#nations_unies

Rethinking Force Generation : Filling Capability Gaps in UN Peacekeeping

http://www.ipinst.org/publication/policy-papers/detail/397-rethinking-force-generation-filling-capability-gaps-in-un-peacekeeping.h

Excellent rapport sur les opérations de maintien de la paix dans le monde, sur les atouts et les echecs de l’ONU. Pour une fois, pour moi, des vrais pistes de recherche, de travail et de réflexion.

Food for thought dit-on dans les sénacles onusiens :)

This report analyzes the limitation of the UN system for generating contributions of personnel and equipment for peace operations, otherwise known as force generation. United Nations peacekeeping operates the second largest global deployment of troops and yet must do so with no standing or reserve army. This means the UN must constantly mobilize and rotate voluntary contributions of nearly 100,000 uniformed personnel and related equipment from more than 100 different member states.

Force generation efforts are therefore of critical importance yet remain relatively understudied. To seize potential opportunities in generating better capabilities to UN operations while also filling capability gaps, the UN must reform the way it thinks about and executes force generation.

The report identifies key constraints to the current system in five areas: planning, communication, troop-and-police-contributing country (TCC/PCC) selection, knowledge management, and performance/incentives.

The report also makes two types of recommendations. First, it proposes a set of technical and immediate proposals to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of UN force generation. Second, it sketches some more fundamental proposals aimed at strategic reforms to address the most critical force generation issues related to strategic planning and outreach, incentives and mechanisms for greater accountability, and developing capability-driven military planning.

#onu #nations_unies #maintien_de_la_paix

UN peacekeeping missions: who provides the most troops | News | guardian.co.uk

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2013/apr/30/un-peacekeeping-missions-mapped

UN peacekeeping missions: who provides the most troops

Is the UN the world’s policeman? It tries to keep the peace in some of the world’s most violent countries in the world - and has just approved a new peacekeeping force in Mali. So, who pays the bill - and where are the personnel based? Click on the map below to explore the data - search for countries and hit ’share view’ to share your zoom on twitter and Facebook

#cartographie-participative #nations-unies #opérations_de_maintien_de_la_paix

No hijacking by Somali pirates in nearly a year

http://www.stripes.com/no-hijacking-by-somali-pirates-in-nearly-a-year-1.219327

UNITED NATIONS — The fight against Somali pirates has been so effective that they haven’t been able to mount a successful hijacking in nearly a year, the chair of the global group trying to combat the pirates said Thursday.

U.S. diplomat Donna Leigh Hopkins credits the combined efforts of international naval forces and stepped-up security on ships including the use of armed guards. But there are also other factors including the jailing of some 1,140 Somali pirate in 21 countries “which started deglamorizing piracy,” she said.

#piraterie #somalie #nations-unies #unosat

Iran, Syria and North Korea Stall Arms Treaty - NYTimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/29/world/iran-and-north-korea-block-arms-trade-treaty.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=ed

UNITED NATIONS — The global effort to regulate the sale of conventional weapons suffered a significant but not fatal setback on Thursday after Iran, Syria and North Korea opposed the draft Arms Trade Treaty, blocking the consensus needed for passage after years of arduous negotiations.

#armement #accord #onu #nations-unies

#Haiti: How #cholera turned shit into gold
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2013/03/haiti-how-cholera-turned-shit-into-gold.html

From the point of view of the UN and the NGOs, Nepali cholera has been a blessing in disguise: At the cost of 650,000 cases and 8,000 dead Haitians, cholera has turned shit into gold—at least for the UN and the NGOs.

(lire l’article)
#nations-unies #santé #ong

Daily chart: African-American-Chinese | The Economist

http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2013/03/daily-chart-9?fsrc=scn/fb/wl/dc/AfricanAmericanChinese

African-American-Chinese
Mar 14th 2013, 16:26 by Economist.com

http://media.economist.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/full-width/images/2013/03/blogs/graphic-detail/20130316_gdc264_2.png

The UNDP’s favoured measure of progress throws up some intriguing comparisons

GROSS domestic product, Robert F. Kennedy said, “measures everything…except that which makes life worthwhile.” In an attempt to redress the fixation with economic output alone, in 1990 the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) launched the Human Development Index (HDI). This index combines life expectancy at birth, the average and expected number of years in education and economic output. Only two countries, Zimbabwe and Lesotho, have seen their index scores fall since 1990, but elsewhere big strides have been made, particularly in China, Iran and India. As a result of these changes, the UNDP expects the world’s middle-class population—defined as households with incomes over $20,000 a year—to grow from 1.85 billion in 2009 to 3.25 billion in 2020. It predicts that by 2030, 80% of middle-class households will live in emerging and developing countries, accounting for 70% of global spending.

#développment #indicateur #indice #hdi #statistique #data #pnud #nations-unies

UN decision to claim diplomatic immunity for #cholera outbreak in #Haiti was cold, but correct - Juliette Kayyem - The Boston Globe
http://bostonglobe.com/opinion/columns/2013/02/28/decision-claim-diplomatic-immunity-for-cholera-outbreak-haiti-was-cold-but-correct/MxeER5UM6aWzZB2WNJtjgI/story.html

There are two sides to globalization. The bad side, as is evident in Haiti, is that once-isolated microbes can kill victims across the globe, especially in places where sanitation and clean water are lacking. The beneficial side is that when a nation needs the global community to respond after a horrible earthquake, public safety resources and medical expertise are available.

rare papier en faveur de l’immunité des #Nations_unies

UN accused of cover up Zimbabwe cholera - Africa - Al Jazeera English
►http://www.aljazeera.com/news/africa/2013/03/2013310270138931.html

A United Nations investigation has reached a damning verdict on its own humanitarian operation, accusing it of “managerial ineptitude, high handed conduct and bad faith.”

The findings refer to its operations during a #Cholera outbreak in #Zimbabwe that started in 2008 and claimed more than 4,000 lives.

The UN dispute tribunal in Nairobi, Kenya, in effect found that UN bosses did not want to upset the government of Robert Mugabe, and did not act on warnings by a senior member of its staff. One hundred thousand people caught the disease.

#nations_unies #santé

Haiti: fight against cholera continues, but claims against UN ‘not receivable’
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=44197

In November 2011, a claim for compensation was brought against the UN on behalf of victims of the cholera outbreak in Haiti.

“Today, the United Nations advised the claimants’ representatives that the claims are not receivable pursuant to Section 29 of the Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the United Nations,”

#choléra #haïti #santé #nations-unies #circulez-y-a-rien-à-voir

Renowned US doctor appointed to support UN efforts to eliminate cholera in Haiti
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=43853&Cr=haiti&Cr1=cholera

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has appointed renowned United States physician Paul Farmer to help galvanize support to eliminate cholera in Haiti, where the disease has already claimed over 7,750 lives.

#nations_unies #un #haiti #cholera #santé

UN Gives Journalism Prize to Investigation Exposing UN Responsibility for Cholera – And Still Won’t Accept Responsibility | Relief and Reconstruction Watch
http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/un-gives-journalism-prize-to-investigation-exposing-un-responsibility-for-chol

Tonight, in a ceremony presided over by U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, BBC correspondent Mark Doyle and producer Piers Scholfield will be presented with an award from the U.N. Correspondents Association (UNCA). The award, one of many to be handed out, is described by the UNCA as being for “the best coverage of the United Nations and its agencies.” Certainly by “best” they do not mean the most flattering. The BBC radio documentary that earned Scholfield and Doyle the prize was an investigation into the source of the cholera outbreak in Haiti, which over the past two years has killed over 7,800 and sickened over 625,000. A host of scientific evidence, as well as on the ground reporting, including by Doyle and Scholfield, has pinpointed a U.N. military base as the source of the outbreak.

(...)  Yet despite the U.N.’s pledge to support this plan, the U.N. has failed to ever accept responsibility for the epidemic.

#haïti #choléra #nations_unies #UN

Unease over #UN bid to eradicate #Haiti #cholera - Al Jazeera Blogs
http://blogs.aljazeera.com/blog/americas/unease-over-un-bid-eradicate-haiti-cholera

The UN has launched a new initiative aimed at tackling cholera in Haiti. But the programme falls short of what many had hoped for.

The new programme dedicates $215m from donors along with $23.5m from UN funds towards programmes in public health, capacity building, public education, and clean water systems. It will be part of a larger ten-year $2.2bn programme between Haiti and the neighbouring Dominican Republic to eradicate cholera from the island of Hispaniola.

“We know the elimination of cholera is possible,” said UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
(...)

some UN observers fear that the plan will deflect international pressure on the UN to take responsibility for introducing the deadly disease.

Numerous studies - including internal investigations by the UN itself - indicate that cholera was brought in by Nepalese peacekeeping troops. Yet the international body has yet to formally take the blame.

“A just response requires allowing past victims of the UN cholera and their survivors their day in court, to seek justice for their loss of loved ones, income, property and educational opportunities,” said Brian Concannon, Director of the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti, which has launched a lawsuit against the UN on behalf of the families of 5,000 cholera victims.

More than 6,700 people have signed an online petition launched last week by filmmaker Oliver Stone, calling for the UN to take responsibility.

#santé #nations_unies

48 civil society groups appeal to #UN Secretary-General for response to Haiti cholera claims | rabble.ca
http://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/roger-annis/2012/12/48-civil-society-groups-appeal-un-secretary-general-response-hait

Re: Request for UN response to claims for reparations for victims of cholera in Haiti
Your Excellency:
We are writing to urge the United Nations (UN) to demonstrate its leadership in human rights by responding to claims by victims of Haiti’s ongoing cholera epidemic. Despite extensive evidence that UN troops brought cholera to Haiti, the UN has not responded to the claims of victims seeking reparations beyond acknowledging receipt, nor articulated a process for reviewing these claims.  (...) The epidemic has killed over 7,600 Haitians and sickened more than 600,000 since cholera broke out in October 2010.

#santé #cholera #nations_unies

#Haiti #cholera epidemic ’most likely’ started at #UN camp - top scientist | BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-20024400

The new evidence could have serious implications for the UN, which is facing an unprecedented legal and moral challenge in Haiti - as well as a multi-billion dollar compensation claim from victims’ families.

More than 7,500 people have died from the cholera epidemic in Haiti since it started in late 2010. Hundreds of new cases are still being registered every week.

(...)

After studying molecular data known as full genome sequencing on the strain of cholera found in Haiti - and that prevalent in Nepal in 2010 - Dr Lantagne said: “We now know that the strain of cholera in Haiti is an exact match for the strain of cholera in Nepal.”

(...)

The 2011 UN report - co-signed by her - acknowledged that inadequate toilets in the Nepalese UN camp in the mountain town of Mirabalais could have leaked the cholera bacterium into the nearby Meye River which flows into the country’s main waterways.

But the report stressed that the outbreak “was not the fault” of any “group or individual”.

(...)

Now, Dr Lantagne says the new genome data (in addition to other evidence) has changed her view since she had co-authored the UN report which effectively said no-one was to blame.

#nations_unies #santé #casques_bleus

World’s biggest #geoengineering experiment ’violates’ UN rules | the guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/oct/15/pacific-iron-fertilisation-geoengineering

A controversial American businessman dumped around 100 tonnes of iron sulphate into the Pacific Ocean as part of a geoengineering scheme off the west coast of Canada in July, a Guardian investigation can reveal.

Lawyers, environmentalists and civil society groups are calling it a “blatant violation” of two international moratoria and the news is likely to spark outrage at a United Nations environmental summit taking place in India this week.

#géoingénierie #climat #nations_unies

UN should apologize for #cholera in #Haiti
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2012/08/thinktank-un-should-apologize-for-cholera-in-haiti.html

A thinktank called the International Crisis Group has released a report titled Towards a Post-MINUSTAH Haiti: Making an Effective Transition. Excerpt from the executive summary and recommendations:

To the UN Secretary-General: ...
5.  Respond to the cholera epidemic by: 
a) apologising for the perceived failures of some units to appropriately dispose of human waste in relation to the cholera epidemic, regardless of ongoing scientific disputes as to the devastating epidemic’s origins; 
b) directing that MINUSTAH undertake further actions in conjunction with the Haitian government to reduce the short-term spread of the disease prioritising vaccination in remote areas, access to drinking water, and treatment; 
c) convening additional donors’ commitment to the ten-year comprehensive water and sanitation infrastructure investment project now recommended by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)/ World Health Organization (WHO) and the health ministries of Haiti and the Dominican Republic; and 
d) reporting to the Security Council on the pace of implementation of the recommendations of the expert group on cholera for all peacekeeping missions.
Somehow I don’t think a “Sorry about that” for “perceived failures,” plus vague promises of more money for sanitation, will quite make up for half a million cholera cases and over 7,000 deaths.

#nations_unies #minustah #santé

#Haiti, #Cholera and the UN
►http://www.globalpolicy.org/component/content/article/186-haiti/51542-haiti-cholera-and-the-un.html

Since October 2010, more than 7000 Haitians have died from cholera. A UN-convened Independent Panel has conceded that cholera was brought to Haiti by UN peacekeepers and spread due to poor waste disposal protocol. Yet, despite this malfeasance, the UN blames the spread of cholera on the conditions in Haiti, and has failed to take responsibility for the introduction of the epidemic in the country. Though the Status of Forces Agreement between Haiti and the UN states that victims have a right to file claims for unintentional harms caused by UN personnel, UN has failed to set up a means of receiving the complaints, much less a means of resolving the issue.

#Nations_unies

#ANTHONYSHADID #JOURNALISTE DE TERRAIN

http://goo.gl/VmY2R

Succombe à une #crise d’ #asthme en couvrant la révolte en #Syrie

Anthony Shadid du #NYT (New-York Times) est décédé ce 16 février en Syrie, alors qu’il était sur le chemin du retour après une investigation en Syrie, menée clandestinement pour ne pas tomber entre les des sbires du régime du #Baâth. Considéré comme l’un des meilleurs et courageux journalistes au #monde, selon la réaction de l’ambassadrice américaine aux #Nations-unies #SusanRice qui s’est exprimée sur Twitter...

UN Shares Responsibility in Famine, Experts Say
http://allafrica.com/stories/201108110296.html

Major Western donor countries have bailed out their banks to the tune of billions of dollars, while drastically cutting down on development aid, and especially emergency assistance, he said.

In consequence, Ziegler said, the WFP is having to refuse help to refugees arriving at the camps. The WFP simply lacks the money to help the number of people in need.

Tens of thousands of people have likely died since April, the expert said. According to the WFP, 11 million people are in urgent need of food.

In the circumstances, a declaration from the U.N. Human Rights Council might stir some consciences and prompt people to act. It would at least force countries - officially committed to protecting the human right to food - to pay their contributions to the WFP, Ziegler hoped.

#famine #santé #aide_internationale #nations_unies #cdp

#Choléra en #Haïti : déjà plus de 5000 morts
http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2011/07/haiti-another-critique-of-the-uns-importation-of-cholera.html

“Today it is clear, about 5,000 people have died and there is one group of people responsible: it is MINUSTAH,” said Steven Benoit, outspoken senator from the West Department. “It is the Nepalese military contingent of MINUSTAH, still in Mirebalais even today,” he emphasized.
All indexes pointed to the U.N. stabilization forces currently in Haiti that, according to a study by a team of epidemiologists and physicians, imported a fatal cholera strain that destroyed thousands of lives, infecting hundreds of thousands of Haitians.
(...) “We demand relief and reparations, proclaimed Carole Pierre-Paul Jacob of the Organization for the Solidarity of Women (SOFA). [...] “we demand that MINUSTAH recognizes that this is a crime that is political, against human rights and against a nation.”

#nations_unies #casques_bleus #santé #épidémie

Près de 80% de l’énergie mondiale pourrait être renouvelable, estime l’ONU
http://www.un.org/apps/newsFr/storyF.asp?NewsID=25217&Cr=climat&Cr1

L’#énergie solaire et éolienne, la biomasse et l’hydroélectricité pourraient représenter près de 80% de l’approvisionnement énergétique mondial d’ici 2050, si les Etats mettaient en place des politiques permettant d’exploiter le potentiel de ces énergies renouvelables, selon un rapport des #Nations_Unies publié lundi.

et pour ça il faut augmenter les prix des énergies fossiles

les experts estiment que le prix des technologies des énergies renouvelables serait plus attractif si un coût financier était donné aux impacts environnementaux tels que les émissions de gaz à effet de serre et les produits polluants puis inclus dans les prix de l’énergie

#pollution #environnement

The UN’s report on origins of #cholera in #Haiti
►http://crofsblogs.typepad.com/h5n1/2011/05/the-uns-report-on-origins-of-cholera-in-haiti.html

the full report as a PDF. After a very quick scan of the document, I can say that it’s an excellent history of the early phase of the outbreak.
It’s also a masterpiece of diplomatic writing that never once directly names the Nepali peacekeepers as the carriers of the South Asian strain of Vibrio cholera that has killed almost 5,000 persons and sickened a quarter of a million.
(...)
In fact, the report blames the victims much more directly:
(...)
We have to understand that the MINUSTAH forces are there because of a coup organized by the US and Canadian governments against the elected Haitian government of Jean-Claude Aristide. Rather than send in the US Marines, who ran the country early in the 20th century, it was now politically expedient to hand the dirty work over to the UN.
The UN, in turn, had to find peacekeepers. These come nowadays from developing countries who can use the cash paid for contributing their soldiers.

#santé #environnement #nations_unies

UNdata
http://data.un.org

Données des Nations Unies. Possède son API (non officielle)

#data #database #datamining #world #api #resources #statistics #nations_unies