Global Issues

NEW YORK, December 5 (IPS) - From its inception, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) has been engaged in improving its working methods, mindful of, as early as in 1949, “… the increasing length of General Assembly sessions, and of the growing tendency towards protracted debates”. Read the full story, “UNGA’s Long-Drawn Revitalization Efforts Need a Meaningful Outcome, not Another Repetitive Regularity of an Omnibus of Redundancy”, on globalissues.org →

NEW YORK, December 5 (IPS) - Let’s just say the quiet part out loud: the UN is not reforming because it suddenly woke up one morning inspired by efficiency. It’s reforming because the Organization is broke. Not metaphorically broke. Not diplomatically broke. Actually broke. The kind of broke where arrears sit at $1.586 billion and everyone pretends that’s just an unfortunate bookkeeping hiccup instead of the fact that the lights are flickering. Read the full story, “UN80 is Less a Reform Than a Survival Manual”, on globalissues.org →

SEKE, Zimbabwe, December 5 (IPS) - When going home after school, Monica Ben not only takes with her a pen and exercise books but also a lantern to light the dark room and completes her daily homework in Mashonaland East province. Read the full story, “In Zimbabwe, School Children Are Turning Waste Into Renewable Energy-Powered Lanterns”, on globalissues.org →

UNITED NATIONS, December 5 (IPS) - President Trump’s recent announcement to resume nuclear testing rekindles nightmares of a bygone era where military personnel and civilians were exposed to devastating radioactive fallouts. Read the full story, “Any Resumption of US Tests May Trigger Threats from Other Nuclear Powers”, on globalissues.org →

The ongoing emergency in northern Mozambique continues to worsen as prolonged attacks by non-state armed groups in Nampula trigger one of the largest displacement surges of the year, the UN warned on Friday.Read the full story, “Mozambique’s displaced facing massive needs as attacks intensify”, on globalissues.org →

Summary executions and other violations continue in Syria nearly a year after the fall of the Assad regime, the UN human rights office, OHCHR, said on Friday. Read the full story, “Syria: Effort to buttress human rights since Assad’s fall, ‘only the beginning of what needs to be done’”, on globalissues.org →

A spike in Israeli military raids and settler violence across the occupied West Bank is driving new displacement, shutting schools and disrupting essential services for tens of thousands of Palestinians, the UN relief coordination office, OCHA, said in its latest humanitarian update Friday.Read the full story, “Israeli raids and settler attacks deepen humanitarian crisis in West Bank”, on globalissues.org →

Israeli airstrikes took place within the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon’s (UNIFIL) area of operations, the mission said in a statement issued on Friday. Read the full story, “Lebanon: UN peacekeepers warn of ‘clear violations’ following latest Israeli airstrikes”, on globalissues.org →

The United Nations on Friday welcomed a newly signed peace accord between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda as a “critical step” toward restoring trust, while warning that active fighting near border areas continue to exact a heavy toll on civilians.Read the full story, “UN hails DR Congo-Rwanda peace deal amid ongoing hostilities in the east”, on globalissues.org →

PRETORIA, December 4 (IPS) - Nature is a double-edged sword for global business. A groundbreaking report will reveal how businesses profit from exploiting natural resources while simultaneously impacting biodiversity. Read the full story, “Businesses Impact Nature on Which They Depend — IPBES Report Finds”, on globalissues.org →