UNO - Current Affairs for October, 2015

Luxembourg ambassador to the United Nations (UN), Sylvie Lucas on 27 October 2015 was appointed as the chairperson of the Inter-Governmental Negotiations on UNSC reforms, replacing Ambassador Courtney Rattray of Jamaica. She was earlier president of UN’s ECOSOC from 2009 to 2010 and served as a diplomat in the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign Affairs before this.

Leading iconic landmarks in the world were lit blue to celebrate the UN 70th anniversary on 24th October 2015. These included the Edinburgh castle, Great Wall of China, Pyramid of Giza and New Delhi’s Red Fort as well as the temples of Baalbek in Lebanon.

India is the leading trade facilitation performer in the South Asian sub region. Singapore and Korea lead East Asia in effective movement of goods, as per a UNESCAP repot entitled Global Report of the Trade Facilitation and Paperless Trade Implementation Survey. This report was launched by UNESCAP with 4 UN regional commissions on 22nd October 2015. This is the first global report regarding implementation of measures for simplifying import, export and transit procedures. Russia and Turkey lead in Europe and Central Asia, as per the report. Next generation trade facilitation measures also have the potential to lower costs and increase trade.

Report indicates there are around 62 million more men than women worldwide. In younger age groups, men outnumber women while the reverse is true for older age groups. Life expectancy over the past 20 years has increased for both genders- 72 for women and 68 for men. Men are at higher risk than women of dying of cardiovascular disease. An estimated 58 million children of primary school age- 31 million being girls- are not in school. Two thirds of the 781 million illiterate adults in the world constitute women. As against three quarters of men, half of the women participate in the labour force. Number of female Heads of State was 19 in 2015, as against 12 in 1995. Women across the globe, irrespective of age, income or education are subject to different types of violence. Research also found that majority of deaths due to inadequate water, hygiene and sanitation was among women and girls in some parts of Asia. On an average, 1 in 3 married women in developing nations have no involvement in major household purchases.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) in October 2015 released a report titled “Gender and Education for All (EFA) 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges,” compiled by UNESCO’s Global Monitoring Report and UN Girl’s Education Initiative. Only fewer than half the nations in the world have attained gender parity in primary and secondary education prior to 2005, as per the report.

Libya's globally-recognised parliament on 19 October 2015 objected to sign the United Nations (UN)-backed peace deal for a power-sharing arrangement with rival Islamist-led authorities. While the parliament in based in Tobruk, the Islamist government is based in Tripoli. The deal was rejected on account of inclusion of amendments added by Islamists without its consent. Unity government would have gotten the power to eliminate all senior Libyan officials not unanimously approved by its members, according to the agreement. The country lost stability after Western forces toppled M. Gaddafi.

United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in October 2015 elected Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay as non-permanent members on UNSC. These members will serve the body until 31st December 2017. The new constitution of the UNSC is now as follows:
- Five permanent Council members: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States
- Non-permanent members until close of 2016: Angola, Malaysia, New Zealand, Spain and Venezuela
- Non-permanent members until close of 2017: Egypt, Japan, Senegal, Ukraine and Uruguay

Kundhavi Kadiresan was appointed as assistant director of UN FAO and regional representative for Asia and the Pacific by FAO DG General José Graziano da Silva. She succeeds Hiroyuki Konuma who retired from FAO in 2015. Kadiresan has close to 25 years of experience in economic and policy development apart from PhD in Economics and MBA in International Business. She has worked in numerous parts of the world including Asia, Africa, EU and Latin America.