Languages
Saturday, November 7, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
POLITICS: U.N. Accused of Undermining Palestinian State
When Ban Ki-moon was asked about the scathing remarks by his former Middle East envoy denouncing the strongly partisan U.N. role in the ongoing peace talks, the U.N. secretary-general appeared more distressed with the public revelation of a confidential document than with the strong views articulated by his Under-Secretary-General Alvaro de Soto.POLITICS: U.N. Officials Wary About Publicising Assets
When Ban Ki-moon took the oath of office as secretary-general of the United Nations last January, he pledged to set the "highest ethical standards" in the organisation.
SUDAN: U.N. Seeks African Troops for New Hybrid Force
The United Nations is saddled with the arduous task of raising a 17,000 to 20,000-strong peacekeeping force for the politically troubled Darfur region in Sudan following a long-awaited agreement for the creation of a joint U.N.-African Union (AU) mission for that country.RIGHTS: Bangladesh Detains U.N. Expert
The United Nations has expressed concern over the detention of one of its human rights experts by the Bangladeshi government on charges of corruption.POLITICS: Is U.S. Eyeing U.N. as Dumping Ground for Iraq?
Faced with an unwinnable five-year war in Iraq, the United States may be looking towards the United Nations to extricate it out of the growing military quagmire, according to diplomats and political analysts.POLITICS: Is U.S. Eyeing U.N. as Dumping Ground for Iraq?
Faced with an unwinnable five-year war in Iraq, the United States may be looking towards the United Nations to extricate it out of the growing military quagmire, according to diplomats and political analysts.DEVELOPMENT: U.N. Backs Rising South-South Cooperation
Dramatically explosive growth in trade and investments among the world's developing nations has prompted a call to strengthen the growing economic trend at a proposed international conference on South-South cooperation.POLITICS: Security Council Called Hypocritical on Nukes
The political and moral authority of the five veto-wielding members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) to sit in judgment over nuclear non-proliferation is being challenged in a new report released Thursday.
POLITICS: U.N. Peacekeeping Budget Soars Sky High
The United Nations is commemorating its annual "International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers" to mixed reviews, its successes being tainted by increasing accusations of sexual abuse and misconduct by its troops, and more recently, charges of illegal arms trafficking in return for gold in resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo.
CLIMATE CHANGE: U.N. Braces for New Breed of Refugees
As the international community continues to express fears over the potentially devastating impact of global warming worldwide, there is also growing concern over the steady increase in a new category of displaced persons: environmental refugees.HEALTH: Sanitation Advocates Lead Bowl Movement
Sim Jae-Duck, a member of the South Korean national assembly, did a quick survey of the urban landscape in New York last week and expressed disappointment over a woeful shortage of public restrooms in a densely-populated city of over eight million people.DEVELOPMENT: Winners and Losers in Globalisation Struggle
Globalisation, widely perceived as the growing economic interdependence of countries worldwide, is a mixed blessing to the world's three billion poverty-stricken people living on less than two dollars a day.POLITICS: Multiplying NGOs Find Increased Public Scrutiny
As international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) continue to spread their wings to the far corners of the world, their social and economic activities, as well as their humanitarian operations in politically-troubled regions, are increasingly under public scrutiny.ENVIRONMENT: U.N. Debates Wider Leadership Role on Climate
As climate change and global warming continue to dominate the headlines, there is a concerted move once again to revive the longstanding proposal for an expansion in the role of the United Nations in fighting environmental degradation.RIGHTS: U.N. Rights Monitors Under Threat, Say NGOs
A move to create a "code of conduct" for the U.N.'s 41 independent monitors - whose investigations include torture, racism, extra-judicial executions and violence against women - has triggered fears of possible restrictions on their existing rights and mandates.POPULATION: NGOs Warn of World Bank “Fundamentalists”
When the United States tried to water down a longstanding policy on reproductive health and family planning at the World Bank last month, there was a storm of protests from population experts and activist groups worldwide.RIGHTS: U.S. “Moral Authority” Rests on Big Stick
When the 192-member U.N. General Assembly meets in mid-May to elect 14 new members to the 47-nation Geneva-based Human Rights Council (HRC), the United States will be conspicuous by its absence and missing from the ballot.POLITICS: U.N. Readies for Draft on Small Arms Control Treaty
Against the backdrop of a new national poll calling for stricter gun control in the wake of the mass killings of 32 people on a U.S. university campus last week, the United Nations is getting ready to formulate a new international treaty regulating the proliferation of small arms worldwide.RIGHTS-ASIA: Many Women Leaders, Not Much Equality
Asia, a sprawling continent which has produced the world's largest number of female heads of government, lags far behind both in gender equality and gender empowerment.RIGHTS: U.S.-Aussie Refugee Swap Comes Under Fire
A controversial bilateral deal between Australia and the United States to swap refugees has triggered a storm of protests from human rights activists and legal experts.CLIMATE CHANGE: Legitimacy of Security Council Meeting Challenged
The legitimacy of a much-ballyhooed Security Council meeting on climate change was challenged by developing nations who argued that the threat to the global environment is not a subject within the purview of the U.N.'s most powerful political body.« Previous Page — Next Page »
The Week with IPS
NEXT STOP - SDGs
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
Tracking global progress towards a sustainable world
