A sampling of United Nations related blog commentary
Stygius: “In what is, frankly, a brilliant essay, nadezhda mounts a “defense of John Bolton,” in the wake of my and others’ reaction to Bolton’s undercutting of the draft proposal at the center of the upcoming UN Summit. It’s a long piece, but the central point seems to be that–beyond the sheer quantity of proposed US changes–the document had so many proposals so utterly incompatible with US positions (on, say, the ICC and the Kyoto Treaty) that it is unbelievable it survived so long in its current form. It’s more than possible that the document, apparently shepherded by UN General Assembly President Jean Ping, was designed to highlight faultlines between the developed and developing world when it comes to development policies.”
Think Progress: Just three weeks after his recess appointment, Bolton is reversing the work of U.S. negotiators and is seeking to “scrap much of a draft plan for comprehensive UN reform just weeks before it is to be adopted at a world summit.”
Policy Busters: “The 2005 World Summit, to be held from 14 to 16 September at United Nations Headquarters in New York, is expected to bring together more than 170 Heads of State and Government: the largest gathering of world leaders in history. It is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to take bold decisions in the areas of development, security, human rights and reform of the United Nations. The agenda is based on an achievable set of proposals outlined in March by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in his report In Larger Freedom (www.un.org/largerfreedom).”
Dogooder: “Poor countries to miss 2015 health goals – WHO – “Most poor countries will miss global targets to reduce child mortality, improve maternal health and reverse the toll of AIDS and other diseases by 2015, the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned on Monday. Health is at the heart of the U.N. Millennium Declaration, adopted by 189 heads of state in September 2000, which set out a roadmap of eight goals to be reached by 2015. Using 1990 data as baselines, they aim to reduce poverty and hunger, tackle gaps in health services, education and boost access to clean water.”
In the Bullpen: “How the free world gets rid of Iran’s nuclear threat though is the question of the decade. If they choose to go after Iran militarily, with what army will they do so and how will they attack targets in which they do not have certainty where they are in Iran. Russia and China have already stated they are not in favor of war in Iran (no kidding as both nations are providing Iran technology and engineering expertise) and would then veto any such action in the United Nations Security Council. Both nations could very well veto any sanctions proposed by the Security Council. Fine mess we’re in boys.”
Sudan Watch: “UN news service via ReliefWeb reports Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is in Khartoum and plans to visit some of the camps which now house hundreds of thousands of the more than 6 million refugees and internally displaced people who fled Sudan’s civil strife.”