Climate & Energy / Earth & Environment / Economic Development / Politics & International Relations / Sustainable Development / World
The truth beyond the food crisis
What’s behind the world food crisis? Yes, the growing world population is a huge contributor to the need for more food. Yes, reckless food- and oil-seed-based biofuel subsidies have added to the problem. Yes, the climate crisis will contribute enormously. Yes, greater prosperity by previously vegetarian consumers in India and China will increase demand for...
Climate & Energy / Developing Countries / Globalization & Global Culture / Politics & International Relations / War & Terrorism / World
World Refugee Day: Displacement in the 21st Century. A new paradigm
The refugee challenge in the 21st century is changing rapidly. People are forced to flee their homes for increasingly complicated and interlinked reasons. Some 40 million people worldwide are already uprooted by violence and persecution, and it is likely that the future will see more people on the run as a growing number of push...
The One Flag
Adbusters invite everybody to create a flag – free from language and well-worn clichés – that embodies the idea of global citizenship. A symbol that triggers pride and cohesion, whether worn on a backpack, displayed on a door, or flown on a flagpole. A symbol for anyone to declare membership in a growing and vital...
‘Ban’ on the Cluster Bomb, Debates Loopholes
DUBLIN (Reuters) – More than 100 nations formally agreed on Friday to ban the use of cluster bombs but debate continued on loopholes that could benefit powers such as the United States, which has refused to take part in talks on a ban. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged states to quickly sign and ratify...
2008 United Nations Year of Languages
7000 world languages. 6 official UN languages. 127 official languages of UN member states The year 2008 has been declared by the UN as the International Year of Languages, in the hope t give more publicity and raise awareness about dying-out languages and universal communication. Exactly this diversity in languages can also form huge obstacles...
Al Gore: New thinking on the climate crisis
In Al Gore’s brand-new slideshow (premiering exclusively on TED.com), he presents evidence that the pace of climate change may be even worse than scientists were recently predicting, and challenges us to act with a sense of “generational mission” — the kind of feeling that brought forth the civil rights movement — to set it right....
UN uses Google to pinpoint refugee crises
[David Batty] The United Nations is using the mapping programme Google Earth to highlight the plight of millions of refugees and its humanitarian work to help them. The outreach programme, a joint initiative between the internet giant and the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), weaves together satellite maps, photos, videos and eyewitness accounts to give viewers...
UN Youth | The Netherlands
I’m happy to present to you a new website which I developed & designed together with the UN Youth Representative Wouter Thiebou. This new website, vnjongeren.nl, aims to build a community for Dutch youths interested in the work and themes of the United Nations. Visitors can make their own account and start publishing articles, reviews...
10 Stories the World Should Know More About
From the hidden world of stateless people to the often overlooked advances in malaria protection to the steps taken to bring peace after separate conflicts in southern Sudan and Uganda, the United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) has compiled its fourth annual list of stories it believes deserve greater public and media attention. “Ten...
Kosovo: the day after
The cost of Kosovo’s independence is the permanent embitterment of its Serb minority. When the tears of joy and despair dry, a fresh diplomatic solution will be needed, says Timothy William Waters. After a decade of waiting and months of intense manoeuvring, Kosovo’s assembly unilaterally declared independence on the afternoon of 17 February 2008. The...
Articles by Christopher Baan / Developing Countries / Globalization & Global Culture / Society / Sustainable Development / World
Doen WIJ genoeg voor een betere wereld?
- This article will soon be published in English, too. Sorry for your inconvenience. - Ondernemend idealisme voor een échte verandering. Het huidige praktisch idealisme is voorbij. Een veranderende samenleving vraagt om een nieuw idealisme en nieuwe ideologieën. Ik pleit hieronder voor een nieuw soort idealisme, wat mijns inziens een duurzamer karakter heeft en meer...
Developing Countries / Globalization & Global Culture / Politics & International Relations / Society / Sustainable Development / World
26,500
Around the world, some 26,500 children die every day. That is equivalent to: 1 child dying every 3 seconds 18 children dying every minute A 2004 Asian Tsunami occurring every week An Iraq-scale death toll every 15–36 days Almost 10 million children dying every year Some 60 million children dying between 2000 and 2006 The...
