UNITED NATIONS – Page 15 – IDN-InDepthNews

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-272023-07-12

Addressing Climate Change and Realizing the SDGs

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.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-222023-07-12

Next UN Chief’s Nomination Process Gathers Momentum

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.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-212023-07-12

UN Acts To Achieve Complete Gender Equality Ahead Of 2133

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.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-212023-07-12

All That ‘Gates’ Is Not Development, Warns ‘Global Justice Now’

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.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-202023-07-12

Banning The Bomb With Science And Diplomacy

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.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-182023-07-12

Greening The Blue Helmets A Key To Sustainable Development

By INPS Africa Bureau

NAIROBI | NEW YORK (IDN) – The idea of “greening the blue helmets” has become an accepted need and operational requirement for all UN peacekeeping missions, claims a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) based in Nairobi.

Peacekeeping operations, it says, account for over 56% of the UN system’s total climate footprint as demonstrated by the greenhouse gas emissions inventory undertaken by UN Department of Field Support (DFS) in 2008.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-112023-07-12

UN Peacekeeping Chief Warns Of ‘Still Fragile’ Peace In Mali

NEW YORK (INPS | IDN) – The United Nations peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous has warned that, despite considerable progress, the peace process in Mali remains fragile, and stressed the need to urgently address political, security and humanitarian challenges.

Since the last consultations in October 2015, efforts by Malian authorities, parties signatory to the agreement, international mediators and the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali MINUSMA had helped reinforce the dialogue between the Government and the movements, Ladsous, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, told the Security Council on January 11.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-092023-07-12

Netanyahu Will Torpedo Obama’s Reported Bid To Head The UN

BERLIN (INPS | IDN) – In an unprecedented bid, U.S. President Barack Obama plans to succeed Ban Ki-moon as the United Nations Secretary-General and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has got wind of the plan, is determined to lead the effort in thwarting the bid, reports the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Jarida, cited by The Jerusalem Post.

While Ban’s second term as the UN Secretary-General ends on December 31, Obama’s finishes in January 2017. The U.S. Presidential election is due on November 8, 2016.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-072023-07-12

Kazakhstan Condemns North Korea, Urges Complete Ban On Nuke Tests

NEW YORK | ASTANA – As co-chair, along with Japan, of the Conference to facilitate entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Kazakhstan has condemned North Korea’s hydrogen bomb test on January 6 and declared “such actions” of DPRK as “unacceptable” and “in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions 1718 (2006), 1874 (2009), 2087 (2013) and 2094 (2013)”.

In a statement, the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs said: “Kazakhstan believes the actions of DPRK seriously undermine the international community’s efforts along the path of nuclear disarmament and strengthening the non-proliferation regime and global security in general, as well as the efforts of the majority of the countries in the world to ensure the early entry into force of the CTBT.“

Kazakhstan, as a country whose people have directly experienced the deadly effects of nuclear weapons, voluntarily renounced the possession of a nuclear arsenal and initiated the adoption of a UN General Assembly resolution proclaiming August 29 as the International Day against Nuclear Tests, the statement added.

“We stand for the complete ban on nuclear tests in the world,” declared the statement, and call upon North Korea to abandon nuclear weapon ambitions and resume negotiations in the six-party format involving China, Russia, the United States, the Republic of Korea and Japan.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-01-062023-07-12

UN Condemns North Korea For Violating Ban on Nuclear Testing

The United Nations condemned on January 6 the underground nuclear test announced by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), with Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon calling it “deeply troubling” and the UN Security Council vowing to immediately begin considering the “significant measures” it had vowed to take in the event of another nuclear test by the country.