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Photo: Visit by the Secretary-General to the newly renovated GA Hall, 15 September 2014. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

UN Members Should Stand Strong on Human Rights Funding

Viewpoint by Louis Charbonneau

The writer is United Nations Director of Human Rights Watch.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — United Nations member countries currently haggling over the organization’s 2022 budget should stand firm against Russia and China-led efforts to slash funding for UN human rights work.

Every December, diplomats on the UN General Assembly’s fiscal body, the Fifth Committee, hold negotiations on the UN budget. As in past years, China and Russia have been pushing to cut funding for a number of budget items related to human rights, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 22 December 2021

Photo: At the UN in Geneva the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots called on governments to not allow the development of weapons systems that would select and attack targets without any human intervention. © 2018 Clare Conboy.

Blatant Abuse of Consensus by Russia

By Ray Acheson

The writer is Director of Reaching Critical Will and Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF).

NEW YORK (IDN) — During the final day of the Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) in Geneva on December 13-17, the constant refrain from the Russian delegation, “our position has not changed”, led to the systematic removal from the document of progress across all remaining substantive issues.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 22 December 2021

Photo: Annalena Baerbock, German Foreign Minister. Photocosmos1/Shutterstock

An Important TPNW Signal from Germany—But Nothing More

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

BONN (IDN) — The new German coalition government will not rock the foundations of German foreign and security policy. It wants to remain a reliable partner in the EU and NATO. But it sends an important signal for disarmament and arms control efforts. The 177-page coalition agreement contains the following passage on the TPNW: "In light of the results of the NPT Review Conference and in close consultation with our allies, we will constructively accompany the intention of the treaty as observers (not as members) at the Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons."

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 22 December 2021

Photo: UNMAS, MINUSMA Mark International Day for Mine Awareness. Robots have been deployed for mine clearance by military authorities in many countries, but concerns are rising over regulation of autonomous weapons which use Artificial Intelligence. UN Photo/Marco Dormino

US, Russia Stall Attempts to Ban Killer Robots

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — As the US withdrew the last of its troops from Afghanistan on August 31 following a deadly 20-year-old war, one of the messages coming out of Washington was clear: the US will curtail “boots on the ground” in all future conflicts—even though there are still more than 40,000 American troops stationed around the Middle East.

But the wave of the future may be 'killer robots'—mostly the deployment of drones or unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs)—in “shadow wars,” particularly against terrorist groups worldwide.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 21 December 2021

Photo: Wing Loong II at Dubai Air Show 2017. CC BY-SA 4.0

The Pentagon’s 20-Year Killing Spree Has Always Treated Civilians as Expendable

Viewpoint by Norman Solomon

The writer is the national director of RootsAction.org and the author of many books including War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death. He was a Bernie Sanders delegate from California to the 2016 and 2020 Democratic National Conventions. Solomon is the founder and executive director of the Institute for Public Accuracy.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 21 December 2021

Photo: US President Biden met virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping from the Roosevelt Room of the White House on 15 November 2021. Source: Los Angeles Times.

A New Cold War Between Russia and The West Is Unnecessary

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — George Orwell, the author of “Animal Farm”, the satire on how a dictatorship can slowly but steadily evolve in a democratic society, and “1984”, a novel about a future dystopian dictatorship, was the first person to use the phrase “Cold War” in a 1945 newspaper article, written just after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 21 December 2021

Photo: The 17 Sustainable Development Goals projected on UN headquarters, New York, 2015. UN Photo/Cia Pak

With a Rise in Infections, UN Advises Staffers to Work Remotely—and Return to their Homes

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The United Nations, which temporarily dropped its defences and partially lifted its 20-month-old lockdown last month, has reacted swiftly to the rise in COVID-19 infections in New York city by suspending its “flexible working arrangements” and advising staffers to work remotely—from their homes beginning December 20.

The new restrictions will continue through January 9, 2022.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 20 December 2021

Major New York Buyer of Looted Antiquities Ordered to Return Some Pieces but No Prosecution

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A golden bowl, a ceremonial libations vessel, a marble statue and a small chest for human remains were among the 180 reputedly stolen antiquities that decorated the homes and offices of a Brooklyn billionaire whose collection of the ancient artefacts was valued at $80 million.

Under a deal struck by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., a multi-year, multinational investigation of artefacts in the possession of hedge fund pioneer Michael Steinhardt will not be prosecuted.

: Global Information Network; ARTS & CULTURE; 20 December 2021

A Book Fair Blossoms in Mogadishu

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | MOGADISHU (IDN) — A Book Fair is flowering in Mogadishu, bringing the world of literature and other areas of learning to a region challenged by the coronavirus pandemic and political tension linked to disagreements over the ongoing parliamentary elections in the country.

The event had been suspended last year due to Corona-19.

This year’s event was limited in size but according to the founder of the fair, Mohamed Diini, organizers are already working to accommodate more people next year.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 20 December 2021

Kenya's Nomads Hit by Longest Dry Spell in Memory

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) — Kenya’s crucial rainy season came up short this year with only a few showers, wiping out livestock and putting millions of people at risk.

Photographs from Wajir County, near the border with Somalia, show dying and dead cows in a desert dotted with thorn trees. The longest dry spell in memory is pushing pastoralists nearer to starvation. “If they die,” said one herder referring to his camels, “we all die.”