Month: January 2019

Defending Multilateralism in the UN Security Council and Beyond

When Germany assumed one of ten elected seats in the UN Security Council on 1 January 2019, it entered a body that reflects the deep crisis of multilateralism and the new competition of the great powers. Germany needs to seize the moment to contribute to the regeneration of one of the cornerstones of the rules-based […]

Human trafficking cases hit a 13-year record high, new UN report shows

The latest Global Report On Trafficking In Persons, released on Tuesday by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) at UN headquarters in New York, shows a record-high number of cases detected during 2016, but also the largest recorded conviction rate of traffickers. “The report was undertaken for a simple reason: if we want to succeed in confronting […]

Nigeria: Armed conflict continues to uproot thousands, driving up humanitarian need

Since November, more than 80,000 Nigerians have been forcibly displaced due to ongoing violence in the north-east, adding to two million people already displaced by violence, or forced across the country’s borders as refugees, the UN humanitarian coordination office (OCHA) said on Tuesday. In 2018, relief organisations had estimated that 7.7 million required urgent life-saving […]

Mexico: UN chief saddened by pipeline blast in which dozens were killed

The United Nations’ Secretary-General, António Guterres, learned with sadness of the deadly explosion of an oil pipeline on Friday in Hidalgo State, Mexico, and extended the UN’s assistance to the national authorities, his Spokesman said on Saturday. According to news reports, the explosion was caused by fuel thieves who punctured the gas pipeline north of Mexico City.  Fuel theft […]

Another 170 migrants disappear in shipwrecks, UN agency reiterates call for an end to Mediterranean tragedy

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, stated on Saturday that “no effort should be spared” in saving lives at sea, following reports of two new shipwrecks on the Mediterranean Sea, in which some 170 people either died or went missing. “The tragedy of the Mediterranean cannot be allowed to continue,” said Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. According […]

Iraq: UN demining agency rejects desecration accusations, involving historic Mosul churches

The United Nations Mine Action Service (UNMAS) in Iraq issued a statement on Thursday rejecting allegations made earlier this week by a non-profit organization  there, alleging that personnel had carried out explosive hazard clearance inside two historic churches in Mosul “in a barbaric and arbitrary manner.” The allegations, published earlier this week on the website of the […]