GOINGS-ON

A New US National Security Council Pick May Mean More Trouble for the UN

• February 10, 2020

Hugh Dugan, a retired United States Foreign Service officer and former US delegate to the United Nations, has been appointed to the US National Security Council as special assistant for international organization affairs, an integral post for government relations with the UN. Dugan was a US delegate to the UN from 1989 to 2015. Most …

GOINGS-ON, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

A UN-Centric Boutique, Sparkling in USA’s Silicon Valley

N'Dongo Athie

• December 10, 2019

What: The small and colorful United Nations Association gift shop has been located in the same exact spot since it opened in 1974, in Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area. It sells everything from artisanal jewelry and baskets to plenty of other low-tech, mostly handmade goods in between, symbolically representing the world. The …

GOINGS-ON, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

Heather Nauert, Trump’s Pick for UN Ambassador, Drops Out

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 16, 2019

Heather Nauert, who was nominated by President Trump in early December to succeed Nikki Haley as the United States ambassador to the United Nations, has withdrawn from consideration as of Feb. 16, 2018. Nauert was the chief spokesperson for the State Department from mid-2017 until her nomination in early December. Bloomberg News reported the …

GOINGS-ON, Security Council, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

Ambassador Kelley Currie Is Leaving the US Mission to the UN

Dulcie Leimbach

• February 1, 2019

Kelley Currie, an ambassador who represents the United States on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations and is the alternate representative of the US to the General Assembly, is leaving her post at the US mission to the UN in New York, she told people at a reception on Jan. 31, …

General Assembly, GOINGS-ON, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

Marillyn Hewson of Lockheed Martin May Be Trump’s Pick for UN Envoy

Dulcie Leimbach

• December 5, 2018

Marillyn Hewson, the head of Lockheed Martin Corporation, is the latest name to surface as a potential successor to Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, according to a diplomat there. Hewson has been the chief executive officer of Lockheed Martin since 2013. The company, based in Bethesda, Md., is the …

GOINGS-ON, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

A UN Ensemble Whose Music Radiates Peace

Kacie Candela

• November 10, 2018

The quiet work of diplomacy at the United Nations headquarters often makes for a dry atmosphere. But after sundown, it’s a whole different scene, thanks to a robust after-work culture of clubs — much as you would find at an American high school — under the umbrella of the UN Staff Recreation Council. Staff …

GOINGS-ON, UN-NY Relations

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GOINGS-ON

Heather Nauert, State Dept. Spokesperson, May Be Next UN Ambassador

Dulcie Leimbach and Irwin Arieff

• November 2, 2018

President Trump has apparently offered Heather Nauert the United States ambassadorship to the United Nations, according to numerous media reports. She would succeed Nikki Haley, who announced her resignation in early October, saying she wanted to work in the private sector. (Update: Trump said on Dec. 7 that she was his choice for the …

GOINGS-ON, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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Trump Names a UN Critic to the Organization’s Crucial Contributions Panel

Barbara Crossette

• October 27, 2018

Brett Schaefer, a fellow in international regulatory affairs at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research organization in Washington, D.C., has been nominated by the White House to serve as a member on the United Nations committee on contributions, which advises the General Assembly on apportioning dues that countries pay to the UN’s budget. …

General Assembly, GOINGS-ON, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

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

Kacie Candela

• February 19, 2018

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 …

Disarmament, GOINGS-ON

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GOINGS-ON

The Academic Council on the UN System Moves to Britain

Barbara Crossette

• June 19, 2017

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 …

GOINGS-ON, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

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

Dulcie Leimbach

• June 9, 2017

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 …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Human Trafficking, International Justice, Libya, Migration, Peace and Security

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

Barbara Crossette

• June 5, 2017

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 …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Health and Population, UN Agencies

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GOINGS-ON

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

Dulcie Leimbach

• March 5, 2017

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 …

GOINGS-ON, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GOINGS-ON

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

Dulcie Leimbach

• November 11, 2015

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 …

GOINGS-ON

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Gender Balance Improves in Latest Major Staff Appointments at UN

Dulcie Leimbach

• July 13, 2015

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 …