On September 30, 2009, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton chaired a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on women, peace, and security. The U.N. Security Council immediately passed unanimously U.N. Security Council resolution 1820 strengthening international action against sexual violence. According to the Christian Science Monitor article on the subject, "The resolution calls for the appointment of a special representative to the UN secretary-general who would coordinate and lead efforts to end sexual violence in armed conflict.  The resolution also calls for providing services to the victims of sexual violence and prosecuting perpetrators of the crime, US officials say. But its central purpose is to increase the intensity of the international focus on sexual violence in conflict." In Secretary Clinton's opening remarks, she stated, "Now, reading the headlines, one might think that the use of rape as a tactic of war only happens occasionally, or in a few places, like the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Sudan. That would be bad enough, but the reality is much worse. We've seen rape used as a tactic of war before in Bosnia, Burma, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere. In too many countries and in too many cases, the perpetrators of this violence are not punished, and so this impunity encourages further attacks.

The leaders of the Western world have finally come to the agreement that Iran is indeed in the process of developing nuclear weapons. The debate has now shifted away from the existence of the nuclear weapons to the possibility of Iran's efforts to design a nuclear warhead. The warhead would be the final step in the completion of the nuclear weapon.

Each country has a different opinion as to the status of Iran's nuclear warhead efforts. Israel believes that the effort to design the warhead has restarted, while Germany believes the effort had never stopped. The United States believes that the Iranian effort to develop a nuclear warhead did in fact stop in 2003 and has not yet been restarted. That is not to say that the effort will never be restarted, but at the moment the United States does not consider the warhead a concern. This opinion is based on the intelligence of various spy agencies, including satellite imagery and electronic eavesdropping.

The New York Times refers to this disagreement as the "mirror image" of the debate prior to the Iraq War. Again, the United States is in disagreement with the other Western states, yet this time it is the other states who are more concerned about the status of the nuclear weapons. The differences in opinions about this particular issue represent each state's general feelings about how to deal with the Iranian nuclear weapons. The states who have voiced concern about the warheads want to pursue a proactive strategy, while the United States is less concerned about an immediate reaction.

This debate is significant because if the United States is able to convince other nations that the warhead is not an immediate threat, then conflict in the near future may be averted.

For more information, click here.

Act now against nuclear proliferation. 

Last week in Cape Town, South Africa thousands of children took to the streets to protest for better schools. After apartheid ended in South Africa, leaders have tried to create a better education system for the children of the country. Unfortunately, they have not taken the most effective measures. The current protest movement takes precedence from a 1976 uprising against apartheid. One of the leaders of the current movement, led by an organization called Equal Education, is Zackie Achmat- one of South Africa's main advocates for AIDS treatment.

The main premise of the movement is to work for educational equity and to empower students to work with teachers and government officials to promote change. The importance of education in the development process in any country is overwhelming. By empowering individuals to think for themselves and question what is going on around them, a diverse civil society can be created. As Achmat has said in an article in the New York Times, "In building a citizens' movement, the most important element is giving people the sense of their own power to change things with little victories." The achievements of Equal Education (which began in 2008) thus far include: installing windows in a school whose windows were shattered, and providing a science teacher for a high school that did not have one for its seniors. According to the article, the protest that occurred last week was to rally for libraries and librarians in these schools, and is their first attempt to take on a national issue.

Among other problems facing South Africa's educational system, teachers very often do not show up for school. When they do show up, the hours that they teach for are much below the national standards. Not only do South African children have to grapple with poorly conditioned schools, they also have to deal with the chance of their own teachers, the most fundamental source of education, not even showing up to class. The schools are still subject to the legacy of apartheid, where in the Western Cape, 2 out of 1000 sixth graders in mostly black schools pass the math test at their grade level, while 2 in 3 children in schools once maintained for whites pass that same test. Education is not only important for fostering a lively civil society, but also to lead individuals out of poverty. With education comes better jobs, more trained individuals, and hopefully economic development for the country. The importance of education is not singular to South Africa; it should be recognized in all developing counties in the world.

For more information on South Africa's education system click here.

Multilateralism is again the focal point for American foreign policy, in a way that has not been seen in a number of decades. The new U.S. engagement is manifesting itself in both word and deed. President Obama's whirl-wind tour of multilateralism is a refreshing sight. President Obama started his tour with a speech to the U.N.'s Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon's Climate Change Summit. In his remarks, as he repeated in his address to the General Assembly, he stated that the U.S. is ready to address global problems on the global stage. He recognized that, while the U.S. and other Western states have contributed the most to climate change, the least developed States will bear the greatest burdens. He pledged that the U.S. will do more to combat climate change and help mitigate the effects, but reaffirmed that all nations must make legitimate commitments to reverse greenhouse gas emissions. His words were strong and forceful but more importantly his deeds are echoing more forcefully. Domestically the U.S. is making progress to reduce our emissions.

Next, the President spoke to the General Assembly. His speech covered many topics, but emphasized the U.S.'s commitment to engagement and finding comprehensive solutions to global obstacles. He focused on disarmament, peace building, environmental protection, and economic development. However, the U.S. has not only spoken wisely about multilateral policies, the U.S. has taken important steps to ensure cooperation. The U.S. has taken bilateral and unilateral steps to this end. The administration signaled its willingness to sign new treaties with Russia and has unilaterally withdrawn plans to station missile interceptor systems in the Czech Republic and Poland. The following day he chaired the Security Council as he forwarded a new resolution calling on all member states to increase their nuclear non-proliferation regimes, and reinvigorated the IAEA's role in nuclear arms control.

The multilateralism tour has yet to cease. He is now meeting with the G20 to address climate change initiatives, economic recovery and development. These issues must not be fractionalized/ compartmentalized. The U.S. and political leaders in every state must spend the necessary political capital to ensure that economic growth is also environmentally sustainable.

Click HERE to see our full page on all of Obama's speeches at the 64th General Assembly of the U.N.

Today at a UN conference a declaration was adopted to promote entry into force of Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). This treaty prohibits the testing of nuclear weapons, which helps to limit the negative impacts that nuclear weapons have on the environment. It also slows the production of new nuclear weapons. The declaration that was adopted today, by a large majority, urges nations to sign and ratify this treaty as soon as possible:

"The overwhelming support for the Treaty and its early entry into force has been expressed by the United Nations General Assembly and other multilateral and regional organs and initiatives, which have called for signature and ratification of the Treaty as soon as possible, and have urged all States to remain seized of the issue at the highest political level. We affirmed the importance and urgency of signatures and ratifications without delay to achieve early entry into force of the Treaty"

Hillary Clinton's remarks at the conference support the CTBT and emphasizes President Obama's goal of a world without nuclear weapons. Furthermore, she asserts that the administration will work to get the CTBT ratified through the Senate.

Act now to urge the U.S. Senate to ratify this treaty!

President Barack Obama gave his first speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly this morning. President Obama pointed out that “speeches alone will not solve our problems.” He called for the international community to share the responsibility of tremendous global challenges that face us all. He was very clear that the United States could not and will not solve the world’s plights alone, and only through international cooperation and “a new era of engagement” can we begin a fresh path towards solutions to problems that we have failed to alleviate in the past.

President Obama stated that, “the world must stand together to demonstrate that international law is not an empty promise.” He proposed four pillars that are fundamental for the world’s future and must be a foundation for universal accord between nations to transpire. These four pillars are nonproliferation and disarmament of nuclear weapons, promotion of peace and security, preservation of the planet, and a global economy that would advance opportunity for all people. He expanded on these points by expressing how essential they are to our international security, well-being, and addressing these topics must not be delayed any longer.

Even though Obama’s speech sent a stern message to world leaders that responsibility must be taken, there is a feeling of support for Obama’s administration at the United Nations. President Obama was not unwilling to point out that the United States and its partners have had their share of international failures. His speech and the many others given at the United Nations this week may not solve our problems, but they are new beginning point for a new direction that can create tangible advancements in international collaboration for the innovation of global solutions.

Watch speeches from the United Nations live from the UN Webcast.

Act now to support nuclear disarmament.
Act now to preserve our planet and environment.

President Barack Obama will chair a Security Council meeting on September 24, 2009 regarding two of the United Nations' most sensitive issues: nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament. This meeting will emphasize the threats posed by proliferation of nuclear weapons and steps to reduce these dangers. The Council is expected to adopt a draft resolution that deals with these issues on a broad scope. Steps that need to be taken include putting in to practice a test ban, strengthening verification of nuclear cuts, and making them irreversible so that low numbers are reached in order to assure that their only purpose is to prevent their use. The proposed resolution will not target any countries specifically; however, it will refer to past Security Council resolutions that imposed sanctions on Iran and North Korea for their nuclear activities.

This will be a test of leadership for President Obama on the world stage. It will be an important meeting to build momentum behind a very critical issue to not only the United States, but the rest of the world. Thursday's meeting will underscore the importance of strengthening the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty at next year's review conference. Since the Council has been split in the past on how to handle the nuclear activities of Iran and North Korea, it will be useful to keep the focus broad in order to build a unified message throughout the Security Council members.

You can watch the nuclear disarmament meeting live at the United Nations Webcast.

Act now to support nuclear nonproliferation.

On September 15th, during the ongoing 12th session of the Human Rights Council, the U.N. Fact- Finding Mission on the conflict in Gaza, between December 27, 2008 and January 18, 2009, presented its report. The mission was led by Justice Richard Goldstone, former judge of the Constitutional Court of South Africa, and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. This report concluded that there is evidence of severe human rights violations and also war crimes on the part of the Israeli forces. While the report mainly focuses on the abuses of the Israelis, it acknowledges that there is evidence that Palestinian troops also committed war crimes, and possibly crimes against humanity. According to the press release,

"Israel imposed a blockade amounting to collective punishment and carried out a systematic policy of progressive isolation and deprivation of the Gaza Strip. During the Israeli military operation... houses, factories, wells, schools, hospitals, police stations and other public buildings were destroyed. Families are still living amid the rubble of their former homes long after the attacks ended, as reconstruction has been impossible due to the continuing blockade. More than 1,400 people were killed during the military operation."

The effects of this violence on the people of Gaza, especially the children, will be long-lasting, because attacks were focused indiscriminately on all the people of Gaza, there seemed to be no military restraint. There was no real distinction between Palestinian military personnel and civilians during the attacks.

The report concludes that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory requires action, and suggests that the U.N. Security Council forces Israel to report to it "on investigations and prosecutions it should carry out with regard to the violations" detailed in the report. It also suggests that the Security Council creates a group of experts to report to it on any individual proceedings by Israel to rectify the harm done. If in six months there seems to be no real change in Israel's actions, the report suggests that the Security Council should refer the situation to the International Criminal Court Prosecutor. The reporters also suggest that the same actions be taken towards the authorities in Gaza.

For more information on the International Criminal Court, click here. To learn more about human rights and the Human Rights Council, click here.

181 of the world's largest investors - collectively managing over $13 trillion in assets - have signed a U.N.- backed statement for concrete action against climate change.

The statement calls for a new global climate treaty to reduce pollution, catalyze global funding for energy-efficient and low-carbon technologies and to include a target for emissions reductions of between 50 and 85 per cent of 1990 levels by 2050.

It also appeals for action to reduce deforestation and support, as well as for support for adaptation measures.
The move comes ahead of this December's UN talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, where nations are expected to create a new pact to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Rob Tacon, Chair of the UN Environment Programme's Financial Initiative said, "Climate change has quite rightly been framed as the greatest market failure ever...The magnitude of the negative economic impacts and the potential of climate change to bankrupt our global financial system, as well as to threaten the planet's life-supporting natural ecosystems, are calling."

Today the House Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight held a hearing concerning U.N. Chapter VII Mandates and Resolutions on Iraq.

A Chapter VII mandate-created by the passage of a binding resolution-is a reference to Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter; this chapter gives the Security Council the power to create resolutions "with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression." These actions can involve anything, except the use of armed force. A Chapter VII mandate is a Council-imposed resolution on a country to carry-out and/or stop a certain action(s). A country under a Security Council resolution is required to obey under international law.

During the rule of Saddam Hussein, the U.N. Security Council had imposed a large number of mandates on Iraq. These included nuclear verification and control, controlling Iraqi oil revenues, and compensation to Kuwait for Iraq's invasion in 1991. With Saddam's regime now out of power, the hearing was concerned with the possibility of removing these mandates and the United States' obligations under the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) to help Iraq transition from under these resolutions.

One of the central issues of the hearing was the Chapter VII mandate on Iraq to pay compensation to Kuwait for the damage incurred. The current government of Iraq would like the debt forgiven, on the grounds that this money can be used for economic development, and that the people of Iraq should not suffer for the actions of Saddam. Kuwait, however, has stood firm on insisting that the compensation be paid back in full. According to some reports, President Obama has agreed with the Iraqi position. The Ranking Republican Member of the Committee, Mr. Rohrabacher (R-CA), emphasized the massive damage done to Kuwait during the Gulf War and the importance of recognizing the legitimacy of the debt. One of the panelists, Professor Matheson from GW Law Faculty, suggested that a middle-ground solution be found, e.g. the compensation be paid as an investment into Kuwaiti infrastructure, so that Iraq could in fact profit from the arrangement.

This situation presents a complicated situation for Iraq and the United States collectively. Both must spend critical international political capital to get all P5 members of the Security Council to agree on new resolutions while there are still questions about the current Iraqi leadership.