worldviews

Will the UN-75 Declaration Signify More Than a Birthday Party?

Secretary-General António Guterres stressed four threats to global progress for humankind in his State of the World speech in January 2020. Negotiations on writing a declaration to mark the UN’s 75th birthday could pinpoint ways to improve multilateral governance to make the anniversary truly meaningful to humanity, the essayist says. ESKINDER DEBEBE/UN PHOTO

Myanmar’s Silence on Rape Against Rohingya Is Cruel and Dangerous

The International Court of Justice held hearings in December 2019 in a new case filed by The Gambia accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya people. Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s civilian leader, defended her country in the hearings. Now, the court is expected to issue a ruling on emergency measures in the case on Jan. 23, 2020. 

For South Sudan, the Promise of Full Dialogue Lies Ahead

People from South Sudan’s Gumbo-Sherikat neighborhood in the capital of Juba meet in a UN-led gathering to build peace, after the signing of the 2018 agreement to end the country’s civil war. So far, the pact has not been carried out, but the author describes another potential path to peace for the world’s youngest nation. ERIC KANALSTEIN/UN PHOTO

‘Sextortion’: The Worst Form of Corruption Across the Globe

The Netherlands hosted a conference with governments and the financial sector on human trafficking and slavery, June 2019. Sexual extortion, or “sextortion,” the author says, is a crime against humanity that is not only part of human trafficking transactions but is also found in other arenas of life, from academia to the workplace.