Category: UN INSIDER

By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) — The Industrial Development Board of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has recommended Gerd Müller of Germany to be the Organization’s next Director-General. He is currently Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany. The Board’s recommendation will be forwarded for approval to the UNIDO General Conference—the […]

By Thalif Deen NEW YORK (IDN) — As the UN’s most powerful political body, the 15-member Security Council (UNSC) is armed with a mandate to maintain international peace and security. But regretfully, it has been missing in action (MIA) in recent months, particularly in the ongoing conflicts in Palestine and Myanmar, where it has failed […]

By Thalif Deen* NEW YORK (IDN) — When Raul Castro decided to retire, both as leader of Cuba and head of the Communist Party last April, it was the end of a politically adventurous era for a country most American leaders loved to hate. In the late 1950s, it was Raul and his more famous […]

By Caroline Mwaga NEW YORK (IDN) — “We are truly at a crossroads, with consequential choices before us. Paradigms are shifting. Old orthodoxies are being flipped,” António Guterres told ambassadors after being re-appointed on June 18 to a second term as UN Secretary-General. He was the sole candidate from the UN’s 193 Member States to […]

By Thalif Deen* NEW YORK (IDN) — Just after a band of mercenaries tried to oust the government of the Maldives, I asked a Maldivian diplomat about the strength of his country’s standing army. “Standing army?”, the diplomat asked with mock surprise, “We don’t even have a sitting army.” With a population of about 250,000, […]

By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations is inviting applications for the 2021 Reham al-Farra Memorial Journalism Fellowship (RAF) programme which will be conducted online in September-October 2021, during the opening of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens GENEVA (IDN) — Three days (April 27-29, 2021) of “informal” talks on the future of Cyprus were held in Geneva under the leadership of UN Secretary-General António Guterres. There have been no formal negotiations on the issue since 2017. The UN-sponsored meeting with representatives of Greek […]

By Thalif Deen* NEW YORK (IDN) — The recent military coup in Myanmar and an attempted palace coup in Jordan harks back to the days when insurrections by armed forces came along a veritable assembly line—particularly in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia. And at least one political leader—a former Prime Minister of Thailand—was ousted […]

By Razeena Raheem NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations, which has remained locked down since March last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, is planning to make a “phased return to the premises in New York.” Until now, nearly 3,000 UN staffers have been forced to work from home while virtually all meetings, including […]

By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN | UN News) — The UN-backed COVAX scheme aims to get two billion vaccine doses into the arms of around a quarter of the population of poorer countries by the end of 2021. Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the United States decision to lift sanctions and visa restrictions against […]