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By Andrew Lichterman*
OAKLAND, California (IDN) — Seventy-seven years ago, the United Nations General Assembly passed its first resolution. The subject the governments represented there thought important enough to be first on their agenda was the establishment of a commission to develop proposals for the control of atomic energy and “for the elimination from national armaments of atomic weapons and of all other major weapons adaptable to mass destruction.”
Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
Three developments contribute to the fact that 2023 could indeed become India's global political year: India's chairmanship of the G20 countries, interestingly its role in the war in Ukraine, and the increasingly widespread critical view of China.
COVID and Other Crises Obstructing Victim Identification
By Aurora Weiss
VIENNA (IDN) — Though the COVID-19 pandemic and other crises are increasing the possibility of vulnerable human beings easily falling into the trap of criminal exploitation for the sole purpose of economic gain, a new UN report finds that fewer victims of this kind of modern slavery are being identified.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The UN’s peacekeepers, described as one of the most hazardous jobs at the United Nations, routinely risk their lives either in ongoing military conflicts or in post-conflict war zones.
According to figures released by the UN Staff Union on January 20, at least 32 UN peacekeeping personnel—28 military and 4 police, including one woman police officer—were killed in “deliberate attacks” in 2022.
By Caroline Mawanga
NEW YORK | KABUL (IDN) — While calling on Afghanistan’s de facto Taliban authorities to reverse course on recent decrees limiting women’s and girls’ rights, a high-level UN delegation has urged the international community not to abandon Afghans. UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed led the delegation. UN Women's Executive Director Sima Bahous, and the Assistant Secretary-General of the Department of Political, Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Khaled Khiari, joined the delegation.
Viewpoint by Jeffrey D. Sachs
This article was published in The Economist and is being republished with the author's permission.
NEW YORK (IDN) — Neither Russia nor Ukraine is likely to achieve a decisive military victory in their ongoing war: both sides have considerable room for deadly escalation. Ukraine and its Western allies have little chance of ousting Russia from Crimea and the Donbas region, while Russia has little chance of forcing Ukraine to surrender. As Joe Biden noted in October 2022, the spiral of escalation marks the first direct threat of “nuclear Armageddon” since the Cuban missile crisis 60 years ago.
By António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
The following are extensive excerpts from the UN Chief's address to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on 18 January 2023. The focus of the Forum (16-20 January) is on 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World'.
NEW YORK | DAVOS (IDN) — [The Forum's] theme perfectly sets out the dilemma of today’s world: We need cooperation, yet we face fragmentation.
By Caroline Mawanga
NEW YORK (IDN) — A one percentage point increase in the allocation of public education resources to the world's poorest 20 per cent is expected to pull 35 million primary school-aged children out of learning poverty globally, says the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
However, a new report released on January 17 points out that children from the poorest households would benefit the least from national public education funding.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — With unanimous approval in the Security Council, the UN, over the course of December, passed resolutions directed at seven different locations of conflict. Most of what the Security Council ordered doing was to the point. Even at a time of heightened antagonism between the West and Russia, the day-to-day work of trying to bring peace to many parts of the world goes on—from Somalia to Myanmar, from Syria to Yemen.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In the year 2000, President Vladimir Putin, having just won his first election, made his own contribution to solving the nuclear weapons imbroglio. He said in a speech that Moscow was prepared to drastically reduce its stockpile of nuclear missiles. Putin's call was not just for further cuts than the US suggested ceiling of 2,500 for each side but for reductions far below Moscow's previous target of 1,500. (At present, Russia has around 6,000 warheads and the US 5,400.)
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