Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Chronic Hunger in Africa Threatens Peace and Stability,
WFP Chief Warns

Pirates Hijack Tsunami Aid Ship

Cote d'Ivoire Foes Renew Commitment to Disarm

Thousands March in Congo to Demand Government Quit

UK Under Fire over Afghan Opium

"The negative impacts of the illicit drug trade touch every society in the world. This year's World Drug Report estimates that 200 million people, or 5% of the global population age 15-64, have consumed illicit drugs at least once in the last 12 months. The drug trade is pernicious and large. UNODC estimates its retail value at US$ 321bn. It impacts almost every level of human security from individual health, to safety and social welfare. Its consequences are especially devastating for countries with limited resources available to fight against it.

The World Drug Report 2005 provides one of the most comprehensive overviews of illicit drug trends at the international level."

From President Bush's speech at Fort Bragg, N.C. 6/28/05:

"In January 2005, more than 8 million Iraqi men and women voted in elections that were free and fair and took place on time.... In the past year, the international community has stepped forward with vital assistance. Some 30 nations have troops in Iraq, and many others are contributing nonmilitary assistance. The United Nations is in Iraq to help Iraqis write a constitution and conduct their next elections."

Great site to check out: The Better World Campaign

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Campaign 2008: "John Kerry gets Op/Ed space in today's New York Times to discuss the speech the President should give...(referring to the President's live televised speech on Iraq, tonight from Fort Bragg, NC). Read the entire piece here: "The administration must work with the Iraqi government to establish a multinational force to help protect its borders. Such a force, if sanctioned by the United Nations Security Council, could attract participation by Iraq's neighbors and countries like India."

Coalition for Darfur: "UN Refugee Agency Fears for Darfur Children - From Reuters: "The world was not paying enough attention to the plight of children in Sudan's west Darfur, where many were forced to join armed groups or were separated from their families, the U.N. refugee agency said on Monday. "The whole issue of child protection is one that deserves more focus," said Erika Feller, director of international protection at the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)."

Iraq Solidarity Campaign: "Rescuing Iraq - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, writing in The Washington Post Tuesday, assured the Iraqi people that the international community "stands with them in their brave efforts to rebuild their country". But Annan also emphasised the need for "a broad-based and inclusive strategy that embraces the political transition, development, human rights and institution-building, so that all of Iraq's communities see they stand to be winners in the new Iraq."

Political Forecast: "Bolton looks set for a recess appointment - A big political loss for the Bush White House if true. Frist announced the schedule for the rest of this week this morning and there was no mention of Bolton at all. Expect a recess appointment next week. Steve Clemons has more."

Say Uncle: "Say Uncle's resident troublemaker Hellbent links to this article which notes that the legal structure used in the past to address piracy can be adapted to the terror war: "International Law lacks a definition for terrotism as a crime. According to Secretary General Kofi Annan, this lack has hampered "the moral authority of the United Nations and its strength in condemning" the scourge."

World Changing: "There was a lot of anecdotal evidence that where healthy mangrove greenbelts -- and coral reefs -- still lined the coast, they blunted the impact of the tsunami and saved lives. The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) is encouraging assessing the "unseen value" of healthy ecosystems, which might in turn encourage governments to factor them into development plans. The second report in the U.N.'s Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, Biodiversity and Human Well-being, estimates that about two and a half intact acres (one hectare) of mangrove swamp in Thailand is worth about $1,000 a year in benefits such as fishing and soil protection, but worth only $200 a year if converted to intensive farming."

WP: "In today's world, no state can protect itself alone," said Mary Robinson, former U.N. high commissioner for human rights and president of Ireland, in a speech at Grace Cathedral. "A transparent and accountable United Nations is in the United States' interest. We know the U.N. needs reform, but it also needs resources."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

UN warns about Afghan instability

Torture Reported With Growing Frequency Worldwide - UN experts

UNICEF to Help Zimbabweans Displaced in Crackdown

U.N. to Boost Troop Levels in Ivory Coast

Looted Iraqi Art Funds Terrorism

UN Agency Hails Indonesian Women's Bid for Greater Role
in Tsunami Recovery

Sri Lanka: A Silent Witness to Destruction and Progress

Wall Street Journal Op-Ed

By UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

"This Sunday marks the 60th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Charter in 1945. Debate about "reform" of the U.N. has been raging almost from that moment on.

This is because -- especially but not only in the United States -- idealism and aspiration for the U.N. have always outstripped its actual performance. For 60 years Americans -- conservative and liberal alike -- have expected much from the U.N. Too often, we have failed to meet those expectations.

In Washington, the debate now centers on two documents which appeared last week: the report of the bipartisan Task Force led by former Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Senator George Mitchell, and the Henry J. Hyde United Nations Reform Act, adopted by the House of Representatives."

Read More (subscription required)

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Juan Cole: "A reader with a US military background writes: "I noted your recent proposal for increased UN military involvement with some questions. The idea that UN involvement would reduce the violence due to its [being] relatively less partisan was probably at least partially destroyed with the UN building in August 2003 (where my unit was involved with rescues). Contributing troops to a UN force will neither end the conflict nor support a negotiated settlement on their own." Cole: I am not advocating a passive UN "peace-keeping" mission. Rather, I'm arguing for a UN army with an active peace-enforcing mandate. I don't deny it is a tall order. But then, the US military mission is a tall order as it is."

Mark Kilmer: "Fred Barnes of The Weekly Standard, a regular commentator on FNC's Special Report with Brit Hume noted publicly a thought which had been bothering me of late. The President's options with Bolton are limited, he admitted: "They're going to have to deal with Senator Dodd (D-CT) or find some way to get around Senator Dodd, some kind of a gang of 14 thing, as they did on the filibusters of judicial nominees." A way has to be found for the colleagues of Biden/Dodd to escape from their political game without embarrassing either Senator."

Middle Earth Journal: "I don't have a clue how the Bolton nomination is going to play out. Joe Gandelman has a good rundown on the thoughts of the pundits and a few thoughts of his own. Steve Soto wonders if the "nuclear option" is on the table. Joe summarizes the theories of why the White House continues to fight for the Bolton nomination."

"The archives at the UN hold a wide range of photographs from around the world.
A UN Staff Photographer provides a personal anecdote to go along with each picture."
[View more]

"The teenager with flowers in her hair crossed her hands to keep them from trembling and described how she was raped by 10 militiamen.

Abducted two years ago when she was 16, Ombeni was kept as a concubine in the forests of eastern Congo. She became pregnant and at nearly nine months gestation, her captors cut her vagina with a machete, leaving the baby dead and abandoning the teenager in the forest.

"I laid there for one week," Ombeni said. "Until insects came out of my body." Ombeni was eventually rescued by a woman who was foraging for food and made her way to a clinic for rape victims.

She is one of thousands of women who are brutally raped each year in Congo, another layer of degradation in a war that never seems to end. In a briefing before the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday, UN humanitarian chief Jan Egeland said rape as a weapon of war was at its worst in eastern Congo and the Darfur region of Sudan." [Read more]

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

UN Probe Into Hariri Killing Searches Home of Security Chief

Do More to Translate Peace Deal Into Reality in South Sudan, Urges Guterres

UN Takes Over Peacekeeping in Nuba Mountains

Lebanon: Rallies Set for World Environment Day

UNESCO Helps Preserve 29 More Collections of World's Cultural Heritage

Slow Progress on Providing Basic Sanitation: UN

Washington Post Op-Ed

By UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan

"Today I am traveling to Brussels to join representatives of more than 80 governments and institutions in sending a loud and clear message of support for the political transition in Iraq.

A year ago, in Resolution 1546, the U.N. Security Council set out the timetable that Iraq, with the assistance of the United Nations and the international community, was expected to fulfill. The Brussels conference is a chance to reassure the Iraqi people that the international community stands with them in their brave efforts to rebuild their country, and that we recognize how much progress has been made in the face of daunting challenges." [More]

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Democracy Arsenal: "A UN umbrella may be one of the only ways to attract foreign troops back into Iraq. If the U.S., for example, topped up the regular reimbursement rates for troop contributors, its not impossible to envision some developing countries with peacekeeping experience coming forward, particularly for tasks away from the front lines."

Juan Cole: "The United States will eventually have to go to the United Nations and request that it send a peace-enforcing mission to Iraq, as the US military withdraws... A US withdrawal without a United Nations replacement would risk throwing Iraq into civil war. Such a civil war, moreover, would very likely not remain restricted in its effects only to Iraqi soil."

Laura Rozen: "Slate's Fred Kaplan explains the peculiar situation the White House would find itself in were it resort to recess appointing Bolton to the UN, an institution Bolton's supporters charge with not being sufficiently democratic."

Betsy's Page: "Robert Novak reveals how the Democratic objections to John Bolton are just a charade. It's now become a party vote unmoored from the merits of the nomination or any of the underlying issues regarding the United Nations."

Stygius: "In April I wrote: "If the most positive contribution John Bolton has made to solving global proliferation problems has been by his absence, why are we still being subjected to the argument that his "tough" and "abrasive" style gets results, when instead his permanent absence from government service may in the end be Bolton's greatest contribution to US national security?"

UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie talking to
Afghans in Attock, Pakistan

World Refugee Day: "The United Nations General Assembly designated 20 June 2000 as World Refugee Day to recognize and celebrate the contribution of refugees throughout the world. Since then, World Refugee Day has become an annual commemoration marked by a variety of events in over a hundred countries. This year, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will commemorate World Refugee Day for the fifth time with the inspirational theme: "Courage," in order to draw the public's attention to the millions of refugees world-wide who are forced to flee their homes."

Protecting the World's Vulnerable People: "The protection of some 17 million uprooted people is the core mandate of UNHCR. The agency does this in several ways. Using the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention as its major tool, it ensures the basic human rights of vulnerable persons and that refugees will not be returned involuntarily to a country where they face persecution. Longer term, the organization helps civilians repatriate to their homeland, integrate in countries of asylum or resettle in third countries. Using a world wide field network, it also seeks to provide at least a minimum of shelter, food, water and medical care in the immediate aftermath of any refugee exodus."

It Takes Courage to Be a Refugee: "As ordinary people living peaceful lives, we rarely have to put our courage to the test. Refugees are ordinary people, too, except that through no fault of their own, they find themselves in extraordinary circumstances. As such, they are often required to dig deep into their own inner sources of strength in order, as another dictionary puts it, to find "the ability to overcome fear"."

Refugees: Telling Their Stories: "A local Melbourne school-girl, Dragica Dacic, has won first place in the national 2004 High School Writing Competition 2004 for her story on a young Bosnian refugee. The High School Writing Competition is a yearly project that aims to encourage dialogue between young Australians and refugees, through the telling of personal stories. For the competition, Australian high school students are asked to interview a refugee in their local community and write a short article on their experiences."

"A senior delegation of United Nations and donor country officials held talks in Baghdad this weekend on coordinating assistance to Iraq as well as the country's development priorities." More...

United Nations Foundation President Senator Timothy E. Wirth issued the following statement regarding the House of Representatives' passage of the United Nations Reform Act of 2005 by a vote of 221 to 184:

"I am disappointed by today's vote in the House of Representatives in favor of the so-called United Nations Reform Act. Although this bill does contain reform measures that will help make the UN more effective and accountable, many of which the UN has already initiated, it also includes counterproductive provisions that would automatically withhold U.S. payment of dues to the UN and undermine meaningful reform. The U.S. has gone down this flawed path before, incurring more than a billion dollars in arrears to the UN, impairing the ability of the UN to do its job and making other countries less willing to work with the U.S. We should not make this mistake again."

FULL STATEMENT

State Dept. On-The-Record Briefing on UN Reform
R. Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary For Political Affairs

UNDER SECRETARY BURNS: "The United Nations is engaged in one of the most important debates, one of the most critical debates in the history, the 60-year history of the organization because what is at stake is the need for this institution to undertake fundamental reforms and to strengthen itself. And this debate lies at the heart of the future of the UN. Secretary General Kofi Annan has been leading it. And now the United States is prepared to help lead the effort to strengthen the UN, so that it can meet the challenges that are at the core of our 21st century world." [Read full transcript]

"MADRID, Spain, (UNHCR) - In a precedent-setting decision, the Spanish Inter-ministerial Asylum Commission has given refuge to a 38-year-old woman, who could not find protection from decades of suffering at the hands of her husband whom she had been forced to marry.

The continuous abuse and severe beatings inflicted upon the woman by her husband in this case violated a number of her fundamental human rights. These include the right not to be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment and the right to life, liberty and security of person. The harm she suffered as a result of these human rights violations was found to be a direct result of her gender and her status as a married woman and was thus seen to constitute gender-specific persecution. In the EU context, the Qualification Directive also recognizes that acts of a gender-specific nature can constitute persecution.

Although gender-related persecution, in general, has increasingly been recognized in a growing number of states as falling within the scope of the 1951 Convention's refugee definition, the fact that persecution in the form of domestic violence perpetrated by family members can, in certain situations, fall within the refugee definition is less widely accepted. This decision is therefore a welcome one.

Under Spanish law, UNHCR participates in the Eligibility Commission in an observer capacity and does not vote, but can give its opinion on any asylum application filed in Spain. UNHCR has consistently advocated that gender-related persecution can constitute persecution for one of the five reasons set out in the 1951 Convention and therefore that claimants with a well-founded fear of such treatment should be recognized as refugees." [Read more]

News:

White House rejects withholding U.S. dues from U.N.

White House Nixes Withholding U.N. Dues

Opinion:

Mr. Hyde: Dangerous Quackery

Reneging on U.N. Dues Would Only Damage U.S.

U.N. Reform: Wrong Message Sent

U.S. Dues and Don'ts at the United Nations

Eight former UN Ambassadors have written a letter to Congressional Leaders urging them not to withhold UN dues. A copy of the letter appears in newspapers around the country.

"Ernest Darkoh saw early what was wrong with Africa. In Kenya, where he spent his teenage years, he watched as government mismanagement and corruption sometimes left his parents, both university professors, without paychecks for a month or more. Neighbors lived in abject poverty, and crime was a constant worry. When Darkoh was 19, a friend his age died at a local hospital because doctors, worried the boy might have AIDS, refused to treat him." Read More

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Annan Welcomes US Report on UN Reform

Virtual Game Offers Insight Into Refugee Experience

Arctic Natives: U.S. Warming Policy is Abuse

UN Aims to Launch Polio Campaign in Somalia

Effective UN is 'life-and-death' Matter For Many
in Developing Countries, Frechette Says

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Next Left: "Found these Harper's Index factoids quite humbling: "Annual cost of all sixteen U.N. peacekeeping missions currently underway: $3,870,000,000 [United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations (N.Y.C.)]; Monthly cost of the U.S. occupation of Iraq: $4,100,000,000." That is annual vs. monthly cost."

Radio News America: "The "United Nations Reform Act of 2005" masquerades as a bill that will cut U.S. dues to the United Nations by 50 percent if that organization does not complete a list of 39 reforms. On the surface, any measure that threatens to cut funding to the United Nations seems very attractive, but do not be fooled: in this case, reform "success" will be worse than failure."

Stygius: "Steve Clemons is back from the McCain-Frist press conference. Mainly, it was just a political gambit to try and get the nomination moving, even though Frist won't say when he'll bring it to a vote. But there was nothing that was new in and of itself. Frist's line, supposedly bolstered by having McCain at his side, is that Democrats keep "moving the goal posts" on the information requests, which is stalling the vote. This is nonsense, of course; Democrats have actually been conceding territory over the past few weeks."

Talking Points Memo: "Given the central role of Ahmed Chalabi in 'unearthing' documents which triggered the UN oil-for-food scandal, can someone tell me why the New York Times still has Judith Miller covering the story? I'd actually like to follow what's happening in these investigations. But if you know any of the history of the last five years it's simply impossible to read Miller's articles on this subject and have any confidence that what you're reading is anything that, by any measure, can be considered the straight story."

Key Points to Remember about UN Reform Act of 2005:

• Would automatically stop payment of our annual dues to the United Nations


• At the inception of the United Nations, the U.S. made a legally binding promise to pay our share of UN dues.


• The U.S. is the biggest financial contributor to the United Nations, paying about 22 percent of the annual $2 billion general budget. Withholding dues would be a major roadblock to important UN reform programs.


• Bush Administration officials have voiced opposition to this legislation (see below)

If passed, the UN Reform Act of 2005 would:

• Break our promise to other nations of the world and to the UN.


• Limit the ability of our diplomats to achieve changes within the UN because it would undercut U.S. credibility.


• Lead to a huge debt to the UN and inhibit our ability to lead within the institution.

If passed, the UN Reform Act of 2005 would endanger UN peacekeeping efforts by:

• Reinstating a 25 percent cap on U.S. contributions to UN peacekeeping missions despite the fact that Congress has voted since 2001 to pay our currently assessed share, which is now at 27.1 percent.


• Instituting a shortfall in funds needed to sustain troops on the ground


• Jeopardizing the newly authorized peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan.

BUSH ADMINISTRATION: OPPOSED TO WITHHOLDING UN DUES

Below you will find a list of quotes from news reports and committee transcripts that highlight the Bush Administration's opposition to the process of holding back payment of our UN dues.

PRESIDENT BUSH:

• It [Legislation proposing withholding UN dues] could also put Hyde's committee on a collision course with President Bush, who has told U.N. officials in the past that he doesn't believe in withholding dues. [Associated Press, May 20, 2005]

BUSH ADMINISTRATION:

• The Bush administration opposed the bill [The UN Reform Act of 2005] on grounds that the United States is obliged to pay its U.N. assessment. [Associated Press, June 8, 2005]

ADMINISTRATION OFFICIALS:

• Mark P. Lagon, Ph.D. Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau Of International Organization Affairs, Department Of State:
  "Question from Rep. Delahunt: Okay. So let me be clear because I think it's important that we do be clear and that we don't equivocate. But it's the position of the administration that the United States should pay its appropriate dues to the United Nations? Not a maybe, not a percentage, but you pay its full dues to the United Nations.
  Answer from Mr. Lagon: It's an obligation we have signed onto". [House International Relations Committee Transcript, 5/19/05]

• Patrick Kennedy, Ambassador to the UN for Management and Reform, U.S. Mission to the UN:
  "I cannot recommend, cannot recommend withholding [dues] because it is potentially too blunt an instrument."
  "I need to be able to say that my legislature is very interested in improvements but sanctions when I'm negotiating improvements the sanction of withholding [dues] is too blunt an instrument because it is not targeted enough."
  "...if I'm withholding then it doesn't achieve our [the U.S. mission/State Department and Congress] joint goals of improving operations and improving the ability of the United Nations to serve as a tool that assists us in achieving our national security goals."
  [Hearing of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations March 2, 2005. "United Nations Operations: Integrity and Accountability]

• Kim Holmes, Assistant Secretary Of State, Bureau of International Organization Affairs:
  "I think that we have gone to the U.N. We've asked it to do a lot of things in Iraq and Afghanistan. And there's things that we want from the U.N.. And certainly, peacekeeping in Africa, this is areas where we also want participation. And so we want to be able to go in and say that it's for the good of the United Nations that these changes occur and not make us the issue about funding. Now, as I said, two or three years from now, I can't predict. I'll be gone by that point, and I don't know what the situation will be. I'm just talking about what I know now and what I think would be helpful in the coming year. I think in the coming year that full funding would help us do a better job of making the case for reform." [House Appropriations Committee: Science, State, Justice And Commerce And Related Agencies Subcommittee Hearing on Fiscal Year 2006 Bureau Of International Organization Affairs Appropriations, April 21, 2005]

"Eight former U.S. ambassadors to the United Nations sent a letter on Tuesday urging congressional leaders to reject a bill that would link reform of the world body to payment of American dues, warning that the legislation could actually strengthen opponents of reform." More...

The Brookings Institution, June 14, 2005
Ann Florini, Senior Fellow, Foreign Policy Studies

"The extraordinary energy Congress has put into the fight over whether John Bolton should become the US ambassador to the United Nations may be wasted if a bill now before the House becomes law. The UN Reform Act of 2005, drafted by House International Relations Committee chair Henry Hyde, could ensure that neither Bolton nor any other US ambassador could do much to make the UN an effective instrument for US interests." Read the Editorial

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Chrenkoff: "United Nations World Food Program reports that "a total of 19,196 mt of commodities (including High Energy Biscuits, wheat flour, vegetable oil and pea/wheat blend) have thus far been dispatched into Iraq under WFP's current emergency operation."

Daily Kos: "US to Iraq: Listen to the UN - The Bush administration, seeking to close the continuing rift between Shiite and dissident Sunni Arab leaders in Iraq, is enlisting Europe, the Arab world and the United Nations to pressure the Baghdad government to include minorities in the political process, administration and other diplomats say."

Charging RINO: "In order to make the United Nations an effective international institution as we move forward, this country must provide strong leadership and push for meaningful changes in the organization that will result in a more efficient, more useful, and more streamlined international response to events around the world."

Scrivener's Error: "According to today's NYT, a Congressionally mandated panel will report this week that the United Nations suffers from poor management, "dismal" staff morale and lack of accountability and professional ethics but will acknowledge the broad changes proposed for the organization by Secretary General Kofi Annan and urge the United States to support them."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

The Debate's Over: Globe is Warming

U.S. Panel's Report Criticizes U.N. and Proposes Overhaul

Funding For Africa Could 'Answer Prayers'

Rwandan Hutus 'forced back home'

Wildlife crime: On the trail of a Killer

Afghan Government Begins Disbanding of Illegal Armed Groups

Vietnam Refugees Get Snowy Home

"Charity now begins at your home computer. A new on-line video game that shows players how helping starving people can be exciting has attracted more than one million downloads from China to Canada.

The free game, Food Force, puts players behind the wheel of a United Nations food truck navigating its way through minefields or at the back of an airplane unloading food sacks in gusty conditions. The stakes are high -- if you make mistakes, starving people will die." Link

"Mexico's President Vicente Fox has committed his Government and all of its agencies to the principles of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan's Global Compact initiative, making it the first country to endorse the compact at the government level.

The Global Compact is a UN inter-agency initiative championed by Mr. Annan and designed to challenge businesses around the world to take greater responsibility in society and to act upon a set of universally recognized principles in the areas of human rights, labour rights and the environment." Full Story

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Annan Urges Rich Countries to Help Poor

UNHCR Urges Kyrgyzstan to Stop Security Forces Deporting Uzbeks

UN rights team to inquire into human rights violations in Togo

Haiti: UN Peacekeeper, Red Cross Workers Wounded in Shooting

Annan: U.S. Withholding Dues Is Bad Idea

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Captain's Quarters: "For Republicans around the country, the retirement of Jesse Helms has allowed many to breathe a little easier since 2003. While Helms' stalwart positions on foreign policy provided America much-needed backbone, especially in relation to the United Nations, his domestic views often caused unnecessary controversy and embarrassment."

Democracy Arsenal: "Yesterday the House International Relations Committee approved Rep. Henry Hyde's UN Reform Act of 2005. Many of the proposals contained in the legislation are sound. A good number repeat or amplify ideas that Kofi Annan has already been pushing. The problem with the newly approved legislation is that it requires withholding of 50% of U.S. assessed dues to the UN unless the requested reforms are implemented. But the breadth and depth of the reforms are such that its almost impossible to imagine that all will be quickly or completely agreed."

Emerging Technologies and Children: "Crumbs for Africa - Editorial in The New York Times - According to a poll, most Americans believe that the United States spends 24 percent of its budget on aid to poor countries; it actually spends well under a quarter of 1 percent. As Jeffrey Sachs, the Columbia University economist in charge of the United Nations' Millennium Project, put it so well, the notion that there is a flood of American aid going to Africa "is one of our great national myths."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

UN Presses Rich Nations to Meet Commitment to Poor

More Than a Million Children Work in Mines, "digging for survival," UN Says

Coalition Urges UN Curbs on Harmful Ocean Sounds

UN body says 60 percent of Eritreans Need Food Aid

"Launching an interim report on progress towards internationally agreed development targets, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today said this is a "make-or-break year for the world's poor, when world leaders must decide on concrete steps to achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015." More...

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Hedgehog Report: "Democrats Continue Filibuster On Bolton - From The LA Times. "The Senate standoff over John R. Bolton's nomination as ambassador to the United Nations continued Tuesday.... Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Bush could end the impasse if he chose to. "This is not a standoff yet," he said after the luncheon. "It's up to the president. We're not the obstructionists. He is."

Progressive Commons: "As the John Bolton nomination process draws to its pathetic and inexorable close, and as the conservative refrain regarding UN reform has grown deliberately drone-like ... it is worth a look back at why the UN remains such a fundamentally important institution, one that we risk trivializing only to our own detriment. So it was with much happiness that I came upon a piece describing in fascinating detail the history of the UN's formation, a history largely forgotten or unknown, and one that gives us a very different picture of the role of the United Nations, both at its founding and today. Read up, and get armed - the battle to "reform," by which they mean "reduce, trivialize, and circumscribe," isn't a battle that we can afford to lose."

Washington Note: "The White House seems to think that it can wear down Democratic resolve and get two Dems to switch to cloture.... This is no longer about Bolton. It is about Frist's presidential chances -- and whether he wants to gamble his national identity on win/loss records on judges or John Bolton."

The UN is important for Americans because we of all people should realize that we don't exist on the planet as an island. Most Americans trace ancestry to other lands and cultures giving us a rich history of international composition and heritage. - Mark Kroeker, Civilian Police Advisor, Department of Peacekeeping Operations

There are thousands of Americans who work for the UN - over 1,800 in New York City alone. "Americans at the UN" is a project dedicated to telling their stories and celebrating the extraordinary work they do quietly every single day in countries all over the world.

The Americans profiled come from very different backgrounds and work in extremely diverse settings. But whether they are from Los Angeles, St. Louis, or Boston, and whether they work from an office in New York City, a tent in a tiny village in Sri Lanka, or a battleground in the Congo, they are all committed to creating a better world.

LEARN MORE

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Bush, Blair to Meet, Pledge Africa Aid

UNHCR urges aid for Displaced People in Colombia's South-West

UN-sponsored East African meeting on anti-malarial drug supply opens

From Jordan's Desert to Sweden's Winter - A Refugee Family's Story

UN Plans to Link Top Southern Research Centers

Sun Microsystems Unveils Share the Opportunity Global Giving Initiative
During Participation Age Event at the United Nations

"Today" show host Katie Couric talked with U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, the world's highest ranking diplomat, in General Assembly Hall.

EXCERPT:

Kofi Annan: "Let me say, the U.N., like all organizations has some problems. Difficulties that we need to work out. But when you look at the U.N. as a whole, it is an organization of immense importance to every member state in the world.

And recently, you've seen situations where the U.N. has had to step in and help work with the international community to get things done. I think the most the vivid example is in the question of the tsunami. The U.N. had to lead the humanitarian response. We responded quickly. We organized elections in Iraq, in Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. These are things only the U.N. can do." Full Story...

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Bump in the Beltway: "Congress faces tough issues after recess: In theory, Republicans want to proceed with the controversial nomination of former Undersecretary of State John Bolton to be ambassador to the United Nations. But it is uncertain how quickly Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., will be able to move it to the floor again. The drama was deferred, not defused. This is going to be a messy week."

Daily Kos: "What will it take to get a few Republican Senators to vote against Bolton? He is clearly an individual who has shown an unwillingness to work diplomatically with allies and enemies alike."

Little Green Footballs: "The latest Associated Press push to discredit John Bolton is one of the sleaziest, most biased pieces of work I've read in quite some time: Bolton Said to Orchestrate Unlawful Firing."

Moderate Voice: "Yet another news story has surfaced to give a big, fat black eye to John Bolton - but in hard-nosed political terms will it really matter in terms of derailing his likely approval as the new U.S. Ambassador to the UN?"

TPM Cafe: "The United Nations is celebrating World Environment Day by producing an atlas, One Planet Many People. The book documents the harm that we're doing to the environment. The internet spot for the book is here. Click on "chapters" to download the pdf files. The book is available for sale here."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Court Investigates Sudan's Darfur Region

Afghanistan: UN Mission condemns violence against election workers

Lebanese Musician and Writer Named UN 'Artist for Peace'

Students March Against Pollution

World Environment Day slideshow

UN News Service: "The theme of the UN environmental day this year is "Green Cities - Plan for the Planet," The UN High Commissioner for Refugees has adapted it to: "Green your Camps - Improve Natural Resource Management and Plan for the Planet." The Day was celebrated yesterday, 5 June, in San Francisco, California and around the world."

"An atlas of environmental change compiled by the United Nations reveals some of the dramatic transformations that are occurring to our planet.

It compares and contrasts satellite images taken over the past few decades with contemporary ones. These highlight in vivid detail the striking make-over wrought in some corners of the Earth by deforestation, urbanisation and climate change.

The atlas has been released to mark World Environment Day. The United Nations Environmental Programme (Unep) produced One Planet Many People: Atlas of our Changing Environment in collaboration with other agencies such as the US Geological Survey and the US space agency (Nasa)." Read full article

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

Diplomatic Times Review: "The Toledo (Ohio) Blade opined in a June 2, 2005 editorial: "Thank goodness the Senate has put President Bush's controversial nomination of John Bolton as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on hold at least until next week."

Martin Varsavsky: "No matter how local we think we are we all share planet earth. So what about 100 hours out of 10,000 in which students follow a United Nations curriculum that is the SAME for all kids in the planet. My proposal is that during this 100 hours student learn the basic principles of human rights, understanding and respecting others, and as importantly learning about our fragile environment and how to protect it. That´s it, 100 hours. If we implement this any person in the planet who meets anyone else will in the future have at least 100 hours of a common background."

Washington Note: "My sense is that there are MORE than three Republican Senate offices now scrambling for reasons -- for phone calls -- to oppose Bolton."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

Two billion people need access to basic sanitation by 2015 to meet UN target

Blasts as Burundi goes to polls

UN Officials Say HIV/AIDS Can Be Controlled

Boosting urban farming can help feed fast-growing cities

"U.N. satellite imagery experts have determined that material that could be used to make biological or chemical weapons and banned long-range missiles has been removed from 109 sites in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspectors said in a report obtained Thursday." More...

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

AIDS Spreading Faster than Efforts to Stop It

Annan Calls for Collective Action, Strong Leadership to Turn Back HIV/AIDS Epidemic

Schwarzenegger Unveiling Global Warming Plan at U.N. Conference

It's Crunch Time at the United Nations

United Nations Game a Surprise Hit

"Iraq's environmental problems - among the world's worst - range from a looted nuclear site which needs cleaning up to sabotaged oil pipelines, a U.N. official said on Thursday.

"An improvement is almost impossible in these security conditions. Chemicals are seeping into groundwater and the situation is becoming worse and creating additional health problems," said Pekka Haavisto, Iraq task force chairman at the United Nations Environmental Programme." Full Story

A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary

LEFT COASTER: "Perhaps we know now why the White House is fighting so furiously to prevent the Senate Intelligence Committee from getting all of the documents wanted by committee Democrats to evaluate the fitness of John Bolton to be our UN ambassador. According to Wednesday's New York Times previewed in the International Herald Tribune, it has been leaked by administration sources that what the White House is refusing to release to the committee are reports that Bolton obtained from the NSA by way of a special request."

CAPTAIN'S QUARTERS: "Condoleezza Rice revealed in a speech yesterday that a consortium of nations, including the US, stopped nuclear material from reaching Iran as well as other rogue nations over the last nine months. The participating nations of the Proliferation Security Initiative have quietly cooperated on eleven interdictions during that time, at least one of those directly involving Teheran... UPDATE: Who was the man who made the diplomatic arrangements to get over 60 nations involved in PSI? Why ... none other than that hardass meanie, John Bolton. Go figure."

Selected summary of United Nations related news and events

UN Extends Iraq Force Mandate

Annan Fires Joseph Stephanides for 'Serious Misconduct' Linked to Oil-for-Food

U.N. Training Iraqis in Jordan to Measure Radiation from Depleted Uranium

UN intellectual property watchdog launches online forum on information society

From President Bush's press conference, 5/31/05:

"[T]he reason I picked Bolton is he's a no-nonsense kind of fellow who can get things done. And we need to get something done in the United Nations. This is an organization which is important. It can help a lot in terms of the democracy movement; it can help deal with conflict and civil war."