“THE UN’S FUTURE CHALLENGES”

Background

Richard Jolly - Co-Director, UN Intellectual History Project

Richard Jolly is Honorary Professor and Research Associate of the Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex. As co-director of the UN Intellectual History Project, he is currently overseeing and working on a 14 volume history of the UN’s contributions to economic and social development since its beginning in 1945, of which five volumes have been completed and the first recognized as one of the outstanding academic books of 2002.

Richard Jolly is a Trustee of OXFAM, a Director of the

Overseas Development Institute and Chairman of the UN Association of the United Kingdom. Before returning to England in 2000, Richard Jolly was an Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations holding senior positions in UNICEF and UNDP for nearly 20 years. He was from 1996 to 2000 Special Adviser to the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and architect of the widely-acclaimed Human Development Report. Before this, he was, for 14 1/2 years, Deputy Executive Director in UNICEF, with responsibilities for UNICEF’s programmes in over 130 countries of the world, including UNICEF’s strategy for support to

countries in reducing child mortality and implementing the goals agreed at the 1990 World Summit for Children. In UNICEF, he also led the agency’s efforts to ensure more attention to the needs of children and women in the making of economic adjustment policies, and co-authored the book Adjustment with a Human Face.As a senior UN official, Richard Jolly was much concerned with reform and collaboration among the operational agencies. From 1996 to 2000 he chaired the system-wide UN Sub-Committee on Nutrition (SCN) and from 1997-2004 the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC), both of which have recently prepared major reports setting out global goals

and strategies for reducing malnutrition and ensuring access to hygiene, sanitation and water on a world-wide basis.

Background of the TalkThe United Nations (UN) is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and the achieving of world peace. It was founded in 1945 after World War II to replace the League of Nations, to stop wars between countries, and to provide a platform for dialogue.

It was founded on a foundation of great ideas, far-sighted vision and political realism. But there will be more challenges for the world and the UN. Those challenges include coping with violence and conflict, better using of resources, dealing with biospheric disruption, tackling disaster and promoting disarmament.

Words and Expressions

jinx

a person believed to bring bad luck to those around him ; an evil spell

e.g. Someone's put a jinx on this car: it's always giving me trouble.

incognita

a woman who dresses up ;someone in disguise for certain purpose

e.g. He had recognized by certain unmistakable signs, that his fair incognita belonged to the aristocracy.

pox

a contagious disease characterized by purulent skin eruptions that may leave pock marks

e.g. Chicken pox is a common childhood sickness.

nought

a mathematical element that when added to another number yields the same number

e.g. Put two noughts after a seven to make seven hundred.

battalion

an army unit usually consisting of a headquarters and three or more companies

e.g. This battalion is composed of 800 soldiers.

ambivalent

uncertain or unable to decide about what course to follow

e.g. There is an ambivalent feeling towards rural workers.

multiparty

A multi-party system is a system in which three or more political parties have the capacity to gain control of government separately or in coalition.

trauma

any physical damage to the body caused by violence or accident or fracture etc.

e.g. It's the deepest trauma of our existence.

WIPNET

WIPNET was established in 2003 to mobilize women, build their capacity and encourage collaboration among them to build lasting peace and promote human security in West Africa. WIPNET’s challenge remains the integration of women’s concerns and their participation in policy formulation and implementation in peace and security issues in the sub-region. To ensure the mainstreaming of gender in peacebuilding, in 2005 the WIPNET program began the process of forging partnerships with policy makers and technocrats using its wide grassroots network to advocate for the mainstreaming of women’s issues in policy formulation in peace and security.

theatrical

of or relating to the theater

e.g. The expert is writing a theatrical review.

diapraxis

As praxis means translating an idea into action, diapraxis means practicing action rather than making dialogues . From Christian-Muslim Relations by Lissi Rasmussenin "Dialogue in Action - in honour of Johannes Aagaard."

Nansen

The Nansen Dialogue Network consists of Nansen Dialogue Centres in the Western Balkans and the Nansen Academy in Norway. The Nansen Dialogue Centres (NDCs) are organised as local NGOs with a total of 70 people working full time. The main objective of the network is to contribute to reconciliation and peacebuilding through interethnic dialogue between strategic individuals and groups that have strong influence or decision making power in deeply divided communities.