The In Case You Missed It Series highlights news articles from the United Nations that are relevant to the topics being simulated at AMUN 2017. This AMUN Accords post covers selected news from the week of 30 October.

The General Assembly Plenary will be discussing the Review of the United Nations peacebuilding architecture. The UN Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) is evaluating how it can meet the immense needs in Akobo, which is currently held by opposition forces and hosts 71,000 displaced peoples.   

The General Assembly Plenary will also be discussing A world against violence and violent extremism. Secretary-General António Guterres stressed the need to support the victims of terrorist attacks and to challenge extremism at its root during a meeting of the newly restructured UN Counter Terrorism Centre Advisory Board. Secretary-General Guterres extended his condolences to the mayor of New York City following the terror attack that killed eight.

The General Assembly Second Committee will be discussing Sustainable Development: Disaster Risk Reduction. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights drew attention to the growing humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico where more 2.8 million are without electricity and thousands have been displaced by Hurricane Maria.

The General Assembly Third Committee will be discussing Improving the coordination of efforts against trafficking in persons. The Security Council this week unanimously declared that it is “gravely concerned by the scale and severity” of rights violations against children in conflict regions. A report on children and armed conflict from Secretary-General Guterres highlights verified cases of child conscription in Somalia and Syria and shocking sexual violence against children in Nigeria, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is discussing Towards a sustainable, inclusive and resilient urban future for Asia and the Pacific. ESCAP Executive Secretary Shamshad Akhtar warned that SDGs in the region could not be met by “protectionist policies” and that economic progress could not come at the expense of the regional environment and social goals. The Asia-Pacific Trade and Investment Report 2017: Channelling Trade and Investment into Sustainable Development report indicated that export growth in the region outpaced some developed countries and that cuts in trade costs may yield 100 billion more in annual exports.

The Committee of Experts on Public Administration (CEPA) is discussing Promoting accountable institutions, ethical leadership and integrity to enhance confidence in efforts to deliver sustainable development. At UNIDO’s World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum (WEIF) 2017, UNIDO Deputy Director General Hiroshi Kuniyoshi stressed the importance of fostering innovation and supporting entrepreneurs to meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The WEIF also discussed  Women in Industry, focused on the challenges and opportunities that women face in developing markets. All 17 SDGs have strong ties to SDG9: Gender Equality.

There are many updates for the Contemporary Security Council this week. Ongoing and increasing violence in the Anglophone regions of Cameroon has led to more than 40,000 refugees crossing over the border into neighboring Nigeria. The Situation in the Sahel Region continues to top the  Security Council agenda. This week,  Secretary-General Guterres  encouraged the Council to be ambitious in combatting cross-border terrorism in Mali and other Sahel countries. In Australia, there are ongoing humanitarian concerns over treatment of refugees at Australia’s offshore detention centre, many of whom are too afraid to leave the facility.  

Other UN News of note this week:

• UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Erik Solheim addressed the difference between pledges made in the Paris Agreement and the actual cuts in emissions needed to combat global warming, pointing to findings in the Eighth UNEP Emissions Gap Report. This information was also backed up by the release of the Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, produced by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) that showed a growth in greenhouse gasses in 2016 over 2015.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) remarked that global and regional goals in combatting the spread of Tuberculosis (TB) are not being met and TB remains the top infectious killer.
• The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warns that nearly 1800 unaccompanied refugee children in Greece are in desperate need of accommodation and care as they live in deteriorating conditions due to a large influx of refugees that have left Greece overwhelmed and undersupplied.
• IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano met with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani and other Iranian officials. The IAEA affirms that the Iran is meeting its commitments outlined in the 2015 Nuclear Accord.
• Stateless peoples often face extreme prejudice and discrimination in their search for a safe home, and most stateless people belong to minority groups, warns the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, through their report: This Is Our Home: Stateless minorities and their search for citizenship.

Check back in to the AMUN Accords in the future as we keep you up-to-date on UN News that affects the simulations at the 28th Annual American Model United Nations Conference. If we missed some news of note, let us know on our Facebook page or Twitter feed and share the news with other upcoming attendees to the Conference.