UN Insider

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres addressing opening ceremony of the Munich Security Conference 2018 on 16 February. Credit: MSC / Kuhlmann

UN Chief Warns of a Repeat of the League of Nations' Fate

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | MUNICH (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned against a repeat of what happened with the League of Nations and the threat of a nuclear conflict, stressed the need for breaking the Gordian knot in the "broader Middle East", called for establishing an international legal framework for "cyberwars between States", and asked the international community to build a consensus on regulating the "so‑called Internet of things."

Guterres was speaking at the opening ceremony of the three-day Munich Security Conference that concluded on February 18. Its motto "To the Brink – and Back?" seemed an apt description of the situation confronting today's world.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 19 February 2018

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres (second from right) at the 2018 opening session of the General Assembly's Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People on 5 February 2018. Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs (left at the table) attended the meeting. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

Palestine President to Address Security Council Amid 'Eroding' Consensus on Two-State Solution

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – In the run-up to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, addressing the Security Council on February 20, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that global consensus on the question of Palestine "could be eroding, making effective concerted action more difficult to achieve, at a time when it is more important than ever."

In remarks at the opening of the 2018 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in New York on February 5, Guterres said: "Negative trends on the ground have the potential to create an irreversible one-State reality that is incompatible with realizing the legitimate national, historic and democratic aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 18 February 2018

Photo: Commemorating the 51st anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco on 14 February 2018. Credit: OPANAL

From Tlatelolco to the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty

By Jorge Alberto López Lechuga

Jorge Alberto López Lechuga is Research and Communication Officer of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of OPANAL and its Member States. – The Editor

MEXICO (IDN) – On February 2, the Government of the U.S. published the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR), which includes the strategy to increase the role of nuclear weapons in national security. The NPR considers the need to double the military budget from 3% to 6.4% in order to modernize the U.S. arsenal. This would mean an investment of 1 trillion USD over the next 30 years. It also states that expanding "flexible U.S. nuclear options now, to include low-yield options, is important for the preservation of credible deterrence against regional aggression", a strategy that will raise "the nuclear threshold".

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 17 February 2018

Photo: Regional meeting of religious leaders, Treviso, Italy. Credit: UN Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect.

Religious Leaders Plan Action Against Inciting Atrocity Crimes

By Jaya Ramachandran

VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations has taken an important step towards preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes. More than 150 religious leaders from around the world, member states and UN officials, gathered in Vienna to discuss the implementation of the Plan of Action launched by Secretary-General António Guterres in July 2017 at a meeting of the world body's Headquarters in New York.

Guterres said: "All religions teach respect for life and recognize human beings as fundamentally equal. These principles summon us to show respect for all human beings, even those with whom we might profoundly disagree or whose cultures might seem alien."

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 16 February 2018

Image: The cover of the eighth volume in the ACUNS publication series FEMICIDE. Credit: M.A.F.I.A. (Movimiento Argentino de Fotógrafxs Independientes Autoconvocadxs).

Changing the Narrative on Violence Against Women at Home

By Helen Hemblade*

This is the seventh in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) organized this Conference co-ordinated by Heather Wokusch. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Violence against women is often considered something private that happens in people's homes, beyond help of the outside world. We take for granted that victims always have the choice to seek help. We concentrate on how this happened to the victim instead of who committed the act. We fail to address patterns in the crime’s continuation.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 15 February 2018

Women Are Being Left Behind in Spite of UN Pledge

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Two and a half years after the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which pledged not to leave any one behind, women around the world are faced with stark inequalities and grave challenges, says a new report by UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women.

Titled Turning promises into action: Gender equality in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, UN Women's flagship report identifies gaps and opportunities for gender equality, demonstrates through concrete evidence and data the pervasive nature of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere, and puts forth actionable recommendations on how to fulfill the 2030 Agenda.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 14 February 2018

Photo: Slum upgrading. Credit: UN-Habitat.

UN-Habitat and ACP Partner to Ameliorate Urban Poverty

By Dr Patrick I. Gomes, ACP Secretary-General

The following is a slightly modified abridged version of the text of the video message by ACP Secretary General to the 9th World Urban Forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 8-9 February 2018 at the launch of Phase III of the Participatory Slum Upgrading Programme (PSUP). Launched in 2008, the PSUP is a joint effort of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, the European Commission (EC) and UN-Habitat. – The Editor

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The Secretariat of the ACP Group highly values the PSUP and the work that has already been accomplished in respective countries. This is as a result of the commitment at national, city and community levels to see the end of urban poverty and improve living conditions of the urban poor.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes; OPINION; 13 February 2018

Photo: Toda Institute Director Kevin P. Clements briefing media on the Colloquium. Credit: Kotoe Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Transforming Risks on the Korean Peninsula into Stable Peace in Northeast Asia

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – 'Building Stable Peace in Northeast Asia: Managing and Transforming Risks on the Korean Peninsula' was the subject of a colloquium in which regional experts on peace and security, policy makers and civil society organizations from the United States, China, South Korea and Japan participated against the backdrop of a volatile situation in the region.

In the run-up to North Korea claiming that it had conducted its first successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile that can "reach anywhere in the world," 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs expressed concern in a statement on May 4, 2017 that "the mounting confrontation with North Korea is raising grave dangers."

: Taro Ichikawa; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 12 February 2018

Photo: An Airman completes a missile assembly on an F-16 Fighting Falcon during a load crew competition at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., June 30, 2017. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Andrew D. Sarver

Kick Off To A Nuclear Race Threatening Doomsday

By Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of the 1995 Nobel Peace Laureate Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and a former Ambassador of Brazil who served in key posts. He was President of the 2005 Seventh Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs with UNODA, the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (2007-2012). – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – As if by coincidence, almost simultaneously the world learned of the Doomsday Clock moving closer to midnight and of the release of the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) by the government of the United States.

: Sergio Duarte; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 11 February 2018

UN Agency in Talks with Israel on African Asylum Seekers

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA | TEL AVIV (IDN) – UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is negotiating with Israel to resettle a portion of African asylum seekers in third countries deemed by the UN to be "safe," perhaps including Western countries, in exchange for some of the refugees to be given permanent residency in Israel, according to The Times of Israel.

The aim is to halt Israel's plans to deport thousands of asylum seekers to African countries, widely believed to be Rwanda and Uganda. "Such an arrangement could be realized, though the necessary details need to be worked out," Sharon Harel, the external relations officer at the UNHCR office in Israel, told the newspaper.