en UN Chronicle2013 Tue, 21 May 2013 18:34:42 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://www.un.org http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/thedigitaldividend/digitalasiapacificinthe21stcentury http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/thedigitaldividend/digitalasiapacificinthe21stcentury Change is accelerating in the Asia-Pacific region, including in rural areas, as it becomes the global economy's growth driver. In 2010, the region's developing countries grew at an impressive rate of 8.8 per cent compared to 2.7 per cent for the world's developed economies. With growth in developed countries expected to continue to sputter at around 2.5 per cent for the greater part of this decade, a new development ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:42:52 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/thedigitaldividend/ictforpovertyreductioninlaopdr http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/thedigitaldividend/ictforpovertyreductioninlaopdr Information and communications technology (ICT) holds the promise of making the world a fairer place. Indeed, in many countries, increased information access and social networking are giving citizens a larger voice in local, national, and regional affairs. While the individual and social transformational capacity of information and communications technology is immense, it is often those who already have a voice in national agendas that benefit from the amplifying effect ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:42:45 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/pursuingpeace/preventivediplomacyattheUN http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2011/pursuingpeace/preventivediplomacyattheUN The idea of preventive diplomacy has captivated the United Nations ever since it was first articulated by Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld nearly half a century ago. Preventive diplomacy was presaged by Article 99 of the United Nations Charter, which allowed the Secretary-General to bring to the Security Council's attention threats to international peace and security. From the outset of the United Nations, Secretary-General Trygve Lie used the competence under this ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:41:08 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/impactsofclimatechangeoncoralreefsandthemarineenvironment http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/impactsofclimatechangeoncoralreefsandthemarineenvironment THE IMPORTANCE OF THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT It is estimated that 70 per cent of the Earth's surface area is made up of oceans,1 the most productive habitat, comprising 75 per cent of all known species. This unique environment, which remains generally unexplored and hidden from the world, plays an important role in regulating global temperature and is the primary producer of oxygen. Coral reefs, which comprise only about 0.5 ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:46 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/towardstheinternationalyearofwatercooperation2013 http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/towardstheinternationalyearofwatercooperation2013 Mankind is currently faced with several global challenges including poverty, hunger and climate change. Meanwhile, the fast pace of urbanization and population growth accelerates any global processes, impacting water resources. As a result, the issues of water scarcity and the deterioration of water quality are becoming increasingly urgent. In the modern world, water has become the key element for addressing food security, energy security and environmental sustainability. Given the ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:44 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/womenandagriculturalwaterresourcemanagement http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/womenandagriculturalwaterresourcemanagement Women are important stakeholders in agriculture water management—they play a key role in water and land conservation, rainwater harvesting, and watershed management. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that 925 million people are undernourished and food production would have to increase by 70 per cent to feed a population of 9 billion people by 2050. Of the 1.5 billion hectares of cropland worldwide, a ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:39 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/thesustainableexploitationoftheoceansmineralsandresources http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/thesustainableexploitationoftheoceansmineralsandresources In contributing to the theme of the International Year of Water Cooperation, this article provides a perspective from a Pacific Small Island Developing State. In the context of the large body of water that surrounds Fiji and other Pacific Small Island Developing States (SIDS), a vital and long-standing concern has been the sustainable exploitation of the ocean's living resources and, more recently, the non-living or mineral resources. Fiji is ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:37 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/waterbringspeopletogethertocreateabetterplanet http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/waterbringspeopletogethertocreateabetterplanet A report from the 2030 Water Resources Group (November 2009), Charting Our Water Future: Economic world, water demand will exceed supply by 50 per cent. This is an alarming figure and shows the importance of access to this essential resource. Quick, evidence-based decision-making by national and international policymakers is required to avoid dramatic consequences for the planet and its population. However, policy decisions are not always forthcoming. Fortunately, there ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:35 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/collectiveaction http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/collectiveaction WATER CHALLENGES: SHARED RISK AND SHARED INTEREST As many of us are aware, water poses one of the most critical sustainable development challenges of the twenty-first century. Overall demand for water worldwide has increased steadily over the last century and is expected to continue to do so. Increasing water demand, limited supplies, pollution, inadequate infrastructure and lack of management capacity have led to water scarcity in many regions. Overallocation ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:33 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/cooperationonwaterresearchandeducation http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/cooperationonwaterresearchandeducation The Danube-Mediterranean-Black Sea region is defined in terms of a macrosystem that incorporates water and wildlife dynamics, anthropogenic pressures, socioeconomic patterns and transport and industrial chains. In terms of water dynamics, the Danube River, with a mean water discharge of about 200 km3/year and a basin estimated at 805,000 km2, accounts for a large part of the freshwater input into the Black Sea. At the same time, the Black ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:31 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/empoweringpeoplethroughintegratedwaterresourcemanagementpractices http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/empoweringpeoplethroughintegratedwaterresourcemanagementpractices TRANSBOUNDARY COOPERATION AND INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCE MANAGEMENT—TWO KEY FACTORS FOR WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT IN AFRICA Approximately 64 per cent of Africa's land surface lies within its 63 transboundary river basins as compared to 47 per cent globally. For the southern Africa region, defined by the boundaries of member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), 16 transboundary basins provide nearly 80 per cent of the region's available water ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:29 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/mediterraneanseacradleofcivilization http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/mediterraneanseacradleofcivilization The Mediterranean Basin has been the cradle of world civilization since the first settlements in Jericho in 9000 BC. Known in English and the romance languages as the sea 'between the lands', the Mediterranean goes and has gone by many names: Our Sea, for the Romans, the White Sea (Akdeniz) for the Turks, the Great Sea (Yam Gadol) for the Jews, the Middle Sea (Mittelmeer) for the Germans and ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:27 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/watercooperationtocopewithtwentyfirstcenturychallenges http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2013/water/watercooperationtocopewithtwentyfirstcenturychallenges The twenty-first century, part of the Anthropocene, will leave us with tremendous environmental changes. Unprecedented population growth, a changing climate, rapid urbanization, expansion of infrastructure, migration, land conversion and pollution translate into changes in the fluxes, pathways and stores of water—from rapidly melting glaciers to the decline of groundwater due to overexploitation. Population density and per capita resource use have increased dramatically over the past century, and watersheds, aquifers ... Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:30:24 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2012/deliveringjustice/deliveringjusticeontheground http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2012/deliveringjustice/deliveringjusticeontheground The fight against corruption at the national and international levels is a topic of unabated relevance for the United Nations and its Member States, as intolerance of corruption is growing around the world. On the occasion of the first High-level Meeting of the General Assembly on the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels on 24 September 2012, the Heads of State and Government and heads of ... Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:47:55 GMT http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2012/deliveringjustice/upholdingtheruleoflawattheinternationallevel http://www.un.org/wcm/content/site/chronicle/home/archive/issues2012/deliveringjustice/upholdingtheruleoflawattheinternationallevel The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. Its seat is at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. It operates under a Statute, which is an integral part of the Charter of the United Nations and to which all Member States are ipso facto parties. The Court is composed of 15 judges elected to nine‑year terms of office by the United ... Tue, 09 Apr 2013 19:47:54 GMT