UNRIC Library Newsletter - July 2011

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UN in General

E-News Department of Political Affairs, July 2011
http://us2.campaign-archive2.com/?u=e903e1565d1c8bad829ebd555&id=3bb9fff4c8&e=178332aec0
The UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA) has issued the first edition of its e-newsletter, highlighting the work of the Department and UN political missions to prevent and resolve conflict around the world. The first edition puts the spotlight on the UN's political response to the upheaval in the Middle East and North Africa.

The Millennium Development Goals Report 2011
English http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/11_MDG%20Report_EN.pdf
French:http://www.un.org/fr/millenniumgoals/pdf/report_2011.pdf
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/comun/docs/?path=/spanish/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG_Report_2011_SP.pdf
The report shows that although significant strides have been made, reaching all the MDGs by 2015 remains challenging because progress has failed to reach the most vulnerable. The report is based on a master set of data compiled by the Inter-Agency and Expert Group on MDG indicators led by the Statistics Division of the DESA.

Provisional agenda of the sixty-sixth regular session of the General Assembly (A/66/150)
English, French & Spanish: http://undocs.org/A/66/150
The document lists a total of 166 items to be discussed at the session will be officially opened on 13 September 2011.

UN System Organizational Chart - revised version
English: http://www.un.org/en/aboutun/structure/org_chart.shtml
French: http://www.un.org/fr/aboutun/structure/org_chart.shtml
Spanish: http://www.un.org/es/aboutun/structure/org_chart.shtml
German: ../../html/german/organigramm_april2011.pdf

UNRIC Library Backgrounder - South Sudan
http://www.unric.org/en/unric-library/26835

Peace and Security

Open Days on Women and Peace and Security
http://www.unwomen.org/2011/07/open-days-on-women-peace-and-security/
UN Women, in partnership with the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA), the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), is commencing a number of “Open Days” on women and peace and security worldwide from June through September 2011. The Open Days provide a platform for local women leaders to speak directly with senior UN leaders at the country level to share their experiences, concerns and priorities as a contribution to national and regional efforts to resolve conflicts and build security.

Security Council Concept Paper: Security Council open debate on “Children and armed conflict” - 12 July 2011
English, French & Spanish: http://undocs.org/S/2011/409
The Security Council President for the month of July, Germany, has prepared a concept paper concerning “Children and armed conflict”. The paper will serve to guide the Security Council open debase on 12 July 2011.

Understanding Electoral Violence in Asia (UNDP)
http://www.beta.undp.org/undp/en/home/librarypage/democratic-governance/dg-publications-for-website/understanding_electoralviolenceinasia.html
This report investigates electoral violence in Asia through analyses of case studies commissioned by UNDP for seven countries in South and South-East Asia: Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Thailand. The ultimate objective of these publications was to draw empirical lessons from each country as helpful guides for policy, legislation and institutional change to promote greater democratic governance.

United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNIFSA)
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unisfa/
The Security Council, by its resolution 1990 of 27 June 2011, responded to the urgent situation in Sudan’s Abyei region by establishing the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei (UNISFA).

United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS)
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/unmiss/
On 9 July 2011 South Sudan became the newest country in the world. The birth of the Republic of South Sudan is the culmination of a six-year peace process. The mandate of UNMIS ended on July 9th following the completion of the interim period set up by the Government of Sudan and SPLM during the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) on 9 January 2005. The Security Council has established a new mission, the United Nations Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS).

The United Nations Rule of Law Indicators: Implementation Guide and Project Tools (DPKO / OHCHR)
http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/publications/un_rule_of_law_indicators.pdf
The Guide provides step-by-step instructions on how to implement the instrument, with United Nations support, in a conflict or post-conflict setting. It is meant for first-time users of the instrument who have a general knowledge of the United Nations system, previous experience working in such situations, a good knowledge of criminal justice institutions and a familiarity with social sciences research methods.

Economic & Social Development

Food Crises and Gender Inequality (DESA Working Paper No. 107)
http://www.un.org/esa/desa/papers/2011/wp107_2011.pdf
This paper examines the current food crises, the projected effect of climate change, the vulnerabilities created by regional concentrations of food production, imports and exports, and the significant role of women as food producers, consumers and family food managers. Bridging productivity differentials between male and female farmers, by helping women overcome production constraints, would significantly increase agricultural output. This becomes an imperative, given the feminization of agriculture. Institutionally, a group approach to farming would help women and other small holders enhance their access to land and inputs, benefit from economies of scale, and increase their bargaining power economically and socially.

Food Security Communications Toolkit (FAO / EU)
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full_Report_1690.pdf
This toolkit is geared to helping food security professionals develop a communication strategy and communicate more effectively with their target audiences. Specific sections of the toolkit focus on policy makers and the media.

Handbook for National Action Plans on Violence Against Women (UN Women)
http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/vaw/handbook-for-nap-on-vaw.pdf
The Handbook presents a model framework for national action plans on violence against women, which sets out detailed recommendations, accompanied by explanatory commentaries and good practice examples.

Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice (UN Women)
English & Spanish: http://progress.unwomen.org/
UN Women has released its first flagship report "Progress of the World’s Women: In Pursuit of Justice," recognizing progress worldwide, but calling on governments to take action to end the injustices that keep women poorer and less powerful than men. The report states that the past century has seen a “transformation” in women’s legal rights, with countries in every region expanding the scope of women’s legal entitlements. “Nevertheless for most of the world’s women, the laws that exist on paper do not translate to equality and justice,” it adds.  It also points out that while 139 countries and territories now guarantee gender equality in their constitutions, women continue to experience injustice, violence and inequality in their home and working lives.

UN Women Annual Report 2010-2011
http://www.unwomen.org/resources/annual-report/
The Report documents UN Women’s work to foster women’s empowerment and gender equality around the world. It highlights some of the organization’s initiatives during the year and provides summary financial statements, a list of new programmes and projects, and contact information.

World Drug Report 2011 (UNODC)
Report in English, Summary in English, French & Spanish: http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/WDR-2011.html
This year's edition starts with an overview of the illicit drug situation worldwide and regionally, followed by more comprehensive discussions and statistical trends for the key transnational drug markets. 210 million people, 4.8 per cent of the population aged 15-64, took illicit substances at least once in the previous year. Drug markets stable but consumption of synthetic and prescription drugs rises.

World Economic and Social Survey 2011: The Great Green Technological Transformation
Report in English, Overview in English, French & Spanish: http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wess/index.shtml
Humanity is close to breaching the sustainability of Earth, and needs a technological revolution greater – and faster – than the industrial revolution to avoid “a major planetary catastrophe,” according to this new UN report.  Major investments will be needed worldwide in the developing and scaling up of clean energy technologies, sustainable farming and forestry techniques, climate-proofing of infrastructure, and in technologies reducing non-biological degradable waste production.

Human Rights

Report on Mass Rapes in Congo, North Kivu
English:http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/UNJHROReportMassRapesBushani_en.pdf
French: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Countries/ZR/BCNUDHRapportViolsMassifsBushani_fr.pdf
The United Nations Joint Human Rights Office released a new report on mass rapes and other human rights violations committed in the Villages of Bushani and Kalambhiro in Massisi Territory, North Kivu, on 31 December 2010 and 1 January 2011. The report confirm that men in uniform identified by various sources as soldiers of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) submitted 47 women, including one minor, to sexual violence, including rape, abducted two civilians, and inflicted cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment on 12 others civilians. They also looted at least 100 houses and three buildings and set on fire or destroyed at least four houses. It also contains recommendations to the authorities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), MONUSCO and humanitarian partners, in particular with regard to the protection of civilians in these villages, the type of assistance needed by the victims and the measures to be taken to ensure that the alleged perpetrators of these violations be brought to justice.

Humanitarian Affairs

ReliefWeb: Horn of Africa Crisis – 2011
http://reliefweb.int/taxonomy/term/8727
ReliefWeb has launched a new page on the situation in the Horn of Africa.

Seven years after the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Barrier: The Impact of the Barrier in the Jerusalem area (OCHA)
http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Full%20Report_44.pdf
This report – published by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) - focuses on the impact of the Barrier in the East Jerusalem area, in particular on West Bank communities and households now isolated on the Jerusalem side of the Barrier. It also highlighted the impact of the Barrier on Palestinian farmers, whose access to their land in so-called ‘Seam Zone’ behind the Barrier is severely limited.