Cancun has come and gone. But forging a durable global consensus on a new climate accord remains a herculean task. In fact it reminisces of a highly intricate knot that, according to an ancient Greek legend, resisted all attempted solutions until Alexander the Great cut through it with a sword. Climate diplomacy must focus on environmental, development and equity imperatives. READ MORE

The G20 Seoul Summit ended in controversy on November 12, leaving it to France, the 2011 chair, to pick up the discussion agenda and move on. Among the issues waiting to be taken up is the controversial idea of institutionalizing a permanent secretariat for the G20, tabled in August 2010 by French President Nicholas Sarkozy. READ MORE

Ten years after the Security Council issued its landmark resolution 1325 on October 31, 2000, designed to address the "disproportionate and unique impact of war on women", UN officials and international human rights advocates say it is high time the principles it espouses move from paper to reality. READ MORE

In a historic and long-awaited decision, the United Nations General Assembly adopted recently a resolution that recognized the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights.READ MORE

When heads of government and state gather at the United Nations in New York from September 20-22 to review progress, assess obstacles and gaps, and agree on concrete strategies and actions to meet the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015, they will not have much reason to rejoice. UN is rather candid in its reports that "without a major push forward, many of the MDG targets are likely to be missed in most regions".
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Towards the close of the 15th African Union summit, Libyan president Muammar Gaddafi said the continent was on its way to the definite establishment of the United States of Africa. This hyperbole appeared to become reality in the AU shielding Sudan president Bashir. But one swallow does not make a summer. READ MORE

Beyond the headlines about the agreement among most developed G20 countries on growth-friendly plans to reduce deficits, though at different speeds in different countries, the Toronto Summit Declaration contains what could become a new development agenda, focusing on support for growth in low income countries. This means that there is much work to do before the G-20 summit in Seoul in November. READ MORE

Africa is taking a growing role in the world, its population is increasing fast and so too is its need for finance to build for the future. To achieve the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and close the gap between its infrastructure and the rest of the world’s, the continent requires an annual investment of $93 billion over the next decade, says a landmark new study. READ MORE

Two acronyms in the alphabet soup of world affairs received heightened attention in mid-April when IBSA and BRIC met in Brasilia to review past performance, assess present needs, and work out their plans for the future. These two important events for the ‘Global South’  will have great resonance for the future shape of South-South cooperation and help bring about new power equations. READ MORE

While preparations begin for a midterm review of the Second International Decade of the World's Indigenous People (2005-2014), a critical evaluation of human rights initiatives, including the 2007 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has begun. A two-day gathering of Asia-Pacific parliamentarians in Manila, provided an opportunity to cast a close look at what has been achieved and what still needs to be done. READ MORE

Nearly two decades after the Cold War ended, the Barack Obama administration is carrying out the third subsequent assessment of the roles and missions for the U.S. nuclear forces and the associated production and maintenance infrastructure. It is viewed by many as an opportunity for significant progress on nuclear disarmament, energized by President Obama's joint commitment with his Russian counterpart, President Dmitriy Medvedev, to work toward a "nuclear-free world". READ MORE

Big expectations on the climate change conference last month in Copenhagen were belied. Will the forthcoming meeting in June in Bonn and the global conference end of the year in Mexico lead to legally binding agreements? UN's top climate official Yvo de Boer prefers not to commit himself. READ MORE