International Women's Day, on March 8th, 2008, had at its theme "Investing In Women and Girls. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon observed that "investing in women is not only the right thing to do. It is the smart thing to do. I am deeply convinced that, in women, the world has at its disposal, the most significant and yet largely untapped potential for development and peace."

Thanks to almost-president Gore, Katrina, and the UN's accumulation of warnings from scientists all over the world, climate change can no longer be ignored. The new UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has placed the potential impact of climate change first on his agenda. The UN's annual major General Assembly in September adopted climate change as its central theme.

Attacks on the UN Continue

The Secretary General's Report to the UN General Assembly

The world is a dangerous place.

At the UN Millennium Summit of 2000, attended by many of the world's leaders, as well as representatives of 189 countries, 8 goals were adopted – these goals, called the MDGs are alleviation of poverty and hunger, improvement in primary education, child mortality, maternal health, disease, the environment, and, importantly, a global partnership for development.

The World Health Organization (WHO) monitors diseases all over the world. WHO is involved in immunization programs, and establishes standards for biological and pharmaceutical substances. WHO publishes many reports as well as an annual health report. See (www.who.org) This agency not only has a sophisticated capacity to understand and combat new and re-emerging diseases, it has an experienced delivery system.

The International Criminal Court, once considered a Utopian dream, is now in operation. On 11 March, the latest briefing on the topic 'The International Criminal Court: What's Next' informed an audience of NGO representatives that a chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno Ocampo, has been appointed, and the court is already actively pursuing cases. The UN Secretary General, Kofi Annan, has described this as a "giant step in the march towards universal human rights and the rule of law".

International Criminal Court and Global Poverty

From IHEU's United Nations Representative

April 2002

Values Caucus Celebrates 10th Anniversary<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />

 

The Values Caucus, part of the United Religious Initiative at the UN, met on 12 February to celebrate its 10th anniversary, with two speakers on the Ethical and Spiritual Dimension of the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

 

Alfredo Sfeir-Younis is Senior Adviser to the Office of the Managing Director of the World Bank.