South Sudan Again Tops Fragile States Index

For the second year in a row, South Sudan has been designated as the most fragile nation in the world, plagued by intensifying internal conflict that has displaced more than two million of its people.

CTBTO, the Nuclear Watchdog That Never Sleeps

The world’s nuclear powers may succeed in thwarting sanctions by the Security Council or avoiding condemnation by the General Assembly, but they cannot escape the scrutiny of a key international watchdog body: the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO).

Could Peacekeeping Wives Deter Sexual Abuse in U.N. Overseas Operations?

Back in November 2007, about 108 military personnel from an Asian country, serving with the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Haiti, were deported home after being accused of sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of minors.

Israel’s Deadly Game of Divide and Conquer Backfiring

Israel’s deadly game of divide and conquer against its enemies could be coming home to roost with a vengeance, especially as the Islamic State (ISIS) grows in strength in neighbouring countries and moves closer to Israel’s borders.

When a Kid With Low Self-Esteem Dreams of Becoming the President

You may have heard of Global Citizenship Education (GCED), but unless you move in international development circles, chances are you’re not entirely sure what the acronym means.

World’s Nuke Arsenal Declines Haltingly While Modernisation Rises Rapidly

The world’s stockpile of nuclear weapons, held by nine states, just got a little smaller.

Q&A: Better Students, Better Citizens, Better World: Education Is the Key to Peace

In a world where high levels of social and religious intolerance, conflicts, violent extremism and environmental degradation are threatening justice and peace, the United Nations is trying to find ways to maintain world order and promote sustainable development.

U.N. Urged to Put Global Citizenship at Centre of Post-2015 Development Agenda

When Denmark hosted the World Summit on Social Development (WSSD) in March 1995, one of the conclusions of that international gathering in Copenhagen was to create a new social contract with “people at the centre of development.”

Israel, Hamas Escape U.N.’s List of Shame on Attacks on Children

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, reportedly under heavy pressure from the United States and Israel, has decided not to blacklist the Jewish state in an annex to a new U.N. report on children victimised in armed conflicts.

Opinion: Minsk Agreements, the Only Path to Peace in Ukraine

The “U.N. Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine”, which was referred to in an Inter Press Service (IPS) article of Jun. 2, does not, in my view, reflect many salient points.

The U.N. at 70: A Time for Reflection and Reform

Seventy years since its inception, the United Nations remains at the core of the multilateral system. The world body, together with the Bretton Woods institutions, was conceived in the mid-1940s by the architects of the postwar order with the central aim of saving succeeding generations from the scourge of war on the one hand, and the need to reconstruct and revive the global economy on the other.

8.2 Million Iraqis In Need of Emergency Humanitarian Assistance

As fighting drags on between Iraqi armed forces and the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), millions of refugees caught between the warring groups are in dire need of humanitarian assistance.

Opinion: Why the US-Iran Nuclear Deal May Still Fail

The euphoria that spread though the world after the Iran nuclear agreement reached in Lausanne in April this year with the United States, Russia, China, France, United Kingdom and Germany, plus the European Union, is  proving short-lived.

Despite Ukraine Cease-Fire, Civilians Still Living in Fear

The civilian population in Ukraine continues to suffer serious human rights abuses, intimidation and harassment by armed groups, including summary executions, as well as torture and ill-treatment by authorities in detention, according to the latest report from the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine released Monday.

Relief Organisation Urges Mandatory Funding for Humanitarian Appeals

The United Nations is not only overwhelmed by a spreading humanitarian crisis, largely in Africa and the Middle East, but also remains hamstrung by a severe shortfall in funds, mostly from Western donors.

U.N. Security Council Takes “Historic” Stand on Killings of Journalists

When war breaks out, most non-combatants run the other way. But a handful of courageous reporters see it as their duty to tell the world what's happening on the ground. And many pay a high price.

Humanitarian Crisis in South Sudan Continues to Worsen

After peace talks failed earlier this month, the ongoing conflict in South Sudan between government forces and opposition forces that began at the end of 2013 is having a severe impact on the country’s food security and civilian safety.

The U.N. at 70: Drugs and Crime are Challenges for Sustainable Development

With terrorism, migrant smuggling and trafficking in cultural property some of the world's most daunting challenges, "the magnitude of the problems we face is such that it is sometimes hard to imagine how any effort can be enough to confront them. But to quote Nelson Mandela, 'It always seems impossible until it is done'. We must keep working together, until it is done."

Opinion: A Critical Moment to Fortify Nuclear Test Ban

The 2015 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference wrapped up last week in New York without agreeing on an outcome document. While this is unfortunate, it is important to remember that the future of the nuclear non-proliferation regime will be determined by more than whether the Review Conference participants produced a document addressing all that currently ails the NPT-based regime.

Iran Sanctions Regime Could Unravel with Failed Nuclear Deal

Internationally supported sanctions against Iran could begin to crumble if talks over Iran's nuclear programme fail to produce a final deal, according to Germany’s envoy to the United States.

Terror Groups May Be Winning Digital War on Extremist Ideology

The United Nations is quick to point out the increasing pace at which digital technology is racing across the world.