By Alexandra Moffit
Picture: Globe License: Public Domain
United Nations
Under
a new Secretary-General, the United Nations took several new steps based on
studies in 2017.
·
Antonio Guterres begins
role as Secretary-General of the United Nations in January.
·
The United Nations Security Council unanimously
voted to issue new sanctions to North Korea. These sanctions were in
response to its burgeoning nuclear program and its ballistic missile program.
·
The United Nations’ agency that deals with aviation proposed
a global drone registry that would aid local law enforcement agencies. This
registry would be a step towards global regulations dealing with the small
crafts.
·
Russia and China vetoed
resolutions that would have sanctioned Syria for its use of chemical
weapons.
·
United Nations agencies reported during 2017 that 2016 was the
first time in the 21st century that hunger
increased. Possible reasons offered by the United Nations for this increase
were climate change and conflict. These would cause an increase in food
insecurity around the world. There are currently around 815 million chronically
malnourished people around the world.
·
The United Nations and other organizations began investing
in blockchain technology. Organizations like the World Food Programme
launched pilots that use blockchain in delivering food.
The United
States and International Organizations
With
the United States changing leadership as President Trump began his tenure in
office, the United States changed its relationships with various international
organizations significantly during 2017.
·
The United States, in one of Donald Trump’s first acts as
President, declared
its intention to abandon the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The previous
administration had negotiated the large free trade deal with various nations
but had not come into effect yet.
·
The United States withdrew
from the Paris Climate Accords in June, becoming one of the only countries not
party to the climate agreement.
·
The United States, Canada, and Mexico began
to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement following President
Trump’s dissatisfaction with the agreement. A relocation or dissolution of the
agreement would cause major changes in the economies of each nation, as well as
trade laws.
·
The United States withdrew
from UNESCO, the United Nations cultural organization, in October. “At the
time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is
deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations
agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack,”
Director-General of UNESCO Irina
Bokova said. The United States indicated its reason for leaving as the
organization’s inclusion of Palestine as a member in 2011.
Refugees and
International Organizations
As
refugee numbers increased in 2017, various international organizations took
steps to combat problems.
·
Security in Burma has been conducting ethnic cleansing of
Rohingya Muslims. Some have sought asylum in Bangladesh. The crisis has had
a global impact and is ongoing. A new
UN pilot program could provide refugees in Bangladesh with work permits.
·
International Organizations like the World Bank used their leverage
to try to push Burma to stop its persecution of Rohingya Muslims. The World
Bank announced it would be withholding
a $200 million loan it had promised to the country.
·
The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees announced that there
are over 3 million stateless people around the world. The agency urges
countries to grant citizenship to these stateless people, which would
provide them with basic health and personal rights.
