WORLDVIEWS

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

• October 7, 2019

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 …

Sustainable Development Goals, WORLDVIEWS

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

Maurin Picard

• September 17, 2019

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, …

Africa, General Assembly, Secretary-General, WORLDVIEWS

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

Ted Folke

• September 9, 2019

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 …

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

Harris Gleckman

• September 2, 2019

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 …

Development, Governance, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

Dear UN Security Council: Remember to Protect the Children

Dragica Mikavica

• July 30, 2019

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 …

Child Soldiers, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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

Sahar Moazami

• July 21, 2019

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 …

Gender Violence, LGBT, WORLDVIEWS

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The Future of UN Peacekeeping Will Resemble What It Is Now

Dennis Jett

• July 16, 2019

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 …

Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

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

Hayley Willingale

• July 8, 2019

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 …

Africa, Gender Violence, Human Rights, Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

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

Richard Ponzio and Cristina Petcu

• June 25, 2019

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 …

Peace and Security, WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

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

Hillary Margolis

• June 20, 2019

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 …

Africa, WORLDVIEWS

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

Eleanor Nwadinobi and Meera Khanna

• June 17, 2019

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 …

Gender Violence, Human Rights, Poverty, WORLDVIEWS

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Justice for Darfur Is Critical for a Peaceful Future in Sudan

Mona Ali Khalil

• June 9, 2019

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 …

Africa, Gender Violence, WORLDVIEWS

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

Suraj Girijashanker

• May 27, 2019

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 …

Africa, Human Rights, Middle East, WORLDVIEWS

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

Stephen Schlesinger

• May 8, 2019

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 …

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Climate Change and Risk of Conflict: The Links Grow Clearer

Adriana Erthal Abdenur

• May 7, 2019

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 …