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 Every year, thousands of meetings convene, resolutions multiply like rabbits, and the ink dries on mandates so outdated they might as well be written in Morse code.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 […]
UN Reform Is Not a Floorplan. It’s a Reckoning
By Stephanie Hodge* UNITED NATIONS | 20 May 2025 (IDN) — Last week’s leaked UN80 reform blueprint offers a sweeping architectural plan for a more “streamlined” UN. It proposes merging development-related entities, relocating operations to Nairobi, cutting senior posts, and centralizing administration through a new Executive Secretariat. It reads like a rebrand of the UN system […]
Our Divided World: Insights of a Former Diplomat
Jayantha Kottage* Reviews Somar Wijayadasa’s Memoirs CANBERRA, Australia | 22 March 2025 (IDN) — “History repeats itself, but in such a cunning disguise that we never detect the resemblance until the damage is done”, Sydney J Harris Somar Wijayadasa’s memoirs, “Our Divided World: My View from The United Nations” provide a reflective account of global […]
UN Will Have 3.72 billion USD at Its Disposal in 2025
By Vibhu Mishra* NEW YORK | 26 December 2024 (IDN | UN News) — The General Assembly wrapped up the main part of its 79th session on 24 December, approving a $3.72 billion budget for the United Nations for 2025 and adopting a new programme to support landlocked developing countries. The approved regular budget (RB) […]
World Social Development Progress Under Threat
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 25 October 2024 (IDN) — In view of the converging crises threatening world social development, the United Nations General Assembly decided earlier this year to convene the “Second World Summit for Social Development” in 2025, which would address gaps and recommit to the principles outlined in the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration […]