The Permanent Mission of Israel will be hosting the event in partnership with the Forum for Cultural Diplomacy.[...] The initiative is very important for the Israeli mission, as it is part of Israel’s ongoing campaign to gain UN recognition of Yom Kippur as an official holiday at the United Nations. 

The big question is how effectively he can apply his accumulated soft power to make a difference on the world stage. [...] But the pope's most audacious foreign-policy move has been a crusade against worldwide income inequality and environmental degradation, including man-made climate change.

Pope Francis begins his historic visit to Cuba and the United States this weekend, when he will address the US Congress and the United Nations. It is a chance to influence policymakers on issues that will shape the future of the planet. But there is another platform he should be invited to join.

With the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) reaching the end of their lifespan, attention now turns to September's launch of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the UN General Assembly. Although the MDGs were partly successful, the consensus is that the world appears to have changed so much in the past 15 years that many of the assumptions and approaches are no longer relevant.

It is the International Year of Light, the latest annual UN push to highlight primary outstanding global problems. “Until The Sun Comes Up” is singer-songwriter Ragav’s offering to SolarAid, an NGO that brings solar light to remote villages that lack electricity and which use hazardous kerosene lamps for lighting instead. 

UNHCR is calling for urgent action before the end of the monsoon season unleashes a new wave of people leaving on boats from the Bay of Bengal. [...] With the next "sailing season" expected to start in the coming weeks, UNHCR is working with agencies and other partners on an information campaign warning potential travelers of the risks of getting on smugglers' boats.

The Portfolio Committee on International Relations and Cooperation has raised concerns about the number of women employed in diplomatic work and who then go on to represent the country abroad. The Chairperson of the Committee, Mr Siphosezwe Masango, said more women need to be recruited into the diplomatic service.

The basics of the campaign are to empower the conference attendees to take action, especially in developing countries, and mobilize global citizens to secure safe air all parts of the world. The end goal of the campaign is to establish clean air as a basic human right and to implement it within the international pantheon of essential public health services akin to clean water, vaccinations, family planning and primary care.