United Nations

Photo: UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants on September 19, 2016. Credit: UN

UN Prepares for Global Compact on Migration with UNU Backing

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) - UN Member States will engage in broad consultations throughout 2017 to inform negotiations on a global compact on safe, regular, and orderly migration in 2018. In this, the Global Migration Group (GMG), headed by United Nations University (UNU) Rector and UN Under-Secretary-General Dr David M. Malone since January 1 will play a crucial role.

GMG, a forum of 21 agencies and entities from the United Nations system, promotes norms relating to international migration so as to work towards improved global governance of this issue. UNU formally joined the GMG in 2014, placing UNU’s expertise on migration at its service.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 15 January 2017

Photo: António Guterres (centre) makes his first address to the Security Council as Secretary-General, on the issue of conflict prevention and sustaining peace. At right is Margot Wallström of Sweden, President of the Council for the month of January. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

New UN Chief Takes Landmark Step To Build and Sustain Peace

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) - Within days of taking up the post of the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres has urged the influential Security Council to undertake new, strengthened efforts to build and sustain peace ranging from prevention, conflict resolution and peacekeeping to peacebuilding and sustainable development.

Supporting Guterres, Sweden's Foreign Minister and Security Council President for January, Margot Wallström emphasized that a close and proactive working relationship between the Council and the Secretary-General was the cornerstone of the Organization’s ability to deliver lasting peace and security.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 13 January 2017

Photo: Ban Ki-moon (centre) holds press conference with President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi of Yemen (left) and Abdul Latif Bin Rashid Al Zayani of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, on 19 November 2012. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

Ban Ki-moon Leaves Behind a Mixed Legacy

By Rodney Reynolds

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – When former Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stepped down on December 31 after a 10-year tenure at the United Nations, he said his “deepest regret” was to leave office with “the continuing nightmare in Syria” where a six-year-old civil war has virtually devastated a country beyond physical recognition.

As Ambassador Marc-Andre Blanchard told a General Assembly December meeting that without action, Syria would soon become “a giant graveyard, as food supplies have been exhausted and families were eating grass and the little garbage left,” in order to survive.

: Rodney Reynolds; UN INSIDER; 11 January 2017

Photo: Repairing the water network in Jabalia camp, northern Gaza. Credit: UNRWA/Khalil Adwan

UN Agency Seeks $813 Million to Support Palestine Refugees

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) - In the face of humanitarian crisis plaguing Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including East Jerusalem – and those who have fled the conflict in Syria, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has launched an $813 million emergency aid appeal.

Speaking to UN News, Pierre Krähenbühl, the Commissioner General for UNRWA said: “Palestine refugees are among the worst affected by the conflict. Over 95 per cent of those who have remained in Syria – 430,000 – are in critical need of sustained humanitarian assistance.”

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 09 January 2017

Photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon bids farewell to delegates, staff, senior advisers, and other well-wishers at UN Headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Amanda Voisard

Ban Ki-moon Leaves a Legacy of Mediocrity

By The Nation (Thailand)*

BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) - Ban Ki-moon ended (on December 31) his decade as Secretary-General of the United Nations amid praise from many quarters, but this was mere diplomacy. Astute witnesses to his two terms in office know that, given the chance to stop wars, forge peace and foster international fraternity, to make the world safer and more equitable to all, he accomplished precious little.

His primary goal on taking office at the beginning of 2007 was to bring lasting peace to the Middle East. In this too he failed. Ban’s achievements in the area of environmental protection, specifically the Paris Protocol on climate change, allow him a legacy that is mixed at best.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 07 January 2017

Photo: Justin Brady, OCHA Somalia Head of Office, visiting projects in Mogadishu's Hodan District, Somalia. OCHA/Matija Kovač

Germany's Ursula Mueller New ASG For Humanitarian Affairs

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) - In a fresh move to deliver on his pledges on gender parity and geographical diversity, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has announced the appointment of Ursula Mueller of Germany as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator in the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Mueller is the fourth key woman for four key posts. According to a statement on January 5, she will succeed Kyung-wha Kang of the Republic of Korea, who is currently serving as Chief of the Transition Team in the Executive Office of the Secretary-General. She has served as Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs since April 2013, and was Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights from January 2007 to March 2013.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 06 January 2017

Photo: A UN peacekeeper with firearms collected from militias in Côte d'Ivoire. UN Photo/Ky Chung

UN Boosts Fight Against Small Arms, Light Weapons Trafficking

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - The United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) and the World Customs Organization (WCO) have agreed on a memorandum of understanding (MoU) of far-reaching significance to formalize existing cooperation.

The importance of the MoU is underlined by the fact that terrorism, proliferation of weapons and materials of mass destruction, trafficking of small arms and explosives, and illicit diversion of dual use goods pose a serious threat not only to security and safety of people, but also to economic development, political stability and social cohesion of countries across the globe.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 05 January 2017

Photo: While much of his work was centred at UN Headquarters in New York and world capitals, field work holds special place for Deputy Secretary-General Eliasson, UN Photo/Stuart Price

Deputy UN Chief Deems Culture and Spirituality Important

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – The outgoing United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson has urged world leaders to stop dividing humanity into "us and them”, and said that it is important "to realize that there is an element of spirituality needed in what we do".

In an extensive and in-depth interview with UN News, he described the "Syria tragedy" as his "greatest disappointment" and obliquely criticised the Security Council for having missed an opportunity to adopt a binding resolution four years ago.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 31 December 2016

Photo: Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

UN Partners With Africa’s Development Agenda 2017-2027

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) - The then United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Alpha Konare, Chairperson of the African Union Commission at that time, signed the Ten-Year Capacity Building Programme (TYCBP) for the African Union in 2006 as recommended by the UN General Assembly the previous year.

With that programme due to expire end of the year, the General Assembly has adopted on December 23 a new joint United Nations-African Union (UN-AU) proposal for a successor programme enshrined in the draft resolution titled Framework for a Renewed United Nations‑African Union Partnership on Africa’s Integration and Development Agenda 2017-2027 (document A/71/L.50).

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 31 December 2016

Photo credit: Spencer Cooper / CC BY-ND 2.0

UN Establishes Technology Bank For The World's Poorest

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - The world's 48 most impoverished and vulnerable countries have reason to rejoice. The United Nations General Assembly in New York finally established a Technology Bank for Least Developed Countries.

The Technology Bank is intended to help least developed countries strengthen their science, technology and innovation capacities, foster the development of national and regional innovation ecosystems that can attract outside technology and generate home-grown research and take these advancements to market.