UN Insider

Photo: Aminatou Haidar meeting an old friend on her departure from prison. CC BY-SA 2.0

Western Sahara Rights Activist Awarded Major Peace Prize

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Right Livelihood Award, widely known as the ‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ goes to five human rights activists this year. Among them is Aminatou Haidar of the Western Sahara.

Ms. Haidar receives the Right Livelihood Award “for her steadfast nonviolent action, despite imprisonment and torture, in pursuit of justice and self-determination for the people of Western Sahara”, according to organizers of the event in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 December 2019

South Africans Mark World Aids Day With New ‘Wonder’ Drug

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – On the occasion of World Aids Day on December 1, South African health minister Zweli Mkhize announced the roll-out of a new state-of-the-art antiretroviral drug which, he said, should drastically reduce the number of people living with HIV.

The roll-out could start as soon as this month. A modified three-in-one pill was hailed as a ‘game-changer’, much needed in South Africa where 7.7 million South Africans are living with HIV.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 03 December 2019

Image: Flags welcome visitors to the COP25 venue in Madrid. Photo: UN Climate Change / Flickr.

Making COP25 an ‘Ambitious’ Climate Summit

Viewpoint by Cleo Verkuijl

The author is a Research Fellow at Stockholm Research Institute (SEI) Oxford and her main expertise is on climate change law and policy. She joined the SEI Oxford office in March 2017, where she is concentrating on legal and political aspects of fossil fuel subsidies reform. This article first appeared on SEI Website.

OXFORD (IDN) – This year’s UN Climate Change Conference, or COP, marks the 25th such gathering bringing together the world’s governments to negotiate solutions for tackling the climate crisis. A milestone; yet at first glance there is little cause for celebration.

: Santo D. Banerjee; OPINION; 02 December 2019

Africa Forum Urges Investors to Support Inclusive Development

By Bernhard Schell

CAIRO (IDN) – “I stand here on behalf of the United Nations system and reaffirm our strong commitment to the member states and the people of Africa,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), adding: “I strongly believe Africa is one of the greatest forces for good in our world.”

: Bernhard Schell; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 December 2019

Photo: Germany and UNIDO reinforce partnership through strategic talks. Credit: UNIDO.

Strategic Talks Reinforce UNIDO Partnership with Germany

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – Germany and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have agreed to strengthen their partnership towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During high-level strategic talks in Berlin, hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on November 26-27, Germany and UNIDO underlined the importance of each other as partners.

: Jutta Wolf; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 01 December 2019

Photo: Twenty-five years since the 1994 Nobel Peace Prize shared by Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat – who negotiated and signed the Oslo Peace Accords – peace continues to evade the Middle East, Palestine-Israel relations remain tense and a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Zone in the region is nowhere in sight. The picture shows Rabin (left) shaking hands with Arafat (right) at the World Economic Forum in Davos, 2001 | Credit: CC BY-SA World Economic Forum.

Middle Eastern States Are Back on The Path to A WMD Free Zone

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash and former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The establishment of a nuclear weapon free zone in the region of the Middle East has been one of the most frustrating undertakings in the field of arms control and non-proliferation at the United Nations. Over the past few decades it has been possible for States in other regions of the globe to successfully negotiate and adopt treaties that establish nuclear weapon free zones that greatly enhance peace and security.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 01 December 2019

Photo: Mario Marazziti, co-founder of the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty in 2002 and Member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | INPS-IDN Multimedia Director.

Papal Visit to Japan Revives Debate About Death Penalty

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – An international conference "No Justice Without Life" has called on Japan to halt all executions next year, the year of the Olympic Games. Japan is one of the 56 nations which retains capital punishment, also known as the death penalty or death sentence for capital crimes. In fact, Japan, the United States and South Korea are the only nations in the group of developed economies that mete out death penalty.

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 30 November 2019

Photo: United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Adama Dieng, addressing the 12th International Meeting of Justice Ministers. Source: www.santegidio.org.

Defeating Hatred: For a World Without Death Penalty

Viewpoint by Adama Dieng

The following are extensive excerpts from the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Special Adviser of the Secretary-General on the Prevention of Genocide, Mr. Adama Dieng, to the 12th International Meeting of Justice Ministers, on 29 November in Rome. The meeting focussed on ‘Paving the Way: Defeating Hatred for a World Without Death Penalty’. Mr. Dieng is former board member of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and a former registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 30 November 2019

Photo: Collage of portraits of ESCAP Executive Secretary Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana (left) and UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka (right). Photos by ESCAP.

A Lot More Needs Be Done to Achieve Gender Parity

By Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Government Ministers and senior officials from the Ministries of Women, National Planning, and Finance, representatives of civil society and other key stakeholders from across the Asia-Pacific region have gathered at the United Nations Conference Centre in Bangkok, Thailand for a three-day Asia-Pacific Ministerial Conference on the Beijing+25 Review concluding on 29 November. The following is a joint viewpoint of Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of ESCAP, and Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Director of UN Women.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 27 November 2019

Communities at The Forefront in the HIV/AIDS Response

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the first identification of HIV/AIDS in the United States of America (USA), in 1981, approximately 80 million people have been infected with HIV, and over 40 million have died of AIDS – the highest global death toll of all time – and also one of the world’s most serious public health challenges.

Each year, on December 1, the world commemorates World AIDS Day to show support for people living with HIV and to remember those who have died from AIDS-related illnesses.