UN Staffers, Threatened with Lay-Offs, are Offered Early Retirement

The United Nations, facing a liquidity crisis, has been threatening to lay-off about 20 percent of its estimated 37,000 employees world-wide: a proposed move that has triggered widespread protests from staff unions both in New York and Geneva.

UN80: From “Less-with-Less” to “More-with-Less”

With the ink hardly dry on the Pact for the Future outcome for modernizing global governance from last September’s Summit of the Future, the United Nations’ long-standing financial crisis has morphed into an extreme liquidity crisis.

Adesso Basta! Enough Is Enough. Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing

On August the first, the Italian daily La Repubblica published an interview with David Grossman, Israel’s most renown author and supporter of a “two-state solution”, as well as an outspoken critic of Israel's violence against Palestinian civilians.

Latin America’s Electric Mobility on China’s Path

Residents near the port of Itajaí in southern Brazil celebrated the arrival of 7,292 electric and hybrid vehicles from China aboard the ship BYD Shenzhen on May 28 as a "historic event," with unloading taking four days. 

From Semei to Hiroshima: Astana Times Editor on Bringing Global Solidarity Through Journalism

Eighty years ago, the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki left a lasting reminder to humanity of the inhuman nature of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan, too, is a nation deeply scarred by nuclear tests conducted during the Soviet era. Having covered the activities of Soka Gakkai International (SGI) in Kazakhstan—including its support for exhibitions and documentary productions on nuclear abolition in Astana—, INPS Japan recently interviewed Zhanna Shayakhmetova, editor-in-chief of The Astana Times, a leading English-language newspaper in the country that continues to convey messages of disarmament and peace to the world. In the interview, Shayakhmetova spoke about the role of religious leaders who will gather in Astana from around the world this September, the importance of passing on memories to younger generations, and the responsibility journalism holds in this endeavor.

Moratorium on Nuclear Test Detonations is Hanging by a Slender Thread in these Troubled Times

On 16th July this year I was at the University of Chicago, attending a Nobel Laureate Assembly, and visited the site where at 15:25 PM local time on 2 December 1942, the nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi achieved the first self-sustaining atomic fission chain reaction.

Embracing the Innovation Imperative: Tech-Governance at a Crossroads

Technological progress and the course of human history have moved forward together; more recent technological innovations have emerged with unprecedented speed and reach, deeply influencing many areas of human activity.

Aid Denied, Questions Ignored: Israel Keeps Focus on Hostages

At the United Nations media stakeout on Tuesday, Israeli officials kept focus exclusively on the hostages, avoiding questions entirely.

Equal Footing: Building Pathways for Landlocked Developing Countries to Participate in Global Economy

Heads of State, ministers, investors and grassroots leaders are gathered in Awaza on Turkmenistan’s Caspian coast for a once-in-a-decade UN conference aimed at rewiring the global system in support of 32 landlocked developing countries whose economies are often ‘locked out’ of opportunity due to their lack of access to the sea.

Do Nuclear Tests Still Remain a Future Threat — as World Commemorates the 80th Anniversary of Hiroshima & Nagasaki?

The 80th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II triggers the question: Is nuclear testing dead or is it still alive--and threatening? The August 6-9 anniversary marks the devastating bombings, which claimed the lives of between 150,000 and 246,000 civilians-- and still remains the only use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict.

Spotlight on Landlocked Developing Countries Ahead of Third UN Conference

Landlocked developing countries face a unique set of challenges. Without coastal ports, they rely on transit nations, causing higher trade costs and delays.

Survey by Staff Federation Expresses Disappointment over UN’s Reform Process

The Coordinating Committee for International Staff Unions and Associations of the United Nations System (CCISUA)* staff federation has conducted a quick survey of staff in its member unions of their thoughts on the UN80 initiative.

As Gaza Enters ‘Worst-Case Scenario of Famine,’ States Call for Palestinian Self-Determination at General Assembly

As the starvation crisis in Gaza deepens into what aid organizations describe as a “worst-case scenario,” a growing coalition of nations is shifting its rhetoric and policy toward supporting Palestinian statehood. At the United Nations General Assembly this week, the humanitarian emergency has reignited global calls for a two-state solution and reignited scrutiny of the Israeli government’s blockade of aid.

American Inhumanity on Full Display to the World

Why is a grinning Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, wildly cheered by both Democrats and Republicans whenever he addresses the US Congress, while at the same time in Gaza countless innocent civilians are being killed by American bombs and bullets—and now babies are starving?

Two-State Solution Conference Presents an “Exceptional Moment” for International Community – The Elders

Dignitaries across the international community have convened in New York to promote the two-State Solution - the coexistence of Israel and Palestine as sovereign states - as the only path forward to shared sustainable peace in the Middle East. Former and current leaders from 145 countries and independent groups will speak at the United Nations to demonstrate their ‘near-universal support’ and discuss the steps that need to be taken to achieve it.

When the System Protects Itself, Not People

In Geneva, nearly 600 UN staff based at the UN Office there held an Extraordinary Staff Union meeting on July 24, 2025, passing a unanimous motion of no confidence in the UN80 reform initiative, the Secretary General António Guterres, and Under Secretary General Guy Ryder—with no abstentions and no dissenting voices (source).

Western Powers Are Complicit in Crimes Against Humanity in Gaza

The West, led by the Trump administration, has enabled the Netanyahu government to commit crimes against humanity and became complicit in the unfathomably horrific disaster that is being inflicted on the Palestinians in Gaza

A High-Level Panel of Scientists to Review Deadly Threats from Nuclear Weapons

The rising nuclear threats over Europe and East Asia are increasingly ominous—particularly in the ongoing Russian-Ukraine military conflict and in the North- South political confrontation in the Korean Peninsula. The appointment last week of a 21-member Panel of scientists, following a General Assembly resolution, has been described as “a response to a global environment in which the risk of nuclear war is higher than at any point since the depths of the Cold War”.

Staff Union Unanimously Declares “No Confidence” in Secretary-General & Head of UN Reform Process

The growing opposition to the UN80 restructuring plan -– which has come under heavy fire from staff unions – has now reached the upper echelons of the world body. A motion, adopted at an Extraordinary General Assembly meeting, held July 24, by the Staff Union Council in Geneva (UNOG), reads “The staff have no confidence in UN80, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and Under Secretary General Guy Ryder” (who is heading the UN restructuring process).

Funding Cuts by Traditional Donors and the Future of Localization: Power, Paradox, and the Politics of Aid

In recent years, major international donors such as the European Union (EU), the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), USAID, and other bilaterals (such as BMZ, Sida, the Netherlands among others) have significantly reduced development funding to global majority countries.

How Israel Lost its Soul

The dramatic story of Israel’s birth in 1948 following the Nazi Holocaust captured the wonder and admiration of the world. Its founders claimed that Israel would be a light to the nations, but now the Jewish State’s identity has gone from being the victim of genocide to perpetrator in less than two generations.