Joseph A. Klein, CFP United Nations Columnist

Africa Feels Slighted by the UN Security Council

“Let it be written in history that the Council failed Kenya and Africa,” exclaimed Rwanda’s United Nations Ambassador Eugène-Richard Gasana last Friday to the United Nations Security Council. He and other African delegates spoke out after the Security Council rejected a resolution proposed by African member states and their regional group, the African Union, seeking a one-year delay in International Criminal Court (ICC) proceedings against Kenya’s President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and Deputy President William Samoei Ruto.

The UN’s Failed Fight to Stop Polio Imported from Pakistan to Sudan

The United Nations Security Council must find a way to “unlock” the situation in Sudan’s South Kordofan and Blue Nile States so that humanitarian agencies can gain unfettered access to administer polio vaccinations to as many as 165,000 children in the two states, John Ging, Director of Operations from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said at a press conference at UN headquarters in New York yesterday. Despite the outbreak of polio in the region, Sudanese government and rebel forces there have not responded positively to the urgency of the situation, he said.

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back in Syria

Speaking to the press at United Nations Headquarters in New York following her first briefing to the Security Council on November 5th, Sigrid Kaag, Special Coordinator of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-UN Joint Mission overseeing the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons program, said that the Syrian authorities were cooperating so far. Key equipment for all of its declared chemical weapons production facilities have been destroyed.

Israel Agrees to Participate in UN Human Rights Council Circus

Israel decided to end its year and a half boycott of the three-ring circus known as the United Nations Human Rights Council. Responding to significant diplomatic pressure from the United States and Germany, Israel sent representatives to a Council session on October 29th to participate in a review of Israel’s human rights record.

Samantha Power Faces A Moral Decision On Rwanda

Following their visit earlier this month to Africa’s Great Lakes region, which includes the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda, members of the United Nations Security Council met to consider what they learned during their visit. They also heard reports from two high level appointees of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who urged more progress in regional peace efforts in the wake of an apparent deadlock on certain key issues in the so-called Kampala talks between the DRC government and the armed M23 rebel group fighting against the government.

Saudi Arabia Turns Down UN Security Council Seat

In declining to accept a non-permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council that it had actively sought for two years, Saudi Arabia pouted that it could not abide by the Security Council’s “double-standards.”

New High-Level UN-OPCW Coordinator for Syria Mission Lacks Relevant Experience

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon announced on October 16th the appointment of Sigrid Kaag of the Netherlands as Special Coordinator of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations Joint Mission to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program. The appointment was made in close consultations with OPCW Director-General Ahmet Üzümcü and supported by the UN Security Council.

Obama’s Naive Hopes for Peace Deal with Sham “Moderate” Rouhani

Three days after being snubbed at the United Nations by Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, President Obama made a hurriedly arranged telephone call to Rouhani last Friday as the Iranian president was heading to the airport to return to Tehran. This followed what Secretary of State John Kerry had described as his own “constructive” meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif the previous day.

Russia and Iran Roll Over John Kerry

Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov announced in separate statements to the press late Thursday afternoon that agreement had been reached between them on the elements of a Security Council resolution to implement the transfer of Syria’s chemical weapons to international control for removal and destruction.

President Obama’s Speech to the UN General Assembly

President Barack Obama delivered his annual address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 24, 2013, the opening day of the UN’s general debate session with many heads of state and other government leaders present for the occasion.

UN Security Council Role in Implementing Syrian Chemical Weapons Deal

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon submitted to the UN Security Council this morning the report of his appointed team of chemical weapons experts on the alleged use of chemical weapons on August 21, 2013 in the Damascus suburbs of Syria. “The report makes for chilling reading,” the Secretary General told reporters after his briefing. “The results are overwhelming and indisputable. This is a war crime.”

Obama Ignores UN: Poised to Attack Syrian Regime

The United Nations Chemical Weapons Team led by Swedish Professor Sellstrom has decided for security reasons to postpone until at least tomorrow any further visits to the locations of the most recent alleged chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21st.

Security Council Punts Again On Syria

The United Nations Security Council held an urgent consultation meeting to hear a briefing on what various eyewitness accounts reported to be a major chemical weapons attack that took place in the suburbs of Damascus, Syria during the morning of August 21st. The Security Council listened, but took no effective action.

Secretary General Admits UN Bias Against Israel – Or Did He?

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said during his trip last week to Jerusalem, in remarks addressed to Israeli students, that Israel “has been weighed down by criticism and suffered from bias — and sometimes even discrimination” at the UN. After meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he said that “The time is now for Israel to be fully respected as a member of the international community.” He called in particular for “a more constructive relationship between Israel and the Human Rights Council.” Unfortunately, the Secretary General’s refreshing moral clarity on this issue lasted only a few days.

United Nations Expert Challenges UN’s Pet Development Project

The United Nations has refused to publish a recent study by one of its own statisticians employed by the United Nations Population Fund, Dr. Howard Friedman.

Argentina’s Neo-Colonialism

Argentina is currently a member of the United Nations Security Council and is chairing its meetings this month. For this reason, Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, Argentina’s president, came to New York to personally preside over a UN Security Council session on August 6th that was supposed to be devoted to the theme of cooperation between the United Nations and regional organizations such as the Arab League, the African Union and various Latin American regional organizations.

Latin American Foreign Ministers Bash U.S. Surveillance Program

Five foreign ministers from member states comprising the Latin American Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) trade bloc, led by Venezuela’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Elías Jaua, met with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on August 5th to condemn the United States for spying on them. They expressed their serious concerns about alleged U.S. electronic surveillance of their countries as disclosed by former National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden.

Syrian Opposition Lobbies UN For Support

Syrian opposition political leaders, including Ahmed Jarba, president of the Syrian National Coalition (SNC), came to the United Nations on July 26th to appeal for support from the UN Security Council.

John Kerry’s Day At The UN

Secretary of State John Kerry arrived at the United Nations on Thursday morning in a multi-car caravan. The primary purpose of his daylong visit was to preside over an open UN Security Council meeting on “The Situation in the Great Lakes Region: Supporting the Great Lakes Framework.”

Obama’s State Department Unfairly Condemns U.S. Ally Rwanda

Secretary of State John Kerry is coming to the United Nations on July 25th to lead a special session of the UN Security Council on Africa’s Great Lakes region, which includes the neighboring countries of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda. In typical Obama administration fashion, the State Department has already chosen to bash our ally Rwanda this week, taking sides in a conflict involving rival rebel groups in the DRC.