United Nations

Photo: The IAEA has assisted Sudan in using nuclear technologies to combat the effects of climate change. Credit: N. Jawerth/IAEA

UN Nuclear Watchdog Helps Countries Combat Climate Change

By Noah Mayhew, IAEA

VIENNA (IDN) – Climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges affecting humanity today, causing a dangerous rise in sea levels and disturbances to the water cycle and leading to more frequent extreme weather events. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) helps Member States combat climate change on a variety of fronts: mitigating the production and release of greenhouse gases (GHGs) and monitoring and adapting to their negative effects.

To further support these efforts, the Agency will host an International Conference on Climate Change and the Role of Nuclear Power from October 7-11 in Vienna.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 19 January 2019

Photo: Mediterranean forest area is on the rise but increasingly in jeopardy. Credit: CC Klodio70 @Flickr.com.

Expanding Mediterranean Forest Area Increasingly In Peril

By Jaya Ramachandran

ROME (IDN) – The Mediterranean forest area has expanded by two percent resulting in a rise of 1.8 million hectares – about the size of Slovenia, says a joint report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Plan Bleu, Regional Activity Center of UN Environment/Mediterranean Action Plan.

But the report titled The State of Mediterranean Forests 2018 warns that in the period 2010-2015 forests in the Mediterranean have also been considerably affected by degradation and are increasingly in jeopardy from climate change, population rise, wildfires and water scarcity.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 18 January 2019

Photo: One of the "organisations of world public heritage", proposed by The Agora of the Earth's Inhabitants, held at the Monastery of the Common Good in the village of Sezano, is the UN Security Council for Common Goods. Credit: UN University | Paulo Filgueiras.

Toward Building Organisations of World Public Heritage

By Sean Buchanan

This is the second of a two-part report on 'The Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth', organised to find a new paradigm that overcomes the political and ideal gap in which we are living. Read Part 1: 'In Quest Of A Charter Of Humanity' here.

ROME (IDN) – The seventh report presented at The Agora of the Earth's Inhabitants, held at the Monastery of the Common Good in the village of Sezano, near Verona in northern Italy, from December 14-16, 2018, was entitled “Organisations of World Public Heritage”.

Based on the premise that rights to life are the foundation of common rights, it argued that the concept of efficiency today is in stark contrast with the concept of humanity, and it condemned the utilitarian vision of life, which is dominated by the concept of profitability.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 17 January 2019

Photo: DR Congo President Kabila casts his vote during Presidential and Legislative elections in Kinshasa. Credit: MONUSCO/John Bopengo.

South Africa Calls For Solidarity With DR Congo As Security Council Debates Early Election Results

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – South Africa has called on the international community in general and the UN Security Council in particular to provide the necessary support to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the aftermath of the December 30 provincial and presidential elections that will be the first democratic transfer of power in the country’s history.

"The DRC has come a long way in its quest for peace and security," Ambassador Jerry Matthews Matjila, South Africa's Permanent Representative to the UN in New York told the Security Council during a three-hour debate on January 11 on preliminary results announced one day earlier, which put Félix Tshisekedi in first place for President, and the swift and varied reactions of some stakeholders.

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 January 2019

Photo: Skyline of Abu Dhabi, UAE, which will host 18th session of UNIDO's General Conference in November 2019.

UAE Hosts UNIDO's Supreme Policy Making Organ in November

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – When the Heads of State and Government, Ministers, and other official representatives, gathered in 2013 at the fifteenth session of the General Conference of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Peru's capital Lima, they agreed that eradication of poverty – Goal 1 of UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) – deserves priority.

Six years on, industrial development for poverty reduction, inclusive globalization and environmental sustainability will be the principal issues at the eighteenth session of the UNIDO General Conference in Abu Dhabi, from November 3 to 7 at the invitation of the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 12 January 2019

ILO Connects With The Public On World Of Work Issues

By ILO News

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – To coincide with its 100th year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced a Global Campaign, “Taking the ILO to the people”, that demonstrates the relevance of the Organization’s founding mandate to contemporary challenges and its central role in helping build a fairer future for all.

“Work and the search for it touches all of our lives, yet many don’t know the international organization that has helped shape the world of work since 1919. Our objective, through a unified global outreach effort, is to show how the ILO has benefited and continues to benefit people’s world of work experience,” said ILO Communications Director Martin Murphy.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 10 January 2019

Photo: The new UN Building at Tuanaimato. Credit: Government of Samoa/2017

UNCTAD Helps Pacific Islands Build New Economic Links

By Jamshed Baruah*

GENEVA (IDN) – United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has opened an office in Samoa to coordinate a trade and transparency project for Pacific small islands, ahead of a regional free trade agreement coming into force in 2019.

UNCTAD has joined agencies including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the International Labour Organization (ILO) and UN Women in new premises in the capital of Samoa to support coordinated multilateral assistance to small island developing states (SIDS) in the Pacific region.

: Jamshed Baruah; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 10 January 2019

Strengthening The Evidence Base To Deliver On The 2030 Agenda

Viewpoint by Gemma Van Halderen

The writer is Director, Statistics Division of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). This article appeared as blog on the UNESCAP website on January 2, 2019.

BANGKOK (IDN) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development has set an ambitious agenda of 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), 169 global targets and 232 global indicators. But wait, there is more. The indicators are to be disaggregated not by one or two but at least eight different characteristics: income, sex, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability and geographic location, or "other". And all "in accordance with the UN Fundamental Principles of Official Statistics" which recognize appropriate and reliable data needs to adhere to certain professional and scientific standards.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 January 2019

Photo: Coal-fired power plant. Credit: ozone.unep.org

New Agreement Seeks To Resist Powerful Greenhouse Gases

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI (IDN) – A new agreement signed in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, promises to fight global warming. Known as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, came into force on January 1, 2019.

According to UN Environment, it will reduce the projected production and consumption of powerful greenhouse gasses termed as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by more than 80 per cent over the next 30 years.

: Devendra Kamarajan; UN INSIDER; 06 January 2019

UNDP Selects Next Generation Of Leadership Worldwide

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – While the vast majority of the senior leadership of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – 126 Resident Representatives – were slated to leave the organization simultaneously on December 31, 2018, a new pool of world class talent has been selected to lead the UNDP's development work across the globe.

The new pool is not only 50:50 gender balanced and geographically diverse, it also implies a significant leap forward in preparing to play a crucial role in the implementation of the Secretary-General's reform of the United Nations Development System.