STWR - Share The World's Resources

The UN has a chance to salvage its reputation and redefine itself for the 21st century, but not until the situation in Darfur is stabilised.

Answering questions on Radio 4's World Tonight about the bomb attack on its offices in Algiers, a spokeswoman for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees was cut off in mid-sentence. When asked why the UN was targeted, she started to say: "Unfortunately, the UN is not any more the innocent, humanitarian organisation that can work anywhere," before she was hustled on to the next question as to why the UN didn't take better precautions against attack.

A year-long campaign will be launched today to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which falls on Dec 10, 2008. This campaign will engage the whole UN system in promoting the declaration's ideals and principles of justice and equality for all of us which changed the landscape of international relations and gave substance to the aspirations of freedom and dignity of humankind. But the celebrations are meant not only as tributes to an extraordinary human achievement. They will also be reminders that the goal of making the declaration a living reality for everyone has yet to be realised.

On the 17th and 18th of November 2007, the finance ministers and reserve bank governors of the G20 countries, along with leading International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank officials, will be gathering in the seaside village of Kleinmond, South Africa.¹ 

An ambitious survey of public opinion around the world contains valuable findings of great interest to the world's citizens and policymakers alike. The project, conducted by Voice of the People for the European Council on Foreign Relations and released on 25 October 2007, has discovered: 

The human population is living far beyond its means and inflicting damage on the environment that could pass points of no return, according to a major report issued Thursday by the United Nations.

Anti-poverty activists Wednesday organized thousands of meetings and demonstrations across the world to highlight the plight of the downtrodden and the poor.