Proud to lead @OCDC ICRG where daily we show the power of research for development and support transformative locally led development through cooperatives

Washington, D.C. srea
Joined February 2014
Judith Hermanson retweeted
Kathryn Bolkovac was a police officer in Lincoln, Nebraska. Years on the force. Divorced. Three grown children. Looking for a change. 1998. She applied to join the UN's International Police Task Force in Bosnia-Herzegovina. The IPTF. Created after the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords. Mission was to monitor and train local law enforcement after the Bosnian War. 1999. Signed a contract with DynCorp Aerospace. US defense contractor. 15 million dollar UN-related contract to hire and train police officers for duty in Bosnia. Pay was 85,000 dollars. Better than Lincoln PD. After training in Fort Worth, Texas, she was sent to Sarajevo. Human rights investigator. Three months later deployed to Zenica. Put in charge of fighting violence against women. Head of the department of gender affairs. Shortly after arriving she encountered a battered young woman. Not from the Balkans. From Moldova. Spoke neither English nor Bosnian. Couldn't explain what happened. But she could point Kathryn to a local nightclub. The Florida. Kathryn investigated. Found seven girls locked in a room upstairs. Held captive. No passports. No way out. Room littered with used condoms. Her team walked the perimeter. Found an exterior staircase. Locked door on the second floor. Forced it open. Seven more girls. Also captive. Sex trafficking ring operated by the Serbian mafia. Girls trafficked from Ukraine, Moldova, and Romania. Some as young as 12 years old. Kathryn found a metal box at the Florida. Full of US dollars. The clientele were Americans working in Bosnia. Potentially her own fellow police officers. Brothels disguised as bars. Restaurants. Hotels. Clubs. Scattered throughout the hills of Bosnia. Victims told her directly. American contractors were buying underage girls. One American police officer working alongside her told her he had purchased a woman outright from a bar owner right outside Sarajevo. Took her home. To keep. To marry. To bring back to the United States. It got worse. International peacekeepers and UN bureaucrats were keeping the underground sex trade alive. Officers from multiple countries working under DynCorp. Some were customers. Some were facilitators. Local police confirmed it. The trafficking started with the arrival of the international peacekeepers. Kathryn pushed for formal investigations. She was reassigned. When she questioned her colleagues' diplomatic immunity she was demoted. Peacekeepers couldn't be prosecuted for crimes committed overseas. Fed up. She sent an email. Detailed everything. Coerced prostitution. Cross-border smuggling of women. Named specific personnel allegedly involved. Sent it to more than 50 people. UN officials. DynCorp officials. Up the entire chain of command. Less than two years on the job. Kathryn was fired. Gross misconduct. Falsifying timesheets they said. She was forced to flee the country. Carrying a bag packed with her investigative reports. A probable threat to her life had been determined. She took her story to BBC News. June 2001. Filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against DynCorp in a UK employment tribunal. August 2, 2002. The tribunal ruled unanimously in her favor. DynCorp ordered to pay approximately 153,000 dollars in damages. DynCorp appealed. Then dropped the appeal in April 2003. Days before announcing an enormously lucrative new contract with the US State Department. To police Iraq's civilian population during the War on Terror. DynCorp fired seven employees for solicitation. Not one faced criminal prosecution. No clear jurisdiction. US Army had no authority over civilian contractors. Case transferred to Bosnian police. Bosnian police unsure about diplomatic immunity under the Dayton Peace Accords. Zero prosecutions. Zero. The seven were simply repatriated. Sent home to their countries. DynCorp kept winning government contracts. Similar police training missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. US Government continued working with them throughout. At least two of the men involved in trafficking at DynCorp were later promoted to upper management. Kathryn was forced out of policing entirely. 2010. Hollywood made the movie. The Whistleblower. Rachel Weisz played Kathryn. Screened at the United Nations in New York. For legal reasons DynCorp was renamed Democra Security. 2011. Kathryn was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Same year she graduated with a degree in political science from University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She now lives in the Netherlands. Works a desk job as a project manager for an international auctioneering firm. Tried to obtain international contract work. Infamous in that community. Couldn't get back in. The men who bought children were promoted. The woman who reported it works a desk job. Think about what Kathryn found. Sent to Bosnia to help rebuild a war-torn country. Discovered the people sent to protect were the ones exploiting. UN peacekeepers buying girls. American contractors raping children. Organizations created to help enabling a sex trade. Girls as young as 12. Locked in rooms. No passports. No escape. She documented everything. Investigated for months. Reported to 50 officials. Every single one ignored her. Demoted. Fired. Threatened. Forced to flee the country carrying evidence in a bag. Won her lawsuit. Exposed the scandal to the world. Forced the UN to create oversight units. Became a Hollywood film. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Zero men prosecuted. Not one. Kathryn said it clearly. What happened in Bosnia is similar to later scandals. The abuse continues. The cover-ups continue. But because of her the world saw it. Girls were saved from slavery. UN complicity was proven. The cover-up was exposed. She paid for it with her career. With her ability to work in the field she loved. With years of her life fighting for justice that never fully came. Kathryn Bolkovac. Nebraska police officer. Went to Bosnia in 1999 to help. Found children locked in rooms instead. Reported it. Lost everything. Still speaking about it today. Zero men prosecuted. Not one.
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Our three-day 3rd Co-operative Movement Stakeholders’ Annual Conference and the 8th @CoopVarsityKE Annual Scientific Conference 2025 kick off at Sawela Lodge, Naivasha. #CooperativesBuildBetter @benchitunga @vc_cuk @Prof_IKNyamongo @Ushirika_Kenya @Prof_IKNyamongo @MoCU_Official @stimasacco @Coopbankenya @CICGroupPLC @mwalimunational @police_sacco
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Through Habitat for Humanity's Veterans Build initiative, you can help us provide volunteer, homeownership and employment opportunities to U.S. veterans, military service members and their families. Learn more at habitat.org/veterans.

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Judith Hermanson retweeted
What can Metro Futures tell us about Medellín? Medellín's CO₂ emissions were 0.22 metric tons per capita in 2020, showing a modest 5% increase since 1975, leading Latin American cities 🍃 The city’s has public transport accessibility of 99%, also representing the best regional performance 🚎 These figures showcase Medellín’s efforts towards building sustainable and liveable urban environments. See what else data can tell us about tomorrow's cities on the Metro Futures platform: metrofutures.org
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
To prevent human trafficking, we need to ensure social security for all, promote workers’ rights and ensure adequate protection mechanisms On #HumanTraffickingAwarenessDay, let us reaffirm our commitment to a world where freedom and dignity of labour are rights, not privileges!
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
🌍#Foodsecurity, tackling #poverty, driving #socialinclusion, #education, #climate action, #genderequality, producer and consumer empowerment - that's how #coops build a better world, says Chiyoge Sifa of @ICA_AFRICA1 #IYC2025 @icacoop 👇 thenews.coop/2024-end-of-yea…
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A community housing project called Housing Coops on Ganghwa Island, #SouthKorea, where residents worked together with an architect to design and build 12 homes. The residents were involved in the design process, creating a better living environment. ow.ly/yV3j50UyuW7
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As 2024 comes to a close today, the Exp 72 crew will see 16 sunrises and sunsets while soaring into the New Year. Seen here are several sunsets pictured over the years from the orbital outpost.
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
Emerald coast 💎🌊
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
Jimmy Carter, former US president who was committed to human rights, has died. He was 100 years old. Carter set a powerful example for world leaders to make human rights a priority, and he continued to fight for human rights after he left office.
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
Yes indeed they will all make secure and dignified futures. And for the women among them, who have land title deeds now, it goes much further. Thank you @JudithHermanson #LandToTheTiller
This is life-changing for them! And for all others who are able to secure #land titles! Very worthwhile work!
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
We help our in-country partner financial institutions set up a system for lending that enables families in poverty to get access to safe water and sanitation at home. Your donations help make this system possible. Learn more: water.org/solutions/watercre…
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
A melanoma jab is performing well in trials. America’s drugs regulator could approve the vaccine in 2025 econ.st/3BEKUfg 🌐
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🤝Strengthening partnerships: Ongoing meeting with the @pau_africaunion delegation from Yaoundé and @UNHABITAT to advance sustainable #urban development.
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Ms. Martha Elena Iglesias from @coplanetaverde @IAWP: “Every right, protection, and recognition we have today has been hard-won by waste pickers who have been organizing (in cooperatives) for over 30 years.”
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📢SAVE THE DATE Join the Alliance Africa Agricultural Cooperative Organisation (AAACO) for an insightful webinar as we explore key insights, best practices & synergies to advance agricultural #coops across Africa. 🗓️5 Dec 🕑 14h EAT ✍️Register us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi…
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Judith Hermanson retweeted
The reason Water.org exists is because water touches everything. Illness and disease are no exception. Access to safe water and sanitation is critical to the health and resilience of our global community. Join us and together we can help prevent the spread of disease today and support the health of families around the world tomorrow. Water.org/givewatertw
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A beautiful "firefall" created by the setting sun illuminating Horsetail Fall in Yosemite National Park.
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Thanks to the help of Habitat advocates, we found that our global advocacy in FY2024 at all levels of govt resulted in: 🏠 5.2+ million people gaining improved access to adequate & affordable housing 🗣️ 910,000+ volunteers helped raise awareness with us! habitat.org/multimedia/annua…
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