Conflict Prevention

• June 9, 2017

The United Nations has formalized its relationship with the Community of Sant’Egidio, the highly regarded Catholic membership organization based in Rome that has been focusing on conflict prevention and resolution, primarily in Africa, for 30 years. A community of 60,000 laypeople founded in 1968, Sant’Egidio has been working with the UN on mediation prospects …

Africa, GOINGS-ON, Human Trafficking, International Justice, Libya, Migration, Peace and Security

Leave a Comment

When Intervention by Foreign Powers Is Justified

Yermi Brenner

• April 24, 2013

One of the most complicated dynamics in international relations is whether foreign powers should intervene when a government is creating a humanitarian crisis among its own people. David L. Phillips, a former a senior adviser to the United States Department of State and to the United Nations, has repeatedly dealt with this problem, and …

Human Rights, Peace and Security

3 Comments

Helping Congolese Women, One Community at a Time

Barbara Crossette

• April 3, 2013

Two innovative women from the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where violence against women and girls has been harsh and unrelenting through years of lawlessness and civil conflict, came to New York in early March with a message of progress and hope. They have been chipping away at the epidemic of abuse, working …

Africa, Women

6 Comments

Germany’s ‘Added Value’ to the Security Council

Helmut Volger

• December 27, 2012

BERLIN — When Germany began its two-year tenure in 2011 as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations Security Council, its diplomats promised to hold a debate on climate change and to improve the protection of children in armed conflict, to name just the top items on their list. Now in December 2012, …

Security Council, WORLDVIEWS

Leave a Comment

Protecting Civilians: How It Works

Hugh Breakey - Charles Sampford - Ramesh Thakur

• December 10, 2012

CANBERRA, Australia — A steady rise has been occurring in the last two centuries in the proportion of civilians killed in armed conflict, either from direct violence or conflict-related hunger and disease. The international community has responded to the calls to protect innocent victims by developing two parallel principles, the protection of civilians and …

Responsibility to Protect, WORLDVIEWS

4 Comments

A Place for Women at the Table

Mirva Lempiainen

• November 28, 2012

A dozen years have passed since the United Nations Security Council made history by adopting a resolution that addressed women’s rights during conflicts and required their participation in preventing wars and in peace talks. Until Resolution 1325was approved, post-conflict reconstruction had been mostly the realm of those possessing the Y chromosome in the …

Peace and Security, Security Council, Women

3 Comments

Top New UN Assignments, and Syria Deputy Envoy Leaving

Dulcie Leimbach

• July 18, 2012

Adama Dieng, the registrar of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, has been named the United Nations secretary-general’s special adviser on the prevention of genocide. Dieng, a Senegalese, replaces Francis Deng of Sudan, who has been in the post since 2007 as an under secretary-general and is a nonresident senior fellow at Brookings Institution …

Child Soldiers, GOINGS-ON

6 Comments

A West African Coup’s Potential Ripple Effects

Joe Penney

• May 16, 2012

DAKAR, Senegal — The fate of Guinea-Bissau hangs on precariously as regional and international bodies involved in resolving the country’s post-coup crisis, which forestalled a presidential run-off vote, disagree about pace and tactics. The complications from the coup and another recent government overthrow, in Mali, have created unease throughout West Africa, possibly the last …

Africa, Security Council

5 Comments

A Possible Replacement for UN Political Affairs Chief

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 30, 2012

Jeffrey Feltman, assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs at the US State Department, is said to be replacing B. Lynn Pascoe, the United Nations’ under secretary-general for political affairs, who has served for five years. The announcement has not been made formally by the UN, but it was reported in UN Forum, …

GOINGS-ON

One Comment

The US Should Invest More in the UN, a Report Says

Dulcie Leimbach

• October 12, 2011

The influential Council on Foreign Relations has joined the chorus of those who say the United States can no longer afford to act alone when trying to resolve crises across the globe. As the world witnesses a decline in wars between nations as well as intrastate conflicts, a new report from the Council advises …