Category: UN INSIDER

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the fourth in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) – Twenty-five years of independence marked by 25 major achievements leading up to EXPO 2017 that focuses on ‘Future Energy’ have catapulted Kazakhstan on to the world map, firmly challenging the prevailing view that this, the world’s largest landlocked transcontinental country, is still part of the Eurasian steppes.

Touted by some as the ‘Disneyland for Adults’ and ‘a virtual reality beyond science fiction’ by others, EXPO 2017 shows the ways to access affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. It is seventh of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to transform our world by 2030, by way of ending “poverty in all its forms” as envisaged in Goal 1. – WATCH THE RELATED VIDEO –

By Jamshed Baruah

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – While UN member states are negotiating at the United Nations headquarters in New York a legally binding instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons, experts from around the world will be gathering in Vienna from June 26 to 30 to review monitoring and verification technologies crucial to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT),

The forthcoming gathering – officially known as ‘The CTBT: Science and Technology 2017 Conference (SnT2017)’ – is the sixth in a series of multidisciplinary conferences designed to “further enhance the strong relationship between the scientific and technological community and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban-Treaty Organization (CTBTO) as well as with policy-makers.”

By Yury Fedotov

The author is the Executive Director of the Vienna-based UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Following are extensive excerpts from his remarks – made available by the UN Information Service – at the UN General Assembly side event on transnational organized crime challenges and responses in Southeast Asia on June 19, 2017. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Transnational organized crime is a growing challenge to security and development in Southeast Asia. It threatens the very foundations of the rule of law, the integrity of public institutions, and the basic security and health of people and communities.

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the third in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) – Kazakhstan, which is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, played a crucial role in the summit meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), chaired by President Nursultan Nazarbayev, on June 8-9 in Astana.

The United Nations drew much of the focus of the SCO heads of state gathered in the Kazakh capital city. But they also underlined the importance of the Organisation’s further consolidation as an effective full-fledged regional platform aimed at active participation in building a more equitable, polycentric model of the world order.

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Questioning Saudi Arabia’s membership on the Human Rights Council is a “distraction,” a “gross oversimplification,” and an “attempt to stigmatize”, according to Philip Alston, a prominent New York University (NYU) scholar who serves as the United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

Alston, who presented a report on June 8 on Saudi Arabia, was responding to a question posed in the plenary of the 47-nation Human Rights Council by Hillel Neuer, executive director of UN Watch, a Geneva-based human rights group monitoring the world body.

By Rita Joshi

BONN (IDN) – Senior government ministers from several African countries have emphasized the need for addressing the plight of jobless young people in sub-Saharan Africa. Ignoring their predicament is a recipe for political instability and global insecurity, warned a high-level symposium of Africa’s interior, environment and foreign affairs ministers in Ouagadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso,

The Symposium on June 15 examined the threats connected to sustainability, stability and security, namely, conflicts linked to access to degrading natural resources, instability due to unemployment of rural youth and insecurity and the risk of the radicalization triggered by social and economic marginalization and exposure to extremist groups.

By Izumi Nakamitsu

The author is High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, United Nations. Following are excerpts from her address to the second substantive session of the ‘UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons, Leading towards Their Total Elimination’ in New York on June 15, – The Editor.

UNITED NATONS (IDN) – In accordance with (the UN General Assembly) resolution 71/258, these negotiations aim to achieve a clear legal prohibition of nuclear weapons. These talks are truly historic, as they represent the most significant negotiations in the area of nuclear disarmament.

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Our ocean is critical to our shared future and common humanity in all its diversity. Our ocean covers three quarters of our planet, connects our populations and markets, and forms an important part of our natural and cultural heritage.

It supplies nearly half the oxygen we breathe, absorbs over a quarter of the carbon dioxide we produce, plays a vital role in the water cycle and the climate system, and is an important source of our planet’s biodiversity and of ecosystem services.

It contributes to sustainable development and sustainable ocean-based economies, as well as to poverty eradication, food security and nutrition, maritime trade and transportation, decent work and livelihoods.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are exploring nuclear applications to combat food fraud and contamination, which cause huge losses and pose a serious public health threat.

Traditional, professional laboratories can easily detect different types of fraud and contamination in food relatively quickly but such capacity is often limited in many countries and by their nature not very portable. The FAO-IAEA initiative is trying to fill this gap.

“The goal is to make available low-cost devices and methods for food authorities to use directly in the streets and markets, particularly in developing countries,” said Simon Kelly, a Food Safety Specialist at the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture, who leads the project.

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the first in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during the visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

ASTANA (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has appreciated Kazakhstan for playing “an increasingly dynamic role on the international stage” as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, stressed the importance of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) and urged it to show leadership on climate change.