UN Insider

Photo: Mother in shreds of clothing with child begging on the streets of Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943 (left), and a family on the sidewalk in Calcutta during the Bengal famine of 1943 (right). Source: Wikipedia

How Reparations Can Help Eradicate Poverty and Secure SDGs

Viewpoint by Manish Uprety F.R.A.S. and Jainendra Karn *

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Dealing with numbers can take a toll and might make one seek fulfillment in other spheres. No wonder the most influential poet of the last Century penned The Waste Land in 1922 when he was dutifully employed with the foreign transactions department of Lloyd’s, an austere English bank in London.

Another case that one can think of is of Peter Bone, an accountant by training and Conservative party Member of Parliament in England from Wellingborough and Rushden who in November 2018 found glee when he made no bones about how and where the Republic of India should spend its resources. The latter reminds one of the famous aphorism Par Updesh Kushal Bahutere.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 02 November 2019

Photo: UNMIK chief Zahir Tanin addressing the Secuirty Council on October 31. Source: unmik.unmissions.org

Kosovo Elections Herald ‘Most Significant Change’ in 12 Years

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Security Council has been told that the snap elections held on October 6 in Kosovo had the highest voter turnout since 2010 and represent “the most significant change in the political landscape” there in a dozen years.

These were called during a difficult time of internal political division, disunity in the governing coalition and “most importantly, the public's perception of inability to deliver on promises to the people of Kosovo”.

: Radwan Jakeem; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 31 October 2019

Bring Women at the Peace Table, Build from the Grassroots to the Tree Tops

“Some people change when they see the light; others when they feel the heat”. – Caroline Schoeder, former U.S. Congress member

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000 is a commitment to work resolutely toward greater protection of women and girls in conflict zones, to appoint more women in UN peacekeeping operations and ensuring that women would increasingly become more active participants in decision-making processes, especially at “peace table” negotiations.

: Rene Wadlow; OPINION; 30 October 2019

Argentine Diplomat Is New Head of the UN Nuclear Agency IAEA

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK | VIENNA (IDN) – Nearly three months after the death of Yukiya Amano of Japan, Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina has been elected as the sixth Director General of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). His election by the majority of the Agency’s board on October 29 nearly coincides with the election of the Centre-left opposition candidate Alberto Fernández as president of Argentina.

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 29 October 2019

UN’s Chemical Watchdog Bashed for Report on Alleged Chemical Attack in Syria

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A panel of experts has bashed the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for “unacceptable practices” in the investigation of the alleged chemical attack in Douma in Syrian civil war on April 7, 2018. The panel was convened on October 15, 2019 in Brussels by the Courage Foundation, “an international organisation that supports those who risk life or liberty to make significant contributions to the historical record”.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 28 October 2019

ACP-EU-IOM Join to Combat Refugee Crisis Across Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

CHIPINGE, Zimbabwe (IDN) – When he fled from his country’s 1994 genocide, now 63-year old Iradukunda Nyaruyonga, a Rwandese national had four teenage children whose education he thought had been prematurely ended by the civil war in the home country. Now, despite having grown up in a refugee camp, Nyaruyonga’s children are counted amongst great achievers domiciled in Zimbabwe.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 October 2019

Photo: Sculpture depicting St. George slaying the dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missiles. UN Photo/Milton Grant.

Growing Anxiety About the Crucial 2020 NPT Review Conference

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The survivors of atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Mayors of the two Japanese cities whose inhabitants have experienced first-hand the mind boggling cruelty of nuclear weapons, representatives of other civil society organizations as well as the United Nations are increasingly concerned about the fate of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

: Santo D. Banerjee; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 26 October 2019

UN Chief Unveils Grand Design for the 75th Anniversary

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the midst of multiple crises compounded by paucity of funds threatening the very functioning of the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres has announced plans emphasizing the vital significance of the world body. Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020, he said, will feature a large and inclusive global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 24 October 2019

IAEA LEU Bank in Kazakhstan Becomes Operational

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – The new low enriched uranium (LEU) Bank is operational now, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is operational now. The LEU Bank will provide countries investing in nuclear power an assured supply of fuel to use for peaceful purposes without incurring the significant costs of building their own enrichment facilities and without adding to global proliferation risks.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 October 2019

Photo: A banner promoting the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit and Economic Forum in Sochi on October 23-24 at the Sirius Park of Science and Art, in Sochi, October 19, 2019. Credit: Dmitry Feoktistov/TASS Host Photo Agency.

Russia Opens a New Chapter with Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – Russian President Vladimir Putin has bashed Western States for resorting to pressure, intimidation and blackmail against governments of sovereign African countries, hoping that “it will help them win back their lost influence and dominant positions in former colonies and seek – this time in a ‘new wrapper’ – to reap excess profits and exploit the continent's resources without any regard for its population, environmental or other risks”.