By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 20 November 2023 (IDN) — UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has continued his relentless criticism of Israel, condemning the daily attacks on civilians in Gaza. “I am deeply shocked that two UNRWA schools were struck in less than 24 hours in Gaza. Dozens of people—many women and children—were killed and […]
African Youths Want More Adaptation Finance as Climate Change Bites
By Ngala Killian Chimtom YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon | 19 November 2023 (IDN) — More than 150 young African leaders have called on the international community to prioritize and increase climate adaptation finance flows to Africa by more than double. The call was made on 18 November, at the end of the Inaugural Forum on Adaptation Finance […]
Humming a New Tune on World Toilet Day
By Professor Lyla Mehta and Dr Alan Nicol* BRIGHTON/LONDON, UK | 18 November 2023 (IDN) — A hummingbird is the symbol of 2023’s World Toilet Day. (19 November). Fabled as a small actor in a huge drama—putting out a fire with tiny droplets of water—the analogy appears to be that every one of us doing […]
Gaza Genocide? UN Chief Says International Court Has to Decide
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 17 November 2023 (IDN) — Are the killings of thousands of Palestinian civilians in Gaza an act of genocide or “genocide in the making”? According to a legal definition, genocide includes violent attacks with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious […]
A Framework for Peace in Israel and Palestine
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and OtherNews and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 17 November 2023 (IDN) — It is urgent to free the hostages in Gaza; stop the bloodshed in Israel and Palestine; establish lasting security for both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples; […]
A Loss and Damage Fund in the Pacific?
By Kate Higgins* Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. VICTORIA, Australia | 16 November 2023 (IDN) — At last year’s COP27 in Egypt, an agreement was reached to establish a Loss and Damage Fund for countries, such as those in the Pacific, vulnerable to the “adverse effects” […]
Security Council Vote Fails to Call for a Cease-fire in Gaza
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 15 November 2023 (IDN) — The 15-member Security Council, described as the most powerful body in the United Nations, has remained paralyzed because of a new “cold war” between the five veto-wielding permanent members. The sharp political division—with China and Russia on one side and the US, UK and […]
Barbados — Not the US — Is Most Aligned with the UN Charter
By Jeffrey D. Sachs | Guillaume Lafortune This article was issued by Common Dreams and Other-News, and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 14 November 2023 (IDN) — As part of our academic research on how to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we are examining the extent to which UN […]
Korean Peninsula: U.N. Coalition’s Commitment to Peace Praised
By Joseph Clark WASHINGTON, D.C. | 14 November 2023 (IDN | DOD News) — Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III praised the international alliance committed to securing lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula as United Nations Command member states gathered today for the coalition’s inaugural defense ministers’ meeting in Seoul, South Korea. Austin […]
A Middle East Nuclear Free Zone Remains Grounded
By Thalif Deen* UNITED NATIONS | 12 November 2023 (IDN) — A longstanding proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZs) in the politically and militarily volatile Middle East has been kicked around the corridors and committee rooms of the United Nations since 1995. Over the last 28 years, the proposal has failed to get off the […]