Minurso

• October 29, 2021

A coup in Khartoum; global carbon emissions revert to pre-Covid levels; a new UN envoy is named for Myanmar. 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. This week, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres unveiled …

Africa, Myanmar, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN

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WORLDVIEWS

My Work on the Origins of Minurso, the UN Mission in Western Sahara

Joseph Alfred Grinblat

• October 27, 2021

It is now 30 years since the United Nations referendum mission for Western Sahara, known as Minurso, was created, and I was one of the original staff members. Starting in 1971, Sahrawi students in Morocco started a movement for the independence of Spanish Sahara. The Sahrawi are the Indigenous people of the western region …

Africa, Peace and Security, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, US Foreign Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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THIS WEEK @UN

Human Rights for Western Sahara?; a Cease-Fire Comes to Central African Republic; Weapons Spending Drives Gender Inequalities

Anna Bianca Roach

• October 22, 2021

The UN boss points to rising global military spending as a source of gendered violence; the UN’s tech envoy, mired in controversy, may be exiting; the Human Rights Council rolls out a multimillion-dollar project with the Philippines. You are reading This Week @UN, summarizing the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is …

Africa, Asia, Gender Violence, General Assembly, Human Rights, ICC, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, UN Agencies, UN Special Envoys, US-UN Relations

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US Senators Want Human-Rights Work Added to UN’s Western Sahara Mission

Maurizio Guerrero

• October 21, 2021

As abuses against Sahrawi activists and journalists mount in Western Sahara, 10 United States Republican and Democratic senators are urging the Biden administration to include a human-rights element in the work of the United Nations referendum mission in the disputed region, according to an Oct. 14 letter obtained by PassBlue. As the file holder …

Africa, Human Rights, Secretary-General, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

Trump’s Trashing of the Rule of Law; a Christmas in Pakistan; 3 Burundian Peacekeepers Killed

Ivana Ramirez

• December 26, 2020

An A-to-Z list of Trump’s assaults on the rule of law; reactions to the US-Morocco-Western Sahara news; turmoil in the Central African Republic before elections. Happy Boxing Day! You are reading This Week @UN, a summary of the most pressing issues facing the organization. The information is gathered from the UN spokesperson’s press briefings, …

Africa, Health and Population, Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Secretary-General, Security Council, This Week @UN, US-UN Relations

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THIS WEEK @UN

An Afghan Midwife Delivers; Fighting in Ethiopia Erupts; the UN Reacts to US Election Results

Dulcie Leimbach

• November 13, 2020

An Afghan midwife saving lives in her country; the UN secretary-general congratulates US president-elect Joe Biden (sort of); a new gender group with a questionable purpose. You are reading This Week @UN, highlighting the most important news on the world body. The information is drawn from the UN spokesperson’s briefings, our original reporting and other …

Africa, Caribbean, Secretary-General, This Week @UN

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Who Could Be the 194th UN Member State?

Stéphanie Fillion

• October 26, 2020

As the United Nations turns 75 years old this month, it is worth noting that its membership has more than tripled — almost quadrupled — since its founding in 1945. From 50 signatories at the San Francisco conference that year to 193 member states and two with observer state status today, the UN has …

Africa, General Assembly, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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WORLDVIEWS

Big Powers at the UN Are Hanging Western Sahara Out to Dry

Fatma Medhi

• November 5, 2019

A stunning policy reversal by the United States regarding Western Sahara occurred last week, but it didn’t make many headlines. What happened? When the United Nations Security Council adopted a new resolution on Western Sahara, renewing the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission —Minurso — there for another 12 months, the action meant America’s …

Africa, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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GEOPOLITICS

The US Is Driving the New Talks on Western Sahara, Involving Morocco and Algeria

Stéphanie Fillion

• December 2, 2018

Horst Koehler, a former German president who has been the United Nations special envoy for Western Sahara since last year, is bringing the parties to the longstanding conflict over that region to a roundtable meeting in Geneva soon. Koehler expressed his intent last summer to bring all the relevant players together by the end …

Africa, Geopolitics, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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GEOPOLITICS

John Bolton Cracks the Whip on the UN Mission in Western Sahara

Dulcie Leimbach

• May 15, 2018

The message was blunt and judgmental as the United States delivered its ultimatum on the future of the United Nations mission in Western Sahara: “MINURSO is a peacekeeping mission that should have finished its job a long time ago. This is a mission that began 27 years ago almost to the day. This was …

Africa, Geopolitics, Middle East, Security Council, US Foreign Relations, US-UN Relations

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BOOKS

UN Peacekeeping: A Portrait of More Than 50 Years

Helmut Volger

• December 28, 2015

For many people in the world, the United Nations is often associated with peacekeeping, one of the most visible activities of the world body in its efforts to maintain international peace and security. Peacekeeping was created in the late 1940s and developed over decades into an ambitious instrument to contain severe political and military …

BOOKS

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Mostly, Sahrawi Women Just Want to Go Home

Johanna Higgs

• March 5, 2015

NEAR TINDOUF, Algeria — Our goal was to understand the dynamics of women who live in the refugee camps here in the Sahara Desert, where tens of thousands of Sahrawi people reside in tents and mud-brick buildings, having fled their homeland up to decades ago. The camps originated in 1975-1976, when the Sahrawis first …

Africa, Refugees, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping, Women

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Western Sahara: A Chance for Change or to Stay Stuck in Time

Dulcie Leimbach

• April 10, 2013

The saga of Western Sahara, a disputed territory that has been stuck in limbo in North Africa for decades, will receive its annual nod this month by the United Nations Security Council, but this time actual changes may be afoot if the council acts more decisively, particularly on human-rights matters. Christopher Ross, the UN …

Africa, Human Rights, Peace and Security, Refugees, Security Council

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A German to Manage UN Mission in Western Sahara

Dulcie Leimbach

• July 16, 2012

Wolfgang Weisbrod-Weber, a German diplomat, is the new special envoy to head the United Nations referendum mission in Western Sahara, known as Minurso. The mission was set up in 1991, after a cease-fire was brokered between Morocco and a longtime rebel group, Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el-Hamra y de Río de …