A  longstanding proposal for a regional nuclear-weapons-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East - one of the world's most conflict-ridden regions – has been kicked around the corridors of UN committee rooms since 1974. And as another effort to negotiate a legally-binding treaty concluded la

When UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a global appeal for "zero hunger" on World Food Day last month, he provided some grim statistics rich in irony: more than 820 million people do not have enough to eat, he said, while two billion people are overweight or obese. "It is unacceptable tha

The United Nations is an institution which promotes multilateralism and preaches some of the basic tenets of multiparty democracy and liberalism, including the rule of law, universal human rights, free speech, civil liberties, the rights of refugees and freedom of the press. But, paradoxically, th

The two key goals in the UN's development agenda are the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030. But most of the world's developing nations, currently fighting a losing battle against rising poverty and hunger -and suffering from the devastating impact of climate change- are likely to m

The United Nations will be hosting six high-level plenary meetings - unprecedented even by its own standards - on the occasion of the 74th session of the General Assembly in late September. The meetings are being viewed primarily as an attempt at reviving multilateral diplomacy at a time when a ra

The world's high seas, which extend beyond 200 nautical miles, are deemed "international waters" to be shared globally- but they remain largely ungoverned. "It's a jungle out there", remarks one diplomat, describing a virtually lawless wide-open ocean which has steadily undergone environmental des

The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) is convinced that the world's 1.8 billion adolescents and youth - a quarter of the global population - have a key role to play in helping implement the UN's 2030 Development Agenda. In an interview with IPS, UNFPA Deputy Executive Director (Programme) Dereje Wordofa,

The Trump administration, in its continued hostility towards the United Nations- and as part of its policy aimed at undermining multilateral institutions and international commitments- has withheld its annual contributions to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) - for the third consecutive year. The thr