Bolivia says that it has been re-admitted to the UN's anti-narcotics convention after persuading member states to recognise the right of its indigenous people to chew raw coca leaf, which is used in the making of cocaine. Evo Morales, the Bolivian president, had faced opposition from Washington in his campaign against the classification of coca as an illicit drug. "The coca leaf has accompanied indigenous peoples for 6,000 years," said Dionisio Nunez, Bolivia's deputy minister of coca and integrated development, on Friday. "Coca leaf was never used to hurt people.

The open Internet, available to people around the world without the permission of any government, was a great liberation. It was also too good to last. Authoritarian governments this month won the first battle to close off parts of the Internet.

The United States, along with a host of other nations, has refused to sign the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR) put together by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) at the World Conference on International Communications (WCIT) in Dubai this week.

The Fall issue of PDiN Monitor focuses on Women in Public Diplomacy with feature articles by Michele Bachelet, Director of UN Women, and Melanne Verveer, Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues. These articles address two recent initiatives that have brought women's rights to the forefront of international policies and diplomacy.

Last month was the 333rd consecutive month that global temperatures were above the 20th century average, and 2012 will almost certainly be the hottest ever recorded in the US. Hurricanes, heatwaves, wildfires and droughts blistered farmlands and ruined crops from Kansas to Assam, and Britain has had its wettest summer and driest spring to date.

Students improved their knowledge of the UN values, as well as their negotiation and communication skills at the Model UN Conference simulating a debate at the UN Security Council on issue of Palestine membership to the UN. The conference was held today at the Yerevan State University (YSU).

In the wake of the U.S. reelection to the UN Human Rights Council, Ryan Kaminski, the United Nations Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA) Leo Nevas Human Rights Fellow, offers his analysis of how the Obama administration can take advantage of this election.