UN Insider

Photo: Jamal Khashoggi offers remarks on "Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia: A Deeper Look" during Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) on 21 March 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN Expert Demands from Saudi Arabia Public Trials of Khashoggi's Accused Killers

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Six months after veteran Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has in a report criticised Riyadh's closed-door trials of accused killers, which have thus far fallen short of meeting "international standards".

In her report released on March 28, Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur leading an independent human rights inquiry into Khashoggi's killing, renews her "request for permission to undertake a country visit to Saudi Arabia".

: Jamshed Baruah; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 30 March 2019

EU and International NGOs Exploit Aid to Fortify Forced Labour in Eritrea

Viewpoint by Makeda Saba

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The Dutch Foundation Human Rights for Eritreans, an organization of exiled Eritreans, is taking legal action against the European Union. It is demanding of the EU to immediately stop funding a project in Eritrea which involves use of forced labour and enslavement.

The European Union has allocated €20 million for the project aimed at “reconnecting Eritrea and Ethiopia through rehabilitation of the main arterial roads in Eritrea”. It will finance the reconstruction of the Nefasit-Dekemhare-Senafe-Zalembessa road, the main route that allows the easy transportation of goods between landlocked Ethiopia and Eritrea.

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 March 2019

Photo: UN Chief addressing High-level meeting on Climate and Sustainable Development for All on March 28. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

UN Chief Calls for Urgent Action to Address Dangers Linked to Climate Change

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – Concerned about rising global temperatures and disastrous consequences, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on Heads of State to attend the Climate Action Summit in New York on September 23, and achieve positive change.

“Don’t come with a speech, come with a plan,” he said, adding: “This is what science says is needed. It is what young people around the globe are rightfully demanding.”

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 29 March 2019

Photo: Relief efforts under way in Mozambican city of Beira. Source: africanews.

Aid Slow to Come to the Rescue of Mozambicans Hard Hit by Idai

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - Since Cyclone Idai roared into the Mozambican port city of Beira on March 14, devastating losses are mounting exponentially yet international aid has been slow to reach all survivors.

Severe flooding produced by Idai's strong winds and heavy rains caused the rivers Pungwe and Buzi to break their banks. In the district of Buzi, thousands clung for their lives on trees and rooftops, as their villages turned into an ocean. Even as the rains have subsided and the waters are receding, the risk of flooding remains, as dams upstream reach full capacity.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 March 2019

Image: Cover of joint ACP Group-UNOSSC report. Source: ACP

Landmark Report Stresses Importance of South-South and Triangular Cooperation

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK | BUENOS AIRES (IDN) – South-South and triangular cooperation has triggered over decades the vigorous economic growth of countries of the global South such as Brazil, China, India and the Gulf States, and proved to be an important solution for many of today’s development challenges. It should, therefore, be seen as a critical complement to North-South cooperation, says a new report by the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group) and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC).

: Santo D. Banerjee; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 26 March 2019

IDN is flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate.

UN Environment Assembly Spells Out 'The Future We Want'

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Global gross domestic product has doubled since 1970, enabling immense progress, and lifting of billions of people out of poverty. At the same time, this economic growth has been fueled by a relentless demand for natural resources. At no point in time nor at any level of income, has our demand for natural resources wavered, notes the Global Resources Outlook 2019.

"Our consume and throwaway models of consumption have had devastating impacts on our planet," says the report presented during the fourth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) in Nairobi, Kenya, March 11-15.

: Justus Wanzala; UN INSIDER; 25 March 2019

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo repeats threats to ICC. Credit: U.S. Department of State.

U.S. Threats Against International Criminal Court Under Fire

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – The U.S. threat to penalize and impose economic sanctions against judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) – if they bring charges of war crimes against American troops in Afghanistan – has sparked an avalanche of criticisms from human rights groups, think tanks and civil society organizations (CSOs).

The strong protests have come from the World Federalist Movement-Institute for Global Policy (WFM-IGP), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) and the International Service for Human Rights (ISHR), among others.

: Shanta Roy; UN INSIDER; 24 March 2019

Photo: llustrations for the promotional materials of the 2019 World Water Day Campaign “Leaving no one behind.” Right to left: Water for all older people, Water for all refugees, Water for all rural people. Images: UN Water.

'Water for All by 2030' Remains Little More than a Pious Wish

By Reinhard Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – More than 2 billion people live without safe water at home. One in four primary schools have no drinking water service, with pupils using unprotected sources or going thirsty. More than 700 children under five years of age die every day from diarrhea linked to unsafe water and poor sanitation. Globally, 80 percent of the people who have to use unsafe and unprotected water sources live in rural areas.

These are some of the facts reflecting stark reality on the ground, making the motto of the World Water Day 2019 – "water for all by 2030" as envisaged in the UN's Sustainable Development Goal 6 to "ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all" – sound like a pious wish.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; SUSTAINABILITY; Clean Water & Sanitation; 23 March 2019

Photo: Participants rejoice as the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women adopts Agreed Conclusions, delivering a roadmap that ensures women’s social protection, mobility, safety, and access to economic opportunities. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown

A 'Level Playing Field' for Women and Girls Key to Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

By Caroline Mwanga

New York (IDN) – UN Member States have agreed to safeguard and improve women's and girls' access to social protection systems, public services and sustainable infrastructure, ensuring that their design and delivery is transformed to prevent discrimination and create a "level playing field" for women and girls.

This is the upshot of the two weeks of intense dialogue, the 63rd session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW63), concluded March 22 in New York.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 23 March 2019

Photo: An ambitious new conservation programme brings six nations together to ensure the future of one of the world’s most vital ecosystems. Photo: Joseph King (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).

New Global Initiative to Ensure the Future of Congo Basin Forest

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – Stretching from the Gulf of Guinea in the west to the Rift Valley in the east, the Congo basin is the beating heart of African biodiversity. Spanning 530 million hectares across six countries – Cameroon, Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and the Republic of the Congo – the basin contains some 70 per cent of the continent’s forest cover and is home to one of every five species on our planet.