Sunday, September 20, 2020
News and Views from the Global South
IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse
Helping Make Education a Reality for the 75 million Children in Conflict Zones
Aryan is a 15-year-old girl from Afghanistan who lives with her family in a shelter in an undisclosed country in Europe. She doesn’t go to school. But she is hugely creative. And it shows in how she occupies her time during the day — writing poetry and making bracelets and earrings that she hopes to sell online one day.
After 75 Years, UN Claims 50:50 Gender Parity, But Falls Short of its Ultimate Goals
When the United Nations was dominated by men, holding some of the highest positions in the staff hierarchy, women staffers were overwhelmingly administrative secretaries seen pounding on their Remington typewriters seated outside their bosses’ enclosed offices.
Philanthropy’s Role in the Missing Global Architecture
The promise of the United Nations, as articulated 75 years ago, is a global system capable of managing global issues. As UN leadership knows, that promise is needed now more than ever in a multipolar world with increasingly complex challenges. This mission must be fulfilled, but is not possible without the collaboration of broad-based coalitions made up of innovative thinkers from all sectors of society working together.
The Culture of Peace: Change our World for the Better in the Age of COVID 19
Last year, we paid tribute to the 20th Anniversary of the 1999 Declaration of the Program of Action on a Culture of Peace. Today, we need to ask ourselves if we had genuinely carried out our moral responsibilities to transition from a culture of hatred and violence to a culture of tolerance and peace.
Accessibility of Vaccines & Commitment to Ceasefire – Priority Focuses for 75th UNGA
Key focuses of the upcoming 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) High Level Week will be the accessibility of vaccines and a renewed plea for a global ceasefire. “I will make a strong appeal to the international community to mobilise all efforts for the global ceasefire to become a reality by the end of the year,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said on Wednesday.
At 75, is the UN Still Fit for Purpose?
This September, New Yorkers will be a lot less annoyed. They’ve been spared the annual disruptions from road closures, sirens and movement of security forces accompanying world leaders who attend the UN General Assembly. By largely moving online due to COVID-19, the world’s most significant gathering will be missing some of its excitement even as the UN celebrates an important 75th anniversary in 2020.
INTERVIEW: the top diplomat shepherding the General Assembly through its 75th year
The Turkish diplomat elected to be the president of the 75th session of the UN General Assembly, Volkan Bozkir, is taking on the role as the Organization grapples with an unprecedented pandemic, and questions surrounding the future direction it should take.
Will Trump Threaten to Pullout or De-fund the United Nations?
Back in 1998, Senator Jesse Helms, a rightwing Republican from the US state of North Carolina, carried out a virulent one-man hate-campaign against the UN-- and its very presence in New York.
A Marathon, Not a Sprint: Peru Needs Fiscal Reforms to Quell High COVID-19 Death Rate
“It’s a major paradox, no?” asks Hugo Ñopo, a researcher at the Peruvian think tank Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE). Since the beginning of the pandemic, Peru has presented itself as an example for the region: it quickly implemented drastic prevention measures, followed scientific recommendations and prepared an economic support plan for the most vulnerable segments of the population.
Re-inventing Multilateral Solidarity: Rhetoric, Reaction or Realignment of Power?
Multilateral solidarity is gaining traction as the slogan for mobilizing support for international cooperation and for the UN. Is it replacing or merely renaming cross-border obligations, many of which have been enshrined over decades in UN treaties, conventions and agreements, and the principle of common but differentiated responsibility in their implementation?
Hopes and Challenges for the First-Ever Food Systems Summit
Building inclusive and healthier food systems, and safeguarding the health of the planet will be some of the key priorities at the first-ever Food Systems Summit next year.
UN Women Calls for Accelerating its Unfinished Business
Twenty-five years ago, the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing set a path-breaking agenda for women’s rights. As a result of the two-week gathering with more than 30,000 activists, representatives from 189 nations unanimously adopted the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action.
World Risks Losing Entire Generation of Children, Nobel Laureates Warn
The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the lives of millions of people worldwide, accounted for over 869,000 deaths, destabilised the global economy and triggered a marked rise in poverty and hunger in the developing world. But the fallout from one of the most devastating consequences of the spreading virus is on the lives of a growing new generation: children.
Mozambique Reels from Repeated Attacks on Press Freedom
While Mozambique was recently rattled by an arson attack on a local media organisation, experts say that it’s only a part of a worrying pattern of continuous attacks on the media in the country.
The First “Virtual” Post-Pandemic UN General Assembly Meeting
Although we have not convened in this Hall since March, New York-based delegations have worked tirelessly to uphold the values and principles set out in the Charter of the United Nations, whilst contending with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Qatar Accuses UAE of Racial Discrimination in UN’s Highest Court
Qatar officials reiterated their claim on Wednesday that the United Arab Emirates (UAE) be held responsible for their “discrimination” against Qatari citizens, as the third day of public hearings proceeded at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nation’s highest court. But foreign policy experts caution that the case is not good for stability in the Persian Gulf region.
South Sudan – COVID-19 and Ongoing Violence has Catastrophic Impact on Civilians
Large-scale intercommunal violence on civilians in the Jonglei and greater Pibor regions in South Sudan has led to the mass displacement of thousands of people who are living in the open without health care, adequate food, shelter, water or sanitation in the middle of the rainy season.
Racism at the UN: Practice What You Preach
When two recent staff surveys, one in Geneva and the other in New York, revealed widespread racism at the United Nations, it triggered the obvious question: why shouldn’t the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) probe these charges?
It is Time for a Democratic Global Revolution
The people of the world need to seize the moment and bring about a democratic global revolution. It is time for a global parliament and real representation. More than 21 million people got infected with the novel coronavirus and over 770,000 have died. Never before did the world witness similar collective lockdowns of social and economic activity that had to be enforced to contain the pandemic.
Madagascar – Jails Hold more Pre-trial Prisoners than Convicted Criminals
The recent killing of 22 prisoners in Madagascar during a prison escape on Sunday, Aug. 23 has brought the extraordinary situation of the country’s prisons under a spotlight. Human rights watchdog Amnesty International has condemned the killings, criticising the current judicial system that has led to Madagascar’s prisons holding more people awaiting trial than convicted criminals.
Covid is a Great Unequaliser, But the Crisis Could Enable us to Build a More Equal Future
Any of the first names that the media reported as having Covid were those of the rich and powerful, from movie stars to political leaders. Be ye ever so high, the virus is above thee – or so it seemed.Next Page »
It was dubbed "The Glass House" by U.S. ambassador James Wadsworth in 1966. Half a century later, the United Nations has gradually expanded its role as agent of peace and protector of the world's vulnerable populations, while simultaneously facing internal pressures to become more inclusive, increase transparency and maintain legitimacy in the post-Cold War political and economic order. Highlighting the local impacts of global policies on economic development, environment, health and human rights, IPS's coverage goes beyond the edicts of the Security Council to illuminate the power struggles, successes and shortcomings of the 193-member institution as it grapples with crises like climate change, armed conflict, poverty and HIV/AIDS.
The Week with IPS
