By Alyn Ware Alyn Ware is Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND). NEW YORK (IDN) – Kairat Umarov, President of the UN Security Council for January, has announced that Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev will chair a special session of the Council on January 18 on the issue of Weapons of Mass […]
Security Council under Kazakh Presidency has a Content-Rich Agenda for January
By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Two days after the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued “a red alert for our world”, the new Security Council President Kairat Umarov has presented a content-rich agenda for the January programme of work of this vital organ of the world body which bears primary responsibility for the […]
UN Chief Faces A Challenging 2018
By Erol Avdovic The writer is Senior Diplomatic Correspondent of WebPublicaPress Online Magazine. This article first appeared on WebPublicaPress with the headline ‘2018 Very Challenging Year for Antonio Guterres.’ It is being reproduced with slight modifications. UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – When the new Secretary-General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres took office one year ago, […]
As the First Central Asian Country Kazakhstan Assumes Security Council Presidency
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – When Kazakhstan joined the 15-nation United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on January 1, 2017 as a non-permanent member for two years, President Nursultan Nazarbayev pledged “adapting the . . .Council and the entire UN system to the threats and challenges of the 21st century.” “We will […]
UN Chief Issues ‘Red Alert,’ Calls for Defending Shared Values
By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued “a red alert for our world” in his message on the occasion of 2018 New Year. It’s probably the first time ever a UN Chief has done so. He does not explicitly refer to the nuclear muscle-flexing between the United States […]
UN Chief Expects New Sanctions To Help Make 2018 ‘A Pivotal Year’ for the Korean Peninsula
By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres desires to make 2018 “a pivotal year” for the achievement of sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula. In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, following the adoption of a new Security Council resolution (UNSCR 2397), he said: “The only way forward for […]
Proposed Cuts in UN Budget Worry Civil Society and NGOs
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Civil society and non-governmental organizations have expressed “deep concern” over the proposals for substantial cuts to the United Nations (UN) biennial budget for 2018-2019. Known for their longstanding support for the UN, the organizers of NGO dialogues and international cooperation met in New York and Geneva to discuss […]
Launch of the Fund to Fight Desertification a Key Achievement
By Rita Joshi BONN (IDN) – The official launch of the Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) Fund is an outstanding achievement for the United Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in 2017. It is a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle leveraging public sector funds to raise private sector capital for sustainable land management and landscape restoration activities worldwide. It […]
Technology Bank for the World’s Poorest Set to Start in 2018
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Seven years after the Fourth UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries charted out the international community’s vision and strategy for sustainable development of the world’s poorest countries, a new institution called the Technology Bank is set to start operations in 2018. The Conference, held in Istanbul, […]
Security Council Highlights DPRK’s Humanitarian Needs, Agrees on Importance of Communication Channels
By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – While expressing his profound concern over the risk of military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, “including as a result of miscalculation,” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed the need to disassociate the peace and security situation in the DPRK (North Korea) from the humanitarian needs in the […]