"USA blockieren Resolution des VN-Sicherheitsrates zur COVID-19 Pandemie"

Nachdem die Regierung von US-Präsident Trump bereits Mitte April ihre Unterstützung für die Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) entzogen hatte, machte sie nun am 8. Mai einen mühsam errungenen Kompromiss für eine Resolution des VN-Sicherheitsrates in der COVID-19-Pandemie zunichte.

The Judiciary as protector of human rights and the rule of law in times of a pandemic

On the occasion of the International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace

Diego García-Sayán, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Judges and Lawyers highlights the necessary global judicial response to the current public health crisis. Diego García-Sayán calls on UN Member States to take appropriate measures on eight relevant judicial aspects, while also preserving their citizen’s fundamental human rights and particularly their right to health.

Bridging the Financing Gap of the Sustainable Development Goals

Estimates presented during last year's United Nations General Assembly revealed dramatic funding gaps in achieving Agenda 2030. It becomes clear that traditional sources of development finance are merely a drop in the ocean. Alternative approaches, such as innovative financial instruments, blended finance and impact investments, are promising but have not lived up to their potential. This news comes at a difficult time when the world experiences a dramatic slowdown of economic activity in light of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the erosion of the multilateral rules-based order. Development practitioners are concerned that the coronavirus will 'infect' Agenda 2030 and that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be among its many victims. With the United Nations Headquarters in New York on lockdown and all international conferences being cancelled, it will be challenging but critical to keep up the momentum of the Financing for Development process.

„Ist ein Ende der Paralyse in Sicht?“

Die Lähmung des Sicherheitsrates der Vereinten Nationen in der COVID-19 Pandemie

Seit einem Monat steht die globale Weltordnung vor der größten Herausforderung seit dem Zweiten Weltkrieg. Doch das zur Bewältigung von Krisen und Konflikten mandatierte Organ, der Sicherheitsrat der Vereinten Nationen (VN), hüllt sich bislang in Schweigen. Eine von Deutschland und den weiteren neun gewählten Mitgliedern eingebrachte Forderung nach einer Sitzung zur COVID-19-Pandemie könnte diese Woche einen neuen Impuls setzen.

Dies ist nicht die Zeit für politische Spielchen!

Der Gouverneur von New York State richtet einen eindringlichen Appell an die Regierung Präsident Trumps und den Kongress

Der Gouverneur von New York State, Andrew Cuomo versucht sowohl die Stadt als auch den Bundesstaat auf die größte Krise nach 9/11 vorzubereiten und appelliert eindringlich an die Regierung Trump, die Staaten nicht alleine zu lassen, sondern insbesondere bei der Versorgung essentieller medizinischer Ausrüstung sicherzustellen, dass der Bedarf gedeckt werden kann. Präsident Trump hingegen teilte den Gouverneuren noch vor einer Woche mit, dass sie sich besser selbst, um die Beschaffung der notwendigen medizinischen Geräte kümmern sollten. Dies führte zu einem Sturm der Entrüstung unter diejenigen, die sich an vorderster Front im Kampf gegen die Ausbreitung des COVID-19 Virus befinden.

Human Rights and the Problem of Shrinking Civic Spaces in East Africa

From 13 – 16 January 2020 we welcomed a delegation of Human Rights Defenders from East Africa to New York for a dialogue program addressing the shrinking civic spaces in their countries. The six delegates, two each from Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda met not only people from the UN Secretariat but also different UN organizations as well as representatives from Human Rights NGOs and religious organizations.

Strengthening the voice of Europe at the United Nations

New Year’s Reception and Exchange with Ambassador Olof Skoog, Head of Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations

Reevaluating the United Nations Secretariat’s Contribution to Economic Development

In recent years, not least due to the reforms of the UN Secretary General António Guterres, the role of the United Nations Secretariat as a coordinator and actor in international development cooperation has grown in importance. Wasim Mir (Senior Fellow, UN Foundation) and Sebastian Borchmeyer (Senior Program Officer, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung New York) examined in this research report to what extent the United Nations Regular Budget should count as Official Development Aid (ODA) as defined by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). For the UN Secretariat, the coefficient determining the ODA eligible share of an organization’s budget has been 18% since 2013 – this is considerably lower than the coefficient of other international (development) organizations. This underrating of the UN Secretariat's ODA Coefficient no longer does justice to its role in implementing the Agenda 2030. A reassessment seems therefore overdue.

Report of the delegation of Latin American think tanks to the United States

The role of think tanks in promoting, implementing and communicating the goals of Agenda 2030

From January 22 to 28, a delegation of Latin American think tanks travelled to New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C. to exchange views with organisations and think tanks in the United States

The Road Towards Cyber-Sovereignty Passes Through Africa

#KASTalksTech

On November 18, UN Member States voted on a resolution led by Russia and China, paving the way towards a new global cybercrime treaty. The United States and its Western allies lost an opportunity to convince a majority of emerging and developing tech powers that multilateral, responsible governance can help them compete, boost, and build capacity for deploying converging cyber- and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. As developing countries line up behind China and Russia, the resulting normative alliance heralds the dawn of a new global order. Geopolitical dynamics will be shaped by multipolar competition over who, in cyberspace, owns and controls access to technological convergence – its intangible assets (datasets, source codes and tacit knowledge) and techniques, from AI, 5G, biotechnologies, to quantum computing. As cybercrime continues to rise, increasingly targeting critical infrastructure of high and low-income countries, a new form of geostrategic competition centers around imposing national Internet surveillance and control. Which governance model will ultimately prevail? The Sino-Russian model of cyber sovereignty and broad legal and normative definitions of cybercrime, or the Western model of shared, responsible governance and multilateral collaboration to close the global cyber-enforcement gap? Only time will tell, but the former is quickly gaining support from developing nations.