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UNRIC Library Newsletter - September 2010
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NEW WEBSITES WITHIN THE UN SYSTEM

UN in General

General Assembly - 65th session
English: http://www.un.org/en/ga/65/
French: http://www.un.org/fr/ga/65/
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/ga/65/
The sixty-fifth ordinary session opened on Tuesday, 14 September 2010.

High-level meeting of the General Assembly as a contribution to the International Year of Biodiversity (22 September 2010)
English: http://www.un.org/en/ga/65/meetings/biodiversity.shtml
French: http://www.un.org/fr/ga/65/meetings/biodiversity.shtml
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/ga/65/meetings/biodiversity.shtml
In its resolution 61/203, the General Assembly declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity and in resolution 63/219, it decided, as a contribution to the International Year, to convene a high-level meeting of the General Assembly at its 65th session, with the participation of Heads of State, Governments and delegations.

High-level Meeting on Revitalizing the Work of the Conference on Disarmament and Taking Forward Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations convened by the Secretary-General (24 September 2010)
English: http://www.un.org/en/ga/65/meetings/disarmament.shtml
French: http://www.un.org/fr/ga/65/meetings/disarmament.shtml
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/ga/65/meetings/disarmament.shtml
On 20 July 2010, the Secretary-General wrote to Member States to invite them to a High-level Meeting on Revitalizing the Work of the Conference on Disarmament and Taking Forward Multilateral Disarmament Negotiations, to be held on 24 September 2010.

High-level Event on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States (New York, 24-25 September)
English: http://www.un.org/en/ga/65/meetings/mauritiusreview.shtml and http://www.sidsnet.org/msi_5/index.shtml
French: http://www.un.org/fr/ga/65/meetings/mauritiusreview.shtml
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/ga/65/meetings/mauritiusreview.shtml
Following the start of the annual General Debate, the General Assembly will held a five-year review of the Mauritius Strategy for the Further Implementation of the Barbados Programme of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.

Report of the Secretary-General on the work of the Organization (A/65/1)
English, French & Spanish: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/65/1(Supp)
German: http://www.un.org/Depts/german/gs/a-65-1.pdf
The Report of the Secretary-General on the Work of the Organization to the 65th session of the General Assembly is now available (A/65/1). In introducing the report the Secretary-General notes that: “Over the past year: the world moved from being on the brink of a global economic depression to witnessing the beginnings of a global recovery. To be sure, the recovery is fragile and uneven, and there is no guarantee that a relapse will not occur.”  He also notes that:

• Unemployment remains unacceptably high, and vulnerable employment continues to rise.
• Economic volatility, eruptions of conflict, natural disasters, challenges to food security and strains on natural resources are unlikely to disappear.

In addition, analysis by the United Nations suggests that while Governments have made substantial efforts to stimulate growth and spur recovery, those efforts have not always met the needs of the poor and most vulnerable.

UN Blue Book
http://www.un.int/protocol/bluebook/bb300.pdf
Permanent Missions to the United Nations lists the names, addresses and phone numbers of all representatives to the United Nations. This publication is written in conjunction with the Protocol and Liaison Service and is released in English. 

UN Webcast team launches new website
http://www.un.org/webcast
The UN Webcast team in the Department of Public Information (DPI) has launched a new and enhanced website with new features and better quality video of UN meetings and events. Videos on the new UN Webcast site are in Flash format, with better quality for both live and on-demand coverage of UN meetings and events. 

 

Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

UN Summit · 20-22 September 2010 · New York
High-Level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly
English: http://www.un.org/en/mdg/summit2010/
French: http://www.un.org/fr/mdg/summit2010/
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/mdg/summit2010/

Accelerating progress towards the health-related Millennium Development Goals (WHO)
http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/MDG-NHPS_brochure_2010.pdf
The report describes the critical role of the national health policy and strategy in strengthening health systems and delivering effective interventions in an integrated approach to accelerate progress towards the health MDGs, with a special focus on the health of women and children.

Gender Justice: Key to Achieving the Millennium Development Goals (UNIFEM)
English: http://www.unifem.org/progress/pdfs/MDGBrief-English.pdf
French: http://www.unifem.org/progress/pdfs/MDGBrief-Fra.pdf
Spanish: http://www.unifem.org/progress/pdfs/MDGBrief-Esp.pdf
Despite promising progress on many of the Millennium Development Goal targets, national averages mask large disparities in terms of gender, income and location, with large numbers of women and girls being left behind, especially in rural areas. Coinciding with the UN High-level Summit on Millennium Development Goals, data from the forthcoming “Progress of the World’s Women 2010/2011, Access to Justice”, released by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, part of UN Women) today, spotlights how many women and girls, particularly in rural areas, continue to live in exclusion and poverty.

Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health (New York, 22 September 2010)
English: http://www.un.org/sg/globalstrategy.shtml
French: http://www.un.org/french/sg/globalstrategy.shtml
Spanish: http://www.un.org/spanish/sg/globalstrategy.shtml
Report in English: http://www.un.org/sg/hf/Global_StategyEN.pdf
Report in French: http://www.un.org/french/sg/pdf/global_strategy_2010.pdf
Report in Spanish: http://www.un.org/spanish/sg/pdf/Global%20StategySP.pdf
Culminating a global summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Heads of State and Government, along with the private sector, foundations, international organizations, civil society and research organizations, kicked off a concerted world-wide effort to save the lives of more than 16 million women and children. At a special UN event to launch the Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, stakeholders pledged over $40 billion in resources for women’s and children’ health. The Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health, led by the UN Secretary-General, is a roadmap that identifies the finance and policy changes needed as well as critical interventions that can and do improve health and save lives.  The Global Strategy lays out an approach for global, multi-sector collaboration.

GREENeconomy: A Brief for Policymakers on the Green Economy and the Millennium Development Goals (UNEP)
http://www.unep.org/greeneconomy/Portals/30/docs/policymakers_brief_GEI&MDG.pdf
Investing in clean energy, sustainable transport, forests and environmentally-friendly agriculture is essential. Environmental degradation is making it more difficult for governments to achieve MDGs.

The MDG Gap Task Force Report 2010: The Global Partnership for Development at a Critical Juncture
English: http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/mdggap2010/mdg8report2010_engw.pdf
French: http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/mdggap2010/mdg8report2010_frw.pdf
Spanish: http://www.un.org/esa/policy/mdggap/mdggap2010/mdg8report2010_spw.pdf
The 2010 issue of the report identifies the implementation gaps in the commitments made under MDG 8 and provides recommendations on how to address them, on strengthening the global partnership, and ultimately supporting developing countries in achieving the MDGs.

Narrowing the Gaps to Meet the Goals (UNICEF)
English: http://www.unicef.org/publications/files/Narrowing_the_Gaps_to_Meet_the_Goals_090310_2a.pdf
Spanish: http://www.unicef.org/spanish/publications/files/Narrowing_the_Gaps_to_Meet_the_Goals_SP_091510.pdf
The global community can save millions of lives by investing first in the most disadvantaged children and communities, according to a new UNICEF study released today.  Such an approach would also address the widening disparities that are accompanying progress toward the MDGs.

Progress for Children: A world fit for children statistical review (UNICEF)
English: http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_55740.html
French: http://www.unicef.org/french/publications/index_55740.html
Spanish: http://www.unicef.org/spanish/publications/index_55740.html
UNICEF launched its annual report with the latest data related to children and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The reports on how well the world is doing in meeting its commitments for the world’s children. This UNICEF special edition analyses progress towards the MDGs in four priority areas for children: promoting healthy lives, providing a quality education, combating HIV and AIDS, and protecting against abuse, exploitation and violence.

Unlocking progress: MDG acceleration on the road to 2015 - Lessons from the MDG Acceleration Framework pilot countries (UNDP)
http://content.undp.org/go/cms-service/download/asset?asset_id=2774097
The MDG Acceleration Framework (MAF)—presented in this report—assists countries to develop their own action plans by systematically identifying and addressing bottlenecks which get in the way of MDG progress.

World Bank e-Atlas of the Millennium Development Goals
http://www.mdg.collinsindicate.com/
The World Bank eAtlas of the Millennium Development Goals lets you visualize and map the indicators that measure progress toward the Goals, with clear explanations of each Goal and its related Targets as the context. When you select an indicator, the eAtlas creates a world map keyed to that indicator, with country rankings and data in your choice of tables or graphs. You can pan or zoom to view different countries or regions, view the dynamic change in that map with a time series, compare two maps and sets of data, and do much more.

 

Economic & Social Development

Global Employment Trends for Youth 2010 (ILO)
http://www.ilo.org/empelm/what/pubs/lang--en/docName--WCMS_143349/index.htm
The report presents the latest global and regional labour market trends for youth and specifically explores how the global economic crisis has exposed the vulnerabilities of young people around the world. In developed economies, the crisis has led to the highest youth unemployment rates on record, while in developing economies – where 90 per cent of the world’s youth live – the crisis threatens to exacerbates the challenges of rampant decent work deficits, adding to the number of young people who find themselves stuck in working poverty and thus prolonging the cycle of working poverty through at least another generation.

Globalization of Crime Report (UNODC)
http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/TOCTA_Report_2010_low_res.pdf
Counterfeiters know how to exploit people's appetites for global brands, making knock-offs for a fraction of the price. But even everyday items are subject to fraudulent imitations. According to the recent UNODC report, counterfeit products destined for 140 countries were intercepted in 2008. This type of organized crime not only cheats consumers but also threatens national economies. It also endangers the lives of individuals who purchase spurious or substandard medicines and household goods.

 

Peace and Security

Security Council Concept Paper: Ensuring the Security Council’s effective role in maintaining international peace and security
English, French & Spanish: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2010/461
The President of the Security Council for the month of September, Turkey, has transmitted a concept paper for the Security Council summit on Ensuring the Security Council’s effective role in maintaining international peace and security, to take place on 23 September 2010 at the level of Heads of State and Government (S/2010/461).

United Nations Command Special Report (S/2010/398)
English, French & Spanish: http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=S/2010/398
The report prepared by the United Nations Command on the Special Investigation of the sinking of the Republic of Korea ship Cheonan has been issued (S/2010/398).

United Nations Peacekeeping Operations – Background Note: 31 August 2010 (DPI/1634/Rev.112, September 2010)
English: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/bnote.htm
French: http://www.un.org/fr/peacekeeping/bnote.htm

United Nations Political and Peacebuilding Missions - Background Note: 31 August 2010 (DPI/2166/Rev.87, September 2010)
English: http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/documents//ppbm.pdf
French: http://www.un.org/french/peace/peace/pdf/ppbmf.pdf

 

Human Rights

Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons (A/RES/64/293)
http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/RES/64/293
The General Assembly resolution adopting the United Nations Global Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Persons has been issued (A/RES/64/293). In addition to the plan of action, the resolution also established the UN Voluntary Trust Fund for Victims of Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children.

Human Rights and the Millennium Development Goals in Practice: A review of country strategies and reporting (OHCHR)
http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/HR_MDGs_in_practice_EN.pdf
Governments that pursue development hand-in-hand with human rights stand a better chance of reaching the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A new publication by the United Nations Human Rights office (OHCHR) shows what this entails in practice.

Preliminary report into August’s mass rapes in DR Congo
Report in French: http://monuc.unmissions.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=DKRCQ4Szxrc%3d&tabid=4104&mid=3998
The UN Joint Human Rights Office in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) published on 24 September 2010 the preliminary results of an investigation into the horrifying series of mass rapes and other human rights violations committed by a consortium of armed groups in the Walikale region between 30 July and 2 August.

UN Fact-finding Mission report on Gaza flotilla (A/HRC/15/21)
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrcouncil/15session/reports.htm
The independent international Fact-Finding Mission appointed by the President of the Human Rights Council to inquire into the Gaza flotilla incident on 31 May 2010 has issued its 56-page report. The Fact-Finding Mission is chaired by Judge K. Hudson-Phillips, former judge of the International Criminal Court in the Hague, and has two other eminent members: Sir Desmond de Silva, Queen’s Counsel, who was Chief Prosecutor of the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal and Ms. Shanthi Dairiam, human rights expert of Malaysia and former member of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

 

International Law

ICJ Advisory Opinion on Kosovo (A/64/881)
English, French & Spanish: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/64/881
The Secretary-General has transmitted to the General Assembly the advisory opinion given by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on 22 July 2010 in the case entitled Accordance with international law of the unilateral declaration of independence in respect of Kosovo (A/64/881). The report's general conclusion notes that: “The Court has concluded above that the adoption of the declaration of independence of 17 February 2008 did not violate general international law, Security Council resolution 1244 (1999) or the Constitutional Framework. Consequently the adoption of that declaration did not violate any applicable rule of international law.”