United Nations

Photo: Jardim Constantino in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal. Credit: UN News/Ana Carmo.

From Coronavirus to Climate and Gender Equality

By J Nastranis with UN News in Brief

NEW YORK (IDN)— As the coronavirus continues to spread globally, the UN's top human rights official Michelle Bachelet appealed on March 6 to countries and businesses to put rights "front and centre" to protect their most vulnerable citizens. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that although the virus would likely have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions because of the expected global economic slowdown, it was too soon to say how great that impact might be.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 10 March 2020

New UN Women Report Warns That Gender Equality Is Under Threat — Major Women Conference Falls Prey to Coronavirus

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) —While a new UN Women report warns that progress towards gender equality is faltering and hard-won advances are being reversed, the 64th session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) has fallen prey to concerns regarding coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

CSW is the principal global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women. A functional commission of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), it was established by ECOSOC resolution 11(II) of 21 June 1946.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 05 March 2020

Photo: The Government of Kenya, the UN and development partners receive a warm reception in West Pokot on 26 February 2020. Credit: UN

UN Supports Sustainable Development of Kenya's 'Last Frontier'

Viewpoint by Mohammed Simba Guleid

The writer is the CEO of the Frontier Counties of Kenya and the former Deputy Governor of Isiolo County.

NAIROBI (IDN) – The United Nations estimates that Sub-Saharan Africa loses 40 billion hours per year collecting water. In most of Kenya's water-scarce regions, this invariably involves an already poorly-nourished mother lugging a 20-kg jerrycan for about three hours every day under 40^o C temperatures – often carrying a baby on her back.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 March 2020

Photo: An arsenic-free water plant has been established in Sirajganj, Bangladesh, enabling students to access arsenic-free water. Previously, they had to rely on pond water, making them susceptible to disease. 5 May 2016. ©GMB Akashss

SDG 11 and the Crucible of Sustainable Development Success

Viewpoint by Jaffer Machano

The writer is Global Programme Manager, Municipal Investment Finance, United Nations Capital Development Fund. This article first appeared 18 February in UN Chronicle, a digital magazine of the United Nations, produced by the Department of Global Communications.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The lexicon of sustainable development includes an oft-used term: market failure. The term has been attributed to, and popularized by, a Hungarian-born economist who would eventually serve under United States President Lyndon Johnson before teaching at Harvard University—Francis Michel Bator.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 29 February 2020

UN Study Predicts $32 Billion Fall in Post-Brexit UK Exports

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN | UNCTAD) — A new study expects non-tariff measures (NTMs) to cause major fractures in post-exit trade relations between the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU), knocking up to US$32 billion, or 14 per cent, off of UK exports to the EU.

NTMs are policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can potentially have an economic effect on international trade in goods, changing quantities traded, or prices, or both. They are the key factors mediating market access in the world economy.

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 25 February 2020

Photo: Dr. Agnes Kalibata, Rwanda's Minister of Agriculture and Animal Resources from 2008 to 2014. Source: IFDC Website

How Agri-Business Corporations Influence UN Institutions

Viewpoint by Anuradha Mittal

The writer is the founder and executive director of the Oakland Institute.

SAN FRANCISCO (IDN) – As Dr. Agnes Kalibata arrived in Rome on February 10, 2020 to meet with Dr. QU Dongyu, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), her appointment as the UN Secretary-General Guterres' Special Envoy to the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit was rejected by over 175 civil society organizations from 83 countries.

By 2021, when the UN summit will take place, an estimated one billion people will be suffering from chronic undernourishment while climate crisis is already the defining issue of the century.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 February 2020

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (left) briefs the UN General Assembly on his Priorities for 2020 and the Work of the Organization. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten.

2020 Priorities and the Work of the United Nations

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from the UN Secretary-General’s remarks to the General Assembly on 22 January on his priorities in 2020.

NEW YORK (IDN) – 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. I draw tremendous strength from all that we represent and all that we have achieved together. Yet anniversaries are not about celebrating the past; they are about looking ahead.

We must cast our eyes to the future with hope. But we must also do so without illusion. Today I want to speak to you in stark and simple terms about the challenges we face.

I see “four horsemen” in our midst — four looming threats that endanger 21st-century progress and imperil 21st-century possibilities.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 07 February 2020

Photo: People wear face masks at China's Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport. Credit: UN News/Jing Zhang

WHO Initiates a Two-Pronged Move to Combat Coronavirus

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Two important steps have been taken to combat further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China and globally. On the one hand, the international community has launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020. On the other, the World Health Organization (WHO) is convening a global research and innovation forum at its headquarters in the Swiss city on February 11-12.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 06 February 2020

Photo: The session on climate emergency at Jaipur Literature Festival. (L to R Ms. Renata Dessallien, resident coordinator of UN in India; Ms. Namita Waikar, managing editor of online journal PARI; Ms. Shubhangi Swarup, writer and filmmaker; Ms. Dia Mirza, Actress and UN Advocate for Sustainable Development. Credit: UN India/Yangerla Jamir.

UN Avails of Famed Literature Festival to Achieve Global Goals

By Devinder Kumar

JAPIPUR (IDN) – As part of a Decade of Action for accelerating sustainable solutions to all the world’s biggest challenges — ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap – the United Nations availed of a new tool end of January: the world’s largest literature festival in India’s eminent ‘pink city’ of Jaipur, the capital of the scenic, almost magical Indian state of Rajasthan. It is known as the Pink City due to the colour of the stone used for many of its glorious palaces and historic monuments.

: Devinder Kumar; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 04 February 2020

Photo: The aftermath of the devastating airstrike on the Tajoura Detention Centre, in the suburbs of the Libyan capital, Tripoli, on 2 July. Credit: UNSMIL/Georg Friedrich.

UN Report Condemns Missile Attacks Against Civilians and Migrants in Libya

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – A United Nations report has condemned a missile attack against Mitiga Airport, near Tripoli’s centre. At least two civilians were injured, while the tarmac and several buildings were damaged.

The joint report of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) and the UN human rights office in Geneva, published on January 27, said that at least 287 civilians were killed and around 369 others injured in 2019 alone, with airstrikes accounting for 60 per cent of those casualties. The situation shows no sign of abating.