Category: UN INSIDER

By Adriano José Timossi*

NEW YORK (IDN) – A review of the economic situation with a focus on the recent developments in the world and the economic, social and environmental challenges faced by developing countries in particular was the main topic in the deliberations and declaration adopted at the 41st Ministerial Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 (G77) and China on September 22 at the UN headquarters in New York on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly.

Ministers were deeply concerned about the uneven progress achieved in fulfilling the interrelated internationally agreed commitments made at numerous UN conferences in the economic, social and environmental fields and by the lack of satisfactory progress in this regard.

By Devendra Kamarajan

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ecuador plans to host a Dialogue on Culture of Peace, according to President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador and Chair of the Group of 77 (G77) and China. This event will gather personalities of the South to “reflect on the aspirations of unity and solidarity that motivated the 77 countries to unite their voices in 1964,” he told the meeting of ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group that meanwhile represents over two-thirds of the 193 United Nations membership.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group gathered in New York for their annual meeting on September 22, traditionally held on the sidelines of the high-level week of deliberations by world leaders at the UN General Assembly during its 72nd session that convened on September 12.

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – When the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution to declare 2016-2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III) in August 2016, it stated: “Africa remains the poorest and the most vulnerable region in the world.” And this despite the two previous decades.

The Resolution A/RES/70/293 noted “the need for the continent to take urgent action to advance sustainable industrialization as a key element of furthering economic diversification and value addition, creating jobs and thus reducing poverty,” and contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

By Shanta Roy

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The international community took its first significant step towards a world free of nuclear weapons when over 50 countries signed a landmark treaty, which was adopted by UN member states on July 7.

The signing ceremony, which began September 20 on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the General Assembly, is expected to continue, as more countries will join the list of signatories to a treaty that was overwhelmingly voted on by 122 countries, with one against (Netherlands) and one abstention (Singapore).

The treaty has taken added significance against the backdrop of a possible military confrontation – and triggered by nuclear threats – by two nuclear powers, the United States and North Korea.

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | ORDOS CITY, China (IDN) – Land degradation is one of the planet’s most pressing global challenges. A third of the world’s land is degraded. But the good news is that by the end of the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on September 16, 2017 in China’s Ordos City, 113 countries had agreed to specify concrete targets, with clear indicators, to reverse degradation and rehabilitate more land.

A new global roadmap to address land degradation was also agreed. The UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is regarded as the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast swathes of degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and to reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations.

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – For the first time in twelve years, the UN General Assembly has included – with the recorded vote of 113 in favour to 21 against, and 17 abstentions – “The Responsibility to Protect” in the agenda for its 72nd session that kicked off on September 12.

The protractors of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) consider it a global political commitment, which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Yet, as a “not an official record” of the General Assembly’s plenary on September 15 points out, several delegations took the floor to express their concerns about formally adding the item to the agenda.

By Julia Rainer

VIENNA (IDN) – “Smuggling of migrants, trafficking in persons and contemporary forms of slavery, including appropriate identification, protection and assistance to migrants and trafficking victims,” was the title of the Fifth thematic session of the UN General Assembly hosted on September 4-5 by the United Nations Office in Vienna (UNOV).

The event aimed at supporting the inter-governmental process designed to lead to the adoption in 2018 of a global compact on safe, orderly and regular migration – a goal agreed by the member states when adopting the New York Declaration on Refugees and Migrants in September 2016.

By A.D. McKenzie

PARIS (IDN) – Given the rampant technological changes taking place, it’s impossible to predict what the world will look like in even 20 years, and only the development of critical thinking and common civic values will help humankind to deal with the future.

That is the viewpoint of Sonia Dhillon Marty, head of a foundation that is seeking to “foster civic engagement” through art, architecture, design, sustainable farming and technology”, as she puts it. “If we are together, people will listen, politicians will listen,” Dhillon Marty said during a conference in Paris, September 12-13 at the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Six days before the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to impose harsher sanctions on the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), it received a far from encouraging report on the implementation of sanctions slammed so far.

The report submitted to the Council on September 5 by the UN Panel of Experts monitoring the implementation of Security Council sanctions against North Korea says: “Lax enforcement of the sanctions regime coupled with the country’s evolving evasion techniques are undermining the goals of the resolutions that the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea abandon all weapons of mass destruction and cease all related programmes and activities.”

By Amina Mohammed, UN Deputy Secretary-General

The United Nations adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at a historic summit on September 25, 2015. While 114 Governments have requested support from country teams on implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world body’s “assessment clearly shows that the pace of progress is insufficient to fully meet that ambition.” Following are extensive excerpts from her remarks, as prepared for delivery, at the Sustainable Development Goals Dialogue in New York on September 8, 2017. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Two years have passed since the world came together to adopt a truly remarkable framework for common progress — the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Agenda is transformative and inspiring in its own right. That it was agreed at a time of severe political divisions on so many other issues was especially encouraging.