Secretary General Ban Ki Moon appointed President Bill Clinton's former National Security Adviser and Obama confidant Anthony Lake to be the next head of UNICEF. Josh Rogin reported a few weeks back that the Obama administration had nominated Anthony Lake for the spot. And since UNICEF chief is a job that typically goes to an American, it was all but assured that Lake would replace former Secretary of Agriculture Ann Venemen when her five-year term expires.
Lots of action at the UN this week as the Commission for the Status of Women kicks off. In UN-speak the meeting is officially called the"15-year review of the implementation of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (1995) and the outcomes of the twenty-third special session of the General Assembly (2000)." Try saying that 10 times fast. Or don't. Most folks call this meeting "Beijing+15."
As you probably know by now, the head of the UN Frameworlk Convention on Climate Change Yvo De Boer is stepping down. Often referred to as the UN's top climate change negotiator, de Boer had the very difficult task of balancing the interests of over 180 member states while marshaling an international agreement that could curb the catastrophic effects of climate change. Arguably his biggest triumph was the 2007 "Bali Road Map" wh
Ban Ki Moon called for a restoration of the "Olympic Truce" in which warring parties lay down their arms for the duration of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Here's what he said:
As the XXI Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver draw near, the United Nations and the Olympic Movement are once again calling for a worldwide cessation of hostilities for the duration of the Games.
There are a host of events at the United Nations this week to commemorate the Holocaust. The UN, of course, was born out of the horrors of World War Two and this year's commemorations mark the 65th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.
Here's Ban Ki Moon's statement on the week's theme: survival.
The theme of this year’s commemoration at United Nations offices around the world is the legacy of survival.
The United Nations Departments of Peacekeeping Operations and Field Support have launched two social networking sites to keep friends, families and colleagues of UN staff in Haiti up to date on the latest news.
-Facebook page DPKO Support Page for UN Staff in Haiti contains the latest UN announcements, news reports, resource contacts and a capacity to receive questions from those concerned about the welfare of UN staff in Haiti. The site also contains links to all UN recovery efforts underway in Haiti.
As I said in my Daily Beast item, one of the best things that Haiti has going for it right now is Bill Clinton. Last spring, the Secretary General tapped the former president to be his special envoy for Haiti.
In June 2008, Ban Ki Moon called on all UN member states to end restrictions on travel based on HIV status, saying "60 years after the Universal Declaration on Human Rights] it is shocking that there should still be discrimination against those at high risk, such as men who have sex with men, or stigma attached to individuals living with HIV." At the time twelve countries-- Armenia, Colombia, Iraq, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sudan, the United States and Yemen -- barred en