Category: UN INSIDER

By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The late Everett McKinley Dirksen, an American politician. once famously said: “A billion here, a billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money”. Perhaps that remark may be applicable to the funding of the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where developing nations continue their relentless search […]

By Jaya Ramachandran* GENEVA (IDN) — The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has urged the international community to extend sufficient and predictable financial support to the Palestinian people to alleviate suffering and prevent a deep socioeconomic crisis from worsening. The latest report by UNCTAD on its assistance to the Palestinian people shows […]

By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A coalition of over 1,000 civil society organizations (CSOs) from 127 countries, under the umbrella of the Global People’s Assembly (GPA), has declared that the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be best achieved—and on its 2030 deadline—only with the active participation of civil society. “Seven years […]

By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, which took place on September 6, had an explicit message to the world at large. The Forum underlined the importance of peace at a time when Ukraine, a sovereign nation-state, is being annihilated by Russia, one of the world’s major […]

By Radwan Jakeem with UN News NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) has launched five new specialized guides (modules) aimed at the protection of particularly vulnerable targets against terrorist attacks. “Vulnerable targets” refers both to critical infrastructure (for example, public transportation systems, energy sector) and public places or ‘soft targets’ […]

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte The writer is a former High Representative of the United Nations for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), and President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) — The Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) takes place in a volatile and unpredictable international […]

A new UNOOSA head is to be appointed soon By Aurora Weiss VIENNA (IDN) — Legend has it that a young Isaac Newton was sitting beneath an apple tree contemplating the mysterious universe. Suddenly —”boink!”—an apple unexpectedly hit him on the head. He experienced his “aha moment!”. In a flash of light, he understood that […]

By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — Celebrated every year on August 12, the theme of this year’s International Youth Day is “Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages”, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted, reminds us of “a basic truth” that “we need people of all ages, young and old alike, to join […]

By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General’s Global Crisis Response Group (GCRG) on Food, Energy and Finance points out that skyrocketing energy prices are compounding an existential cost-of-living crisis for hundreds of millions of people. In fact, as the war in Ukraine continues to rage, the rising energy costs may cost many developing […]

Viewpoint by Fernando Arias This article was published in the UN Chronicle and is being republished with their permission. THE HAGUE (IDN) — On 29 April this year, we marked the twenty-fifth anniversary of the entry into force of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and […]