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An Afghan Midwife Delivers; Fighting in Ethiopia Erupts; the UN Reacts to US Election Results

Dulcie Leimbach November 13, 2020

An Afghan midwife saving lives in her country; the UN secretary-general congratulates US president-elect Joe Biden (sort of); a new gender group with a questionable purpose. You are reading This Week @UN, highlighting the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other sources. …

Flags of UN Member States outside of the UN in New York

The $75 Billion UN Pension Fund: Kicking Reforms Down the Road

Loraine Rickard-Martin November 12, 2020

A new governance study has confirmed what many United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund observers have long surmised: there are significant variances between the fund’s own operations and best practices and those of pension funds elsewhere. The areas reviewed by Mosaic Governance Advisors, who prepared the study, include standards of professional and ethical conduct, conflicts …

WORLDVIEWS

A Tale of Two Elections: The US and Côte d’Ivoire

Alan Doss November 11, 2020

GENEVA — Three days before the recent, highly contentious United States presidential election occurred, another one was held in the West African country of Côte d’Ivoire. The two elections provide interesting comparisons and contrasts. The US and Côte d’Ivoire are obviously vastly different countries, but there are similarities. Both countries are the issue of European …

TOPIC: WOMEN

The UN General Assembly President Turns His Focus on Women, but Why?

Barbara Crossette November 10, 2020

When it comes to power and influence in the United Nations system, the president of the General Assembly has little control beyond a procedural role in managing an often-fractious body of member nations, now numbering 193, each with policies of its own. The Assembly is forbidden by Article 12 of the UN Charter, for example, …

TOPIC: WOMEN

For This Afghan Woman, Midwifery Is a Labor of Love

Lori Silberman Brauner November 8, 2020

From a young age, Zahra Mirzaei, 32, decided to become a midwife after she encountered a kind doctor who encouraged her to pursue studies in the field. Observing the role that midwives played in her country — Afghanistan — while challenged by extremely limited educational opportunities for women and girls, Mirzaei said: “It spoke to …

UN Police Luis Carrilho at desk and Mary Gahonzire on video

THIS WEEK @UN

The US Waits and Waits for Final Voting Results; Election Mayhem in Côte d’Ivoire; a Tiny State Runs the Security Council

Dulcie Leimbach November 6, 2020

Are we there yet? The United States still awaits final presidential election results; one of the United Nations’ smallest countries leads the Security Council; and presidential election violence in Côte d’Ivoire. You are reading This Week @UN, highlighting the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our …

President Trump, at about 2 A.M. on Nov. 4, 2020

The UN Warns Personnel About Potential Violence in the US but Is Silent on the Election Itself

Stéphanie Fillion November 4, 2020

The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, has so far remained silent on the United States Nov. 3 presidential election, despite concerns about possible violence in the country and President Trump having prematurely proclaimed victory. Indeed, the UN warned its personnel at New York headquarters to be prepared for “civil unrest” that may occur over the …

SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

The Smallest State to Ever Lead the UN Security Council: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

Stéphanie Fillion November 2, 2020

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines may be the smallest country to ever sit on the Security Council, but it doesn’t mean it is intimidated by the big powers. Instead, the island nation is already amplifying the voices of Africa and the Caribbean in the UN forum. “I think that what the small state does is …

THIS WEEK @UN

A Norwegian Diplomat Disgraced; Covid Strikes the UN Security Council; Russia Fails to Promote Women’s Rights

Dulcie Leimbach October 31, 2020

A scandal involving a Norwegian diplomat erupts; Covid-19 rears its head at the United Nations; and who could become its 194th member state? Greetings from This Week @UN, highlights of the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other sources. Scoop: In a story …

WORLDVIEWS

On the 10th Anniversary of Haiti’s Cholera Outbreak, What Has the UN Learned?

Beatrice Lindstrom and Joey Bui October 30, 2020

Ten years ago this month, Haiti confirmed the arrival of a deadly cholera epidemic that killed more than 10,000 people. The disease — and the United Nations’ response to it — has caused immeasurable harm in Haiti and undermined the UN’s moral standing when it is sorely needed. As victims in Haiti pause to commemorate …

Terje Rod-Larsen, a Norwegian Diplomat, Quits a New York Think Tank Amid Links to Jeffrey Epstein

Dulcie Leimbach and Barbara Crossette October 29, 2020

Terje Rod-Larsen, the president of the prestigious International Peace Institute since 2005, resigned Thursday, according to a statement released by the Manhattan-based think tank on Oct. 29, 2020. Rod-Larsen is a renowned Norwegian diplomat, politician and former United Nations envoy. He and his wife, Mona Juul, now Norway’s ambassador to the UN, were central negotiators …

COVID-19

Covid Forces the UN to Pause Physical Meetings Just as It Slowly Returns to Normal

Dulcie Leimbach October 28, 2020

After finally reopening the United Nations Security Council chamber to physical meetings in October, the UN just announced that five members of one national delegation have tested positive for Covid-19. That means ending all in-person meetings in the Council chamber and General Assembly sessions in New York City headquarters for the rest of the week …

WORLDVIEWS

A Letter to the USA: Why Your Vote on Nov. 3 Matters for the World

Alan Doss October 27, 2020

GENEVA — The first time I set foot in the United States was just before the 1968 presidential election, when I joined the United Nations in New York City as a young staffer in the development aid program. I arrived in a country painfully scarred by the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. …

Who Could Be the 194th UN Member State?

Stéphanie Fillion October 26, 2020

As the United Nations turns 75 years old this month, it is worth noting that its membership has more than tripled — almost quadrupled — since its founding in 1945. From 50 signatories at the San Francisco conference that year to 193 member states and two with observer state status today, the UN has expanded …

UN-75: The Moment to Build a More Inclusive World Order Is Here

María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés and Tijjani Muhammad-Bande October 24, 2020

Since its founding 75 years ago, the United Nations has proven, with the support of its member countries and other partners, its worth in complex problem-solving. That includes preventing great-power wars, remedying humanitarian emergencies, safeguarding human rights and reducing extreme poverty. But as we commemorate UN Day, with world leaders having marked the world body’s …

THIS WEEK @UN

Libya’s New Cease-Fire; UN Hits 75 Years Old; New York City Mayor Snubs UN

Dulcie Leimbach October 23, 2020

A “permanent” cease-fire is reached in Libya; Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York City declines to meet with the president of the UN General Assembly; and what’s going on behind closed-door meetings at the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. Greetings from This Week @UN, highlights of the most important news on the world body. …

COVID-19

The Path to Ending Our Global Chaos Is Through the UN

Mona Ali Khalil October 22, 2020

By all accounts, 2020 has been a terrible year so far — but is it worse than 1920? In 1920, World War I, which killed 16 million people, had just ended. The two-year influenza pandemic that followed killed 50 million more. In 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has already killed more than one million people and …

Bickering at the Nuclear Test-Ban Organization Reflects Global Hardening

Stephanie Liechtenstein October 21, 2020

VIENNA — For the first time in its 24-year history, state parties to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, a multilateral agreement that bans all nuclear testing worldwide, have taken a controversial decision by a two-thirds majority. Decisions in the treaty’s body are usually taken by consensus. The majority decision on Oct. 19 was focused on …

Myanmar Votes in a Sea of Troubles at Home and Abroad

Barbara Crossette October 20, 2020

A decade after the first democratic reforms began taking shape after long years of harsh military rule in Myanmar, its citizens are preparing to vote in a national election on Nov. 8. It will be an important test for the country and its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. Her once-shining image as she swept from …

COVID-19

Can the “Third UN” Reimagine Post-Covid Global Cooperation?

Tatiana Carayannis and Thomas G. Weiss October 19, 2020

This week we celebrate the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, as the Covid-19 pandemic highlights our interdependence and the need for global cooperation. Enthusiasm for it, however, is in short supply amid deteriorating Washington-Beijing relations, Brexit and rising populisms. Throughout its history, the UN has confronted bureaucratic challenges and radical changes in world politics …

THIS WEEK @UN

The Rough Road to Gender Equality; a Major Message on Hunger; No Saudis on the Human Rights Council

Dulcie Leimbach October 17, 2020

For once, two pieces of good news from the United Nations: The World Food Program receives the Nobel Peace Prize and the Security Council begins meeting physically again in its chamber. But some reality-checking: 25 years after the Beijing conference on women, the road to gender equality is still being dug. Greetings from This Week @UN, …

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Browse PassBlue

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An Afghan Midwife Delivers; Fighting in Ethiopia Erupts; the UN Reacts to US Election Results

The $75 Billion UN Pension Fund: Kicking Reforms Down the Road

A Tale of Two Elections: The US and Côte d’Ivoire

The UN General Assembly President Turns His Focus on Women, but Why?

For This Afghan Woman, Midwifery Is a Labor of Love

The US Waits and Waits for Final Voting Results; Election Mayhem in Côte d’Ivoire; a Tiny State Runs the Security Council

The UN Warns Personnel About Potential Violence in the US but Is Silent on the Election Itself

The Smallest State to Ever Lead the UN Security Council: St. Vincent and the Grenadines

A Norwegian Diplomat Disgraced; Covid Strikes the UN Security Council; Russia Fails to Promote Women’s Rights

On the 10th Anniversary of Haiti’s Cholera Outbreak, What Has the UN Learned?

Terje Rod-Larsen, a Norwegian Diplomat, Quits a New York Think Tank Amid Links to Jeffrey Epstein

Covid Forces the UN to Pause Physical Meetings Just as It Slowly Returns to Normal

A Letter to the USA: Why Your Vote on Nov. 3 Matters for the World

Who Could Be the 194th UN Member State?

UN-75: The Moment to Build a More Inclusive World Order Is Here

Libya’s New Cease-Fire; UN Hits 75 Years Old; New York City Mayor Snubs UN

The Path to Ending Our Global Chaos Is Through the UN

Bickering at the Nuclear Test-Ban Organization Reflects Global Hardening

Myanmar Votes in a Sea of Troubles at Home and Abroad

Can the “Third UN” Reimagine Post-Covid Global Cooperation?

The Rough Road to Gender Equality; a Major Message on Hunger; No Saudis on the Human Rights Council

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