Category: UNITED NATIONS

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – About 92 percent of morphine used worldwide is consumed by only 17 per cent of the world population – predominantly in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

While consumption in those countries has increased significantly since the early 1990s and there is growing concern about prescription drug abuse, more than 75 per cent of the people in several low and middle-income countries have no medical access to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

VIENNA (IDN) – The UN General Assembly will hold a Special Session (UNGASS) on the world drug problem in April 2016 with a view to achieving the goal of “a better tomorrow for world’s youth”.

In preparation of this session, the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) has reiterated the importance of a balanced approach to drug control policy and practice, in order to work towards the health and welfare objectives of the three international drug control treaties.

By Rita Joshi | IDN-InDepthNews Report

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – As the UN Development Programme (UNDP) celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, the organisation is aware of the unfinished job, and is committed to “end poverty once and for all” – in Africa and Asia-Pacific where it has been present since the agency was created in 1966.

Reviewing its performance in Africa, UNDP says the continent has undoubtedly made “significant strides socially, politically and economically since the turn of the 21st century”.

Rapid democratic transitions are leading to more responsive and accountable governments. The frequency of armed conflicts seems to be on a downward trend. Steady economic growth and macroeconomic stability have returned. Expanded social policies are improving health and education services, including those targeting women and girls.

By J Nasranis | IDN-InDepthNewsReport

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has set up a group of ten experts to provide flesh and blood to the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) that was launched at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015.

The Mechanism seeks to promote science, technology and innovation to achieve the 2030 Agenda. The group consists of representatives of civil society, the private sector and the scientific community.

TFM comprises a United Nations inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation (STI), which currently gathers 25 UN entities; an annual multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation; and an online platform that serves as a gateway for information on existing STI initiatives, mechanisms and programmes.

By Max-Otto Baumann* | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint

BONN (IDN | GDI) – The 2030 Agenda, with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, adds new urgency to the reform of the UN Development System (UNDS). If we wish the UNDS to play a decisive role in sustainable development, it must be made fit for purpose. UN member states have recognized the need for action.

In December 2014, they launched a state dialogue in the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in order to discuss the longer-term positioning of the UNDS and present concrete reform proposals by mid-2016. To date, no breakthrough has been achieved. Participating states are opting for incremental reforms within existing mandates and structures, which are unlikely to bring the necessary changes.

By Dr Palitha Kohona* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

COLOMBO (IDN) – In an unusually mild Paris in December 2015, over 195 countries agreed on a set of broad measures to address the gathering threat to human existence of global warming and climate change.

A beaming UN Secretary-General, for whom climate change has been “one of the defining priorities of his tenure”, described the Paris Accord as heralding a generation with climate hope and a “monumental triumph for people and the planet”.

The global web movement Avaaz, described the Paris Accord as a “brilliant and massive turning point in human history”. The 79-member Africa, Carribean and Pacific Countries group (ACP), most with relatively small economies, enthusiastically welcomed the accord.

By Jamshed Baruah | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

VIENNA | NEW YORK (IDN) – The nomination process for the appointment of Ban Ki-moon’s successor this year is assuming historical dimensions. Since 1946, when Trygve Lie of Norway became the first UN Secretary-General, all seven heads of the world body have been nominated by the Security Council and rubber stamped by the General Assembly.

By Rita Joshi | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

BERLIN | DAVOS (IDN) – Declaring that the empowerment of the world’s women is “a global imperative”, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has announced the first-ever High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment.

The establishment of the Panel, backed by the United Kingdom, the World Bank Group and UN Women, was proclaimed in Davos, Switzerland, the venue of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), on January 21.

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

ZURICH (IDN) – A new report has expressed grave concern about the huge amount of money and influence the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) wields, accused it of “dangerously skewing” development agenda, and called for the foundation to be the subject of an independent international review and evaluation.

By Ramesh Jaura | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is organising a symposium on the role of science and diplomacy for peace and security as the first in a series of events this year to push for entry into force of a law prohibiting atomic explosions by everyone and everywhere.