Not an obvious hero
In a new film, former UN-Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld is portrayed as a defender of a fledgling postcolonial state. But his role in the Congo Crisis is more complicated.
United Nations
Is the UN system still relevant?
We are failing every day to force a ceasefire and stop the genocide. But failure is not an option. We must refocus this moment.
Imperialism in black face
Kenya’s plan to send 1,000 police officers to Haiti undermine's the country's fragile sovereignty.
What is the United Nations for?
Israel’s assault on Gaza has shown, once again, that the UN Security Council is ineffective when it comes to preventing wars and protecting the human rights of all people.
Israel doesn’t care about your resolutions
Imagining and demanding the decolonization of Palestine means acting to decolonize all the colonial states in the world, from Brazil to Australia, including the USA and Chile.
After we wash our hands, what do we do next?
Lest the WHO forget, containing infectious diseases is less about culture than the racist structure of international relations that condemns countries like Haiti to cycles of epidemics.
While 282 million Africans go to bed hungry every night
More than 500 indigenous and farmer organizations across the continents have raised their voices to expose the UN’s Food Systems Summit as only advocating one food system—so they’re being silenced.
A female Secretary-General will not change how the UN works
Women say it is their turn to lead the United Nations. But can a female head of the UN change the organization’s work culture and correct the power imbalances among UN member states?
The business of Black death
The global public health industry is complicit in the reproduction of “the African tragedy.”
Living on
The Indian activist ES Reddy led the fight against South African apartheid at the UN. More importantly, his life reflected the best of left internationalism.
Africa’s forgotten refugee convention
In 1969, the OAU proposed its own refugee convention to reflect African values. Why did it not become policy across the continent?
Nothing to write home about
For all the PR, Kenya does not pose a serious threat to the five veto-holding permanent members on the UN Security Council.
This is my country
The Liberian academic and writer talks about citizenship, belonging, and what unites her fragmented nation.
Vagabond reflections on the ‘Year of Africa’
Revisiting the clash of the American-born UN diplomat Ralph Bunche and Patrice Lumumba in 1960 over the terms and timeliness of African colonies' independence from their European masters.
The mysterious death of a UN Secretary-General
Revisiting the events that led to the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld, a key UN official in the decolonization of Africa during the Cold War.
The tyranny of good intentions
Scandals like the one at More Than Me—the US charity that failed to protect school girls in its care from rape by staff—are common in even the most elite aid organizations.
Their parents are being told to ‘let it go’
In pictures: These are the faces of the Caravana 43 for the disappeared students of Ayotzinapa, Mexico.
Are Corporations Colonizing the UN?
If market-focused empowerment becomes the norm in development, who will want to learn about politics or find out why their countries are poor in the first place?
Violence against children doesn’t take place in a vacuum
A government proposal to outlaw violence by parents against their children exposes how widely acceptable the practice is in South Africa.
“Keep Africa Alive,” Continued
The campaign is accompanied by print ads featuring celebrities in coffins to represent their digital deaths. Can this stop, please?