“My dear colleagues, the strength of our United Nations is YOU – our committed and dedicated personnel. Events have moved at alarming speed over the past two weeks. This crisis is unprecedented. And I’m proud of how – together – you are adapting so quickly. I understand the enormous stress that measures to contain the virus are putting on you and your families. Many of you, like me, are working away from loved ones and worrying deeply about them, and working from home can feel isolat...
Do you know gender? I thought I did. I knew what it basically meant: man and woman, boy and girl, lion and lioness etc. And I had helped women and girls all my student and professional life as a social activist and was confident that I knew what had to be known. So I felt safe. That was until as a UN staffer, I was asked to take its ‘I know gender’ course. Here, the bitter truth of what I teach my own students drove its stake through my time. Availability, we teach students of the economics of i...
Thirty staff and students from UNU-MERIT spent five days of the carnival break exploring Geneva; learning about the institutions based there and networking with staff and alumni. The trip itself was an impressive feat of organisation, involving 10 committee members from our Master of Science in Public Policy and Human Development (MPP), chaired by DEMOS Vice President Antoine Lemonnier, as well as various UNU staff, and dozens of contacts at the international organisations and centres we visited...
On 22 January 2018, UNU launched its Sustainable Development Explorer, a new campaign highlighting UNU’s work to support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Adopted by the UN General Assembly in 2015, the SDGs unite global action to overcome the world’s biggest challenges, from hunger and poverty to equality and peace. UNU’s work is uniquely comprehensive, spanning the full breadth of the SDGs. Some 400 UNU researchers worldwide are engaged in more than 180 research projects, generating...
Set amid a rapidly changing backdrop, our roundtable discussed the many systemic challenges to UN peacekeeping. The session was part of the ‘Future Force‘ conference held in The Hague, 9-10 February 2017, co-organised by Ortrun Merkle, Diego Salama and Pui-hang Wong of UNU-MERIT. Speakers from the worlds of academia, diplomacy and the military, including the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the UN mission in Mali (MINUSMA) livestreaming from the field, discussed a range of iss...
After months of campaigning the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has elected Mr António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres of Portugal to serve as the ninth UN Secretary-General. Much has been made of his personal qualities and professional qualifications — but what can be said of the election itself? Was the open process a game changer or little more than window dressing? In this election there were many voices, including Ban-ki Moon, calling for the next UN Chief to be a woman. There has ...
As Ban Ki-Moon approaches the end of his mandate, consultations are under way to find a successor. A leading candidate for the post is Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO. During an event at Chatham House, a think tank in London, on 6 September 2016, she outlined what would be her main priorities if appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations. Education was mentioned time again, particularly in the context of security, sustainability and global partnerships. Attending on behalf of UNU...
If impact is so difficult to attribute to the MDGs, how should we monitor the progress of the SDGs? In March 2016, the UN General Assembly adopted 230 indicators to cover the 17 SDGs and their accompanying 169 targets. But given the limitations of and discussion surrounding impact attribution, should we want such a monitoring mechanism? Will it add any value?...
On 17 June 2016, UNU Rector David M. Malone and UNU Centre for Policy Research (UNU-CPR) Director Sebastian von Einsiedel received the ‘2016 Book Award for Best New Book on the United Nations and UN System’ for their co-edited volume (with Bruno Stagno Ugarte) The UN Security Council in the 21st Century. The annual book award is presented by the Academic Council on the United Nations System — a global professional association of educational and research institutions, individual schol...