Category: UN INSIDER

By Santo D. Banerjee UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – India has been elected to several important subsidiary bodies of the 193-member UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) which is at the heart of the United Nations system to advance the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. It is the central platform for […]

By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan, host to eight rounds of Syria peace talks in its capital city of Astana until December 2017, has warned against further military escalation in the wake of air strikes conducted by the United States, France and UK, adding that “whatever action taken under whatever good pretext […]

By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – More than 100 member states of the United Nations International Maritime Organization (IMO) have adopted an initial strategy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping and, as a matter of urgency, phasing them out. The plan adopted by IMO’s Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) during its […]

By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Transparency International has criticised the United Nations shipping agency for delaying action on climate change. The global anti-corruption organization warns in a new study that the private shipping companies’ concerns are impacting the policymaking process at the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), undermining its ability to effectively regulate greenhouse […]

By Jaya Ramachandran ROME (IDN) – More than enough food is produced in the world to feed everyone, yet 815 million people go hungry, according to FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. How to ensure that a growing global population – projected to rise to around 10 billion by 2050 – […]

By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Amid global anxieties about nuclear peril, Kazakhstan has joined representatives of several countries around the world in calling on the international community to work together through inclusive dialogue that takes into account the views of other States. The general debate in the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC) on April […]

By Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations This article first appeared in Sustainable Development Goals: Delivering Change, UNA-UK publication providing analysis and recommendations in achieving Sustainable Development Goals on 19 March 2018. – The Editor LONDON (IDN-INPS) – In this third year of global efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there […]

By Geneva Centre Staff GENEVA (IDN) – The forced displacement of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the Middle East cannot be left unaddressed by decision-makers in the context of the refugee and migrant crisis, stressed a group of human rights experts during a panel debate at the United Nations Office at Geneva. The debate entitled “Protecting people […]

By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ proposal that high-ranking officials fly business class rather than first class – to help rein in one of the most expensive aspects of the Organization’s budget – is finding support in the Administrative and Budgetary Committee, also known as the Fifth Committee. Next to […]

By Jaya Ramachandran VIENNA (IDN) – Enhancing international cooperation to combat the synthetic opioid crisis, removing stigma as a barrier to the availability and delivery of health care and social services for people who use drugs is part of eleven resolutions the 61st session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) has endorsed. The five-day […]