By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 17 October 2025 (IDN) — A group of United Nations human rights experts has called on Germany to stop criminalising and using police violence against pro-Palestinian activists, warning that Berlin’s actions risk undermining fundamental democratic freedoms. In a strongly worded statement, the five independent experts said they were “alarmed by […]
Trump’s UN Meltdown: When Diplomacy Becomes Anti-Diplomacy
By Ian Williams The writer is the President of the Foreign Press Association in New York and a former President of the UN Correspondents’ Association. NEW YORK | 24 September 2025 (IDN) — If Donald Trump had worn a gaudy uniform like Gaddafi, he might have pipped the Libyan leader for the most memorable UN […]
Advocating Increased Taxation on Tobacco and Nicotine Products
Reducing Consumption Among Young People in Kenya By Whitney Atieno The writer is a Kamukunji Youth and Tobacco Control Advocate. NAIROBI | 23 September 2025 (IDN) — Tobacco consumption is a significant public health issue in Kenya, causing approximately 12,000 deaths annually and contributing to various cancers and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs). According to the […]
Where Can the UN Really Make a Difference?
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 22 September 2025 (IDN) — The United Nations must change. This is imperative, if the institution created to promote universal rights, peace and development, wants to remain relevant. The ongoing global landscape with developed nations retrenching from their international development commitments is finally forcing the UN to do it. […]
Is the West accepting Azerbaijan to hold political prisoners?
By Benoit Lannoo* ANTWERP (Belgium) | 02 September 2025 (IDN) — For two years, at least twenty-three Artsakhis are jailed in Baku. Their crime: wanting to be what they are, namely Artsakhis. And what does the European Union do? Nothing! Today, it is Independence Day in Artsakh. But there is nothing to celebrate, since the […]
Ridding the Menace of Nuclear Weapons
By Tariq Rauf* VIENNA | 4 August 2025 (IDN) — This year, 2025, marks several historic events of the nuclear age which moved from theoretical calculations to physical reality at 3:25 PM local time on 2 December 1942, when the Italian nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi achieved the first controlled self-sustaining atomic fission chain reaction from […]
UN’s Reform Process Needs Intensive Deliberations and Consultations
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 3 August 2025, (IDN) — For several months, the United Nations has been in turmoil. The whole UN System, with myriad agencies and programs, is questioning itself. Staff in country offices are holding town-hall meetings because their jobs are in jeopardy. The UN Secretary General and his senior staff […]
Mandates Without Meaning: Why UN Reform Must Begin with a Mandate Cull
By Stephanie Hodge* NEW YORK | 1 August 2025 (IDN) — The UN has never been short on words. It’s drowning in them. Every year, thousands of meetings convene, resolutions multiply like rabbits, and the ink dries on mandates so outdated they might as well be written in Morse code. The recently released Mandate Implementation […]
UN80 Restructuring: Sacrificing Expertise on the Altar of Expediency
By Naïma Abdellaoui The writer, who describes herself as a concerned international civil servant, is a staff representative and member of the UN Office of Geneva (UNOG) Staff Union Executive Bureau. GENEVA | 9 July 2025 (IDN) — Budget cuts should not justify mass job cuts. This violates international administrative law and sound management practices. […]
Unable To Move On Gaza, UN’s Human Rights Body Revives Its Bullying Of Sri Lanka
By Kalinga Seneviratne 7 July 2025 (IDN) — Intimidated by the United States, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) has been a hapless spectator while the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza has been happening in broad daylight, in front of cameras. During a four-day visit to Sri Lanka from 26 to 29 June, UNHRC’s […]