As of September 2013, Russia has named 80 NGOs are “foreign agents,” including NGOs with purposes to address voter’s rights, environmental issues, gender equality and LGBT issues.

Here is a link to an article by “Civic Solidarity” that lists these NGOs and what they grounds they were convicted of being “foreign agents” on. 

Even though many have urged Putin to stop this investigation process, it seems that he firmly believes that “Western states use NGOs to spy on Russia and to meddle in its affairs” (Reuters article listed below).

Well, for now it looks as though, for conditions to become better in Russia, the people will need to protest. To me Russia seems to be taking a step back to a combination of two elements of its history. To me the current (apparently transitional democratic) government to me seems to actually be an odd combination of the government under Tsarist Russia and the government under the communist USSR. (It appears that despite it labeling itself democratic, Russia is still defining the people who live in it as peasants, rather than citizens.

Without the influence of NGOs in Russia, I am sort of afraid of what might happen to Russia. I get the feeling that it wants to once again cut itself off from the rest of the world, especially the West, just like it had during the reign of the Soviet Block.

I might be a little weird, but this is the type of thing I think about all the time. I will even get distracted from hanging out with friends just so I can look things up about the humanitarian happenings around the world, This stuff truly worries me. Well, I should probably try to force myself to focus on schoolwork now. I really hope that I am putting myself in the position to do something about humanitarian issues in the future.

Have a wonderful week and if Valentines Day is a thing you do, have fun! I’m heading back to get some work done. I now have coffee in my system, so I should have the energy to knock everything out.

Thanks for reading my blog. Please comment letting me know what you think about the direction Russia is going, or just anything at all. And please share my blog with anyone you think would be interested, if you like it. That would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Sources:

http://www.rferl.org/section/crackdown-on-ngos-in-russia/3272.html

http://www.dw.de/ngos-in-russia-refuse-agents-label/a-16947586

http://civicsolidarity.org/article/676/russia-list-ngos-named-foreign-agents-updated-20-september

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/15/us-russia-ngos-idUSBRE96E0DK20130715

You Need to Download This Song!!!!

U2 is releasing their new song "Invisible" for free download on iTunes for a short time and with each download Bank of America will be donating a $1 to (RED) to help fight the AIDs epidemic in Africa.

Here is the link: (RED)

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WOW: I Bet This Map Would Be Banned in Some Countries
-Upworthy

Absolutely Incredible

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Hope for Ariang: One Lost Boy's Story and Powerful Return to South Sudan

Humanitarian Organizations in the South Sudan

Hello again!

So this week’s main blog post is going to be humanitarian organizations that have an impact in the South Sudan!

I have chosen three organizations to talk about:

·      War Child International

·      International Committee of the     Red Cross

·      Gua Africa

War Child International

            War Child International is a compilation of independent humanitarian organizations that work together to protect children in war-stricken places. The organization consists of the three organizations of War Child Holland, War Child North America, and War Child UK, all of which are completely separate even though their goals are similar. Also, within each individual country these organizations work with “local grass roots organizations.” They believe that showing the children hope and peace through their works will teach the children to be more peaceful and caring as adults.

Its mission statement:
                     "War Child International exists to create the conditions that will fulfill the protection, development and survival rights for children and young people who are living with or recovering from the effects of armed conflict. We believe in the power of children and young people, and so will ensure they participate in decisions which affect their lives so that their voices will be heard and thei contributions made to count."

Project Locations:

·      Afghanistan

·      Burundi

·      Chechnya

·      Colombia

·      DR Congo

·      Ethiopia

·      Iraq

·      Israel

·      Kosovo

·      Lebanon

·      Liberia

·      Sierra Leone

·      Sri Lanka

·      Sudan

·      Uganda

·      West Bank

·      Gaza

Actions:

• Child Protection- “to protect children and young people against the consequences of armed conflict”
• Education- “to enable children and young people’s access to education”
•  Justice- “to endure children and young people’s access to justice when their rights are violated”
• Livelihoods- “to build sustainable local livelihoods that address children and young people’s fundamental needs”
• Psychosocial- “to simulate children and young people’s own psychological and social development”

Links:

            War Child International

            War Child Australia

War Child Canada

            War Child Holland

            War Child Ireland

            War Child UK

            War Child US

I like this organization because of its focus on the future. It recognizes that there must be an end to conflict and they want to do all they can to prevent conflict from starting again. They don’t do this by trying to force compromise between leaders of the conflicting groups, but my teaching the impressionable children how to be good, kind citizens of their countries. They believe educating the adults of the future, the children, is they way to a peaceful world.

International Committee of the Red Cross

            The International Committee of the Red Cross, “based on the Geneva Conventions of 1949, is an “independent, neutral organization ensuring humanitarian protections and assistance for victims of war and armed violence.” All states in the world are connected through four Geneva Conventions that “protect wounded, sick and shipwrecked members of the armed forces, prisoners of war and civilians.”

Its mission statement:

“The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) is an impartial, neutral and independent organization whose exclusively humanitarian mission is to protect the lives and dignity of victims of armed conflict and other situations of violence and to provide them with assistance. The ICRC also endeavors to prevent suffering by promoting and strengthening humanitarian law and universal humanitarian principles. Established in 1863, the ICRC is at the origin of the Geneva Conventions and the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. It directs and coordinates the international activities conducted by the Movement in armed conflicts and other situations of violence.”

In South Sudan:

·      “Visits places of detention to monitor conditions and treatment”

·      “Gives legal advice and support to South Sudanese government”

·      Has a medical team at the Malakal Teaching Hospital to provide trauma and emergency surgical care, pediatric care, and physiotherapy care as well as war surgery

·      ICRC has two rehabilitation centers in South Sudan, in Juba and Rumbek that provide orthotic services, wheelchair services, etc.

·      Works to improve water supply to hospitals and donates medical supplies to other hospitals

·      “Distributes basic household items, food, seed, and other things like fishing nets” to families that are affected by violence

·      Works with the Ministry of Animal Resources and Fisheries on animal vaccination programs

·      “Repairs and builds public water points and treatment plants in places affected by violence”

·      Supports the South Sudan Red Cross

Links:

            ICRC South Sudan

            ICRC

I like this organization because, even though it doesn’t necessarily think about the future, it does what it can to make the present bearable so people can look to the future. They try to take the burdens off of the citizens of the countries they help so they can look to grow.

Gua Africa

            Gua Africa was founded by Emmanuel Jal to provide education to children so they have the opportunity to impact their country.

Its mission statement: 
                     "Our founder Emmanuel Jal would not have been able to create Gua Africa without the support he received from others to complete his schooling. Education can make a fundamental, life changing difference. It can lift people out of the disadvantages they face and towards a brighter future. Education is also crucial to long-term global development, as it empowers both the individual and the community and underpins many other key areas such as health and protection of the environment. Our role is to provide classrooms in which to learn, train teachers to a high standard and provide scholarships into higher educations."

Emmanuel Jal's statement: Gua Africa: Take Education Seriously

Links:

      Gua Africa

Like War CHild International, I like how Gua Africa wants to make the world a better place through empowering people and allowing them to become the individuals they are.



Thanks for reading through my blog post! I hope you enjoyed it and found it informational and inspiring! Let me know what you think of these organizations and what you think is the best way to support the people of the South Sudan at the current time in the comments below! Have a wonderful week!