The United Nations Secretariat as international development actor

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 the research report Reevaluating the United Nations Secretariat's Contribution to Economic Development 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 underestimation of the UN Secretariat's ODA Coefficient no longer does justice to its role in implementing 2030 Agenda and a reassessment is therefore necessary.

Invitation to the official launch event: Our Common Digital Future

Charter for a Sustainable Digital Age

The recently published report of the UN Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation recommends to develop goals, principles and priority actions for a Global Commitment for Digital Cooperation. The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) strongly supports this proposal. Considering the great transformative force of digitalization, it is striking that digital technology hardly features in the SDGs. Both digitalization and the 2030 Agenda are key drivers of global change and must be brought into alignment to enable global sustainable development. In its latest report, Towards Our Common Digital Future, WBGU argues that this effort requires a normative reference frame and advocates a Global Charter for a Sustainable Digital Age.

Global Investors for Sustainable Development (GISD) Alliance

Dinner and Reception of the Strategy Group

On September 24th, KAS New York hosts a reception and dinner with the Strategy Group of the newly founded ‘Global Investors for Sustainable Development’ (GISD) Alliance. The group consisting of experts appointed by the CEOs of GISD members met in New York to develop a plan of action and to prepare the official launch of the GISD Alliance on October 16th.

Luncheon discussion with Dr. Gerd Müller, Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development

Am 24. September läd das New Yorker Büro der KAS zu einem Mittagessen mit Dr. Gerd Müller, Bundesminister für wirtschaftliche Zusammenarbeit und Entwicklung, sowie deutschen internationalen Mitarbeitern, die in verschiedenen UN-Organisationen tätig sind, ein. Anlass für den Aufenthalt von Dr. Gerd Müller in New York war der jährliche Besuch der UN-Generalversammlung und seine Teilnahme an den SDG-, Klima- und Gesundheitsgipfeln.

Data as Political Capital

What kind of Rules & Regulations do we need for a a digitized Democracy?

Digitization has completely altered the way our societies communicate and how political opinion-making is shaped. Foreign interference, online hate-speech, data leaks on social media platforms and fake-news have made it more important than ever to define a global rules-based system and code of conduct that sets a common standard and protects democracy. The discussion with Germany’s leading startup for Digital Political Communications and Teddy Goff, one of America’s key figures from the campaigning landscape, will provide a state of the lay of current debates in Europe and the US, and will draw attention to the action that needs to be taken in order to have resilient democracies in the age of new technologies and artificial intelligence.

Strengthening the Voice of Europe at the United Nations

Conference

For many years, calls have been loud and clear for the European Union to become a more cohesive foreign policy player that „speaks with one voice“ and brings to bear the unified political weight of Europe in international affairs. With a few notable exceptions, these calls have produced very limited results. The EU, despite its formal aspirations for a Common Foreign and Security Policy, has never been able to transform itself into a heavyweight in international diplomacy. By and large, its relevance in the global arena comes mainly through its weight as a unified trading bloc and through the relative wealth of its core members. In the realm of security and defense and international crisis management, the EU is mostly perceived as a lightweight dependent on the United States for its security and the protection of its interests around the world. Its diplomatic power has thus come to bear mostly within the framework of transatlantic relations, and in tight lockstep with Washington.

Invitation to celebrate the new Green Industry Platform

To celebrate the re-launch of the Green Industry Platform, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP) will hold an interactive walk-through of the new Platform. The Green Industry Platform is an easy-to-use online database of information, tools, and practical guidance to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) become more efficient, competitive and sustainable by going green. A joint initiative of the Global Green Growth Institute, the OECD, UN Environment, UNIDO, and the World Bank, under the auspices of the GGKP, the new Green Industry Platform builds on the current global momentum for addressing environmental challenges by providing a comprehensive and neutral sustainability knowledge platform for the business community. The platform is designed to encourage the discovery and application of cutting-edge knowledge to achieve real-world change, by advancing environmental sustainability and strengthening commercial competitiveness. Together with the Green Industry Platform founders, join industry and policy experts at this informal lunch session to discover the new Platform.

Dinner with Dr. Johann Wadephul

KAS New York cordially invites to a dinner event in honor of Dr. Johann Wadephul, Vice Chairman of the parliamentary group of the Christian Democratic Party (CDU) in the German Bundestag and member of the Foreign Affairs Committee addressing the topic of geopolitical shifts in strategic alliances.

Book launch "Evangelicals and Political Power in Latin America"

Evangelical churches have experienced significant growth worldwide in recent decades. Their influence stretches beyond the spiritual sphere into politics, and economies. In recent elections in Latin America they played a decisive role. In a research project and publication coordinated by KAS Peru, sociologists and political scientists from Latin America analysed the political strategies of evangelical churches, evaluated their success and raised questions about the loss of hegemony of the Catholic church on the continent.

Crafting an Alliance for Multilateralism

In April 2019, the foreign ministers of Germany and France announced an initiative to create an alliance for multilateralism to enlist those UN Member States committed to international cooperation. It is clear that the United Nations needs champions in a challenging international context; however, questions arise about this proposal.