Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs
Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs

BLUE SMOKE: A new monthly newsletter, from PassBlue and UNA–UK, which shines a spotlight on senior appointments at the UN

Latin America

At least a dozen United Nations member states, along with Latin American and Caribbean countries, oppose a plan by a global body to issue the first-ever license to a nation to explore minerals in the deep seabed in 2023….
 
On Day 2 of the “high-level” week, featuring many of the world’s heads of state and government, President Joe Biden shared the forum with a diverse roster of speakers, who stood at the rostrum, one by one, stretching from…
 
On the first day of the “high-level” week of the United Nations General Assembly, attracting approximately 150 world leaders in person to the world body for the first time since 2019, Secretary-General António Guterres, facing criticism for acting too…
 
This week, we focus on the rising number of armed children in conflicts in Africa’s Sahel region and how fake news, misinformation and disinformation are hurting peacekeeping worldwide. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues…
 
This week, we focus on the continual attacks on UN peacekeepers in Mali, which further stall efforts to restore peace in the West African country. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization….
 
Brazil will try to push for a softening of global sanctions on Russia to free up essential food supplies and ease access to fertilizers internationally. Ambassador Ronaldo Costa, the country’s permanent representative to the United Nations, hinted at such…
 
Xiomara Castro, Honduras’s first woman president, is brandishing an ambitious agenda whose top priorities include reforming the Constitution and elevating women’s rights. Yet the success of Castro, a 62-year-old former first lady, depends heavily on how well she manages…
 
Celia Umenza, an Indigenous leader who has survived three attacks on her life while advocating for the self-determination of Indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant communities in the northern Cauca region of Colombia, recently told the United Nations Security Council that…
 
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…
 
Mexico has only one chance in its two-year term to shine as president of the Security Council, and it’s this month. While all eyes are now focusing on Glasgow, Scotland, and the United Nations-led COP26 meeting on climate change,…
 
In October, the United Nations Security Council diplomats are packing up their suitcases and hopping on an overseas flight to the Sahel region of West Africa to assess the serious challenges that this semiarid strip is countering. It is…
 
This year’s United Nations General Assembly could make or break the future of in-person meetings at the gathering in New York City. After a year of carefully negotiating, adapting and crafting health guidelines, UNGA organizers are hoping to avoid…
 
When Guatemala’s Attorney General Consuelo Porras recently removed the anticorruption leader Juan Francisco Sandoval from his post as the special prosecutor against impunity, her action ended the last semblance of prosecutorial independence generated by one of the most successful…
 
Grass-roots activists know peace-building best; Gaza reconstruction goals begin; the UN Security Council returns home. 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…
 
It was all over in one crucial week. Barring an unforeseen hitch, António Guterres is the clear winner of a second, five-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, beginning on Jan.1, 2022. This was not a surprise: he…
 
The Women's History Month Quiz from PassBlue: A quiz about women and the UN
Seton Hall Graduate Degree in International Affairs

THIS WEEK'S MOST POPULAR

Global Connections Television - The only talk show of its kind in the world

Don't Miss a Story:

Subscribe to PassBlue

Sign up to get the smartest news on the UN by email, joining readers across the globe.​

We respect your privacy and take protecting it seriously​