Covid-19

Sergio, Legendary UN Troubleshooter, Gets His Own Hollywood Biopic

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.

April 16, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

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

April 15, 2020

by Thomas G. Weiss

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

April 14, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

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

April 13, 2020

by Maurizio Guerrero

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

April 9, 2020

by Mona Ali Khalil

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

April 8, 2020

by Robert Ulrich Nagel and Melanne Verveer

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?

April 7, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion

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

April 6, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

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-Based Violence, Health and Population

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COVID-19

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

April 4, 2020

by Irwin Arieff

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 …

Covid-19, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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COVID-19

The Pandemic Forces UN Women to Shelve the Feminist Forums Until 2021

April 3, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

UN Women is postponing two long-planned international meetings designed to give civil society groups a leading role in advancing gender rights 25 years after a landmark 1995 Beijing conference on women. The two sessions of the Global Equality Forum that had been planned for Mexico City in May and Paris in July will be postponed …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population, Human Rights

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COVID-19

A New Tool Tracks Government Policies Responding to the Pandemic

April 1, 2020

by Dulcie Leimbach

As the novel coronavirus, Covid-19, plagues the world, a new tool to track and compare how government policies are contending with the pandemic has been introduced by the University of Oxford’s Blavatnik School of Government, in England. Called the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, it is available online at no cost and will be …

Covid-19, Health and Population

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COVID-19

Gender Imbalances: Missing Girls and Vanishing Men

March 31, 2020

by Joseph Chamie

Normally, the numbers of males and females in a human population are about the same across all such populations. However, pregnancy interventions by couples and unhealthy lifestyles among young men have produced gender imbalances, giving rise to “missing girls” in some populations and “disappearing men” in others. The coronavirus pandemic will have lasting impacts …

Covid-19, Gender-Based Violence, Health and Population

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COVID-19

UN Women’s Forum in Mexico City Is Under Review

March 29, 2020

by Barbara Crossette

Another highlight of the year marking the 25th anniversary of a breakthrough international conference in Beijing on women’s rights has fallen victim to the global march of the new coronavirus, Covid-19. The event is the first of two global meetings of the Generation Equality Forum, which is meant to give civil society organizations a …

Covid-19, Health and Population, Latin America

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COVID-19

The Security Council Goes Silent as the Secretary-General Opens Up

March 27, 2020

by Stéphanie Fillion and Kacie Candela

For the coronavirus outbreak, UN-Scripted, our podcast series, is ramping up its coverage by offering a bonus episode this week. This time, we look at how the United Nations Security Council is slowly restarting its program of work but offering few details on its operations to the media and all the countries that don’t …