Rafael Mariano Grossi, an Argentine who was heavily backed by the US, becomes the new director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency on Dec. 2. He faces many internal and external pressures, including Iran’s uranium enrichment activities. DEAN CALMA/IAEA
Rohingya-displaced Muslims in a Bangladesh refugee camp. A new case filed by The Gambia with the International Court of Justice accuses Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya. This is the first time that rape will be included in such a case prosecuted at The Hague court.
The 35th Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit opening ceremony, Nov. 3, 2019. To help Rohingya refugees to return to Myanmar and rebuild their lives, the author of this essay urges Asean leaders to work more heartedly on gaining trust among the affected parties.
Refugees, above, from the territory of Western Sahara have been living in Tindouf, Algeria, for decades. Western Sahara is the last colonial outpost in Africa, now occupied by Morocco. Former US National Security Adviser John Bolton tried to resolve the situation, but his departure from the White House leaves the territory’s future seriously adrift, the author says.
An ambitious plan to guide the new Sudanese government’s transition to democracy has been presented by a Darfuri women’s rights group to Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, who is also brand-new to office. Kindergarteners, above, performing in El Fasher, North Darfur, organized by the UN’s peacekeeping mission. MOHAMAD ALMAHADY/UNAMID
President Trump speaking this year at the National Association of Realtors. Ousting him through impeachment would be the first step in restoring America’s standing internationally, the author argues. CREATIVE COMMONS
In early 1974, fresh out of journalism school, I walked into the offices of the newly created Federal Energy Office in Washington and asked for a job.
A pro-Kurdistan independence rally in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdistan region of Iraq, 2017. Governments missed an opportunity to advance the Sustainable Development Goal on good governance at the recent UN gathering of world leaders as attacks on civil society rise. LEVI CLANCY/CREATIVE COMMONS
Hours before the crash that killed UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold (with sunglasses) waiting to board the DC-6 Albertina, Ndjili airport, Léopoldville (now Kinshasa, Congo), Sept. 17, 1961. TARA BURGETT/LONDON DAILY EXPRESS
Fifty-eight years ago, Dag Hammarskjold, the United Nations secretary-general at the time, set off on a perilous journey across the African heartland.
In the Congo, celebrating the International Day of Women’s Rights, 2019. The author of this essay, who led the video unit for the UN mission in the country for nearly five years, warns against the UN forgoing original media programming for social media content. MICHAEL ALI/MONUSCO.
The United Nations headquarters showcasing the Sustainable Development summit, September 2015. The essayist, an expert in governance and democracy, bemoans the growing participation of multinational corporations in UN system forums. CIA PAK/UN PHOTO
Global governance is slipping away from the United Nations.
