Covid-19

• April 23, 2020

SINGAPORE — Singapore now has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in Southeast Asia, at 11,178, as of April 23. The daily coronavirus infection rate reached a new high of 1,426 as I write. Just over a month ago, Singapore, with 5.7 million people living in the limited space of 720 square kilometers (278 square …

Asia, Covid-19, Health and Population

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COVID-19

Where the Pandemic, the Environment and Gender Equality Meet: In Inger Andersen’s Home Office

Nate Bernard

• April 22, 2020

Inger Andersen is closing in on her first year as executive director of the United Nations Environment Program just as the Covid-19 crisis upends her agency’s work while also underscoring its critical need. “Never before have the mandate, mission and objectives of UNEP been more in focus,” she said in a recent interview, adding, …

Climate and Environment, Covid-19

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COVID-19

UN at 75: The Security Council Must Remember Why It Exists

Mona Ali Khalil and Fred Carver

• April 21, 2020

The United Nations is turning 75 this year. While the UN has so far successfully averted a third world war, the aggressions in Iraq, Ukraine and Syria remind us that interstate conflicts remain a real and present danger. The Security Council’s failure to resolve intrastate conflicts, from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to …

Covid-19, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN75

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COVID-19

Covid-19 Could Shake Up Global Sanctions Regimes, UN Expert Says

Stéphanie Fillion and Kacie Candela

• April 20, 2020

During the last week of March, Hilal Elver, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, was one of three high-level UN representatives to call for an easing of some sanctions to help alleviate the impact of the coronavirus. UN Secretary-General António Guterres sent a letter to G-20 countries asking them to …

Covid-19, Secretary-General, Security Council

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COVID-19

Kelly Craft Clarifies Her Worldview: Trump’s Word Reigns Supreme

Irwin Arieff

• April 17, 2020

What a difference a few weeks can make. At the end of March, Kelly Craft, President Trump’s top ambassador at the United Nations, insisted that midbattle against a dread disease sweeping the globe was no time for an international blame game. Just two weeks later, there she was, jumping on Trump’s blame-game bandwagon. What …

Covid-19, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Sergio, Legendary UN Troubleshooter, Gets His Own Hollywood Biopic

Dali ten Hove

• April 16, 2020

The much-anticipated biopic among United Nations watchers, “Sergio,” a drama relating the tale of Sergio Vieira de Mello, opened today on Netflix. It features the actors Wagner Moura as Sergio and Ana de Armas as his partner, Carolina Larriera. Who was Sergio Vieira de Mello? And why is he the subject of a Hollywood …

Covid-19, UN Diplomats

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COVID-19

North Korea Claims No Coronavirus Cases. Experts Detect Another Reality.

Barbara Crossette

• April 16, 2020

Something is missing from the statistical charts and maps of Covid-19 in East Asia: credible data on the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. The country, North Korea as it is commonly known, has always been a singularly secretive state controlled since its founding in 1948 by a savagely brutal dynasty. It is also next …

Asia, Covid-19, Health and Population

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COVID-19

A Plea for Multilateralism From the Windy City

Thomas G. Weiss

• April 15, 2020

CHICAGO — American cities have an intimate association with the United Nations. That relationship started in San Francisco 75 years ago later this month and continues today and, one hopes, tomorrow in the New York and Washington headquarters for the UN and the Bretton Woods institutions. Chicago is my sabbatical base and an intriguing …

Covid-19, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Trump, Following Up on His Earlier Threat, to Withhold Funding to WHO

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 14, 2020

Donald Trump, the president of the United States, announced from the Rose Garden of the White House on April 14 that he was withholding funding to the World Health Organization, pending a “60 to 90 day” review of its handling of the coronavirus crisis and seeming bias toward China, where the Covid-19 outbreak originated in …

Covid-19, Health and Population, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Africans Struggle to Be a Unified Force in the UN Security Council, Complicated by the Coronavirus

Maurizio Guerrero

• April 13, 2020

The three elected members that represent Africa on the United Nations Security Council generally present a unified front on the continent’s numerous challenges — many involving foreign intervention — that land on the Council’s agenda. The problem for Africans is that the big world powers routinely ignore them. The other problem is that Africans …

Africa, Covid-19, Security Council

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COVID-19

Living Through the Pandemic in the World’s Most Livable City

Mona Ali Khalil

• April 9, 2020

VIENNA — Since moving to Austria in 2018, I have enjoyed the comparably high standard of living and relatively low cost of living that the city offers. As a foreigner, I feel at home in this beautiful city, which is also home to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the International Atomic …

Covid-19, General Assembly, Health and Population, Security Council

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COVID-19

What the Pandemic Means for UN Peacekeeping Work

Robert Ulrich Nagel and Melanne Verveer

• April 8, 2020

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Covid-19 poses major challenges for people and governments around the world and for the United Nations. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for a global cease-fire on March 23 in recognition of the pandemic’s potentially devastating effects on people in conflict-affected nations. Less noticed in the press coverage was the important point …

Covid-19, UN Peacekeeping

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COVID-19

Was China a Less-Than-Ideal President to Lead the UN Security Council in a Crisis?

Stéphanie Fillion

• April 7, 2020

In early March, China appeared to be seeing a light at the end of the tunnel back home in containing the coronavirus spread, while in New York City, the country was preparing to take over the rotating presidency of the United Nations Security Council. Ambassador Zhang Jun of China told the media that one …

Covid-19, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

Across the Globe, Domestic Violence Rises as the Coronavirus Rages

Barbara Crossette

• April 6, 2020

For many women worldwide, the fear and suffering caused by the catastrophic viral pandemic is made even more unbearable and frightening by gender violence, as orders to “stay at home” heighten domestic tensions. Reports are accumulating from virtually every global region, according to independent advocacy groups and United Nations agencies. “Over the past weeks …

Covid-19, Gender Violence, Health and Population

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COVID-19

Is Kelly Craft Out of the Loop on Trump’s Pandemic Plans?

Irwin Arieff

• April 4, 2020

President Trump and Secretary of State Michael Pompeo love to label Covid-19 as the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan virus.” But Kelly Craft, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, is calling on Washington to work hand in hand with China and end the “blame game” of trying to hold Beijing responsible for the …