UN Insider

Photo: Saint Lucia’s Prime Minister, Allen Chastanet Speaking at the first-ever United Nations Trade Forum, organized by UNCTAD in Geneva, Switzerland, from 9 to 13 September 2019. Credit: Timothy Sullivan (UNCTAD)

Extinction ‘Imminent’ for Small Islands

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK | GENEVA (IDN) – Islands are often emblazoned across tourism pamphlets, glorified as the epitome of natural beauty and portrayed as idyllic places of escape. But this image is far from the dark reality they face.

Changes in sea level, temperature, precipitation, a growing number of extreme storms and floods, visible vulnerability of critical infrastructure such as ports and airports, growing unpredictability, and the fact that there is nowhere to go, is a daily threat for the 65 million people living in 57 small island developing states (SIDS) scattered throughout the world’s oceans.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 12 September 2019

Photo: On 4 September 2019, Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Sri Lanka’s Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva who presided over the 9th MSP, handed over the Presidency of the Convention on Cluster Munitions to Ambassador Félix Baumann, Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the Conference on Disarmament as the President of the Second Review Conference. Credit: The Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Sri Lanka Praised for Advancing the Cluster Munitions Convention’s Objectives

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Sri Lanka has won kudos for a number of progressive measures taken during its presidency of the Ninth Meeting of States Parties (MSP) to the Convention on Cluster Munitions (CCM) that addresses the humanitarian consequences and unacceptable harm caused to civilians by cluster munitions, through a categorical prohibition and a framework for action. The Convention observed its ninth anniversary on August 1, 2019.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 11 September 2019

Gunnar Myrdal Went Wrong with His ‘Asian Drama’

Viewpoint by Deepak Nayyar

The transformative experience of the last five decades shows that policymakers should approach development with a diagnostic mind and a healthy scepticism of magic wands, silver bullets, and universal prescriptions, writes Deepak Nayyar, Emeritus Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. The following text is based on his input into a three-day global conference on ‘Transforming Economies for Better Jobs’ from 11 to 13 September 2019 co-hosted by UNU-WIDER and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 September 2019

Image: These cranes made by origami are called orizuru and are one of the classic origami designs (Japanese paper folding technique). Legend has it that whoever manages to join 1,000 paper cranes with threads (senbazuru) will fulfill a wish. They became popular as a symbol of peace after World War II. Source: UNICEF

UN Convenes A High-Level Forum to Stress the Significance of Culture of Peace

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – "The seed of peace exists in all of us. It must be nurtured, cared for and promoted by us all to flourish. Peace cannot be imposed from outside – it must be realized from within," says Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury in the run-up to the High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace on September 13, 2019 in the UN headquarters in New York.

Exactly the same day 20 years ago, in 1999, the General Assembly adopted, by consensus and without reservation, the pioneering and norm-setting resolution 53/243 on the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 10 September 2019

Financing Gap of Trillions of Dollars to Achieve 17 SDGs

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Although significant progress has been made since the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in 2015, recent data confirm that the world is not on track to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This includes the slow pace at which the financing gap for the SDGs – amounting to trillions of dollars – is being filled.

This in turn is adversely affecting financing, which is the thread that connects many of the priorities from advances on climate action to universal health coverage to the SDGs and small island developing States.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 09 September 2019

India Calls for A Global Water Action Agenda to Restore Degraded Land

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – As COP14, the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) entered the second week, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi opened the ministerial segment calling on the international community to set up a global water action agenda as the central theme to achieve land degradation neutrality (LDN).

: Devinder Kumar; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 09 September 2019

Organic Agriculture Key to Combat Land Degradation

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – In 2018, the first 100% organic state in the world, Sikkim in the North of India, received the Gold Award of the UN backed Future Policy Award, also known as ‘Oscar’ for best policies. The policy enhances soil fertility and increases biodiversity at field and landscape level. Further states in India and the Himalayas have adopted 100% organic farming goals or aim to adopt them.

: Devinder Kumar; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 07 September 2019

Image credit: sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgsummit

Everything Has to Change for Our Planet to Stay the Same

By António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations

NEW YORK (IDN) – Our planet is changing dramatically. Forests are burning, sea ice is shrinking, and the Greenland icecap is pouring unprecedented amounts of water into the ocean. Levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are higher than they have been in human history, climate disruption is the new reality, and scientists are warning that the planet is simply not capable of coping with the growing pressure being placed on it by humanity.

Since I became Secretary-General, I have witnessed what it means to live in a world that is, on average, one degree Celsius hotter than it was before the industrial revolution. I have come to know the dramatic force of natural disasters supercharged by climate change.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 06 September 2019

Golf’s Championship Takes a Swing at Single-Use Plastics

A UN Environment Feature

NAIROBI (IDN) – The small Scottish seaside town of St Andrews is replete with a rich history which includes a castle and Scotland’s oldest university, founded in 1413.

In 1754, the town witnessed another first when The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews was established. Today, St Andrews is also the home of The R&A which governs the sport worldwide (apart from the United States and Mexico) and organizes The Open, golf’s oldest major championship.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Responsible Consumption & Production; 02 September 2019

Photo credit: twitter.com/antonioguterres

UN Chief Applauds Japan-Africa Partnership Through TICAD

By Taro Ichikawa

YOKOHAMA (IDN) – "I see Africa as a dynamic continent of opportunity where winds of hope are blowing ever stronger. TICAD has played a critical role in focusing international dialogue on Africa, built on the twin principles of African ownership and international partnership," said UN Secretary-General António Guterres kicking off the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD 7). The United Nations, UN Development Programme (UNDP), World Bank and the African Union Commission (AUC) co-hosted the conference in Yokohama city.