June 24, 2023
South Sudan: President Kiir, Education Cannot Wait Jointly Announce Extended Multi-Year Education Response for Crises-Impacted Sudanese Children
South Sudan is experiencing one of the most severe crises in the world today, causing fragility, instability, and economic stagnation. While a peace agreement was reached in 2018,… Read more »
June 23, 2023
Africa: If Govts Have the Tools to Stop Fishing-Related Deaths, Why Aren't They Being Used?
Long before Hollywood highlighted the dangers of commercial fishing in The Perfect Storm, Deadliest Catch and other programming, governments around the world knew that this was one… Read more »
June 22, 2023
Africa: Global Community Celebrates Medical Innovations and Milestones Since Defining Leprosy Discovery 150 Years Ago
The 1873 discovery of Mycobacterium leprae, the causative agent of leprosy by Norwegian doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen, remains one of the greatest paradigm shifts in medical… Read more »
Africa: Beyond the UN Security Council - Can the General Assembly Tackle the Climate-Security Challenge?
The wildfires raging in Canada are yet another reminder that climate change is already having an impact on all our lives. As the smoke clears around the United Nations building in… Read more »
June 21, 2023
Africa: If Current Trends Continue, Low-Income Countries May Not Achieve a Single Development Goal By 2030
When the 193-member General Assembly adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development back in September 2015., it was aimed at transforming the world into an idealistic state of… Read more »
June 20, 2023
Africa: Safety of Human Rights Defenders in Exile Imperiled By Host Countries' Declining Civil Rights
Home Away From Home is the theme of World Refugee Day 2023. However, for many, including human rights activists who have fled their homes, a decline in civil rights in their host… Read more »
Liberia: Palm Oil - Innovative Approach to Sustainable Development Policy and Investment
Oil palm has brought significant benefits and prosperity to Liberia. The export of crude palm oil is a major source of foreign exchange earnings for the government. The palm oil… Read more »
June 19, 2023
Africa: Negotiations Must Accelerate Climate Action and Save Vulnerable Countries #AfricaClimateHope
Vulnerable countries, banking on robust climate negotiations, want an inclusive funding package to help them with the devastating impacts of climate change. Read more »
South Africa: Making the Impossible Possible, Chronicles of an Ambassador's Lifelong Frontline Battle to End Leprosy
In 1974, Yohei Sasakawa accompanied his father to a leprosy hospital he had funded. He saw leprosy patients inside the hospital still and expressionless. The smell of leprosy… Read more »
Libya: A Shipwreck in Greece Reminds Us of the Mess in Libya
A new catastrophe in the Mediterranean, this time off the coast of Greece. The number of drowned still to be determined -- barely 100 survivors speak of more than 700 passengers on… Read more »
Africa: Migration - Europe's Complicity in Massive Human Rights Violations
Make no mistake: European States are complicit in the death of thousands and thousands of human beings on their shores, land borders and at home. The massive drowning of hundreds… Read more »
June 16, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's Hits and Misses On Journey to Eliminating Plastic Waste
Plastic bags were a part and parcel of life in Kenya. More than 100 million plastic bags were used annually in Kenyan supermarkets alone, with at least 24 million plastic bags… Read more »
Africa: UN Cybercrime Convention - Could the Cure Be Worse Than the Disease?
If you've never heard of the Cybercrime Convention, you're not alone. And if you're wondering whether an international treaty to tackle cybercrime is a good idea, you're in good… Read more »
June 15, 2023
Africa: A Climate Finance Goal That Works for Developing Countries #AfricaClimateHope
After years of failing to meet climate finance commitments, the new climate finance goal under discussion this week in Bonn is critical, but without supporting reforms of the… Read more »
June 14, 2023
Africa: No Peace Until Peace for All
As we head into June, we will commemorate a number of important international days that call for much-needed support to protect refugees, end child labour, stop sexual violence in… Read more »
Africa: The Fight for Equity in Education Continues in Africa
June 16 marks the International Day of the African Child, a day commemorating student uprisings in Soweto Township, South Africa, in 1976. The day is meant to honor the brave… Read more »
June 12, 2023
Malawi: Cyclone Freddy Has Put Women & Girls in Malawi At Greater Risk of Sexual Abuse & Exploitation
"Cyclone Freddy was a terrible experience, and now many women who lost their homes and their livelihoods are at increased risk of sexual exploitation and abuse," warns Caleb… Read more »
Africa: Transforming Food Systems Through Conscious, Mindful Practices
Deep in the Egyptian desert, the SEKEM community celebrates its first wheat crop - grown to alleviate shortages and price increases caused by the war in Ukraine, and the latest… Read more »
Africa: Citizen Science Is Key in Helping to Tackle the Threat of Invasive Alien Species
Prof. Helen Roy, Prof. Peter Stoett, and Prof. Anibal Pauchard - Co-Chairs of the IPBES Invasive Alien Species Assessment Read more »
June 08, 2023
Africa: Will Big Powers Condone a UN Role in Artificial Intelligence?
The UN is hustling to play a role - perhaps even a leading role - in the revolution of Artificial Intelligence. To some degree this is perfectly natural. Read more »
Africa: We Need to Talk About Deep Blue Carbon
The focus of carbon capture and storage has long been on coastal ecosystems like mangroves and seagrasses. If the world wants to meet its looming climate targets, then it's time to… Read more »
June 07, 2023
Africa: AI Genie Is Out of the Bottle - UN Should Take the Challenge to Make It Work for the Good of Humanity
Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is Former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations and Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace. Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Seeks Fair, Equitable Climate Action at Bonn Conference
The Climate Change envoy to the President of Kenya has asked Kenya's and, by extension Africa's negotiators at the ongoing climate conference in Bonn, Germany, not to put much… Read more »
Africa: Guess Who Is the Worst Enemy of the Oceans (And Everywhere Else)?
The good news: oceans cover three-quarters of the Earth's surface, contain 97% of the world's water, represent 99% of the living space on the Planet by volume, and are a major… Read more »
June 06, 2023
Africa: Does Artificial Intelligence Need a Regulatory UN Watchdog?
The frighteningly rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have triggered the question: is there a UN role for monitoring and regulating it? Read more »