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© United Nations

Climate Change Deal Reached in Durban

After two weeks and extended negotiations over the weekend an agreement was reached at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban - COP17.
The text is known as Durban Platform for Enhanced Action - a package of decisions which include the launch of a protocol or legal instrument that would apply to all members, a second commitment period for the existing Kyoto Protocol and the launch of the Green Climate Fund.

See:

The General Assembly honours Dag Hammarskjöld

The General Assembly opened its annual session on 13 September 2011.
The first meeting was dedicated to the memory of Dag Hammarskjöld,
the second Secretary General of the United Nations, who was killed in
a plane crash during a UN mission 50 years ago. 

Four areas of focus for this year's session were outlined: the peaceful settlement of conflicts, the revitalization of the UN organization, improvement of disaster prevention and response and a push forward for for the sustainable development agenda.

For more information
see

© United Nations

South Sudan becomes 193rd Member of the United Nations

The world's youngest nation - the Republic of South Sudan - became
the 193rd member of the United Nations on 14 July 2011, when the General Assembly admitted the newly independent country to the community of nations. South Sudan’s independence from the rest of Sudan
is the result of the January 2011 referendum.

For more information
see

UN closely watching developments in the Arab region

UN Secretary-General Bank Ki-moon expresses concern over the development in the Arab region and condemns the violence against civilians.

In a statement the UN Security Council condemns the use of force, demanding an immediate end to the violence, and calling on the Government of Libya to address the legitimate demands of the population. In its resolution 1970 the Security Council unanimously voted for santions on Libyan authorities. On 26 February, the Security Council decided to refer the question of Libya to the International Criminal Court. In its resolution 1973 from 17 March the Security Council imposes a ban an all flights in Libya's airspace authorizing "all necessary measures" to protect civilians under threats of attack. Ten members voted in favour, with five abstaining, including China, Russia and Germany.

The Human Rights Council holds a special session on the situation of human rights in Libya.

Adopting a concencus resolution the General Assembly suspends Libya’s membership in the Human Rights Council.

For more information
see

UN Conference on Climate Change in Cancun, Mexico

The United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Cancun, Mexico, from 29 November to 10 December 2010.

Around 25 thousand participants, from governments, businesses, NGOs and the global scientific community tried to reach a consensus on ways to tackle climate change and agree on a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

The meeting does not establish a new global, legally binding treaty, but it reached a compromise agreement on important measures for tackling climate change.

The agreement includes plans to create a Special Climate Change Fund to help developing nations deal with global warming and to increase efforts to reduce emissions from deforestation.

For more information
see

The U.N. General Assembly opened its 65th session

The 65th General Assembly ordinary session opened on Tuseday 14 September 2010 with 160-item agenda. The new UN General Asselmbly President is Joseph Deiss, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.

The new Assembly will focus on the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), reform of the United Nations and the promotion of environmentally sustainable development.

A  High-level Plenary Meeting of the General Assembly on 20-22 September will focus on accelerating progress towards the achievement of all the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

See

UN Women - historic move

The General Assembly unanimously adopted a resolution on July 2010 to set up the new UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, to be known as UN Women.

The new body will consolidate four existing UN bodies on women:  UNIFEM - UN Development Fund for Women, DAW - The Division for the Advancement of Women, OSAGI - The Office fo the Special Advisor on Gender Issues and the Advancement of Women  and INSTRAW - The International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women.

The new entity will strengthen the role of the UN in advancing the situation for women and it will give a powerful voice for women within the UN system and at the global, regional and local level.

UN Women will be operational by January 2011 and it will be headed by former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet. 

See

See also DagDok: UN Women.

UN information resources on Haiti

News Focus: Haiti earthquake is a web portal to UN information resources on Haiti created by UN News Centre. It contains news, reports from the United Nations and its specialized agencies, resolutions, statements and meeting records.

United Nations Climate Conference in Copenhagen

 

Represenatitives from 192 nations meet in Copenhagen for the United Nations Climate Conference - The 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The aim of the Conference is a new global agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol. The agreement will serve as a global deal to limit greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere. In order to reduce carbon emission worldwide the wealthier nations nations must agree to help poorer countries to deal with climate change.

The Copenhagen Accord - advance unedited version and draft text.

For further information,
see

Se also DagDok: Environment and Sustainable Development 

UN on Youtube

The United Nations provides daily new through its television channel UN Channel on Youtube. 

UN Yearbook goes online

Yearbook of the United Nations has been the primary reference work on the Organization since 1946. It details the many activities of the Organization and its organs, programmes and bodies, as they are carried out in all corners of the globe. The Collection includes every volume published since 1946 with a detailed subject index including bibliographical notes and references.

Since October 2008 the complete full text collection of The United Nations Yearbooks is available online at http://unyearbook.un.org/ . 

The database provides free public access to the 59 volumes of the Yearbook collection, detailing the work and achievements of the United Nations system over the first 60 years of its existence (1946-2005).   

 

Sweden hosts the first Iraq Compact Annual Review Conference

The International Compact with Iraq (ICI) is an international partnership aimed at supporting the political process in Iraq needed to create stability and support the strengthening of democracy and respect for human rights.
The ICI is led by the government of Iraq and co-chaired by the UN. 

The ICI was launched in Sharm el-Sheikh on 3 May 2007. The first Annual Review Conference takes place in Stockholm on May 29, 2008.

For further information, see:

See also:

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Bali

The United Nations Climate Change Conference took place in Bali, Indonesia, from 3 to 14 December. Delegates from over 180 nations, together with observers from intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations, met to draft a plan to replace the Kyoto protocol, which expires in 2012. 

After two weeks of bitter disagremments and accusations a compromise was reached: "the Bali roadmap" contains text on emissions cuts, the transfer of clean technology to developing countries, halting deforestation and helping poorer nations protect their economies and societies against impacts of climate change.  

For further information,
see:

Se also:

The United Nations and Google to fight poverty

The United Nations has teamed up with Google and Cisco to launch a new web site - the MDG Monitor.

The site will provide data and information on global efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) - eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges, approved by world leaders at a UN Summit in 2000.

The site includes Google Earth's map and satellite imagery to fly anywhere on the planet and explore where work is being done to achieve these goals. 

For further information, see:

Documentation

For daily UN news, press releases, statements, briefings and calendar of events, consult the UN News Centre at the UN official web site. 

News Focus, posted on the UN official web site, serves as a guide to essential resources on UN issues in the news. 

The United Nations Webcast Site provides videos of UN meetings and conferences both live and on-demand.

New UN online information, documents, reports and publications are posted at UN Pulse, a news service from the Dag Hammarskjöld Library at UN Headquarters in New York.

Databases and Indexes

A daily release of UN documents and reports with full text links is published in the ODS database.

Text: Gunnel Torén | Dag Hammarskjöld Library | Latest update: 13/12/2011