GPF's report on the use of Private Military and Security Companies by the United Nations is out! This investigative report reveals that the UN has dramatically increased its use of these companies in recent years, hiring them for a wide array of “security services” and giving them considerable influence over its security policies. It also reveals that the UN has no process to vet these companies and that UN leadership has been closing its eyes to company misconduct for more than twenty years. GPF calls on the UN to reform this out-of-control system and to critically examine whether these companies really make the UN safer, or whether they might achieve the opposite effect. You can read the executive summary and the full report.

Click on the "read more" button to listen to the podcast.

Shahzad, Medea, Jim, and Lou

Drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) have become the signature weapons of the US covert air strikes in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen. The use of drones in undeclared wars violates both the US Constitution and international law. Drone strikes are carried out without due process, and do not discriminate between intended targets and bystanders. Many innocent civilians, including children, are killed as a result. This podcast features presentations from author Medea Benjamin and lawyer Shahzad Akbar.

Click on the "read more" button to listen to the podcast.

Haroon Akram Lodhi

Hedge-funds, governments, and agro-industrial industries have been buying or leasing large blocks of agricultural land worldwide in a process widely known as "land grabbing." Land grabbing has displaced tens of millions of small producers, who have lost their livelihoods as a result. Global Policy Forum invited Professor Haroon Akram-Lodhi of Trent University to speak about the issue.


Click the "read more" button to listen to the podcast.

GPF organized this event with the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti to discuss the cholera epidemic in Haiti, and the the larger role of MINUSTAH, the UN's Peacekeeping force that brought cholera to the region. Co-sponsers include the Center for Constitutional Rights, International Association of Democratic Lawyers, Mennonite Central Committee, Presbyterian Ministry at the UN, and United Methodist Women. The discussion featured Abby Goldberg (New Media Advocacy Project), Mario Joseph (Bureau des Avocats Internationaux), Dr. Evan Lyon, and Brian Concannon (Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti).




Click on the "read more" button to listen to the podcast.