Climate displacement & migration in South East Asia
28/2/2023: According to the Groundswell Report of the World Bank, the number of internal climate migrants in the East Asia and Pacific region will reach 49 million by 2050. While most climate mobility occurs within a country, there will be growing pressure on national borders as climate change worsens.
Source: Inter Press Service
Five things to know about Least Developed Countries
3/3/2023: The conference of Least Developed Countries takes place every 10 years. The 2023 conference will focus on returning the needs of the 46 designated countries to the top of the global agenda, as they strive to get back on track to sustainable development.
Source: UN News
Cambodia’s opposition leader convicted on bogus charges
3/3/2023: The Cambodian political opposition leader, Kem Sokha, has been jailed for 27 years, just months ahead of national elections. UN experts believe that the treason charge against Mr. Sokha is politically motivated.
Source: Human Rights Watch
The global trust crisis: how the UN can respond
22/2/2023: The decline in trust between countries and global institutions has become existential, fueling polarization and undermining capacity to address the poly-crisis engulfing the world. The global director of advocacy for the Open Society Foundations suggests how the UN can embark on restoring effective multilateralism.
Source: PassBlue
Russia pulls out of New Start nuclear treaty
22/2/2023: The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was the latest in a series of agreements stretching back half a century between the US and Russia (and before, the USSR) on their nuclear weapons. Experts are likely to be divided on the implications of President Putin's decision to withdraw from the Treaty.
Source: The Conversation
SDG stimulus could unlock $148 billion in debt savings
22/2/2023: 52 low and middle-income developing economies are either in debt distress or at high risk of debt distress, together accounting for more than 40% of the world’s poorest people. A new UN plan proposes to save up to $148 billion in debt service payments through a 30% cut in public external debt.
Source: UN News
A green wall to promote peace in Africa’s Sahel region
22/2/2023: The Great Green Wall of restored forests and lands stretching more than 8,000km across the Sahel region has been selected as a flagship of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration. The project is making a difference in the lives of many people in countries prone to conflict.
Source: UN Environment Programme
Rights groups urge UN Human Rights Council to act on Egypt
24/2/2023: The 2021 UN climate conference in Cairo drew attention to the unsatisfactory human rights situation in Egypt. International rights groups are calling on the UN to respond to the further deterioration that has occurred since COP27.
Source: Human Rights Watch
US suggests Rwanda has illegally deployed troops to DR Congo
24/2/2023: The US Department of State has called on Rwanda to cease support for the M23 armed group and to withdraw its troops from the Democratic Republic of Congo. The US cited a request by the African Union Peace and Security Council for all foreign armed groups to leave DRC.
Source: The East African
How Sierra Leone and Liberia escaped the conflict trap
16/2/2023: After a tough year for UN peacekeeping operations in Africa, it is pertinent to review the factors that contributed to post-war stability in Sierra Leone and Liberia. It is 20 years since the civil wars in those countries ended.
Source: PassBlue