United Nations (UN)
The Story of the United Nations
Why was the United Nations created? How does the United Nations function? What were the consequences? What is its relevance today?
Lives Lost Through Lack of Leadership in Un Response to Humanitarian Crises, Britain Warns
Minister calls for more trained co-ordinators to deal with increase in natural and man-made disasters
UN Honours Humble Spud With Year of the Potato
It spends much of its time trying to grapple with issues of global importance such as Iran's nuclear program or how to solve the crisis in Dafur. So the decision by the United Nations to launch a year-long celebration of the solanum tuberosum - better known to most as the humble spud - has come as something of a surprise.
UN Reform – Institutionalize a Tribune of the Oppressed Peoples
By introducing the concept of TOP, we intend to provide the UN with the correct tool for expanding and implementing Democracy in various parts of the world, where respect for Human Rights still remains among the top desiderata.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for South Africa and the Black Continent
A UN Security Council with 13 permanent members, namely USA, China, Japan, India, Germany, France, England, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, and South Africa, represents our multifaceted world far better than the 5-member 1945 ‘war college’.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Mexico
Highly literate, and with a bicameral democratic political system, Mexico, suitably representing the entire Hispanophone world, has every right to UN Security Council permanent membership.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Brazil
With commitment to democratic ideals far better stressed than in Putin’s Russia, Brazil has every right and every reason to demand permanent membership in the UN Security Council.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Italy
Italy exports almost as much as Russia (UN Security Council permanent member) and India (UN Security Council permanent aspirant) combined, although the two countries' population is more than 20 times larger than that of Italy's!
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Germany
Thus, with larger population and stronger economy than France and England, Germany should be viewed as another convincing candidate for the UN Veto Club, after Japan and India.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for India
It is therefore only normal to question why 123 million European citizens of two colonial relics are granted a right that is still not ascribed to a more than 10-fold population.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Japan
In today’s world, if Japan is left outside the Veto Club, then both France and England have no real right to be there either!
Sri Lankan Government Accused of Torture
Torture, degrading punishments and ill-treatment in prison appear to have become routine practices in Sri Lanka, the United Nations has said.
UN Envoy Enters Crisis Talks to Stop Burma Bloodshed
The United Nations' special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, flew into a crisis-stricken Burma yesterday on a mission to persuade its aging junta of generals to settle the country's political crisis without further bloodshed.
Darfur Mission Faces Us Funding Hurdle
A breakthrough agreement to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur risks being undermined by a shortfall of up to $1bn in US contributions to the costs of global peacekeeping, campaigners said today.
Green Light for Un Hariri Inquiry
The United Nations security council tonight voted to create a special tribunal into the 2005 assassination of the Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.
Italian Children Lose Respect for Authority
Children growing up in the United Kingdom are poorer and more insecure than any other wealthy country in the world, according to a United Nations study. But what is life like for children in Italy, one of the other nations scrutinised by the UN? John Hooper reports.
Brown Calls for Overhaul of Un, World Bank and Imf
Urgent and far-reaching reform of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G7 is needed to make old-fashioned international institutions fit to cope with the "seismic shifts" of globalisation, Gordon Brown said today.
Un Vetoes Prolong Burma Agony
World Briefing: Burma's military junta has been crowing this week over the defeat of a US- and British-backed United Nations security council resolution condemning the regime's egregious human rights abuses, says Simon Tisdall.
US Accused of Using Aid to Sway Votes in Un Security Council
The US uses its aid budget to bribe those countries which have a vote in the United Nations security council, giving them 59 per cent more cash in years when they have a seat, according to research by economists.
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Obituary: As President Reagan's first ambassador to the United Nations, she had a rigid anti-communist view of the world.
Britain to Defy Us Over Un Resolution on Arms Trade
The UK is next week expected to push through the United Nations a resolution to open the way for a landmark arms trade treaty, in spite of opposition from the US, Russia and China.
Punitive Measures on the Agenda
The United Nations security council held an emergency session yesterday to discuss imposing tough sanctions on North Korea over its claim to have conducted an underground nuclear test.
United Nations Emergency Meeting to Decide on Force
The UN is to hold an emergency meeting today of 45 countries that have offered troops for a 13,000-strong Lebanon peacekeeping mission, to confirm contributions and speed up deployment.
Peacekeeping Troops Could Take Months to Assemble
Doubts about a speedy deployment of the proposed 15,000-strong United Nations force for Lebanon were expressed by diplomats around Europe yesterday.
UN on Brink of Brokering Ceasefire Agreement
The United Nations appeared on the verge of breaking the deadlock over Lebanon last night, paving the way for a security council resolution in which major powers including the US and UK would demand an immediate end to fighting.
Tying the Hands of the United Nations
In the week preceding Hizbullah's July 12 cross-border raid into Israel that sparked the Lebanon war, the UN security council was wrestling with a draft resolution on Gaza. By Simon Tisdall
J'ACCUSE! Israeli Crimes against Humanity
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, has accused Israel of an "apparent" deliberate targeting of a United Nations observation post in southern Lebanon, killing up to four neutral observers in an act of state terrorism so horrific it rips at the heart of every breathing being.
Inquiry Launched Into East Timor Unrest
East Timor's discredited government yesterday agreed to a United Nations-led investigation into weeks of communal violence that has plunged the fledgling nation into chaos.
Blix Warns of Wmd Vicious Circle
The US must abandon its "war on terror" to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to the former United Nations' chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix,.
UN Food Agency Deputy Resigns Over Leader's 'culture of Silence'
The United Nations body which combats world hunger was in turmoil last night after one of its most senior officials resigned, claiming that her boss ruled through 'silence, rumour and fear'.
US Doubts Threaten to Sink New Rights Body
World Briefing: Ambitious plans to reform the United Nations in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal and the Iraq schism have yet to amount to much, says Simon Tisdall.
UN Warns of Crystal Meth Pandemic
A dance and sex drug which is more addictive than crack cocaine is becoming a global problem, the United Nations' drug control agency warned today.
UN Condemns Ukraine's Return of Asylum Seekers
The United Nations said yesterday that it was appalled by Ukraine's decision to send 11 Uzbek asylum seekers, who fled the troubled central Asian country after the Andijan massacre, back to Uzbekistan, in an apparent breach of international law.
Syria May Aid Un Inquiry Into Hariri Murder
The Syrian government signalled yesterday that it would allow United Nations investigators to talk to president Bashar Assad about the assassination of the Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.
Aid Chief Urges Charges Over Mass Slum Clearance
Zimbabwean officials should be prosecuted for crimes committed in the government's mass housing demolition earlier this year, the United Nations' head of humanitarian aid said yesterday.
Saddam's Trial Will Not Be Fair, Says United Nations
· Violence against lawyers mars hearing, says official · Plot to attack court foiled as tribunal resumes today
UN Calls for More Education Funding in Rural Areas
Improving access to education for children living in rural areas is the only way to break the cycle of poverty, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has said.
Asian Quake Toll Rises to 87,000
Head of the United Nations' humanitarian efforts warns that thousands more will die as the savage Himalayan winter sets in.
Serbs Accuse Un of Violation of Law Over Kosovo Independence
The United Nations security council has opened a discussion that is almost certain to lead to conditional independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Abuse By Un Troops Still Widespread, Says Report
Rules aimed at curbing sexual abuse by United Nations peacekeeping forces are not being properly implemented because of a prevailing "boys will be boys" attitude among the troops, according to an independent review.
Summit failure blamed on US
The failure of last week's United Nations summit to deliver an agreement designed to prevent terrorists acquiring 'weapons of mass destruction' was sabotaged by the US, senior diplomats have told The Observer.
Yes to UN SC Reform, No to Islamic Terror and France!
The only way to let the French nightmare be buried forever is to exclude further totalitarian states from the UN SC, to dismantle the disreputable Arab League, and to act fast in imposing throughout the Muslim World the changes Mustafa Kemal Ataturk initiated in Turkey 80 years ago.
Unicef Calls for Help to Keep Zimbabwean Children in School
The United Nation's children fund, Unicef, has called on the international community to support efforts to get Zimbabwean pupils back to school in September. Despite the country's unstable domestic situation, school enrolment rates have actually risen over the past five years, and Unicef...
UN Official Resigns Ahead of Oil-for-food Report
A senior United Nations official, Benon Sevan, yesterday became the highest-profile victim of the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.
UN Condemns Zimbabwe Demolitions
The United Nations today condemned the Zimbabwean government's campaign of destroying urban slums as a "disastrous venture", and demanded that those responsible are punished
The United Nations Puzzle
Kofi Annan wants to make the UN more democratic. Easier said than done, says Mark Tran. Reform of the UN security council is the Rubik's cube of international diplomacy, yet Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, wants the world body to have another crack at this puzzle.
Disunited Nations
In the first of this week's series on global institutions, Jonathan Steele examines how the conflict in Iraq has undermined the role of the UN.
The Disunited Nations
Admittedly, like any bureaucracy, the organization is self-perpetuating, self-serving and self-absorbed. But it - and its raft of specialized offshoots - still give back far more than they receive. In recognition of the U.N.'s crucial role, several liberal Democrats have entered legislation to create a "permanent U.N. security force" and to "voluntarily contribute" to the U.N. Population Fund.
It spends much of its time trying to grapple with issues of global importance such as Iran's nuclear program or how to solve the crisis in Dafur. So the decision by the United Nations to launch a year-long celebration of the solanum tuberosum - better known to most as the humble spud - has come as something of a surprise.
UN Reform – Institutionalize a Tribune of the Oppressed Peoples
By introducing the concept of TOP, we intend to provide the UN with the correct tool for expanding and implementing Democracy in various parts of the world, where respect for Human Rights still remains among the top desiderata.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for South Africa and the Black Continent
A UN Security Council with 13 permanent members, namely USA, China, Japan, India, Germany, France, England, Italy, Russia, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, and South Africa, represents our multifaceted world far better than the 5-member 1945 ‘war college’.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Mexico
Highly literate, and with a bicameral democratic political system, Mexico, suitably representing the entire Hispanophone world, has every right to UN Security Council permanent membership.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Brazil
With commitment to democratic ideals far better stressed than in Putin’s Russia, Brazil has every right and every reason to demand permanent membership in the UN Security Council.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Italy
Italy exports almost as much as Russia (UN Security Council permanent member) and India (UN Security Council permanent aspirant) combined, although the two countries' population is more than 20 times larger than that of Italy's!
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Germany
Thus, with larger population and stronger economy than France and England, Germany should be viewed as another convincing candidate for the UN Veto Club, after Japan and India.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for India
It is therefore only normal to question why 123 million European citizens of two colonial relics are granted a right that is still not ascribed to a more than 10-fold population.
UN Security Council Reform: Veto Right for Japan
In today’s world, if Japan is left outside the Veto Club, then both France and England have no real right to be there either!
Sri Lankan Government Accused of Torture
Torture, degrading punishments and ill-treatment in prison appear to have become routine practices in Sri Lanka, the United Nations has said.
UN Envoy Enters Crisis Talks to Stop Burma Bloodshed
The United Nations' special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, flew into a crisis-stricken Burma yesterday on a mission to persuade its aging junta of generals to settle the country's political crisis without further bloodshed.
Darfur Mission Faces Us Funding Hurdle
A breakthrough agreement to deploy a United Nations peacekeeping force in Darfur risks being undermined by a shortfall of up to $1bn in US contributions to the costs of global peacekeeping, campaigners said today.
Green Light for Un Hariri Inquiry
The United Nations security council tonight voted to create a special tribunal into the 2005 assassination of the Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.
Italian Children Lose Respect for Authority
Children growing up in the United Kingdom are poorer and more insecure than any other wealthy country in the world, according to a United Nations study. But what is life like for children in Italy, one of the other nations scrutinised by the UN? John Hooper reports.
Brown Calls for Overhaul of Un, World Bank and Imf
Urgent and far-reaching reform of the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the G7 is needed to make old-fashioned international institutions fit to cope with the "seismic shifts" of globalisation, Gordon Brown said today.
Un Vetoes Prolong Burma Agony
World Briefing: Burma's military junta has been crowing this week over the defeat of a US- and British-backed United Nations security council resolution condemning the regime's egregious human rights abuses, says Simon Tisdall.
US Accused of Using Aid to Sway Votes in Un Security Council
The US uses its aid budget to bribe those countries which have a vote in the United Nations security council, giving them 59 per cent more cash in years when they have a seat, according to research by economists.
Jeane Kirkpatrick
Obituary: As President Reagan's first ambassador to the United Nations, she had a rigid anti-communist view of the world.
Britain to Defy Us Over Un Resolution on Arms Trade
The UK is next week expected to push through the United Nations a resolution to open the way for a landmark arms trade treaty, in spite of opposition from the US, Russia and China.
Punitive Measures on the Agenda
The United Nations security council held an emergency session yesterday to discuss imposing tough sanctions on North Korea over its claim to have conducted an underground nuclear test.
United Nations Emergency Meeting to Decide on Force
The UN is to hold an emergency meeting today of 45 countries that have offered troops for a 13,000-strong Lebanon peacekeeping mission, to confirm contributions and speed up deployment.
Peacekeeping Troops Could Take Months to Assemble
Doubts about a speedy deployment of the proposed 15,000-strong United Nations force for Lebanon were expressed by diplomats around Europe yesterday.
UN on Brink of Brokering Ceasefire Agreement
The United Nations appeared on the verge of breaking the deadlock over Lebanon last night, paving the way for a security council resolution in which major powers including the US and UK would demand an immediate end to fighting.
Tying the Hands of the United Nations
In the week preceding Hizbullah's July 12 cross-border raid into Israel that sparked the Lebanon war, the UN security council was wrestling with a draft resolution on Gaza. By Simon Tisdall
J'ACCUSE! Israeli Crimes against Humanity
Kofi Annan, Secretary General of the United Nations, has accused Israel of an "apparent" deliberate targeting of a United Nations observation post in southern Lebanon, killing up to four neutral observers in an act of state terrorism so horrific it rips at the heart of every breathing being.
Inquiry Launched Into East Timor Unrest
East Timor's discredited government yesterday agreed to a United Nations-led investigation into weeks of communal violence that has plunged the fledgling nation into chaos.
Blix Warns of Wmd Vicious Circle
The US must abandon its "war on terror" to prevent the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, according to the former United Nations' chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix,.
UN Food Agency Deputy Resigns Over Leader's 'culture of Silence'
The United Nations body which combats world hunger was in turmoil last night after one of its most senior officials resigned, claiming that her boss ruled through 'silence, rumour and fear'.
US Doubts Threaten to Sink New Rights Body
World Briefing: Ambitious plans to reform the United Nations in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal and the Iraq schism have yet to amount to much, says Simon Tisdall.
UN Warns of Crystal Meth Pandemic
A dance and sex drug which is more addictive than crack cocaine is becoming a global problem, the United Nations' drug control agency warned today.
UN Condemns Ukraine's Return of Asylum Seekers
The United Nations said yesterday that it was appalled by Ukraine's decision to send 11 Uzbek asylum seekers, who fled the troubled central Asian country after the Andijan massacre, back to Uzbekistan, in an apparent breach of international law.
Syria May Aid Un Inquiry Into Hariri Murder
The Syrian government signalled yesterday that it would allow United Nations investigators to talk to president Bashar Assad about the assassination of the Lebanese prime minister, Rafiq Hariri.
Aid Chief Urges Charges Over Mass Slum Clearance
Zimbabwean officials should be prosecuted for crimes committed in the government's mass housing demolition earlier this year, the United Nations' head of humanitarian aid said yesterday.
Saddam's Trial Will Not Be Fair, Says United Nations
· Violence against lawyers mars hearing, says official · Plot to attack court foiled as tribunal resumes today
UN Calls for More Education Funding in Rural Areas
Improving access to education for children living in rural areas is the only way to break the cycle of poverty, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation has said.
Asian Quake Toll Rises to 87,000
Head of the United Nations' humanitarian efforts warns that thousands more will die as the savage Himalayan winter sets in.
Serbs Accuse Un of Violation of Law Over Kosovo Independence
The United Nations security council has opened a discussion that is almost certain to lead to conditional independence for the Serbian province of Kosovo.
Abuse By Un Troops Still Widespread, Says Report
Rules aimed at curbing sexual abuse by United Nations peacekeeping forces are not being properly implemented because of a prevailing "boys will be boys" attitude among the troops, according to an independent review.
Summit failure blamed on US
The failure of last week's United Nations summit to deliver an agreement designed to prevent terrorists acquiring 'weapons of mass destruction' was sabotaged by the US, senior diplomats have told The Observer.
Yes to UN SC Reform, No to Islamic Terror and France!
The only way to let the French nightmare be buried forever is to exclude further totalitarian states from the UN SC, to dismantle the disreputable Arab League, and to act fast in imposing throughout the Muslim World the changes Mustafa Kemal Ataturk initiated in Turkey 80 years ago.
Unicef Calls for Help to Keep Zimbabwean Children in School
The United Nation's children fund, Unicef, has called on the international community to support efforts to get Zimbabwean pupils back to school in September. Despite the country's unstable domestic situation, school enrolment rates have actually risen over the past five years, and Unicef...
UN Official Resigns Ahead of Oil-for-food Report
A senior United Nations official, Benon Sevan, yesterday became the highest-profile victim of the Iraq oil-for-food scandal.
UN Condemns Zimbabwe Demolitions
The United Nations today condemned the Zimbabwean government's campaign of destroying urban slums as a "disastrous venture", and demanded that those responsible are punished
The United Nations Puzzle
Kofi Annan wants to make the UN more democratic. Easier said than done, says Mark Tran. Reform of the UN security council is the Rubik's cube of international diplomacy, yet Kofi Annan, the UN secretary-general, wants the world body to have another crack at this puzzle.
Disunited Nations
In the first of this week's series on global institutions, Jonathan Steele examines how the conflict in Iraq has undermined the role of the UN.
The Disunited Nations
Admittedly, like any bureaucracy, the organization is self-perpetuating, self-serving and self-absorbed. But it - and its raft of specialized offshoots - still give back far more than they receive. In recognition of the U.N.'s crucial role, several liberal Democrats have entered legislation to create a "permanent U.N. security force" and to "voluntarily contribute" to the U.N. Population Fund.