Diplomacy & Crisis News

The “horrific conflict,” in Ukraine shows no signs of abating, the UN political and peacebuilding chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, pointing out that since her last update on 5 April, “countless Ukrainian civilians” have been killed in indiscriminate attacks, cities and towns levelled, and much of the country’s arable land “horribly disfigured by shelling”.  

Societies everywhere are beset by “global diseases” including systemic inequality which have helped fuel a rise in disinformation, or the deliberate spreading of falsehoods, said the UN human rights chief on Tuesday, addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Surnommée « princesse de la langue portugaise », Clarice Lispector écrivait comme si cela devait lui permettre de sauver la vie de quelqu'un et de s'approcher de la beauté silencieuse du monde. Figure majeure de la littérature brésilienne, elle est longtemps restée méconnue en France. La publication (...) / Amérique latine, Brésil, Culture, Femmes, Histoire, Langue, Littérature, Fiction, Droits des femmes - 2017/05

/ Russie, Ukraine, Relations internationales, Autodétermination des peuples, Frontières, Relations bilatérales - Europe / Russie, Ukraine, Relations internationales, Autodétermination des peuples, Frontières, Relations bilatérales - Europe

With the livelihoods of about 40 per cent of the world’s population living at or near a coast, the second day of the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon focused on strengthening sustainable ocean-based economies, managing coastal ecosystems.

The deaths of at least 23 migrants seeking to reach Spanish territory from Morocco should be investigated urgently by both countries, the UN rights office, OHCHR, said on Tuesday, reacting also to reports overnight of of least 50 migrants found dead in a truck in southern Texas.

Between 1 March 2011 and 31 March 2021, 306,887 civilians were killed in the on-going war in Syria - the highest estimate yet of conflict-related deaths in the country, according to a new report published by the UN rights office (OHCHR) on Tuesday.

Célèbre auteur uruguayen, figure de la gauche latino-américaine et collaborateur de longue date du « Monde diplomatique », Eduardo Galeano est décédé en 2015, à l'âge de 74 ans. Son dernier ouvrage (un recueil d'histoires et de contes parfois presque aussi brefs que des haïkus) paraît pour la première (...) / Amérique latine, Culture, Histoire, Idées, Intellectuels, Littérature, Uruguay - 2017/05

A “staggering” average of 71 verified grave violations a day, are committed against children by parties to conflict in more than 30 settings across Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America.

Le viol, la répartition des tâches domestiques, mais aussi l'interruption volontaire de grossesse : autant de questions touchant à la condition des femmes qui sont éminemment politiques, mais qui sont pourtant de plus en plus souvent renvoyées à leur « vie privée ». / Femmes, Médias, Politique, (...) / Femmes, Médias, Politique, Réfugiés, Société, Médecine, Droits des femmes - 2010/03

Last week, I traveled to Azerbaijan together with former Israeli Communication Minister Ayoob Kara, who visited Agdam, a city in the war-torn Karabakh region and Baku, where the Honorable Kara was one of 22 foreign experts who gave a talk at Ada University as part of a panel titled “Development in the post-conflict period in the South Caucuses.”   Other speakers included Hikmet Aliyev, the special advisor of Azerbaijan’s president, Fuad Muradov, the chairman of the State Committee on the Work with the Diaspora, and a number of other Azerbaijani government ministers.

In the tour of Agdam, the Honorable Kara saw the ruins of a city, where 100,000 people used to live in the Soviet period.  He saw the ruins of the historic Bread Museum, which used to house a loaf of bread that was preserved by Soviet soldiers dating from the Second World War.  All that remains of that museum is a half-destroyed mural.   He saw tombs dating from the Karabakh khanate, a world heritage site which were partially destroyed.  He saw a mosque, which until recently housed pigs and goats, and was used as an Armenian watch tower.  And he saw the remnants of a cemetery, where all of the bones were thrown away, with the tombstones and gold teeth in the graves being sold for use in the Islamic Republic of Iran.  And until relatively recently, all of these areas were covered in landmines.     

After seeing that, Kara gave an interview to Eurasia Daily, where he declared: “I witnessed terrible destruction.   Mined areas are the greatest disaster of our time.  During our visit, we stated to the government of Azerbaijan that we could provide technological support to Azerbaijan in the field of mind clearance.  Israel has invented a new robotic technology to clear landmines.   With the help of these robot machines, any type of mine can be safely removed from various depths of the earth without manual interference.  We have informed the Azerbaijani government about this in detail and made our proposals.” 

According to him, all of these robots will be able to clear off landmines without the need for landmine maps.   For Azerbaijan, this is critical, as officials in the Azerbaijani government claim that only 25% of the landmine maps that Armenia gave them are usable.    Presently, there are up to a million mines that were planted in the Karabakh region.   

At the conference, Vugar Suleymanov, the chairman of the Mine Action Agency of Azerbaijan, proclaimed: “Azerbaijan is one of the most landmine contaminated countries in the world.    Mines are indiscriminate.   Since the end of the war, there were 228 landmine incidents, which injured 184 and killed 39.”   

However, the Honorable Kara believes a better future is within reach.   In the interview, the Honorable Former Minister also related that he would like to support the peace process between Armenia and Azerbaijan.   Kara proclaimed in his speech: “Azerbaijan has the land of Karabakh.  It is legitimate. Armenia has to accept it.  Different people have to push to find a solution that the two states can be in a better relationship.  Peace is the right way to go.  It is not easy.   It will not happen tomorrow, but it could happen in the next several years if we work hard on it.”

According to him, “The State of Israel can help with different innovations, technologies that both sides need.  For that reason, we can influence.  We have the power to do it as we crossed the same thing in different states in the Middle East.  Peace can happen if you influence that and convince the other side to support that.”

The Honorable Kara declared that this is what happened with the Abraham Accords, when Israel succeeded to make peace with four different countries: “Step by step, after Trump was elected, this has become a reality and the same thing could happen here.   I think that after I visited Shusha last year with Rachel, we understand that you need different things to support the Karabakh area.   I can help you to find a solution for everything that is necessary there.  I know that there are a lot of people coming from Israel here to help but I think as the former Minister of Communication, Cyber and Satellite, I have the connections needed to help Azerbaijan.”

The respectable former minister called upon the State of Israel to use all of its power in order to help Azerbaijan obtain the conditions needed to make peace with Armenia.  He also called upon the foreign experts at the conference to do everything in their power to help Azerbaijan: “Slowly, slowly, the conflict will subside if we work together.   If the world says something together, it will be more powerful than just Azerbaijan or Israel saying something.” 

Leaders in Libya must resolve outstanding issues so that long-awaited presidential and parliamentary elections can finally be held, UN political affairs chief Rosemary DiCarlo told the Security Council on Monday. 

Legalized cannabis use in some countries and states appears to have accelerated daily use and related health impacts, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) revealed in a new report released on Monday.

At least ten people have reportedly been killed by what Ukrainian authorities have said was a Russian missile strike on a crowded shopping centre, and attack which the UN condemned on Monday as “utterly deplorable”.

On Monday, thousands of people gathered at Altice Arena in Lisbon, Portugal, for the first day of the long-awaited UN Ocean Conference. Riding on the global momentum generated by the event, experts are pushing for a new international commitment to combat pollution, including at sea.

“High level” violence has resulted in “scores of Palestinian and Israeli casualties”, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process told the Security Council on Monday.

Although climate change threatens everyone, women and girls often suffer its harshest and most violent consequences, UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Monday. 

De la controverse sur le traité constitutionnel européen au rejet du contrat première embauche (CPE) émerge un débat de civilisation. Quelle place pour l'humain face au marché ? Quelles valeurs la société veut-elle défendre ? Depuis des décennies, qu'il s'agisse de la théorie de la « fin de l'histoire et (...) / Europe, Droits humains, Économie, Idées, Jeunes, Libéralisme, Mouvement de contestation, Politique, Société - 2006/05

A UN conference on transforming the world's urban areas is underway in Poland this week, which will include a dialogue on urban crisis recovery and reconstruction, centered on neighbouring Ukraine.

At the UN Ocean Conference in Lisbon on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the international community to commit and unite around the protection and preservation of our seas.