Category: UNITED NATIONS

By Bernhard Schell
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

DUBAI (IDN) – “A digital divide has no place in the information age and 21st century knowledge economy,” according to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. “Our overall objective must be to ensure universal access to information and communication technology – including for the two-thirds of the world’s population currently not online,” he says.

In a video message to a major meeting organized by the United Nations International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on December 3, Ban said the management of information and communication technology should be “transparent, democratic, and inclusive”.

By Luc Gnacadja*
IDN-InDepth NewsViewpoint

BONN (IDN) – It is human development, or at least the quest for it, which caused the conversion of billions of hectares of forests into man-made deserts. It prompted, in the middle of the 19th century, the French novelist Chateaubriand to state that “forests precede civilizations, deserts follow them”. In other words, human beings are the only desert making species.

To reverse the tide and change such an inherent habit, we must think and operate outside of the “forest” box. We must look beyond the rainforest horizon and embrace holistic approaches to the entire landscape if we want to make sustainable forest management a green pathway for human development.

By Kalinga Seneviratne
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

SINGAPORE (IDN) – A battle for the control of the Internet threatens to overshadow the forthcoming World Conference on International Telecommunications (WCIT-12) to be held in Dubai from December 3 to 14. WCIT-12 is a United Nations mega-talkfest to be held under the auspices of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the inter-governmental UN agency entrusted with telecommunication issues.

By J C Suresh
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

TORONTO (IDN) – A greater global focus on scientific development would help find the answers to seemingly “insurmountable” challenges the world is confronted with, according to the head of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

“Science is our best asset for supporting inclusive and equitable development, and for building global sustainability at a time of uncertainty, and faced with biophysical limits of the planet,” said UNESCO‘s Director-General Irina Bokova marking the World Science Day for Peace and Development.

By J C Suresh
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

TORONTO (IDN) – Negotiations for a proposed conference on ridding the Middle East of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction would be difficult and the path would be long, but the “prize” – the security of the region and the world – would be worth the time and effort, the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA’s) First Committee dealing with Disarmament and International Security has been told.

By Ramesh Jaura
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – A veil of silence and secrecy has shrouded the fate of a conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction in 2012, since the UN announced on October 14, 2011 that Finland will host it. The veil slowly lifting now corresponds to the “wall of silence” in Israel, which Israeli anti-nuke activist Sharon Dolev is persistently trying to break – with some success.

Knowledgeable sources in Berlin, London and Helsinki are convinced that the conference will indeed take place – from December 14 to 16 with seasoned Finnish diplomat and politician Jaakko Laajava as facilitator. However, hardly anyone appears to be particularly enthusiastic about it.

By R Nastranis
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

GENEVA (IDN) – The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is living up to its name and mandate given 48 years ago. Its latest Trade and Development Report concludes that austerity measures have not led to economic growth, and recommends supportive government policies to get over the crisis. This pro-people approach corresponds with organization’s goals, explained on its website: to “maximize the trade, investment and development opportunities of developing countries and assist them in their efforts to integrate into the world economy on an equitable basis.”

By Jaya Ramachandran
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

GENEVA (IDN) – As a result of widespread insecurity, the squandering of vast funds on deadly weapons instead of economic development, and the growing impact of climate change, the world today is in a race against time to save itself.

Sounding this alarm at the opening of the 67th UN General Assembly’s annual general debate on September 25 in New York, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said: “This is a time of turmoil, transition and transformation – a time when time itself is not on our side.” Several heads of State and government and other high-level officials are expected to present their views and comment on issues of individual national and international relevance at the debate, which ends on October 1.

By J. C. Suresh*
IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

TORONTO (IDN) – Pakistan is standing like a rock in the surf resisting growing international pressure to endorse a global treaty that would ban production of fissile material used as fuel for nuclear weapons. Reiterating its adamant opposition, Pakistan has warned that it would boycott any process to negotiate a U.S.-backed treaty outside the deadlocked UN Conference on Disarmament (CD), the sole negotiating forum for multilateral disarmament.

By Karina Boeckmann
IDN-InDepth NewsReport

BERLIN (IDN) – Whether it goes down in the history of the United Nations as a milestone or not, the world body’s “refugee agency” UNHCR has taken a significant step by acknowledging that when natural disasters and violent conflicts uproot entire communities and hope is slipping away, faith is the last straw at which the displaced and the forlorn clutch. [GERMAN] [JAPANESE]