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- At the UN, conflict over conflict resolution
Senior United Nations personnel are protecting an outdated and controversial review process for hiring conflict at the world body, a UN Dispute Tribunal tasked with implementing a new review system charges. The new system is supposed to feature binding decisions by independent judges, but without the power to declare individuals in contempt the court has struggled to win cooperation from senior UN staff who have simply ignored some of the court's decisions. The New York Times (free registration) (6/16)       - Security Council warns Somalia on child soldiers
The Somali government remains one of the most persistent users of child soldiers in the world, and those directly involved in deploying them may soon face sanctions, the United Nations Security Council warned Wednesday. Some U.S. officials have also raised concerns over the provision of millions of dollars to Somalia's government to purchase arms and pay soldiers' salaries. The New York Times (free registration) (6/16)  - Add malaria to deforestation threats
Deforestation in the Amazon not only contributes to climate change but can trigger malaria epidemics, U.S. researchers warn in a report published in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases. Cleared areas provide additional habitat for mosquitoes, the main vectors for the spread of malaria, the report warns. AlertNet.org/Reuters (6/16)  | - U.S., Vietnam finally agree on Agent Orange
The U.S. government and other donors need to provide $30 million a year for a decade to clean up areas still contaminated by chemical components of Agent Orange and treat individuals with health concerns related to exposure, according to an assessment by a joint group of U.S. and Vietnamese politicians and scientists. U.S. forces dumped Agent Orange and other herbicides on a quarter of former South Vietnam's territory between 1962 and 1971, destroying 5 million acres of forest. Dioxin exposure has been tied to many health issues including cancer and birth defects. The Toronto Star/The Associated Press (6/16)  | - E-health effort leads to recovery in Rwanda
New data collection efforts at a hospital in the beleaguered Bugesera district in Rwanda are improving the region's ability to confront its most pressing health care challenges, including obstetrics health monitoring and ensuring that AIDS patients take anti-retroviral drugs on schedule. The e-health initiative, launched in September with $32 million in funds from the Rockefeller Foundation, provides monitoring tools to front-line responders and health care providers. Financial Times (tiered subscription model) (6/17) - Technology use helps China worker activism mature
Tech-savvy Chinese workers are using mobile technologies to drive protests against wages and working conditions in Chinese factories. Workers have used cellular telephone text messages and have posted strike videos on the Internet to encourage others to join China's worker movement. This use of technology has helped worker activism transform from covert, patchy individual efforts into an increasingly cohesive, open movement. The New York Times (free registration) (6/16)  | - Chavez critic flees Venezuela over arrest warrant
UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression Frank La Rue called on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to discontinue the government campaign against Guillermo Zuloaga, the head of the Globovision television network -- who has gone into hiding to avoid an arrest warrant. The CEO of Venezuela's last opposition network fled the country, decrying the conspiracy charges against him as trumped up and saying that he would be imprisoned in Caracas's notorious La Planta prison if he were arrested. Critics say that Chavez, who has made noises about taking control of shares in Globovision, is putting the nation on an increasingly authoritarian track. Reuters (6/17) , The Guardian (London) (6/17) - Kyrgyz crisis is unlikely to end soon
Witnesses to ethnic riots in southern Kyrgyzstan last week report active army involvement in the violence, raising suspicion rogue elements of the government and military forces may have helped orchestrate the bloodshed. Russian authorities have turned down a request by the Kyrgyz government to send in troops to help restore order angering ethnic Uzbeks, who have fled the affected region by the tens of thousands. The New York Times (free registration) (6/16) , TIME (6/16) - Israel to loosen Gaza land blockade
Israeli officials said that Israel would allow concrete, steel and some other construction materials to pass through the Israeli blockade of Gaza, so long as construction projects were conducted under international supervision. Previously, Israel linked any easing of the blockade to the return of kidnapped Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit. Israel will not lift the naval embargo, which spurred international condemnation after the raid of a Gaza-bound aid flotilla. Yahoo!/The Associated Press (6/17) , The New York Times (free registration) (6/17) - U.S., EU build on new sanctions against Iran
The U.S. introduced new sanctions against Iran to complement a sanctions resolution passed by the UN Security Council, while the European Union announced that it will unveil sanctions today that go beyond the UN sanctions. The U.S. has said that the new sanctions are not meant to punish the Iranian population but force Iranian leaders to negotiate over its nuclear development program. Iran has proved highly adaptive to sanctions in the past, in particular through elaborate fronts and renaming schemes established by Iranian banks and shipping companies. The Washington Post (6/17) , Google/The Associated Press (6/17)  | |  | | | | | | | | Executive Director | Cultural Survival | Cambridge, MA | | Deputy Program Director | Human Rights Watch | New York, NY | | Online Communications Senior Associate, Public Affairs Girl Up Campaign | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Campaign Associate, Girl Up Campaign | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Communications Associate, Public Affairs Girl Up Campaign | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Systems Administrator | United Nations Foundation (UNF)/Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Pledge Guarantee for Health (PGH) Associate | United Nations Foundation (UNF)/Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | Managing Director, Thought Leadership | United Nations Foundation (UNF) / Better World Fund (BWF) | Washington, DC | | UNITED KINGDOM DIRECTOR | Human Rights Watch | London, United Kingdom | | | |  | |  | |
 | - Wirth on U.S. energy policy
In a June 16 speech to United States Energy Association/Johnson Controls Energy Efficiency Forum, United Nations Foundation President Timothy E. Wirth emphasized five crucial components that should form the cornerstones of a new energy policy for the United States. The speech was given just hours after President Barack Obama addressed the nation in response to the unfolding environmental crisis in the Gulf of Mexico. Click here for video of the speech, via the UN Foundation. |
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