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Saturday, November 7, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
POLITICS: Taylor, the Most and Least Wanted Man
The United Nations is on a global hunt for a jailhouse for former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who is to stand trial in the Netherlands for committing "crimes against humanity" both in his home country and in neighbouring Sierra Leone.POLITICS: Staff on War Path with U.N. Chief
The 5,000-strong U.N. Staff Union, which has publicly expressed anger and frustration over its frayed relationship with senior management in the Secretariat, wants to turn to the 191 member states for help to redress their grievances.RIGHTS: U.N. Urged to Create Separate Agency for Women
A proposed blueprint for a radical restructuring of the United Nations as envisaged by outgoing Secretary-General Kofi Annan has fallen short of its target in one specific area: gender empowerment.RIGHTS: U.S. Quits Council Race, Possibly Fearing Defeat
The United States, which has been lambasted for human rights abuses both by members of its armed forces in Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad and by U.S. law enforcement officials in the Guantanamo detention facility in Cuba, has backed out of a hotly contested race for membership in the newly-created U.N. Human Rights Council (HRC).RIGHTS: Embracing Cheap Workers, Ignoring Their Welfare
The top 10 countries hosting the largest number of international migrants have neither signed nor ratified a 1990 U.N. convention aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers worldwide.RIGHTS: Embracing Cheap Workers, Ignoring Their Welfare
The top 10 countries hosting the largest number of international migrants have neither signed nor ratified a 1990 U.N. convention aimed at protecting the rights of migrant workers worldwide.POLITICS: Big Powers Still Monopolise Top U.N. Jobs
The United Nations has constantly been accused of favouring the world's big powers in appointments to some of the most senior jobs in the organisation- despite a longstanding General Assembly resolution warning against this monopolistic practice.RIGHTS: Recruiters of Child Soldiers Targeted for Prosecution
The United Nations and international human rights organisations have long campaigned against recruiters of child soldiers, urging their prosecution as "war criminals".POLITICS: U.N. Gets High-Tech Security Upgrade – Again
The United Nations, which has so far escaped a terrorist attack on its 39-storeyed Secretariat building housing over 3,500 staffers, is planning to strengthen its overall security - armed with a budget of about 415 million dollars for 2006-2007.POLITICS: Post-War Liberia Seeks Way Out of Poverty and Chaos
Liberia's newly-installed head of state, Pres. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, has been doing the rounds in Washington and the United Nations seeking assistance to lift her war-ravaged country out of abject poverty and economic chaos..POLITICS: U.N. Reform Plan Is U.S.-Driven, Staff Charges
The 5,000-strong U.N. Staff Union, which passed a vote of "no confidence" in Secretary-General Kofi Annan last month, has implicitly declared that his much-publicised plan to restructure the world body is driven primarily by a single country: the United States.POLITICS: Security Council’s Secretive Habits Challenged
A group of five U.N. member states - Switzerland, Costa Rica, Jordan, Liechtenstein and Singapore - has initiated a new resolution calling for greater transparency in the usually-secretive working methods of the most powerful body at the United Nations: the 15-member Security Council.DISARMAMENT: Arms Dealers Make Mockery of U.N. Embargoes
The United Nations Security Council remains powerless and ineffective as mandatory military sanctions imposed on conflict-ridden countries and rebel groups are being openly violated, a coalition of international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) said Thursday.RIGHTS: U.N. Creates New Watchdog Over U.S. Opposition
A running gag at the United Nations is that whenever the United States takes a defiant stand against an overwhelming majority of the 191 member states, there are only three countries that predictably vote with Washington most of the time - whether it is right or dead wrong.This held true Wednesday when Israel, Palau and the Marshall Islands voted with the United States when it rejected a resolution calling for the creation of a new Human Rights Council.
RIGHTS: U.N. Creates New Watchdog Over U.S. Opposition
A running gag at the United Nations is that whenever the United States takes a defiant stand against an overwhelming majority of the 191 member states, there are only three countries that predictably vote with Washington most of the time - whether it is right or dead wrong.POLITICS: U.S. Under Fire for Labour Rights Abuses
The United States, a self-styled promoter of human rights and global democracy, has come under heavy fire for "serious violations" of labour rights in its own backyard.POLITICS: U.S. Isolated in Opposing New Human Rights Body
The United States is being reduced to a minority of one in its unyielding opposition to a proposal to create a new Human Rights Council (HRC) to replace the U.N.'s existing much-maligned Human Rights Commission in Geneva.POLITICS: Staff Union Votes “No Confidence” in U.N. Chief
For the first time in the 60-year history of the world body, the U.N. staff union has declared it has "no confidence in the secretary-general and his senior management team".POLITICS: U.S. Tries to Foil Asia’s Claim for Top U.N. Job
The United States is calculatedly trying to undermine Asia's claims for the job of U.N. secretary-general by promoting an Eastern European candidate for the post, which falls vacant by the end of this year.POLITICS: U.N. Chief Challenged at Contentious Staff Meeting
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who released a major report Tuesday on management restructuring, faced a barrage of questions at a contentious town hall meeting of U.N. staffers who criticised his proposals relating to appointments, proposed lay-offs and management support systems.INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Groups Blast U.N. on Gender Parity
A coalition of international women's organisations - including more than 240 women from over 50 countries - has castigated both U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the 191 member states for paying "lip service" to the cause of gender parity in the world body.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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