United Nations

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (fourth from left) and Tijjani Muhammad-Bande (left), President of the seventy-fourth session of the General Assembly, attend the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas. 26 September 2019.

UN Chief Warns of Nuclear Disarmament Going Reverse

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the United Nations commemorated its annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons September 26, Secretary-General António Guterres underlined two political realities facing the world community.

Firstly, not only has progress on nuclear disarmament come to a halt, but “it is going in reverse,” he warned. Secondly, relations between nuclear-armed States are mired in mistrust while dangerous rhetoric about the utility of nuclear weapons is on the rise, he noted.

: Shanta Roy; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 29 September 2019

Photo: Opening Ceremony of Annual Meeting of Foreign Ministers of Group of 77. A wide view of the room as Secretary-General António Guterres (on screen) addresses the forty-third annual meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77. 27 September 2019. United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Concern About UN’s Smooth Functioning but Kudos for ‘G-77’

Viewpoint by António Guterres

Following are extensive excerpts from UN Secretary-General’ remarks to the opening ceremony of the forty-third annual meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 134-nation Group of 77 developing countries and China, in New York on 27 September 2019.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Group of 77 and China are on the frontlines of multilateralism and of support for a strong United Nations, consistent with your founding principles. I thank the State of Palestine for its effective Presidency of the Group.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 28 September 2019

Photo: UN Chief António Guterres (centre) speaks with Mohammad Shtayeh, Chair of the Group of 77 and Prime Minister of the State of Palestine, at the forty-third annual meeting of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77. At left is Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations. At right is Mourad Ahmia, G77 Executive Secretary. 27 September 2019. United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Palestine-Led G-77’s Work Pertinent to 80% of the UN Agenda

Viewpoint by Mohammad Shtayyeh

Following are extensive excerpts from statement by Mohammad Shtayyeh, Prime Minister of The State of Palestine, at the 43rd Annual Meeting of the Ministers For Foreign Affairs of the 134-nation Group of 77 in New York on 27 September 2019.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Our Group was created 55 years ago to confront the imbalances in the global economy and inequalities in the trading and financial system, including by enhancing our negotiating capacity within the UN. Since then, it has been a force to be reckoned with. Our unity and solidarity have prevailed over all circumstances and continue to do so.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 28 September 2019

Image credit: Dominic Chavez, World Bank.

Up to 5 Billion People Could Miss Out on Health Care in 2030

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Time is running out for countries to achieve the global goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). A new report warns that if current trends continue, up to 5 billion people will still be unable to access health care in 2030 – the deadline world leaders have set for achieving universal health coverage. Most of those people are poor and already disadvantaged.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 22 September 2019

New Report Highlights Growing Gap Between Global Targets and Climate Reality

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – A landmark new report has underlined the glaring – and growing – gap between agreed targets to tackle global warming and the actual reality. The report, United in Science, includes details on the state of the climate and presents trends in the emissions and atmospheric concentrations of the main greenhouse gases. It highlights the urgency of fundamental socio-economic transformation in key sectors such as land use and energy in order to avert dangerous global temperature increase with potentially irreversible impacts. It also examines tools to support both mitigation and adaptation.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 22 September 2019

Greta Thunberg on the United Nations Youth Climate Summit

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 21 September 2019

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

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

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.