Focus on Energy
Sustainable Energy for All
On September 21, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced a new initiative – “Sustainable Energy for All”. One of the initiative’s main goals is to ensure universal access to sustainable energy by 2030.
13-Year Old Yemeni Bride Bleeds to Death
Strong trigger warning
Last week in Yemen, a 13-year old girl was married to a 23-year old in a family-arranged marriage. Four days later, she bled to death from severe injuries. Reports SF Gate:
Malaysia starts caning women for adultery
This is just horrid. Christian Science Monitor reports that for the first time in Malaysia, three women were caned this month after being charged with adultery by a court of Islamic law.
If The World Can Mobilize Like This for Haiti, Why Not for Sexual Violence in Congo?
On Tuesday evening, I received a short email from Mark. The message was this:
“massive, 7.0 earthquake in Haiti. really, really devastating”
Mark is an even-tempered and measured guy and I knew that he wouldn’t exaggerate the severity of the situation.
In the days since the quake struck, I’ve tried, like so many millions of people, to do as much as possible to raise awareness, donate money, and help the victims of the Haiti catastrophe.
China Steps Up on Global Health
Liu Zhenmin, the Chinese deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, spoke to the general assembly on Tuesday and called for better global cooperation on global health issues. He specifically focused on improving information: “The international community should pool its resources and work together, strengthen the sharing of information, technology and experience in prevention and control, so as to contain the spread of major epidemics around the world, including H1N1 influenza…”
UN creates new women’s agency
The United Nations General Assembly voted Monday to create a new, more powerful agency for women, in a move supporters hailed as a breakthrough for women’s equality and rights. An Assembly resolution called for the amalgamation of four existing United Nations offices dealing with women’s affairs into a single body to be headed by an under secretary general. The unanimous vote followed three years of negotiations.
The creation of this body had actually been somewhat controversial, as some member states opposed consolidating the currently existing women’s agencies into one supra-agency. The step is to be applauded, though, as it will make the UN’s work on women’s issues more streamlined and more effective.
UNIFEM, one of the UN’s chief agencies dedicated to women, naturally approves.
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The SC; HRC; DPRK; South Sudan
The SC: The Security Council today held its last consultations under the Council Presidency of ROK. Tomorrow, Russia will take over the rotating Presidency of the Security Council for March under Ambassador Vitaly Churkin.
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The SG; Mali; Middle East; Palestine
The SG: At the Fifth Global Forum of the UN Alliance of Civilizations in Vienna, Austria today, the SG emphasized the role of youth in ensuring a “prosperous, equitable and peaceful future.”
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The SG; DRC; HRC; Palestinian Prisoner
The SG: In Ethiopia over the weekend, the SG is now in the United Arab Emirates. Today he met with Sheikh Mohammad bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE, where the two discussed developments in the region, including Syria, Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan, and in the Middle East Peace Process.
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