UN – United Nations

An Update on the Fight Against TB

Tuberculosis (TB) is a leading infectious disease killer around the world and reversing the spread of TB is a top health priority for the United Nations. We’ve made progress against the disease: Between 1990-2013, the TB death rate declined by 45%. Yet we still have a long way to go, especially as we grapple with TB that is resistant to the drugs that have long been used to treat it. Last week, Ambassador Eric Goosby, […]

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New Bill Bolsters UN & U.S. Response in South Sudan

The world’s newest nation, South Sudan, last week marked its four-year anniversary in a state of extreme conflict. Thousands of civilians have been killed and an estimated 2 million have fled since fighting broke out in December 2013. But no matter how grave the situation, the United States and the United Nations continue their commitment to seeing South Sudan stable. Under the wise leadership of U.S. Representatives Tom Rooney (R-FL), Michael Capuano (D-MA), Michael McCaul

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The Road to Ratification of the UN Charter

Editor’s Note: This is the first in a series of blog posts on the founding of the United Nations 70 years ago. The celebratory speeches were over. Everyone from the 50 delegations had returned home from San Francisco. The papers reported on the ongoing war against Japan and the devastating conditions in war-torn Europe. But the hard work of creating the United Nations was not over. It had barely begun. After the 50 delegations at

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What Happened at the Addis Financing for Development Conference?

Editor’s Note: This blog originally appeared on the Brookings Institution’s Up Front blog. Concepts, constraints, and conquests. These three words keep popping in to my head as people ask me how things went at the United Nations’ major financing for development (FFD) conference last week in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Allow me to explain why. Concepts Addis was probably the most earnest international summit I have ever attended. Most political pronouncements were muted. The event seemed

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What Girl Up Teen Advisors Want for the Future

World leaders are gathering at the United Nations in September to launch a new set of global goals, which will set the world’s to-do list through 2030. What kind of world do you want to see for girls in 2030? What is your message to world leaders? How can we help girls around the world? We posed these questions and more to some of Girl Up’s Teen Advisors when they were in Washington, D.C. last

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Milestone in Nigeria: One Year without Polio

  Today is an important moment in the fight to rid the world of polio: Nigeria reached one year without a new case of wild polio. Nigeria is one of three countries where the transmission of polio has never been stopped (Afghanistan and Pakistan are the other two countries), so ending polio in Nigeria is essential to ending polio in Africa and around the world. It’s simple: Polio doesn’t respect borders. Until we stop polio

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5 Top Climate Quotes from Mayors at the Vatican

Sixty mayors from around the world gathered at the Vatican last week for a historic a two-day conference where they pledged to fight climate change and to help the poor deal with its impacts. The meeting, which focused on the role of cities in addressing the global problems of climate change, sustainable development, and human trafficking, was the first time that the Vatican brought together mayors to mobilize grassroots action and urge world leaders to

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70 Years Since Senate Ratification of the UN Charter

To say that today is a significant day in our national and world history would not fully capture the magnitude of what happened in the United States’ capital 70 years ago. On this day in 1945, World War II was drawing to a close, but the wounds were certainly still fresh. The U.S. Senate acted decisively to ratify a treaty that set out to: “Save succeeding generations from the scourge of war… to reaffirm faith

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7 UN Quotes to Get You Inspired for the New Global Goals

This September, world leaders will gather at the United Nations to adopt a new set of global development goals for 2016-2030. Known as the Sustainable Development Goals, these goals aim to end extreme poverty, promote equity and opportunity for all, and protect the planet. UN Secretary-General Ban-Ki Moon has spoken numerous times about the importance of these goals and the direction they can take the world in the next 15 years. Here are seven favorite

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