General Assembly

• May 13, 2022

This week, we focus on how the UN is further rallying support to combat the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine and the widespread condemnation against the killing of Al Jazeera’s reporter in Palestine. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, …

General Assembly, Human Rights, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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WORLDVIEWS

Liechtenstein’s ‘Veto Initiative’ Wins Wide Approval at the UN. Will It Deter the Big Powers?

Ben Donaldson

• April 26, 2022

A major effort to reform the use of the veto in the United Nations Security Council came to fruition in a rare move on April 26, when the General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to raise the political cost of exercising the veto by the five permanent members of the Council: Britain, China, …

General Assembly, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Making the Most of the 2023 UN Summit of the Future

María Fernanda Espinosa and Danilo Turk

• April 20, 2022

Combined with the growing fears of irreversible climate change and emerging new Covid-19 variants and subvariants, stands an ominous “third C”: conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has triggered a refugee crisis on a scale not witnessed in Europe since the end of World War II. At the same time, civil wars in Africa …

Climate Change, General Assembly, WORLDVIEWS

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WOMEN AS CHANGEMAKERS

Meet Comfort Ero, the First Black Woman to Lead the International Crisis Group

Damilola Banjo

• April 3, 2022

Comfort Ero knew that her appointment as the president and chief executive of the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank working to prevent wars, would be arduous. But taking up the role in December, two months before Russia invaded Ukraine, is not exactly what she envisaged. “It is a reminder of what it …

Africa, General Assembly, Peace and Security, Security Council, Women as Changemakers

3 Comments

India’s Stance on Ukraine and Where Modi’s Geopolitics Go Next

Barbara Crossette

• March 13, 2022

In India, a country of probing and often rambunctious political debate, another chapter in the “who we are” story has started in the wake of what President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine is calling a Russian “war of annihilation” of his country. Speculation about India’s international posture runs on two separate, parallel tracks. Globally, India, …

Asia, General Assembly, Security Council

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WORLDVIEWS

United Nations: The Last Thing Putin Wants

Mark Malloch-Brown

• February 28, 2022

Putin’s decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine was a flagrant breach of the most fundamental rules of interstate relationships. It was not only an unprovoked attack against an independent sovereign nation, and by an unfree country on a free one, it was also a major offensive strike against the heart of the United …

General Assembly, Peace and Security, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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Mexico’s President Says the UN Should ‘Wake Up From Its Slumber’ to End Global Poverty

Maurizio Guerrero

• November 9, 2021

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, known as Amlo for his initials, called on the United Nations to “wake up from its slumber” and support the creation of a mechanism to end poverty for 750 million people worldwide. In his first visit to the UN, on Nov. 9, López Obrador said the proposal could …

General Assembly, Latin America, Poverty, Secretary-General, Security Council

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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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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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THIS WEEK @UN

UN’s Guterres Strikes Back; Kenya Pilots the Security Council; a Promising Malaria Vaccine

Anna Bianca Roach

• October 8, 2021

A new vaccine for malaria; the Security Council goes to the Sahel; the Human Rights Council’s actions, criticized and praised. 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, we include discussions in the …

Africa, Asia, General Assembly, Health and Population, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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COVID-19

As UNGA Winds Down, Mali Warns of Rising Dangers in the Sahel as France Claims a Recent Success

Barbara Crossette

• September 27, 2021

On the last day of global leaders’ speeches at the opening of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the array of countries on the roster ranged from Israel to Iceland, from Algeria to North Korea, from Canada to Guinea. Two long-scheduled countries to deliver messages — Afghanistan and Myanmar — were …

Africa, Asia, Climate Change, Covid-19, General Assembly, UNGA76, US Foreign Relations

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India and Pakistan, Next-Door Neighbors That Stand Worlds Apart at the UN

Barbara Crossette

• September 25, 2021

Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India cautioned today that tolerating extremism in Afghanistan would open the way to renewed terrorism in the region. The message was aimed at Pakistan, where the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan is promoting a policy of incentives to change the Taliban’s behavior and not rely on punitive responses. …

Asia, General Assembly, UNGA76

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From Tiny Barbados, a Scolding to the World: ‘We Have Not Moved the Needle!’

Anna Bianca Roach

• September 24, 2021

The fourth day of the United Nations General Assembly debate soldiered on, with pointed speeches by, among others, the Caribbean island nation of Barbados, whose prime minister, Mia Amor Mottley, asked the General Assembly Hall, “How many crises and natural disasters need to hit before we see that old conventions of aid mean that …

Climate Change, General Assembly, Health and Population, UNGA76, US-UN Relations

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At the UN, Boris Johnson Tries to Rally Forces for the Climate Change Event in November

Dulcie Leimbach

• September 23, 2021

If you have understandably faded from the UNGA76 gathering by now, here are highlights for Day 3 of global leaders’ speeches, held on Sept. 23. We’ve also included Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s late-night remarks on Sept. 22 in the General Assembly Hall. Only four women have spoken across the three days, from Estonia, Moldova, …

Africa, Caribbean, Climate Change, General Assembly, Health and Population, Terrorism, UNGA76, US-UN Relations

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Venezuela’s Maduro Fires Up UNGA, While a Fight for Afghan Women’s Rights Has Big-Name Backing

Maurizio Guerrero

• September 22, 2021

The second day of world leaders’ speeches delivered at the United Nations General Assembly continued on Sept. 22, after the heavily reported appearance of United States President Joe Biden at the fabled rostrum in the Assembly Hall; a last-minute video presentation by China’s Xi Jinping; and a video by Iran’s new president, Ebrahim Raisi, …

Asia, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, UNGA76, US-UN Relations

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A Blogger Exposed a UN Agency’s Wrongdoings. Its Boss Has Resigned

Susanne Courtney

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General Assembly

Trending UN News: Week Ending May 13

Liechtenstein’s ‘Veto Initiative’ Wins Wide Approval at the UN. Will It Deter the Big Powers?

Making the Most of the 2023 UN Summit of the Future

Meet Comfort Ero, the First Black Woman to Lead the International Crisis Group

India’s Stance on Ukraine and Where Modi’s Geopolitics Go Next

United Nations: The Last Thing Putin Wants

Mexico’s President Says the UN Should ‘Wake Up From Its Slumber’ to End Global Poverty

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

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

UN’s Guterres Strikes Back; Kenya Pilots the Security Council; a Promising Malaria Vaccine

As UNGA Winds Down, Mali Warns of Rising Dangers in the Sahel as France Claims a Recent Success

India and Pakistan, Next-Door Neighbors That Stand Worlds Apart at the UN

From Tiny Barbados, a Scolding to the World: ‘We Have Not Moved the Needle!’

At the UN, Boris Johnson Tries to Rally Forces for the Climate Change Event in November

Venezuela’s Maduro Fires Up UNGA, While a Fight for Afghan Women’s Rights Has Big-Name Backing

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Russia’s Powerful Perch at the UN Is Crumbling

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To Stalin, Ukraine Was an Independent Country

Liechtenstein’s ‘Veto Initiative’ Wins Wide Approval at the UN. Will It Deter the Big Powers?

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