UN Insider

Photo: The Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands), seat of the International Court of Justice. Credit: Jeroen Bouman - Courtesy of the ICJ.

UN Court Censures Myanmar for Violating Genocide Convention

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – On January 23, 2020, a panel of 17 judges of the World Court (ICJ) voted unanimously calling on Myanmar (formerly Burma) to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide of the remaining 600,000 Rohingya that the Court stated were extremely vulnerable to violence at the hands of the military. The Court calls for emergency provisional measures in order to respect the requirements of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

: Rene Wadlow; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 23 January 2020

Photo: Millions of people are not benefiting from progress, with the gap set to widen unless deep-rooted development barriers, including discrimination and unequal political participation, are tackled. Credit: UNDP Peru/Mónica Suárez

High Levels of Inequality Can Escalate Political Instability

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the United Nations prepares to mark its 75th anniversary in September, the Organisation has yet to fulfil the obligation enshrined in the mandate of the Charter: “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom“ by employing “international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples“.

The authors of the landmark World Social Report 2020 point out that fifteen years ago, the Report on the ‘World Social Situation‘ had warned that growing inequality could jeopardize the achievement of internationally agreed development goals.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 22 January 2020

Photo: The number of people living in extreme poverty has risen in several sub-Saharan African countries and in parts of Latin America and Western Asia. Credit: UN/Logan Abass

Broad-based Deterioration of World Economy Threatening Sustainable Development

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI | BANGKOK (IDN) – Prolonged trade disputes and wide-ranging policy uncertainties have catapulted the world economy into a significant and broad-based deterioration in 2019. This threatens to hamper efforts to reduce poverty, create decent jobs, broaden access to affordable and clean energy, and achieve many other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020 report, gross product growth slipped to 2.3 per cent in 2019—the lowest rate since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

: Devinder Kumar; UN INSIDER; 22 January 2020

Photo: Showing a HIV self-test. Credit Zuberi Mussa

Tanzania Passes Law on HIV Self-Test to Tame the Deadly Virus

15-Year Old Children Can Self-Test Without Parental Consent

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (IDN) – Perched on a plastic chair at his shop in the bustling Sinza suburb in Dar es Salaam, Abdul* is anxiously looking at a small kit containing liquid and a stick.

“I want to know my HIV status,” says Abdul while glancing at his watch.

A moment ago, the 28-year-old trader briskly swiped a plastic swab across his upper gum to draw some fluid and slotted it into the kit for testing.

: Kizito Makoye; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 January 2020

[IDN-InDepthNews – 20 January 2020] Photo: The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, addresses the Berlin Conference on Libya alongside the UN Secretary-General António Guterres (r). Credit: Federal Government/Guido Bergmann.

Berlin Conference on Libya Sparks Expectations of an End to Protracted Conflict

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN (IDN) – A tiny glimmer of hope has emerged for Libya which has been torn by fighting between rival armed factions since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Participants in a high-level ‘Berlin Conference on Libya’, hosted by German Chancellor Angela Merkel on January 19, gave the go-ahead for the comprehensive ‘Berlin Process’ to put an end to the conflict and bring lasting peace to the oil-rich North African country trapped in clashing interests of Russia and Turkey – and other countries.

Participants agreed to respect the UN arms embargo and truce in the war-ravaged country. They pledged to establish an oversight mechanism to ensure long-term peace and put an end to the “disastrous humanitarian situation faced by thousands of civilians,” as UN Secretary-General António Guterres put it, in the face of conflict growing “deeper and more destructive”.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 20 January 2020

Photo: Ola Henrikson, IOM’s Regional Director for the EU, has asked Croatia – which assumed the six-month rotating Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) – on 1 January 2020, to encourage any discussion on migration policy as a positive contribution of migrants for inclusive growth and sustainable development, including within the EU. Credit: European Union

New Research Pleads for Recognizing Contribution of African Migrants To Sustainable Development

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A new set of European Commissioners has taken office in Brussels. The main migration focus of the previous cabinet of Commissioners was halting migration – which led to deals with third countries on stopping and returning refugees and migrants. People evacuated from Libya, for example, are brought to Niger and Rwanda, where they are processed before those successfully registered as refugees are taken to Europe – often after long processes filled with uncertainty.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 18 January 2020

Photo: Human Rights Watch (HRW) at the UNCA press conference on 14 January 2020 (from left to right) Louis Charbonneau, UN director at HRW; Emma Daly, media director, HRW; Kenneth Roth, executive director, HRW and Sophie Richardson, China director, at HRW presenting HRW 2020 Annual Report focusing on China. Credit: Erol Avdović - Webpublicapress New York 2020.

UN Chief Urged to Name and Shame Perpetrators of Human Rights Violations

By Erol Avdović, WebPublicaPress

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Informed East River diplomats characterize the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres as a “tough nut”. Perhaps because he feels he is ‘untouchable’ and believes he is above everybody? But others maintain that he is a man of least resistance – in fear of the mightier above him. In fact, the knowledgeable encourage the latter view. The World Report 2020: Human Rights Trends Around the Globe focusing on China and presented at the UN affirms that Mr. Guterres does not want to offend the countries that HRW calls grave human rights abusers.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 18 January 2020

Photo: A health worker administers a vaccination against cholera to a young boy in Yemen. Credit: UNICEF/Saleh Bahless

Urgent Health Challenges Facing the World

By Sean Buchanan

GENEVA (IDN) – A list of urgent, global health challenges released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) at the beginning of 2020 reflects deep concern that leaders are failing to invest sufficient resources in core health priorities and systems. This, says the Geneva-based UN agency, is putting lives, livelihoods and economies in jeopardy.

Recommending that countries spend one percent of their gross domestic product on primary health care, to give more people access to the quality essential services they need, close to where they live, WHO has identified a series of priorities for the decade, covering a wide range of issues affecting people across the planet.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 17 January 2020

Photo: The ministers of foreign affairs of the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, Germany, France, China, the European Union and Iran meeting in Lausanne in March 2015, a few weeks ahead of the nuclear deal was struck in Vienna. Credit: U.S. Department of State.

Experts Plead for Foiling Collapse of the Iran Nuclear Deal

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since U.S. President Donald Trump abandoned the JCPOA, also known as the "Iran nuclear deal", in May 2018, a widespread view is that the regime in Tehran is yearning for an atomic bomb.

Washington experts, however, maintain that while Iran’s violations of the JCPOA “are serious, they are reversible and they do not suggest, as some have alleged, that Iran is dashing to acquire a nuclear bomb“.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 14 January 2020

Photo: Screenshot UN Video ‘Least Developed Countries’. Credit: UN

The World’s Poorest Need Bold Actions by the Better Off

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – As the United Nations launches an ambitious global effort to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, the fate of the world’s 47 most impoverished nations – the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) – has assumed added importance. UNCTAD, an organization of the UN, is therefore urging them to use external aid to structurally transform their economies. Donors, it adds, should align their support with the national development plans of the poorest nations.