United Nations

Photo: On December 10, 2001, the United Nations and its Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, received the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, on the 100th anniversary of the prestigious award. UN Photo/Sergey Bermeniev

Eradicating Poverty, Preventing Conflict, and Promoting Democracy are UN's Key Priorities

By Kofi Annan

Beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Following are extensive excerpts form his lecture – which is widely considered his legacy – at the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on December 10, 2001 in Oslo. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her – just as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions. But to be born a girl in today’s Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this hall would consider inhuman.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; Kofi Annan; 18 August 2018

Photo: Izumi Nakamitsu, United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, briefs the Security Council as it considers the situation in the Middle East. 5 February 2018. © UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Advancing Disarmament Within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu

The author is Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. This article first appeared in UN Chronicle, Vol. LV No. 2 2018 | August 2018.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – The idea that disarmament and arms control are connected to development is not new. Article 26 of the Charter of the United Nations recognizes disarmament as a precondition for durable peace, security and development by calling for the maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion of the world’s economic and human resources for arms.

For a long time, however, disarmament has largely slipped off the development agenda. This is despite overwhelming evidence that excessive arms accumulation diverts needed resources from development and fuels armed conflict and violence, leading to unnecessary death and suffering, social inequality and environmental degradation. Hence, the failure to establish effective disarmament and arms control systems is devastating to socioeconomic development, peace and security, and human well-being.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 10 August 2018

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres folds origami cranes with young Japanese leaders at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial. Credit: Dan Powell | UN Photo.

No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis, No More Hibakusha

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The survivors of the atomic bombings, known in Japanese as the hibakusha, have become global "leaders for peace and disarmament", United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan on 9 August 2018, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of that devastating day. Following are extensive extracts from Guterres' remarks. – The Editor

NAGASAKI (IDN-INPS) – I am humbled, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to be here with you to commemorate the women, men and children killed by the nuclear attack on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. I convey my deepest respect and condolences to everyone here today, and to all the victims and survivors of the atomic bombs.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 August 2018

Empower Indigenous Women, Strengthen Communities

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) - August 9 is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. On this occasion, UN Women calls on each of us to commit to making the voices of indigenous peoples, and indigenous women, louder and more impactful than ever before: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/8/statement-un-women-international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples.

At a time of unprecedented human mobility, indigenous women are on the move too, often fleeing violence, environmental disasters and land encroachments that have eaten into their sources of food, water and way of life. The positive economic spin-offs of migration don’t always reach them. Theirs is a move also for justice, as they mobilize to make their voices heard, demand punishment for perpetrators and reparations to restore their dignity.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 09 August 2018

Photo: High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu reading he UN Secretary-General‘s message in Hiroshima on 6 August 2018.

Rising Nuclear Tensions Call For Elimination Of Atomic Weapons

Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu

Ms Izumi Nakamitsu is High Representative, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). Following is the text of the message she delivered to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Service on 6 August 2018 on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. – The Editor

HIROSHIMA (IDN-INPS) – It is a privilege to pay tribute to the citizens of Hiroshima and all those who perished in the blinding flash of nuclear destruction, and in the weeks, months and years that followed, and to stand in solidarity with the Hibakusha and their families.

What occurred in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 cannot and must not ever happen again. The future of our children and of our children’s children depends upon it.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 06 August 2018

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (centre left) during the high-level meeting on United Nations reform convened by the United States. On his left is United States President Donald Trump. 18 September 2017. United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten.

UN Chief Begins To Walk The Talk For Promised Reforms

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has taken a vital step towards creating a '21st century UN' by introducing wide-ranging reforms to the way the world body works and how it delivers on its mandate – thus translating into action the announcement of his intention soon after taking office in January 2017.

Guterres has appointed Jens Wandel of Denmark as Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Reforms. An official announcement on July 31 said: "The Secretary-General has decided to establish a reform coordination structure under the joint leadership of the Deputy Secretary-General and the Chef de Cabinet to ensure a unified and cohesive change management programme across all three reforms, with dedicated teams to service each individual stream."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 06 August 2018

Photo: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed. UN Photo/Mark Garten

Governments, Partners Asked To Provide Funds, Incentives For Sustainable Development Targets

By Amina Mohammed

Following are extensive extracts from UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks at the informal briefing on the Secretary-General’s meeting on financing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in New York on July 27, 2018. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – As we look ahead together, our focus is clear: to advance implementation of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda and to mobilize the means to turn vision into reality.

Three years in, we face growing challenges. Despite global growth, we are seeing a waning commitment to international trade, climate, economic and financial cooperation. In many countries, public investment is constrained, while private investment does not always flow to where it is most needed. All of this threatens Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) implementation.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 28 July 2018

Climate Change Is Driving Up Forced Displacement By Disasters

By Mami Mizutori

The author is Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction and Head of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR). The following appeared as blog on 'Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform' on 17 July 2018. – The Editor.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – If there was a SDG18 it might well coalesce around the concept of 'Resilience for All.' As it is, the concept of resilience is fundamental to achieving all of the SDGs, seeking as they do to strengthen people’s ability to survive, cope and thrive on this planet.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 18 July 2018

UN Will Continue Support Of Africa's Transformation Under Way

By Amina Mohammed

Following are extensive excerpts from UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed's remarks to the 31st ordinary session of the African Union in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on July 1, 2018. – The Editor.

NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (IDN-INPS) – The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, places great importance on our long-standing but new-found strategic partnership with the African Union. Sustainable development is at the centre of that work. Africa's Agenda 2063 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development share a common vision and, together, they provide the basis for the African Union-United Nations Partnership framework for development informing the action plan to be launched in Addis Ababa in the coming days.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 July 2018

Photo: Police and stone-throwing demonstrators clash on a street in Srinagar, Kashmir. July 2016. Credit: VOA News | Wikimedia Commons.

UN Report Bashes India and Pakistan for Multiple Human Rights Violations in Kashmir

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – In its first ever report on the human rights situation in Indian- and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir, the UN has listed human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlighted a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces.

"There is an urgent need to address past and ongoing rights violations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, who for seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruined numerous lives," says the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner in a press release issued on June 14.