UN Insider

Photo: Kim Jong Un visits with scientists at Kim Chaek University of Technology in Pyongyang. Source: Korean Central Television, September 29, 2018.

New Report Warns of the Perils of Scientific Collaborations with North Korea

Partner Countries Include China, USA, Australia and Germany

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – Direct collaboration between North Korean and foreign scientists including those from China, Australia, the United States, Germany, and Romania, is playing "an expanding role" in the regime’s pursuit of technological advancement, a new study has found.

Published on December 19, this study comes two months after Foreign Policy (FP) carried an article by Colum Lynch on September 20, 2018 with the headline, North Korea Evades Sanctions – But a feud between Russia and the U.S. has kept the document from being published.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 20 December 2018

Photo: World’s first drone-delivered vaccine in Vanuatu. The vaccine delivery covered almost 40 kilometres of rugged mountainous terrain from Dillon’s Bay on the west side of the island to the east landing in remote Cook’s Bay. UNICEF/Pacific

One Short Drone Flight Is A 'Big Leap' For Global Health

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK | PORT VILA (IDN) – One month old Joy Nowai has become the world’s first child to be given a vaccine delivered commercially by drone in a remote island in the South Pacific country of Vanuatu, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on December 18.

The vaccine delivery through the state-of-the-art craft covered almost 40 kilometres of rugged mountainous terrain from Dillon’s Bay on the west side of the island to the east landing in remote Cook’s Bay, where 13 children and five pregnant women were vaccinated by Miriam Nampil, a registered nurse.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 19 December 2018

Photo: Tadamichi Yamamoto, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, briefing the Security Council. Credit: unama.unmissions.org

Possibility of Peace in Afghanistan Was Never More Real Than It's Now – UN Envoy

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The possibility of a negotiated end to the conflict in Afghanistan has never been more real in the past 17 years than it is now, according to the United Nations top envoy in Afghanistan.

Tadamichi Yamamoto told the Security Council on December 17 he is encouraged by several recent developments, including the appointment of a team to negotiate with the Taliban, the announcement of a peace advisory board representing a broad set of Afghan politicians and recent initiatives by key international partners.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 17 December 2018

Photo: Tadamichi Yamamoto, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan (left), and Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the United Nations (centre). Credit: Kazakh Mission to the UN in New York.

Kazakhstan Continues Discussions on Cooperation Between Afghanistan and Central Asia States

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Ambassadors from Central Asia and UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan and head of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Tadamichi Yamamoto met at Kazakhstan's Permanent Mission to the United Nations on December 14, two weeks ahead of the Central Asian state's non-permanent membership of the Council coming to an end.

They discussed the outcomes of the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan on November 27-28, 2018, and contribution of the Central Asian states to ensuring security and promoting development in the country.

: Santo D. Banerjee; CENTRAL ASIA; 17 December 2018

Photo: Youth Forum in Tokyo. Credit: Yukie Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Japan Shines with a Youth Forum to Commemorate Universal Human Rights Declaration

By Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN) – When the UN General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in Paris on December 10, 1948, it came up with a milestone document in the history of human rights that took into account the horrendous experiences of the Second World War.

With the end of that war, and the creation of the United Nations, the international community vowed never again to allow atrocities like those of the Second World War happen again. It pledged, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected.

: Katsuhiro Asagiri; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 16 December 2018

Photo: COP24 closing plenary meeting in Katowice, Poland.

World's Poorest Look Forward to 2019 Climate Summit at the UN

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK | KATOWICE (IDN) – The year 2018 has been marked by a series of natural disasters underlining that no country is immune to the impacts of climate change. But it is the nearly 1 billion world's poorest people living in the 47 least developed countries (LDCs) that are often hit the hardest, suffer the most, and have the least capacity to cope with the catastrophic consequences, says Ethiopia's Gebru Jember Endalew, Chair of the Least Developed Countries Group.

"While there are parts of the package that could and should have been stronger, the implementation guidelines adopted . . . provide a strong basis to start implementing the Agreement. The next step, of course, is for countries to take urgent, ambitious action to fulfil their Paris Agreement commitments," LDC Group's Chair added.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 15 December 2018

UNDP Welcomes Significant Rise in German Funding

Berlin a 'Launch Partner' to UNDP’s Accelerator Labs in 60 Countries

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has greeted the German government's decision to raise a further 25 percent in funding from its 2019 core resources, which follows a 60 percent increase for 2018. Germany is currently the largest government donor to UNDP.

Germany – which assumes a seat in the UN Security Council on January 1, 2019 as a non-permanent member for 2019-2020 – has also confirmed that it will become a “launch partner” in supporting UNDP’s pioneering and groundbreaking launch in January 2019 of Accelerator Labs in 60 developing countries.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 13 December 2018

Photo: High Atlas Foundation works in rural areas of Morocco to target the most marginalized communities. Credit: High Atlas Foundation.

Participatory Development is a Humane Alternative to Migration

Viewpoint by Yossef Ben-Meir and Manon Burbidge

While Yossef Ben-Meir, Ph.D. is a sociologist and President of the High Atlas Foundation, based in Marrakech, Manon Burbidge is a post-graduate studying Human Ecology at Lund University, Sweden and currently interning at the High Atlas Foundation.

MARRAKECH (IDN) – December 2018 is gearing up to be a pivotal month for migration on the world stage, and the epicentre is here, in Marrakech, Morocco, with two high-level fora taking place concerning development and migration.

However, in order for the discussions that take place at such conferences to be impactful on the lives of ordinary people.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; UN INSIDER; 12 December 2018

Photo: Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration Conference Site, Bab Ighli, Marrakech, Morocco © UN Photo/Mark Garten

European Parliament Hails the Global Compact for Migration

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) regret "the campaign of disinformation" that has led to several countries withdrawing their support from the United Nations Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration (GCM). They emphasize that the migration compact is a non-legally binding framework that does not create new obligations for states and is in full respect of the principle of national sovereignty.

164 out of the 193 member states of the UN that had gathered in Marrakech approved the Compact by consensus on December 10, defying the United States and other countries that had withdrawn, citing concerns about migrant flows and national sovereignty.

: Robert Johnson; UN INSIDER; 11 December 2018

Photo: UN Trust Fund 16 Days Fundraising Event. Credit: UN Women

Survivors and Activists Spotlight Solutions to End Violence Against Women

By UN Women

LOS ANGELES (IDN-INPS) – Commemorating Human Rights Day and the global advocacy campaign “16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence”, the UN Trust Fund to End Violence against Women (UN Trust Fund) held a fundraising luncheon in Santa Monica, California, on December 10. In the hometown of the #MeToo movement, the event brought together a powerhouse of survivors, dignitaries, UN officials, gender experts and Hollywood celebrities.

Hosted by UN Women’s Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and Goodwill Ambassador Nicole Kidman, the event celebrated the ground-breaking initiatives supported by the UN Trust Fund across the world over the past 22 years and highlighted the work that remains to end this human rights violation, which impacts one in three women worldwide.