Last week the United Nations made its debut on American Idol when Ban Ki Moon offered a video message about the UN's work to Idol's sizable audience. The occasion was the charity event Idol Gives Back of which the United Nations Foundation was one of five beneficiaries. This is what millions of Idol viewers saw last week.
The video opens with footage from a "juvenile rehabilitation facility" for Afghan girls doing time for "moral crimes" -- you can only guess what those might be. It is good to see UNICEF pushing back against this sort of thing.
In the midst of researching this post, I came across news that AVATAR director James Cameron will host a screening of the film at the UN on Saturday, to coincide with an annual meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.
I guess I should be getting used to this by now, but here you have Susan Rice being interrupted with applause as she announces an American policy shift toward a UN body. Rice is speaking at a meeting of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, which is an entity that supports the interests of historically marginalized indigenous populations.
I feel like I have written a variation of this post a half dozen times since Christmas. Here we go again. Via Laura Rozen, I see that the Pentagon has moved forward with its plans to double military assistance to Yemen to $150 million. Says Laura:
By Minh-Thu Pham, Director of Public Policy for the Better World Campaign/UN Foundation
The White House finally pronounces on Sudan's national elections:
One month after the Haiti earthquake the United Nations issued a $1.4 billion "Flash" appeal for emergency funding for things like tents, food, shelter and other relief items. Two months later, that appeal is still only half filled. Here's where we stand.