As Nuke Talks Begin, U.N. Chief Warns of Dangerous Return to Cold War Mentalities

Against the backdrop of a new Cold War between the United States and Russia, two of the world’s major nuclear powers, the United Nations is once again playing host to a four-week-long international review conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Opinion: Progress of the World’s Women 2015-2016: Transforming Economies, Realising Rights

Our world is out of balance. It is both wealthier and more unequal today than at any time since the Second World War.

No Woman, No World

Almost exactly two years ago, on the morning of Apr. 24, over 3,600 workers – 80 percent of them young women between the ages of 18 and 20 – refused to enter the Rana Plaza garment factory building in Dhaka, Bangladesh, because there were large ominous cracks in the walls. They were beaten with sticks and forced to enter.

The U.N. at 70: A Time for Compliance

At key anniversaries of the U.N., there have been calls for compliance with international instruments.

Peace Is Not a Boy’s Club

Governments have long pledged to bring more women to the peace table, but for many (if not most), it has been little more than lip service.

Push to Privatise Education in Global South Challenged

The multinational education and publishing company Pearson PLC was challenged during its annual general meeting on Apr. 24 by representatives of civil society and trade union groups over various profit-driven programmes aimed at expanding private education in numerous countries in the global South. 

Media Watchdog Unveils Top Ten Worst Censors

While technology has given millions greater freedom to express themselves, in the world's 10 most censored countries, this basic right exists only on paper, if at all.

Riches in World’s Oceans Estimated at Staggering 24 Trillion Dollars

The untapped riches in the world’s oceans are estimated at nearly 24 trillion dollars – the size of the world’s leading economies, according to a new report released Thursday by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).

Opinion: The World Has Reached Peak Plutocracy

Parents in despair because they can’t pay the fees at the privatised neighbourhood school…

Opinion: Challenging the Nuclear Powers’ Extremism

On the eve of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference five years ago, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned that governments alone will not rid the world of the specter of nuclear annihilation.

U.N. Helpless as Crises Rage in 10 Critical Hot Spots

The United Nations is fighting a losing battle against a rash of political and humanitarian crises in 10 of the world’s critical “hot spots.”

The U.N. at 70: A View from Outer Space

When the founding fathers of the United Nations met in San Francisco 70 years ago, an American banker named Beardsley Ruml made a remark:

Opinion: Pillar of Neoliberal Thinking is Vacillating

This month’s World Economic Outlook released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) only confirms that consequences of the collapse of the financial system, which started six years ago, are serious. And they are accentuated by the aging of the population, not only in Europe but also in Asia, the slowing of productivity and weak private investment.

Opinion: Realising Unfinished Business of MDGs : A Call for Greater Action and Investment for Malaria

Later this week, communities around the world will commemorate World Malaria Day for the last time in the context of the global development priorities set in 2000.

Opinion: Paying Real Tribute to All Victims of War and Conflict

The international community will have a great opportunity to jointly advance on the world peace agenda when a United Nations working group established to negotiate a draft U.N. resolution on the right to peace meets from Apr. 20 to 24 in Geneva.

Instead of Scaling up Funding for Education, Major Donors Are Cutting Back

Despite commitments by the international community to achieve universal primary education by 2015, funds for education have been decreasing over the past ten years, according to a report released Friday by the global advocacy campaign ‘A World at School’.

Sexual Violence in Conflict “The Contemporary Moral Issue” Says United Nations

Impunity for perpetrators of sexual violence in war must end, said Zainab Hawa Bangura, the Special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General on sexual violence in conflict, who presented to the U.N. Security Council the Secretary-General's 2015 report on the issue on April 15.

Investigation Tears Veil Off World Bank’s “Promise” to Eradicate Poverty

An expose published Thursday by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) and its media partners has revealed that in the course of a single decade, 3.4 million people were evicted from their homes, torn away from their lands or otherwise displaced by projects funded by the World Bank.

Call for a Modern ‘Legal Arsenal’ to Fight All Crimes

A modern ‘legal arsenal’ comprising the rule of law is the best weapon to combat crime and terror and to end the vicious circle of poverty, according to experts gathered in Doha, Qatar, for the Apr. 12-19 United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, organised by the Vienna-based United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).

Spiritual Leaders Urge Action On Nuclear Disarmament

Religious leaders addressed the United Nations in New York last week, pleading on moral grounds for global nuclear disarmament.

U.N. Warns of Growing Divide Between Nuclear Haves and Have-Nots

As she prepared to leave office after more than three years, High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Angela Kane painted a dismal picture of a conflicted world: it is “not the best of times for disarmament.”