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Friday, April 25, 2014
Journalism and Communication for Global Change
United Nations
U.S. Public Feeling More Multilateral Than Isolationist
Amidst a roiling and mostly partisan debate over Washington’s global role, a survey released here Thursday suggests that President Barack Obama’s preference for relative restraint and multilateral - over unilateral - action very much reflects the mood of the voting public.
Violence in South Sudan at a Savage Turning Point
After a week that saw a massacre inside a U.N. base and wide-scale ethnic-based slaughter in an oil-producing region, the international community is grappling with what, if any, options remain to save lives in South Sudan.
Bringing the Bridges Home
As foreign forces withdraw slowly from Afghanistan, they leave behind a vulnerable band of people who were their ears and guides on the ground. These people who served as interpreters, face a life of threats and uncertainties. Many have been killed.
U.S.-Russia Sabre Rattling May Undermine Nuke Meeting
The growing tension between the United States and Russia over Ukraine has threatened to unravel one of the primary peace initiatives of the United Nations: nuclear disarmament.
Charting a Course for Survival, or Oblivion?
Hopefully, on Earth Day today, high-level ministers from all countries are thinking about what they can bring to the table at a key set of meetings on climate change in early May.
The Global Trading System Aims to Improve Children’s Lives
Although some people don’t see the connection, the global trading system is aimed at creating some of the essential conditions needed to improve children’s lives and their prospects in the future.
U.N. Denies Dragging Its Feet on U.S.-Iran Visa Dispute
After two long weeks of raging controversy over Washington's refusal to grant a U.S. visa to the Iranian envoy to the United Nations, the U.N.'s office of legal affairs is being accused of moving at the pace of a paralytic snail - only to seek more time while remaining non-committal on the dispute.
Afghanistan Turns a Political Corner
The Afghanistan presidential election is turning out to be a tale of two narratives. The more positive and democratic one could be winning the day.
OP-ED: Beyond the Street Protests: Youth, Women and Democracy in Latin America
Women’s empowerment and political participation are not only crucial for women: they are essential for effective democratic governance, one which promotes human rights and equity. The same can be said about the importance of boosting youth political participation.
U.N. Visa Denials Appendage of U.S. Foreign Policy
The United States has rarely, if ever, denied a visa to a head of state seeking to visit the United Nations to address the 193-member General Assembly, the highest policy making body in the organisation.
IPCC Climate Report Calls for “Major Institutional Change”
Greenhouse gas emissions rose more quickly between 2000 and 2010 than anytime during the previous three decades, the world’s top climate scientists say, despite a simultaneous strengthening of national legislation around the world aimed at reducing these emissions.
Emerging Nations Opt for Arms Spending Over Development
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has relentlessly advocated drastic cuts in global military spending in favour of sustainable development, will be sorely disappointed by the latest findings in a report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
“Sanitation for All” a Rapidly Receding Goal
World leaders on Friday discussed plans to expand sustainable access for water, sanitation and hygiene, focusing in particular on how to reach those in remote rural areas and slums where development projects have been slow to penetrate.
Peacekeepers Greenlighted for CAR, but Mission Will Take Months
Amid alarming reports of ethnic cleansing in the Central African Republic, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to send an official peacekeeping mission to the conflict-torn country where the minority Muslim population has all but disappeared in much its Western half.
Developing Nations Seek U.N. Retaliation on Bank Cancellations
The 132-member Group of 77, the largest single coalition of developing nations, has urged Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to provide, "as soon as possible...alternative options for banking services" in New York City following the mass cancellation of bank accounts of U.N. missions and foreign diplomats.Next Page »
It was dubbed "The Glass House" by U.S. ambassador James Wadsworth in 1966. But how transparent are the workings of the United Nations today? From offices at Headquarters in New York, and around the globe, IPS's coverage goes beyond the edicts of the Security Council and its influential veto-wielding members to illuminate the power struggles, successes and shortcomings of the 192-member institution as it grapples with crises like climate change, conflict and poverty.
