United Nations
Governments criticized for keeping women from peace talks
On the eve of International Women’s Day, leading women’s rights campaigners at the United Nations and the African Union and a Nobel Peace Prize laureate criticized male-dominated governments Tuesday for excluding women from peace negotiations.
They complained that governments are ignoring a U.N. resolution adopted in 2000 demanding equal participation for women in talks to end conflicts.
Sima Bahous, head of the U.N. agency promoting gender equality, lamented “the regression in women’s rights.” She told the Security Council that “we have neither significantly changed the composition of peace tables, nor the impunity enjoyed by those who commit atrocities against women and girls.”
Also Read: DigitALL: Role of tech in promoting gender equality highlighted this Women’s Day
Bahous, executive director of UN Women, called for “a radical change of direction.”
She said action should be taken to mandate the inclusion of women at every meeting and in every decision-making process, with consequences for non-compliance. And funds should be channeled to women’s groups in conflict-affected countries where the money is most needed, she said.
The Security Council was assessing the state of the resolution it adopted on Oct. 31, 2000, that stresses the important role of women in preventing and resolving conflicts and demands their equal participation in all efforts to promote peace and security. It also calls on all parties to conflicts to protect women and girls from gender-based violence, especially rape and other forms of sexual abuse.
Also Read: Loss due to women’s exclusion from digital world could grow to $1.5 trillion by 2025 without action: UN Chief
Since the 20th anniversary of the resolution in 2020, Bahous said, Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have imposed “gender apartheid” and war in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region reportedly led to sexual violence “at a staggering scale.” Coups in conflict-affected countries in Africa’s Sahel and Sudan to Myanmar have dramatically shrunk the civic space for women’s organizations and activists, she added.
The U.N. Commission on the Status of Women began its annual two-week session Monday focusing on closing gender gaps in technology and innovation. It is also examining digital harassment and disinformation aimed at women that fosters violent misogyny.
Bahous cited a recent study that says politically motivated online abuse of women within Myanmar and from the country increased at least fivefold after that country's February 2021 coup.
“This mainly takes the form of sexualized threats and the release of home addresses, contact details, and personal photos or videos of women who had commented positively on groups opposing military rule in Myanmar,” she said.
Mirjana Spoljaric Egger, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, addressed the gender-based violence aspect of the U.N. resolution, saying that “more than 100 armed conflicts are raging around the world” and hard-won gains toward gender equality are being reversed.
“This is no coincidence,” she said. “As respect for gender equality declines, violence rises.”
Egger said the Red Cross sees “the brutal impact” every day of “sexual violence at the hands of arms bearers at shocking levels.”
Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee, who mobilized street protests against the brutality of the country’s long civil war and shared the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize, told the council that “it has been proven time and again that men do make war but are unable to make peace themselves.”
“Sadly, the conversation is the same in 2023,” she said. “How do we discuss the issue of peace and security and leave out fifty percent of the population?”
Gbowee said that as the U.N. resolution on women, peace and security approaches its 23rd anniversary “investment in its implementation is either stalled or slow.”
Action plans submitted by governments are “a tool for politicians and political actors to window-dress women peace and security issues as they cover up for their failure" to advance women’s rights, she said.
Gbowee called for women peace activists to be part of all peace missions, calling them “custodians of their communities.”
“We will continue to search for peace in vain in our world unless we bring women to the table,” she warned.
Bineta Diop, the African Union Commission chair’s special envoy on women, peace and security, said in a virtual briefing to the council that the current impact of armed conflict on women and girls “is precarious.”
Diop cited kidnappings in the Sahel, rape, killing and maiming of young girls and boys in Congo, and atrocities in the Lake Chad Basin and in East Africa, including “an unprecedented rate of sexual violence.”
“Unfortunately, while many women are engaged in the community and peacebuilding initiatives, their voice is yet to be heard in peace negotiations and mediation where roadmaps to return to peace are drawn,” she said.
Diop said the African Union is helping to promote African women leaders who can sit at peace tables and to bring women from rival regions together, as just happened at a retreat in Pretoria, South Africa, for Ethiopian women.
UN appeals for $1 billion to help Türkiye earthquake survivors
The United Nations launched a $1 billion appeal Thursday to help 5.2 million survivors of the most devastating earthquake in Türkiye’s modern history, two days after starting a $397 million appeal to help nearly 5 million Syrians across the border.
The funding, which covers three months, will allow aid organisations to swiftly ramp up their operations to support government-led response efforts in areas that include food security, protection, education, water and shelter.
Both appeals will be followed by fresh appeals for longer-term help.
“Türkiye is home to the largest number of refugees in the world and has shown enormous generosity to its Syrian neighbours for years,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said.
“Now is the time for the world to support the people of Türkiye – just as they have stood in solidarity with others seeking assistance.”
UN Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said: “The people of Türkiye have experienced unspeakable heartache. I met families who shared their stories of shock and devastation. We must stand with them in their darkest hour and ensure they receive the support they need.”
The UN and partners have been rushing to support Türkiye and neighbouring Syria in the wake of the devastating earthquakes that struck on February 6.
More than nine million people in Türkiye alone have been directly impacted by the once-in-a-generation disaster, which has left 35,000 people dead in the country, according to the latest figures from the government.
Read more: Turkey probes contractors as earthquake deaths pass 33,000
The earthquakes struck at the peak of winter, leaving hundreds of thousands of people – including small children and elderly people – without access to shelter, food, water, heaters and medical care in freezing temperatures.
Some 47,000 buildings have been destroyed or damaged, including schools, hospitals and other essential services.
Thousands of people have sought refuge in temporary shelters across the country. Many families have been separated, and hundreds of children are now orphaned or unable to be reunited with their parents.
Around 3.6 million Syrians have found a safe haven in Türkiye, along with nearly 320,000 people of other nationalities, according to the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.
More than 1.74 million refugees live in the 11 provinces impacted by the earthquakes.
The UN is coordinating the operations of thousands of search-and-rescue personnel in five provinces – Adiyaman, Gaziantep, Hatay, Kahramanmaraş and Malatya – and humanitarian organisations have begun relief operations in the hardest-hit areas, in support of the government-led response.
This week also saw the launch of a nearly $400 million appeal for Syria, where aid delivery from across the border with Türkiye is continuing.
UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric said shelter needs are the top priority among displaced people there, where many homes have collapsed in the aftermath of the earthquakes.
Read more: UN appeals for $1 billion to help Türkiye earthquake survivors
More than 8,900 buildings are completely or partially destroyed, leaving 11,000 people homeless. Other priorities include food, cash assistance and supplies to cope with the harsh winter weather.
UN names Pakistani linked to Mumbai attacks as terrorist
The United Nations has designated an anti-India militant being held in Pakistan as a global terrorist, the world body’s second such designation stemming from the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.
The announcement regarding Pakistani citizen Abdul Rehan Makki was hailed by neighboring India on Tuesday, a day after the decision.
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said the Islamic nation is itself a victim of terrorism and Pakistan supports counter-terrorism efforts at the international level, including at the United Nations.
Makki, 68, is a senior figure in the outlawed Lashkar-e-Taiba group, which is mainly active in the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. He was arrested in Pakistan's Punjab province in 2019 and convicted in November and December 2020 in two separate cases on charges of terror financing.
Makki was sentenced to one year in prison but officials say he is still in custody without providing an explanation. He is being held in Punjab pending his appeals, according to several government officials who are familiar with the case.
The U.N. Security Council committee overseeing sanctions against al-Qaida and Islamic State extremists and their associates put Makki on the sanctions blacklist after approval by the council’s 15 members.
Under the U.N. measure, Makki's assets can be frozen and he will also face a travel ban.
Makki is a close relative of Hafiz Saeed, a militant leader accused of orchestrating the Mumbai attacks. Saeed, 72, is serving a 31-year prison sentence and was designated a terrorist by the United States and the U.N. Security Council after the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Saeed, like Makki, was never charged in connection with the Mumbai attacks that strained relations between Pakistan and India. He is the founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba, which was blamed by India for the attacks in India.
Read more: Savage Truth Behind Mumbai Carnage
Monday's U.N. Security Council decision came after China lifted a hold on adding Makki, who has been under U.S. sanctions since November 2010.
The spokesperson at India's Ministry of External Affairs in the capital New Delhi, Shri Arindam Bagchi, on Tuesday welcomed Makki's designation as a terrorist.
“India remains committed to pursuing a zero-tolerance approach to terrorism and will continue to press the international community to take credible, verifiable and irreversible action against terrorism," he said.
Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, the spokesperson at Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said: “Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and supports counter-terrorism efforts at the international level including at the United Nations and other multilateral fora."
Baloch said in a statement that “Pakistan has always called for strict compliance with the Security Council’s listing rules, procedures and established processes to maintain the integrity of the UN counter-terrorism regime."
Since gaining independence from Britain in 1947, Pakistan and India, which have a history of bitter relations, have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which is split between them and claimed by both in its entirety.
Read more: 13th anniversary of Mumbai terror attacks observed in Bangladesh
Historic biodiversity agreement reached at U.N. conference
Negotiators reached a historic deal at a U.N. biodiversity conference early Monday that would represent the most significant effort to protect the world’s lands and oceans and provide critical financing to save biodiversity in the developing world.
The global framework comes a day before the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, or COP15, is set to end in Montreal. China, which holds the presidency at this conference, released a new draft earlier in the day that gave the sometimes contentious talks much-needed momentum.
The most significant part of the agreement is a commitment to protect 30% of land and water considered important for biodiversity by 2030. Currently, 17% of terrestrial and 10% of marine areas are protected.
“There has never been a conservation goal globally at this scale,“ Brian O’Donnell, the director of the conservation group Campaign for Nature, told reporters. “This puts us within a chance of safeguarding biodiversity from collapse ... We’re now within the range that scientists think can make a marked difference in biodiversity.”
The draft also calls for raising $200 billion by 2030 for biodiversity from a range of sources and working to phase out or reform subsidies that could provide another $500 billion for nature. As part of the financing package, the framework calls for increasing to at least $20 billion annually by 2025 the money that goes to poor countries — or about double what is currently provided. That number would increase to $30 billion each year by 2030.
Some advocates wanted tougher language around subsidies that make food and fuel so cheap in many parts of the world. The document only calls for identifying subsidies by 2025 that can be reformed or phased out and working to reduce them by 2030.
Read: UN chief appeals for more fund from developed countries to help preserve biodiversity
“The new text is a mixed bag,” Andrew Deutz, director of global policy, institutions and conservation finance for The Nature Conservancy, said. “It contains some strong signals on finance and biodiversity but it fails to advance beyond the targets of 10 years ago in terms of addressing drivers of biodiversity loss in productive sectors like agriculture, fisheries, and infrastructure and thus still risks being fully transformational.”
The ministers and government officials from about 190 countries have mostly agreed that protecting biodiversity has to be a priority, with many comparing those efforts to climate talks that wrapped up last month in Egypt.
Climate change coupled with habitat loss, pollution and development have hammered the world’s biodiversity, with one estimate in 2019 warning that a million plant and animal species face extinction within decades — a rate of loss 1,000 times greater than expected. Humans use about 50,000 wild species routinely, and 1 out of 5 people of the world’s 8 billion population depend on those species for food and income, the report said.
But they have struggled for nearly two weeks to agree on what that protection looks like and who will pay for it.
The financing has been among the most contentions issues, with delegates from 70 African, South American and Asian countries walking out of negotiations Wednesday. They returned several hours later.
Brazil, speaking for developing countries during the week, said in a statement that a new funding mechanism dedicated to biodiversity should be established and that developed countries provide $100 billion annually in financial grants to emerging economies until 2030.
Read: UN chief calls for greater ambition to reverse biodiversity loss
“All the elements are in there for a balance of unhappiness which is the secret to achieving agreement in U.N. bodies,” Pierre du Plessis, a negotiator from Namibia who is helping coordinate the African group, told The Associated Press. “Everyone got a bit of what they wanted, not necessarily everything they wanted. Let’s see if there is there is a spirit of unity.”
Others praised the fact the document recognizes the rights of Indigenous communities. In past biodiversity documents, indigenous rights were often ignored and they rarely were part of the larger discussions other than a reference to their traditional knowledge. The framework would reaffirm the rights of Indigenous peoples and ensure they have a voice in any decision making.
“It’s important for the rights of Indigenous peoples to be there, and while it’s not the exact wording of that proposal in the beginning, we feel that it is a good compromise and that it addresses the concerns that we have,” Jennifer Corpuz, a representative of the International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity said. “We believe that it’s a good basis for us to be able to implement policy at the national level.”
But the Wildlife Conservation Society and other environmental groups were concerned that the draft puts off until 2050 a goal of preventing the extinction of species, preserving the integrity of ecosystems and maintaining the genetic diversity within populations. They fear that timeline is not ambitions enough.
Over 280m people leave home for a better life: UN
More than 280 million people have left their countries to pursue opportunity, dignity, freedom, and a better life, the UN said on International Migrants Day Sunday.
Secretary-General António Guterres credited more than 80 percent of those who cross borders in a safe and orderly fashion as powerful drivers of economic growth, dynamism, and understanding.
"But unregulated migration along increasingly perilous routes – the cruel realm of traffickers – continues to extract a terrible cost."
Over the past eight years, at least 51,000 migrants have died, and thousands of others have gone missing, said the top UN official.
"Behind each number is a human being – a sister, brother, daughter, son, mother, or father," he said. "Migrant rights are human rights."
Read: US Asst Secretary Noyes in Bangladesh to discuss refugee, migration issues
"They must be respected without discrimination – and irrespective of whether their movement is forced, voluntary, or formally authorised."
Guterres pushed for search and rescue efforts, medical care, expanded and diversified rights-based pathways for migration, and greater international investments in countries of origin to ensure migration is a choice, not a necessity.
Gilbert F Houngbo, the head of the International Labour Organization (ILO), shone a light on protecting the rights of the world's 169 million migrant workers.
"The international community must do better to ensure… [that they] are able to realise their basic human and labour rights."
Leaving them unable to exercise basic rights renders migrant workers invisible, vulnerable and undervalued for their contributions to society, said the most senior ILO official.
And when intersecting with race, ethnicity, and gender, they become even more vulnerable to various forms of discrimination.
Houngbo said migrants do not only go missing on high-risk and desperate journeys. "Many migrant domestic, agricultural and other workers are isolated and out of reach of those who could protect them, with the undocumented, particularly at risk of abuse."
Read: COP27: FM calls for collective action to mainstream climate-induced migration in negotiations
Like all employees, migrant workers are entitled to labour standards and international human rights protections, including freedom of association and collective bargaining, non-discrimination, and safe and healthy working environments, said the ILO chief.
They should also be entitled to social protection, development and recognition, he added.
To make these rights a reality, Houngbo stressed the key importance of fair recruitment, including eliminating recruitment fees charged to migrant workers, which can help eradicate human trafficking and forced labour.
Bangladesh’s achievements made it an example for other countries to emulate: UN
On the eve of the Victory Day, UN Resident Coordinator in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis on Thursday said the United Nations stands with Bangladesh in partnership and wished all Bangladeshi nationals, in the country and abroad a very happy Victory Day.
“Bangladesh’s achievements in human development and disaster response, long before it became a middle-income country, made it an example for other countries to emulate,” she said congratulating Bangladesh on Victory Day.
Read more: Bangladesh set to celebrate Victory Day Friday
On 16 December, Bangladesh will celebrate its 51st anniversary of Victory Day.
The country has been on an extraordinary voyage from being a war and famine-ravaged newborn nation, to its current standing as a United Nations member state standing at the threshold of LDC graduation, and providing shelter to nearly a million Rohingya refugees, Lewis said.
“Bangladesh too has contributed to shaping the UN’s development agenda and peace operations globally. Bangladesh has also been a vocal advocate for multilateralism, climate justice and the interests of least developed countries,” she said.
Bangladesh sponsored the Culture of Peace resolution that was unanimously adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1999.
Read more: Indian war veterans to join Bangladesh’s Victory Day celebrations in Dhaka
And it was thanks to Bangladesh’s advocacy that the UN General Assembly recognized the International Mother Language Day in 2008.
“Bangladesh’s advocacy internally for the rights of the most vulnerable, and its constitution illustrates the country’s determination to be a democracy in which fundamental human rights and freedoms and respect for the dignity and worth of the human person shall be guaranteed,” said the UNRC.
The UN has been a partner of the government and the people of Bangladesh since its birth. Starting with UNHCR in 1971, 22 UN agencies now have operations in the country.
“Wishing everyone a happy Victory Day!,” Lewis said.
Climate Change: UN, Bangladesh to strengthen cooperation
Bangladesh and the United Nations (UN) on Sunday discussed ways to further strengthen the national efforts of adaptation to and mitigation of the adverse effects of climate change, specially in the context of the recently concluded COP27 in Egypt.
UN Resident Coordinator (UNRC) in Bangladesh Gwyn Lewis met State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and discussed the issues of mutual interest.
The UNRC briefed the State Minister about her recent visit to Khagrachari and Rangamati districts of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, including on various projects the UN has undertaken there for socio-economic development.
Read more: UNICEF wants investment in world's first child-focused climate risk financing solution
She also sought Bangladesh's cooperation and support in making the upcoming 5th United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) to be held in Doha, Qatar in March 2023.
They also discussed the humanitarian response for the Rohingyas, including on launching the Joint Response Plan (JRP) next year.
Ageing population in Bangladesh is fast growing: UN expert Mahler
United Nations independent expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons Claudia Mahler on Monday began her 11-day visit to Bangladesh focusing on older persons’ rights in specific contexts, including emergency situations related to climate change and forced displacement.
Mahler is visiting Bangladesh (from 7 to 17 November) at the invitation of the government of Bangladesh and will hold discussions in Dhaka, Rangpur, and Chattogram with government representatives, UN presences, civil society organisations working with older persons, academics and older persons.
“Ageing population in Bangladesh is fast growing, becoming one of the emerging issues that has been gradually increasing challenges on health services, family relationships and social security,” she said on Monday.
Mahler will present a full report of her visit to the Human Rights Council in September 2023, according to her office.
Also read: COP27: UN experts for complete integration of human rights standards, principles into negotiations
As of 2019, more than 13 million people living in Bangladesh were aged over 60, representing 8 per cent of the country's total population.
“The 2013 National Policy on Older Persons and the Maintenance of Parents’ Act resulted from this fast-growing age group. I look forward to learning more about the implementation of the policy and the law,” she said.
The independent expert will assess areas of concern such as social security and protection, age discrimination and ageism, abuse and violence against older persons, their living conditions, including housing arrangements and access to adequate health services, and their meaningful participation in the labour force and in public and political space.
The expert will hold a press conference at the end of her visit on November 17 to share her preliminary observations.
Mahler (Austria) was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as Independent Expert on the enjoyment of all human rights by older persons in May 2020.
UNV Program: How to become a UN Volunteer from Bangladesh
The United Nations Volunteers (UNV) program supports peace and growth through global involvement. To intensify the importance and universal acceptance of volunteering, the UNV collaborates with partners to integrate qualified, extremely motivated UN Volunteers into development activities. At present around 130 nations welcome UN volunteers. As a Bangladeshi citizen, you can apply to work as a volunteer for the UN. Under the UNV program, the volunteers can work locally or in an overseas country, or online.
What is a UN Volunteer?
UN Volunteers are devoted individuals eager to provide their time and experience as international volunteers outside of their respective home countries or as national volunteers when UN programs are present in their own countries.
They have professional skills and academic credentials or training. Volunteers work in positions with several UN agencies to assist peace and development and have shown expertise in their professional sector.
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How to Become a Registered UN Volunteer?
The belief that volunteering is a potent tool for involving people in addressing global development concerns is the motivation behind UNV. Through volunteer work, interested individuals can give their time, talents, and expertise, and their joint efforts can be a powerful force for promoting peace and growth.
There are three specific ways to be a volunteer in the UNV program:
International Volunteers
UNV seeks to engage volunteers with a wide range of skills and interests and provides many different possibilities for service. Approximately 7,500 skilled and knowledgeable individuals from around 160 different nationalities serve as United Nations Volunteers in about 130 different countries each year.
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These volunteers come from all corners of the globe. They are trained individuals who contribute significantly to achieving peace and positively influence the outcomes of development efforts.
Before applying to the UNV program, it should be considered that United Nations Volunteers serve in distant duty sites where basic comforts are restricted. In the workplace, the volunteers may not find basic utilities. There might be no power or running water. There would be very few opportunities for relaxation, and that labor would be required seven days a week.
UNV assignments may be highly rewarding; nevertheless, candidates need to be prepared to be deployed to challenging regions and be able to adapt to rapidly changing living and working situations. This is because UNV assignments can be very rewarding. Volunteers for the United Nations must be at least 25 years old, and no cap is placed on the maximum age.
Read How to Be a Social Counsellor or Therapist
Go to the registration form if you are ready to sign up to become a volunteer overseas. The UNV is always seeking people to join its team! You will be asked that you refrain from registering more than once.
National Level Volunteer
National UN Volunteers are volunteers that UNV recruits at the request of a program nation in order to assist in development and peace programs in that country.
They have been granted citizenship in the nation. However, non-nationals also have the opportunity to serve as national UN Volunteers if certain conditions are met. These conditions include having legal residency in the host country, being officially recognized as stateless or being a refugee, and having their service follow the national law of the host country.
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Compared to other UN staff, national UN Volunteers contribute more value because of their familiarity with local languages, cultural practices, social economic realities, and ability to operate at the grassroots level. National-level United Nations Volunteers work to cultivate capabilities at the community level, and assist in accomplishing the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
The age requirement for a national UN Volunteer has been established at 22. However, an older applicant who is well-qualified and appropriate may still apply to serve as national-level UN Volunteers as long as s/he fulfills the age-requirement for life insurance policy.
If you want to join the UNV program from Bangladesh, then register in the Unified Volunteering Platform (UVP). After login and password verification, complete the application process at UNV program for Bangladeshi nationals.
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Online Volunteer
Under the UNV program, Online Volunteers are associated with an online forum connecting individuals interested in volunteering with organizations in various countries. It fosters efficient online cooperation among development agencies and volunteers by connecting them via the internet and facilitating communication between them.
The UNV’s Online Volunteer work service provides individuals worldwide with additional opportunities to volunteer for growth and participate in the achievement of the MDGs.
The UNV provides these opportunities by letting different development bodies access to the information and resources to enhance their capacities.
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If you want to join the volunteer work remotely, you have to go to UNV’s Online Volunteer service page.
How to Register in the Global Talent Pool?
The registration procedure consists of a few straightforward stages, each of which must be accomplished before you can apply for onsite or online volunteer work.
Provide Basic Information
To establish an account on the UN's Unified Volunteering Platform, you will need to provide some basic information. A computer-generated message, including a verification code in numerical form, will be sent to you. Just paste the code you copied into the appropriate section to complete establishing your account.
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Complete Your Profile
When you first-time log in to your account, a task will appear on the dashboard requesting that you complete your profile. Simply choose the job from the drop-down menu, then provide detailed information about your previous experience, educational background, and talents.
Submit
When you have finished filling out all the necessary fields, click the button to submit your information. You can now go through the available Descriptions of Assignment and apply for those that fit your credentials, abilities, and experience.
Conclusion
Volunteering can involve people in the process of addressing development difficulties, and it has the potential to change the pace and patterns of development. The UNV program aims to develop trust, cooperation, and reciprocity among people while creating chances for involvement. These advantages will benefit both the society and the UN volunteers.
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Youths and qualified individuals from different countries around the world including Bangladesh can apply under the UNV program. So far we have discussed how UNV works and how to apply as a local, international or online UN volunteer from Bangladesh or any other country. Pick the category that suits you most and apply to the UNV program for making positive contributions to global peace and development.
From the Editor-in-Chief: UNGA – Dysfunctional, impotent, out-of-touch and yet essential
The United Nations General Assembly returns to its full, in-person, i.e. pre-pandemic format restored for the first time in three years this week. That doesn’t mean the frictions and even the fault lines in the international community that the dreaded Coronavirus exposed, or some might say exploited, have gone away of course. In fact, they are providing the flavour to the exchanges taking place, whether in the cavernous General Assembly Hall where leaders take the lectern to address upto 200 country delegations, or any of the countless sideline events that have sprung up to form an important, vibrant ecosystem for the ideas that seek a better world, there has been an edge to this year’s early exchanges that no seasoned observer will have missed.
Take the traditional state-of-the-world address that the secretary-general delivers each year, formally commencing the session. Usually this can come off as a dose of milktoast, and most years they tend to be forgotten even before they’re finished. Now it is true that the current secretary general, who used to be the elected head of government of a UN member state in his past life, has seemed prepared to challenge such conventions, since taking up the position in 2017. Yet it was the no-nonsense language, the gloomy tone and the focus not only on the breadth of challenges confronting what he called “the splintering world,” but also the stark and often controversial solutions he offered that made this year’s secretary-general’s address a landmark, a marker in the sand.
Read: What PM said on Russia-Ukraine war, Rohingya issue, climate action, terrorism at 77th UNGA
Admonishing “the international community” – of which he could be asserted as first citizen – as “unready or unwilling” to tackle the big, global challenges of our times, he would go on to depict this as an abdication of responsibility, for which any castigation would be well-deserved. Drawing the attention of the world leaders, Gutierres listed the war in Ukraine, the spreading of conflicts that can be contained, climate change of course, ending extreme poverty and achieving quality education for all children as the most pressing issues of our time, for which solutions are still available, as long as the leadership is ready to steer us there.
David Scheffer, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues who is now a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, has already called it “the most consequential speech by a secretary-general in the history of the United Nations.” Although that may sound a bit hyperbolic, you could see how the spirit of the secretary-general’s speech could come across as a real clarion call, at a time when the world is hungering for some real leadership.
Read: PM Hasina in New York to attend UNGA
Meanwhile over at the Security Council, the UN’s highest decision-making body, you had some real fireworks as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken came face-to-face with Sergey Lavrov, Russia’s foreign minister, for the first time since the start of the war. A phone call in July was the only other contact they had in this period – this is where the potential of UNGA week makes your eyes light up. The meeting was called to discuss allegations of war crimes and human rights abuses by Russian forces. But Lavrov turned up 90 minutes late, was in a foul mood while he was there – which was understandable given that almost everyone else was rounding on Moscow – and walked out when the Ukrainian ambassador was called on to make a statement.
“Insults, accusations and talk of war crimes and nuclear holocaust dominated the world’s premier diplomatic stage,” wrote the New York Times in its recap of the meeting. It seems the forum, no matter how hallowed, can only take you so far, when even leaders fail to see eye-to-eye.
Read: UNGA lauds Bangladesh’s leadership in promoting culture of peace