A few weeks ago as I was paddling across Purakanui inlet in a kayak – which was rapidly trying to become a submarine -  I passed a pleasant dad in a dingy rowing his two little daughters by the old boat sheds.  We chatted a bit, there on the water and it turned out that “Brian” and his family were from Christchurch.  Their house had been rendered uninhabitable by the earthquakes.  Some kind soul had [...]

Lawyer Jonny Moses talks about his work for the UN in Tanzania, prosecuting suspects from the Rwandan genocide.

New York – The United Nations General Assemblys election of Human Rights Council members today was marred by lack of competition in three of the five UN regional groups, the NGO Coalition for an Effective Human Rights Council said. Although Azerbaijan was defeated in a competitive election, other rights abusers benefited from the lack of choices, said the human rights groups. In most regions, the number of candidates was equal to the number of open [...]

In private conversations and in various places online where the Israeli/Palestinian conflict has been discussed, I have voiced my personal support for the Arab peace initiative that was adopted by the Arab League at the annual Arab summit in Beirut in 2002. Many people have expressed little awareness about what it actually is, so I thought I would put the English translation of the initiative here.

For those looking for the inside scoop in the goings on of the High-Level Event happening at the U.N headquarters this week, I’ve got just the thing for you. The event, focussed on progress and plans to move forward with the U.N Millennium Development Goals, has attracted high level leaders and activists from around the world, with development as the central theme. Live blogging from around the events would be awesome, but alas I can’t be there, [...]

“The year 2008 should mark a turning point in progress towards the MDGs. …Together with the President of the General Assembly, I am convening a special High-level Event on the MDGs on 25 September in New York. This gathering will bring together world leaders, representatives of the private sector and our civil society partners to discuss specific ways to energize our efforts. I expect the meeting will also send a strong message that governments are [...]

Fiji along with 9 other countries has been selected for a United Nations pilot project on Violence Against Women. Participants from government, civil society, including faith based organizations, the UN and AusAid are at a three day workshop, which is in the final day today, to deliberate on a report on Fiji with regard to this issue; and the way forward. By 2010, the UN intends to have established joint programming on violence against women [...]