United Nations

Photo: Horst Köhler, newly-appointed Personal Envoy for Western Sahara (file). UN Photo/Mark Garten

Former German President Tasked With Bringing Peace To Western Sahara

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Nearly 26 years after a ceasefire was signed between Morocco and the Polisario Front on Western Sahara, the United Nations is hoping that Horst Köhler, former President of the Federal Republic of Germany, can help achieve a peaceful solution to the conflict. France and the Polisario Front share Secretary-General António Guterres' expectation.

Guterres announced on August 16 Köhler's appointment as his Personal Envoy for Western Sahara – located on the north-west coast of Africa bordered by Morocco, Mauritania and Algeria – which has been disputed since 1976, when fighting broke out between Morocco and the Polisario Front after the Spanish colonial administration of the territory ended.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 18 August 2017

Photo: UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed addressing the Security Council. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

Investing in Women, Girls Central to Efforts for Sustainable Peace, Development

By Amina J. Mohammed

Following is a slightly abridged version of UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed’s remarks, as prepared for delivery, to the Security Council meeting on peace and security in Africa, in New York on August 10, in which she reports on her visits to Nigeria and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. - Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - This undertaking, from 19 to 27 July, was the first of its kind: a high-level mission focused entirely on women, peace, security and development. I was pleased to be joined by the Executive Director of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict. . . as well as the African Union Commission’s Special Envoy on Women, Peace and Security.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 12 August 2017

Photo: Alison Smale, a British journalist, is the first head of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), since it was established in 1946, who comes from a country that along with China, France, Russia, and USA, is one of the five veto-wielding permanent (P5) members of the Security Council. Credit: YouTube/Hertie School of Governance, Berlin.

A British Journalist Given Charge of UN Global Communications

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Nearly three months after Cristina Gallach of Spain vacated her post as head of the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI), Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Alison Smale of the United Kingdom as her successor with the designation Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications.

Smale is the first head of DPI, since it was established in 1946, who comes from a country that along with China, France, Russia, and USA, is one of the five veto-wielding permanent (P5) members of the Security Council.

DPI maintains offices in 63 locations worldwide and is responsible for promoting global awareness and understanding of the work of the United Nations.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 09 August 2017

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres. Credit: UN

A Nuclear-Weapons-Free World Requires Global Effort

By António Guterres’

Following is UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ message to the Peace Ceremony in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6 2017 as distributed to the media and posted online https://www.un.org/press/en/2017/sgsm18634.doc.htm – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) - It is a profound honour to pay my deep respects to the victims of the atomic bomb and to the Hibakusha and the city of Hiroshima for your fortitude and example.

In 1946, when eminent personalities were invited to share their ideas for rebuilding Hiroshima, the distinguished Hibakusha novelist Yōko Ōta said her vision was “to interweave dream and reality in harmony and enrich citizens’ lives”. As the world looks to Hiroshima today, we see a city built on resilience and hope. Your determination for peace is an inspiration to the world.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 07 August 2017

Photo: Peter Thomson, President of the 71st session of the General Assembly (centre), Rafael Darío Ramírez Carreño, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to the UN and Chair of the Special Committee on Decolonization (left); and Miroslav Jenča, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs; at the opening of the exhibition entitled Commemoration of the 56th anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples on 16 December 2016 at the United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Colonialism Very Much Alive on UN Agenda

By Shanta Rao

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – There has been a longstanding myth that colonialism has been long dead – and was unceremoniously buried in the 1950s and 1960s.

But not so fast, says the United Nations.

A 29-member UN Special Committee on Decolonization, which was established by the General Assembly back in 1961, is very much alive and remains fully engaged.

But it is fighting a near-losing battle with a fistful of Western colonial powers who are determined to hold onto their colonies – euphemistically called “non-self-governing territories.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 07 August 2017

Photo: The UN Security Council unanimously adopts a resolution on non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and the intercontinental ballistic missile programme (ICBM) by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). UN Photo/Kim Haughton

Security Council Debates Effectiveness of UN Sanctions

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - While the UN Security Council unanimously moved on August 5 to expand sanctions against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK or North Korea) in response to the launches of ballistic missiles of possible intercontinental range, the Council discussed two days earlier the spirit and purpose of resorting to the restrictive instrument of sanctions.

The Security Council is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations, charged with the maintenance of international peace and security as well as approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers include the establishment of peacekeeping operations, the establishment of international sanctions, and the authorization of military action.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 05 August 2017

Photo: Every day too many men and women across the globe struggle to feed their children a nutritious meal. 795 million people – one in nine – still go to bed on an empty stomach each night. Credit: WFP Website.

A Long Way To Go Before Zero Hunger Appears Within Reach

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Hunger can be eliminated in our lifetimes: This was the underlying conviction when United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Zero Hunger Challenge in 2012. The Zero Hunger vision reflects five elements from within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which taken together, can end hunger, eliminate all forms of malnutrition, and build inclusive and sustainable food systems.

Nearly two years after the international community adopted a set of 17 SDGs to be achieved by 2030, some "20 million people are on the brink of starvation", the World Food Programme (WFP) has warned. "We can only achieve Zero Hunger if we transform the rural economy, put smallholders at the centre and invest in sustainable agriculture and food systems," said Maria Helena Semedo, FAO Deputy Director-General, Climate and Natural Resources.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 30 July 2017

Trade Can Deliver the 2030 Agenda, But Weaken Ecosystems Too

By Amina Mohammed

The author is Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. This article first appeared on UNCTAD website on July 21 with the caption: 'Can trade deliver the UN’s 2030 agenda?' – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) - Trade can be a source of prosperity, new ideas and shared values and ambitions. Today, the world strives to harness globalization in realizing the social, economic and environmental goals embodied in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Making sure that trade plays its part is a must, which means both sustaining it and ensuring its consistency with sustainable development.

Trade can create jobs, promote investment, spread technological progress and speed up communications and connectivity.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 28 July 2017

New UN Report Shows the Way to Achieving Agenda 2030

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A new United Nations study has warned that the current growth curve in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis "does not provide the enabling environment" for supporting progress in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the latest World Economic and Social Survey, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires "greater and deeper international coordination in key policy areas including fiscal, monetary and trade."

But the Report launched by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) finds that "such challenges are not insurmountable." In the last 70 years, says the Survey, the world has witnessed episodes of economies experiencing remarkable economic development, which include: Germany and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 18 July 2017

What After the Adoption of the UN Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty

By Susi Snyder

Susi Snyder is the Nuclear Disarmament Programme Manager for PAX in the Netherlands. She has published numerous reports and articles. She is an International Steering Group member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), and a 2016 Nuclear Free Future Award Laureate. Previously, Mrs. Snyder served as the Secretary General of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). – The Editor

UTRECHT, The Netherlands (IDN) - It’s nearly impossible to believe: nuclear weapons are banned. Outlawed. Making their way to where they belong, the dustbin of history. Since July 7 2017, that is a new reality. There is now a treaty that makes it illegal to make, have, get or use nuclear weapons. But what's the next step for the nuclear ban?