UN Insider

Photo: Begun 30 years ago, the Kubuqi desert greening project has succeeded in not only reining in the relentless growth of the seventh-largest desert in China, roughly the size of Kuwait, it has also turned about 6,000 square kilometers of the desert－one-third of it－green. Source: UNCCD

No Excuse to Further Defer Action on Climate Change and Land

Viewpoint by Ibrahim Thiaw

Following is the text of the response of Ibrahim Thiaw, UN Under Secretary General and Executive Secretary to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), to Special Report on Climate Change and Land by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released in Geneva on August 8.

BONN IDN) – We have known for over 25 years that poor land use and management are major drivers of climate change, but have never mustered the political will to act. With the release of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) – special report on climate change and land, which makes the consequences of inaction crystal clear, we have no excuse for further delay.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 08 August 2019

Image source: OpEd in The Hindu – For a malnutrition-free India

Stunting a Hurdle to Sustainable Development in India

By Sudha Ramachandran

BANGALORE (IDN) – India’s needs to redouble its efforts to reduce stunting among its children not only because this would improve their mental and physical development, learning capacity and life chances but also, to meet the 2022 deadline set by its National Nutrition Mission and enable the world to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

According to India’s National Family Health Service-3 and 4 (NFHS-3 and 4) figures, the proportion of its children under five years of age that are stunted declined from 48% in 2006 to 38% in 2016. While the decadal decline is significant, the reduction per year was just 1%.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 August 2019

Australia Urged to Sign & Ratify the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty

By Neena Bhandari

SYDNEY (IDN) – Australia must sign and ratify the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), says a new report released here by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the Australian-founded initiative which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

The report comes amidst growing international tension with important agreements, including the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) – widely known as the Iran nuclear deal – and the 1988 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty between the United States and Russia, being undermined.

: Neena Bhandari; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 06 August 2019

Image: The United States conducted the first in a series of high-yield thermonuclear weapon design tests, the Castle Bravo test, at Bikini Atoll, Marshall Islands, as part of Operation Castle on 1 March 1954. Credit: U.S. Department of Energy. Credit: U.S. Department of Energy.

CEND Is Creating the Conditions to ‘Never Disarm’ – 74 Years Since Hiroshima, Nagasaki

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf

The writer is a Vienna-based nuclear arms control specialist, who was Head of Verification and Security Policy Coordination, Office reporting to the Director General at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 2002—2011/2012, in which capacity he was the Alternate Head of the IAEA NPT Delegation. The views expressed in this paper are purely personal.

VIENNA (IDN) – With August 6 and 9 respectively marking the 74th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, no sentient human being who has met or seen the hibakusha (survivors), or visited the hypocentres in the two cities, or seen the photographic evidence of the destruction of these two Japanese cities, can avoid being shocked and horrified by the devastation that was inflicted by nuclear weapons.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 05 August 2019

Photo: Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, addressing the panel on nuclear disarmament at plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament on 30 July 2019 in Geneva. Credit: Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

Nuclear Disarmament Through the Vortex of Global Concern

Viewpoint by A.L.A. Azeez

The writer, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in Geneva, is concerned about the security landscape in most regions as well as globally. He pleads for all feasible measures to resume discussions on substantive matters. Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation are the foremost among them, he adds. The following are extensive extracts from his remarks made in his personal capacity as a member of the panel on nuclear disarmament at plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament on 30 July 2019 in Geneva.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 04 August 2019

ACP-EU Partnership Fights Poverty Across Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – From the Horn of Africa to the slums of Capetown and Johannesburg in South Africa, and even further up across West Africa, poverty has over the years reigned supreme affecting millions of Africans.

But since the sub-Saharan African countries joined the Caribbean and Pacific nations, signed the Georgetown Agreement in 1975 and established the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), they have been striving to combat poverty and encourage sustainable development, a vital objective of the UN's 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

: Jeffrey Moyo; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 03 August 2019

New Multilateralism Vital to Shift to Sustainable Tracks

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – “We need a new multilateralism to shift the world to sustainable tracks,” United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, Liu Zhenmin, has accentuated in a conversation with the UN DESA ‘Voice’, which offers an insider's look at the world body in the area of economic, social and sustainable development policy.

It is produced by the Strategic Planning and Communications Services of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) with articles written by UN DESA staff. This is an electronic publication – no printed edition is generated.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; 01 August 2019

The then Soviet inspectors and their American counterparts scrutinize Pershing II missiles in 1989. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Growing Concern about US-Russian Disarmament Treaties

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK (IDN) – In his agenda for disarmament, Securing Our Common Future, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres calls for reinvigorated dialogue, serious negotiations and a return to a common vision leading towards nuclear disarmament.

Next year, over 190 States Parties will gather in New York for the 2020 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and mark 50 years of this cornerstone of nuclear disarmament. According to experts, there are significant challenges to be overcome if this conference is to be successful – in spite of unceasingly deteriorating international security climate which does not bode well.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 31 July 2019

Photo: Four soldiers carrying rifles near helicopter under blue sky. Credit: Somchai Kongkamsri

US War with Iran will Violate Law Against Aggression

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – In 2010 the signatory states of the International Criminal Court, established to prosecute war crimes, convened a conference to add aggression to the list of crimes the court could try. The U.S., Russia, Iran, China and India have refused to sign up as ICC members and have not welcomed the addition of “aggression”. But fifteen NATO states have. Moreover, Russia wrote its own law into its Criminal Code. It prohibits “Planning, Preparing or Waging an Aggressive War”. It goes further: it prohibits “Public Appeals to Unleash an Aggressive War”. This opens the door to Russian leaders and politicians being prosecuted in domestic courts.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 July 2019

Photo: Artwork from the Global Report on Trafficking in Persons 2018, UNODC.

Human Trafficking Is A Crime, Deserves Zero Tolerance

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – "On this World Day against Trafficking in Persons, let us reaffirm our commitment to stop criminals from ruthlessly exploiting people for profit and to help victims rebuild their lives," UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a message for the July 30 World Day against Trafficking in Persons.

“Armed conflict, displacement, climate change, natural disasters and poverty exacerbate the vulnerabilities and desperation that enable trafficking to flourish,” Guterres said, adding: “Human trafficking is a heinous crime that affects every region of the world.”