Category Archives: United Nations

UN-Tourism Candidate is Placing Tourism at the Heart of Peace and Reconciliation

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article from eTurboNews

Mouhamed Faouzou Deme from Senegal has made headlines in Africa, wanting to become Africa’s choice in the upcoming UN Tourism election for Secretary-General.

He is the only one of the four competing candidates for the highest UNWTO post who provided feedback to eTurboNews on the role of tourism for peace. Once Secretary-General Zurab took his helm in 2018, UNWTO’s long-year relationship with the International Institute for Peace of Tourism was eliminated, forcing IIPT chairman Louis D’Amore to cancel his carefully planned summit in Montreal. IIPT never fully recovered from this disappointment after this.

Its former Secretary-General, Dr. Taleb Rifai, fostered this unique relationship between UNWTO and IIPT. Mouhamed pledged to reinstate this, should he become Secretary-General, and responded to WTN. He stated:

Tourism stakeholders, professionals, and political actors have continued to recall the importance of placing tourism at the heart of peace and reconciliation programs to enable the sector to mobilize its capacity for action.

This is often in favor of investment, development, and social inclusion.

Adherence to freedom, justice, democracy, tolerance, solidarity, cooperation, pluralism, cultural diversity, dialogue, and understanding promotes peace.

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Questions related to this article:
 
How can tourism promote a culture of peace?

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Tourism is a vector of peace, respect, openness, and dialogue.

Tourism has the value of peace because it is only built and carried out in an environment of security, stability, and conviviality.

The main idea behind the concept of peace in tourism is that peace exists when people travel freely around the world.

It helps travelers to get to know new people, cultures, and values.

This experience can increase mutual understanding between people who have lived in diverse cultural contexts.

Furthermore, peace tourism aims to reduce the root causes that create situations where violence is perceived as inevitable.

It does not replace other types of tourism practices but rather aims to facilitate their improvement.

Its impact goes far beyond economic benefits. It is interesting to look at tourism as a social force rather than an industry and see how we can use it to establish a culture of peace.

Tourism connects people and the planet. It is a vector of trust and goodwill.

Understanding culture can change behavior and consolidate peace.

Tourism’s role in supporting peace is also reflected in its contribution to the fight against poverty, the preservation of culture, and protecting the environment.
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With Israel’s destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital, UN rapporteur calls for global medical boycott

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from Nation of Change

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for the Israeli-Occupied Palestinian Territories, reacted forcefully to the complete destruction by the Israeli military of Kamal Adwan Hospital at Beit Lahia in northern Gaza and the arrest and abuse of its patients and its director. She called for a world-wide medical boycott of Israel, writing at “X” :

“I urge medical professionals worldwide to pursue the severance of all ties with Israel as a concrete way to forcefully denounce Israel’s full destruction of the palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide.”

She was concurring with San Francisco-based physician and author Rupa Marya.

Muhammad Muhsin Watad at the Israeli newspaper Arab 48 explained that last Friday, “the Israeli army stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital after hours of besieging it. They burned its facilities, mistreated those inside, including patients, the injured, and medical staff, before taking into custody several individuals and forcing others [including women] to strip in the severe cold and undergo forced evacuation, all while gunfire and tank shelling occurred in the surrounding area.” Some 350 staff and patients were illegally detained by Israeli forces, though most were subsequently released.

The actions were part of Israel’s strategy of forcibly displacing 400,000 Palestinians from northern Gaza and making it uninhabitable for them, as the occupying army systematically detonates buildings and destroys neighborhoods. The forced displacement of an occupied population is a war crime. Gaza Palestinians are huddling in tents or sleeping rough amid heavy downpours and frigid temperatures in which several babies are known to have died in recent days.

Also on Friday, having emptied and burned the hospital, the Israelis detained its director and other medical staff.

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Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

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Watad at Arab 48 says that the Government Media Office in Gaza is alleging that Abu Safieh was subjected to physical and psychological abuse. He was forced to strip out of his medical coat and clothing and was used as a human shield. His children called on the international community to pressure Israel to release their father, whose fate remains unknown.

He was last seen walking outside the ruined hospital toward the turret of an Israeli tank.
When dissidents in other countries have faced tanks, they have been celebrated widely in U.S. media. American mass media “news” for the most part have ignored Abu Safieh and his fate.

Medical boycotts are not unprecedented. Physicians in the allied victor states of WW I boycotted  the German scientific and medical establishment on the grounds that German researchers and physicians were guilty of praising German militarism and denying German war guilt. They even founded alternative associations, such as the one to fight tuberculosis set up in Berlin, and held international congresses only in French and English, excluding German-speakers.

Medical boycotts of Israel have also been proposed  previously, as with the 2007 call of some British physicians for non-cooperation with the Israeli Medical Association for failing to uphold ethical standards in their treatment of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. They urged that the IMA be kicked out of the World Medical Association.

As I have noted before, the Rome Statute  underpinning the International Criminal Court, which went into effect in 2002, lists among “War Crimes” “ix) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not military objectives.” The Israeli army’s allegations that hospitals in Gaza are armed camps and weapons depots is ridiculous, and such assertions have been disproven whenever newspapers of record such as the Washington Post have investigated them.

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Personal Souvenirs of Federico Mayor

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION .

Special for CPNN by David Adams, CPNN coordinator

In the words of Margaret Mead, “”Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed individuals can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

I was privileged to know and work with Federico Mayor who was one of these “thoughtful committed individuals” who changed the world. He was nominated many times for the Nobel Peace Prize, and as Frederik Heffermehl wrote in his book, “The Real Nobel Prize”, he should have received it.

Here are some of my personal souvenirs of working with him.


Mayor at the meeting of the Culture of Peace Advisory Group in February 1999, with Anaisabel Prera Flores (left) and Enzo Fazzino (behind)

In 1986, when I went to Seville to join scientists from around the world to discuss whether war is part of human nature, I was introduced to a scientist from Spain, Federico Mayor Zaragoza. I was told, “He is the John F Kennedy of Spain.” Like Kennedy, he was very handsome with deep blue eyes and black hair and very much a “ladies’man.” In addition to his university professorship, he was also involved with government administration, including having served as the Education Minister in the Spanish government.

Mayor signed the Seville Statement as a scientist.. In 1956 At the age of 22, he had obtained his doctorate in pharmacy and in 1966 at the age of 32, he had gone to work for two years as a researcher in the laboratory of Nobel laureate Hans Krebs in Oxford, best known to physiologists like myself for having discovered and described the Krebs cycle. This is the chemical reactions occurring in the mitochondria, by which almost all living cells produce energy. Krebs told him, “Don’t forget that research consists in seeing what anybody can see and in thinking what nobody has ever thought,” which Mayor said was an inspiration to him.

After Seville, when I undertook the dissemination of the Statement on Violence, Mayor was a big help. He wrote me in September of 1986: “0ur snowball is growing fast…If all the snowballs starting their way would have such strength, all the world would be covered with snow. I hope that we will succeed to cover it with peace.”

It was no accident that his words to me were poetic. Like me, he wrote poetry. Over the years we would exchange our poems. He sent me his published books of poetry, and I started my UNESCO mission reports to him with a poem. I remember once that he distributed one of these mission reports to the Executive Board of UNESCO over the objections of his chief of staff who complained, “I will not send a poem to the Executive Board!”

In 1987, Mayor was elected the Director-General of UNESCO. He had previously served at UNESCO in 1978-1981 as Deputy Director-General.

In 1988, responding to the invitation of Felix Houghouet-Boigny of Côte d’Ivoire to hold an international conference in Yamoussoukro on “Peace in the Minds of Men,” Mayor convened a team to plan the conference. He invited me to be part of this team in order to promote the Seville Statement on Violence. In fact, he put me as the first speaker in the conference to introduce it.

It was during the planning meetings for Yamoussoukro that I got to know Felipe MacGregor from Peru who introduced the concept of the culture of peace, which became the theme of the Conference.

Responding to the recommendations of Yamoussoukro in 1989, UNESCO formally adopted both the Seville Statement on Violence and the Culture of Peace as official policies. And in 1992, Mayor invited me to take my sabbatical from Wesleyan University to come to UNESCO to work for dissemination of the Seville Statement. The 47-page UNESCO brochure on the Statement is one of the fruits of that year.

1992 was the year that the UN Security Council adopted the proposal of Secretary-General Boutros Ghali, prepared at Yale University, to establish a UN military force that could be used by the Council to enforce its decisions. It proposed to establish on a permanent basis the Blue Helmets previously decided on a temporary basis to intervene after civil wars in countries like El Salvador and Mozambique

I was horrified by the the vision of a global tyranny that such a plan could bring about. The US had gained total control of the Security Council at that time due to the fall of the Soviet Union. At UNESCO, working with Georges Kutukdjian, who had led the planning for Yamoussoukro, I developed a proposal for a Culture of Peace Program that would bring peace through joint projects by former enemies rather than through the imposition of armed force.

On my birthday, May 13, 1992, Mayor invited me to have breakfast with him on the top floor of UNESCO headquarters. He was drinking milk to control an ulcer caused by the stress of his his job as Director-General. I presented the 3-page plan for a Culture of Peace Program, and he said simply, “We’ll do it.” “But”, he said, “it cannot be presented by you because the United States is not a member of UNESCO;” The US had withdrawn a few years earlier to protest UNESCO’s siupport for Palestine and UNESCO’s proposal to aid the Global South to develop their own news agencies. So, instead, Mayor sent me to Ahmed Sayyad, President of the Executive Board, who agreed to present the proposal. The Sayyad proposal was adopted by a standing ovation of the UNESCO Executive Board in November, 1992. Sayyad went on to devote his life to the culture of peace, including as the Assistant-Director General for External Relations.

In 1993, Mayor invited me to take a leave of absence from my university to come to Paris and to prepare the culture of peace program. Again, since the United States was not a member of UNESCO, I could not head up the program, but I should work under a new director. Mayor chose Leslie Atherley from Barbados to head the program along with Edouard Matoko from the Congo. The two of them had taken the courageous action to work for education in Iraq despite the war and the objections of the United States.

But I needed a post. My university had told me that if I did not return immediately, I would lose my job as professor. And by the rules of UNESCO they should not give a post to someone from a country that was not a member state. Years later, I was told by the staff member concerned, that Mayor told him to ignore the rules and to give me a post without going through the necessary procedures.

This was a quality of Federico Mayor that made him great, and that infuriated the rich Member States of UNESCO. Mayor did not follow the rules if they stood in the way of important policy decisions.

In 1993, Mayor was re-elected as Director-General of UNESCO. He concluded his acceptance speech with the following words: “From everything I have just said you will have gathered that I intend to devote myself personally, in the coming years, to the culture of peace, the peace of peoples and the peace of individuals, peace that is the prime condition for discharging our duties as men and women to the full, our mission as human beings.”

At UNESCO, Mayor personally lobbied to achieve more than 50 declarations for a culture of peace from important international bodies, as listed here. These, and many others, are also listed in Mayor’s own publication, “History of the Culture of Peace”, that he updated as recently as 2019.

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Questions related to this article:

How can we carry forward the work of the great peace and justice activists who went before us?

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In those years, under Mayor’s leadership, at the Culture of Peace Program, we established national culture of peace programs, beginning with El Salvador and Mozambique and including later, a national program in the Russian Federation.

On a few occasions Mayor and I published together. The first was in 1993 with the article, “How Psychology Can Contribute to a Culture of Peace” that was given the place of honor as the first article in a new journal, Peace and Conflict Journal of Peace Psychology, appearing only under his name. This article was my way of explaining to Mayor, (and to the journal’s audience, how the approach of the Culture of Peace Program was based on the findings of the Robbers Cave experiment of the psychologist Muzafer Sherif. This was the principle of cross-conflict participation which we used in El Salvador and Mozambique, getting the former enemies to work for peace by planning together projects of social projects.

Unfortunately, rich member states of UNESCO refused Mayor’s request to fund the 50 or so projects drafted by the former enemies in El Salvador and Mozambique. The one exception, a project for rural women in El Salvador, funded by the German Development Agency, was a great success, proving that the method was successful. If the other projects had been funded, we can imagine that El Salvador and Mozambique could have escaped from the culture of war which has once again descended upon them. And perhaps the rest of the world would have turned away from its domination by the military-industrial complex.

The opposition to Mayor’s work for the culture of peace by of the rich Member States and their military-industrial complex would only increase over the years.

The failure of our national programs led to conflict in our unit at headquarters. I took the position that the approach of national programs had failed and that we should turn to working primarily with the civil society by establishing a news network for their actions that promoted a culture of peace. The rest of the unit disagreed. Like the rest of the United Nations founded on a military model in 1945, UNESCO has no effective means for conflict resolution within the organization. Unlike many large corporations, that have come to establish conflict resolution methods, the UN and UNESCO have resisted reform. In our case, we tried to resolve our conflict with the use of outside mediators. When this failed, I went personally to Mayor, breaking the old military rules of UNESCO by going over the head of my director, and I told him that I could no longer work in the organization.

Mayor’s response was to ask me to be patient and he would give me a new responsibility. First, using funds gained by the return of the UK to UNESCO, he gave me resources for contracts for a culture of peace news network in the six languages of the organization. Then, a few months later he put me in charge of a new unit to manage the International Year for the Culture of Peace (IYCP) that had been voted by the UN in New York.

The contracts for a culture of peace news network were awarded, but without exception, they eventually failed. After leaving UNESCO, I carried on the work without any money.

But the International Year for the Culture of Peace was a success, thanks to Mayor’s support including two of his management decisions. He put Anaisabel Prera Flores in charge of mobilizing the sectors of UNESCO, and assigned Enzo Fazzino to work with me in the IYCP unit. I took on the task of preparing, along with Sema Tanguiane, the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace that was eventually adopted by the UN General Assembly. And Enzo took charge of the Manifesto 2000 that translated the UN resolution into everyday language by which individuals could sign and promise to promote a culture of peace in their everyday lives. Thanks to the engagement of UNESCO’s global network of national and civil-society organizations, the Manifesto 2000 was signed by 75 million people, including more than a million in India, Nepal, Colombia, Brazil, Korea and Japan. The first 700,000 signatures came from Algeria where it was sung from the mosques and distributed on the streets by the Scout Movement.

The success of the IYCP was achieved despite the fact that our attempts with Mayor’s help to raise funds were not supported by the rich Member States or by the UN foundation. To support our efforts, Mayor diverted funds from the budgets of pet projects of Member States at UNESCO. This did not make us popular with our colleagues, and it increased Mayor’s conflict with these states.

Mayor’s tenure ended at UNESCO in 1999, so he was no longer the Director-General of UNESCO when the IYCP achieved its full success. Instead, he founded a Culture of Peace Foundation in Spain.

Without Mayor’s leadership, the work of the culture of peace at UNESCO came to a halt. The organization did little to support the International Decade for a Culture of Peace that had been voted by the UN for 2001-2010.

But Mayor did not stop. He obtained funding from Catalonia and hired me and a team of youth to mobilize support for the Culture of Peace Decade in the civil society. This was successful for almost a thousand civil society organizations, as shown in the reports that we prepared in 2005 and 2010.

The member states of the UN failed to publish our reports, despite effective face-to-face lobbying by teams of youth in 2005 and 2006, so Mayor published the 2010 report as a glossy brochure, and we distributed the copies by hand to UN delegates attending the General Assembly meeting about the Decade.

During the Decade, Mayor was named to head up the new United Nations initiative for an Alliance of Civilizations. In this capacity, he once again hired me and our team of youth, to contact youth organizations around the world and ask them what kind of support they needed to promote a culture of peace. In 2006, we published our report based on responses from 475 organizations in 125 countries, and this became the basis for the Alliance youth program which continues to the present day.

After the Decade, Mayor was frustrated by lack of financial support for the culture of peace work of his foundation. At one point, he flew me from the US to discuss this, but he was so frustrated that he spent our half-hour appointment on the telephone with someone else, and I went back to the States with no new project possible.

Had Mayor received the Nobel Peace Prize, as mentioned above, no doubt he would have received the financial support that was needed to further develop the culture of peace.

But we still live in an era when there is no financial support for peace, only for war. Will this ever change?

In his “History of the Culture of Peace“, Mayor leaves us with hope, like the inspiration that he had with Hans Krebs:

“And there lies our faith, because all living beings are predictable and measurable, with the sole exception of the human being. And the fact is that all of us have an exclusive and wonderful ability, which is the ability to create. For this reason, the human being is unpredictable and immeasurable, always capable of the unexpected. The human being is not predestined; he is free and the master of his own destiny. This is the great hope of humanity: in times of greatest tension and crisis, the humans are capable of bringing out the best of themselves.”

“Yes, peace is possible. It is possible to transform an economy of war into an economy of generalised development, in which investments are reduced in arms and increased in new sources of renewable energy; in the production of food and water; in health; in the protection of the environment; in eco-friendly housing; in electric transport; in education… The human race is capable of inventing its own future.”

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After Ending in Overtime, COP29 Called ‘Big F U to Climate Justice’

. . SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT . .

An article by Jessica Corbett from Common Dreams

Critics of the “COP of false solutions” said that instead of much-needed funding, developing nations got “a global Ponzi scheme that the private equity vultures and public relations people will now exploit.”

It was early Sunday by the time the United Nations climate summit wrapped up in Baku, Azerbaijan after running into overtime to finalize deals on carbon markets and funding for developing countries that were sharply condemned by campaigners worldwide.

"COP29 was a dumpster fire. Except it's not trash that's burning—it's our planet," declared Nikki Reisch of the Center for International Environmental Law. "And developed countries are holding both the matches and the firehose."

Recalling last year's conference in the United Arab Emirates, Oil Change International global policy senior strategist Shady Khalil highlighted that "the world made a deal at COP28 to end the fossil fuel era. Now, at COP29, countries seem to have been struck with collective amnesia."

"With each new iteration of the texts, oil and gas producers managed to dilute the urgent commitment to phase out fossil fuels," Khalil said. "But let's be clear: Rich countries' failure to lead on fossil fuel phaseout and to put the trillions they have hoarded on the table has done more to imperil the energy transition than any obstructionist tactics from oil and gas producers."

This year's conference began November 11 and was due to conclude on Friday, but parties to the Paris agreement were still negotiating the carbon market rules, which were finalized late Saturday, and the new collective quantified goal (NCQG) on climate finance.

"The carbon markets in Article 6 of the Paris agreement were pushed through COP29 in a take-it-or leave-it outcome," said Tamra Gilbertson of Indigenous Environmental Network, decrying "a new dangerous era in climate change negotiations."

As Climate Home Newsreported, they establish two types of markets: "The first—known as Article 6.2—regulates bilateral carbon trading between countries, while Article 6.4 creates a global crediting mechanism for countries to sell emissions reductions."

The outlet pointed to expert warnings that "the rules for bilateral trades under 6.2 could open the door for the sale of junk carbon credits—one of the weaknesses of the previous crediting mechanism set up by the U.N. known as the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)."

Jonathan Crook of Carbon Market Watch said in a statement that "the package does not shine enough light on an already opaque system where countries won't be required to provide information about their deals well ahead of actual trades."

"Even worse, the last opportunity to strengthen the critically weak review process was largely missed," he continued. "Countries remain free to trade carbon credits that are of low quality, or even fail to comply with Article 6.2 rules, without any real oversight."

As for Article 6.4, “much lies in the hands of the supervisory body" that's set to resume work in early 2025, said Crook's colleague, Federica Dossi. "To show that it is ready to learn from past mistakes, it will have to take tough decisions next year and ensure that Article 6.4 credits will be markedly better than the units that old CDM projects will generate."

"If they are not, they will have to compete in a low-trust, low-integrity market where prices are likely to be at rock bottom and interest will be low," Dossi added. "Such a system would be a distraction, and a waste of 10 years worth of carbon market negotiations."

Some campaigners suggested that no matter what lies ahead, the embrace of carbon markets represents a failure. Kirtana Chandrasekaran at Friends of the Earth International
said that "the supposed 'COP of climate finance' has turned into the 'COP of false solutions.' The U.N. has given its stamp of approval to fraudulent and failed carbon markets."

"We have seen the impacts of these schemes: land grabs, Indigenous peoples' and human rights violations," Chandrasekaran noted. "The now-operationalized U.N. global carbon market may well be worse than existing voluntary ones and will continue to provide a get out of jail free card to Big Polluters whilst devastating communities and ecosystems."

Chandrasekaran's colleague Seán McLoughlin at Friends of the Earth Ireland was similarly critical of the conference's finance deal, asserting that "Baku is a big F U to climate justice, to the poorest communities who are on the frontlines of climate breakdown."

"COP29 has failed those who have done least to cause climate change and who are most vulnerable to climate breakdown because the process is still in thrall to fossil fuel bullies and rich countries more committed to shirking their historical responsibility than safeguarding our common future," he said. "Now it's back to citizens to demand our governments do the right thing. We must keep demanding the trillions, not billions owed in climate debt and a comprehensive, swift, and equitable fossil fuel phaseout. The struggle for climate justice is not over."

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Questions for this article:

Sustainable Development Summits of States, What are the results?

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Campaigners and developing nations fought for $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance from those most responsible for the planetary crisis. Instead, the NCQG document only directs developed countries to provide the Global South with $300 billion per year by 2035, with a goal of reaching the higher figure by also seeking funds from private sources.

The deal almost didn't happen at all. As The Guardiandetailed Saturday: "Developed countries including the U.K., the U.S., and E.U. members were pushed into raising their offer from an original $250 billion a year tabled on Friday, to $300 billion. Poor countries argued for more, and in the early evening two groups representing some of the world's poorest countries walked out of one key meeting, threatening to collapse the negotiations."

While Simon Stiell, executive secretary of U.N. Climate Change, celebrated the NCQG as "an insurance policy for humanity, amid worsening climate impacts hitting every country," Chiara Martinelli, director at Climate Action Network Europe, put it in the context of the $100 billion target set in 2009, which wealthy governments didn't meet.

"Rich countries own the responsibility for the failed outcome at COP29," Martinelli
said. "The talk of tripling from the $100 billion goal might sound impressive, but in reality, it falls far short, barely increasing from the previous commitment when adjusted for inflation and considering the bulk of this money will come in the form of unsustainable loans. This is not solidarity. It's smoke and mirrors that betray the needs of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis."

Also stressing that "it's not even real 'money,' by and large," but rather "a motley mix of loans and privatized investment," Oxfam International's climate change policy lead, Nafkote Dabi, called the agreement "a global Ponzi scheme that the private equity vultures and public relations people will now exploit."

"The terrible verdict from the Baku climate talks shows that rich countries view the Global South as ultimately expendable, like pawns on a chessboard," Dabi charged. "The $300 billion so-called 'deal' that poorer countries have been bullied into accepting is unserious and dangerous—a soulless triumph for the rich, but a genuine disaster for our planet and communities who are being flooded, starved, and displaced today by climate breakdown."

Rachel Cleetus from the Union of Concerned Scientists, who is in Baku, took aim at not only rich governments, but also the host, saying that "the Azerbaijani COP29 Presidency's ineptitude in brokering an agreement at this consequential climate finance COP will go down in ignominy."

Cleetus' group is based in the United States, which is preparing for a January transfer of power from Democratic President Joe Biden to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who notably ditched the Paris agreement during his first term.

"The United States—the world's largest historical contributor of heat-trapping emissions—is going to see a monumental shift in its global diplomacy posture as the incoming anti-science Trump administration will likely exit the Paris agreement and take a wrecking ball to domestic climate and clean energy policies," Cleetus warned. "While some politically and economically popular clean energy policies may prove durable and action from forward-looking states and businesses will be significant, there's no doubt that a lack of robust federal leadership will leave U.S. climate action hobbled for a time."

"Other nations—including E.U. countries and China—will need to do what they can to fill the void," she stressed. "Between now and COP30 in Brazil next year, nations have a lot of ground to make up to have any hope of limiting runaway climate change."

Ben Goloff of the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity called out the departing Biden administration, arguing that it "should be going out with at least a signal of its moral climate commitment, not copping out ahead of the Trump 2.0 disaster."brokering an agreement at this consequential climate finance COP will go down in ignominy.”
Cleetus’ group is based in the United States, which is preparing for a January transfer of power from Democratic President Joe Biden to Republican President-elect Donald Trump, who notably ditched the Paris agreement during his first term.

“The United States—the world’s largest historical contributor of heat-trapping emissions—is going to see a monumental shift in its global diplomacy posture as the incoming anti-science Trump administration will likely exit the Paris agreement and take a wrecking ball to domestic climate and clean energy policies,” Cleetus warned. “While some politically and economically popular clean energy policies may prove durable and action from forward-looking states and businesses will be significant, there’s no doubt that a lack of robust federal leadership will leave U.S. climate action hobbled for a time.”

“Other nations—including E.U. countries and China—will need to do what they can to fill the void,” she stressed. “Between now and COP30 in Brazil next year, nations have a lot of ground to make up to have any hope of limiting runaway climate change.”

Ben Goloff of the U.S.-based Center for Biological Diversity called out the departing Biden administration, arguing that it “should be going out with at least a signal of its moral climate commitment, not copping out ahead of the Trump 2.0 disaster.”

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UN Women Leaders Network to convene a diverse group of women leaders worldwide to advance women’s rights and leadership

. . WOMEN’S EQUALITY . .

An article from UN Women

The UN Women Leaders Network was launched this week on the sidelines of the 79th UN General Assembly. It is UN Women’s first permanent network of its kind, composed of intergenerational and intersectional women leaders, and its members represent the change needed in the traditional image of leadership today.

The network includes both emerging and more established leaders across ages, regions, and professions. The network will work together to promote the increase and advancement of women in leadership and decision-making spaces worldwide, and functions as a platform to a diverse group of women leaders to discuss and exchange ideas, solutions and experiences as leaders, community-builders and decision-makers.

Chaired by the Executive Director of UN Women, Sima Sami Bahous, and created in partnership with the Government of Iceland, the UN Foundation, and the Council of Women World Leaders, the network will operate in support of UN Women’s work on women’s leadership. As the 30th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action approaches in 2025, and world leaders are being called on to recommit to gender equality and women’s rights and empowerment, the network will serve as champions for diversity in leadership.

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Questions related to this article:

Does the UN advance equality for women?

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The network includes leaders such as:

Amanda Nguyen, CEO and Founder, Rise;
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of Mauritius (2015 – 2018);
Aya Chebbi, Former African Union Special Envoy on Youth and
      Founder of Nala Feminist Collective;
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank;
Hibaaq Osman, Founder and Chairperson, ThinkTank for Arab Women,
      the Dignity Fund, Karama and the Centre for the Strategic Initiatives of Women;
Janet Mbugua, Author, Advocate and Founder, Inua Dada Foundation;
Joyce Banda, President of Malawi (2012 – 2014);
Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia (2010 – 2013);
Julieta Martinez, Climate Justice and Gender Equality Youth Activist;
Kathleen Hanna, Musician, Author and Feminist Activist;
Kimberlé Crenshaw, Civil Rights Advocate, Scholar and Co-Founder
      and Executive Director, African American Policy Forum;
Leymah Gbowee, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, 2011;
Melanne Verveer, Executive Director, Georgetown Institute of
         Women, Peace and Security, GeorgetownUniversity;
Roxane Gay, Author, Professor and Advocate;
Tarja Halonen, President of Finland (2000 – 2012).

A full list of the current leaders can be found here.

Once fully mobilized, the network will consist of a group of 100 women leaders.

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UN General Assembly demands Israel end ‘unlawful presence’ in Occupied Palestinian Territory

. . HUMAN RIGHTS . .

An article from the United Nations

The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday [September 18] voted overwhelmingly to adopt a resolution that demands that Israel “brings to an end without delay its unlawful presence” in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

With a recorded vote of 124 nations in favour, 14 against, and 43 abstentions, the resolution calls for Israel to comply with international law and withdraw its military forces, immediately cease all new settlement activity, evacuate all settlers from occupied land, and dismantle parts of the separation wall it constructed inside the occupied West Bank.

[Editor’s note: Click here for a full listing of how the countries voted.]


UN Photo/Evan Schneider Result of the General Assembly vote on a draft resolution on the ICJ advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

The General Assembly further demanded that Israel return land and other “immovable property”, as well as all assets seized since the occupation began in 1967, and all cultural property and assets taken from Palestinians and Palestinian institutions.

The resolution also demands Israel allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their place of origin and make reparation for the damage caused by its occupation.

The resolution stems from the advisory opinion  issued by the International Court of Justice  (ICJ) in July, in which the Court declared that Israel’s continued presence in the Territory “is unlawful”, and that “all States are under an obligation not to recognize” the decades-long occupation.

Click here for the full text of the resolution  and here for our live coverage of the meeting.

Threat to peace and security

The Assembly “strongly deplored the continued and total disregard and breaches” by the Government of Israel of its obligations under the UN Charter, international law and UN resolutions, stressing that such breaches “seriously threaten” regional and international peace and security.

It also recognized that Israel “must be held to account for any violations” of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including of international humanitarian and human rights laws.

The text says Israel “must bear the legal consequences of all its internationally wrongful acts, including by making reparation for the injury, including any damage, caused by such acts.”

The General Assembly highlighted the need for the establishment of an international mechanism for reparations to address damage, loss, or injury caused by Israel’s actions.

It also called for creating an international register of damage caused, to document evidence and related claims.

(continued in right column)

Question related to this article:

How can war crimes be documented, stopped, punished and prevented?

How can a culture of peace be established in the Middle East?

(continued from left column)

International conference

The resolution also includes a decision to convene an international conference during the Assembly’s current session to implement UN resolutions pertaining to the question of Palestine and the two-State solution for the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Additionally, the Assembly requested the UN Secretary-General to present proposals for a mechanism to follow up on Israel’s violations of article 3 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as identified by the ICJ.

Article 3 refers to racial segregation and apartheid and the undertaking by International Convention’s States Parties to prevent, prohibit and eradicate all practices of this nature in territories under their jurisdiction.

Call on States

In its resolution, the General Assembly called upon all UN Member States to comply with their obligations under international law and take concrete steps to address Israel’s ongoing presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

The Assembly urged States to refrain from recognizing Israel’s presence in the Territory as lawful and to ensure that they do not provide aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by the occupation. This includes taking measures to prevent their nationals, companies, and entities under their jurisdiction from engaging in activities that support or sustain Israel’s occupation.

Additionally, the Assembly called on States to cease importing products originating from Israeli settlements and to halt the transfer of arms, munitions, and related equipment to Israel in cases where there are reasonable grounds to suspect they may be used in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Moreover, the resolution urged States to implement sanctions, such as travel bans and asset freezes, against individuals and entities involved in maintaining Israel’s unlawful presence in the Territory. This includes addressing issues related to settler violence and ensuring that those engaged in these activities face legal and financial consequences.
Adjournment

Finally, the Assembly temporarily adjourned its tenth emergency special session and authorized the President of the General Assembly to reconvene the session upon request from Member States.

The special session is a continuation of the tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly that last met in May amid the ongoing crisis in Gaza, during which it adopted a resolution , laying out additional rights for the State of Palestine’s participation in Assembly meetings.

That resolution did not grant Palestine the right to vote or put forward its candidature to UN Main Organs such as the Security Council or the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

It also did not confer membership to the State of Palestine, which requires a specific recommendation from the Security Council.

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Secretary-General’s remarks to the UN Peace Bell Ceremony

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An article from the United Nations

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,
 
We come together today to sound the call for peace. 

Here at the United Nations, peace is our raison d’être, our guiding light, and our founding creed. 


Secretary-General António Guterres rings the Peace Bell during the ceremony in observance of the International Day of Peace. PHOTO:UN/Cia Pak

Yet peace is under threat.

War is on the march. 

From the Middle East, to Sudan, Ukraine, and beyond, we see bullets and bombs maim and kill; bodies piled high; populations traumatised; and buildings reduced to rubble.  

Meanwhile, the foundations of a peaceful world are fracturing. 

Geo-political divisions are widening. 

Inequalities are growing. 

Disinformation is fanning the flames of hate. 

New technologies are being weaponised with no guardrails. 

And the climate crisis is fuelling instability: depleting resources, and forcing people from their homes. 

International institutions must be better positioned to respond. 

(continued in right column)

Question(s) related to this article:

What is happening this year (2024) for the International Day of Peace?

(continued from left column)

And we have a chance for change. 

Later this month, at the Summit of the Future, we can begin the process of reform and revitalisation: 

By adapting multilateral institutions to today’s reality, instead of the reality of the Second World War; 

By advancing a New Agenda for Peace;

By revitalising the Sustainable Development Goals; 

By protecting human rights;  

By tackling the point where climate and security meet;

By agreeing guardrails on new technologies in conflict; 

By defending and advancing gender equality; 

By combatting racism and discrimination;

And by securing full and meaningful participation in civic life and peacebuilding –particularly young people, women and girls, and other historically marginalised communities. 

In short, we must “cultivate a culture of peace.”

That is the theme of this year’s International Day of Peace. 

And it is a cause all us devotees of peace and justice must rally behind, this day and everyday – through the Summit of the Future and beyond. 

That is the call we make today. 

May it ring out around the world.  

Before I sound the peace bell, please join me in a moment of silence to reflect on the meaning and necessity of peace – and the way in which each of us can nurture the conditions needed for a peaceful world to flourish.

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Statement by the European Union to the United Nations High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace

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An e-statement from the United Nations High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace

Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States by Ambassador Hedda Samson, Deputy Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations High-level Forum on the Culture of Peace: Cultivating and nurturing the culture of peace for present and future generations

(Editor’s note: The following statement is a welcome change from the opposition of the European Union when the culture of peace resolution was submitted by UNESCO to the UN General Assembly in 1998.)


EU Spokesperson, Hedda Samson. Frame from minute 44 in the video of the Forum

New York, 2 August 2024

– CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY –

(Editor’s note: By checking the published e-statement against the delivery in the video of the Forum, one can see that it was delivered as written here including five minor additions to the e-statement marked here in boldface and three minor omissions marked in italics.)

Mr President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, as well as Andorra, Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

As we commemorate the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, the European Union expresses its full support for the Culture of Peace agenda.

This agenda not only reflects our history and core values, but it also guides our actions – within and beyond our borders.

– Concretely, this means that we are deeply committed to the respect for life and dignity of each human being without discrimination or prejudice.

– It means that we are attached to non-violence, the peaceful settlement of conflicts and to democratic participation. North Macedonia, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

– It also means that we are deeply committed to solidarity and cooperation for development, and to the promotion and respect of human rights as well as equal rights and opportunities for all.

The Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace with its eight pillars remains as valid today as it was in 1999. Even if we have witnessed tremendous change in societies worldwide. Even if we are facing new global challenges.

(continued in right column)

Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

(continued from left column)

As we have gathered at this high-level event, let me convey three messages:

– First, pursuing a Culture of Peace can help us bridge the divides across and within societies worldwide. And it can help to advance the full implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

– Second, we have all committed in the Declaration on a Culture of Peace to support the free flow of information and knowledge, to support the important role of the media, to ensure freedom of the press and freedom of information and communication and protection of civic space (online and offline).

– Third, if we really want to be faithful to this agenda, we need effective multilateralism, founded on values and principles embedded in international law, the UN Charter, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, with a strong United Nations at its core. This is the only way to respond collectively and efficiently to global crises, challenges and threats that no one can tackle alone.

Mr President,

In line with the theme of today’s event, the European Union fully agrees that we must cultivate and nurture a Culture of Peace for present and future generations.

As we have said before, the Summit of the Future will be a milestone, but our journey will continue beyond it. If we have a strong and ambitious Pact, we can fully seize the opportunity to pave the way for current and future generations.

The Pact should recommit to the UN Charter and its values, which is crucial in these times of widespread violations. We have all committed, and must again recommit to maintaining international peace and security, taking effective collective measures for the prevention of conflict, for peace operations, and for the suppression of acts of aggression.

There can be no Culture of Peace for present or future generations without respect for human rights, democratic participation and the rule of law. We must do away with all forms of discrimination and prejudice:

– Let us join efforts to achieve gender equality and the full enjoyment of all human rights by all women and girls.

– Let us safeguard the freedom of religion or belief for all. We must strive towards democratic societies, where freedom of opinion and expression prevails, in a spirit of respect, acceptance, tolerance and dialogue, and where we stand united against all forms of racism and extremism.

– Let us foster a Culture of Peace with children and youth through inclusive quality education that promotes acceptance, that empowers them as agents of change, and that safeguards their rights to protection from violence and discrimination.

Mr. President, to succeed in all this, strong partnerships with civil society are vital. That is why it is so important to ensure a safe and enabling environment where civil society can thrive. And that is why we also encourage enhancing the meaningful and effective engagement of civil society throughout the work of the UN System.

To conclude, Mr President, you can count on the EU’s full commitment to contribute to the effective implementation of the UN Culture of Peace agenda.

I thank you.

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UN chief warns of nuclear ‘danger’ as world remembers Hiroshima; urges elimination of weapons

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

An article from the United Nations News Service

The UN Secretary-General called for nuclear disarmament on Tuesday as the world marked 79 years since the bombing of Hiroshima, promising that the UN will “spare no effort to ensure the horrors of that day are never repeated.”


UN Photo/Yoshito Matsushige. Wounded civilians who escaped the blaze gather on a sidewalk west of Miyuki-bashi in Hiroshima, Japan, around 11 a.m. on August 6, 1945.

On 6 August 1945, the United States dropped a bomb dubbed ‘Little Boy’, on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, as World War Two continued. The bombing resulted in immense devastation which killed and injured tens of thousands of people.

The Secretary-General insisted that the threat of the use of nuclear weapons is not just “confined to history books” but a “real and present danger” today – once again looming large “in the daily rhetoric of international relations.”

(Continued in right column)

(Click here for a version in French or here for a version in Spanish

Question related to this article:
 
Can we abolish all nuclear weapons?

(Continued from left column)

The lessons of Hiroshima

In a message delivered in the Japanese city by UN disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu, Mr. Guterres said the lessons of Hiroshima which encourage disarmament and peace have been “pushed aside” but he recognised the people of Hiroshima’s efforts to ensure nuclear weapons are never used again.

He further insisted that the use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable and “a nuclear war cannot be won – and must never be fought.”

He said this is a lesson that shows we need disarmament now.

The message for the future

As the Hiroshima Peace Memorial ceremony continued, Mr. Guterres said that global mistrust and division have grown, but we must ensure not to “press our luck again.”

“Some are recklessly rattling the nuclear saber once more,” he said. “The world must stand together to condemn this unacceptable behaviour.”

Looking ahead to the Summit of the Future in New York next month, the Secretary-General said it is a “critical opportunity for governments to renew their commitment to multilateralism, sustainable development and peace, and adopt an actionable and forward-looking Pact for the Future.”

He said that conflict prevention, disarmament and a nuclear weapons-free world need to be at the heart of these efforts.

“We will never forget the lessons of 6 August 1945,” he said. “No more Hiroshimas. No more Nagasakis.”

Renewed determination

On Tuesday, UN disarmament chief, Ms. Nakamitsu echoed that message online.

In a statement on X, she also renewed her determination “to continue to work towards a world without nuclear weapons. For the security of all peoples.”

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2024 United Nations High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace

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An article by CPNN based on the videos of the forum at UN Web TV part 1 and UN Web TV part 2

The United Nations held its annual High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace on August 2.

The following article is based on the videos of the Forum because it seems that the United Nations did not publish a general article about the forum. There is a UN webpage for the Forum, but it contains only the concept note, the program, video excerpts, three photos and a link to the 1999 resolution on a culture of peace.


Scene at beginning of Forum, taken from UN video. (Note that in previous years, the room was filled with representatives of civil society and Member States)

A concept note with background about the culture of peace was published this year prior to the forum by the President of the General assembly saying that it would be dedicated to the theme “Promoting Culture of Peace in the Digital Era.”

The program consisted of a three-hour opening session beginning at 10:00 with four presentations available in the UN journal.

H.E. Mr. Dennis Francis, President of the UN General Assembly began by commemorating the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and thanking the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh for its continued stewardship of the High-Level Forum. He quoted Mahatma Gandhi that “there is no way to peace, peace is the way,” and Nobel Peace Laureate Muhammed Yunus that “Peace should be understood in a human way – in a broad social, political way. Peace is threatened by unjust economic, social and political order, absence of democracy, environmental degradation and the absence of human rights.”

Mr. Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General for Policy also spoke about the “enduring legacy” of the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and he looked forward to the Declaration on Future Generations to be agreed upon at the Summit of the Future.

Mrs. Lily Gray, UNESCO Liaison Office to the UN said that the digital age demands that we update and refine the concept of a culture of peace, and she referred to UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

Ms. Andrea Carstensen, Representative of Global Youth Caucus on SDG 16 referred to the Secretary-General’s New Agenda for Peace, and Security Council Resolution 2250 — unanimously adopted in 2015 and reaffirmed in 2018. The resolution acknowledges the traditionally-overlooked role of youth in peacebuilding and conflict resolution and calls for the inclusion of young people in decision-making processes at all levels.

Then followed a plenary session with statements by 31 countries, the European Union and 2 observers, the Holy See and the Sovereign Order of Malta. Their statements are available here.

(continued in right column)

Question(s) related to this article:

What is the United Nations doing for a culture of peace?

(continued from left column)

As you may see from the list of countries, there were statements posted from eight countries in Latin America, seven from Asia and five from Africa, but no remarks from the United States or from its allies in Japan, Canada or Australia. China did not issue a statement but is represented, along with 17 other countries, by the statement of Venezuela On Behalf of the Group of Friends in Defence of the Charter of the United Nations

The statement by the European Union in favor of the culture of peace is published here separately because it marks a welcome change from their previous opposition to the culture of peace.

Vietnam and the Holy See also published articles on the Internet about their statements.

In the afternoon there was a one-hour panel session from 15:00 until 16:07 that can be seen in the second video listed above.

The panel session was moderated by Melissa Fleming, Under-Secretary-General for Global Communications. She introduced remarks by the following four panelists:

Mr. Felipe Paullier, Assistant-Secretay-General for Youth Affairs.

Ms. Naureen Chowdhury Fink from the Global Internet Forum to Counter Terrorism. Her remarks are published here. According to Wikipedia, the NGO was founded in 2017 by a consortium of companies spearheaded by Facebook (now known as Meta), Google/YouTube, Microsoft and Twitter (now known as X). It provides a database of videos and images related to terrorism.

Mr. Francisco Rojas Aravena, rector of the University of Peace. His remarks are published here.

Ms Amanda Dixon from the NGO Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light. Her remarks are published here. She spoke about her organization, saying “Our 94-year-old chairman, a global messenger of peace, established our organization over a decade ago to leave peace as a legacy to future generations.” According to Wikipedia, HWPL was founded in 2013 by Lee Man-hee in South Korea, and is classified as a sect according to eight listed sources.

Comments were then requested from the member states and observers, for which there were two: Costa Rica and the NGO Man Up Campaign.

The floor was given again to the four panelists for their final remarks.

Concluding remarks of the panel session were delivered by the Permanent Representative of Bangladesh, Mr. Muhammad Abdul Muhith. He returned to the opening theme of the Forum, commemorating the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace, and looking forward to the Pact to be agreed upon at the Summit of the Future. He thanked all of the Forum participants with a specific mention of the organization Heavenly Culture, World Peace and Restoration of Light.

A closing session at 16:45 is listed in the UN Journal, but there was no video of this published on the UN Web TV, no account in UN News and no statements published in the UN journal.

This year’s Forum continues a trend that began with the Forum last year. Unlike the first ten Forums from 2012 to 2022, when Anwarul Chowdhury was involved in the planning, there is very little role for the civil society and not much media coverage, not even by UN News.

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