• GOINGS-ON

    News on personnel appointments at the UN and related NGOs.

    GOINGS-ON

    A German Diplomat, Wolfgang Ischinger, Is Honored for Disarmament Work

    by  • February 19, 2018 • Disarmament, GOINGS-ON • 1 Comment

    A prestigious prize related to nuclear disarmament that has been given to Americans and Russians in the past has been awarded to a German, Wolfgang Ischinger, for the first time. The Nunn-Lugar Award for Promoting Nuclear Security honored Ischinger, a 71-year-old former diplomat, at the annual Munich Security Conference this month. The prize “recognizes...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    The Academic Council on the UN System Moves to Britain

    by  • June 19, 2017 • GOINGS-ON, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations • 2 Comments

    The Academic Council on the United Nations System, founded in the United States in 1987 and housed in a series of North American universities since then, announced on June 15 that it would move in July from its current base in Canada to the Center for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    The UN Formalizes Its Partnership With Sant’Egidio, the Rome-Based Mediator

    by  • June 9, 2017 • Africa, GOINGS-ON, Human Trafficking, International Justice, Libya, Migration, Peace and Security • 

    The United Nations has formalized its relationship with the Community of Sant’Egidio, the highly regarded Catholic membership organization based in Rome that has been focusing on conflict prevention and resolution, primarily in Africa, for 30 years. A community of 60,000 laypeople founded in 1968, Sant’Egidio has been working with the UN on mediation prospects...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Head Since 2011, Dies Suddenly at 68

    by  • June 5, 2017 • Africa, GOINGS-ON, Health and Population, UN Agencies • 

    The death on June 4 of Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, and a Nigerian, was not only a personal tragedy and a shock to the staff of the fund but also another blow for an agency that had recently lost all its United States financial support. Osotimehin, a...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    The New Spokesman for Nikki Haley, US Envoy to the UN, Comes From Fox News

    by  • March 5, 2017 • GOINGS-ON, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations • 1 Comment

    Jonathan Wachtel is the new director of communications and spokesman for Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations. Wachtel will be working with Haley and the rest of the US mission on its policy issues, among other activities. That includes social media outreach. Haley’s Twitter page, where she has posted news...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    Filippo Grandi of Italy to Lead the UN Refugee Agency Amid Continued Crisis

    by  • November 11, 2015 • GOINGS-ON • 

    Filippo Grandi of Italy has been selected by Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations secretary-general, to become the 11th UN High Commissioner for Refugees, a post based in Geneva. Grandi will be officially voted into office by the UN General Assembly next week. Grandi replaces António Guterres of Portugal, 66, who has been high commissioner...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    Gender Balance Improves in Latest Major Staff Appointments at UN

    by  • July 13, 2015 • GOINGS-ON • 

    New high-level appointments made by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon reflect more influence by Denmark in the world body, including the recent election of a Dane, Mogens Lykketoft, as the next president of the General Assembly, starting in September for one year. Two other Danes are taking prestigious posts: Michael Moller will lead the...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    Recent Senior Appointments at the UN Show Stubborn Gender Gap

    by  • June 4, 2015 • GOINGS-ON • 1 Comment

    A roundup of new high-level appointments announced by the United Nations in the last three months runs the usual gamut from special envoys to new heads of agencies. These new senior appointments, made by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, show a continuing preponderance of men over women, with the latest roundup revealing a startling ratio of 18...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    Angela Kane Is Leaving the UN in a Political Shuffle

    by  • March 2, 2015 • Disarmament, GOINGS-ON • 2 Comments

    Angela Kane, one of the United Nations’ most respected and experienced officials and the lead negotiator in 2014 in persuading Syria to give up its chemical weapons, has announced unexpectedly that she will be leaving the organization. She has been the UN’s High Representative for Disarmament since March 2012. Reports are circulating around the...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    New UN Senior Personnel Appointments Show Gap in Gender Parity

    by  • February 17, 2015 • GOINGS-ON • 3 Comments

    Important new senior personnel appointments announced so far in 2015 by the United Nations secretary-general, Ban Ki-moon, range from peacekeeping operations to trade and development, with other candidates named to deal with preventing tuberculosis worldwide and eradicating Ebola in West Africa. The nationalities of the new appointees include an Indian, a Bulgarian, three Americans,...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    The US Names a Negotiator for the Next Set of Development Goals

    by  • January 26, 2015 • GOINGS-ON • 

    Tony Pipa has been named the principal United States negotiator for the United Nations post-2015 development agenda, also known as the Sustainable Development Goals, which are being written and finalized this year to replace the soon-expiring Millennium Development Goals. The appointment reflects US efforts to become more fully engaged in the process of UN...

    Read more →
    GOINGS-ON

    A Haitian-Canadian to Lead Global French-Speaking Group

    by  • December 16, 2014 • GOINGS-ON • 

    Michaëlle Jean, a former governor-general of Canada and chancellor of the University of Ottawa, has been named the first Canadian and the first woman to lead the Francophonie, an association of countries where French is a national language or is widely spoken. Canadian media reported that Jean was supported actively for the position by...

    Read more →