A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Americablog: "Kofi Annan to visit destroyed slums in Zimbabwe - This is a very good development to keep the spotlight on the disgusting destruction that the Mugabe regime has brought to the poor of Zimbabwe. I'm still hoping that South Africa manages to include political reform in their loan to Zim that they will surely be providing soon but so far "quiet diplomacy" has not shown many results and the ANC has been very reluctant to criticize Mugabe and his brutal policies."
Blog for America: "The United Nations announced that food and funding donations have arrived in drought-stricken Niger to aid the 3.5 million people living there. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, however, warned that the country has only received approximately a fifth of the aid it needs to ward off starvation. Niger, one of the poorest nations in the world and frequently hit by droughts, recently experienced a devastating locust infestation which destroyed most of the crops."
Media Girl: "Can we talk about the urgent Niger story? - No, I'm not talking about Wilson's trip. If you are not restricted to USA media and the blogosphere for news, you'll know already that I'm talking about the 3.6 million people about to starve to death there: "The situation is desperate. Even the limited food that is available has soared in price, rendering it unaffordable for most families, and there is no hope of any harvest for at least three months," said Natasha Kafoworola Quist, an Oxfam spokeswoman. "Families are feeding their children grass and leaves from the trees to keep them alive." Oxfam said U.N. appeals for aid were "dangerously" underfunded, with only one third of the money needed from donors being pledged. In many cases, the pledged money hasn't arrived, the agency added. The United Nations first appealed for assistance for Niger in November and got almost no response."
Norm Blog: "It seems that, after the UN report on Zimbabwe condemning the exercise in which 700,000 people were made homeless in that country, Robert Mugabe would like the UN secretary general to come and see things for himself. He has issued an invitation. I like this detail: "Zimbabwe has criticised the report as hostile and false, saying it "described the operation in vastly judgmental language which clearly demonstrates its inbuilt bias against the operation".
Tour Egypt: "The United Nations World Tourism Organization (WTO) has offered Egypt its full support in helping the country to surmount the negative impact on its flourishing tourism industry from Saturday's terrorist bombings at its Sharm el-Sheikh resort. "WTO has gained extensive experience in crisis management in the last few years, especially due to the work of our Recovery Committee, which for a long time was chaired by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism," WTO Secretary-General Francesco Frangialli told Egyptian Minister of Tourism Ahmed el Maghraby in a letter."
Washington Note: "Efforts are underway to resolve "officially" whether John Bolton met with the Valerie Plame grand jury or its investigators. If he did before submitting his declaration statement to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, his recess appointment will not occur. If he simply failed to amend his declaration but did meet with the Committee, there is still a chance he could squeak by during recess."
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Zimbabwe Receives UN-HABITAT Officer to Advise Government
on Resettlement Mugabe Invites Annan to View 'clean-up' Campaign Go green, Says Keng Yaik Meeting Women's Needs, Supporting Aceh's Future Rural and Minority Women Still Meet Many Forms of Discrimination,
UN Panel Says
on Resettlement Mugabe Invites Annan to View 'clean-up' Campaign Go green, Says Keng Yaik Meeting Women's Needs, Supporting Aceh's Future Rural and Minority Women Still Meet Many Forms of Discrimination,
UN Panel Says
"Nasseiba Ali is the face of hunger in Niger. The 20-month-old girl weighs just 12 pounds, and her eyes are clouded at night, one of the symptoms of her chronic malnourishment.
Nasseiba may survive, because her grandmother was able to get her to a feeding center. But aid groups despair that so many other children are dying because the world was slow to respond." [Full Story]
"U.N. diplomats have revised their blueprint for reforming the world body to include a definition of terrorism, indicating nations are moving toward consensus on a contentious global issue.
World leaders are to consider the plan at their summit in September and, if approved, the definition could break the impasse over a comprehensive treaty against terrorism." [More]
BBC: "A major UN report has called for an immediate end to Zimbabwe's slum clearance programme, declaring it to be in violation of international law.
"The scale of suffering is immense," it said. About 700,000 people have lost their homes or livelihoods and another 2.4 million people have been affected.
Secretary General Kofi Annan said it confirmed "catastrophic injustice" had been done to Zimbabwe's poorest."
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
U.S. State Dept Tells Congress to Give UN a Chance
Israeli-Palestinian Relations Bedevilled by Lack of Framework, UN Envoy Says
UNICEF Chief In Kenya on Trip to Promote Child Survival
Refugee Chief Calls for More Tolerance
A School Where Displacement, Not Discipline, is the Biggest Problem
UN Forces Flush Out Rwanda Rebels
UNIFEM Calls for Stronger Support for Women's Roles in Peace Processes
Landmark Civil Society Forum on Conflict Prevention Wraps Up at UN
"Thousands of children are starving to death in Niger because the international community has been too slow to respond to the country's food crisis, UN officials and aid workers said yesterday. They warned that the numbers dying could rise to 150,000 without urgent aid."
[Full article]
Also read: Niger Food Crisis Timeline
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Constant Inanity: "Huge crater and whale-with-feet boneyard named U.N. heritage sites - The cultural and education arm of the United Nations on Friday added a giant meteorite crater in South Africa and a whale boneyard from the time the creatures had feet among seven new global heritage sites. The new spots also include two long and deep Norwegian fjords, 244 rugged islands off the coast of Mexico, a forest park in Thailand and the last refuge of the crested eagle off southwest Panama. The heritage list, which has 188 sites around the world designated for their importance to nature and to culture, is part of a campaign to encourage conservation in host countries."
Exbaptist: "There is no shortage of well-documented dementia of Americans who think the United Nations building in New York is occupied by a secret cabal of European intellectuals who would like nothing better than to turn us all into brie-eating socialists, but I think the John Bolton nomination represents how closely Christian conservatives have merged their religion with their politics."
Intellibriefs: "Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Bush today declare their resolve to transform the relationship between their countries and establish a global partnership. Drawing on their mutual vision for the U.S.-India relationship, and our joint objectives as strong long-standing democracies, the two leaders agree on the following: Develop and support, through the new U.S.-India Global Democracy Initiative in countries that seek such assistance, institutions and resources that strengthen the foundations that make democracies credible and effective. India and the U.S. will work together to strengthen democratic practices and capacities and contribute to the new U.N. Democracy Fund."
Mudville Gazette: "5800 to contest Afghan polls - NEARLY 6000 candidates have been declared eligible to contest Afghanistan's first post-Taliban parliamentary polls in September, more than 10 per cent of them women, election officials said today. A total of 2778 candidates will stand for the 249-seat lower house Wolesi Jirga elections and 3027 will stand for provincial councils, Bismillah Bismil, chairman of the UN-backed electoral commission told reporters."
Sideshow: "Publication of The Costs of War by Sir Jeremy Greenstock, UK ambassador to the UN during the build-up to the 2003 war and the Prime Minister's special envoy to Iraq in its aftermath, has been halted."