Category United Nations – other

Special Feature: Process For 2017 Election Of New WHO Director General

The pressures of running the world’s highest profile public health agency in trying times (new outbreaks, mass migration and other challenges, with uncertain funding) could make the job of debatable attractiveness, but rumours in the World Health Organization hallways this week are that many possible candidates are likely to be considered to vie for head of the United Nations agency in Geneva. But the election process itself was just finalised for the changeover to occur in mid-2017, so it is too early to start naming possible candidates. The following is a look at the process leading to the next head of the WHO.

WHO Members Commit To SDGs For 2030, Despite Some Differences

During the Executive Board meeting at the World Health Organization this week, member states agreed on committing to the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030. The consensus reached by member states was that direct health development goals such as the continuous effort to rid the world of malaria, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C are at the forefront of pressing issues. But goals for health and those for related issues should be worked on together as they are mutually beneficial, they said.

FAO Head Says Livestock Diversity Is Crucial For Future Food Security On A Harsher Planet

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva writes: Our livestock is increasingly being raised indoors and fed on concentrate feed that is often imported. Intensive production of chickens, pigs and dairy cows is based on a few breeds worldwide. These developments are risky, as we and future generations are losing the potential to adapt livestock production systems to increasingly harsh conditions such as those associated with higher temperatures and shortages of nutritious feeds.

TPP, India Most-Read IP-Watch Stories Of 2015

The most-read stories of 2015 on the Intellectual Property Watch website fairly reflected the trends of the year, with the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, India’s evolving intellectual property rights policies, European Patent Office patents on conventional vegetables, biologics, 3D printing, and some pop culture issues leading the way.

In the coming weeks, IP-Watch will review in-depth what’s in store for 2016, already underway. But for now, let’s take a look at last year’s highlights.

WSIS+10: Roles, Responsibilities Remain Hot; Cybersecurity Treaty Demanded By Many States

Between a lot of applause this week for the first post-WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) decade and especially for the negotiated agreement for the coming 10 years, some cracks appeared. These tell how differently regions still view roles and responsibilities for critical infrastructure management, and also the discrepancy between declaration and deployment of principles of the information society. In a notable statement, Mitchell Baker, chair of the Mozilla Foundation, warned that governments still have to learn how to govern the connected.

UN Launches High-Level Panel On Access To Medicines

A United Nations high-level panel of experts has set a process in motion to find solutions to increase access to medicines. Following its first meeting last week, the panel will call for proposals to recommend solutions that can promote innovation, but preserve human rights and public health interests.

WSIS+10 Gets Underway Ten Years After UN Internet Summit

Ten years after the UN World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) member states and stakeholders are meeting this week for the WSIS+10 High Level Meeting in the UN headquarters in New York to review a decade of developments in internet governance.

Internet Governance Forum: Ten Years After

Ten years after feeble beginnings, the Internet Governance Forum, once the baby of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), stood last week in Joao Pessoa. But in all these years, did it also learn to walk? The IGF is more popular than ever but also perhaps more inadequate than ever at containing and advancing the many views and concerns that are raised there by a multitude of global stakeholders.

IGF Brazil: Creative Commons Licences For International Organisations, Like WIPO

From the Internet Governance Forum: Remixing WIPO - soon it could be possible that the World Intellectual Property Organization is moving to Creative Commons licences. But could the CC-licenced WIPO material be blocked by new provisions in the prospective broadcasting treaty?