October 6, 2011
Conservative lawmakers took aim at the United Nations Population Fund in a bill that would eliminate the $50 million budget request made by U.S. President Barack Obama for the agency. Republicans who backed the bill in the Foreign Affairs Committee said they were upset by UNFPA's work in China, which maintains a policy limiting the number of children each family can have, and said the UN agency was complicit in forced sterilizations and abortions. The committee's ranking Democrat, Howard Berman of California, said, "Don't hold the UN culpable for what a sovereign country does, as obnoxious as it is." http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/congress/house-panel-votes-to-cut-us-money-for-un-population-fund-lawmakers-cite-groups-work-in-china/2011/10/05/gIQA7CFzNL_story.html
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : U.S. Politics
October 5, 2011
It is a "well-known, yet seldom spoken truth" that the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly ushers in a frenzy not only of speech-making and diplomacy, but of spying. In fact, the gathering is the "Super Bowl" of UN spy games, reports the Associated Press. http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/spy-games-york-general-assembly-14660956
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : United Nations
October 5, 2011
Development projects in the occupied territories of the West Bank have been suspended after the U.S. Congress froze $200 million in financing in retaliation for Palestinian efforts to attain recognition of statehood at the United Nations. The administration of President Barack Obama was pressuring lawmakers to reverse their decision, which already has prompted the U.S. foreign aid agency to delay two projects -- valued at $81 million -- to boost the Palestinian private sector and improve overall investment. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/03/us-palestinians-israel-usa-idUSTRE79270P20111003
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : US Foreign Affairs
October 5, 2011
Auditing firms that determine compliance for the world's biggest greenhouse-gas market could begin to turn away businesses because they cannot keep up with the surge in emission-reduction projects in need of validation, said Jonathan Hall, president of the Designated Operational Entities and Independent Entities Association. Over the past three months, a record number of projects, 592, entered the validation stage for UN Certified Emission Reduction credits. http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-03/record-project-flows-test-un-co2-market-as-future-in-doubt.html
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : Environment
October 5, 2011
Bill Richards and J. Read Smith, co-chairs of the National 25x'25 Alliance, recommend a "long-term, stable energy policy to generate jobs and revitalize our economy" that focuses on renewable sources such as solar, wind, hydro and geothermal. "There has never been greater need for public policy and funding to maximize the economic benefits of our nation's vast sustainable resources," they write.http://www.tennessean.com/article/20111004/OPINION03/310040008/Renewable-energy-job-creator?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Opinion|p
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : Environment
September 27, 2011
Leaders of island nations on Saturday pleaded with the United Nations to move more quickly to reduce carbon emissions worldwide in order to prevent flooding and damage from more severe storms in light of rising sea levels attributed to climate change. "Without international cooperation and concerted effort the impact of climate change will be devastating for all our nations," Navinchandra Ramgoolam, prime minister of Mauritius, in the Indian Ocean, told the world body's General Assembly. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/island-nations-tell-un-their-future-at-stake-as-water-levels-rise/2011/09/24/gIQAGnvetK_story.html
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : Environment
September 27, 2011
An additional $700 million, plus greater access for aid workers, is needed in order to save more of the 750,000 lives under threat in drought- and famine-stricken East Africa, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told member states on Saturday. That day, the World Bank announced it would increase aid to countries in the area to $1.88 billion -- almost four times the amount originally pledged last summer -- through 2014. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-15050694
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : Human Rights
September 23, 2011
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : Environment
September 23, 2011
In his address to the United Nations General Assembly, U.S. President Barack Obama reiterated his administration's opposition to the plan of the Palestinian Authority to seek recognition as an independent state at the world body. "Peace will not come through statements and resolutions at the UN. If it were that easy, it would have been accomplished by now," Obama said. The speech also praised the pro-democracy movements sweeping the Middle East, and called on the UN to sanction Syria for its repression of anti-government demonstrators. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/obama-tells-un-he-sees-no-shortcut-to-israeli-palestinian-peace/2011/09/21/gIQAWCO8kK_story.html
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : US Foreign Affairs
September 23, 2011
Nearly $45 billion has been pledged to support the United Nations Every Woman Every Child initiative in the year since the effort to reduce maternal and child mortality rates began. Bangladesh, Ethiopia and other poor countries have earmarked $11 billion for improving health services for pregnant women and newborns. http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/poorest-countries-investing-more-as-un-states-meet-pledge-for-maternal-child-health/2011/09/20/gIQAUrj4iK_story.html
Posted by jose ledonio. Posted In : United Nations
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