GLOBAL GOVERNANCE

Photo: Craters and boreholes dot the former Soviet Union nuclear test site Semipalatinsk in what is today Kazakhstan. (File) Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Reaffirm Commitment to Ban Nuclear Tests, UN Chief Says in Message for International Day

By UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) — Countries which have not yet ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) are urged by UN Secretary-General António Guterres to do so without delay.

The UN chief made the appeal in his message for the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, observed on Sunday, 29 August.

The date marks the 30th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site in Kazakhstan, the largest of its kind in the former Soviet Union, where more than 450 nuclear devices were exploded over four decades.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 29 August 2021

Photo: United Nations (UN) General Assembly hall at the UN Headquarters, New York City. CC BY-SA 2.0

Will Mandatory Vaccinations Apply to UN Staff & Diplomats?

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — The rigid new restrictions imposed by New York city—currently facing a surge in the deadly Delta corona virus variant—have prompted scores of US companies to impose mandatory vaccinations on all employees, mostly returning to work after temporary lockdowns.

The mandate follows the approval on August 23 of the Pfizer vaccination by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) after a prolonged study of its effectiveness.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 26 August 2021

Photo: The UN has been supporting displaced families in Afghanistan, providing emergency shelter and protection. Credit: IOM/Mohammed Muse

UN Relocates its Besieged Staff from a Strife-Torn Kabul in Virtual Chaos

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — As the US airlifts its diplomats and embassy staffers, along with thousands of local Afghan employees, from the chaotic capital of Kabul, the United Nations has followed in its footsteps by relocating some of its more than 300 international and 3,400 national staffers who were tasked with peacekeeping and humanitarian missions in Afghanistan.

UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said August 18 that some of these staffers were traveling from Kabul to Almaty, Kazakhstan, where they will continue their work remotely.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 19 August 2021

Photo: South Sudanese refugee, Yiech Pur Biel, runs the 800-metres for the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio. (August 2016) © UNHCR/Benjamin Loyseau

Leading Athletes Stress the Role of Sport in Building a Better World for All

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations is convinced that sport promotes values such as diversity, tolerance and respect and contributes to the empowerment of women and young people, individuals and communities, as well as to health, education and social inclusion objectives. With this in view, the UN Department of Global Communication's office at the country level has initiated SDG Zone at Tokyo, titled "Teaming Up through Sport to Advance the SDGs".

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 15 August 2021

Photo: Haiti was struck on August 14 by a deadly 7.2-magnitude earthquake that left hundreds dead and countless others injured. (file) MINUJUSTH/Logan Abassi

UN Working with Aid Partners in the Wake of Massive Earthquake Hitting Haiti

By UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations is working to support rescue and relief efforts in Haiti following a powerful earthquake that reportedly left hundreds dead, with perhaps even more injured and missing, and caused massive damage in the south-western part of the country.

UN chief António Guterres said that he is closely following the latest unfolding tragedy in Haiti, while UNICEF reported that its teams already on the ground are making assessments to prioritize urgent needs and provide assistance to affected populations in the wake of the 7.2 magnitude quake that has reportedly killed more than 500 people.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 15 August 2021

Photo: T. S. Tirumurti, India’s ambassador to the United Nations, leads the monthly rotating Security Council presidency in August. JOHN PENNEY

India Aims to Use Its Security Council Seat to Show Why It Should Be Permanent

By Stéphanie Fillion, Passblue

NEW YORK (IDN) — The presidency of the Security Council is always a high time for a country’s diplomacy, but for India right now, it’s more than that. In August, the country is going to try to show the world why it deserves a permanent seat in the United Nations’ most important body. According to T. S. Tirumurti, India’s ambassador to the UN, the Covid-19 pandemic has once again highlighted the need for major reforms of the Council and India’s long quest for permanency in it.

: Opinion Editor; UN INSIDER; 08 August 2021

Photo: Injured civilians, having escaped the raging inferno, gathered on a pavement west of Miyuki-bashi in Hiroshima, Japan, about 11 a.m. on 6 August 1945. UN Photo/Yoshito Matsushige

UN Notes ‘Stalled’ Progress on Nuclear Disarmament

By UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) — The world needs the continued moral leadership of the people of Hiroshima, the top United Nations disarmament official said, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing that devastated the city while lamenting that after decades of momentum towards a nuclear-free world, “progress has stalled.”

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 08 August 2021

Photo: Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar officially assumed the office of Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on August 1. Source: ICAO

A Colombian Replaces China's Dr. Liu as Head of UN's Civil Aviation Organization

By J C Suresh

TORONTO | MONTREAL (IDN) — Colombia's Mr. Juan Carlos Salazar officially assumed the office of Secretary General of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on August 1, succeeding Dr. Fang Liu of China. Mr Salazar is the second to replace a Chinese as head of a UN specialized agency.

: J C Suresh; UN INSIDER; 01 August 2021

Photo: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.

UN Urges Action as COVID Leaves Millions Vulnerable

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — The COVID pandemic has pushed no less than 124 million more people into extreme poverty. "Many millions" have been left vulnerable to the scourge. Half of victims in low-income countries are children, noted UN Secretary General António Guterres noted just ahead of the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons. adding that Most are trafficked for forced labour, added the UN Chief.

: Caroline Mwanga; UN INSIDER; 29 July 2021

Photo: Some 220 former refugee families from Somalia are now farming in the US state of Maine. UN News/Daniel Dickinson

The Somali Refugees Planting a New Life in The United States

By Muhidin Libah, UN News Feature

This feature story told in first person is republished from UN News. Read the original article.

NEW YORK (IDN) — After spending years living in UN-supported camps in Kenya, some 220 former refugees from Somalia now work as farmers in the US state of Maine, growing crops ranging from beets to broccolini.

Thousands of Somalis who fled persecution and civil war in the Horn of Africa country have benefitted from resettlement programmes in third countries like the US.