A sampling of United Nations related blog commentaryBaghdad Dweller: "Iraqi news agency launches - Iraq is to get its first independent news agency run and staffed by Iraqi journalists and backed by Reuters and the United Nations. The launch of the agency is aimed at providing breaking news to local, regional and international media and is expected to help strengthen professional journalism, facilitate social dialogue and promote democracy in the war-torn country."
Chrenkoff: "Good news from Afghanistan, part 15 - Long forgotten - or worse still, destroyed - historical heritage of Afghanistan is finally being preserved and looked after. For example, "experts from the United Nations cultural agency, UNESCO, are back on the ground in western Afghanistan. They're working with local authorities on a $1 million project to preserve the crumbling, centuries-old minarets in Herat and Jam, which are in danger of collapse." And this: "The Government of Japan and the United Nations (UN) decided to extend assistance of a total of 3,660,415 US dollars (approximately 402.64 million yen) through the Trust Fund for Human Security for the project "Improving Human Security by Rebuilding Urban Communities" to be implemented by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in Afghanistan..."
Doug Ireland: "A growing number of Iraqi boys are being forced to join the commercial sex trade -- many forced to do so by criminal gangs through threats and violence, intimidation, and blackmail in a country where "honor killings" of youths who engage in same-sex relations by their families is encouraged by Sharia law and religious fanaticism; and some out of poverty in a country where official government figures for youth unemployment at 48 % (although the real figure is undoubtedly much higher). All this is confirmed by a new report from the UN Office of Humanitarian Affairs' Integrated Regional Information Network (IRIN)."
Hit and Run: "InstaPundit guestblogger Michael Totten offers some odd political advice to the Democrats: "As far as I'm concerned, social liberalism is the best thing the Democratic Party has going for it. They should keep that and drop the pacifism and isolationism instead..." The strange thing is the use of the word "isolationism." Just last year the warbloggers were warning that Kerry would submit America's foreign policy to a nefarious "global test." The man and his party were damned for their excessive faith in the United Nations, multilateralism, and the power of the well-crafted treaty. And now they're supposed to be isolationists?"
Matthew Good: "There is little doubt in my mind that a conservative element within the Canadian Armed Forces is attempting to seize on the ambiguity provided by The War On Terror to reverse Canadian military priorities.... Being that Canada is not in Afghanistan under the banner of the United Nations, such a commitment would make Afghanistan one of the longest of its kind in Canadian military history. And with that commitment will come the usual - increased military spending and an intensified recruiting campaign. In short, the national, and positive, promotion of militarism."
Syamak Moattari: "World Water Week 2005 - Experts from 100 countries will present innovative water sanitation and development solutions in advance of the United Nations' five-year review of progress toward meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Delegates will present examples of how problems of poverty, hunger, disease, illiteracy, environmental degradation and gender inequality can be solved with water and sanitation as the key entry points.'
Washington Note: "Now that John Bolton has his Credentials... TWN is thinking of asking for an interview with him. We will probably get rejected, but I would like to discuss with him -- in a serious way -- what his vision is for the United Nations and how it converges or diverges from those in America who despise the institution. They are the ones -- on the whole -- who supported him. Is he going to abandon his base?"
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentaryBOP News: Paul Volcker's investigation has been thorough and unflinching, and promises another installment in a definitive report. If the UN believes in its mission then it should take the opportunity to clean house. There isn't room for corruption in the 21st century."
Civil Commotion: "The United Nations is distributing a board game called The Road to Peace to Afghani children to teach them about the reconstruction now underway in Afghanistan.... Some 10,000 copies of the game are being handed out across Afghanistan to war-affected children, former child soldiers and refugee families, said Adrian Edwards, spokesman for the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan."
Iddybud: "I just love today's Arianna Huffington piece - her latest on the Judy Miller file. Arianna has been talking to Gore Vidal, one of my personal favorites. Arianna says: "During a conversation with Gore Vidal we talked about the fact that we had both heard from different people that Judy was planning to start writing a book about her experiences in the Plame case while in jail. The last articles she wrote before going to jail -- about Kofi Annan and that neocon bugaboo, the UN -- stand as an example of sloppy and slanted journalism."
Memory Hole: "The UN really is at the behest of US power - not that this is anything to celebrate. Where former administrations have tried to create at least the impression of a more nuanced, multilateral outlook however, the Bush administration is confronting the UN - and any other potentially independent international fora - head-on."
Sudan Watch: "UN envoy urges quick decisions on status of oil-rich regions in central Sudan - Aug 8 AFP report via Gulf Times: "UN special envoy for Sudan Jan Pronk said quick decisions were needed on the status of several oil-rich regions in central Sudan claimed by both Khartoum and the SPLM where militia activity continues despite the accord."
Jan Egeland: "Humanitarian aid can make a lifesaving difference for so many, so quickly, for so little cost, in these acute crises. The people of Niger know this: That's why many of Niger's citizens, the poorest of the world's poor, have donated to a national fund to assist their less-fortunate neighbors.
Their generosity also transcends borders. When the tsunami struck Asia, the people of Niger opened their hearts and wallets. Niger sent $250,000 to the victims - this in a country where the average income is less than $1 a day.
At a time of unprecedented global prosperity, cannot the rich nations do as much for defenseless, starving children?
Jan Egeland is the United Nations under-secretary-general for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief coordinator.
Dr. Kadri Koda examines a girl being treated for malnutrition
at a UNICEF-supported therapeutic feeding centre in Maradi,
Niger. [Read more]
And from the New York Times: Malnutrition Is Ravaging Niger's Children
A sampling of United Nations related blog commentaryAfghan Warrior: "A UN spokesman on Friday said Pakistan had decided to shut down all the Afghan refugee camps in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, and also from the country's tribal region bordering Afghanistan, by August 31.... The government of Pakistan should not force Afghan refugees to leave Pakistan; it is against the agreements that were signed three years ago between Pakistan, Afghanistan and U.N."
Washington Note: "The United Nations does a lot more than provide a forum for American presidents to circumvent when they want to launch a war. From peace keeping, to responding to natural disasters, to trying war criminals, the UN performs important functions that a single nation cannot."
Coalition for Darfur: "From Humanitarian Hijinks - "Khartoum remains tense today as a third day of violence draws to a close (I am told one of my favourite pizza places has been smashed up in the riots). Things here Darfur are as calm as usual apart from a few grumbling clouds of rain. While the UN has been telling its staff to get their emergency evacuation bags ready, the locals are still trying to figure out what it all means for Sudan."
Political Animal: "Who says John Bolton can't be an effective diplomat? From the BBC: "Beijing will work with the United States to block a plan to add new permanent members to the UN Security Council, China's UN ambassador says. Wang Guangya said he agreed the deal with the new US ambassador to the UN, John Bolton, at a meeting." Ah, our great allies, the Chinese. It's good to see that Bolton knows just where to go when he needs some likeminded help putting sand in the gears of UN reform."
Sepia Mutiny: "The Toronto Star reported last month: "The United Nations said it will investigate a number of allegations from reliable sources that the U.S. is detaining terrorist suspects in undeclared holding facilities, including on board ships believed to be in the Indian Ocean."