Briefing ambassadors at the UN Security Council, Bintou Keita, Special Representative of the Secretary-General noted steady progress in the electoral process despite significant logistical, financial, and security challenges. However, the resurgence of the crises related to the M23 group in the east, and new pockets of insecurity in the Greater Katanga region, Mai-Ndombe and Tshopo…
This year, the anti-corruption conference, as the Conference of the States Parties (CoSP) is popularly known, marks the 20th anniversary of the landmark Convention. “Corruption not only robs resources, it robs people of hope,” Mr. Guterres said in a video message, urging all Parties to use this opportunity to strengthen international cooperation to prevent, detect,…
The 21-page text, prepared by the COP28 presidency, United Arab Emirates, makes no mention of fossil fuel ‘phasedown’ or ‘phaseout’, which UN Secretary-General António Guterres said earlier on Monday was one of the keys to the conference’s success and which many nations have demanded. Rather, the draft text called for countries to reduce “consumption and…
As COP28 entered its final 48 hours, the UN chief delivered a clear message to government negotiators: “We must conclude the conference with an ambitious outcome that demonstrates decisive action and a credible plan to keep 1.5-degree goal alive, protecting those on the frontlines of the climate crisis.” ‘The clock is ticking’ Negotiators are engaged…
“The preeminent forum for the peaceful resolution of international disputes is paralysed by geostrategic divisions”, António Guterres told the Doha Forum taking place in Qatar, following Friday’s meeting in New York during which the United States vetoed a resolution demanding that Israel and Palestinian militants end the intense fighting across the enclave which erupted on…
The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has identified 10 priority areas – such as livestock, soil and water, crops, diets and fisheries – where following the roadmap can help push the world closer to achieving ‘Zero Hunger’, the second of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) The aim: to transform agrifood systems – which…
This is the first time since 7 October that a resolution on this conflict has been adopted by consensus within the UN system, the UN health agency noted. It underscores the importance of health as a universal priority, in all circumstances, and the role of healthcare and humanitarianism in building bridges to peace, even in…
The report from the UN’s environmental wing, UNEP, also revealed that despite decades of calls for ending finance flows towards sectors that harm some of humanity’s most valuable assets, those investments currently account for a whopping 7 percent of global GDP. Saturday’s report launch comes as negotiations on the conference’s outcome text are shifting into…
Women and children are bearing the brunt in terms of deaths and injuries as Israeli troops battle Palestinian militants across the enclave, with nowhere safe to go, and aid distribution stymied by war, insufficient access and insufficient supplies crossing into the Strip. Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, said…
Eleanor Roosevelt played a key role as a member of the US delegation to the United Nations in the two-year-long process that led to the adoption in 1948 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. She famously said that the “real change which must give to people throughout the world their human rights must come about…
