Tag Archives: United Nations
25 February 2013
The United Nations (UN) has invoked its immunity to deny claims for compensation from 5.000 victims of the Haiti cholera epidemic, believed to have been caused by UN peacekeepers that imported the infection into the country.
The reigning scientific theory about the origin of the epidemic is that peacekeepers from Nepal imported the cholera and, through a faulty sanitation system at their base, infected a tributary of the country’s largest river. The cholera epidemic has killed almost 8.000 people and has stricken hundreds of thousands more.
Source: The New York Times | U.N. Rejects Claim for Direct Compensation to Victims of Cholera Epidemic in Haiti
Source: The Guardian | UN will not compensate Haiti cholera victims, Ban Ki-moon tells president
18 February 2013
The New York Times reports that there is a likely role for French counterterrorism forces in tracking down militants in Mali, also after the French troops will be replaced by a United Nations peacekeeping force. A State Department official of the United States stated that ‘there’s going to be an ongoing need for a counterterrorism operation in northern Mali, and that probably will always reside in the hands of the French and not in the hands of the United Nations.’
Source: The New York Times | Official Details French Role in Mali
22 August 2012
Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary-General of United Nations (UN) published his 4th report on the Responsibility to Protect (RtoP), entitled Responsibility to protect: timely and decisive response. The report, published for the upcoming dialogue of the UN General Assembly, discusses measures that are available to States in order to implement the ‘third pillar’ of RtoP, meaning the responsibility of the international community to respond and take collective action, ‘in a timely and decisive manner’, if a State is manifestly failing to protect its population or perpetrates atrocity crimes itself. The report also discusses the necessity to protect and act responsibly during the implementation of RtoP, building on the concept of ‘responsibility while protecting’.
Source: UN | Responsibility to protect: timely and decisive response
30 July 2012
Negotiations were held in New York from 2-27 July in order to reach an agreement within the United Nations (UN) framework on the regulation of international trade in conventional arms.
The aim of the UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) is to establish common international standards for import, transfer and export of conventional arms. These international standards can be used to hold those who sell weapons in an irresponsible manner accountable.
Source: UN | UN Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty
3 July 2012
On 2 July, talks began at the United Nations over a proposed treaty on global trade in conventional weapons, particularly small arms and ammunition, valued in 2010 at $411 billion. The treaty could ban weapons shipments to conflict areas, as well as areas where they would lead to serious human rights violations.
Source: The Independent | UN talks could finally rein in lawless trade in killing
Source: The Guardian | Why this arms trade treaty is essential