UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for reforming the international financial system, describing it as “outdated, dysfunctional, and unfair…reports Asian Lite News
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has called for reform of the international financial system which he described as “outdated, dysfunctional and unfair”.
In a video message to the first meeting of the Preparatory Committee for the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development, which started in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Monday, Guterres said the upcoming conference provides a unique opportunity to tackle financing challenges “head-on” as reported by Xinhua news agency.
The conference, scheduled to take place in Spain from June 30 to July 3, 2025, “opens the door for world leaders to adopt ambitious reforms to deliver affordable long-term financing at scale, and deliver the SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Stimulus,” said the UN Chief.
“It presents a unique opportunity to reform an international financial system that is outdated, dysfunctional and unfair — from the tax and debt architecture to the system of public development banks, to trade and investment rules, to the financial safety net and global governance,” he added.
Since world leaders met in Addis Ababa nine years ago and agreed on a transformative agenda committing public and private actors to align investment and policies with sustainable development, progress has been made, but many commitments remain unfulfilled, Guterres said.
The world is facing “seismic shocks” that make financing challenges harder to solve, and geopolitical divisions that undermine collective action, he stressed.
“Faced with sky-high debt burdens and costs of capital, developing countries have limited prospects of financing the Sustainable Development Goals.”
“I count on all of you to move forward with a determination to rescue the 2030 Agenda. And together, we can deliver not only a financial system, but a world, that is more just, equitable and sustainable,” Guterres concluded.
Discussions centered on opportunities for knowledge exchange, international cooperation and partnerships that embody SDG17, partnerships for the goals….reports Asian Lite News
The UAE delegation to the United Nations (UN) High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development met with the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General on Wednesday to discuss how to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the next six years.
UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed met with the delegation, led by Abdulla Nasser Lootah, Deputy Minister of Cabinet Affairs for Competitiveness and Knowledge Exchange and Chairman of the National Committee on Sustainable Development Goals, at the UN’s headquarters in New York.
Discussions centered on opportunities for knowledge exchange, international cooperation and partnerships that embody SDG17, partnerships for the goals. In the meeting, the UAE delegation presented some of the country’s initiatives designed to support inclusive development to benefit individuals, society and the planet, while preserving resources for future generations.
As well as Lootah, the delegation included Rashid Mubarak Al Mansouri, Acting Secretary-General of the Emirates Red Crescent, Mohammed Saif Al Suwaidi, Director-General of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development, Lieutenant Colonel Dana Humaid Al Marzooqi, Director-General of International Affairs Bureau at the Ministry of Interior, and Hashem Al Attas, Senior Portfolio Manager MENA at Masdar.
Amina Mohammed said, “I look forward to continued cooperation with the UAE to accelerate sustainable development for the 2030 Agenda and beyond, ensuring a better future for communities around the world.”
Abdulla Nasser Lootah stated, “The UAE is committed to enhancing cooperation with the United Nations to eliminate poverty and hunger, promote climate action, establish strong and effective institutions, and create partnerships that support sustainable development goals.” “Under the vision of its leadership, the UAE continues to establish strategic global partnerships, especially with UN development programs, to enhance knowledge exchange, stimulate sustainable development, and introduce innovative approaches – including the UAE’s – to achieving sustainable development.”
He added, “Today, after decades of hard work and close cooperation with countries, governments and organizations, the UAE has become a reliable global partner in achieving development goals and supporting peace, justice, and international institutions, including the United Nations.”
A large UAE delegation is participating in the UN HLPF on Sustainable Development, which runs until 17th July. Around 1,000 officials, experts, and specialists from around the world are taking part under the theme “Reinforcing the 2030 Agenda and eradicating poverty in times of multiple crises: the effective delivery of sustainable, resilient and innovative solutions.”
The UN official also condemned the use of explosive weapons in populated areas…reports Asian Lite News
A UN official warned the Security Council of a deepening crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.
During a Security Council briefing, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland described the “catastrophic and horrifying” humanitarian crisis in Gaza, where civilians suffer under the impact of hostilities and a near-total breakdown of civil order, reports Xinhua news agency.
He reiterated the Secretary-General’s warning that further escalations “will only guarantee more suffering and potentially catastrophic consequences for the region.”
Wennesland condemned the ongoing Israeli settlement expansions as having “no legal validity” and being in “flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions.”
“I urge the Government of Israel to cease all settlement activity immediately,” Wennesland stated.
The UN official also condemned the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, which have destroyed neighbourhoods and vital infrastructure, including hospitals and UN premises.
Wennesland noted the increase in violence between Palestinians and Israeli forces and attacks by both Israeli settlers and Palestinians, emphasising that “all perpetrators of violence must be held accountable and swiftly brought to justice.”
He also expressed serious concerns over potential military escalations between Israel and Hezbollah along the Blue Line, the boundary separating Lebanese and Israeli armed forces.
Additionally, Wennesland addressed the Palestinian Authority’s fiscal crisis, exacerbated by Israeli financial constraints. He warned of severe repercussions for the Palestinian financial system, urging immediate action to resolve these financial issues to mitigate the economic and security situation in the occupied West Bank.
Guterres presented the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award for 2023 to Major Radhika Sen of India, who served in the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo….reports Asian Lite News
The world body has held events at its headquarters in New York to honour the memory of the UN peacekeepers who lost their lives since 1948.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres laid a wreath at the Peacekeepers Memorial on the premises of UN Headquarters in New York to pay homage to the more than 4,300 UN peacekeepers who lost their lives since 1948, Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.
He later presided over a ceremony at which Dag Hammarskjold Medals were awarded posthumously to 61 peacekeepers from 33 countries who died last year serving under the UN flag.
The world is going through a difficult and dangerous time. The international community is deeply divided. Conflicts rage; divisions are rife; and there’s an alarming lack of political support for solidarity and practical solutions.
At every step, civilians — children, women and men — bear the brunt, said Guterres at the Dag Hammarskjold Medal ceremony.
“Our UN peacekeepers are more important than ever. Our Blue Helmets hail from all corners of the globe. But they are united in their mission of peace, carrying out their essential work in some of the world’s most dangerous places,” he said.
“What began with the deployment of a small number of unarmed military observers to the Middle East in 1948 has grown to be a global force for peace. Today, more than 76,000 women and men from 121 countries are deployed in 11 operations.”
Peacekeepers represent multilateralism in action. They protect the most vulnerable, preserve fragile cease-fires, defuse local conflicts, remove landmines and explosive remnants of war, strengthen the local institutions and democratic systems, and promote conflict prevention, he added.
Peacekeepers are often engaged in countries or areas where there is no peace to keep. Despite direct attacks by armed groups, harsh operating environments, and the emergence of new weapons of war, UN peacekeepers persevere, Guterres said.
“And we must support them.”
Guterres presented the UN Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award for 2023 to Major Radhika Sen of India, who served in the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo.
The UN chief hailed Major Sen as “a true leader and role model,” saying her service is a true credit to the United Nations as a whole.
Thursday’s events formed the annual observance of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers, which falls on May 29.
Congratulating Indian Army Major Radhika Sen, Guterres called her “a true leader and role model….reports Arul Louis
Indian Army Major Radhika Sen has been selected to receive a UN award recognising her advocacy for women and girls while serving as a peacekeeper, Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, announced here.
Dujarric said that Guterres will present Sen with the 2023 Military Gender Advocate of the Year Award on Thursday, which is observed as the International Day of UN Peacekeepers.
The award recognises the efforts of a military peacekeeper in promoting the principles of the 2000 Security Council resolution that calls for protecting women and girls from conflict-related sexual violence and sets gender-related responsibilities for the UN.
On #PKDay I pay tribute to the more than 76,000 men & women of @UNPeacekeeping who embody humanity’s highest ideal: peace.
Coming from over 120 countries, they bravely work in some of the most dangerous & unstable places on earth to protect civilians & uphold human rights. pic.twitter.com/omAPycYkzC
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 29, 2024
Congratulating her, Guterres called her “a true leader and role model. Her service was a true credit to the United Nations as a whole”.
Sen served with the Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) where she helped create the Community Alert Networks in North Kivu as a platform that brought in community leaders, young people, and women “to voice their security and humanitarian concerns”, according to the UN.
With her MONUSCO colleagues, she worked to address those concerns.
Guterres said that “with humility, compassion and dedication”, she earned the trust of “conflict-affected communities, including women and girls” as her troops engaged with them “in an escalating conflict environment in North Kivu”.
Sen said, “Gender-sensitive peacekeeping is everybody’s business – not just us, women. Peace begins with all of us in our beautiful diversity.”
“This award is special to me as it gives a recognition to the hard work put in by all the peacekeepers working in the challenging environment of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and giving their best to bring a positive change in the society,” she added.
Hailing from Himachal Pradesh, Sen is a biotech engineer who was studying for a master’s degree at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay when she decided to join the Army.
She was assigned to MONUSCO in 2023 as the Engagement Platoon Commander with the Indian Rapid Deployment Battalion, and completed her tenure in April 2024.
Sen is the second Indian peacekeeper to receive the honour after Major Suman Gawani, who served with the UN Mission in South Sudan and received the award in 2019.
Of the 6,063 Indian personnel in UN peacekeeping operations, 1,954 serve with MONUSCO, 32 of them women.
The UN said that Sen, who led mixed-gender engagement patrols and activities, became a role model for both men and women by fostering “a safe space for men and women to operate together under her command”.
She also made sure that peacekeepers under her command operated with sensitivity to gender and sociocultural norms in the eastern DRC “to help build trust and thereby increase her team’s chance of success”, the UN said.
Among the activities she launched for women were English language classes for children, and health, gender, and vocational training for adults.
“Her efforts directly inspired women’s solidarity, providing safe spaces for meetings and open dialogue”, the UN said.
She encouraged women in the village of Kashlira, near Rwindi town, to organise themselves to advocate for their rights, particularly in local security and peace discussions.
(Arul Louis can be contacted at arul.l@ians.in and followed at @arulouis)
The victim was identified as Col. Waibhav Anil Kale, who had started working a month ago as a security coordinator for the UN in Gaza…reports Arul Louis
An Indian working for the United Nations in Gaza has become the first non-Palestinian staffer to be killed during the current Gaza conflict when his vehicle was attacked on its way to a hospital in Rafah.
The victim was identified as Col. Waibhav Anil Kale, who had started working a month ago as a security coordinator for the UN in Gaza, according to The Washington Post, which quoted unnamed informed sources.
Kale, who worked for the UN Department of Safety and Security (DSS) joins the roster of more than 200 Indians who have died in the service of the UN.
The majority of them – 179 – are peacekeepers but many other Indian civilians, who like employees of the DSS are not peacekeepers, have died working for the UN in various capacities in trouble spots.
Earlier, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’s Spokesperson Farhan Haq, who announced the death, did not identify him pending notification to his family and government.
Haq said that Guterres condemned the attack and called for a full investigation.
Another UN employee was injured in the Monday attack, he said.
The blame for the attack has not been fixed because the situation remains murky in Rafah.
Haq did not say who carried out the attack.
Al Jazeera broadcast clips showing windows with bullet holes on the attacked vehicle flying UN flags and bearing large UN markings.
From the nature of the damage, it did not appear to have been an air or heavy artillery attack.
He said that Monday’s victim was the first international employee of the UN killed in Gaza since October 7, although 188 Palestinian employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN arm for humanitarian services for Palestinians, have been killed.
“We will be working with the authorities on the ground to get restitution for all of those who have been killed,” Haq declared.
The Post said that according to its sources, Kale was a 46-year-old father of two teenage children.
Other media reports said that he had earlier worked for the Indian Army.
Israel Defense Forces said that according to an initial inquiry, Monday’s attack happened in an active combat zone and that it was not made aware of the vehicle’s movement.
Haq said that the DSS staffers were in the vehicle with clear UN markings that was in a convoy engaged in “their regular work [for which] they go to different locations to assess security conditions. And this was the European Hospital in Rafah”.
Asked what the UN was doing to seek justice for the UN employees killed in the conflict, Haq said, “In all cases, we are going to set up measures for accountability”.
“A lot of that, as you know, requires ultimately for an end to the conflict so that we can work these out,” he said.
Guterres reiterated his call for a humanitarian ceasefire and the release of the hostages taken by Hamas, which sparked the conflict with an attack on Israel in which about 1,200 people were killed and 128 were kidnapped.
Israel’s retaliation on Gaza, from where Hamas launched the attack, has killed about 34,000 Palestinians, most of them women, children or the aged.
Last month, four foreigners and three Palestinians working for a non-profit organisation, were killed in Gaza.
The resolution on Friday won a resounding majority of 143 votes in favour, including by India. 25 countries abstained, while nine nations, including Israel and the United States, voted against the text, reports Asian Lite News
A resolution was passed in the United Nations with an overwhelming majority, supporting full membership of Palestine and pressing the Security Council to give “favourable consideration” to the bid, CNN reported.
The resolution on Friday won a resounding majority of 143 votes in favour, including by India. 25 countries abstained, while nine nations, including Israel and the United States, voted against the text.
Other nations that voted against the resolution were: Czechia, Hungary, Argentina, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea and
The text, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, grants new privileges to the Palestinian Authority in its current capacity as a non-member observer state, and calls for the UN Security Council – which must rule on Palestinian membership – to “reconsider the matter favourably.”
“The State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations,” it asserts.
Notably, India has always reiterated its stand for a two-state solution in the Israel-Palestine conflict. While, New Delhi has condemned any terrorist attack, including the October 7 attack by Hamas, it has also called for a homeland for Palestinians.
“We have supported a negotiated two-state solution, towards establishment of a sovereign, independent and viable state of Palestine within secure and recognised borders, living side by side in peace with Israel,” the Ministry of External Affairs reiterated in the Parliament in February.
In his remarks before voting on Friday, Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour elaborated on the plight of Palestinians in war-torn Gaza.
“As we speak, 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah wonder if they will survive today,” he told the assembly, referring to Israeli threats of a major attack on the densely populated city in southern Gaza, as reported by CNN.
He also thanked protesters on US university campuses and abroad who have demonstrated against the Israel-Hamas war.
“Our flag flies high and proud in Palestine and across the globe, and on the campus of Columbia University. It has become a symbol by all those who believe in freedom and is just ruled by all those who can no longer stand idly by in the face of such utter injustice,” Mansour said.
Israel foreign minister Israel Katz quickly condemned the resolution’s passage, describing it as an “absurd decision” that highlights “the structural bias of the UN” and rewards the actions of Hamas on October 7.
“The message that the UN is sending to our suffering region: violence pays off,” he said. “The decision to upgrade the status of Palestinians in the UN is a prize for Hamas terrorists after they committed the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.”
It is pertinent to note that while a General Assembly vote cannot confer UN membership, the approved resolution does endow the Palestinian Authority with new procedural rights and privileges, CNN reported.
Though, only member states can vote, the Palestinian Authority can now be seated among member states in alphabetical order, submit and introduce proposals and amendments, and co-sponsor proposals and amendments.
It can also make statements and explanations of votes. It has the right to reply on behalf of a group within the UN. The Palestinian Authority can also request proposals to be put to a vote and request items to be put on the UNGA’s provisional agenda.
Mansour further stated that the Palestinian Authority will now request full membership from the Security Council.
However, the US has already warned that it will likely veto such a request in the Security Council – a replay of its April veto of an earlier Palestinian membership request.
Following the general assembly vote on Friday, US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood described the resolution text as “unproductive,” saying a “durable peace” in the Middle East would mean bundling the two-state solution with other elements, as reported by CNN.
“Gaza cannot be a platform for terrorism, that there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and that the size of Gaza’s territory should not be reduced,” he said.
Wood also suggested that the United Nations was the wrong forum for consideration of Palestinian statehood, telling the General Assembly that “it remains the US view that the most expeditious path toward statehood and UN membership for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian authority.”
Angry Israeli envoy shreds UN Charter
In a strong display of outrage, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan shredded the UN charter at the United Nations General Assembly just before it passed a resolution for supporting full membership of Palestine.
The Israeli envoy Erdan called the resolution a “clear violation” of the UN Charter and said that it subverted the US veto in the Security Council last month. Erdan said he is “holding up the mirror” for General Assembly members while shredding the UN Charter.
“This day will go down in infamy. I want the entire world to remember this moment, this immoral act…today I want to hold up a mirror for you, so you can see what exactly you are inflicting upon the UN Charter with this destructive vote. You are shredding the UN Charter with your own hands,” he said.
He also alleged that the resolution opens up the UN for “modern day Nazis” referring to Hamas.
“Today, you are also about to grant privileges and write to the future terror state of Hamas. You have opened up the United Nations for modern day Nazis, to the Hitler of our times…So here it is. I present to you the future outcome of today’s vote…the soon-to-be President, Yahya Sinwar, President tyrant of the State of Hamas, sponsored by the UN, and he owes his deepest gratitude to you, the General Assembly,” the Israeli envoy added while holding up an image of Sinwar, the head of Hamas in Gaza.
“At the end of my speech, I tore the ‘UN Charter’ to pieces, to illustrate what the assembly is doing in its support for the entry of Palestinian terrorism into the UN,” Erdan later posted on X. (ANI)
The UN secretary-general also urged Israel against invading southern Gaza’s city of Rafah…reports Asian Lite News
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has demanded an independent investigation into reports by Palestinian authorities of mass graves discovered in Gaza after bodies with hands tied or medical tubes attached to them were found in multiple sites, including two hospitals.
“It is imperative that independent international investigators with forensic expertise are allowed the immediate access to the sites of these mass graves to establish the precise circumstances under which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried or reburied,” Guterres said on Tuesday.
The UN secretary-general also urged Israel against invading southern Gaza’s city of Rafah, the last refuge for more than 1.4 million Palestinians, after the Israeli prime minister said an offensive would go forward regardless of the outcome of truce talks with Hamas.
A military assault on Rafah would “be an unbearable escalation, killing thousands more civilians and forcing hundreds of thousands to flee,” he told reporters.
He added that while there has been “incremental progress” towards averting “an entirely preventable, human-made famine” in northern Gaza, much more is urgently needed, including for Israel to follow through on its promise to open “two crossing points between Israel and northern Gaza, so that aid can be brought into Gaza from Ashdod port and Jordan”.
He cited the lack of security for aid workers and civilians as the major obstacle to distributing aid across Gaza. “I again call on the Israeli authorities to allow and facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and humanitarian workers, including UNRWA, throughout Gaza,” he said.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini told journalists on Tuesday that aid supplies into Gaza had improved in April, but listed a series of continuing difficulties including regular crossing closures “because they [Israel] are dumping released detainees or dumping sometimes bodies taken to Israel and back to the Gaza Strip.”
Juliette Touma, a spokesperson for the UN’s refugee agency for Palestinians, said that Israel had sent 225 bodies to Gaza in three containers since December that were then transported by the UN agency to local health authorities for burial, shutting the crossing temporarily.
She did not have details of the circumstances of their deaths and said it was not UNRWA’s mandate to investigate.
Palestinian authorities have previously said that Israel has returned bodies after confirming they were not hostages. They said they were trying to identify them and figure out where they were killed.
Israel’s allegations are being examined by UN investigators although a separate review found Israel has yet to provide evidence for accusations that hundreds of UNRWA staff are members of armed groups. More than 34,000 people have been killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, according to Palestinian authorities.
The other countries in the Kenya-led force are the Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica….reports Arul Louis
Bangladesh has agreed to join an international force that will operate independently of the UN to help restore order in Haiti, which has spiralled into gang-fuelled chaos, according to a UN Spokesperson.
Bangladesh is one of the six countries that have written to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that they will contribute personnel to the Multinational Security Support Mission in Haiti (MSSM), Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Monday.
Invoking the UN Charter provisions for maintaining peace, the Security Council authorised the creation of the MSSM mission to help ameliorate the situation in Haiti by helping its national political force.
Having been burnt by its earlier forays into the Caribbean nation, the UN is taking a hands-off approach this time, authorising a force that will operate independently and not as a UN peacekeeping mission.
The other countries in the Kenya-led force are the Bahamas, Barbados, Benin, Chad, and Jamaica.
Bangladesh is taking a bold step in joining the mission after the catastrophic end to the previous UN mission with military peacekeepers ended in 2017 amid accusations that Nepali troops introduced a strain of cholera from South Asia that, according to the World Health Organisation, killed 9,792 Haitians and sickened more than 810,000.
The mission, known as MINUSTAH from its French initials, was ineffective in bringing peace to the country contributing to its demise.
A smaller mission without the military component that followed ended in 2019.
Armed gangs run several parts of the country, including the capital Port-au-Prince, and several thousands have perished in the violence that has destabilised the country.
More than 362,000 Haitians have been displaced by gang activity, according to the UN, and 1.4 of its 11.5 million people are threatened by famine, and four million face “acute food insecurity”.
There were few takers because of the history of ill-fated international interventions in Haiti.
Kenya finally offered to lead the mission but had to overcome court challenges within the country before it could take charge.
The latest twist in the tragic saga of Haiti, Prime Minister Ariel Henry, who fled the country in February, resigned last week while in exile in the US.
A National Transitional Council with representatives of political parties and civil society groups was immediately created with Finance Minister Michel Patrick Boisvert as interim Prime Minister to find a more enduring solution.
The assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 was one of the milestones in the descent into chaos of Haiti which suffered under decades of brutal dictatorship under the Duvalier family, and after its overthrow in 1986 has gone through a military coup and violence that punctuated feeble attempts at democracy.
The UN set up an ambitious $400 million trust fund to help the victims of the cholera epidemic blamed on Nepali peacekeepers but it has collected only about five per cent of that amount.
The draft resolution received 13 out of 15 votes in the Security Council, the most powerful UN body in New York on Wednesday. China abstained….reports Asian Lite News
A UN resolution tabled by the US and Japan against an arms race in space has failed in the UN Security Council due to a veto by Russia.
The draft resolution received 13 out of 15 votes in the Security Council, the most powerful UN body in New York on Wednesday. China abstained.
The draft resolution called on all states, in particular those with major space capabilities, “to contribute actively to the objective of the peaceful use of outer space and of the prevention of an arms race in outer space and to refrain from actions contrary to that objective and to the relevant existing treaties in the interest of maintaining international peace and security and promoting international cooperation”.
In February, several major US media outlets had reported findings about Russia attempting to develop an anti-satellite nuclear weapon based in space which could pose a threat to national and international security.
The resolution also affirmed the obligation of all states that are party to it to fully comply with the Outer Space Treaty, “including not to place in orbit around the Earth any objects carrying nuclear weapons or any other kinds of weapons of mass destruction, install such weapons on celestial bodies, or station such weapons in outer space in any other manner”.
It emphasized the grave consequences which could result from the detonation of a nuclear weapon or the use of any other kind of weapon of mass destruction in outer space.
Washington’s ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said such a detonation could destroy thousands of satellites operated by countries and companies around the world “and wipe out the vital communications, scientific, meteorological, agricultural, commercial and national security services we all depend on”.
