Asia

• February 15, 2022

As girls are being sold in the streets of Kabul, the Norwegian government flew in the Taliban and people from Afghan civil society into Oslo to talk to one another and with Western diplomats. While United Nations agencies have warned repeatedly that 22 million Afghans face acute hunger, the Taliban regime flirts with legitimacy …

Asia, Peace and Security, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Feb. 11

Anna Bianca Roach

• February 11, 2022

An assassination attempt on Libya’s interim prime minister; investigating the UN’s climate finance apparatus; the Guernica tapestry returns to the Security Council. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, learn why the …

Africa, Asia, Secretary-General, This Week @UN

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Vietnam’s UN Envoy on Reasons to Forgive but Not to Forget

Dawn Clancy

• February 8, 2022

On days when the sky in Dang Xa, a village in North Vietnam, was a crisp shade of blue, 7-year-old Dang Dinh Quy would climb to the top of a tree to watch the United States bomber planes dodge the surface-to-air missiles bursting from the ground below. Dang is Vietnam’s ambassador to the United …

Asia, Peace and Security, Security Council

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Feb. 4

Anna Bianca Roach

• February 4, 2022

Tensions mount over Ukraine; Congo issues a verdict on the murder of two UN experts; the UN secretary-general attends the Winter Olympics. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, learn about Russia’s …

Africa, Asia, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Jan. 28

Anna Bianca Roach

• January 28, 2022

A coup in West Africa; a recap of Biden’s first year at the UN; a US-Russia showdown coming to the Security Council. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, learn about Barbados’s …

Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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The New UN Envoy for Myanmar Gets Its Neighbors and the Wider Region Talking

Barbara Crossette

• January 24, 2022

A year after the Burmese military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, horrifying statistics of death, torture, detention and disappearance of civilians continue to mount. As of Jan. 19, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, 1,484 civilians have been killed and 11,638 arrested since the Feb. 1, 2021 …

Asia, Myanmar, UN Diplomats

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending Dec. 17

Anna Bianca Roach

• December 17, 2021

The Security Council vetoes a resolution linking conflict to climate change; Afghan girls return to middle school; the Wagner paramilitary group may deploy in Mali. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, …

Africa, Asia, This Week @UN

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THIS WEEK @UN

Further Souring of Ethiopian-UN Relations; Deep-Sea Mining Dangers; Polish-Belarusian Standoff

Anna Bianca Roach

• November 12, 2021

PassBlue probes the global body granting licenses to mine the deep seas; UN staff detained in Ethiopia; global famine rises. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, Mexico’s president proposes a plan …

Africa, Asia, Climate Change, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Middle East, Migration, Myanmar, Refugees, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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The Obscure Organization Powering a Race to Mine the Bottom of the Seas

Anna Bianca Roach

• November 8, 2021

On the seafloor, anemones with eight-foot-long tentacles live alongside blind crabs that cultivate food in their arm hair, sharks with glow-in-the-dark bellies and glass sponges that have been thriving since before the invention of the wheel. “Because of the lack of light and the fact that creatures do need to see each other to …

Africa, Asia, Caribbean, Climate Change, UN Agencies

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THIS WEEK @UN

Spoilers of Peace in Yemen; COP26’s First Week; Morale Boosting by Blinken

Anna Bianca Roach

• November 5, 2021

COP26 opens with a foreboding announcement from the UN secretary-general; peacekeepers shot by the presidential guard in the Central African Republic; Mexico’s agenda on the Security Council. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. …

Africa, Asia, Climate Change, General Assembly, Humanitarian Aid, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Bonfire of the Vanities: Afghanistan and the Crisis of State-Building

Alan Doss

• October 28, 2021

The Taliban’s dramatic takeover of Afghanistan in August sparked a predictable outpouring of angst and argument as to why it happened despite the massive, two-decade effort to prevent that result. Much of the commentary focused on the supposed failures of nation- and state-building. It is important now to take stock of these concepts and …

Asia, Peace and Security, WORLDVIEWS

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Noeleen Heyzer of Singapore Is Named the UN’s New Envoy for Myanmar

Barbara Crossette

• October 26, 2021

Noeleen Heyzer, an expert in conflict resolution, economic development and women’s rights, has been named the next United Nations special envoy for Myanmar/Burma. Heyzer, from Singapore, was the first women to head the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, from 2007 to 2014. Under her leadership, the Bangkok-based Commission focused …

Asia, Myanmar, Secretary-General, UN Diplomats

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THIS WEEK @UN

Human Rights for Western Sahara?; a Cease-Fire Comes to Central African Republic; Weapons Spending Drives Gender Inequalities

Anna Bianca Roach

• October 22, 2021

The UN boss points to rising global military spending as a source of gendered violence; the UN’s tech envoy, mired in controversy, may be exiting; the Human Rights Council rolls out a multimillion-dollar project with the Philippines. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is …

Africa, Asia, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, ICC, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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Critics Wonder If a New $10 Million UN-Philippines Human-Rights Project Will Work

Anna Bianca Roach

• October 18, 2021

As the International Criminal Court begins an investigation into the thousands of extrajudicial killings committed by the Philippine government during its antidrug campaign, the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights is partnering with the country on a three-year program to hold the government accountable for its behavior. On Oct. 7, …

Asia, Gender Violence, Human Rights, International Justice

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THIS WEEK @UN

The Surreal Saga of Gitmo; US Rejoins the Human Rights Council; the Taliban Break Promises

Anna Bianca Roach

• October 15, 2021

The Taliban break promises to women in Afghanistan; Mali moving toward combatant reintegration; the Kafkaesque legal work representing Gitmo detainees. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, frozen assets and aid funding …