According to the newly launched initiative, faster progress on AI is vital to make this happen, especially in low and middle-income countries, where the most lives are lost on the roads each year, reports Asian Lite News
Countries and investors need to step up the development and use of artificial intelligence (AI) to keep roads safe for everyone, three UN Special Envoys said on Thursday, leading a new AI for Road Safety initiative.
The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) include a call for action to halve the annual rate of road deaths globally and ensure access to safe, affordable and sustainable transport for everyone by 2030.
According to the newly launched initiative, faster progress on AI is vital to make this happen, especially in low and middle-income countries, where the most lives are lost on the roads each year.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), approximately 1.3 million people die annually as a result of road traffic crashes. Between 20 and 50 million more suffer non-fatal injuries, with many incurring a disability.
AI can help in different ways, including better collection and analysis of crash data, enhancing road infrastructure, increasing the efficiency of post-crash response, and inspiring innovation in the regulatory frameworks.
This approach requires equitable access to data and the ethical use of algorithms, which many countries currently lack, leaving them unable to identify road safety solutions.
AI for Road Safety brings together Special Envoys for Road Safety, Technology and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
Announcing the initiative, the ITU Secretary-General, Houlin Zhao, said the disproportionate number of road deaths in developing countries “is yet another example of why the benefits of new technologies must reach everyone, everywhere”.
Road Safety Envoy Jean Todt said, “there is an untapped opportunity to harness AI to close the digital and road safety divide around the world.”
As the first partially self-driving cars come on the market, the future of automated driving is back in the limelight. At the same time, the COVID-19 pandemic is shifting mobility trends and increasing a preference for personally-owned cars.
Back in March, though, Mr. Todt said that much work remains to meet the target to halve the number of road deaths and injuries by 2030.
“Connected vehicles are far from reaching the communities that are most affected by road traffic crashes. The infrastructure in many countries could not support autonomous driving anytime soon. The cost of the technology is still very high,” he stated.
The new initiative aims to strengthen global AI efforts across the public and private sectors to improve safety for all road users — whether traveling by automobile, motorcycle, bicycle, foot or other transportation modes.
For Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, UN Envoy on Technology, this initiative “is a noteworthy effort to focus on practical, real-world technology issues that concretely affect peoples’ lives.”
China increased its influence in crucial non-UN multilateral bodies and is now in a “dominant position” in several such organisations in terms of personnel and funding ….reports Asian Lite News
In a world that is struggling to keep up a system of equality alive, whether through acknowledging the existence and the roles of the smaller nations or through equalizing the global platforms so that everyone has a fair representation.
The UN is one such body that ensures that this system of equality is upheld and nations that are not following the international code of conduct are reprimanded through criticism or sanctions as a last resort.
But even within these international bodies there happen to be a few strong players who play the roles of decision makers and change bringers. These big nations do not only come with great power, but a greater responsibility too – towards the environment, and towards the global community. However, many a times the veracity of the responsibilities and duties stand questioned when the big nations make it a point to continuously flout the mandates set by the international order. That’s where China enters.
China’s growing impact inside the United Nations is unavoidable, owing to President Xi Jinping’s much more assertive foreign policy and the way that China’s evaluated contributions to the world body are currently second just to those of the United States. Traditionally centered around the UN’s development exercises, China presently utilizes its muscles in the core of the UN, its peace and security work. The Chinese-Russian strategic arrangement in the UN Security Council challenges insurance of human rights and humanitarian access, exhibited in July 2020 when China and Russia vetoed two resolutions with respect to Syria and both obstructed the appointment of a French national as special emissary for Sudan.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), in New York, USA on September 25, 2021 (PIB)
China increased its influence in crucial non-UN multilateral bodies and is now in a “dominant position” in several such organisations in terms of personnel and funding, including the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).
China’s commitment to these endeavors has been on bodies that assist with setting international norms and standards in order to support the fortunes of Chinese organizations and to boost Beijing’s tasks like the Belt and Road Initiative, says a review by Mumbai-based foreign policy think tank Gateway House.
The review referred to UN figures to show China’s extending impact has been empowered by the nation’s increased financial contributions to the world body – its mandatory contribution as a UN member rose by 1,096 per cent somewhere between the years of 2010 and 2019, while voluntary donations expanded by 346 per cent from $51 million in the year 2010 to $172 million in the year 2019.
The mandatory contributions and voluntary donations combined made China the fifth largest donor to the UN, with the country’s total funding rising from $190 million in 2010 to $1.6 billion in 2019.
“The voluntary contributions enable the UN’s funds and programmes agencies to run their special projects, as only administrative, daily expenses are covered by the UN’s core budget. So, when China makes a $7.5 million contribution to the UNDP, it can influence the way development projects are implemented,” the study said.
The study noted ITU sets global standards for telecommunications, where China’s Huawei is a major player. ITU also has Chinese representatives serving two terms. “This ensures that Chinese national champions like Huawei and its standards become embedded and implemented by UN agencies engaged in development work in sparsely penetrated markets like the African continent, the Pacific, and South and Southeast Asia,” the study said.
The study also concluded that China’s participation in UN bodies has “grown more sophisticated over the years”, with the country choosing “clusters of agencies to lead, whose work can be interwoven with and are interlinked to its own domestic agendas like ‘Made in China 2025’, and the rise of Chinese companies”.
However the feelings of trepidation that China is changing the United Nations from inside have still not taken a concreate shape. Whatever its aspirations, China has not supplanted the United States as the UN’s most important member state. Yet there remains an impending danger that China can move towards the direction of furthering its goals.
“Other countries are definitely realising the impact of these moves and some have taken steps to counter China’s action,” said Kartik Ashta, Gateway House’s lead researcher for the study. It is time for India to take cognizance of China’s strategy to become a key player in the global economy and policy making, not just India but the other nations should also do everything they can to counter the growing power of China.
The United Nations and the International Energy Forum commended the United Arab Emirates on its pledge to reach net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by 2050…reports Asian Lite News
The UAE announced that the country had adopted the goal to achieve climate neutrality by mid-century. The announcement was made during the Expo2020 ahead of the COP26 climate change conference due to be held in the UK next month.
“The IEF commends the leadership of the UAE for this ambitious goal, the first such announcement by a Gulf oil exporting nation,” said Joseph McMonigle, Secretary General, IEF.
The announcement brings the UAE into line with several other nations that have pledged to become net-zero by mid-century, including the European Union, South Korea, Canada, and Chile.
Net-zero carbon means the amount of carbon dioxide being emitted into the atmosphere is stable or falling. An economy can retain a small amount of fossil fuel use while contributing no CO2 overall, if it balances emissions by removing CO2 through initiatives such as carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration – part of every feasible pathway to 1.5 C assessed by the IPCC – and through tree planting.
“This highlights that there are multiple pathways that individual countries can take to reach their climate goal,” McMonigle said.
Meanwhile, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesperson for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has welcomed the UAE’s strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.
In a statement he made on Thursday, Dujarric said: “We warmly welcome this very important announcement by the UAE.”
He urged other countries to emulate the Emirati example in the future, “specially ahead of the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow.”
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Xinhua/Xu Jinquan/IANS)
Guterres repeated his call to donors and multilateral development banks to allocate at least 50 percent of their climate support towards adaptation and resilience…reports Asian Lite News
“We can either save our world or condemn humanity to a hellish future,” is how the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned the Ministers at the PreCOP26 held at Milan in Italy.
With the UN’s annual climate change talks less than a month away, Ministers from about 50-60 countries have gathered at Milan to develop a better understanding of how to resolve some of the remaining crunch issues ahead of the crucial climate conference in Glasgow in the UK.
Antonio Guterres
Guterres touched upon all aspects of the climate negotiations in his small address at the opening of the PreCOP26 late on Thursday India time, a United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) statement said. It is the UNFCCC that holds the Conference of Parties (COP) each year.
Applauding those nations, especially vulnerable developing countries, that have come forward with more ambitious Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) — actions at country-level that would total to combined actions helping to restrict global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial era — despite the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Guterres said, “But we can only meet the 1.5-degree goal if all G20 countries, which are responsible for 80 per cent of global emissions, pledge more decisive action in new or updated NDCs.”
“The principle of common but differentiated responsibilities in the light of national circumstances is a pillar of the Paris Agreement,” he said, a point he has reiterated time and again in recent months.
Stating that he cannot “emphasize enough that time is running out,” the Secretary General said, “That is why, I am asking all nations to enhance NDCs and domestic policies as often as necessary and without delay until we are collectively on the right track.”
Coming down heavily on the missing finance for adaptation and mitigation, he said, six years since the Paris Agreement, 2015, “we are nowhere close.”
“Adaptation remains the neglected half of the climate equation, accounting for only 25 per cent of climate finance in support of developing countries. Even worse, adaptation represents only 0.1 per cent of private funding.”
He then repeated his call to donors and multilateral development banks to allocate at least 50 per cent of their climate support towards adaptation and resilience.
Guterres ended with reminding the world how “young people, in particular, continue to lead the growing calls for more ambition. They will hold us accountable” and asserted: “Climate justice demands that we bequeath them a liveable planet.”
The UAE on Monday issued a forceful rejection of external involvement in Arab affairs, and pledged to counter the “scourge” of violent extremism wherever it appears…reports Asian Lite News
Speaking on the final day of the UN General Assembly, Khalifa Shaheen Almarar, the UAE’s minister of state for foreign affairs, also said the Middle East must be a region free from weapons of mass destruction.
“In order to succeed in our efforts to end the cycle of conflict in the Arab region, crude regional interference in Arab affairs, especially in Syria, Yemen, Libya, and Iraq, must be halted,” he said.
UAE flag
He stated that the illegal interference had obstructed political processes, exacerbated humanitarian crises, and undermined regional and international stability.
KHALIFA SHAHEEN ALMARAR, MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS, UAE: “The UAE relies on a clear international position that rejects regional interference in Arab affairs and supports Arab countries in overcoming all obstacles to peace and stability in the region. We stress here that ensuring full respect for the sovereignty of Arab countries and reaching comprehensive political solutions under the auspices of the United Nations remain the only way to end the crises in the Arab region.”
He also said reaching a common understanding with Iran, which addresses all regional and international concerns, remains a fundamental requirement now, adding that it should start with de-escalation to achieve regional and international peace and stability.
“We cannot ignore Iran’s development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, as well as its interference in the region. Therefore, any future agreement with Iran must address the shortcomings of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and must involve the countries of the region. This is a legitimate and fair request by countries that seek to protect their security and peoples,” he added.
UAE slams external meddling in Arab affairs
UAE has called on Iran to respect international law and demanded Iran to end its occupation of the three UAE islands: Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb, and Abu Musa.
“The UAE will never cease its demand for its legitimate sovereignty over the islands occupied by Iran since 1971, in flagrant violation of international law and the United Nations Charter. The UAE will continue to call on Iran to agree to resolve this dispute peacefully through direct negotiations or referral to the International Court of Justice,” he added.
Dubai becomes UN-designated role model for smart, sustainable city
Sheikh Hamdan congratulated various government entities whose efforts led to this global recognition, and urged to continue to work to raise Dubai’s global sustainability rankings, reports Asian Lite Newsdesk
Dubai has gained the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s recognition as a role model for a smart, sustainable, and resilient city.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Dubai Crown Prince and Chairman of The Executive Council, met with heads of government entities whose efforts helped Dubai gain the UN recognition.
UAE flag
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed said the vision of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, to transform Dubai into a model for future cities has been the driving force for achievements in sustainable development.
Powered by national and international talent, Dubai has implemented world-class projects and deployed state-of-the-art solutions to make it the world’s best place to work and live, he said.
The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction’s recognition acknowledges Dubai’s adoption of best practices and innovative approaches in disaster risk reduction. Dubai was ranked first globally in term of resilience. It was also the only city to be recognised among 56 cities shortlisted from 4,357 competing cities.
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During the meeting that took place at Dubai World Trade Centre, Sheikh Hamdan congratulated various government entities whose efforts led to this global recognition. He urged the teams to continue to work to raise Dubai’s global sustainability rankings.
He also highlighted the importance of supporting innovative ideas that can help Dubai convert challenges into opportunities and create a brighter future.
The heads of government entities said the directives of Sheikh Mohammed, and the continuous follow up of Sheikh Hamdan and Sheikh Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, have helped Dubai become a smart, sustainable and resilient city that provides a robust infrastructure and world-leading service quality.
The assessment of Dubai by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction focused on 10 Essentials for Making Cities Resilient, 117 indicator criteria, and other requirements and conditions.
Dubai’s risk and disaster management teams work to constantly raise their preparedness to deal with unforeseen crises and develop long term strategies to promote a culture of readiness to manage all kinds of risks.
Foreign trade
The Board of Directors of the newly formed Dubai International Chamber, one of the three chambers under the umbrella of the newly formed Dubai Chambers, held its first meeting at the Dubai Chamber headquarters where board members discussed priorities and new plans to boost Dubai’s trade with global markets.
The meeting was chaired by Sultan bin Sulayem, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dubai International Chamber, in the presence of other board members.
The board discussed ways to leverage the Chamber’s international network to tap into the 30 priority markets, which have been identified as high potential markets that can accelerate the growth of Dubai’s foreign trade.
Member companies of Dubai International Chamber will work towards achieving the target of boosting Dubai’s foreign trade to AED2 trillion within the next five years, consolidating Dubai’s position as global trade hub.
Sultan bin Sulayem, stated that trade is the cornerstone of Dubai’s economy and essential for its diversification and stated that the new board will focus its efforts on implementing as new strategy announced by Prime Minister, which aims to boost Dubai’s foreign trade to AED 2 trillion within the next five years and cement the emirate’s position as global trade hub.
Dubai International Chamber was established to strengthen partnerships with global corporations, investors and entrepreneurs and boost Dubai’s status as a major trade hub. Adopting a more specialised approach to driving Dubai’s foreign trade, the chamber will promote the opportunities that the emirate offers in facilitating trade flows.
The Chamber was established under the directives of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, as part of a recent government restructuring that aims to drive a comprehensive economic development in Dubai.
The Taliban are struggling to accommodate other senior and influential commanders in the ruling setup who have not yet found any place…reports Asian Lite News
“The good news…the Taliban are listening, and they are not insensitive to what is being said by neighbours and the international community,” claims the Pakistani foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, one of the biggest backers of the insurgent group.
But “how does he know they (Taliban) are listening?” asked the AP correspondent who interviewed Qureshi on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) session in New York on Wednesday. Qureshi has all the details of the future planning of the Taliban after all it is the Pakistani military establishment’s ISI that is running the show and right from the top- the Pakistani Prime Minister to radical extremists organisations are heaping praises over the Taliban and its regime.
In defence of the Taliban, Qureshi said the group has included a few members of minority ethnic Shia community – Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras in their government to show the world their promise of an inclusive government. But changes are cosmetics and there is no woman in the Taliban regime.
“Yes, there are no women yet,” but let us let the situation evolve,” Qureshi told AP.
Interestingly, the Taliban had previously scoffed at Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan’s call for making change in the present “interim” government for an inclusive government, Reacting sharply, Mohammad Mobeen, a Taliban leader said that the group does not “give anyone the right to call for an inclusive government”.
“Our system is inclusive even if someone likes it or not. Like Pakistan to decide its own system. Does the inclusive government mean that the neighbours have their representatives and spies in the system? Like Pakistan, we reserve the right to have our own system,” Mobeen told Afghanistan’s Ariana TV.
But according to multiple sources, the group is under internal pressure. The Taliban are struggling to accommodate other senior and influential commanders in the ruling setup who have not yet found any place. According to an estimate, 13 members of the Taliban’s powerful Rahbari Shura also known as Quetta Shura are waiting to be included.
Pakistan is also waiting. Despite being the “patron” of the Taliban, it has not recognised their regime yet, unlike in 1996 where it was first to do so.
On Tuesday, the UN said that the Taliban had sacked the Ghani appointed permanent rep, and , instead nominated Suhail as the new Afghan representative. The group asked the world body to allow their foreign minister to address the current session of the UNGA but since the Taliban regime is yet to get recognition, it was not possible. The Taliban’s deputy information minister Zabihullah Mujahid made it clear that the group would address international human rights concerns only after formal recognition by those countries.
“As long as we are not recognised, and they make criticisms over rights violations, we think it is a one-sided approach. It would be good for them to treat us responsibly and recognise our current government as a responsible administration,” Mujahid told the TOLO news.
Antonio Guterres ran unopposed because none of the self-nominated candidates was sponsored by a member nation, reports Arul Louis
The UN General Assembly on Friday appointed Antonio Guterres, to a second term as the Secretary General to lead the world body through the crisis of the Covid-19 pandemic and the fight against global warming, which he has made his priority.
After being sworn-in to his second term, Guterres said that he would work for a “breakthrough” for a world at “a critical moment in history”.
The world is “at the cusp of a new era”, he said. “We are truly at a crossroads, with consequential choices before us. Paradigms are shifting. Old orthodoxies are being flipped.”
The 193-member General Assembly’s resolution adopted by acclamation said that in “appreciation for the effective and dedicated service rendered to the United Nations”, it approved the Security Council recommendation to give the former Portuguese Prime Minister another five years starting in January as the world’s top diplomat.
Security Council President Sven Jurgenson said that Guterres conformed to the highest standards of competence and integrity.
"I am deeply honoured and grateful for the trust you have placed in me to serve as the Secretary-General of the United Nations for a second term."
The Assembly’s endorsement of the Council’s recommendation was only a formality because, in reality, the five permanent members of the Council through their veto powers control the selection and reappointment of the Secretary General.
Guterres ran unopposed because none of the self-nominated candidates was sponsored by a member nation.
India, which is a non-permanent member of the Security Council, supported Guterres’s re-election there and in the Assembly.
After a meeting with Guterres last month, India’s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar tweeted that New Delhi “values” his leadership and would back his re-election.
Guterres said on Friday: “We are writing our own history with the choices we make right now.”
But he warned, “It can go either way: breakdown and perpetual crisis or breakthrough and prospect of a greener, safer and better future for all.”
However, he said that there were hopeful signs and “we feel a new momentum everywhere for an unequivocal commitment to come together to chart a course towards a better future” because of the pandemic’s lessons of “our shared vulnerability, our inter-connectedness and the absolute need for collective action”.
The cooperation seen now in the fight against Covid-19 may not have been possible a decade ago, he said.
He said that the world was beset by “geostrategic divides and dysfunctional power relations” that are manifest in “too many asymmetries and paradoxes”.
They have to be met head-on and “we also need to be aware of how power plays out in today’s world when it comes to the distribution of resources and technology”, he said.
The global proliferation of mistrust is another problem that should not be allowed to overwhelm the world, he added.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, left foreground, at Kartarpur Sahib Gurdwara in Pakistan in February 2020. (File Photo UNIAN)
Guterres displayed masterful diplomacy in navigating a deeply polarised Council without antagonising the permanent members while managing the reflexive opposition of former US President Donald Trump to the UN and China’s aggressive diplomacy.
Earlier this month announcing the Council’s recommendation for a second term for Guterres, Jurgenson described him as a “bridge-builder”.
Seven of Guterres’s predecessors were re-elected and only Boutros Boutros Ghali, an Egyptian, was limited to a single term because of Washington’s opposition.
During the Covid-19 crisis, Guterres pursued the equitable distribution of vaccines and other resources while fighting disinformation, and set an agenda for post-pandemic rebuilding to put the world back on track in pursuit of the UN’s sustainable development goals.
His first term was marked by his passionate advocacy of fighting global warming, which he has called an existential threat to humanity, and a top agenda item.
Guterres, who was a UN High Commissioner for Refugees, was the surprise consensus candidate in 2016 when the bets were on a woman, likely from East Europe, getting the job that had been held only by men and never by a East European.
In his first bid in 2016, he received the essential approval of the Security Council after six straw polls in which he outlasted 12 candidates, seven of them women.
But this time Guterres, who was nominated by Portugal, had no official rivals as the Security Council did not recognise at least seven other self-nominated candidates — including Arora Akanksha, a Canadian of Indian descent — because they lacked the backing of any nation.
The requirement for sponsorship by a UN member is not unambiguously stated in the UN Charter or its regulation, but the Council and the Assembly considered it a de facto qualification based on tradtion.
The Assembly resolution appointing Guterres to a second term, said it was “guided by the principles of transparency and inclusivity” as set out in its 2015 resolution that established a modicum of openness to a process that had been shrouded by backroom deals.
The Assembly required the candidates to appear before it to make a pitch for their election.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres (Front) attends the screening of the United Nations Day Concert 2020 in the General Assembly Hall at the UN headquarters in New York, on Oct. 22, 2020. (Mark Garten/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
This time only Guterres came before the Assembly to layout his vision for his second term and the others were excluded because they were not recognised.
Jugenson and General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir have maintained that a nomination by a member state is necessary — a requirement that would prevent a stampede of self-nominated candidates demanding equal time at the General Assembly with the officially nominated candidates.
Of the self-nominated candidates, only Rosalia Arteaga, a former President of Ecuador, had any shred of credibility and the self-nominations were publicity stunts.
Akanksha, 34, is an employee of the UN Development Programme who made a splashy campaign video pitching her youth and the need for change at a UN weighed down by a sclerotic bureaucracy.
Although she received media coverage, she could not get the support of even her country, Canada, or of India and Saudi Arabia, where she had lived earlier.
