I got some interesting email this week from the "U.S. Committee for the U.N", an organization that : "supports the work of the United Nations to improve the quality of life for millions of people around the world by promoting democratic governance, poverty reduction, rural development, crisis prevention and recovery, energy and environmental issues, and…
Category: United Nations
“Book Signing” on April 12 at National Model UN Convention
My friend Walter Hoffmann has convinced me to do a "book signing" for the little study I did called e-Democracy and the United Nations (2004) for his group the Center for UN Reform Education . The event will be on April 12 at the National Model United Nations convention, which is taking place at the…
UNSG Approves the Global Alliance for ICT & Development
Sarbuland Khan, of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs at the UN, announced today in an e-mail that the UN Secretary General has formally approved the creation of the Global Alliance for ICT and Development. I have blogged in the past about the Global Alliance as an interesting idea that was still ill-defined. It…
A Planetary Early Warning System?
The United Nations recently concluded an international conference on early warning in Bonn, Germany. Over 1,200 participants from 140 countries participated in the gathering, that concluded that a "people-centered" approach was needed to build effective early-warning systems to prevent the loss of human life from natural disasters such as floods, tsunamis and pandemics. As a…
Green.tv: the first broadband TV channel on the environment
Today was the launch of Green.tv, the first "broadband TV channel" on environmental issues. Sponsored by the UN Environment Programme and a host of other sponsors, the site will carry films from around the world produced by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community filmmakers, public sector bodies and companies with a firm interest in protecting the environment….
General Assembly Creates New Human Rights Council
The UN General Assembly adopted by a vote today the proposal to replace the much-maligned Commission on Human Rights with the more streamlined and possibly more effective Human Rights Council. The only countries that voted against were the United States (which originally proposed the Council, ironically), Israel, the Marshall Islands and Palau. Given how ineffective…
Human Rights Madness: US holds up agreement on new Human Rights Council
US Ambassador John Bolton has been holding up agreement on the proposed Human Rights Council, despite the endorsement of the EU, several prominent human rights groups, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan. As a result, yesterday the the Commission on Human Rights decided to suspend their final session by a week to give the negotiators…
Kofi releases new UN management reform report
The United Nations reports that Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented to Member States his proposals for a fundamental overhaul of the United Nations Secretariat called “Investing in the UN”. He states that the organization’s rules, systems and culture need significant retooling and investment if the UN is to fulfill growing expectations and demands placed on it…
My Talk on NGOs and New Media for NYU Class
My friend Jeff Huffines of the Bahai United Nations Office invited me to address the class he is teaching on the operations of NGOs at New York University. Here’s my notes on my lecture. It was quite a treat talking with students looking in a more academic and robust way at the functioning and structure…
NPR on the Human Rights Council
National Public Radio’s program “Morning Edition” today featured a story on the efforts to get the proposed UN Human Rights Council approved: The United States has argued strongly for the creation of a new human rights council at the United Nations. But U.N. ambassador John Bolton doesn’t like the new version that’s being proposed. Bolton…