Take Time to Reflect on Water
We need two things to happen at once: the United Nations must take the global lead on water as a critical issue, and water must be mainstreamed across all other intergovernmental processes related to sustainable development.
Celebrating French, a Global Language Connecting, Mobilizing and Uniting People Towards a Sustainable and Just Future
La Francophonie brings together 88 States and Governments from the northern and southern hemispheres, united by a common language and values, and representing a melting pot of cultural diversity.
Technology and Gender Equality—Bringing Women and Girls to the Centre of Innovation
Promoting gender equality in the realm of technology is indeed a matter of rights, but it goes beyond questions of justice. Women’s equal leadership in tech spaces will ensure that the technology of our future fosters sustainability and inclusion, not breakdown and division.
Supporting National Justice and Security Institutions: The Role of United Nations Peace Operations
While United Nations police, justice and corrections personnel represent less than 10 per cent of overall deployments in peace operations, their activities remain fundamental to the achievement of sustainable peace and security, as well as for the successful implementation of the mandates of such missions.
The Lack of Gender Equality in Science Is Everyone’s Problem
How will we tackle today’s daunting challenges—such as climate change, biodiversity loss, water stress, viral epidemics and the rapid development of artificial intelligence—if we cannot call upon all of our best minds, wherever they may be?
Keeping the Spotlight on Pulses: “Roots” for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security
Pulses have a broad genetic diversity, from which the necessary traits for adapting to future climate scenarios can be obtained through the development of climate-resilient cultivars. Science, technology and innovation are critical to responding to this pressing need.
Why It’s Time for Wetland Restoration Now to Secure a Sustainable Future
World Wetlands Day, established by the United Nations General Assembly in resolution 75/317 of 30 August 2021, is celebrated on 2 February each year to raise awareness and increase people’s understanding of the critical importance of wetlands.
Never Quite at Home: Holocaust Survivors’ Postwar Lives
This year, the Holocaust and the United Nations Outreach Programme will explore how victims adjusted their ideas of home and belonging. It is an all too relevant subject in a world with more than 100 million refugees and forcibly displaced persons.
Challenges to Accelerating the Pace of Poverty Reduction
Accelerating the pace of poverty reduction is a complex and difficult task. Instead of comprehensively analyzing the global poverty trend, this article discusses two major challenges to achieving the global targets: (i) the slow pace of poverty reduction in Eastern and Southern Africa and (ii) the lack of frequency and timeliness of poverty data.
Building Bridges in an Age of Uncertainty: We Need to Talk
We now have the knowledge to not only improve our capacities for intercultural dialogue, but also the evidence showing the impact that it can have on issues related to peace and inclusion.
Whose Trash Is It, Anyway?
We need to rethink the way we see waste. Instead of using our mental and physical energy picking up the slack for others, we need to use those moments to project our voices, asking those in positions of money and power what they are doing to fix the problem.
The Loss and Damage Facility: A Step Towards Climate Justice
The negative effects of climate change and global warming have progressively become more frequent and ferocious. Those who have contributed the least to global warming are suffering the most.
Soils, Where Food Begins
Advocacy of soils is more important than ever given that we are facing a food and fertilizer crisis due to the challenges of post-COVID-19 recovery, ongoing conflicts and the ever-increasing evidence of the impact of climate change.
We Can End AIDS by 2030 if We Equalize
We can end AIDS, but only if leaders are courageous in tackling the inequalities that are blocking progress.
Speaking of Toilets... A Chronicle Conversation with "Mr. Toilet", Jack Sim, 18 November 2022
Ahead of World Toilet Day (19 November), the UN Chronicle spoke with Jack Sim, Founder and Director of the World Toilet Organization. Mr. Sim, popularly known as "Mr. Toilet", who discussed the important role of toilets and sanitation in achieving sustainable development; his work to improve sanitation systems throughout the world; and progress towards the goal of ensuring that everyone everywhere has access to a functioning toilet whenever needed.