Source: un-libraryFollowing this morning’s meeting on Sierra Leone, the Security Council will meet to discuss the latest report from the Secretary General on Women and Peace and Security (S/2012/732), and the Permanent UN Representative of Guatemala’s letter dated October 2nd (S/2012/774).
UN Resources
- Security Council Resolutions
- Security Council Meeting Records
- Statements by the President of the Security Council
- Reports from the UN Secretary General
Additional UN Resources:
- UNWomen’s Annual Report 2011-2012
- UNite - to End Violence Against Women
- UN Peace Building Support Strategy 2012-2013
Non-UN Resources:
Harvard professor Gerald Neumann speaks about the UN Human Rights Committee’s concluding observations on Kenya in an interview with the CCPR Centre.
Source: un-library
Tomorrow is Nelson Mandela International Day! In November 2009, the UN General Assembly declared 18 July “Nelson Mandela International Day” in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
General Assembly resolution A/RES/64/13…
Source: un-libraryThe Signing of the United Nations Charter
On June 26, 1945, delegates from 50 countries, representing eighty per cent of the world’s races, religions and continents, lined up to affix their names on a document that would forever change the international relations and provide hope for a peaceful world—the United Nations Charter. The Dag Hammarskjöld Library will be profiling eyewitness accounts of those involved with the creation of the Charter and the 1945 San Francisco Conference in the UN Oral History website in an effort to highlight the importance of this historic event.
The path that led to the creation of the United Nations was not an easy one. After a series of meetings and events,—the Declaration of St. James’s Palace (June 1941), the Atlantic Charter (August 1941), the Declaration of the United Nations (January 1942), the Moscow and Teheran Conference (1943), Dumbarton Oaks and Yalta (1944-1945)—850 delegates gathered at the San Francisco Conference in June of 1945 to set up an organization that would maintain peace and preserve hope for a better world. General Carlos P. Romulo, head to the Philippine delegation at the Conference states, “Now what we envisioned in San Francisco was an organization that would be universal. That was one of the outstanding characteristics that we wanted for the new Organization to have, universality, and that was very well placed in the Charter, the universality of the Organization.”
In the nearly 400 meetings held during the Conference, the delegates discussed and fine tuned every line, word and sentence of what would be the United Nations Charter. After many clashes of opinion, debates and arguments, the final draft was presented at the last meeting in the Opera House at San Francisco on June 25. When the issue was put forth, every delegate rose and remained standing, as did everyone present, in support. Loud acclaim resounded as the Chairman announced the Charter’s unanimous passing.
“There was a feeling of general euphoria that the work had been accomplished.” – Leland Goodrich, Scholar and Contributor to the UN Charter
You are invited to discover more of this long and, often times, difficult journey to the creation of the United Nations Charter and the Organization itself through the poignant first-hand accounts on the Oral History website.
Related Resources:
A critical post on India’s role on the proposed UN internet governing body, CIRP.
Research shows that India`s effort as part of the government advisory council to the current internet governance process has been dismal. It is ill-represented and made no effort to strengthen and improve the existing process before an attempt to destroy it through a bazooka called the CIRP. The government is perhaps trying to piggyback on US-bashing and project itself as the saviour of global internet governance, never mind its abysmal policy failure in internet and broadband penetration.
Source: pen.orgPEN at the UN: Human Rights Council completes review of South Africa, Bahrain, Ecuador, and Tunisia
Last week, PEN was excited to see free expression issues take center stage during reviews of South Africa, Bahrain, Ecuador, and Tunisia at the UN Human Rights Council.
Click here for the full article.
Photo by 12thplaya on Creative Commons License.
South African delegates were grilled at the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday about the so-called “Secrecy Bill” by representatives from Sweden, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, and the U.S. Ostensibly designed to cure defects in an old apartheid-era law, vague and overbroad wording in the proposed Protection of Information Bill would criminalize the disclosure of information while denying a robust public interest defense for whistle-blowers. The ruling ANC party at first opposed any changes in the bill but has since compromised on several provisions.
