UN Insider

Photo: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev met October 31 with the heads of Russian, Turkish, Iranian delegations as well as a delegation of observers from the U.S., Jordan and the UN. Credit: Akorda.kz

Astana Process On Syrian Peace Enters Critical 8th Round

By Jaya Ramachandran

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – As Kazakhstan prepares to chair the UN Security Council for the month of January 2018, the Central Asian country's contribution in the process of de-escalation of the nearly seven-year old conflict in Syria has been commended during Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov's recent visits to London and Vienna.

The applause has come in the run-up to the eighth round of the Astana Process on Syrian peace meant to supplement UN-brokered peace talks in Geneva, in Kazakhstan's capital city, on December 21-22. The first round of talks was launched in January 2017, nearly one month after the foreign ministers of Iran, Turkey, and Russia agreed to do so pursuant to the UN Resolution 2336 adopted December 31, 2016.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 11 December 2017

Photo: UN General Assembly and the Security Council re-elected Justice Dalveer Bhandari to the World Court on November 20, 2017.

Re-election of India's Nominee to the World Court 'Historic'

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – India has scored a "historic" victory over Britain, one of the five permanent members (P5) of the Security Council, with the re-election of Justice Dalveer Bhandari to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), principal judicial organ of the United Nations. The win is historic because it’s the first time since 1946 that no judge from a P5 member is a part of the ICJ, which has its seat in The Hague, the Netherlands.

After Britain pulled out its candidate Christopher Greenwood before the 12th round of voting on November 20, Justice Bhandari won the last of five seats for which elections were held. He received 183 votes in the 193-member General Assembly and secured all the 15 votes in the Security Council after separate and simultaneous elections were held at the UN headquarters in New York.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 11 December 2017

Photo: ICAN, represented by Setsuko Thurlow and Beatrice Fihn, receives the Nobel Peace Prize Medal and Diploma from Berit Reiss-Andersen of the Norwegian Nobel Committee, during the award ceremony in Oslo. Copyright: Nobel Media AB 2017.

Nobel Peace Prize for ICAN Puts Pressure on Norway to Sign the UN Treaty

By Nina Berglund

The writer is editor and publisher of Norway's news site, newsinenglish.no. This report, which originally appeared with the headline Peace Prize puts squeeze on Norway, is being reproduced courtesy of the news site. – The Editor

OSLO (IDN-INPS) - Nobel Peace Prize Day in Oslo dawned with clear and sunny skies on Sunday, but not everyone was celebrating. The Norwegian Nobel Committee’s decision to award this year’s Peace Prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) challenges Norwegian leaders to finally support a ban themselves, and now pressure is building on them to do so.

The Peace Prize to ICAN thrust the prize’s own home country into a difficult, even embarrassing, position. Norway, in line with its NATO allies and other nuclear powers, have refused to support or sign a UN treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons that was adopted by 122 other nations last summer. Critics called that shameful.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 10 December 2017

Photo: EU and UN officials flanked by Kenya’s Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu (first from the right among the seated officials) during the signing of Euro 17.2 million from the EU to fund initiatives to combat wildlife killing and trafficking in Africa. Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS.

EU & UN Aid African Countries in Fighting Wildlife Trafficking

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – African and Asian countries face a huge challenge in protecting their wildlife from the illegal killing and trafficking that has already endangered some species.

Over the years, national and regional efforts to combat the threat have met with mixed success and wildlife and their products continue to be sold in many countries around the world.

Figures released in March 2017 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) under its Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme showed that by 2016 the trend in poaching of African elephants – which had increased steadily since 2006, peaking in 2011– had been halted and stabilised. Nevertheless, the levels of illegal killing still remained unacceptably high overall.

: Justus Wanzala; UN INSIDER; 10 December 2017

Photo: The Israeli Air Force (IAF) AH-64 Apache were used in April 2007 as platform for shooting guided missiles at Palestinian targets and employed at the targeted killings policy against senior militants and terrorists leaders. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN Fears Middle East Engulfing into the 'Vortex of Religious Radicalism'

By Santo D. Banerjee

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – U.S. President Donald Trump's decision recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel has been widely welcomed in Israel but it has also caused much anger among Palestinians and anxiety across the Middle East and beyond – at the United Nations too.

On December 6, Trump announced that the U.S. recognizes Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Israel. In this recognition, he said that final status issues, including the boundaries of Israeli sovereignty, remain for the parties to determine.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 09 December 2017

Photo: Delegates gather for the 3rd UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi. Credit: UN Environment.

UN Environment Assembly Galvanises Nations to Act on Taming Pollution

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Amid a cacophony of voices, interests and expectations, the third high level United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), held in Nairobi from December 4-6, had a common denominator – a sense of strong desire and willingness among delegations for action to ensure a pollution-free world.

Some walked the talk. Indeed, in a bid to support the war against pollution, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sweden and Switzerland committed 35 million dollars to the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a partnership of five UN agencies to support countries in greening their economies and tackling environmental challenges, while promoting better jobs and stable economic growth.

: Justus Wanzala; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 08 December 2017

Photo: Experts discuss Good Practices of South-South Cooperation for Implementation of the SDGs: Development through Transformation Credit: UNOSSC

South-South Cooperation Holds the Key To Beating Global Development Challenges

By Jacques N. Couvas

ANKARA (IDN) – "Solutions for the South by the South” was the recurring theme that resounded throughout the duration of the Global South-South Development Expo 2017 (GSSD Expo) from November 27 to 30, 2017 in Antalya, the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast.

This landmark event of the United Nations (UN) system solely for the global South was held in the lead up to the Second High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation to be convened in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March 2019. The Conference will mark the 40th anniversary of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA+40) for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries. A High-Level Forum of National Directors-General for Development Cooperation discussed during the Expo insights and proposals for the preparatory process of the 2019 conference.

: Jacques N. Couvas; SUSTAINABILITY; Global Partnerships; 06 December 2017

Photo: Participants in the conference 'prevent' a nuclear missile from being launched from Charles University in Prague. Credit: UNFOLD ZERO

Youth Pleads with World Leaders to Reduce Risk of Nuclear War

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN | UNFOLD ZERO) – Amid menacing tensions between the United States and North Korea in the aftermath of Pyongyang testing a long-range missile that is potentially capable of hitting the entire mainland U.S., young academics and activists from around the world are asking world leaders to reduce the risks of nuclear weapons being deployed and to support United Nations initiatives for nuclear disarmament, including the High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament to take place in 2018.

The appeal – Reach High for a Nuclear-Weapons-Free World – was issued at the conclusion of a three-day conference (November 27-29) in Prague, the capital city of the Czech Republic. It was organised by the Youth Network of Abolition 2000, a global civil society network to eliminate nuclear weapons.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 04 December 2017

Photo: Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov addressing a conference on central Asia under UN auspices. Credit: The Astana Times.

Kazakhstan Committed to Sustainable Development and Mutual Prosperity in Central Asia

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to Kazakhstan assuming the UN Security Council's rotating presidency for January 2018, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov has accentuated that the Central Asian country stands for the creation of a model of a regional zone of peace, security and cooperation in Central Asia and Afghanistan.

Kazakhstan is a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for 2017-2018, and it chairs the Council's Committees 1988 on the Taliban movement and 1267 on ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 03 December 2017

134-Nation Group Garners Support for SDG 9 at UNIDO Meeting

By Ramesh Jaura

VIENNA (IDN) – "We are in a time when multilateralism is being challenged. Your participation in this General Conference reaffirms the relevance of UNIDO's work to your governments and the people on the ground," said Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia's Foreign Minister and President of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly until September 2018.

Lajčák was speaking at the opening session of the conference in Vienna, on November 27, nearly one month before the central European country ceases to be a member of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In a letter signed by him as Foreign Minister, Slovakia had denounced the UNIDO convention in December 2016. Subsequently, it will cease to be a member of the Organization on December 31, 2017.