By Sam Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 21 July 2026 (IDN) — In a world that proclaims human rights as universal, what does it mean that entire peoples are rendered legally nonexistent—human beings for whom, as Hannah Arendt put it, “no law exists”? This essay turns to Johann Gottlieb Fichte’s philosophy of recognition to argue that the […]
The New UN Resident Coordinator System Still Needs to Prove Itself
A Rushed Restructuring May Make Things Worse By Mohammed Chiraz Baly The writer is a staff representative and former General Secretary of the CCISUA staff union federation. He is also a data analyst at UNCTAD focusing on investment financing in developing countries. GENEVA, Switzerland | 20 July 2026 (IDN) — Resident coordinators represent the UN […]
When the Centre Cannot Hold
The Changing Architecture of Global Power in the Twenty-First Century By Ramesh Jaura This article first appeared on https://rjaura.substack.com/ Author’s Note: International affairs are often discussed in terms of individual crises—Ukraine, the Middle East, artificial intelligence, the strategic rivalry between the United States and China, or the future of the United Nations. This essay argues […]
Football Is More Than a Game
By Hervé Verhoosel* GENEVA | 17 July 2026 (IDN) – FIFA must now demonstrate through its actions that football’s greatest strength lies not in yielding to political pressure, but in its unique ability to make a positive difference in the world. I have never been a footballer. Yet during nearly twenty years at the United […]
Can the World Still Work Together?
Hamburg and the Future of International Cooperation “The United Nations was not created to take mankind to heaven, but to save humanity from hell.” – — Dag Hammarskjöld By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com BERLIN | 7 July 2026 (IDN) — Eighty years after the founding of the United Nations, the […]
Statement at the 62nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council
Statement at the 62nd Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council By Hussen Hubadin Zamzame GENEVA | Switzerland| 6 July 2026 (IDN) Good afternoon Excellencies distinguished delegates colleagues and friends My name is Hussen and I am a human rights journalist. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak today on the […]
Eritrean Human Rights Mandate Renewed as UN Council Defies Opposition
By Daniel Tesfa and Filmon Gebremikael ANTWERPEN | Belgium | 6 July 2026 (IDN) — The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has voted to renew the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Eritrea for another year, following strong advocacy from the European Union and Eritrean civil society […]
Battle Intensifies Over UN Eritrea Rights Mandate
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 6 July 2026 (IDN) — For thousands of Eritreans worldwide, the UN Special Rapporteur’s office is more than an international appointment. It remains one of the few channels for victims, political prisoners, and families separated by exile to reach the international community. For this reason, the Worldwide Eritrean Community has […]
Africa’s Security at a Crossroads: A Continent Confronts a Changing Worl
By Ramesh Jaura This article was first published on https://rjaura.substack.com/ BERLIN | 4 July 2026 (IDN) — There was a time when Africa was often portrayed as standing at the margins of international politics—its conflicts treated as regional crises, its development challenges largely divorced from the wider currents shaping the global order. That perception no […]
Durable Solutions Must Be Defined by Those Who Live Them
By Shabnam Baloch The writer is the Country Director at Oxfam in South Sudan. JUBA, South Sudan | 2 July 2026 (IDN) — As experts gathered in New York earlier this month to discuss the future of the humanitarian landscape and durable solutions for displaced people, the conversations touched on linking humanitarian response to long-term […]