UN Insider

Five Nuclear Powers Urged to Turn 'Nuke-Speak' into Real Action to Prevent Nuclear War

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — Disarmament advocates working within the Global Council of the Abolition 2000 Global Network to Eliminate Nuclear Weapons have called on the five Nuclear-Weapon States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to follow up the affirmation made by them in their Joint Statement of January 3, 2022, that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought". The Abolition 2000 has urged the United States, Russia, the UK, France and China to undertake "genuine action" to change current nuclear-war fighting policies, end the costly and destabilizing nuclear arms race, and eliminate nuclear weapons.

: Radwan Jakeem; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 10 January 2022

Image source: German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle

World's Major Nuclear Powers Pledge to Avoid Wars—Even as they Continue to Upgrade their Arsenals

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — When the world’s five major nuclear powers—the US, UK, China, France and Russia—pledged to prevent nuclear wars and abandon the pursuit of more weapons, their joint statement released January 3 explicitly left out several of the demands from anti-nuclear activists, including an end to the upgrading and enhancing of existing arsenals.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 09 January 2022

UN Report Concerned About Hunger and Food Insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean

By Jaya Ramachandran

ROME (IDN) — The rise in hunger and food insecurity levels that have been occurring in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2015, were exacerbated by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The region is now even further off-track to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 2.1 to end hunger and achieve food security, according to the latest Regional Overview of Food Security and Nutrition.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 06 January 2022

Photo: TPNW adopted on July 7, 2017. Credit: United Nations.

The NPT-5 Joint Statement—Cum grano salis

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) — On January 3, the five nuclear-weapon states party to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) issued an important Joint Statement on “preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races”. Those are certainly part of the objectives of the Treaty, as well as important for achieving another goal: the as yet unfulfilled promise of nuclear disarmament. Turning that obligation into reality is a primary responsibility of the states that developed and maintain nuclear arsenals capable of extinguishing human civilization.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 05 January 2022

Photo: The United Nations Security Council Chamber in New York, also known as the Norwegian Room. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

UN Chief Welcomes Nuclear-Weapon States' Pledge to Prevent Nuclear War

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — The UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the joint statement by the five nuclear-weapon States on the prevention of nuclear war and avoidance of arms races.

"The Secretary-General appreciates the recognition by the nuclear-weapon States of their need to comply with their bilateral and multilateral nonproliferation, disarmament, and arms control agreements and commitments, including their binding obligations under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons related to nuclear disarmament," the UN Chief's spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

: Radwan Jakeem; UN INSIDER; 03 January 2022

UN Committee Rewards Countries for Protecting Human Rights Despite COVID-19

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — The Human Rights Committee periodically scrutinizes the implementation of the legal obligations of countries that have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Despite the challenges to its work brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic, the Committee was able to hold online follow-up reviews of 12 countries during its three regular sessions in 2021.

To date, 173 countries have ratified the Covenant. An additional six countries have signed the Covenant but have yet to ratify it, while 18 have taken no action.

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 02 January 2022

Photo: The UN Secretary-General António Guterres talks to Yeashea Braddock, Operations Manager of the Bronx high school where he received a second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

UN Chief Calls for Making Recovery 'Our Resolution For 2022'

By UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) — Together, let's make recovery "for people, planet and prosperity" our resolution for 2022, the UN chief said in his message for the New Year.

"The world welcomes 2022 with our hopes for the future being tested by deepening poverty and worsening inequality…an unequal distribution of COVID vaccines…climate commitments that fall short, and by ongoing conflict, division, and misinformation", Secretary-General António Guterres lamented.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 01 January 2022

Photo: The talks are aimed at bringing Iran back into full compliance with the 2015 deal and paving the way for the US to rejoin. Source: Germany's international broadcaster Deutsche Welle.

The US Conceding Alone Would Lead to Successful Negotiations

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The negotiations over Iran’s supposed nuclear bomb-building abilities seem to be stuck in a rut. On December 27, they re-started once again. Given the detailed undertakings by Iran made in the agreement negotiated by the administration of President Barack Obama before President Donald Trump sabotaged it, it should have only been a hop, skip and a jump to forge a final agreement once President Joe Biden decided to resurrect it.

: Jonathan Power; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 28 December 2021

Photo: According to a UNDP survey, the textile, tourism, hospitality, and construction sectors have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and the political upheaval, as have small and medium enterprises. Credit: UNDP Myanmar.

Urban Poverty Rates in Myanmar Set to Triple, Warns New UN Survey

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK | YANGON (IDN) — By early 2022, nearly half of Myanmar’s 55 million population—some 25 million people—will be living below the national poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A survey leaves no doubt that the country’s poverty headcount is likely to return to levels not seen since 2005, effectively erasing 15 years of pre-pandemic economic growth.

“The rising levels of poverty is not just about the lack of incomes to survive but we are also seeing a significant risk to nutrition, health and education, which will negatively impact on the human capital of the next generation,” said the survey report.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 28 December 2021

Photo: The report projects that in the last six years the crisis has caused Yemen to miss out on US $126 billion of potential economic growth. Credit: UNDP Yemen

New UN Report Hopeful of Recovery in Yemen by 2047 Once the War Ends

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — Yemen, currently among the poorest countries in the world, continues to be mired in a conflict underway since 2015, which in addition to the loss of life is tearing apart livelihoods, social fabric, causing Yemen to teeter on the brink of famine, and resulting in widespread reversals of development progress.