Tag Archives: United Nations

Bruce Glavovic Urges Climate Scientists to Strike

Bruce Glavovic Urges Climate Scientists to Strike

Sometimes, Massey University professor Dr Bruce Glavovic feels so proud to be an environmental scientist, studying coastal planning and teaching future researchers, that it moves him to tears. Other times, he wonders whether any…

Joseph Michael Lights Up UN with Climate Messages

Joseph Michael Lights Up UN with Climate Messages

Auckland University of Technology artist in residence Joseph Michael lit the United Nations headquarters in New York last week with an immersive installation that featured images of an iceberg and the messages of six young…

Korean-New Zealander April Kwak off to the UN

Korean-New Zealander April Kwak off to the UN

Tri-lingual public servant, and scholarship-winning, Korean New Zealander April Hyorin Kwak, 23, is heading to the United Nations in New York, where she will intern at the Department of Safety and Security. Kwak will be…

NZ Government Joins UN Clean Seas Campaign

NZ Government Joins UN Clean Seas Campaign

“New Zealand has become the latest country to sign up to the five-year long United Nations Environment #CleanSeas campaign to rid our oceans of plastic,” reports Australian sailing publication My…

New Zealand One of Ten Happiest Countries

New Zealand One of Ten Happiest Countries

New Zealand has been ranked the eighth happiest country in the 2018 World Happiness Report released by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network for the United Nations. CNN reports. Finland took…

Helen Clark Appointed To Global Commission On Drug Policy

Helen Clark Appointed To Global Commission On Drug Policy

Helen Clark has been appointed to the prestigious Global Commission on Drug Policy” – “one of the world’s leading think tanks on reducing drug harm on society,” reports the New…

UN Chief Appoints Jan Beagle Of New Zealand As Under-Secretary-General For Management

UN Chief Appoints Jan Beagle Of New Zealand As Under-Secretary-General For Management

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Jan Beagle of New Zealand as the new Under-Secretary-General for Management. She was sworn in on July 13. She “brings to the position more than 35 years of…

Helen Clark Hit Her First Glass Ceiling at the UN

Helen Clark Hit Her First Glass Ceiling at the UN

Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark says the rejection of her bid to become the next UN secretary general was a blow for women, but the security council weren’t looking for an “independent-minded…

Pania Newton Taking up the Fight for Ihumatao

Pania Newton Taking up the Fight for Ihumatao

Pania Newton, 26, a descendant of Ihumatao has been integral in helping to establish Save Our Unique Landscape (SOUL Ihumatao), the group at the forefront of the Auckland land struggle. Ihumatao…

New Zealand’s Bronze Māori Storehouse Destined For UN

New Zealand’s Bronze Māori Storehouse Destined For UN

“A significant cultural gift from Aotearoa New Zealand to the United Nations is a step closer with the unveiling of a bronze whatarangi (storehouse) at Te Puia New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute…

Helen Clark To Step Down As UNDP Chief In April

Helen Clark To Step Down As UNDP Chief In April

“Helen Clark, the highest ranking woman at the United Nations, is stepping down as director of the UN Development Programme in April”, as reported on Channel News Asia. “It has been an honour…

Helen Clark on Why You Should Never Have a Plan B

Helen Clark on Why You Should Never Have a Plan B

The greatest challenge for women is getting into leadership positions, not actually leading, says Helen Clark former Prime Minister of New Zealand and current head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Clark outlines…

Helen Clark Rallies Caribbean in UN Bid

Helen Clark Rallies Caribbean in UN Bid

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, the administrator for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recently lobbied Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries as she seeks to replace Ban Ki-moon as the next…

Helen Clark Named One of World’s Most Powerful Women

Helen Clark Named One of World’s Most Powerful Women

Helen Clark has been ranked #22 on Forbes Magazine’s “World’s Most Powerful Women” list. The former New Zealand Prime Minister and head of the United Nations Development Program is currently a candidate for the…

Helen Clark Says World Needs Action on Forest Land Rights to Meet Climate Goals

Helen Clark Says World Needs Action on Forest Land Rights to Meet Climate Goals

Former New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark has “warned that global climate change goals cannot be achieved without a united push to secure land rights for the world’s indigenous forest communities”, as reported by…

Helen Clark Launches Campaign to Lead UN

Helen Clark Launches Campaign to Lead UN

New Zealand’s former prime minister Helen Clark has begun her campaign to become the first woman to lead the United Nations, saying in Paris that, “peace really matters to women”. Clark has led the…

Helen Clark stands for UN Secretary-General

Helen Clark stands for UN Secretary-General

Watch the press conference held at the New Zealand Mission in New York with Helen Clark standing for the role of United Nations Secretary-General. The United Nations (UN) is…

Helen Clark’s Leadership Capabilities Outshine Her Zip Code

Helen Clark’s Leadership Capabilities Outshine Her Zip Code

“‘I can offer the style of leadership needed today’. Such words sound unremarkable coming from a politician in this messy and pivotal election cycle. But when they come from the right woman with an…

Global Media Hail Helen Clark’s UN Bid

Global Media Hail Helen Clark’s UN Bid

Former Prime Minister Helen Clark’s announced candidacy for the position of Secretary-General at the United Nations has been hailed around the world by international media. The UN’s current top ranked woman as head of the…

Face of Climate Change – Helen Clark

Face of Climate Change – Helen Clark

Helen Clark, Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and former Prime Minister of New Zealand was featured in an article on the Deutsche Welle as one of the faces…

New Zealand Joins Geothermal Alliance

New Zealand Joins Geothermal Alliance

New Zealand has joined the Global Geothermal Alliance at the U.N. climate conference in Paris. “As the world transitions towards a lower carbon future, the increased demand for renewable energy, coupled with the ongoing interest…

John Key Talks Candidly with TIME

John Key Talks Candidly with TIME

Just hours before Prime Minister John Key addressed the United Nations recently, the National Party leader, who has been in office since 2008, spoke with TIME’s editors about Vladimir Putin, why New Zealand needs…

New Zealand Steps Up To Chair UN Security Council

New Zealand Steps Up To Chair UN Security Council

Throughout July, New Zealand’s top UN diplomat Gerard van Bohemen will take on the responsibilities of the Presidency of the United Nations Security Council, and his cited his main goal to facilitate…

Helen Clark Ranked 23rd Most Powerful Woman

Helen Clark Ranked 23rd Most Powerful Woman

Helen Clark has been ranked #23 in Forbes annual audit – The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women.    “As the most powerful woman in the United Nations (and first UNDP female head), Helen…

Vicky Robertson Appointed New Environmental Chief in New Zealand

Vicky Robertson Appointed New Environmental Chief in New Zealand

Former New Zealand hockey player Vicky Robertson has been appointed the new chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) by state services commissioner Iain Rennie. As the Treasury’s deputy chief executive, Robertson is…

Settlements May Be Imperfect but Important Example Says UN

Settlements May Be Imperfect but Important Example Says UN

Last year’s $170 million Ngai Tuhoe settlement is one of dozens the New Zealand government has signed with Maori tribes in a comprehensive, multi-billion-dollar process described in a United Nations report as imperfect but…

University of Auckland professors call on United Nations to lead efforts against smoking

University of Auckland professors call on United Nations to lead efforts against smoking

Professors Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita, from the University of Auckland have called on the United Nations to lead ‘a turbocharged’ campaign to make the world tobacco free by 2040. “A world where tobacco is…

New Zealand Ranked 10th in Quality of Life for Elderly Index

New Zealand Ranked 10th in Quality of Life for Elderly Index

New Zealand is one of the best countries in the world to grow old in, coming 10th in the Global AgeWatch Index which ranks countries by how well their older populations are faring. Norway topped the…

New York via Te Papa for Flax Art

New York via Te Papa for Flax Art

Fifty woven panels by 40 Maori artists are to hang permanently next to the entry of the General Assembly Hall at the UN Headquarters in New York. The tukutuku panels, a revered art form in…

Clark Tipped for Top UN Job

Clark Tipped for Top UN Job

Introducing UN Secretary General … Helen Clark? The Guardian is tipping the former prime minister is the prime candidate to replace incumbent Ban Ki-Moon when he steps down in two years. Clark was New…

Helen Clark Tackles Digital Discrimination

Helen Clark Tackles Digital Discrimination

Digital gender inequality – women’s access to technology is less than men’s – is being tackled by the United Nations in a new report unveiled by Helen Clark, administrator of the UN Development Programme….

At Home on the Banks of the Mekong

At Home on the Banks of the Mekong

The home of New Zealand doctor Andrew Thomson, who works for the United Nations in Cambodia, features in The New York Times’ section “Great Homes and Destinations” this week. “It was more of a…

Peacekeepers a Symbol of Success

Peacekeepers a Symbol of Success

Former deputy prime minister Jim McLay, now New Zealand’s ambassador to the United Nations, writes an opinion piece for The Kansas City Star about May 29 — International Day of UN Peacekeepers and a…

Shameful Shortfalls

Shameful Shortfalls

The New Zealand Herald reports that the United Nations committee on the rights of the child has expressed concern over shortfalls in the rights of New Zealand children, including “staggering” infant and…

In the Top Three

In the Top Three

New Zealand has made the top-three list of the best place to live in the world, following a United Nations human development annual survey. Norway took first place, followed by Australia in second place….

UN Confirms Palmer

UN Confirms Palmer

With Israel agreeing to participate in a UN investigation of its deadly raid on a Gaza-bound flotilla earlier this year, former Prime Minister Sir Geoffrey Palmer will chair the four-member panel inquiry made up…

Progress Continues

Progress Continues

The New Zealand Government’s recent endorsement of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples has been welcomed by UN indigenous human rights expert Professor James Anaya, who says good progress is being…

Commission Speculation

Commission Speculation

Former Labour Prime Minister and maritime law expert Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 68, is UN chief Ban Ki-moon’s preferred choice to head a planned international enquiry into Israel’s raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, according…

Helen Clark Welcomed to UN With Powhiri

Helen Clark Welcomed to UN With Powhiri

Helen Clark is welcomed into the United Nations with a traditional Maori Powhiri.

Pacific Perspective on Disarmament

Pacific Perspective on Disarmament

Christchurch anti-nuclear campaigner Kate Dewes is the first New Zealander to be appointed to the UN’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters. “It is exciting,” she said in a Christchurch Press interview. “It is…

Stamp of Approval

Stamp of Approval

NZ label Untouched World is about to become the first fashion company in the world to carry a United Nations sustainability logo. Untouched World has been given UNESCO approval to attach the UN Decade…

Chairman of the Internet

Chairman of the Internet

NZ lawyer Peter Dengate Thrush has been named chairman of the Internet’s chief governing body. Dengate Thrush will head the LA-based Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which is viewed as the online version…

NZ Unites Against Death Penalty

NZ Unites Against Death Penalty

NZ has joined a United Nations effort seeking the worldwide abolition of the death penalty. Co-sponsors of the UN resolution include Brazil, East Timor, Gabon, Mexico, the Philippines and Portugal. “Capital punishment is the ultimate form of…

Senior Iraqi Posting for Shearer

Senior Iraqi Posting for Shearer

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has named New Zealander David Shearer as his deputy special representative for Iraq. Shearer will also serve as Iraq’s UN resident coordinator and humanitarian coordinator. “David’s a pretty special guy. He’s hugely regarded…

Inside Perspective on Disarmament

Inside Perspective on Disarmament

New Zealander Bob Rigg has written an essay for Open Democracy protesting the US manipulation of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), and the ousting of its Brazilian director-general, José Bustani, in 22….

Wellington a Global Talent Magnet

Wellington a Global Talent Magnet

A Cato Unbound essay by Richard Florida – The Future of the American Workforce in the Global Creative Economy – uses the Peter Jackson led Wellington film studios as an example of “a profound shift in…

Potential for History Making

Potential for History Making

Dame Silvia Cartwright has been confirmed as a judge on the upcoming Cambodian war crimes tribunal. NZ’s Governor General headed a list of seven judges submitted by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, from which Cambodian…

Guantanamo Report

Guantanamo Report

NZ human rights lawyer, Paul Hunt, is one of the authors of a new UN report on the US-run detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, which calls for a dramatic improvement in its conditions if not…

Mrs Peace Leaves Her Mark

Mrs Peace Leaves Her Mark

Political activist, peace campaigner and renowned author, Sonja Davies, has died aged 81, leaving an inspiring legacy in her wake. According to her Guardian obituary, Davies – known to many as ‘Mrs Peace’ – ranks…

Edge Envoy to Iraq

Edge Envoy to Iraq

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan named New Zealander Ross Mountain as his interim envoy to Iraq. Veteran Mountain has had a long career with the UN and has worked as a relief co-ordinator in war zones in Africa,…

NZ Firm on Pacific Principles

NZ Firm on Pacific Principles

Drawing on NZ’s historical role in the setting up of the UN charter and as an advocate of multilateralism, Helen Clark (described as “one of Tony Blair’s closest foreign political allies”) told the Guardian that the…

Clean and Clear?

Clean and Clear?

New Zealand has been ranked third best in a United Nations survey of global water quality. Ironically, New Zealand was also fingered as one of the leading water-wasters in a recent (un-related) study.

Principaled Principal

Principaled Principal

NZer Graham Cherry, director of the Baghdad International School, intends to stay on in Iraq despite repeated warnings for Westerners to leave. Cherry: “I have no plans to leave. The school is open. I don’t want…

The Native Post

The Native Post

Connected to Congo at 56000 bps, former NZ TV reporter Moana Sinclair has been hired by the UN to coordinate the newly-formed Indigenous Media Network, largely linked via the web. Her experience overcoming obstacles and achieving mainstream success reinforces her…

Nuke Free

Nuke Free

New Zealand continues to play a key role in the call for a New Agenda,  successfully co-sponsoring wider acceptance of Non-Proliferation Treaty commitments at the UN.  

Better, But Not Good Enough

Better, But Not Good Enough

Helen Clark addressed a UN meeting of world leaders, stating: “We recently announced that our next governor-general will be a woman, our prime minister is a woman, the leader of the opposition is a woman, the cabinet…