UN Insider

Photo: Barroso Agro-sylvo-pastoral System. Credit: Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.

Portugal: Mainstreaming Food Systems in The Presidency of The European Council

Viewpoint by Paulo Caruso Dias de Lima

The writer is a Liaison Officer at the FAO Brussels Office.

BRUSSELS (IDN) – As announced two weeks ago, the Portuguese Presidency of the European Council, in the first half of next year, is set to position its priorities to promote a fair, green and digital recovery from the impacts of the COVID-19. This is in keeping with regional and global trends towards transforming the ways in which we produce and consume food. (Also available in Portuguese)

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 23 December 2020

Photo: Desert Locusts in Isiolo County, Kenya. Source: FAO

Desert Locust Upsurge Continues to Threaten Food Security in the Horn of Africa

FAO Needs Funds To Safeguard Agricultural Production and Livelihoods

By FAO

ROME (IDN) – A new generation of Desert Locust swarms is threatening Agricultural and pastoral livelihoods and the food security of millions of people in the Horn of Africa and Yemen, despite intense efforts to control the pest throughout 2020, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

With international support and an unprecedented large-scale response campaign coordinated by FAO, more than 1.3 million hectares of locust infestations have been treated in ten countries since January 2020.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 23 December 2020

Photo: The Pentagon has sent several naval vessels and a marine expeditionary unit to the coast of Somalia to support an operation repositioning hundreds of U.S. troops to bases elsewhere in East Africa. Courtesy of US Navy

Withdrawal of US Troops from Somalia Underlines Critical Situation in the Region

EEPA Report on Horn of Africa Situation on December 23

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The situation in the Horn of Africa is getting increasingly critical in the Horn of Africa. A case in point is that the Expeditionary Sea Base USS Hershel "Woody" Williams is “conducting maritime operations off the coast of Somalia” to “reposition U.S. DOD personnel from Somalia to other locations in East Africa,” AFRICOM spokesperson Kelly Cahalan told VOA in an email. The operation is dubbed Operation Octave Quartz.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 23 December 2020

Iran Joins China, Russia, EU, France, Germany and UK in Reaffirming Commitment to 'Nuclear Deal'

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Amid speculations about Iran's reaction to the assassination of the country's eminent nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh on a road outside of Tehran on November 27, participants in the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) have reiterated their commitment to preserving the agreement and stressed their respective efforts in this regard.

The pledge emerged from a virtual ministerial meeting of the E3/EU+2 (China, France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy) and the Islamic Republic of Iran on December 21, 2020. The EU High Representative Josep Borrell chaired the meeting.

: Jaya Ramachandran; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 23 December 2020

Photo: Photo: Six potential candidates for the 2021 presidential elections in Iran. The moderate Rouhani will be stepping down. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Time to Resurrect the Iran Nuclear Deal

The thirteenth Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Iran on June 18, 2021. The moderate Rouhani will be stepping down and there is the likelihood that a hard-line conservative will succeed him – someone who is less keen on negotiations.

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – John le Carré died December 12, 2020. He is widely regarded as one of the most talented of novelists. He has written marvellous, intricate, plots of spying and espionage. In his youth, he worked for MI6 (Perhaps, for all we know, alongside James Bond). He knew it all. He is what is called a “trusted source”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 22 December 2020

Photo: The consultation event for the publication at the UN in February 2019. Credit: UN.

A New Handbook on Parliamentary Action for Disarmament

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Nearly one-and-half years after UN Secretary-General António Guterres launched Securing Our Common Future: An Agenda for Disarmament in May 2018, a new handbook to support disarmament for security and sustainable development has been released. Its approach and focus draw primarily on the Agenda. Titled Assuring our Common Future, published by four international parliamentary organizations and two international policy bodies on November 5, 2020, the new publication offers background and examples of effective policies and parliamentary actions on a wide range of disarmament issues.

: Jamshed Baruah; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 December 2020

Photo: UN Chief addressing German Parliament. Credit. German Parliament/Schacht.

UN Chief Lauds Germany's 'Frontline Role'

By Aar Jay Persius

BRLIN (IDN) – As Germany and other western European countries struggled to combat the Corona virus, eagerly awaiting the advent of a vaccine to unfetter humanity from the scourge of the ruthless pandemic, UN Secretary-General António Guterres descended on Berlin and declared that the prophesied inoculum must be viewed as a global public good.

Guterres undertook the mission as Germany prepared to complete its two-year term as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council which is charged with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. The visit came on the dawn of the last year of his first five-year term at the UN Secretary-General.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 19 December 2020

Photo: UN Resident Coordinator in Kenya, Siddharth Chatterjee, appointed as UN Resident Coordinator in China.

UN Chief Appoints an Eminent Indian National as Resident Coordinator in China

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Siddharth Chatterjee, an eminent Indian national at the world body, as UN "resident coordinator" to China, who has the same rank as an ambassador of a foreign state accredited to that country. The Chinese government' has formally accepted the UN Secretary-General’s selection.

Observers consider this important particularly as Chatterjee is also an Indian Army Special Forces veteran. He holds a Bachelor's Degree from the National Defence Academy in India.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 17 December 2020

Image credit: International Development Law Organization

Breaking the Culture of Violence to Advance SDG 16 On Peace & Security

Viewpoint by P. I. Gomes*

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – In the Preamble of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, reference is made to what is called the 5P’s of People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. They capture with such lucid precision what is referred to as “all areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.”

These are all areas deserving of concerted attention, but the widespread and insidiously yet blatant impact of violence, as the negation of “peace”, might benefit from some reflections.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - former ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 16 December 2020

Photo: Ambassador Choudhury in a virtual address to the Israeli Knesset.

'If We Are Serious About Peace, We Must Take Women Seriously'

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury in New York

The following is the full text of the address by Ambassador Chowdhury at the Knesset of Israel on November 17, 2020, at 14:30 Israel Standard Time. He is former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations and initiator of the precursor decision leading to the UNSCR 1325 as the President of the UN Security Council in March 2000 at the Special Meeting of the Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality of the Israeli Knesset marking the 20th anniversary of UNSC Resolution 1325 with focus on the challenges, progress made, and way forward in its implementation.