UN Countries Research Articles

Global low carbon transitions in the power sector: A machine learning clustering approach using archetypes

This study presents an archetype-based approach to designing effective strategies for low-carbon transitions in the power sector. To achieve global energy transition goals, a renewable energy transition is critical, and understanding diverse energy landscapes across different countries is essential to designing effective renewable energy policies and strategies. Using a clustering approach, this study identifies 12 power system archetypes based on several features, including energy and socio-economic indicators of 187 UN countries. Each archetype is characterised by distinct challenges and opportunities, ranging from high dependence on fossil fuels to low electricity access, low economic growth, and insufficient contribution potential of renewables. Archetype A, for instance, consists of countries with low electricity access, high poverty rates, and limited power infrastructure, while Archetype J comprises developed countries with high electricity demand and installed renewables. The study findings have significant implications for renewable energy policymaking and investment decisions, with policymakers and investors able to use the archetype approach to identify suitable renewable energy policies and measures and assess renewable energy potential and risks. Overall, the archetype approach provides a comprehensive framework for understanding diverse energy landscapes and accelerating decarbonisation efforts for the power sector.

Prospects of BRICS currency dominance in international trade

During the April 2023 Brazil–China summit, the creation of a trade currency supported by the BRICS countries was proposed. Using the United Nations Comtrade database, providing the frame of the world trade network associated to 194 UN countries during the decade 2010–2020, we study a mathematical model of influence battle of three currencies, namely, the US dollar, the euro, and such a hypothetical BRICS currency. In this model, a country trade preference for one of the three currencies is determined by a multiplicative factor based on trade flows between countries and their relative weights in the global international trade. The three currency seed groups are formed by 9 eurozone countries for the euro, 5 Anglo-Saxon countries for the US dollar and the 5 BRICS countries for the new proposed currency. The countries belonging to these 3 currency seed groups trade only with their own associated currency whereas the other countries choose their preferred trade currency as a function of the trade relations with their commercial partners. The trade currency preferences of countries are determined on the basis of a Monte Carlo modeling of Ising type interactions in magnetic spin systems commonly used to model opinion formation in social networks. We adapt here these models to the world trade network analysis. The results obtained from our mathematical modeling of the structure of the global trade network show that as early as 2012 about 58% of countries would have preferred to trade with the BRICS currency, 23% with the euro and 19% with the US dollar. Our results announce favorable prospects for a dominance of the BRICS currency in international trade, if only trade relations are taken into account, whereas political and other aspects are neglected.

International Organizations and Gender Parity in Education: Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW)1

This study is a novel contribution to the literature regarding the influence of UNs Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) on women’s relative progress in education. We create a unique data set by focusing on 190 UN countries for the period 1980–2018and utilize pooled cross-sectional OLS and Panel Fixed effects models to study the impact of the various aspects of the ratification of the convention. We focus on Female to Male Primary Enrollment ratio (PrimaryFM), Gross Secondary Gender Parity Index (SecondaryGPI), and Gross Tertiary Gender Parity Index (TertiaryGPI). We find a positive relationship between various aspects of CEDAW ratification and progress in educational outcomes for women. Policymakers should focus not only on the ratification of international treaties, but also on all facets of ratification, such as closer adherence to treaties as evidenced by consistent behavior and implementation of changes, which in turn paints a more complete picture.

Race, ethnicity, and discrimination at work: a new analysis of legal protections and gaps in all 193 UN countries

PurposeWhile only one aspect of fulfilling equal rights, effectively addressing workplace discrimination is integral to creating economies, and countries, that allow for everyone's full and equal participation.Design/methodology/approachLabor, anti-discrimination, and other relevant pieces of legislation were identified through the International Labor Organization's NATLEX database, supplemented with legislation identified through country websites. For each country, two researchers independently coded legislation and answered questions about key policy features. Systematic quality checks and outlier verifications were conducted.FindingsMore than 1 in 5 countries do not explicitly prohibit racial discrimination in employment. 54 countries fail to prohibit unequal pay based on race. 107 countries prohibit racial and/or ethnic discrimination but do not explicitly require employers to take preventive measures against discrimination. The gaps are even larger with respect to multiple and intersectional discrimination. 112 countries fail to prohibit discrimination based on both migration status and race and/or ethnicity; 103 fail to do so for foreign national origin and race and/or ethnicity.Practical implicationsBoth recent and decades-old international treaties and agreements require every country globally to uphold equal rights regardless of race. However, specific national legislation that operationalizes these commitments and prohibits discrimination in the workplace is essential to their impact. This research highlights progress and gaps that must be addressed.Originality/valueThis is the first study to measure legal protections against employment discrimination based on race and ethnicity in all 193 UN countries. This study also examines protection in all countries from discrimination on the basis of characteristics that have been used in a number of settings as a proxy for racial/ethnic discrimination and exclusion, including SES, migration status, and religion.

Geophysical threats of wartime to high-risk objects of Ukraine

Environment is changed by man consciously and mostly unconsciously. A characteristic feature of modern times is the unprecedented number of potentially dangerous enterprises that pose a real threat of emergencies of natural and man-made origin. Accidents at 203 high-risk Ukrainian facilities can lead to emergencies at the regional and state levels, spreading to other countries. Of all human engineering activities, hydraulic engineering has the greatest impact on the natural environment; significant effects of artificial regulation of precipitation, mining. These actions may also have military uses that involve intentional harm. The main task of military hydraulic engineering is the creation of artificial water barriers to advance the enemy. The use of artificial rainfall for the same purpose helps to soften road surfaces and provokes landslides along them, supports the erosion of river fords and increased soil water saturation. The earthquakes caused by the bombings are causing extensive damage to infrastructure. At the end of February 2014, Russia launched hostilities in Ukraine, which began with the annexation of Crimea, continued with a protracted armed conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, led to the entry of troops on February 24, 2022. Military action is accompanied by conscious and unconscious manifestations of aggression in potentially dangerous enterprises.
 To protect against natural disasters of anthropogenic origin, in 1976 the Environmental Modification Convention was adopted. To date, only 94 of the 193 UN countries have ratified or agreed to the Convention. The list of potential 99 violators is supplemented by the founding member states of the United Nations and initiators of the development of the Convention within the USSR, the Russian Federation, which is waging hostilities on the territory of Ukraine, and Belarus.

Al-Qa’ida and the Taliban

Antonio Giustozzi intervenes in the debate of how close the Taliban and Al-Qa’ida have been, examining the political economy of their relationship. There is clear evidence of considerable friction between the two organisations over the years, which makes more recent claims of worsening tension by oral sources plausible, given also the signature of the US–Taliban agreement in 2020 and clear divergence over the emirate’s relations with the UN and regional countries. ◼

Disinformation at a Local Level: An Emerging Discussion

Fake news and disinformation are not a new phenomenon. However, in recent years, they have acquired great prominence on the public agenda, conditioning electoral results and generating episodes of political destabilization. Academic interest runs in parallel with the consideration of disinformation as a growing priority for governments and international organizations, due to its geostrategic relevance and its importance for national sovereignty and security. The interference of countries such as Russia or China in other nations’ electoral processes, using new tools and methods to manipulate public opinion and proliferate cyberattacks have led to the creation of agencies or regulations aimed at curbing disinformation in some states. The UN, the EU and other countries’ governments have tried to develop strategies to respond to this growing threat. The pandemic has accelerated the decline of local media, which leaves communities in a state of serious vulnerability. Reliable resources and sources around local information are scarce assets, information is increasingly consumed through social media, and in them disinformation easily proliferates. With this proposal, we intend to start a discussion around disinformation at a local level, something that has been absent in disinformation studies.

Analysing data quality frameworks and evaluating the statistical output of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ reports

This paper evaluates the quality of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’ report for 2020, and devises a new data quality assessment framework based on analysing many data quality frameworks. Data in this paper is collected from the official UN SDG official website, and the national statistics offices of the UN countries. A weighted-score sum module is also being utilized to find the best data quality dimension. These dimensions are then used to create a new data quality framework. It is found that the UN SDGs used a data quality framework that is based on statistical output factors and ignores other quality factors and therefore the score for assessing this report is 56%. The perceived identified gaps include: countries are using different quality and assessment frameworks which cause inconsistency in data quality; data is outdated and incomplete; data is not available for many indicators and countries; cost and efficiency are not part of the UN SDG data quality framework; therefore weak data management is found. Areas for improvement include creating one comprehensive data quality framework for all countries will ensure the highest data quality.

The Relationship between Air Pollution, Health Expenditures and Economic Growth in UN Countries with Emission Reduction Responsibility

1997 Kyoto Protokolünde hava kirliliği, daha özelde sera gazı emisyonunu azaltmaya dikkat çekilmesi bu alandaki girişimlerin ivme kazanmasında oldukça etkilidir. Protokolden sonra farklı disiplinlerde hava kirliliği ve etkileri alanındaki çalışmalarda önemli artış yaşanmıştır. Bu çalışmada 1990-2018 döneminde emisyon azaltım sorumluluğu olan BM ülkelerinde hava kirliliği ile ekonomik büyüme ve sağlık harcamaları arasındaki ilişkiler Kónya (2006) panel nedensellik testleriyle araştırılmıştır. Çalışma sonuçları, hava kirliliğinden sağlık harcamalarına, hava kirliliğinden ekonomik büyümeye ve ekonomik büyümeden sağlık harcamalarına doğru nedensellik ilişkisini göstermektedir.

COVID-19 and Women

Abstract. Modern slavery is a significant global human rights crisis that disproportionately affects women and girls, and research indicates that the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities to exploitation. Early evidence suggests that the pandemic has disproportionately affected women and girls, including an increase in lack of access to family planning and adequate sexual and reproductive care and an increase in maternal mortality rates. Additionally, the pandemic has instigated a reduction in economic opportunities and access to education for women and girls and increased violence against women. For this study, regression analysis was used to examine country-level data from 197 UN member countries. Predictor variables included indicators reflecting key areas addressed by UN Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG-5): gender inequality, educational and economic opportunities for females, women's leadership, gendered violence, and women's health. SDG-5 calls for gender equality and empowerment of women and girls. The criterion variable was the estimated prevalence of modern slavery across UN countries. Regression analysis revealed significant results across all models. Literacy rates and expected years of schooling for females, femicide, lifetime prevalence of violence, and several indicators of women's health were found to be strongly and significantly related to increased estimated prevalence of modern slavery. Furthermore, we propose that the pandemic has increased vulnerability to exploitation for women and girls by regressing progress across all areas addressed by SDG-5.

Opportunities for using natural fresh water in Russia for the export potential development

Subject. Water resources are getting more and more scarce worldwide, and the situation aggravates over time. In such circumstances, Russia should get use of its competitive advantages and increase exports of fresh water and water-intensive products. Objectives. I analyze opportunities for using natural fresh water of Russia to unfold the export potential. Methods. The study relies upon databases of the Russian governmental agencies, the UN, and Asian partnership countries. The study is based on the systems approach and methods of logic and comparative analysis, qualitative and quantitative analysis of statistical data. Results. The article illustrates cases of water supply via canals and water pipelines from Russia to Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. I display what unparalleled opportunities Russia has, since it possesses land and water resources, which would help rapidly increment water-intensive agricultural and other production. I make suggestions on key strands to follow and efforts to activate the use of available fresh water for the export potential development. Conclusions and Relevance. The proposed rearrangement of some Russian river flows to neighboring countries should be thoroughly elaborated and studied in terms of environmental, socio-economic, political consequences. The rapid economic growth of neighboring Asian countries opens new opportunities for Russia to seize its competitive advantages. Hence, the government should actively support sectors that would meet the highest demand for their products in the coming decades. The competition is expected to intensify across all segments of bottled potable water market. Russia should get more involved into the sale of water not only on the Kamchatka peninsula, but only in other regions of Siberia and the Far East.

Deadly serious: The United Nations, drugs, and capital punishment in the 1980s

BackgroundResearch into capital punishment has focussed on the length of time it will take to abolish. It will take decades or centuries. A key moment in the movement to abolish the death penalty was the 1980s when the Second Optional Protocol to the ICCPR was developed. This was also the decade that the last significant changes were made to the United Nations drug conventions. At the time, awareness of the issue of capital punishment for drug offences was increasing around the world as more people were getting executed. This article looks at how western countries and the United Nations responded to Malaysia which introduced the mandatory death penalty for drug offences in 1982. MethodsOver 30,000 pages of documents have been accessed through the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. These have been photographed, scanned and converted to OCR. The most relevant folders have then been analysed through NVivo 12 to look for relevant mentions of the research question: capital punishment and Malaysia. All probative data is then presented in the article. ResultsThe data from National Archives suggests that the UN, Australia, and other western countries were happy to continue supporting Malaysia's drug policy and to elect it to high positions at UN meetings despite their public proclamations that they were opposed to the death penalty. ConclusionApplying a critical juncture approach, the article concludes that the 1980s was a critical juncture in the movement to abolish the death penalty but abolitionist countries allowed capital punishment to continue for drug offences. This may have set back the abolition movement by decades.

Response of Muslim Prayer to COVID-19 in Indonesia: The Role of Muhammadiyah Mosque in Enrekang, South Sulawesi

Abstract
 This study discusses how the prayer in the mosque when the world is in a precarious situation caused by the Covid-19 virus originating from the city of Wuhan, China. Several UN countries including Indonesia have been infected by the virus. Indonesia itself has done various ways of handling related to this virus, one of which is to conduct PSBB or large-scale social restrictions that have been implemented in various major cities throughout Indonesia. The Indonesian government has also announced not to perform worship activities at the mosque or in other words pray at their respective homes. The results of this study indicate the role of Muhammadiyah Mosque in dealing with the problem of congregational prayers in the midst of covid-19. The Muhammadiyah Mosque made a decision to assist the government in breaking the chain of the spread covid-19 outbreak by not using or closing the mosque to pray in congregation.

Implementation of Sustainable Development Goals in construction industry - a systemic consideration of synergies and trade-offs

According to sustainability research the world has exceeded four out of seven planetary boundaries. The areas of climate change, biodiversity loss, nitrogen cycle and land use have left the so called safe operating space for humanity. The built environment is one of the major contributors to environmental impacts. Especially the embodied energy during the construction phase of the built environment and the energy demands during the use of buildings contribute to a high energy and resource consumption. In the year 2015 the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a universal development agenda, which goals need to be fulfilled by the year 2030 and by all UN countries worldwide. Amongst other countries Austria has adopted the 2030 agenda and has committed itself to the SDGs. Research objective was to explore the application of systemic approaches in the field of SDGs. The work presents a systematic literature review (SLR) and discusses an application of a qualitative system analysis (carried out with the tool iMODELER) on the SDGs. Results show how interdependencies among SDGs and among chosen concrete actions, e.g. for the built environment, can be visualized for a better systemic understanding. By visualizing synergies and trade-offs, effects of decisions taken can be estimated from a holistic perspective.

Stability and Stability Operations: Definitions, Drivers, Approaches

The notion of ‘stability’ and the practice of ‘stability operations’ experienced a revival in the last decade. The paper shows how different actors (UN, NATO, US and European countries) have been using the concept ‘stability’ in their recent doctrines. It then shows how as a multi-faceted notion stability can benefit from methodological pluralism, how actors adopt different and even conflicting meanings across a range of different cases and stability operations seem to carry troubling political and normative implications. In sum, this introductory essay specifies how the present collection contributes to the literature and the ongoing policy debate by dissecting the notions of stability and stability operations.

Employing GIS towards shaping a smart and sustainable future: a brief policy survey of global and Taiwan’s efforts

Abstract. Since UN announced 17 SDGs in 2015, many countries around the world have been endeavouring to promote SDGs towards building a sustainable future. Given the disparity of the regional development, national government is suggested to establish localised sustainable vision. Drawing on UN SDGs with targets and corresponding indicators, meanwhile considering local circumstances and sustainable vision, government further seeks to establish localised SDGs with related targets and indicators. Meanwhile, under the digital era, digital technologies have been extensively employed as the smart tool in many fields nowadays, and Geographic Information System (GIS) has been developed as the platform to visualise the SDGs progress in UN and many countries. On the above basis, this paper further demonstrates Taiwan’s efforts to establish localised SDGs, and develop National Geographic Information System (NGIS) to implement the sustainable development in Taiwan, monitor the SDGs progress, and provide feedback to policymakers to further make strategic policies in a top-down approach, meanwhile develop Community Geographic Information System (CGIS) to encourage stakeholders and citizens to harness the concept of CGIS to proactively create and tell their own stories and promote Regional Revitalisation policy in a bottom-up approach. Moreover, GIS could not function well without appropriate data management including massive data and open data policy, well-built digital infrastructure, as well as the selected “right data” and cyber security. Hence, with appropriate data management, GIS as a smart tool could facilitate the promotion and implementation of SDGs in an intuitive manner towards shaping a smart and sustainable future.

Social Policy Heritage of the UN and European Countries Related to Elderly Persons

Social Policy Heritage of the UN and European Countries Related to Elderly Persons

Economic, social and governance adaptation readiness for mitigation of climate change vulnerability: Evidence from 192 countries

Adaptation strategies have become critical in climate change mitigation and impact reduction, to safeguard population and the ecosystem from irreparable damage. While developed countries have integrated adaptation plans and policies into their developmental agenda, developing countries are facilitating or yet to initiate adaptation policies in their development. This study examines the nexus between climate change vulnerability and adaptation readiness in 192 UN countries using mapping and panel data models. The study reveals Africa as the most vulnerable continent to climate change with high sensitivity, high exposure, and low adaptive capacity. Developed countries, including Norway, Switzerland, Canada, Sweden, United Kingdom, Finland, France, Spain, and Germany, are less vulnerable to climate change due to strong economic, governance and social adaptation readiness. International commitment from developed countries to developing countries is essential to strengthen their resilience, economic readiness and adaptive capacity to climate-related events.

The emergence of a nation: writers and fighters as agents

Kosovo declared its independence nine years ago, and, with more than 100 UN countries recognizing the new country already, it has emerged as a new nation on the political map of the world. The article discusses Kosovo’s emergence as a nation and state and its ramifications for political discourse and indeed national or pan-national politics in Kosovo and Albania in the first place. How did writers and fighters – representatives of cultural enlightenment and militant struggle – create an autonomous Kosovar polity initially, before it became an independent country in its own right at the turn of the century and millennium? Will there soon be separate histories of Albanian and Kosovar national literature, culture, art, etc., against this backdrop? These and a range of other issues will be explored.

Policy-Driven Investigation of Sectoral Latent Information Regarding Global Road Fatalities

Abstract: Road safety considerations correspond to an important element in the transport decision making and policy agenda, closely related to the increased valuation of human casualties in developed societies. Nevertheless, the expected raise of mobility, especially through private motorization, is putting a tough challenge on the decision/policy making that should be transferred from developed (in terms of road crash risk) and applied to developing (in the same terms) regions and countries. As reported in the relevant literature, the phenomenon of road traffic fatalities can be assigned to several factors that can be captured by several socio-economic factors. The current research aims on investigating the phenomenon of road traffic fatalities in a macro level and across the globe towards decision/policy making. For achieving this, a cardinal assumption investigated here relies on the fact that this complex phenomenon cannot be fully explained by a specific set of variables, giving raise to the assumption of unobserved, latent information. A solid methodological framework for incorporating observed and latent structures in a seamless manner, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), is thus considered. As such, the objective of this study is to use an extensive database including socio-economic data (aiming on treating endogeneity), concerning 121 UN countries for the year 2013, within a SEM modeling framework. A robust approach was considered and useful results were produced, indicating that the proposed modeling framework is appropriate for estimating the road traffic fatalities.