UN Insider

Image: U.S. Marines from the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment escort captured enemy prisoners of war to a holding area in the desert of Iraq on March 21, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Wikimedia Commons.

The Road from Iraq to Ukraine Was Not So Winding

By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies*

NEW YORK, 15 March 2023 (IDN) — March 19th marks the 20th anniversary of the U.S. and British invasion of Iraq. This seminal event in the short history of the 21st century not only continues to plague Iraqi society to this day, but it also looms large over the current crisis in Ukraine, making it impossible for most of the Global South to see the war in Ukraine through the same prism as U.S. and Western politicians.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Ukraine War; 15 March 2023

Image: A March 10 event marking the three decades of UN presence in Kazakhstan. Credit: gov.kz.

Kazakhstan Observes Three Decades of Cooperation With UN

By Saniya Sakenova

ASTANA, 14 March 2023 (IDN | The Astana Times) — Over the past 30 years, Kazakhstan has built up a productive cooperation with the United Nations, being a coherent advocate and active promoter of its ideals and goals, First Deputy Foreign Minister Kairat Umarov said at a March 10 event marking the three decades of UN presence in the country.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 14 March 2023

Image: 'ICAN Act on It Forum' in Oslo. Credit: ICAN

European Parliamentarians Call for Advancing Nuclear Disarmament

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA, 12 March 2023 (IDN) — European parliamentarians have emphasized the need for taking "concrete steps" towards nuclear disarmament so that it becomes "a priority for the year 2023". This, they said, should be "complementary to stigmatising nuclear weapons and strengthening disarmament treaties such as the TPNW", the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons., which entered into force on 22 January 2021.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 March 2023

Image: © UNICEF/Rebecca Olul Emergency supplies are delivered to people at an evacuation centre in Shefa Province in Vanuatu after Tropical cyclones Kevin and Judy left a trail of destruction across the country.

Vanuatu’s Cyclone Destruction Makes ICJ Opinion Critical

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SUVA, Fiji, 9 March 2023 (IDN) — After two destructive cyclones and an earthquake within a week, people of the small Pacific Islands state of Vanuatu are slowly picking up the pieces after the destruction from winds and rains that flooded many properties. This devastation should strengthen Vanuatu’s ongoing initiative at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) to seek an International Court of Justice (ICJ) opinion on compensation for climatic change victims.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 09 March 2023

International Women’s Day Puts the Spotlight on Digital Gender Equality

UN News

NEW YORK, 8 March 2023 (IDN) — The UN General Assembly was awash in a sea of blue on Wednesday as some 1,800 people gathered to mark International Women’s Day, which this year focused on the need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education.

Many attendees wore suits, scarves or other items of clothing in shades that spanned from periwinkle to indigo, in tribute to women working in tech, a sector that remains overwhelmingly male.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 08 March 2023

Image source: WHO's Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Cholera Vaccination Campaign to Protect Earthquake Victims in Northwest Syria

By Bernhard Schell

CAIRO | AMMAN, 8 March 2023 (IDN) — The devastating earthquakes that struck southern Turkey and northern Syria on 6 February caused over 4540 deaths and nearly 9000 injuries in northwest Syria.

As the Syria cholera situation report points out, around 90 000 Syrians have been displaced in the northwest and many have found refuge in overcrowded camps and collective reception centres.

: Bernhard Schell; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 08 March 2023

Run Silent! Run Deep! Sink IAEA Safeguards?

By Tariq Rauf*

VIENNA, 7 March 2023 (IDN) — Coming up to the eighteen-month mark following the announcement of the AUKUS agreement on the supply of nuclear-powered submarines (SSNs) to the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) continues to struggle to deal with the challenge put up by naval nuclear propulsion to the implementation, efficacy and credibility of the Agency’s nuclear safeguards (verification) system.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 March 2023

Image: Fish from the Pacific Ocean sold at Suva Fish Market in Fiji. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

Pacific Islanders Want Japan to Stop Dumping Nuclear Waste into Their Ocean

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SUVA, Fiji 6 March 2023 (IDN) — Alarmed at Japan’s plans to dump nuclear waste into the Pacific Ocean regional leaders are calling upon the Japanese government to immediately call a stop to such plans.

Papua New Guinea’s Minister for Fisheries and Marine Resources, Jelta Wong, said on Monday (6 March) “there is little doubt that this nuclear wastewater will find its way into ecosystems and food chains, so contaminating people and also harming Pacific fisheries industries”.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 06 March 2023

Image: Coral reefs form complex marine ecosystems with tremendous biodiversity. CC BY-SA 2.0

A New UN Treaty Seeks to Protect One-third of World's Oceans

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK, 5 March 2023 (IDN) — After two weeks of tough negotiations at the UN Headquarters in New York, the Intergovernmental Conference on Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction—better known by its acronym BBNJ—has agreed on a text to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Oceans, seas and marine resources; 05 March 2023

Image: Women candidates for the lower house parliament in Somalia attend a political participation forum in Somalia. AMISOM/Fardosa Hussein

New Report Finds Women in Parliaments Worldwide

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN | GENEVA, 04 March 2023 (IDN) — Women’s participation in parliament has never been as diverse and representative as it is in many countries today. For the first time in history, not a single functioning parliament in the world is male-only, says the latest Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).