By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — Earth Hour, India’s donation of 200,000 vaccines to protect UN blue helmets against the coronavirus, and the UN is scaling up its efforts to help Nepal, which faces numerous natural threats, are some of the notable events in the last days. On March 27, the world began to […]
COVID-19 Pushes Millions into Destitution
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) — A once-in-a-century crisis—a Great Disruption unleashed by the COVID–19 pandemic—hit the world economy in 2020. The pandemic has reached every corner of the globe. Meanwhile, more than 120 million have been infected and close to 2.7 million people killed worldwide. High unemployment and loss of income have pushed millions […]
UN Urges Turkey To Reconsider Withdrawal from the Treaty Protecting Women’s Right
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Women has reiterated the concerns expressed by the United Nations in Turkey and other partners regarding Turkey’s announced termination of being a party to the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence (the “Istanbul Convention”). It has urged Turkey to […]
A Campaign Plans ‘Global Primaries’ for the UN Chief’s Post
The goal of the campaign is to democratize the selection process and give António Guterres a viable candidate to run against. By Stéphanie Fillion*, Passblue NEW YORK (IDN) — A new grass-roots campaign, called #Forward, is launching open, digital global primaries to find a “people-backed” candidate to run for United Nations secretary-general this year, for […]
From Moments to Movements: Solidarity for Sustainability
By Ramu Damodaran The writer is Chief, United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) hosted in the Department of Global Communications. This OpEd first appeared in the latest #WhyWeCare, @ImpactUN. NEW YORK (IDN | UNAI) — “STOP” said the imperious red sign (actually two red signs) as I ventured to the frostily frigid February frontline of the […]
UN Concerned About the Impact of COVID-19 and Human Rights Violations
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) — Providing a global update to the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet has said that as the COVID-19 pandemic gathers pace, people worldwide are “being left behind — or pushed even further behind”; they are being excluded from not only development but also opportunities. At the same time, civil society […]
DON’T QUOTE ME: When UN Elections were Tainted by Bribery, Cheque Book Diplomacy & Luxury Cruises
By Thalif Deen The following are excerpts from a just-published book “No Comment – and Don’t Quote me on That”, a collection of political anecdotes reflecting over 40 years of reporting from the United Nations*. NEW YORK (IDN) – When UN member states compete for the presidency of the General Assembly or membership in the […]
UN Development System Reform Far from Inclusive
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – An independent survey prepared by the Global Policy Forum and Social Watch, comprising the Global Policy Watch, shows that civil society organizations (CSOs) have “a very high level of commitment to United Nations (UN) values and principles, much dissatisfaction with the actual operations at the country level and […]
Humanity Needs to Take a Course That Does Not Conflict with Nature
By Kwame Buist NEW YORK (IDN) – The process of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offers the chance to change course and put humanity on a path which is not in conflict with nature, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said January 11, urging greater efforts by everyone to protect biodiversity and step up action to counter […]
Culture Struggling to Survive COVID-19 Impact
By Jaya Ramachadran PARIS (IDN) – The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has urged adequate policies and actions to help the culture sector weather the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its fallout. The sector employs more than 30 million people globally. It has been hit much harder than expected.