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New York, September 21 – US President Joe Biden told the annual UN General Assembly session that Russia’s war in Ukraine is an affront to the world and called for reforming the UN Security Council in which Russia has veto power over decisions on global peace and security.

Biden delivered a strong condemnation of Russia, saying the country “is friend of no one” in the world and it has “shamelessly violated the core tenets of the UN Charter with its brutal, needless war” in Ukraine.

Biden’s speech captured the attention of the 193-nation assembly session with his strong condemnation of the war and determination to assist Ukraine. He said Russia’s nuclear threats against Europe is a “reckless disregard” for its own responsibilities as a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

UN Security Council

Biden called for enlarging the membership of the UN Security Council, which currently has 15 countries, including Russia, the US, United Kingdom, France and China which are permanent members with veto power. Russia has vetoed resolutions that condemned its military invasion of Ukraine.

Biden said the council should be reformed to include countries from Africa, Latin America and the Middle East. Talks to reform the council have been going on for over two decades, but the issue of weakening the permanent members’ veto power has remained a stumbling block.

UN Charter and ideals in jeopardy, world divided by multiple crises

The assembly session opened its 77^th session on September 21 dominated by the on-going war in Ukraine, conflicts in many countries, climate disasters and a worsening global economy.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the session saying that the world is in “rough seas” with global discontent this coming winter topped by a raging crisis of rising cost of living and other problems.

“The United Nations Charter (or constitution) and the ideals it represents are in jeopardy. We have a duty to act. And yet we are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction. The international community is not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age. These crises threaten the very future of humanity and the fate of our planet.”

He said the “geopolitical divides” are undermining the work of the UN Security Council – the highest UN responsible for world peace and security – international law and people’s trust and faith in democratic institutions.

Most of the 193 UN member states are represented by their presidents and prime ministers in the largest in-person attendance since the Covid-19 pandemic break out. The exception is Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will deliver his address in a pre-recorded video.

The war in Ukraine, which started with Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 this year, remained a top concern. UN officials and some governments have accused Russia of violating the UN Charter, human rights of Ukrainians and committing war crimes.

French President Emmanuel Macron in his speech denounced the invasion, saying

“What we’ve seen since February 24 is a return to the age of imperialism and colonies. France rejects this. France, obstinately, will look for peace.”

Turkeye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who helped broker the deal to export Ukraine’s wheat and food stuffs through the Black Sea, said, “We need to find together a reasonable, just and viable diplomatic solution that will provide both sides the opportunity of an “honorable exit.”

He called for reforming the Security Council into “a more effective, democratic, transparent and accountable structure” by increasing the number of permanent members. “The world is bigger than five (permanent members). A fairer world is possible,” he said.

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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New York, September 20 – The United Nations General Assembly opened its 77^th session dominated by the on-going war in Ukraine, conflicts in many countries, climate disasters and a worsening global economy.

The strong warnings came from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres who opened the annual session by saying that the world is in “rough seas” with global discontent this coming winter topped by a raging crisis of rising cost of living and other problems.

He admitted: “The United Nations Charter (or constitution) and the ideals it represents are in jeopardy. We have a duty to act. And yet we are gridlocked in colossal global dysfunction. The international community is not ready or willing to tackle the big dramatic challenges of our age. These crises threaten the very future of humanity and the fate of our planet.”

He said the “geopolitical divides” are undermining the work of the UN Security Council – the highest UN responsible for world peace and security – international law and people’s trust and faith in democratic institutions.

Most of the 193 UN member states will be represented by their presidents and prime ministers in the largest in-person attendance since the Covid-19 pandemic break out. The exception is Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who will deliver his address in a pre-recorded video.

The assembly session, known also as general debate from September 20-26, is taking place under the theme A Watershed Moment: Transformative Solutions to Interlocking Challenges. It reflects the intense and critical time the world went under the pandemic, the Russian war in Ukraine, climate calamities and food and energy high prices.

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New York, September 13 – The United Nations General Assembly has opened its 77^th session while urging its 193 member states to work out global solutions for the series of crises threatening the world, from the war in Ukraine and climate disasters to high inflation and famine.

The annual session expects more than 90 presidents, over 50 prime ministers and dozens of ministers to attend the political debate on September 20-26. The number of top politicians to be present in New York will be known later as many of them have to attend the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in London on September 19. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will speak in person on September 21.

The UN Security Council planned to hold a debate on the war in Ukraine on September 22 to be attended by national leaders of the council’s 15 countries.

The assembly session under the theme – A watershed moment: Transformative solutions to interlocking challenges – reflects the intense and critical time the world went through since the Covid-19 pandemic struck beginning of 2020. While the pandemic was raging, the Russian war in Ukraine and subsequently the humanitarian and economic challenges worsened.

“It is therefore necessary to find and focus on joint solutions to these crises and build a more sustainable and resilient world for all and for the generations to come,” the UN said as an overview of the annual session.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in an opening address to the assembly that many of last year’s challenges are still festering in the current session.

“We face a world in peril across our work to advance peace, human rights and sustainable development,” he said. “From conflicts and climate change. To a broken global financial system that is failing developing countries.To poverty, inequality and hunger. To divisions and mistrust.” But he said, “The United Nations is the home of co-operation.”

The president of the 77^th session, Csaba Kőrösi of Hungary, said, “The world is looking to the United Nations for answers. As the Organization’s chief deliberative body, the General Assembly bears a special responsibility.”

“My team and I will do our best to push for “solutions through solidarity, sustainability and science” – the motto I have chosen for this presidency.

“It is my intention to stand firm on the principles of the United Nations Charter, which brought us together 77 years ago – and which hold us together today. Anchored in international law, they provide us with a solid foundation from which to build.

From here, I wish to pursue integrated approaches and enhance the role of science in our decision-shaping.”

Summit on Transforming Education

World leaders are called to make ambitious commitments to transform education during a summit (September 16, 17 and 19) as the pandemic, lockdowns and other situations like inequalities in some countries have kept millions of children out of school.

The UN chief convened government leaders, youths and non-governmental organizations to attend the Summit on Transforming Education to step up efforts to achieve goal 4 (education), one of the 17 the Sustainable Development Goals.

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said inequalities in access to education have kept some 244 million children out of the classroom. It said that number includes 98 million children in sub-Saharan Africa and 85 million in Central and Southern Asia region.

“No one can accept this situation,” said Audrey Azoulay, the UNESCO Director-General, underlining the need to respect every child’s right to education. “In view of these results, the objective of quality education for all by 2030, set by the United Nations, risks not being achieved. We need a global mobilization to place education at the top of the international agenda.”

(By J. Tuyet Nguyen)

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London/New York, September 8 – A new survey conducted by prominent academic schools showed public support for more United Nations authority on its member states over issues of security, and climate and economic challenges.

Academics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the University of Oxford, Lund University in Sweden and Griffith University in Australia conducted the survey (March-June 2019) in Argentina, China, India, Russia, Spain and the United States.

Of the six countries, China, Russia and the US are permanent members of the UN Security Council; China and India are the world’s most populous countries and the US and China are the world’s top economies.

Dr Mathias Koenig-Archibugi from LSE, who co-authored the paper on the survey’s findings, said,  “Publics around the world are often portrayed as hostile to international institutions and keen to loosen constraints on national leaders. Our survey disproves that perception. Far from supporting attempts to weaken and undermine the U.N,. they want this global organisation to have more power to address today’s security, environmental, and economic challenges. But they also want to choose who represents them at the centre of the U.N. rather than relying entirely on their governments for that.”

The United Nations is currently composed of 193 countries and its most important body is the UN Security Council, which has authority over global issues of peace and security and has 15 members: the US, Russia, China, the United Kingdom and France, which are permanent members, and 10 countries elected for two-year term each. The five permanent members, in addition to being nuclear powers, have veto power over decisions by the council that can affect all UN members. The other body is the UN General Assembly, composed of 193 members, holds legislative power.

Talks to reform the UN have been going on in over the last two decades. They have mainly focused, unsuccessfully, on expanding the size of the council membership and on curbing the veto power of the permanent members.

Following is a media release from the researchers: (see key findings from a new survey) 

“There is widespread public support for increasing, or at least maintaining, United Nations (UN) authority over member states and for making its structures more directly representative of member state citizens.

“With the UN facing long-standing calls for structural and procedural reform and with the U.N. General Assembly due to discuss the reform of its institutions at its next plenary session on 13-27 September, this is a pressing issue.

“To gather public views on UN reform, the researchers conducted an international survey in six countries, representative of the general populations in terms of age, gender, and region.

“Respondents in Argentina, China, India, Russia, Spain, and the United States were asked to choose between different combinations of UN design features including decision procedures, the bindingness of decisions, enforcement capabilities, and sources of revenue. Survey options included design features expanding powers, limiting them, and maintaining the status quo.

“Overall, the researchers found that respondents supported strengthening or maintaining the current authority level of the UN, and making its structures more representative of the world population.

“For example, at the moment, UN decisions are binding on every UN member state only on matters of international peace and security. The survey showed respondents were supportive of making decisions binding on more areas including important security, environmental, and economic matters. In contrast, the option of making decisions binding only on those states that voluntarily accept them was the most unpopular proposal across all survey countries.

“On the issue of delegates, the researchers posed two reform proposals: a second chamber composed of directly elected representatives and one composed of national parliamentarians. Both proposals were received more positively by the public than the status quo where the highest decision-making bodies of the UN include only representatives from national executives. However, people clearly preferred a second chamber with directly elected representatives to one with national parliamentarians.

“The researchers found diverging views on reforms to be associated with home country characteristics such as membership status in the Security Council and personal political values such as cultural libertarianism versus traditionalism.

“In the paper, the researchers note: “Often the most popular option is not the one represented by the current UN.” On the whole, they find public opinion to lean toward the positions of those reformers who have advocated for the UN and related global institutions to move closer to supernationalist and cosmopolitan ideals.

They add: “Our findings are consistent with recent research that highlights the importance of institutional design features to public perceptions of the legitimacy of international institutions.”

For an Open Access copy of the article, please visit: https://academic.oup.com/isq/article/66/3/sqac027/6649353

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Geneva/New York, September 6 – Humanitarian organizations are jointly urging donors to step up life-saving assistance in Somalia, saying that the window of opportunity to prevent famine is closing in the country which saw over 250,000 people, at least half of them children, died during the last famine in 2011.

A group of 20 Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee, from the World Food Program and World Health Organization to Save the Children United States and CARE International, issued a warning that famine is unfolding in Baidoa and Burhakaba districts in the Bay region in South-Central Somalia, and will likely last until March 2023 “if humanitarian aid is not significantly and immediately scaled up.”

“Starvation and death are likely already occurring,” said the warning.

“Somalia has reached a tipping point,” it said. “The lives of hundreds of thousands of people are at immediate risk, according to the latest food security and nutrition analysis. Millions more face extreme levels of acute hunger. Women, particularly pregnant and lactating women, and children under the age of five are among the most vulnerable. They require urgent assistance to avert a worst-case scenario.

“In total, across the Horn of Africa, 20.5 million people are facing a dire and entirely avoidable hunger crisis. This is unacceptable.”

“We appeal to donors to provide immediate, flexible funding to enable humanitarian agencies on the ground, particularly local and international NGOs, to rapidly scale up and prevent more deaths, protect livelihoods and avert a deepening catastrophe. Getting aid to rural communities before they are forced to abandon their homes in search of food is critical.”

(Definition of famine provided by WFP: Famine is a technical definition based on specific thresholds: that at least 20 per cent of the population is affected, with about one out of three children being acutely malnourished and two people dying per day for every 10,000 inhabitants due to outright starvation or to the interaction of malnutrition and disease.}

WFP said its life-saving humanitarian assistance in Somalia has reached 3.7 million people but “famine is now an imminent reality unless immediate and drastic action is taken.”

“We know from experience that we cannot wait for a formal declaration of famine to act. Even before we first warned of the risk of famine, we were working to scale up our life-saving support in Somalia as far as resources have allowed. Since April, we have more than doubled the number of people we are supporting with humanitarian assistance, reaching record numbers in Somalia,” said Margot van der Velden, WFP Director of Emergencies, speaking from Mogadishu. ”But the drought crisis is still deteriorating and famine is closer than ever. The world must respond now, while we still have a chance to prevent catastrophe.”

List of Signatories:

Mr. Martin Griffiths, Emergency Relief Coordinator and Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Mr. Qu Dongyu, Director General, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

Ms. Shahin Ashraf, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA) Chair a.i. (Head of Global Advocacy – Islamic Relief Worldwide)

Mr. Ignacio Packer, Executive Director, International Council of Voluntary Agencies (ICVA)

Mr. Samuel Worthington, Chief Executive Officer, InterAction

Ms. Janti Soeripto, President and Chief Executive Officer, Save the Children United States

Ms. Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, Chief Executive Officer, Mercy Corps

Mr. António Vitorino, Director General, International Organization for Migration (IOM)

Ms. Nada Al-Nashif, United Nations Acting High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)

Mr. Andrew Morley, Chair, Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) (President and World Vision International)

Ms. Sofia Sprechmann Sineiro, Vice Chair SCHR (Secretary General of CARE International)

Mr. Gareth Price-Jones, Executive Secretary, Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR)

Ms. Cecilia Jimenez-Damary, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons (SR on HR of IDPs)

Mr. Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)

Ms. Maimunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director, United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-Habitat)

Mr. Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Ms. Catherine Russell, Executive Director, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)

Mr. David Beasley, Executive Director, World Food Programme (WFP)

Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization (WHO)

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New York, August 29 – Afghanistan’s people continue to face extreme hardship and uncertainty but among the 19 million people facing acute levels of food security are 3 million children with one million of them suffering a form of malnutrition that could kill them, the top UN humanitarian coordinator told the UN Security Council.

Martin Griffiths, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said the UN humanitarian team, NGOs and other organizations working in Afghanistan have found it challenging and “labor intensive” to deal with the de facto Taliban authorities in Kabul.

“An estimated 3 million children are acutely malnourished,” Griffiths told the 15-nation council convened to discuss the dire living conditions in the country. “They include over 1 million children estimated to be suffering from the most severe, life-threatening form of malnutrition. Without specialized treatment, they could die.”

He said close to 19 million are suffering acute levels of malnutrition caused by recurrent drought, including the worst in three decades in 2021, and 6 million of them are at risks of famine. Griffiths said 8 out of 10 Afghans drink contaminated water, which caused repeated bouts of acute watery diarrhoea.

Griffiths provided alarming facts regarding the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan. He said around 25 million people, or about half of the country’s population, are now living in poverty who spend three quarters of their income on food. The number of Afghans receiving remittances have dropped 50 per cent and unemployment grew to 40 per cent while inflation has risen due to increased global prices, import constraints and currency depreciation.

Afghanistan was hit in June by a 5.9-magnitude earthquake that affected 362,000 people living in high-intensity impact areas and heavy rains since July caused massive flash floods across the country, killing and injuring hundreds of people, and destroying hundreds of homes as well as thousands of acres of crops. An estimated 5.8 million people remain in protracted internal displacement requiring long term solutions.

“All these figures are devastating and difficult to comprehend,” Griffiths said. “We worry that they will soon become worse. Once the cold weather sets in, food and fuel prices – already high – will skyrocket, and families will have to choose between feeding their children, sending them to school, taking them to a doctor when they fall sick, or keeping them warm. Large-scale development assistance has been halted for a year.”

“The operating environment is exceptionally challenging.” “Engaging with the de facto authorities at national and sub-national levels is laborintensive,” Griffiths said, adding that there is “no confidence” in the domestic banking sector, which led to a severe liquidity crisis and international financial transactions “are extremely hard due to de-risking and overcompliance of global banks.” He cited the case in which humanitarian organizations brought in over US$1 billion in cash to sustain program delivery, “but the liquidity and banking crisis continues to impact the delivery of assistance and Afghans’ daily lives.”

 “The Humanitarian Exchange Facility, meant to temporarily and partially alleviate this, is still under deliberation with the de facto authorities.”

Women and girls have been pushed to the sidelines.  “The meagre gains the country made to protect women’s rights have been quickly reversed. It’s been more than a year since adolescent girls in Afghanistan last set foot inside a classroom. In the 21st century, we should not need to explain why girls’ education and women’s empowerment are important to them, to their communities, to their countries and indeed to the world.”

Gap in funding

Griffiths said the Humanitarian Response Plan for Afghanistan has a gap of $3.14 billion, with $614 million urgently required to support priority winter preparedness activities, such as upgrades and repairs to shelter, and providing warm clothes and blankets. “But we are up against time. These activities must be implemented in the next three months,” he said.

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Rome/New York, August 16 – A ship chartered by the World Food Program (WFP) is bringing the first humanitarian cargo of 23,000 metric tons of Ukraine’s wheat grain to Ethiopia, a milestone achievement in the global efforts to fight high food prices since Russian troops invaded Ukraine.

The UN-chartered MV Brave Commander has left Ukraine’s Yuzhny (Pivdennyi) Port in Odesa as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The UN established a Joint Coordination Center on July 27 to begin exporting millions of tons of Ukraine’s grains and foods and Russian fertilizers which had been blocked since the war broke out on February 24 this year.

In New York, a UN spokesman said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will attend a meeting in Kyiv on August 18 with Turkeye’s President Recept Tayyip Erdogan at the invitation of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“The Secretary-General will then go on to Odesa, where he will visit the port that is one of the three being used as part of the Black Sea Grain Initiative,” Stephane Dujarric said.  

“Before returning to New York over the weekend, the Secretary-General will be in Istanbul to visit the Joint Coordination Centre (JCC) set up to implement the initiative. This initiative is part of a deal that also includes the facilitation of Russian grain and fertilizer exports on to the global market.”    

WFP Executive Director David Beasley said, “Getting the Black Sea Ports open is the single most important thing we can do right now to help the world’s hungry. It will take more than grain ships out of Ukraine to stop world hunger, but with Ukrainian grain back on global markets we have a chance to stop this global food crisis from spiraling even further.”

WFP said in a news release that the shipment to Ethiopia is part of its humanitarian response to the hunger crisis in the Horn of Africa.

It said a record 345 million people in 82 countries are now facing acute food insecurity while up to 50 million people in 45 countries are right on the edge of famine and risk being tipped over without humanitarian support.

Since the JCC began its operations in Istanbul on July 27, it has authorized a total 21 outbound and 15 inbound ships through what is known as a maritime humanitarian corridor in the Black Sea, which allows safe exports of Ukraine’s grains and Russian fertilizers.

Countries that have received those commercial shipments so far included Türkiye, South Korea, China, Ireland, Italy, Djibouti and Romania.

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By J. Tuyet Nguyen

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