Blog Archive

Ban to Burma

Posted by UN Dispatch on July 3, 2009

Secretary General Ban Ki Moon is en route to Burma/Myanmar to press for the release of Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.  Evelyn Leopold, a long time United Nations correspondent, previews the trip and the political gamble that the Secretary General is undertaking.    Also, see this interview with Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis (IL)

IL:  It is a tough mission.  We believe in the man, we believe in his office and we believe if ever there was a test of the United Nations relevance Burma is that test.  That’s why we’ve been strongly supportive of the mission, that’s why we believe he’s doing absolutely the right thing and it’s also why our Prime Minister for example only recently spoke directly to the President of China because it’s very important that Burma’s friends and neighbours also send a clear and strong message about

Meet your new IAEA chief

Posted by UN Dispatch on July 3, 2009

Posting will be light today, but I wanted to flag this news:  Yeterday, the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors elected Japan's Yukiya Amano to be the next Director General of the IAEA.  He will succeed Mohammed elBaradei in November.  After six rounds of voting Amano finally secured the 2/3rds majoriry required by the IAEA charter. Here is a just-released IAEA video announcing Amano's selection.

Third-grade class leads school fundraiser for nets

Posted by Nothing but Nets on July 3, 2009

To begin their project, the students researched malaria, the United Nations, Nothing But Nets, and poverty in Africa, and then created an educational brochure on all they had learned. Deciding to engage their entire community, Zach’s students passed these brochures out not only to other students, but to local businesses and community members as well!  

Ban Ki Moon saying useful things in the New York Times

Posted by UN Dispatch on July 2, 2009

I have an embarrassing crush on Ban Ki Moon. You really can’t blame me. He raps! He married his high school sweetheart!

His op-ed in the New York Times tomorrow just made it worse. In it, he announces the launch of the Global Impact and Vulnerability Alert System:

 “We know the big picture: countries with low financial reserves; countries that face shrinking foreign investment, remittances and aid; countries where demand for exports has fallen. But we need a sharper lens with finer resolution.

 I am marshalling the resources of the United Nations to monitor the impact of the crisis in real-time.”

Ban then calls on donor countries to maintain their support for international aid, pointing out that we already have evidence for wha Read More »

UN enlisting religious support to promote women's health in Afghanistan

Posted by UN Dispatch on July 2, 2009

Afghanistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world to be a woman--literally. The country has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.  As this video from UN TV explains, the United Nations Mission in Afghanistan is trying to enlist Afghanistan's religious leaders to advance womens' health and improve women's access to healthcare.