By Richard Gowan* Ongoing crises keep multilateralism in turmoil, but ambitious reforms are still on the table. What to expect from the 2024 UN Summit of the Future? NEW YORK | 28 January 2024 (IDN) — Germany faces a tough task trying to build consensus among members of the United Nations on how to strengthen […]
Gaza War: Reading the ICJ Order Regarding ‘Genocide’
By A.L.A. Azeez* MELBOURNE | 27 January 2024 (IDN) — Concerning the Order delivered by the International Court of Justice indicating Provisional Measures against Israel in the case brought by South Africa under the provisions of the UN Genocide Convention, questions galore on different aspects were addressed. A question pertains to why the ICJ has […]
The UN Costs 1.25 US Dollar to Each Inhabitant of the Planet Earth
When you add up the regular UN Secretariat and peacekeeping budgets, the annual average cost of the UN for each person on the planet is about $1.25; that’s about the cost of a bag of chips in New York. — UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq. UNITED NATIONS | 7 January 2024 (IDN | UN News) […]
Gaza War: UN Agencies Struggling with Humanitarian and Health Needs
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 6 January 2024 (IDN) — The UN’s migration agency IOM has launched an urgent appeal for $69 million to support its response to escalating and critical humanitarian needs in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) and neighbouring countries affected by the ongoing hostilities in Gaza. In a statement on 5 January, […]
Cold War Politics at the Security Council—and its Lighter Side
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 29 December 2023 (IDN) — The devastating battle between Israel and Hamas has proved once again the ineffectiveness of the 15-member Security Council which is mandated to ensure international peace and security. But that mandate has not helped either in resolving some of the longstanding civil wars and military […]
UN’s Forced Retreat from Countries Mired in Deadly Conflicts Shows Limitations
By Arul Louis UNITED NATIONS | 23 December 2023 (IDN) — While in the outgoing year, attention was focused on the world organisation’s paralysis in Ukraine and Israel, the UN was forced to retreat from other countries riven by deadly conflicts in a stark display of its limitations. Unlike Ukraine and Israel, these were countries […]
Guyana-Venezuela Border Controversy: Caribbean Dialogue & Diplomacy Avoids Annexation
By P.I. Gomes The writer is a former Cooperative Republic of Guyana Ambassador to the European Union and ACP Group of States, Brussels. These remarks are made as a citizen of Guyana residing in the Diaspora. PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad & Tobago | 22 December 2023 (IDN) —The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on 8 […]
UN Mission Chief Calls for Taliban’s Return To ‘International Norms’
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 20 December 2023 (IDN) — A lack of progress in resolving human rights issues is a key reason behind the current impasse between Afghanistan and the international community, the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan told the Security Council on 20 December. Ms. Roza Otunbayeva, who heads the UN Assistance […]
Gaza War: A Moment of Honor for the UN and Shame for the US
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 12 December 2023 (IDN) — The nearly unanimous vote in the UN Security Council on Friday (8 December) calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza is a moment of honor for the United Nations […]
US Stands Alone—and Isolated—in its Support for Israel at the UN
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 9 December 2023 (IDN) — The US veto against a Security Council resolution for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza was highly predictable. Like the longstanding pro-Israeli foreign policy of successive US administrations, President Joe Biden said last week that he “stands with Israel—right or wrong—prompting one Middle Eastern diplomat […]