UNESCO

The Noose Tightens on Money Flows to Jihadists in Iraq and Syria

February 12, 2015

The Russian-sponsored resolution to fight more precisely the financing of the Islamic jihadists who control swaths of Iraq and Syria passed unanimously in the United Nations Security Council recently, expressing the entire council’s dread, at least for now, of the two main protagonists terrorizing the region — Islamic State (ISIS) and Al Nusra Front. …

Gender-Based Violence, Human Trafficking, Middle East, Security Council

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Favela Girls Pirouette Out of Poverty in Brazil

January 27, 2015

by Kamayani Bali-Mahabal

FORTALEZA, Brazil — Bom Jardim, home to some 200,000 people, is one of the poorest and most violent neighborhoods in this city. Located at the southwestern tip of the metropolis, with long streets laid in a grid, the signs of poverty appear everywhere: cracked cement or none at all, half-built houses and other makeshift …

Education, Poverty

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Islamists Systematically Destroying World Heritage Sites in Syria and Iraq

October 29, 2014

by Barbara Crossette

Beyond the horrific executions, the deadly assaults on Christian and Yazidi communities and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people fleeing towns to avoid their terror, fighters of the Islamic State movement sweeping through Syria and Iraq are deliberately demolishing or damaging ancient historical sites in some of the world’s oldest towns and …

Middle East, UN Agencies

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Saving Timbuktu’s Manuscripts, One Ancient Page at a Time

August 25, 2014

by Dulcie Leimbach

BAMAKO, Mali — The deliberate burning of thousands of ancient manuscripts by the Islamic jihadists who seized Timbuktu and other parts of northern Mali in 2012 dealt an emotional blow to the culture and scholars there and far beyond. To add insult to injury, some of the manuscripts, which were destroyed in the Ahmed …

Africa, Security Council, UN Peacekeeping

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UN-Scripted: PassBlue's exclusive podcast series

Master of Science in Humanitarian Studies at Fordham University

Millions of Children Remain Out of School, Many of Them Girls

August 13, 2014

by Danielle M. Bennett

Positive trends in education have been achieved in 17 countries, where out-of-school populations, one-quarter of the global total, have been reduced by nearly 90 percent since 2000, says a new report from Unesco. But with progress comes a sobering reality: the goal of universal primary education by 2015 will not be reached. Millions of …

Education, Women

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It’s Time to Pay Teachers Better, Unesco Emphasizes

February 23, 2014

by Danielle M. Bennett

What can be done to educate the 250 million children, mostly in South Asia, West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, who lack basic reading and math skills by the time they reach adulthood? The answer to this global learning crisis, a new United Nations report says, is that governments must spend more money to provide quality …

Africa, Asia, Education

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The US, as Predicted, Loses a Valuable Vote at Unesco

November 10, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

As predicted by PassBlue, the United States has lost its voting rights in Unesco, since it stopped paying its dues almost exactly two years ago because of a Congressional ban on support for any UN agency that gives full membership to the Palestinians. Unesco suspended American voting rights on Nov. 8, as well as …

Education, UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

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The US Could Soon Lose Its Voting Ability at Unesco

October 17, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

The United States may be ineligible to vote in Unesco’s November elections to choose members of the agency’s executive board and the next director-general, among other major matters, because the US stopped paying its dues as a member in October 2011. Unesco, formally called the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, is known for …

UN Agencies, US-UN Relations

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For UN Member Nations, ‘Vulnerability Is a Global Phenomenon’

September 24, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

The annual United Nations debate of the 68th General Assembly got off to a contentious start on Sept. 24 with pointedly worded but divergent speeches by Brazil’s president, Dilma Rousseff, and Barack Obama, the president of the United States. The two countries traditionally kick off the annual debate, held every September in New York …

General Assembly

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WORLDVIEWS

From Students, a Plea to Strengthen Unesco

July 30, 2013

by Adam Burgdorf, Keenan Lewis and Mason Scott

After witnessing devastation to cultural heritage sites during World War II, Unesco took it upon itself to protect such structures during conflict based on the idea that “damage to cultural property” means damage to the cultural heritage of everyone. So far, Unesco has largely failed at this goal. The Taliban in Afghanistan blew up …

WORLDVIEWS

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WORLDVIEWS

An American in Europe: The UN, Who Cares?

February 12, 2013

by Thomas G. Weiss

BRUSSELS — George Gershwin certainly would not have been inspired to write a symphonic tone poem about an American academic on sabbatical attempting to interpret European reactions to the United Nations. Ten years ago, Robert Kagan wrote that “Americans are from Mars and Europeans from Venus.” Perhaps, but not regarding the UN. After years …

Development, US-UN Relations, WORLDVIEWS

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The Glory of Self-Learning, Discovered by Children in India

February 6, 2013

by Tala Dowlatshahi

Imagine a new world of innovative, inexpensive and successful learning, where dusty streets in rural towns in developing countries are lined with self-powered computer kiosks and children from poor neighborhoods have the same ability to work with new technology as children in richer areas do. That dynamic is the goal of new education policies …

Asia, Education

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France’s Intervention in Mali Just Got More Complicated

January 15, 2013

by Dulcie Leimbach

In its fifth day, France’s air assault against Al Qaeda-related militias and other regional Islamic extremists continues to rattle central Mali and the de fact border region separating the country from its northern territory, which was seized by a range of terrorist groups last spring. Contrary to France’s assertion earlier this week, it said …

Africa, Security Council

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Palestinians Cheer New Status at the United Nations

November 30, 2012

by Alice Volkov

The General Assembly voted to elevate the Palestinian territories‘ status at the United Nations to nonmember observer state from nonmember observer entity, which it has held since 1974. The vote, occurring late afternoon on Nov. 29 in a packed Assembly Hall, was preceded by several speeches, including one by Mahmoud Abbas, the chairman of …

General Assembly, Middle East, US-UN Relations

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BOOKS

From Wole Soyinka: A Manifesto for Africa

November 12, 2012

by Barbara Crossette

The Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka, winner of Africa’s first Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, has published a new book calling for urgent action by Africans to save themselves from the threat of Islamic extremism, against which corrupt regimes seem unable protect the tolerance and spiritual strength of traditional cultures. “If Africa falls to …

Africa, BOOKS

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UNESCO

The Noose Tightens on Money Flows to Jihadists in Iraq and Syria

Favela Girls Pirouette Out of Poverty in Brazil

Islamists Systematically Destroying World Heritage Sites in Syria and Iraq

Saving Timbuktu’s Manuscripts, One Ancient Page at a Time

Millions of Children Remain Out of School, Many of Them Girls

It’s Time to Pay Teachers Better, Unesco Emphasizes

The US, as Predicted, Loses a Valuable Vote at Unesco

The US Could Soon Lose Its Voting Ability at Unesco

For UN Member Nations, ‘Vulnerability Is a Global Phenomenon’

From Students, a Plea to Strengthen Unesco

An American in Europe: The UN, Who Cares?

The Glory of Self-Learning, Discovered by Children in India

France’s Intervention in Mali Just Got More Complicated

Palestinians Cheer New Status at the United Nations

From Wole Soyinka: A Manifesto for Africa

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