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Saturday, November 7, 2026
News and Views from the Global South
DEVELOPMENT: Africa Falters in Food Security Goals
Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the developing world where the shortage of food has "substantially worsened" over the last three decades, a new study warns.DISARMAMENT: UN to Track Small Arms, But Not Ammo
Convinced that small arms are the primary weapons of choice in most of the deadly conflicts in the world's battle zones, the United Nations is in the process of finalising a new political agreement obliging arms manufacturers to mark and identify all light weapons.POLITICS: African Veto Demand Risks Security Council Reform
The 53-nation African Union (AU), the largest single regional group at the United Nations, is exercising its political clout by refusing to back down on its demand for two permanent seats in the U.N. Security Council - but with hard-to-get veto powers.POLITICS: US-UN Relations May Be on a Collision Course
As the United Nations gets ready to mark its 60th anniversary at a summit meeting of world leaders next month, the United States may be heading towards a political confrontation course with the world body.POLITICS: Showdown Looms on UN Summit Declaration
The United Nations is heading for a political showdown over a landmark declaration up for approval at an upcoming summit. Hanging in the balance is not only the UN's development agenda for the next decade, but also new measures aimed at restructuring the world body.POLITICS: Showdown Looms on UN Summit Declaration
The United Nations is heading for a political showdown over a landmark declaration to be approved at an upcoming major summit meeting, described by Secretary-General Kofi Annan as potentially "the largest gathering of world leaders ever."POLITICS: U.N. Millennium Summit in Danger of Being Hijacked
The 60-year-old United Nations, criticised for its inherent structural political flaws, is so preoccupied with restructuring itself that the upcoming Millennium Summit is in danger of losing sight of one of its primary goals: a plan of action to primarily eradicate extreme hunger and poverty by 2015.POLITICS: Japan, China Caught in U.N. Tug-of-War
Just before Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao's state visit to the tsunami-hit Sri Lanka last April, an advance team arrived in Colombo to finalise logistical arrangements.RIGHTS: U.N. Skirts Sanctions for Child Soldier Recruiters
After nearly six months of political dilly-dallying, the U.N. Security Council has taken the first "major" step forward to protect children in armed conflicts - but stopped short of penalising member states and rebel groups guilty of recruiting and abusing them.POLITICS: U.N. Member States Struggle to Define Terrorism
The rash of terrorist bombings in Britain, and most recently in Egypt, have prompted Secretary-General Kofi Annan to prod the U.N.'s 191 member states to speed up a long-delayed decision on one of the most politically sensitive issues in the world body: a definition of "terrorism".RIGHTS: Women May Lose Basic Rights Under New Constitution
The irony is not lost either amongst women's groups in Baghdad or activists in the United States: Iraqi women who enjoyed basic human rights under one of the world's most repressive regimes headed by former President Saddam Hussein are now on the verge of losing their hard-won freedoms under a U.S.-blessed administration in the insurgent-ravaged country.POLITICS: U.N. Chief Warns of Collapsing Peace Agreements
As hundreds of civil society representatives and peace activists gather at the United Nations for a three-day conference to launch a new agenda for conflict prevention, there is growing scepticism about the durability of peace agreements that are signed in post-war situations.HEALTH: HIV/AIDS Threatens Militaries Worldwide
The United Nations is urging stronger international cooperation and long-term strategies to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, which is causing devastation among peacekeepers and national militaries worldwide.POLITICS: U.S. Push for Global Democracy Excludes U.N.
The United States, which preaches democracy to the Middle East and rest of the world, seems unwilling to share equitable political power in one of the world's most undemocratic and anachronistic institutions: the 15-member U.N. Security Council.TSUNAMI IMPACT: Aid at Unprecedented Levels, but Recovery Lags
The international community, which responded magnanimously with over 10.7 billion dollars in pledges for tsunami relief and reconstruction, has to sustain its momentum to tackle the more difficult longer-term recovery phase of the devastated Indian Ocean countries, a U.N. special envoy told delegates Thursday.CORRECTION*/POLITICS: Security Council Reforms Head for Another Dead End
After nearly 12 years of mostly fruitless discussions and protracted debates, the United Nations is heading for yet another deadlock as it makes a frantic attempt to radically restructure the most powerful political body in the Organisation: the 15-member Security Council.POLITICS: Security Council Reforms Head for Another Dead End
After nearly 12 years of mostly fruitless discussions and protracted debates, the United Nations is heading for yet another deadlock as it makes a frantic attempt to radically restructure the most powerful political body in the Organisation: the 15-member Security Council.POLITICS: Security Council Blamed for Inaction on Child Soldiers
Canada is leading a coalition of some 13 Western nations critical of the U.N. Security Council for dragging its feet over a proposed resolution aimed at penalising governments and rebel groups recruiting child soldiers in war zones.DEVELOPMENT: Rising Population Threatens Global Security
The world's rapid population growth, predicted to rise from the current 6.5 billion people to about 9.1 billion by the middle of the century, could have "serious security consequences" not only for a country or region but for the entire world, a new report warns.CORRECTED REPEAT/POLITICS: U.N. Faulted for Jettisoning Development Agenda
The United Nations is increasingly focusing its attention on terrorism, human rights and peacekeeping to the detriment of one of its primary mandates: advancing the economic agenda of developing nations, which comprise over two-thirds of the 191-member world body.DEVELOPMENT: US Dragging Feet on Poverty Goals, Groups Charge
The United States, which has brushed aside international treaties relating to war criminals and prisoners of war, is being accused of consistently reneging on its longstanding commitments to help resolve some of the social and economic problems of the world's poorer nations.« Previous Page — Next Page »
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