Secretary-General

• September 18, 2021

Vaccine-policy confusion as delegates arrive for UNGA; Gabon’s troops repatriated from a United Nations peacekeeping mission; President Macron of France won’t participate in the UN high-level debate. 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. UNGA …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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UNGA76: Who’s Coming and Going at New York City’s Annual Jubilee: Our Latest Podcast Episode

Stéphanie Fillion

• September 17, 2021

It is that time of year again: The United Nations General Assembly’s annual meeting with world leaders returns in a hybrid format after being virtual last year. Which heads of state and government are coming? What should you watch for? We’ve got your guide to the 76th UNGA session. We speak with Nigerian Ambassador …

Secretary-General, UNGA76, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

UN’s Guterres Proposes a 2023 Summit of the Future in ‘Our Common Agenda’ Report

Richard Ponzio and Joris Larik

• September 13, 2021

A year ago, as Covid-19 took its toll on countless lives and livelihoods and presented yet another reminder of how global crises inevitably require global cooperation and solutions, world leaders convened virtually to endorse a declaration marking the United Nations’ 75th anniversary. To achieve progress on the declaration’s 12 commitments, member states requested Secretary-General …

Governance, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

#UNGA76 Is Here; Women on Edge in Afghanistan; Biden’s Hit-and-Miss With Allies

Anna Bianca Roach

• September 10, 2021

Calling all world leaders to the General Assembly; the Taliban shun women; Biden’s confounding foreign policy. 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. Scoop: Incoming members of the obscure but influential UN General Assembly Credentials …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, 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

One Comment

TOPIC: WOMEN

A Jordanian Diplomat With Development Expertise Will Lead UN Women

Barbara Crossette

• September 6, 2021

Sima Sami Bahous, until recently Jordan’s ambassador to the United Nations since 2016, has been chosen as the next executive director of UN Women. Her appointment may be announced as soon as Tuesday, Sept. 7, according to numerous people who have been closely following the search for a successor to Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka of South …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, Women

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THIS WEEK @UN

The UN Sticks to Afghanistan; Ireland Steers the Security Council; Preying on Mothers’ Fears

Anna Bianca Roach

• September 3, 2021

The UN’s priorities in Afghanistan for now; how certain multinational corporations feed on new-mothers’ fears amid Covid; Ireland’s envoy defends the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan. 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. …

Human Rights, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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A Highly Respected UN Legacy to Fight Corruption Crumbles in Guatemala

Maurizio Guerrero

• August 25, 2021

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 projects run by the United Nations: the International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala, or Cicig. …

Humanitarian Aid, Latin America, Migration, Secretary-General, US-UN Relations

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WOMEN AS CHANGEMAKERS

Women Will Achieve Equality, No Matter What: Natalia Kanem of UNFPA Explains

Barbara Crossette

• August 24, 2021

For Natalia Kanem, the executive director of the United Nations Population Fund since 2017, the last couple of years have been a wild ride. In 2020, women the world over were getting ready to celebrate important anniversaries: 25 years since an international conference in Beijing pledged global action on women’s rights, including their reproductive …

Health and Population, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, Women as Changemakers

One Comment

Afghans Who Work for the UN in Their Country Say They Fear for Their Lives [Updated]

Fiona Shukri

• August 20, 2021

United Nations staff members in Afghanistan who work for the UN political mission there say it has been failing to protect its national personnel since the Taliban’s sudden takeover of the country on Aug. 15 and as the United States evacuates tens of thousands of Americans and others from the Kabul airport amid deadly …

Asia, Gender Violence, Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

9 Comments

Despite the Intensifying Dangers in Afghanistan, the UN Says It Is Staying Put [Updated]

Dulcie Leimbach

• August 14, 2021

As the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, on Sunday — and the Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani, fled the country — the United Nations continues to decline to say whether it is planning to evacuate its thousands of personnel there. Rather, the UN is emphasizing its efforts on providing food, water and other …

Asia, Gender Violence, Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Agencies

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COVID-19

Member States Want UN Personnel Back in Headquarters. Staff Are Resisting.

Laura E. Kirkpatrick

• August 10, 2021

As outbreaks of Covid-19 cases spike again in many places worldwide, the United Nations Secretariat in New York City faces reopening decisions that pit some staff members’ interests against those of UN member states. Pressure is coming from UN member states that want the headquarters to reopen fully with a significant number of staff …

Covid-19, General Assembly, Secretary-General, UN Agencies

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THIS WEEK @UN

UN Attacked in Afghanistan; Myanmar’s Envoy Seat Contested; Canada’s Big Step for an Inuit

Ivana Ramirez

• July 30, 2021

A deadly assault on the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan; Myanmar’s junta seeks the UN envoy seat; the World Meteorological Organization’s troubles; Canada’s big step for Inuits. 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. …

General Assembly, Humanitarian Aid, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

US Delegation to Haiti Cut Short; Risks for the UN Pension Fund?; an Ex-Guantánamo Detainee May Face Torture in Russia

Ivana Ramirez

• July 24, 2021

A US delegation to Haiti returns early; potential risks for the $87 billion UN pension fund; an ex-Guantánamo detainee may face torture in Russia. 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. We are inching closer …

Africa, Asia, Human Rights, Secretary-General, This Week @UN, Unesco, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Does the UN Pension Fund Really Need to Invest in Financial Derivatives?

Lowell Flanders

• July 17, 2021

When the market for mortgage-backed securities — derivatives — exploded in 2008, the investment guru Warren Buffet called them “financial weapons of mass destruction.” The crisis was the worst American economic disaster to occur since the Great Depression. In the United States, the stock market tanked, wiping out nearly $8 trillion in value between …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, UN pension fund, WORLDVIEWS

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

Stéphanie Fillion

TOPIC: WOMEN

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Secretary-General

#UNGA76 Vaccination Rules; Gabon Peacekeepers Ousted; Macron Drops Out of UN Debate

UNGA76: Who’s Coming and Going at New York City’s Annual Jubilee: Our Latest Podcast Episode

UN’s Guterres Proposes a 2023 Summit of the Future in ‘Our Common Agenda’ Report

#UNGA76 Is Here; Women on Edge in Afghanistan; Biden’s Hit-and-Miss With Allies

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

A Jordanian Diplomat With Development Expertise Will Lead UN Women

The UN Sticks to Afghanistan; Ireland Steers the Security Council; Preying on Mothers’ Fears

A Highly Respected UN Legacy to Fight Corruption Crumbles in Guatemala

Women Will Achieve Equality, No Matter What: Natalia Kanem of UNFPA Explains

Afghans Who Work for the UN in Their Country Say They Fear for Their Lives [Updated]

Despite the Intensifying Dangers in Afghanistan, the UN Says It Is Staying Put [Updated]

Member States Want UN Personnel Back in Headquarters. Staff Are Resisting.

UN Attacked in Afghanistan; Myanmar’s Envoy Seat Contested; Canada’s Big Step for an Inuit

US Delegation to Haiti Cut Short; Risks for the UN Pension Fund?; an Ex-Guantánamo Detainee May Face Torture in Russia

Does the UN Pension Fund Really Need to Invest in Financial Derivatives?

This Week's Most Popular

A Jordanian Diplomat With Development Expertise Will Lead UN Women

UN’s Guterres Proposes a 2023 Summit of the Future in ‘Our Common Agenda’ Report

Myanmar’s Credentials at the UN

UNGA76: Who’s Coming and Going at New York City’s Annual Jubilee: Our Latest Podcast Episode

UN-Scripted, Passblue's UN podcast series

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