By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 10 March 2024 (IDN) — The Ukrainian Black Sea port city of Odesa has become a frequent target of missile and drone attacks in recent days and weeks, with deadly consequences, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today, as delegates condemned Moscow’s intensified attacks against Ukrainian […]
Let Us Strive to Build a Gender Equal World
By Anwarul K. Chowdhury Ambassador Chowdhury is a former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the UN. NEW YORK | 9 March 2024 (IDN) — This year’s International Women’s Day is being observed as two major wars are making their vicious attacks on the aspirations of peaceful peoples of the world for a safer, saner and […]
Haiti: UN Security Council Raises Alarm on ‘Critical’ Situation
By J Suresh TORONTO | 8 March 2024 (IDN) — The UN Security Council has expressed concern over the deteriorating situation in violence-gripped Haiti as the US increased pressure on the country’s Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, to secure a political settlement. At least 15,000 people have fled the worst-hit parts of Port-au-Prince, the capital of […]
One in Every Ten Women in the World Lives in Extreme Poverty
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 8 March 2024 (IDN) — In a world facing multiple crises that put enormous pressure on communities, achieving gender equality is more vital than ever. Ensuring women’s and girls’ rights across all aspects of life is the only way to secure prosperous and just economies and a healthy planet […]
Achieving the Two-State Solution in the Wake of the Gaza War
By Jeffrey D. Sachs & Sybil Fares* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 7 March 2024 (IDN) — Peace can come through the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, making the admission of Palestine to the United Nations the starting point, not the […]
UN’s Lagging Development Goals Need a Sense of Urgency
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 6 March 2024 (IDN)—The latest Asia Pacific Forum on Sustainable Development (APFSD) was recently launched in Bangkok. As usual, it was a mix of official interventions by ministries from the whole region and a wide-ranging array of exciting side events organized mainly by civil society in partnership with United […]
UN’s Ocean Treaty Cries Out for Ratifications
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 6 March 2024 (IDN) — When the UN finalized the text of a long-drawn-out Global Ocean Treaty on 4 March 2023, Secretary-General António Guterres described it as a major breakthrough because it marked “the culmination of nearly two decades of negotiations and builds on the legacy of the United […]
The World’s Freedom: The Picture Is Not That Gloomy
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 5 March 2024 (IDN) — In 1991, the Cold War ended and the good times began—the big powers stopped using their veto in the UN Security Council, the number of wars fell dramatically, human rights improved all over the world including in Russia and China, and the number of […]
UN Observes ‘Zero Discrimination Day’ While Anti-Gay Laws Spread Across Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 4 March 2024 (IDN) — Forced evictions, loss of jobs, increased violence and other human rights abuses are being reported across Africa, worrying UN agencies and other watchdog groups around the world. Since a harsh new bill was passed in Ghana, 12 UN agencies issued an […]
US-Funded Mission of Kenyan Forces Prepares For Battle With Gun-Toting Haitian Gangs
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 4 March 2024 (IDN) — Some 1,000 Kenyan police officers are preparing to head out on a controversial mission to end deadly gang violence in Haiti. The last obstacle to the mission was reportedly lifted by a Kenyan court, which had ruled the deployment illegal because […]