Author Archives: Una Moore 
On Al Jazeera, UN Dispatch Blogger Ahmad Shuja Discusses Persecution on Hazaras in Pakistan
Our own Ahmad Shuja was a guest on Al Jazeera’s The Stream, where he discussed the violent persecution of the Hazaras, an ethnic and religious minority group in Pakistan.
A Day Without Dignity: Positive Advocacy Examples from Afghanistan
Today is A Day Without Dignity, the aid blogosphere’s answer to TOMS A Day Without Shoes. With so many discussions devoted to bad advocacy or “badvocacy” in aid and human rights activism recently, it’s important to highlight examples of what good advocacy and NGO PR looks like. Three videos that hit the right notes.
What Will Happen to Afghanistan’s Security Forces After 2014?
Will plans to massively build up –and then massively downsize– the Afghan security forces contribute to more violence and turn Afghanistan into Central Asia’s bargain bazaar for small arms?
5 Reasons to be Hopeful for the Future of Afghan Women
While the backlash against expanded rights and freedoms for Afghan women has been gathering momentum in recent years, so too have efforts to create greater opportunities for women in Afghan society. Part 2 of my 2-part look at what’s at stake for women a decade into the international intervention.
The Culture War Over Afghan Women: The Bad News
Afghan women are again at the center of a volatile national debate over whether basic rights and freedoms should be extended to the female half of the population. Part 1 of a 2-part look at what’s at stake.
Car Bomb, Withdrawal of Internationals, and a UN Office Attacked: The Latest on the Afghan Riots
Countrywide riots over the accidental destruction of Korans at an American military base have morphed into anarchic outlets for general anger at the state of the country’s long-running conflict. Here are the latest developments.
Afghanistan Riots: How Some Young Afghans are Using Social Media to Call for Calm
The inadvertent destruction of Korans by American military personnel caused grave offense to Afghans generally, but not everyone in Afghanistan is literally up in arms over the incident.
Afghanistan in Transition, Civilians in Armed Conflict, and the Implications of Libya: My Week at NATO
Earlier this month, I spent a week at NATO with eight other bloggers, attending briefings on issues as varied as the mission in Afghanistan and cyber security. Here’s what stood out to me.
Afghan IDP Children are Freezing to Death. Here’s How to Help.
“Is that reasonable that all of them would die at night?” That’s how Afghanistan’s top disaster response official responded when asked about the nearly two dozen children who have frozen to death in IDP camps in Kabul over the past month.
NATO Combat Operations in Afghanistan to End Gradually: Secretary General
When NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen spoke to the press yesterday at the end of the first of two days of meetings with NATO defense ministers, he tried to dispel confusion surrounding the end of NATO’s role in Afghanistan.
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Iran; Syria; Internet Governance; Libya; and more
UN atomic watchdog chief Yukiya Amano and top aides will travelto Tehran on Sunday for talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator, a few days before Iran and world powers meet in Baghdad to discuss the broader nuclear dispute. News of the rare visit came as Western diplomats said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Iran were making headway towards a framework deal on how to tackle concerns about Iran’s atomic activity.
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Sudan/South Sudan; State of the World Economy debate; International Day against Homophobia; and more
The U.N. Security Council has called on Sudan and South Sudan to reach an agreement on the status of the disputed, oil-rich Abyei border region and extended the U.N. security force’s mission there by six months. The council passed a resolution Thursday calling the situation a serious security threat and demanding the creation of a jointly administered Abyei police force.
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The top United Nations refugee official today voiced his alarm at new inflows of refugees into Rwanda and Uganda, fleeing fighting in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). More than 8,200 refugees have crossed from DRC into Rwanda since 27 April, according to staff of the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These are in addition to the 55,000 Congolese refugees that Rwanda is already hosting.
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Syria: U.N.-Arab League mediator Kofi Annan is urging Syria’s government to accept U.N. conditions for expanding the distribution of humanitarian aid to roughly 1 million Syrians in need of assistance, the United Nations said today. Meanwhile, three vehicles belonging to … Read more
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Sustainable Future Symposium; ICT for Development; IAEA/Iran; Global Financial Transaction Tax; and more
Partnerships and development cooperation among countries will play a key role in accelerating sustainable development, the Secretary-General of the UN Sustainable Development Conference (Rio+20), Sha Zukang said today, stressing that assistance will need to focus on helping developing countries find longer-term solutions to eradicate poverty and transition into a green economy.The two-day Australia High-Level Symposium, “Shaping a Sustainable Future – Partners in Development Cooperation,” which began today, seeks to facilitate an informal dialogue on development cooperation among high-level policymakers, multilateral and civil society organizations, philanthropic foundations and the private sector.
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DR Congo; South Sudan; UNHCR and OIC; and more
Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights, Ivan Šimonovic, today voiced concern over the human rights situation in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), which has experienced a recent upsurge in violence. Mr. Šimonovic said he was “appalled” by the heightened levels of recent violence triggered by defections in the Congolese armed forces, including former members of certain militia groups, and welcomed joint efforts between the peacekeepers of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO), humanitarian actors and the authorities to protect civilians and respond to human rights violations.
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Asia-Pacific Human Development Report; Syria; Horn of Africa; UNRWA
Countries in the Asia-Pacific region must find ways to continue to grow economically and lift millions out of poverty while also responding to climate change and environmental concerns, according to UN report released today, which stresses that new methods of production are needed to meet this goal.UNDP’s Asia-Pacific Human Development Report 2012 argues that policies and actions in the region will have a global impact as it is home to more than half of the world’s population and half of the planet’s megacities.
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SG on Rio/Post-2015 Development; Syria; Middle East; Global Fund; and more
Appealing for flexibility in reaching agreement on a final outcome document, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon today, emphasized the need for Member States to agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals ahead of the Rio+20 conference while also announcing the appointment of three co-chairs to his High-Level Panel on Post-2015 Development Planning. We should agree on launching a process to establish Sustainable Development Goals that build on the Millennium Development Goals … find better ways to measure progress that goes beyond Gross Domestic Product …and advance action to improve people’s lives through decent work, social protection and the empowerment of women and young people,” the UN chief said in his address to the UN General Assembly.
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Syria; Guinea-Bissau; UNAIDS; Afghanistan; and more
Amid concerns from the international community over the prospects of a “full civil war” in Syria, the Joint Special Envoy Kofi Annan, said today that the ongoing levels of violence and human rights abuses in the Middle Eastern country are unacceptable and the UN observer mission is possibly the only remaining chance to stabilize it.
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Peacebuilding; South Sudan; Indigenous Issues; Rwanda
The United Nations is determined to do everything possible to assist societies torn by war from sliding back into conflict, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told an audience in the United States capital today, adding that while there have been setbacks, peacebuilding remains a crucial element of the world body’s efforts.In a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D. C., Mr. Ban highlighted the work of the UN’s 16 peacekeeping operations and 15 political missions in the area of peacebuilding – a core mandate of the Organization.
