Israel clearly believes that there is an alternative to UNWRA. “Only 13 of the humanitarian aid trucks to Gaza enter through UNWRA. It is false to say that UNWRA is the backbone of humanitarian assistance to Gaza. The majority of aid is going through other agencies and NGOs,” says a senior Israeli official who met…
Photo by Joel Heard on Unsplash As the Vice Minister of Justice of Kazakhstan, I am proud to reaffirm our nation’s commitment to advancing human rights and adhering to international standards, writes Botagoz Zhakselekova. One of the key mechanisms through which we pursue these goals is the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) – a process under…
Photo by You-Chen Hsu on Unsplash Climate change has greatly affected countries around the world. As a member of the international community, Taiwan also faces serious challenges in this area. In recent years, we have witnessed the most severe drought in a century, intense rainfall, and devastating typhoons, writes Peng Chi-ming. President Lai Ching-te is…
Photo by Melany Rochester on Unsplash When historians look back on pivotal moments that reshaped Europe, they may well choose 2015-16. Not Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nor the way Covid laid bare our economic weaknesses, but when immigration started to tear Europe apart, writes Giles Merritt. Far-right populists have succeeded in inflaming voters across the…
Photo by Paula Porto on Unsplash The violent protests that Chile experienced between October 2019 and March 2020 led to more than 8,800 police arrests and nearly 3,400 people hospitalised, as well as more than 30 dead. The government of Sebastián Piñera reacted in desperation, proposing a plebiscite in which 78% of voters were in…
Georgia will be freed from Ivanishvili’s “Russian dream”, writes Viktor Sparov Sakartvelo is now at the most important juncture of its development, perhaps since the dissolution of the USSR. In less than a week, the country will hold parliamentary elections that will definitively determine the future course of this small but proud country. At stake is…
In just mere weeks, the moment of truth for Georgia will set things straight, as the country suits up to make its existential choice for the civilised future. The people will cast their vote in the historical election that is set to define the country’s fate for decades to come, writes Viktor Sparov. On October 26,…
The new UK government’s goals are modest. But economic reality may force it to follow changing public opinion, writes Richard Corbett. In its campaign for the general election in the United Kingdom in July, Labour generally kept a low profile on the UK’s departure in 2020 from the European Union. In government, the party said,…
As the 79th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) convenes in New York, the global community has once again come together to address the many pressing issues facing the world today. This year’s General Debate, which began on September 24th, centres on the theme of “leaving no one behind: acting together for…
Photo by Ben Morris on Unsplash The two-year postponement of the next phase of the LEZ (the low emission zone) in Brussels is not a proposal burdened with community-based issues. I am Dutch-speaking and co-submitted the proposal. So why is it, as we say in Belgium, being played out as a community issue?…
