"No one at the United Nations doubts that big change is necessary for the institution to regain its footing and restore its name. Mark Malloch Brown, the new trouble-shooting chief of staff, speaks of the need for "another San Francisco moment," a reference to the founding conference of the United Nations in 1945.... Mr. [Edward] Luck, a former president of the United Nations Association of the United States of America, said it was just as customary for Washington to accommodate itself to the United Nations. He recalled that President Ronald Reagan came into office skeptical of the United Nations but left with an appreciation of its importance. "I think the same thing is happening with Bush," he said. "Like Reagan, they've found that they need to do business with the U.N." Read the rest...
"Responding to poor road conditions and heavy snow in Afghanistan, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) is organizing relief airdrops over two remote areas in the centre of the country.
Coalition forces aircraft dropped 40 tons of food provided by WFP over Tulak and Saghar districts in the central Ghor province. WFP's partner, Samander Development Programme, is working with local authorities and community leaders to distribute the food to 7,600 people there." Full Story
CNN Health: "A global treaty aimed at dissuading children from smoking and helping adults kick the habit came into force on Sunday with the United Nations saying it could save millions of lives.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) applauded the strong warnings on cigarette packages and the eventual ban on tobacco advertising and sponsorship laid down in the the world's first international public health treaty.... Tobacco, the second leading cause of preventable deaths globally after hypertension, kills 4.9 million people a year, the U.N. agency says."
"Ten years after the landmark United Nations women's conference in Beijing, hundreds of delegates and thousands of non-governmental organization (NGOs) representatives will meet at the United Nations for nearly two weeks to review the world's progress towards equality for women." Read More...
From today's NYT: "Unidentified militia fighters ambushed and killed nine United Nations peacekeepers on Friday in the volatile Ituri region of eastern Congo. It was the worst attack in the six years of the mission and a sign of continued instability ahead of planned nationwide elections.... The attack came as the peacekeepers had adopted a more aggressive posture in recent months, confronting and forcibly disarming militia groups that had been terrorizing the local population."
"A mass polio immunization campaign began on Friday across Africa, targeting 100 million children, the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) reported. The 22-nation synchronised campaign, dubbed the Coast-to-Coast Polio Drive, comes as reports from Ethiopia indicated that a child there had contracted polio, the first case in the country in four years." Learn More...
UN Dispatch has received a fair amount of attention from bloggers this week:
Henry from Crooked Timber says, "[B]logs like the newly created UN Dispatch can fill an unmet need, giving us a take on the UN that isn't limited to cheap gotchas about corruption and sex scandals.... it appears to be rather stronger on actual factual information about the strengths and weaknesses of the UN than any of the other blogs opining on UN-related issues. One that I'll be reading."
Talk Left adds, "There is a dearth of blog coverage on U.N. activities (other than oil for food) so this is a welcome addition to the blogosphere."
Porphyrogenitus, a self-described "harsh critic" of the UN, writes, "I recommend checking out [UN Dispatch], which gives a rounded view of the institution as a whole, and presents another side."
Some other blogs talking about UN Dispatch:
In The Agora
Centerfield
Michelle Malkin
Bob Harris
Belgravia Dispatch
Oxblog
Blogenlust
Majikthise
CommonSenseDesk
One Hand Clapping
Lean Left
Liberals Against Terrorism
Matthew Yglesias
From the UN News Service: "More than $1 billion will be needed to fund the first year of the proposed United Nations peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan, set up to help the vast region stabilize and its people rebuild their lives after a 21-year civil war."
"For six decades disarmament has been a key item on the UN agenda but "this year is also one in which we must think ahead, and help plant the seeds of long-term global security," [Kofi Annan] said, adding that next month he will put before Member States the most far-reaching international security reform in the life of the UN, based on the proposals from the 16-member High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change." Read More...