WORLDVIEWS Archives - PassBlue

Global Leaders Missed a Crucial Chance to Propel the SDGs, Especially on Good Governance

October 7, 2019 by A. Edward Elmendorf

Governments and other parties involved in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals missed an important opportunity to provide more impetus to the goals’ success at the recent opening session of the General Assembly, held in September. By engaging largely in self-congratulation, with few exceptions, the three-minute speeches by world leaders at the United Nations Sustainable Development … Read more

Stalling the UN Report on Dag Hammarskjold’s Death Is Regrettable

September 17, 2019 by Maurin Picard

Fifty-eight years ago, Dag Hammarskjold, the United Nations secretary-general at the time, set off on a perilous journey across the African heartland. Taking off at 4:51 P.M. from Léopoldville, in the capital of the newly independent Congo, he was due to meet the leader of the secessionist Katanga province. The venue chosen was Ndola, a … Read more

In Projecting the UN Through New Media, Is Quality at Stake?

September 10, 2019September 9, 2019 by Ted Folke

In 2012, after almost five years as chief of the video unit in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, I reached the compulsory UN retirement age of 62 and had to leave. I loved my work, but after four decades working in film and television production on five continents … Read more

They Call It Multistakeholderism. Where Does That Leave the UN?

September 8, 2019September 2, 2019 by Harris Gleckman

Global governance is slipping away from the United Nations. Whether it is in managing the Internet, where the UN’s governing structure offers only an advisory role for governments; or climate change, where the most exciting actions are now corporate-led partnerships outside the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change; or the Gates Foundation-sponsored Gavi, The Vaccine … Read more

Dear UN Security Council: Remember to Protect the Children

July 30, 2019 by Dragica Mikavica

Every time the budget committee of the United Nations meets, as it did in June, child-protection advocates enter a familiar existential crisis: will the United States and China cut UN budgets specifically allocated to specialists on child protection in peacekeeping missions? I am often asked by people in the UN why a child-rights advocate like … Read more

An Ode to Joy: The UN Expert on LGBTIQ Rights Stands

July 21, 2019 by Sahar Moazami

I woke to a flurry of messages from LGBTIQ activists across the world, coordinating activities. It was July 12 and the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva was about to vote on renewing the mandate of the independent expert on sexual orientation and gender identity — the SOGI expert, as it is called in … Read more

The Future of UN Peacekeeping Will Resemble What It Is Now

July 16, 2019 by Dennis Jett

The United Nations was not even three years old when it launched its first peacekeeping mission in 1948. For the last 70 years, it has been continuously involved in such operations, often with mixed results. Over that time, peacekeeping and the wars to which it has been applied have changed. The challenges peacekeepers face have … Read more

Women’s Rights Defenders Are Tired of Being Told to ‘Push Back’ Against the Opposition

July 8, 2019 by Hayley Willingale

As a human-rights defender and women’s rights campaigner, I continue to be struck not by the many challenges now facing women’s rights organizations but by the constant calls for women to “push back against the pushback.” This call for women to push back against the many forces oppressing women’s rights organizations was repeated in a … Read more

It’s Coming Soon: Can the UN Rethink Its Future in One Year?

June 27, 2019June 25, 2019 by Richard Ponzio and Cristina Petcu

A year from now, on June 26, 2020, the international community will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter. That doesn’t leave much time to hammer out a “concise, substantive, forward-looking and unifying declaration” that captures member states’ commitment to multilateralism and to the UN before the world leaders summit … Read more

In the Central African Republic, War’s Most Forgotten Victims

June 20, 2019 by Hillary Margolis

I can’t stop thinking about Marie. She was 30 years old when I met her in 2015. Two years earlier, six fighters armed with rifles and machetes burst into her home in the capital of the Central African Republic, Bangui. Two of the fighters held her husband at gunpoint while the others pushed her to the … Read more

Widows Lose Much More Than a Spouse: They Lose Their Dignity

June 17, 2019 by Eleanor Nwadinobi and Meera Khanna

For many women around the world, the death of a spouse is magnified by many losses — of their social status, marital home, land, property, social security, dignity and, sometimes, their children. But men, on the other hand, lose none of their human rights while usually gaining support in starting a new chapter in his … Read more

Justice for Darfur Is Critical for a Peaceful Future in Sudan

June 10, 2019June 9, 2019 by Mona Ali Khalil

Women from North Darfur performing a traditional dance

The people of Sudan finally ousted President Omar al-Bashir from power, on April 11, 2019. The people of Sudan must now transfer al-Bashir to The Hague to stand trial in the International Criminal Court, which, more than 10 years ago, indicted him for genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur — including the … Read more

The Gains of LGBTQ Rights in Some Mideast-North African Nations May Be a Game-Changer

May 27, 2019 by Suraj Girijashanker

Progress in recognizing the human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people at the United Nations in New York and in Geneva may seem detached from the realities faced by LGBTQ people in the Middle East and North Africa, or Mena, region. Activists there, however, are navigating the UN human-rights system as part … Read more

Happy 100th Birthday, Sir Brian Urquhart, Heart of the UN

May 8, 2019 by Stephen Schlesinger

Sir Brian Urquhart has celebrated his 100th birthday this year. This is an eventful moment. Sir Brian is one of the most notable figures in the history of the United Nations. Urquhart has spent most of his entire life in service to the UN and, in his tenure, embodied the very narrative of the institution … Read more

Climate Change and Risk of Conflict: The Links Grow Clearer

May 7, 2019 by Adriana Erthal Abdenur

There is growing evidence that climate change can increase the risks of conflict and violence. When government authorities are unable or unwilling to mitigate and adapt to climate shocks such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods and droughts, these extreme weather events are more likely to be followed by surges in crime, including homicide, robbery and sexual violence. … Read more

Men Can Experience Sexual Violence in War Too

May 6, 2019May 3, 2019 by Z. Pinar Erdem

The United Nations Security Council recognized that men and boys are targets of sexual violence both in wartime and in post-conflict settings. Resolution 2467, approved on April 23, calls upon UN member countries to strengthen policies to provide help for victims. As a human-rights lawyer, during the last nine months, I have been documenting cases of conflict-related sexual … Read more

Why We Canceled an Event in the US Featuring West African Journalists

April 22, 2019April 22, 2019 by Joe Penney

A resident returned to his home in the Mopti region of Mali after attacks in February 2019

Over the past eight months, we at the Mali-based independent news website Sahelien.com have been working on a documentary film called “The Forgotten Ones,” about the urgent security crisis in Mali’s Mopti region, where civilians, soldiers and United Nations peacekeepers are being increasingly killed. As part of our efforts to engage more directly with audiences … Read more

Will the US Stand With Victims of Rape in War?

April 20, 2019 by Noor Sheikh

The annual debate on sexual violence in conflict is about to take place in the United Nations Security Council. As the UN special envoy on sexual violence in conflict, Pramila Patten, has said, this event — on Tuesday, April 23 — presents a critical opportunity to assess progress in the last 10 years, since the … Read more

Where Will Trump’s Love for Israel Take Us?

April 17, 2019April 17, 2019 by Irwin Arieff

President Trump with Prime Minister Netanyahu at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, May 2017.

In case you haven’t figured it out yet, it’s not really “America First.” It’s “Donald Trump First.” Life would no doubt be safer for the rest of us if his administration based its foreign policy on something larger than one person’s personal fortune(s). But Trump policies have never been famous for their altruism and typically … Read more

Saving the Space for Humanitarian Action in Counterterrorism Strategies

April 14, 2019April 11, 2019 by Sophie Huvé

In Aleppo, another victim in the Syrian war

The United Nations Security Council just passed yet another resolution on counterterrorism, this one enunciating the steps that UN member states must take to further constrain terrorist groups’ access to financial and economic resources. Resolution 2462 follows a series of resolutions, dating from 1999, on terrorist threats to international peace and security. This resolution, drafted … Read more