UN Insider

Photo: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (left) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in embrace Saturday (May 26, 2018) on the North Korean side of the shared inter-Korean area of Panmunjom. Credit: South Korean Presidential Blue House / Getty Images

Asian Sympathy Swinging Towards North Korea

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The frenzied moves over the weekend of May 26-27 by leaders of South Korea and North Korea to revive the on-again, off-again North Korea-US summit, and pictures flashed across the region of the two Korean leaders warmly hugging each other for the second time within a month, are rapidly turning public opinion across the region in North Korea’s favour with the United States and President Donald Trump seen as the “evil”.

The pictures accompanying reports in Asian news media on Trump’s cancellation of the much anticipated summit always carry side-by-side a smiling affable North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a stern-looking Trump.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 May 2018

Photo: UNAOC High Representative Al-Nasser addressing the event at the UN Headquarters in New York on May 2, 2018, co-organized with the UNAI and the Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN. Credit: UNAOC.

Global Citizenship Education Vital For Intercultural Literacy

By Santo D. Banerjee

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Educating younger generations on global citizenship through intercultural literacy is a serious civic educational and moral issue, said Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser, High Representative of the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) in his opening remarks at an event co-organized with the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) member institution Al Farabi Kzakh National University (KazNU) with the support of the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the UN in New York.

Introducing Abu Nasr Mohammed Al-Farabi, after whom the UNAI member institution in Kazakhstan is named, Al-Nasser said Al-Farabi is known as a bridge builder between classical Occidental civilization and the Islamic civilization. His influence and teachings in the Arab world have closed many gaps and eliminated many misunderstandings between the two civilizations.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 27 May 2018

Photo: Palestine is resolutely pursuing its strategy of seeking statehood through intergovernmental organizations. On May 22, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki met Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda at the ICC Headquarters in The Hague calling for the court to investigate Israeli settlement policies in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Copyright: ICC-CPI

Palestine Seeking Statehood Through UN System Organizations

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – While the two-state solution envisaging an independent State of Palestine appears to be increasingly consigned to oblivion, the Palestinian Authority is resolutely pursuing its strategy of seeking statehood through intergovernmental organizations that are a part of the UN system.

The latest in a series of such bids is Palestine's membership of the Vienna-based United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) cautiously announced in a press release on May 25, 2018. It pointed out that on May 17 "the State of Palestine deposited its instruments of accession to the Constitution" of the UNIDO "with the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who is the depositary of the UNIDO Constitution, at the Treaty Section of the Legal Office of the UN Secretariat in New York."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 26 May 2018

Image: Montage of Trump and Kim. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Uncertainty Abounds As Trump Cancels Summit With Kim

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – May 24, 2018 smacks of a 'historic day' marked by a smokescreen of uncertainty and speculations in the aftermath of U.S. President Donald Trump calling off his summit meeting with Kim Jong-un, the leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea.

The situation has prompted United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres to remark that he is "deeply concerned." Speaking in Geneva on May 24, where he unveiled his new Agenda for Disarmament entitled, Securing Our Common Future, at the University of Geneva, in Switzerland, Guterres called on the U.S. and North Korea "to continue their dialogue to find a path to the peaceful and verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula."

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 May 2018

Photo: 7th Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea in 2012. Credit: ACP Press.

79 ACP Ministers Meeting in Lomé to Discuss Strategy for New Accord with EU

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – Seventy-nine African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries are set to speak with one voice as they prepare to adopt a negotiating mandate for a pact with the European Union (EU) after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020. ACP Government Ministers will convene on May 27 for preparatory discussions dedicated to post-Cotonou negotiations.

Two days later, the ACP Council of Ministers meeting in Lomé, the capital of Togo in West Africa, for their 107th Session on May 29-30 will deliberate on repositioning the ACP as "a more effective global player" within the overarching framework of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 23 May 2018

How About Beginning With Sport To Face Down Trump?

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Can you smell the whiff of smoke? You surely can. But the gunfire? Not yet. But it must start soon if the battle has any chance of success.

President Donald Trump has to be faced down. Not only because of his sabotage of the Iran nuclear deal but also because of his attack on Europe’s export of steel and aluminium which breaks all the rules on tariffs set by the World Trade Organisation. This man should not be allowed to get away with his gross disturbance of the world political and economic order.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 22 May 2018

Blockchain Technology Could Be Vital in Helping Improve Humanitarian Aid Across the World

Viewpoint by Natalia Fuller

TOKYO (IDN) – Several aid groups are now looking at blockchain's potential to improve humanitarian aid. By providing refugees with a virtual identity, and assuring the public that their money is being properly spent, aid groups are hopeful that they can attract more donors.

UNICEF is one of the largest charitable organisations in the world that is hoping to streamline their operations with blockchain.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 22 May 2018

Photo: 74th ESCAP Session: Countries adopt regional actions to tackle inequalities. Credit: ESCAP.

Multilateralism in Action is Something We Need to See More Of

By Miroslav Lajčák

Miroslav Lajčák is President of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Following are extensive excerpts from his Statement at 74th session of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) with focus on Inequality in the Era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development on 14 May 2018 in Bangkok, Thailand. – The Editor.

BANGKOK (IDN-INPS) – In 2015, we made a promise. We committed to leaving no one behind. And, the theme of this session is a stark reminder of our promise: Inequality in the Era of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 May 2018

Photo: EXPO2017 World Exhibition grounds, the venue of 'Astana Economic Forum' transformed to 'The Global Challenges Summit' in May 2018 – one of Kazakhstan's eminent international activities

Kazakhstan Promotes Sustainable Development Goals in Global Diplomacy and International Activities

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – When Kazakhstan took over the presidency of the UN Security Council in January 2018, it set out with a seven-point agenda: a world free of nuclear weapons; preventing and ending military confrontations at regional and global levels; making Central Asia a model for a regional zone of peace, security, cooperation, and development; reaching peace and security in Africa; fighting international terrorism and violent extremism; advancing the nexus between security and development; and adapting the UN system to the needs of the 21st century.

This ambitious work programme reflected the letter and spirit of the United Nations' Agenda for Sustainable Development which is eminently summed up in Goal 16 dedicated to the promotion of peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, the provision of access to justice for all, and building effective, accountable institutions at all levels.

: J Nastranis; CENTRAL ASIA; 21 May 2018

Photo: A glimpse of the Continental Conference on Access to Justice for Children in Africa. Credit: The African Child Policy Forum and Defence for Children International.

Conference Calls for Action on Access to Justice for Children in Africa

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child obliges all members of the world body to respect and ensure the rights of each child "within their jurisdiction without discrimination of any kind". While some progress has been made to fulfil the objectives set out in the Convention, too many commitments remain unfulfilled. This is particularly true for children deprived of liberty, who often remain invisible and forgotten.

Most countries lack data on the number of children deprived of liberty, on the reasons, length and places of detention. Judicial, administrative or other bodies, including the police, military authorities, immigration officials, child protection or welfare bodies, health professionals, and non-state actors, including in situations of armed conflict, decide children's detention.