UN Peacekeeping

• November 18, 2022

It’s a sad one this week as two girls were beheaded in a camp in Syria. 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, we looked at the terrible news coming out of …

Africa, Climate Change, General Assembly, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

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

Alan Doss

• November 14, 2022

In September, the presidents of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda took their allegations against each other over the resurgence of conflict in the eastern Congo to the United Nations General Assembly. I recall vividly similar claims and counterclaims from more than a decade ago when I was serving as the special …

Africa, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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For the UN, the Russian Aviation Problem and Potential Money Losses Haven’t Gone Away

Dawn Clancy

• November 8, 2022

Four months ago, Russia was flagged for breaching international aviation law, and the United Nations has yet to replace dozens of grounded Russian-leased aircraft as a result of the violation. The UN’s response to the International Civil Aviation Authority’s warning to Russia about its actions directly compromises the safety of critical UN peacekeeping and …

Secretary-General, Ukraine-Russia War, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

On Ghana’s Mind Right Now: Sanctions, COP27 and Terrorism in West Africa

Damilola Banjo

• November 2, 2022

Ambassador Harold Agyeman, Ghana’s permanent representative to the United Nations, said the jury was still out on the use of sanctions to bring Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, to heel over his decision to challenge the sovereignty of Ukraine. With Russia pulling the plug on the Black Sea grain deal recently — then rejoining it, …

Africa, Climate Change, Security Council Presidency, Terrorism, UN Peacekeeping

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Germany Is Ready to Cut Humanitarian Aid to UN Agencies and Elsewhere

Damilola Banjo

• September 7, 2022

Food prices may still be soaring in crisis-prone countries, but Germany is poised to slash its 2023 contribution to global humanitarian and crisis prevention by nearly $400 million. According to data compiled by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food prices are 13.1 percent higher now than they were at this time …

Development, Humanitarian Aid, Refugees, UN Peacekeeping

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WORLDVIEWS

Peacekeeping Desperately Needs a New Model, and a People-Centered Approach Could Work

Fred Carver

• September 4, 2022

The United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo is in trouble. Some of its problems are chronic, some are acute, but at its heart is a breakdown in trust between the mission and the community with which it operates. What is needed now more than ever is a genuine people-centered approach …

Africa, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trending UN News: Week Ending July 29

Damilola Banjo

• July 29, 2022

This week, we focus on the deadly attacks against the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and assaults in Yemen, leading to deaths of children. 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 …

Africa, Nuclear Disarmament, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Peacekeeping

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SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENCY

Softening the Pain of the World’s Food Disaster: Brazil’s Ambitions in July

Damilola Banjo

• July 7, 2022

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 action in an exclusive interview with PassBlue. Costa said that conversations in the Security Council …

Humanitarian Aid, Latin America, Security Council Presidency, UN Peacekeeping

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Serious Troop Rotation Blockages Could Ease Soon for the UN Mission in Mali

Clair MacDougall and Maggie Dwyer

• July 4, 2022

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso — As the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) announced a lifting of sanctions against the Malian military junta on Sunday, the news may be especially welcome to the nearly two and a half thousand West African peacekeepers who remain in limbo as a result of the regional tensions. Since …

Africa, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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As Russia’s Wagner Group Operates in Mali, the Country’s Civilian Deaths Multiply

Damilola Banjo

• May 31, 2022

The number of uninvestigated civilian deaths in Mali is rising but regional bodies and the governments responsible are not willing to take action. From 2018 to 2021, an independent Malian-based news site, sahelien.com, recorded six incidents where 43 civilians were killed in mixed operations between France’s Operation Barkhane and the Malian military. Only one …

Africa, Peace and Security, Secretary-General, UN Peacekeeping

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As French Troops Leave Mali, Will the UN Mission Face Deadlier Risks?

Clair MacDougall

• March 23, 2022

As the world’s deadliest United Nations mission, in Mali, registered its first two peacekeeper deaths for 2022 from improvised explosive devices, uncertainty looms over the role that the French military operation Barkhane will play in helping protect UN bases from fatal attacks. Mali’s military junta ordered the French troops out of the country in …

Africa, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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Ukrainian Peacekeepers’ Departure From the UN Could Be ‘Severely Detrimental’ to the Congo Mission

Clair MacDougall and Hugh Kinsella Cunningham

• March 16, 2022

GOMA, Democratic Republic of the Congo — Next to a white, scratched United Nations hangar, soldiers in green-and-gray fatigues straddled parts of a Mi-8 Soviet-style helicopter, adjusting motors and rotors in the morning light of March 7. One member of the Ukrainian Aviation Unit of peacekeepers deployed here watched footage on his mobile phone …

Africa, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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As Mali’s Security Worsens, UN Peacekeeping Must Adapt: An Interview With a Force Commander

Katarina Hoije

• January 18, 2022

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — As Mali adapts to worsening security problems internally and the rest of the Sahel region by working with new partners, like a Russian paramilitary group, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Mali must also change too. That is what Dennis Gyllensporre of Sweden, the mission’s most recent force commander, suggested …

Africa, UN Peacekeeping

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BOOKS

A Fresh Look Back at Two UN Deaths in the Congo

Irwin Arieff and Deborah Baldwin

• January 15, 2022

Nearly five years after the murder of two United Nations investigators in a rough and lonely patch of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their lives and their deaths have become a metaphor for the extraordinary challenges faced by the UN and other international actors promoting peace in the world’s most forlorn and unsavory …

Africa, BOOKS, UN Peacekeeping

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Terrorists’ IED Attacks Make the UN Mission in Mali Even Deadlier in 2021

Clair MacDougall

• December 23, 2021

The world’s deadliest peacekeeping mission has recorded a twofold increase in fatalities among its troops from improvised explosive devices this year over last year, reinforcing what analysts say: more sophisticated attacks are being carried out by jihadists in Mali and elsewhere in the Sahel region of West Africa. Half of the 28 uniformed peacekeepers …

Africa, UN Peacekeeping

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

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The UN’s Top Labor Expert Resumes Work on ‘Our Common Agenda’ as Controversy Clouds World Cup

Damilola Banjo

WORLDVIEWS

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UN Peacekeeping

Trending UN News: Week Ending Nov. 18

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

For the UN, the Russian Aviation Problem and Potential Money Losses Haven’t Gone Away

On Ghana’s Mind Right Now: Sanctions, COP27 and Terrorism in West Africa

Germany Is Ready to Cut Humanitarian Aid to UN Agencies and Elsewhere

Peacekeeping Desperately Needs a New Model, and a People-Centered Approach Could Work

Trending UN News: Week Ending July 29

Softening the Pain of the World’s Food Disaster: Brazil’s Ambitions in July

Serious Troop Rotation Blockages Could Ease Soon for the UN Mission in Mali

As Russia’s Wagner Group Operates in Mali, the Country’s Civilian Deaths Multiply

As French Troops Leave Mali, Will the UN Mission Face Deadlier Risks?

Ukrainian Peacekeepers’ Departure From the UN Could Be ‘Severely Detrimental’ to the Congo Mission

As Mali’s Security Worsens, UN Peacekeeping Must Adapt: An Interview With a Force Commander

A Fresh Look Back at Two UN Deaths in the Congo

Terrorists’ IED Attacks Make the UN Mission in Mali Even Deadlier in 2021

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