Following is a joint statement read out on May 3, 2017 at the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference from May 2-12 in Vienna. It was drafted by a coalition of faith groups, with the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), the World Council of Churches (WCC), Pax Christi International, and PAX (Netherlands) taking the lead. The statement was delivered by Kimiaki Kawai, Director, Peace and Human Rights at SGI, which has collaborated with faith groups to issue interfaith statements highlighting the moral and ethical dimensions of nuclear weapons. – The Editor.
World’s Poorest Push for Action to Address Climate Change
By Jutta Wolf
BONN (IDN) – As representatives of countries from around the world were preparing to gather in Bonn from May 8-18 for a new session of United Nations climate change negotiations, Chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group, Gebru Jember Endalew of Ethiopia stressed the need for “substantive progress” on the rules and processes that will fully operationalise the Paris Agreement.
The conference marks the half-way point to the finalisation of this process by 2018. It is also a staging-post for for COP23, the 23rd annual Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bonn in November 2017.
UN Study Accuses Israel of ‘Distorting’ Palestinian Economy
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – Undeterred by Israel’s sensitivity to all perceived criticism, a new study by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has expressed disapproval of the country’s policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
“The security, military, political and economic measures implemented by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem – since the onset of occupation in 1967 have significantly distorted and disoriented the Palestinian economy,” says the study, The Occupied Palestinian Territory: Twin-Deficits or an Imposed Resource Gap?
ITPO Enhances UN Presence in Bonn
BONN (IDN) – The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), based in Vienna, has officially opened an Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) in Bonn, which hosts nearly 20 UN secretariats, including the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).
The office was opened on May 3, nearly six months after the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), Gerd Müller, and the UNIDO Director General,LI Yong concluded an agreement in November 2016 on the margins of UNIDO’s 50th Anniversary celebrations at the Vienna International Centre.
Exercising Power Fairly More Important SDG Yardstick than Democratic Accountability
By Kalinga Seneviratne
BANGKOK (IDN) – In its 2017 Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific, the Bangkok-based UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) makes an interesting argument in regards to achieving the Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in seemingly downplaying the importance of democratic accountability and emphasising that how power is exercised is more important.
“In the Survey for 2017 political dimensions, such as democratic accountability, are avoided, and governance is framed in terms of how power is exercised instead of how it is acquired,” the report says in its executive summary.
Effective Governance Critical for the Quality of Asia-Pacific Economic Growth
By Shamshad Akhtar
Dr. Shamshad Akhtar is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN) and the Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). – The Editor
BANGKOK (IDN) – The Asia-Pacific region’s high and steady economic growth has been an anchor of stability for the struggling world economy in recent years. Developing economies of the region now account for almost a third of global GDP (gross domestic product), slightly less than the combined output of the developed economies of North America and Western Europe.
If the region continues to grow at the current pace, it would account for more than a half of world economic output by the year 2050. With its increasing importance, the role of traditional ‘success factors’ such as education, high investment and savings rates, reliance on world markets through exports, is likely to evolve as well. Future economic growth will need to rely more on productivity gains which, in turn, require effective institutions and better governance, in both public and private spheres.
UN Peacekeeping Missions Face Threats of Cuts – and Extinction
By Shanta Rao
NEW YORK (IDN) – The UN’s 16 peacekeeping operations (PKOs), funded by a hefty $7.9 billion budget for the current 2016-2017 biennium, are in jeopardy facing threats of drastic cuts – and in some cases, even extinction.
The United States, the largest single contributor accounting for about 28% of that budget, has not only threatened to reduce funding, possibly down to 25%, but is also calling for a downgrading – or even the total elimination– of some of the ongoing missions.
Addressing the Council on Foreign Relations in March, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley gave an advance warning when she challenged the current state of peacekeeping operations.
The Ocean Conference: Challenges & Opportunities for Sri Lanka
By Dr Palitha Kohona*
“The oceans have now become a central focus of a range of discussions in UN bodies involving a number of major UN initiatives, including those relating to the SDGs and climate change. While it is easy to get ensnared in the confusion of the UN’s myriad political pursuits, practical initiatives that have an immediate effect on the daily lives and livelihoods of millions, such as those on the oceans, tend to be glossed over by the mainstream media.”
COLOMBO (IDN) – The landmark United Nations Ocean Conference will take place in New York from June 5 to 9. The close connection between the health of the oceans and climate change now being widely accepted, the outcomes of this conference are likely to have a significant impact on UN activities on the oceans and on climate change for many years to come.Trout.
G7 Takes Unprecedented Move to Protect Cultural Heritage
By A.D. McKenzie
PARIS (IDN) – For the first time, leaders of the world’s seven major industrialised countries have adopted a common declaration for the protection of cultural heritage, recognising the “distinctive role” that culture plays in promoting dialogue and reconciliation.
Culture ministers and other cultural representatives from the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States) and the European Union, adopted the “Florence Declaration” at an unprecedented meeting in Florence, Italy, at the end of March.
Cutbacks May Reduce U.S. Weight in UN, Trigger New Thinking
By Ramesh Jaura
This is the third in a series of reports analysing U.S. policy towards multilateralism in general and the UN in particular. The first was published on 16 March 2017, and the second on 4 April 2017. – The Editor
BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Will the ‘Axis of Adults’ that has reportedly emerged as the new power centre guiding national security encourage President Donald Trump to disavow his plans to slash U.S. contributions to the United Nations?
The answer is simply ‘No’. The Axis of Adults, as reported by the Daily Beast and the Washington Post, comprises Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, and Homeland Secretary John Kelly. Republicans who had been apprehensive about President Trump are celebrating the trio’s influence.