By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – When the Heads of State and Government, Ministers, and other official representatives, gathered in 2013 at the fifteenth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Peru’s capital Lima, they agreed that eradication of poverty – Goal 1 of UN Sustainable […]
New Agreement Seeks To Resist Powerful Greenhouse Gases
By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI (IDN) – A new agreement signed in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, promises to fight global warming. Known as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, came into force on January 1, 2019. According to UN Environment, it will reduce the projected production […]
UNDP Selects Next Generation Of Leadership Worldwide
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – While the vast majority of the senior leadership of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – 126 Resident Representatives – were slated to leave the organization simultaneously on December 31, 2018, a new pool of world class talent has been selected to lead the UNDP’s development work across […]
UN Keen To Progress Towards 17 Global Development Goals
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – A series of events, including two High-level Political Forums (HLPFs) and the UN Secretary-General’s Climate Summit on the margins of the 74th General Assembly underline the vital importance of 2019 that marks the fourth year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Sustainable […]
UN Security Council Reform Back On The Table Again
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Foreign Minister Heiko Maas of Germany, which takes up its seat as a non-permanent member of the 15-nation United Nations Security Council on January 1, says the current composition of the Council is “outdated” and that it needs be reformed. He told the German news agency DPA that […]
Except A Few Dissenters World Leaders Pledge To Bolster Multilateralism
By Ramesh Jaura NEW YORK (IDN) – As the new year unfolds, UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ appeal for addressing the “trust deficit disorder” plaguing the world, and General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés’ plea for stressing the need to enshrine the General Assembly as the “chief peacebuilding organization in the world” will serve as […]
Kazakhstan Ends Successful Security Council Membership
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – As Kazakhstan ends its two-year tenure as non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo has “appreciated the leadership” the Central Asian country “has brought to the world stage on regional security and development issues, particularly with respect to Afghanistan.” He […]
UN Rejects Resolution Calling for Russian-U.S. Compliance with Nuclear Treaty
By Ramesh Jaura NEW YORK (IDN) – In a tug of war between two nuclear giants, the UN General Assembly has rejected a resolution calling for U.S.-Russian compliance with and strengthening of the landmark Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. And this within months of President Donald Trump’s October announcement to “terminate” the 1987 Treaty “in […]
One Short Drone Flight Is A ‘Big Leap’ For Global Health
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK | PORT VILA (IDN) – One month old Joy Nowai has become the world’s first child to be given a vaccine delivered commercially by drone in a remote island in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on December 18. The vaccine delivery […]
Possibility of Peace in Afghanistan Was Never More Real Than It’s Now – UN Envoy
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – The possibility of a negotiated end to the conflict in Afghanistan has never been more real in the past 17 years than it is now, according to the United Nations top envoy in Afghanistan. Tadamichi Yamamoto told the Security Council on December 17 he is encouraged by several […]