Secretary-General

• 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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THIS WEEK @UN

Receding Ice in Iceland; UN Agencies’ Use of P.R. Firms; Lebanon on the Edge

Ivana Ramirez

• July 16, 2021

Receding glaciers in Iceland; the UN’s use of public-relations firms; South Sudan’s promising women’s soccer league; Lebanon’s “reversal.” 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 have reached two-thirds of the way to our important …

Climate and Environment, Gender Violence, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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The Public-Relations Industry Grabs a Foothold in the UN

Barbara Crossette

• July 14, 2021

As the final round of the Generation Equality Forum was about to open in Paris in late June, some reporters, including from PassBlue, were directed by a few United Nations agencies most involved in the event, to ask their questions to public-relations companies. Knowledgeable communications specialists in the UN system were “too busy,” reporters …

Journalists, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Careers

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THIS WEEK @UN

Crucial Aid Into Syria; Will a Feminist Lead UN Women?; Haiti’s Downfall

Ivana Ramirez

• July 9, 2021

Crucial aid into Syria continues; will a feminist head UN Women?; the good and bad of Security Council Arria meetings; Haiti on the edge. 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 closer …

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

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WORLDVIEWS

Feminist Wanted: Seeking the Next Leader of UN Women

Anne Marie Goetz and Joanne Sandler

• July 8, 2021

UN Women is looking for a new executive director. Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, a former vice president of South Africa, is stepping down after eight years at the helm. The appointment comes as the Generation Equality Forum in Paris just ended, with historically high financial pledges by some governments. But it comes at a moment of peril …

Gender Violence, Secretary-General, UN Agencies, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Seeking Racial Justice; $6 Billion for Peace Ops; Gender Equality on the Front Burner, for Now

Ivana Ramirez

• July 2, 2021

Ending racism across the world; UN peacekeeping’s $6 billion annual budget O.K.’d; Norway’s diplomatic troubles; gender equality on the front burner (for now). 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 halfway through …

Africa, Human Rights, Humanitarian Aid, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Peacekeeping

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THIS WEEK @UN

The IAEA Chief’s Laments; Two UN Giants Mourned; European Peacekeepers Attacked in Mali

Ivana Ramirez

• June 25, 2021

Rafael Grossi of the IAEA on Iran, gender bias and diplomacy; nuke-weapons countries just keep spending billions; European peacekeepers attacked in Gao, Mali. 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 nearly halfway …

Africa, LGBT, Nuclear Disarmament, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

Making the UN More Relevant Is Within Our Reach

Richard Ponzio and Cristina Petcu

• June 21, 2021

Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change crises, extremist violence and social unrest, the specter of cross-border economic shocks and increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, the UN75 Declaration, adopted by world leaders last September, was an important first step in bolstering the case for the United Nations’ ability to cope with huge challenges …

Governance, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

The UN Leader Is Sworn In (Again); Myanmar’s Downhill Slide; the US Envoy’s Rising Star

Ivana Ramirez

• June 18, 2021

The UN’s leader is sworn in for another term; Myanmar’s rapid instability; elevating the US ambassador’s profile. 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 about a third of the way through our mini-fundraiser, …

General Assembly, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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WORLDVIEWS

What Now, António?

Thomas G. Weiss

• June 16, 2021

António Guterres soon will be recrowned Secretary-General after Manhattan’s five-member Electoral College, the permanent members of the Security Council, send its recommendation to the General Assembly for a ceremonial vote. In 2016, his election was an unusually transparent process — at least by United Nations standards — with contenders vetted by the General Assembly; …

Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Major UN Elections; Guterres Crosses One Finish Line; Long Working Hours Can Kill You

Ivana Ramirez

• June 11, 2021

The Ghana delegation posing outside the United Nations General Assembly Hall, June 11, 2021, after the Assembly voted on Security Council members for the 2022-23 term. Besides Ghana, the others are Albania, Brazil, Gabon and United Arab Emirates. They succeed Estonia, Niger, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam. JOHN PENNEY Major United …

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

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WORLDVIEWS

A Huge Missed Opportunity: Putting a Woman at the Top of the UN

Anna Samya Sri

• June 9, 2021

As the United Nations Security Council has just officially endorsed Secretary-General António Guterres for a second term, below, there is little regret being voiced publicly among the UN’s 193 member nations that in the organization’s 76-year history, there has never been a woman in charge. And once the General Assembly casts its vote behind …

General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

The Threats of Corruption; a Country Run by Women; Iran Loses Its UN Voting Rights

Ivana Ramirez

• June 4, 2021

Fighting global corruption; Estonia, run by women; Iran loses its voting rights at the UN; a sex-video scandal, unresolved a year later. 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. You are two clicks away from …

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

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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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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Estonia to Push the Security Council to Recommend UN’s Guterres to a Second Term

Stéphanie Fillion

• May 31, 2021

The small Baltic country of Estonia is ready to boost the prospects of United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres winning a second term as the country holds its last Security Council presidency in June during its current elected term. “It will be very nice for us to do it,” Sven Jurgenson, Estonia’s ambassador to the …

Child Soldiers, Secretary-General, Security Council Presidency

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

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Secretary-General

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

Receding Ice in Iceland; UN Agencies’ Use of P.R. Firms; Lebanon on the Edge

The Public-Relations Industry Grabs a Foothold in the UN

Crucial Aid Into Syria; Will a Feminist Lead UN Women?; Haiti’s Downfall

Feminist Wanted: Seeking the Next Leader of UN Women

Seeking Racial Justice; $6 Billion for Peace Ops; Gender Equality on the Front Burner, for Now

The IAEA Chief’s Laments; Two UN Giants Mourned; European Peacekeepers Attacked in Mali

Making the UN More Relevant Is Within Our Reach

The UN Leader Is Sworn In (Again); Myanmar’s Downhill Slide; the US Envoy’s Rising Star

What Now, António?

Major UN Elections; Guterres Crosses One Finish Line; Long Working Hours Can Kill You

A Huge Missed Opportunity: Putting a Woman at the Top of the UN

The Threats of Corruption; a Country Run by Women; Iran Loses Its UN Voting Rights

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

Estonia to Push the Security Council to Recommend UN’s Guterres to a Second Term

This Week's Most Popular

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

Feminist Wanted: Seeking the Next Leader of UN Women

The Public-Relations Industry Grabs a Foothold in the UN

UN Human-Rights Experts Raise Alarm Over the Fate of a Russian Ex-Guantánamo Detainee

UN-Scripted, Passblue's UN podcast series

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