Month: March 2007

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2007
03

UN Human Rights Commissioner voices concern over arrest of Iranian women

After over 30 women's rights activists were arrested in Tehran, High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour expressed concern about their rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. Arbour further urged authorities in Iran to adhere to the international agreements they are party to, specially the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

Iran is party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Covenant on Economic, Civil and Cultural Rights, and the International Convention on the Rights of the Child. Iran must adhere to the legal obligations undertaken under those treaties to respect all human rights without discrimination, Ms. Arbour was quoted as saying by a spokesperson at the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
Iran has not ratified the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Amnesty International released a statement yesterday about the arrests, noting that they believed the arrests were intended to deter women from organizing events to mark International Women's Day on March 8. More Picture from Krpasevananda at Flickr.

Report Lauds UN Peacekeeping Efforts in 2006

The second Annual Review of Global Peace Operations (executive summary pdf) was released last week at the United Nations and highlighted a year of unprecedented growth in UN peacekeeping operations. A project of the Center on International Cooperation at New York University, the report says that despite the immense challenges of starting several new large-scale missions "2006 was not a catastrophic year for peacekeeping. In some ways, it was a surprisingly successful one." It goes on to elaborate on the details of deployments by the UN and other organizations, looking at specific regional and country contributions. Congress should keep this information in mind as it starts its deliberations on the utility of UN peacekeeping and makes budgetary decisions about the U.S. contributions. Right now, the President's budget is about $500 million short of what will be needed for the U.S. to pay its peacekeeping dues even though the U.S. has voted for all of the new missions in the Security Council. Considering the benefit of peacekeeping to U.S. interests, the U.S. should pay these bills in full.

UN officials call for end to human trafficking

United Nations officials have called for increased efforts to end human trafficking, most notably in women and girls. At the International Conference on Trafficking in Women and Girls, Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro said that "the fact that there are forms of slavery in our world today should fill us all with shame...As an African woman, I would add that it also fills me with rage." More

Biofuels

At the United Nations on Friday, Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the United States and the European Commission launched a new project to promote the sustained use and production of Biofuels. According to news reports, the International Biofuels Forum will meet regularly to help set industry standards and, eventually, work toward the commoditization of biofuels so one day they may be traded, like oil, on the open market. This seems to be a step in the right direction. So far, biofuels account for only 2% of the world's energy stock. Coordinating the development of these new fuel sources is a worthy endeavor for the world's largest energy consumers. For his part, President Bush traveled to Brazil to promote cooperation on the production of ethanol, one of the more promising sources of Biofuel.

Video: Interview with Professor Thomas Homer-Dixon

upsideofdown.gif Thomas Homer-Dixon, Director of the Trudeau Centre for the Study of Peace and Conflict at the University of Toronto, recently published a book, The Upside of Down, in which he delineates a set of "techtonic stresses," including the scarcity of oil and global climate change, that could cause "a catastrophic breakdown of national and global order" but also "open up extraordinary opportunities for creative, bold reform of our societies." I recently spoke to Thomas Homer-Dixon about his book, the complexity of an effective response to global climate change, and multilateralism.

CSW: Empower women to eliminate poverty

Women's empowerment as a poverty eradication tool was discussed by top UN officials at the 51st session of the Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
Despite several promising steps, including increased provision of microcredit and the accession of several States to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), "challenges remain," Rachel N. Mayanja, the Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women, said at a meeting yesterday. "Continued discrimination against the girl child, violence against girls and women, and low representation of women in decision-making" still pose major problems, Ms. Mayanja said.
More For more information on CSW, click here. For more information on poverty eradication and women, check out the Women's Environment and Development Organization (WEDO).

North Korea and Sanctions

In the Indianapolis Star, David Ignatius connects recent turnabouts in North Korean behavior to the application of US Treasury Department sanctions on financial institutions that do business with DPRK. While I have no doubt that these sanctions helped coax North Korea back to the international fold, I wonder if a better connection might be drawn between October's Security Council sanctions and the apparent breakthrough in North Korea? According to Ignatius, the Treasury Department action forced a number of Asian banks to freeze North Korean assets. But that was back in September 2005. One year before North Korea tested its weapon. On the other hand, the Security Council unanimously authorized sanctions this past October. Three weeks later, North Korea agreed to resume the six party talks. And now it would seem that as a result of these renewed talks, North Korea is closer than ever to suspending its weapons.

UNFPA study shows community-based interventions can stop violence against women

A new study by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) shows that violence against women can be significantly affected by community-based interventions. "Programming to Address Violence Against Women," reports on 10 case studies showing how targeted and planned interventions actually reduce gender-based violence. UNFPA Executive Director Thoraya Ahmed Obaid said, "In many of these cases, the extent of violence against women was so prevalent and so entrenched that it first seemed impossible to budge the prevailing mindset…What we learned is that persistent advocacy targeting community leaders and the larger public can bring about huge changes in a relatively short time." The UNFPA also released a companion booklet, "Ending Violence Against Women: Programming for Prevention, Protection and Care," and an online multimedia exhibit. More