US destroys remaining chemical weapons stockpile
7/7/2023: America's last remaining weapons containing the GB nerve agent and mustard gas were destroyed last month. The global chemical weapons watchdog said the US was the last "possessor state" and that all declared chemical weapons stockpiles globally have now been "irreversibly destroyed."
Source: DW
Mali’s MINUSMA peacekeeping mission: A foreseeable disaster
4/7/2023: Mali's relations with many of its most important partners has been deteriorating since the military coup of May 2021 and the UN Security Council has now decided to withdraw all its peacekeepers. The withdrawal will impact on the work of aid and development organizations that relied on the protection provided by the UN mission.
Source: DW
10 years later: Why are Egyptian human rights ignored?
3/7/2023: Egyptian activists complain the international community often talks about Egypt's crisis-ridden economy, but says far less about its dreadful human rights situation. Why is one seen as more important than the other?
Source: DW
Global refugee resettlement needs grow in 2024
26/6/2023: The UN Refugee Agency anticipates that over 2.4 million refugees will be in need of resettlement next year, a 20 per cent increase compared to 2023. In 2022, out of approximately 116,000 submissions, only 58,457 refugees were able to depart for resettlement.
Source: UN Refugee Agency
10% increase in primary tropical forest loss in 2022
27/6/2023: During the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, heads of 145 countries pledged to reduce global deforestation by 10% each year, targeting zero deforestation by 2030. In the first year after the Glasgow pledge, tropical forest loss increased by 10%.
Source: Mongabay
Lessons from the UN’s outgoing Myanmar special envoy
29/6/2023: As the contract of the UN’s special envoy on Myanmar comes to an end, experts debate whether the lack of progress should be attributed to the international approach to the Myanmar crisis rather than the role. Weak regional governance has failed to cut off the junta’s access to aid and weapons.
Source: Devex
Frustration and tentative progress at Macron summit
23/6/2023: No major breakthrough has been achieved at the gathering of world leaders to pursue the idea of a New Global Financial Pact, sponsored by President Macron. Grievances aired by poorer countries at times appeared to dwarf the solutions on offer by the richer.
Source: Devex News
UN Security Council terminates Mali peacekeeping mission
30/6/2023: The UN Security Council has unanimously approved the complete withdrawal of UN peacekeeping forces in Mali, its 15,000 personnel due to leave by the end of this year. Several Council members cautioned that the withdrawal is occurring at a time of fragility in the Sahel region, aggravated by the reported presence of armed actors, including the Wagner Group.
Source: UN News
African blocs demand withdrawal of armed DRC groups
28/6/2023: A quadripartite summit of four African regional blocs has demanded an immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in an effort to end the decades-long war. The instability in mineral-rich east DRC is a concern all over the globe.
Source: The East African
Deaths from global conflict at highest in 21st century
28/6/2023: Conflict deaths are higher than they have ever been this century, the new Global Peace Index has found, with over 238,000 people killed in conflicts last year. The average level of "global peacefulness" has sunk for the ninth year in a row.
Source: DW