A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Daily Kos (DemFromCT): "Combining two favorite topics of mine (bird flu and polling), here's a bird flu poll, courtesy of Harvard School of Public Health. Some of the interesting findings: "More than half of Americans (57%) report that they are concerned about the potential spread of bird flu in the United States (Figures available here in .ppt). However, only 15% are very concerned at the moment." Meanwhile, H5N1 is becoming endemic in Europe. This means that the poultry may be exposed again and again to the virus, as has already happened in Hong Kong. The longer term approach may be a better vaccine for poultry and humans; short term, culling and other methods must be used. But senior flu researcher Robert Webster in this paper warns against killing migratory birds: "...culling migratory birds is not acceptable to any international authority (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], the World Organization for Animal Health [OIE], the World Health Organization [WHO]). The idea of culling migratory birds must be strongly discouraged, for it could have unknown ecologic consequences."
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
IAEA: Iran Wants to Expand Uranium Program
World Court Opens Landmark Bosnian Genocide Case Against Serbia
U.N. May Upgrade Darfur Peace Force
Empowering Women is Key to Development, Frechette Tells UN Commission
PAKISTAN: UN Presents Post-Quake Recovery Plan
"Pointing out that Islam and the West are not inherently contradictory or monolithic, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Doha, Qatar, today called for replacing the loud shouts of extremists with the calm voice of reason.
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Peek: "Number one of the eight Millennium Development Goals that all 191 United Nations member states have agreed to try to achieve by the year 2015 is to eradicate extreme poverty and hunger. In addition to the security concern noted above, there's an ethical imperative. Is there a belief system on Earth that doesn't essentially tell you that you're connected to every other human and that your soul suffers as theirs does?"
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Informed Comment: "Bringing the United Nations Back In - There will be anti-War protests in the coming month, as the 3-year anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq approaches. I think it is time to demand a timetable for US withdrawal from Iraq. I suspect a majority of Iraqi parliamentarians want that. The Sunni Arabs demand it. The Sadrists demand it. It is time. Saying that the guerrillas would take advantage of a timetable, given the carnage we saw on Monday is frankly silly. They are taking advantage of the current situation. We have to create a new situation, with which they might be happier so that they stop blowing things up. Staying this course is untenable. But that step will not necessarily resolve the crisis. I think the peace movement has a real opportunity here to make a push for much heavier United Nations involvement in Iraq. I say, let's make up placards calling on Kofi Annan to get involved, and calling on Bush to let the UN come in in a big way, with proper protection."
Democracy Arsenal: "I spent this weekend at a conference organized by the Stanley Foundation on UN Reform. Stanley is deeply valued at the UN for convening in-depth, substantive sessions that are small enough to allow participants to engage and actually reach decisions. David Shorr, an occasional guest-blogger here, has masterminded these UN events in recent years. This weekend he and Stanley Foundation President Dick Stanley focused on the nuts and bolts of how to streamline the thousands of UN mandates that have accumulated over the years. They convened a group including a dozen UN ambassadors from major countries (none with mustaches), a handful of their deputies, a few top Secretariat and US government officials, one academic and one blogger. For me it was a chance to delve back into reform issues 5 years after completing negotiations at the US Mission to the UN to reform the organization's financial system in 2001. Here are 10 reasons why the weekend left me somewhat heartened on prospects for UN reform..."
Selected summary of United Nations related news and events
Bird Flu Could Hobble Africa's AIDS Fight-UN
Eleven Million at Risk in E.Africa Drought-UN
World Water Crisis Worsened by Corruption,
Repression: UN Report UN Ozone Experts Meeting in Otago UNICEF Gives N$160 Million for Aids Battle Five Former Afghan Jehadi Commanders
to Surrender Arms to UN-Supported Unit
Repression: UN Report UN Ozone Experts Meeting in Otago UNICEF Gives N$160 Million for Aids Battle Five Former Afghan Jehadi Commanders
to Surrender Arms to UN-Supported Unit
"The United Nations released an emergency grant of P2.6 million and dispatched a disaster assessment and coordination team with medicine and supplies for up to 10,000 people, the Philippine mission at the U.N. said in a statement." LINK