Middle East

• November 25, 2022

This week, we focus on climate commitments made at the just-concluded COP27 as well as the UN Environment Program honoring activists. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, the UN Secretary-General António …

Africa, Climate Change, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, This Week @UN, Ukraine-Russia War

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Will the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council Send a Strong Message to Iran?

Kourosh Ziabari

• November 22, 2022

Leaders of major democracies are intensifying their denunciations of the Iranian government for its continued brutal crackdown on the protests in the country, which are moving into their third month as Iran has issued four death sentences so far linked to demonstrations. Not only are countries levying new sanctions on individuals and entities implicated …

Asia, General Assembly, Human Rights, Middle East, Security Council

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Saeid Iravani: What to Expect From Iran’s New Ambassador to the UN

Kourosh Ziabari

• November 9, 2022

Iran’s new ambassador to the United Nations stunned journalists recently when he read a contentious statement to them in response to an informal Security Council meeting on the current protests in Iran. The envoy delivered his remarks to reporters just before the Council met on Nov. 2 to discuss in particular women’s rights …

Gender Violence, Middle East, UN Diplomats, US Foreign Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending July 1

Damilola Banjo

• July 1, 2022

This week, we focus on the progress in discussions about elections in Libya and the drastic call for help in Afghanistan after the recent earthquake. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues before the organization. The information is gathered from UN press briefings, PassBlue reporting and other sources. This week, …

Africa, Libya, Middle East, Migration, Refugees, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

After Abstaining on a Vote Condemning Russia’s Invasion, the UAE Leads the Security Council

Stéphanie Fillion

• March 3, 2022

The last time the United Arab Emirates was elected to the Security Council, in 1986, the country was only 15 years old, and Lana Zaki Nusseibeh, the current UAE ambassador to the United Nations, was just 7. Since then she has seen her country, a Persian Gulf monarchy comprising seven emirates, evolve into a …

Human Rights, Middle East, Peace and Security, Security Council Presidency

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THIS WEEK @UN

Further Souring of Ethiopian-UN Relations; Deep-Sea Mining Dangers; Polish-Belarusian Standoff

Anna Bianca Roach

• November 12, 2021

PassBlue probes the global body granting licenses to mine the deep seas; UN staff detained in Ethiopia; global famine rises. 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, Mexico’s president proposes a plan …

Africa, Asia, Climate Change, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Middle East, Migration, Myanmar, Refugees, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

The Surreal Saga of Gitmo; US Rejoins the Human Rights Council; the Taliban Break Promises

Anna Bianca Roach

• October 15, 2021

The Taliban break promises to women in Afghanistan; Mali moving toward combatant reintegration; the Kafkaesque legal work representing Gitmo detainees. 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, frozen assets and aid funding …

Africa, Asia, Middle East, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Diplomats, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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What to Expect From This Year’s UN General Assembly, So Far

Stéphanie Fillion

• September 7, 2021

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 a repeat of last year’s first, almost entirely virtual, gathering. But the threat of the …

Africa, Asia, General Assembly, Latin America, Middle East, Secretary-General, Security Council, UNGA76, US-UN Relations

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

In August, India Aims to Use Its Security Council Seat to Show Why It Should Be Permanent

Stéphanie Fillion

• August 2, 2021

The presidency of the Security Council is always a high time for a country’s diplomacy, but for India right now, it’s more than that. In August, the country is going to try to show the world why it deserves a permanent seat in the United Nations’ most important body. According to T. S. Tirumurti, …

General Assembly, Middle East, Security Council Presidency, Terrorism, UN Diplomats, UN Peacekeeping

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A Year Later, a Sex-Video Inquiry Tied to the UN Mission in Israel Remains a Mystery

Maurizio Guerrero

• June 3, 2021

Almost a year ago, the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization released a statement characterizing as “abhorrent” a video in which a man and a woman appeared to be having sex in the back seat of a four-wheel drive vehicle with UN logos on it. The video’s content, apparently shot on a major road in …

Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Middle East, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

Her Personal Mission: Helping to Release Yemen’s Prisoners in Its Continuing War

Laila Lutf Al-Thawr

• June 1, 2021

CAIRO — “They dug a hole in the ground, threw us in and shot at us randomly. I only survived because a body laid on top of me. Al Qaeda has my friends — please help me save them.” With those words, 13-year-old Adel barged into my office in Sana, Yemen, in 2015, and …

Gender Violence, Middle East, WORLDVIEWS

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A Now-Retired UN Force Commander From Norway Double-Billed for Expenses

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 27, 2021

Maj. Gen. Kristin Lund of Norway double-billed her government and the United Nations for moving expenses, according to a new report from The Norwegian Business Daily (Dagens Naeringsliv/DN). Lund was the first woman force commander for the UN, holding the post at its peacekeeping mission in Cyprus. That stint was followed by her heading …

Middle East, Security Council, UN Careers

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THIS WEEK @UN

Mass Rapes in Tigray; Burma Sinks Further; Climate, Climate, Climate

Ivana Ramirez

• April 23, 2021

The Joe Biden climate-fest; rape as a weapon of war in Tigray; Burma slides further downhill. 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. Laura Kirkpatrick, who manages our Facebook page, created an informal poll based …

Climate Change, General Assembly, Middle East, Myanmar, SDGs, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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Former UN Mediators Aim to Make Mideast Peace Work Home-Grown

Dali ten Hove

• April 21, 2021

A high-powered cast of former senior United Nations mediators from the Middle East and North Africa have founded a conflict-resolution organization, the International Center for Dialogue Initiatives, or ICDI, to mitigate the failures of foreign peace brokers and enable home-grown peacemakers to become more influential in their region, the founders say. Jamal Benomar, a …

Libya, Middle East

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WORLDVIEWS

The UN-Led Peace Process for Syria Has Failed. Women Must Be Part of the Next One.

Mouna Ghanem

• March 8, 2021

COPENHAGEN — In her book, “The Second Sex,” Simone de Beauvoir argued that one is not born but rather becomes a woman. De Beauvoir emphasized that destiny is not a cosmic force but a human choice, a result of circumstances and culture. It follows that circumstances and social determinants dictate a woman’s role in …

Gender Violence, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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PassBlue Quiz: Women in Politics. Test your knowledge of female leaders and the issues they confront.

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Navi Pillay, Who Leads a UN Rights Probe on Palestine and Israel, Hits Back on Slurs Against Her

Dulcie Leimbach

WORLDVIEWS

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Middle East

Trending UN News: Week Ending Nov. 25

Will the General Assembly and the Human Rights Council Send a Strong Message to Iran?

Saeid Iravani: What to Expect From Iran’s New Ambassador to the UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending July 1

After Abstaining on a Vote Condemning Russia’s Invasion, the UAE Leads the Security Council

Further Souring of Ethiopian-UN Relations; Deep-Sea Mining Dangers; Polish-Belarusian Standoff

The Surreal Saga of Gitmo; US Rejoins the Human Rights Council; the Taliban Break Promises

What to Expect From This Year’s UN General Assembly, So Far

In August, India Aims to Use Its Security Council Seat to Show Why It Should Be Permanent

A Year Later, a Sex-Video Inquiry Tied to the UN Mission in Israel Remains a Mystery

Her Personal Mission: Helping to Release Yemen’s Prisoners in Its Continuing War

A Now-Retired UN Force Commander From Norway Double-Billed for Expenses

Mass Rapes in Tigray; Burma Sinks Further; Climate, Climate, Climate

Former UN Mediators Aim to Make Mideast Peace Work Home-Grown

The UN-Led Peace Process for Syria Has Failed. Women Must Be Part of the Next One.

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How to Move From Hostility to Cooperation in the UN Security Council

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Catch-22 in the Congo: Politics, Peacekeeping and the Fault Lines of Protection

At COP27, Russia Shows Up With Oil Lobbyists and Demands Sanctions Relief

UN-Scripted, Passblue's UN podcast series

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