United Nations

Photo: A glimpse of the UNAI conference. Credit: The International Studies Association (ISA)

Unlocking Emotional Intelligence to Achieve Global Goals

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – A vibrant and diverse network of students, academics, scientists, researchers, think tanks, and institutions of higher education around the world, serve as incubators of new ideas, inventions and solutions to diverse global challenges, and are therefore vital to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI), says its Chief, Ramu Damodaran, aligns these institutions with the United Nations in supporting and contributing to the realization of the Organization's goals and mandates, including the promotion and protection of human rights, access to education, sustainability and conflict resolution.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 31 May 2019

Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres receives the Charlemagne Prize in Aachen, Germany on 30 May 2019. Credit: UNFCCC/James Dowson.

The United Nations Need a Strong and United Europe

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from the Secretary-General's address on May 30, 2019 in Germany at the International Charlemagne Prize of Aachen, the ancient continental capital for the Unity of Europe, close to the French border, where he received the prestigious Charlemagne Prize, awarded each year since 1950, for services towards European unification. The European Union, which grew out of the ashes of two world wars, has forged “an exemplary partnership” with the United Nations, said the UN chief, and the breakup of the 28-nation political and economic bloc, “would inevitably be the failure of multilateralism and the failure of a world in which the rule of law can prevail”. – The Editor

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 30 May 2019

Photo: Parents visiting her 15-year-old daughter, who is suspected of being infected by Ebola, at the Ebola Treatment Center in Beni, DRC (January 2019). Credit: World Bank /Vincent Tremeau.

UN Appoints ‘Ebola Chief’ As the Menace of Deadly Virus Grows

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – “We have no time to lose.” That’s the new mantra at the United Nations as the spread of the deadly Ebola virus in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo now appears almost unstoppable.

In a move to bolster efforts to contain the growing outbreak that has killed more than 1,200 people in 10 months, the United Nations on May 23 named David Gressly as the Emergency Ebola Response Coordinator (EERC).

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 28 May 2019

Photo: Women from all ethnic groups in Gao and the surrounding villages come together in the Peace Hut. Credit: UN Women/Sandra Kreutzer

Women's Peace Hut Develops into a Driver of Economic Growth

A UN Women News Feature

This feature first appeared on May 7, 2019 with the headline A place of peace, reconciliation and growth.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – The air is dry and hot in Gao. Here, in the north of Mali, the temperatures rarely fall below 30 degrees even in colder months. Around 1 million people live in the largest northern city, who have suffered tremendously as a result of the violent conflict through 2012 and 2013 and the occupation by militant Islamist groups.

Thousands have been displaced, the economy had almost collapsed and is now recovering slowly. Much has been destroyed during the fighting – the airport, markets and public buildings – infrastructure and services that make life normal. Gao is still one of the most dangerous places in Mali.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 20 May 2019

Photo: Press Briefing by Syed Hasrin Syed Hussin (right), Chair of the Third Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference, on May 10, 2019 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Malaysian Diplomat Shows Courage on Way to Landmark NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Ray Acheson

This article first appeared as Editorial in NPT News in Review, Vol. 16, No. 7 on May 10, 2019. The writer is the Director of Reaching Critical Will – the disarmament programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She represents WILPF on several coalition steering groups, including the 2017 Nobel Laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Ray is a 2018 UN Women Metro-NY "Champion of Change". – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Standing up to bullies is always hard. It takes courage and resilience. Ambassador Syed Hussin of Malaysia and his team demonstrated this in spades. They listened to vehement criticisms from nuclear-armed states for the revised draft recommendations.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 13 May 2019

Photo credit: SDG Global Festival of Action

Global Festival Looks Beyond Promises of Agenda 2030

By Sean Buchanan

BONN (IDN) – The SDG Global Festival of Action, which takes place in Bonn every year, is an occasion for bringing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) campaigners and multi-stakeholder partners together for inspiring and broadening the global movement to take action for the SDGs.

It provides a dynamic and interactive space to showcase the latest innovations, tools and approaches to SDG advocacy and SDG action.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 07 May 2019

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (on screen) makes remarks at the Financing for Development Forum of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Session 2019 on April 15. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

2019 A Defining Year for Implementing SDGs and the Paris Agreement

By António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from opening remarks of the UN Secretary-General to the 2019 ECOSOC Financing for Development Forum on April 15. This, he said, was “critical moment for governments, businesses, and societies to accelerate action for sustainable development”.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – We have the tools to tackle poverty, inequality, climate change and environmental pressures. They were defined in the great multilateral agreements reached in 2015: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Addis Ababa Agenda for Action, and the Paris Agreement on climate change.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 16 April 2019

Inadequate Funding Threatens Sustainable Development Goals

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Much to the United Nations’ dismay, desperately missing funds are imperiling realization of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Investments that are critical to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals remain underfunded and parts of the multilateral system are under strain, warned a new report as the fourth Forum on Financing for Development opened on April 15, 2019 at the UN Headquarters.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 15 April 2019

Photo: ESCAP Executive Secretary Dr. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana. Credit: ESCAP

New Study Asks Asia-Pacific to Raise Ambitions Beyond Mere Economic Growth

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) – Three years of implementation of the transformative 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Asia and the Pacific shows the region has some catching up to do.

Despite much progress, the region is not on track to reach the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set out in the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 04 April 2019

Photo: Jamal Khashoggi offers remarks on "Mohammed bin Salman's Saudi Arabia: A Deeper Look" during Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED) on 21 March 2018 in Washington, DC. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

UN Expert Demands from Saudi Arabia Public Trials of Khashoggi's Accused Killers

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Six months after veteran Saudi journalist and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi was killed at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has in a report criticised Riyadh's closed-door trials of accused killers, which have thus far fallen short of meeting "international standards".

In her report released on March 28, Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur leading an independent human rights inquiry into Khashoggi's killing, renews her "request for permission to undertake a country visit to Saudi Arabia".