The groundwork for the Asian economic miracle was established in the last 25 or so years--the time period covered in this book. China and Vietnam started substituting pragmatism for communist ideology and Thailand started on a path toward greater democracy. The timing was perfect for an American United Nations representative to arrive in the two communist countries because, for the first time, both placed a premium on improving relations with the U.S. and both were moving toward a market economy. This book acquaints the reader with evolving political, economic and social conditions in these countries and the role played by UN organizations. A chapter on the South Pacific details the challenges of providing useful development assistance in small isolated countries. The book also reveals a hidden side of the United Nations, the role played by more than 30 UN agencies, funds and programs in providing development and humanitarian assistance. The past two or three decades were a period of great upheaval in Asia. Enormous events and developments involving the United Nations are analyzed in the book. These include the Tiananmen Square crisis in China; 300,000 Cambodian refugees camped along the Thai border; escaping the killing fields of the Khmer Rouge; efforts to rid the Golden Triangle of opium production; the sensitive diplomacy required in fostering cooperation among North Korea, South Korea, China and Mongolia; and a firsthand account of negotiating the international agreement creating the Mekong River Commission.

"Everything you always wanted to know about the United Nations in one book! This primer to the United Nations is designed for all global citizens. It covers the history of the UN, what it does and how it does it. As the world's only truly global organization, the United Nations is where countries meet to address universal issues that cannot be resolved by any one of them acting alone. From international peace and security to sustainable development, climate change, human rights, and humanitarian action, the United Nations acts on our behalf around the world." --

The report presents findings from the 2018 revision of World Urbanization Prospects, which contains the latest estimates of the urban and rural populations or areas from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2050, as well as estimates of population size from 1950 to 2018 and projections to 2030 for all urban agglomerations with 300,000 inhabitants or more in 2018. The world urban population is at an all-time high, and the share of urban dwellers, is projected to represent two thirds of the global population in 2050. Continued urbanization will bring new opportunities and challenges for sustainable development.

Deals with the controversy in defining indigenous people and indogeneity. Discusses standard-setting activities in international law and ethno-nationalist interpretations in Asia, including 15 country profiles focusing on terms used, government positions, and recognized indigenous nationalities. Makes reference to the LO Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107) and the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169).

In 2015, Singapore marks the 50th anniversary of its independence, and the United Nations (UN) the 70th anniversary of its founding. This book celebrates 50 years of a mutually beneficial relationship between Singapore and the UN.In the early years of Singapore's independence, the UN system provided Singapore with many benefits which were helpful in Singapore's journey from the Third World to the First. As Singapore has made progress in its developmental journey, it is now able to give back to the international community through programmes such as the Singapore Cooperation Programme (SCP), under which officials from developing countries are offered training in areas which are beneficial to their countries. Singapore has actively contributed to improving global governance and strengthening institutions that are important to the management of global issues at the UN, IMF, World Bank, IMO, etc. The Singapore Government has also sent its soldiers and police officers to participate in UN's peace-keeping and peace-making operations.This volume brings together 45 essays by Singaporeans who have made or are making important contributions to the work of the UN system. The reader will be able to learn about the UN as seen through the eyes of Singaporeans who have served as Ambassadors to the United Nations in New York and Geneva, the World Trade Organization, or as professional staff in the various specialised agencies, programmes and funds that are part of the UN. We hope that the life stories and experiences shared by the essayists will remind readers that although Singapore is a very small country, we are a good global citizen and have tried to make this a better world.

The Third UN is the ecology of supportive non-state actors-intellectuals, scholars, consultants, think tanks, NGOs, the for-profit private sector, and the media-that interacts with the intergovernmental machinery of the First UN (member states) and the Second UN (staff members of international secretariats) to formulate and refine ideas and decision-making at key junctures in policy processes. Some advocate for particular ideas, others help analyze or operationalize their testing and implementation; many thus help the UN 'think'. While think tanks, knowledge brokers, and epistemic communities are phenomena that have entered both the academic and policy lexicons, their intellectual role remains marginal to analyses of such intergovernmental organizations as the United Nations.

When the United Nations' Charter was signed in San Francisco in 1945, the number of African member states of the Organisation was only 4. By the end of 1960 it had risen to 22. Today it is 41. How has this come about? The answer is given in this valuable book by Dr. Yassin EI-Ayouty. The handful of Asian and African countries who had the privilege of foundation membership made it their business to see to it that their brethren who were still under the colonial yoke attained their freedom and independence as soon as possible and, in the meanwhile, that they were treated with decency and fairness by their colonial masters. It was a tough assignment. The struggle was long, requiring a great deal of patience and endurance. It was at times fierce, requiring much dogged resolution. It also called for the deployment of intellectual agility ofthe highest order. Fortunately all these qualities were available in the rep resentatives of Asia and Africa who led the great struggle. These dis tinguished delegates also demonstrated a wonderful degree of solidarity which has, happily, become an Afro-Asian tradition at the United Nations. The battle began even before the Organisation had itself become a fact. It would have been a more difficult struggle, had there been no provision in the Charter at all in respect of colonies, by whatever name called.