A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Democracy Arsenal (Suzanne Nossel): "In scenes straight out of a Hollywood action figure, last week former Liberian strongman Charles Taylor found himself in a dragnet when the Nigerian government, after years of protecting him, finally announced plans to turn the ex-dictator over to a UN special court to be tried for war crimes and atrocities committed in support of civil war in Sierra Leone. Within 24 hours Taylor had escaped, and rumor was that he might attempt a coup back in Liberia's capital. But the Nigerians nabbed him, and Taylor is now in UN custody in Freetown, Sierra Leone on his way to trial. If things go as planned from now on, Taylor's extradition could become a major step toward justice and accountability in Africa."
Informed Comment: "The UN oil for food program has continued to provide staples to most Iraqi families, but will be phased out by the end of 2006 as a "socialist" legacy. Despite the talk of staples "stabilizing," the price of foodstuffs has skyrocketed. Nor is a share for Iraqis in some of their oil wealth socialism. The Alaskans get a direct dividend from their petroleum, and the food aid was the closest thing the Iraqi public had to that. If the end of the program produces, as is likely, hardship and even hunger, there will be big urban disturbances. I lived through one such in Cairo in January of 1977. The gloaming was polluted with the bottles and stones thrown at government buildings by angry crowds chanting against the International Monetary Fund. That will be the final indignity, if the Americans actually manage to starve Iraqis to death with their policies."
"A delay in aid payments and Ugandan rebel attacks are threatening the delivery of aid to millions in southern Sudan, a senior United Nations official said.
Jan Egeland, UN under secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, is on a tour of Africa and was also planning a visit to Sudan's troubled western Darfur region. But that visit is now in doubt due to a disagreement with Khartoum officials." [More]
"In 2005, the United Nations delivered 1,200 reports on issues from Guinea-Bissau to the rights of women in the developing world. Its human rights office alone produced 44,000 pages of documents which in turn had to be translated into six official languages.
Such a huge volume of information, and the bureaucracy needed to produce it, threatens to overwhelm the United Nations, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a study released Thursday. The 191 member states must fund the things they ask for, and stop demanding so much if the world body is to live up to the ideals and promises of its founders, he said." [More]
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Annan Hails UN Security Council Call on Iran
to Suspend Nuclear Activities
Victims of Sierra Leone War Rejoice at Taylor's Arrest
Eastern Congo Militias on Offensive Before Polls-UN
Recruiters of Child Soldiers Targeted for Prosecution
UN Torture Investigator to Visit Russia, Chechnya
Serbia Urges Patience Over Mladic
United Nations Praises India's Decision
to Provide all Women Police Unit
CNN: "The U.N. Security Council has unanimously called on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment activities within 30 days and cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
Wednesday's vote came after the five permanent members of the council reached an agreement on the document, a presidential statement written by the British and French ambassadors."
UPDATE: Iran Defiantly Rejects New U.N. Demands
"In a wide-ranging review of the "many formidable challenges" facing the Arab world, Secretary-General Kofi Annan today reaffirmed the United Nations commitment to help resolve issues ranging from sectarian violence in Iraq to the Israeli-Palestinian impasse to the continued killings, rape and displacement in Sudan.
"Dr. David Nabarro, chief avian flu coordinator for the United Nations, has become gun-shy about making predictions - in particular about if and when the A(H5N1) virus, now devastating bird populations around the world, will do the same to humans.
But Dr. Nabarro describes himself as "quite scared," especially since the disease has broken out of Asia and reached birds in Africa, Europe and India much faster than he expected it to. "That rampant, explosive spread," he said, "and the dramatic way it's killing poultry so rapidly suggests that we've got a very beastly virus in our midst." [Read more]