By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA | 18 August 2024 (IDN) —- The UN’s atomic energy agency IAEA is concerned about the nuclear safety situation at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), which is deteriorating following a drone strike that hit the road around the plant site perimeter on 17 August. The attack occurred as Ukrainian forces […]
The First-Ever Medal for UN Refugee Team at Paris Olympics
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 14 August 2024 (IDN) — When the 16-day Paris Olympics came to a glittering end last Sunday, the spotlight was mostly on the two biggest medal winners: the United States with a tally of 126 medals, including 40 gold medals, followed by China with a total of 91, including […]
IAEA Deepens Bonds with the UN Office for South-South Cooperation
By Melissa Evans* The writer is affiliated to the IAEA Department of Technical Cooperation. VIENNA | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) will launch a new series of joint activities to enhance collaboration, following an agreement signed during the recent UN […]
Kazakhstan and UN to Help Bolster Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 2 August 2024 (IDN) — As the spectre of a Nuclear Armageddon haunts our planet, the Central Asian republic of Kazakhstan is joining hands with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) to organize a workshop—first in five years—to bolster the five Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (NWFZ) treaties. States-parties to the five […]
Call for Effective Follow-Up Tools for Proposed UN Pact for the Future
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 19 July 2024 (IDN) — The Summit of the Future on 22-23 September at the UN headquarters in New York “presents both an important milestone and another step in the long journey toward greater justice, security, and sustainable development for all nations and peoples”, says an open letter to […]
A New Battle Front in Gaza: Israel vs UNRWA
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 18 July 2024 (IDN) — The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is the only agency of the world body which focuses solely on humanitarian assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees—and more so, during the current military conflict between Israel and Hamas. But as the […]
Remembering Nelson Mandela
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 17 July 2024 (IDN) — “Nelson Mandela showed us the extraordinary difference one person can make in building a better world,” says UN Secretary-General António Guterres, ahead of this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July—which reminds us, he adds that “combatting poverty and inequality is in our […]
The Ukraine War Could Have Been Averted If the UN Charter Had Been Observed
By Michael von der Schulenburg* BRUSSELS | 11 July 2024 (IDN) — As the war in Ukraine continues, we must once again ask ourselves perhaps the most important question about a peaceful future for humanity: can there be a world in which peace and an international order can be guaranteed by joint agreements between states, […]
Geneva Is a Western, And Not Global, Hub for Multilateralism
By Kasmira Jefford GENEVA | 10 July 2024 (IDN | Geneva Solutions) — A study revealing international Geneva’s largely western donor base suggests the city is not as global as it claims. Donor contributions to international organisations in Geneva have almost quintupled over the last two decades, according to a study released by the Geneva […]
History: Bogged Down in Iraq, US Crawls Back To UN
By Rodney Reynolds UNITED NATIONS | 30 June 2024 (IDN) — After the US invasion of Iraq in March 2003, in what transpired as a fruitless search for weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that did not exist, IDN’s Editor-at-Large Thalif Deen, a senior UN correspondent, wrote a series of articles strongly critical of the invasion […]