UN Report Research Articles

Development of a strategy for the “green” transformation of Russian hop production based on the principles of the climate and ESG agenda development

Abstract According to the UN report of 2022, the world community has faced the largest number of conflicts since the founding of the United Nations (1945). Despite the increasing polarization of the world, the development of ESG approaches in the world continues, as they address the fundamental challenges of human development. At the same time, the programs of the countries provide for both strict measures of restrictions and regulation, as well as “soft” policies in the form of support and incentives. In accordance with the regulatory documents adopted in Russia, soft measures are being taken in the country to encourage the adoption of measures for the sustainable development of Russian companies. To develop approaches for the sustainable development of hop farming in Russia, the work examines the experience of world leading companies in hop production, namely: Hop Products Australia (HPA), German Hopsteiner and HVG group. At the next stage, considering the Russian natural and climatic conditions and the peculiarities of agricultural business, three directions have been developed for the implementation of the postulates of the ESG agenda in Russian hop farming - increasing the sustainability of the use of natural resources, solving organizational issues and reducing environmental impact. Specific steps for their implementation have been formed within each direction.

Countering Arguments Against Parental Alienation as A Form of Family Violence and Child Abuse

Despite scientific recognition of parental alienation as a form of child maltreatment and family violence, numerous critiques been advanced challenging the concept. A recent UN report concluded that parental alienation is a “pseudo-concept” lacking empirical validity, posing significant dangers to women and children at risk of family violence and abuse. In this article, we present and refute the most common arguments that have been advanced against the proposition that parental alienation and alienating behaviors are a form of family violence and child abuse. We examine each in relation to empirical evidence published in over one hundred peer-reviewed research studies.

Transformative Social Innovation as a Guideline to Enhance the Sustainable Development Goals’ Framework

To achieve the objectives of reversing ongoing social and environmental degradation, there is an urgent need to accelerate efforts towards more sustainable and regenerative socio-technical systems. The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations’ (UN) ambitious 2030 Agenda still face significant challenges. This article explores the role of innovation in accelerating efforts, emphasizing its social and transformative aspects related to governance issues. The research method includes an initial analysis of UN reports on governance challenges. Then, some gaps related to operational aspects are identified in the SDGs’ framework, through a process-oriented view proposed by the authors. The research problem examined from this analysis is whether transformative social innovation (TSI) could help improve the operationalization of SDG indicators. A systematic literature review shows that there are no well-established guidelines to promote TSI in the SDGs’ framework. Based on the findings, this article suggests some targets and indicators linked to TSI to enhance the SDGs’ framework. This study has theoretical and practical implications for future research on leveraging the means of implementation of sustainable development policies.

A blueprint for what? From a critical policy discursive analysis of UN’s sustainable development goals to a constructive rearticulation for their application

ABSTRACT Halfway through the UN 2030 Agenda of Sustainable Development Goals (2015–2030), the achievement of most of the proposed targets have been lagging behind, as has been confirmed in recent UN and UNESCO reports. While these reports mostly provide external features which cause the delay, this paper analyses and addresses possible features within the UN 2030 Agenda which might explain that shortfall. These include an unflagging belief in economic growth and a lack of an analysis of causes, as well as problems to do with costs and benefits of particular SDGs. Hence, the application of some SDGs might be counterproductive for the environment – and thus for sustainability. This article highlights outcomes of analyses of the Agenda, zooms in on SDG4 on education and presents alternative, more promising avenues concerning the SDGs. The 2030 Agenda and the alternative approaches are interpreted in terms of a shallow ecological (mechanistic) and a deep ecological (organic) worldview. We then propose ways forward for critical policy discourse analysis that may enhance the capacity of the UN 2030 Agenda in the direction of what they are meant to do: global cooperation toward a sustainable rearrangement of human life on earth.

Analysis of the Current Personnel Situation in the Field of Science in Kazakhstan: Gender Aspect

One of the main factors in the development of the state’s economy is science and innovation, namely human resources that realize these resources, with the help of high-quality scientists. In this regard, the purpose of the research article is to analyze the current state of personnel status in the field of science, identify gender characteristics, and give recommendations for improving personnel status. In the course of the study, an integrated approach was used, which included methods of analysis, synthesis, and comparative analysis. In addition, general scientific methods such as abstraction and deduction were used. As an information base, statistical data from the National Bureau of Statistics for the period 2018-2022 were used. In addition, the UN reports on science were used. In the course of the study, the results were obtained that there is a shortage of personnel in the field of science, a decrease in the number of scientists in technical specialties, low wages in this field, a small number of scientists with academic degrees, and gender inequality. To ensure economic development, it was proposed to rethink the education system and the field of science and the directions in which the problem of personnel in the field of science could be developed. The theoretical results of the study can be used in the continuation of research related to the personnel situation in the field of science. The results of the study can find practical application in reports, strategies and programs of government agencies.

In Pursuit of Excellence: Analysing the Indispensable Nature of Conduct and Discipline of Nepali Army in UN Peace Support Missions

Nepal is currently ranked 2nd among the Troop Contributing Countries (TCCs) in United Nations Peace Support Operations. In this context, this paper examines the contribution of the Nepali Army's military conduct and discipline to the effectiveness of UN Peace Support Missions. The theoretical foundations delve into pertinent theories, particularly emphasizing Kevin S. Donohue's concepts of Discipline A (voluntary, value-based Attitudes) and Discipline B (externally enforced Behavioral responses) within the military framework. Maintaining conduct and discipline in UN peace operations is essential for ensuring the credibility and legitimacy of these missions. Therefore, prior UN reports and the Secretary General's Special Bulletin from 2015 to 2022 are comparatively analyzed to reflect on occurrences of misconduct involving peacekeepers from TCCs. Likewise, a quantitative comparative analysis assesses the status of the Nepali Army in terms of military conduct analyzing the rate of allegations of misconducts against it. The study employs descriptive statistics to analyze the status of misconduct allegations including that of serious misconduct to advocate for a stronger integration of military conduct with UN peacekeeping mandates, aiming to enhance overall effectiveness and elevate ethical standards in international peace operations. The findings underscore Nepal's exemplary practices in fostering both Discipline B and Discipline A within its peacekeeping forces. The paper concludes by demonstrating the substantial positive impact of disciplined behaviour on mission outcomes

Правові аспекти державної політики стосовно запобігання та подолання COVID-19 у Північній Кореї: впровадження та ефективність правових заходів

This article analyses some (publicly available) legal aspects of COVID-19 policy in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea since the beginning of the global coronavirus outbreak and in the following years. The focus is on the legal measures implemented to prevent the spread of the virus. The paper draws conclusions about the effectiveness of the practical application of the «zero tolerance» policy in the fight against the pandemic. Pyongyang explains its success in countering the coronavirus as a proactive response to the struggle for «national survival». The country has closed its border, reduced trade with China, established a 30-day quarantine period, and imposed restrictions on the activities of foreign diplomatic and international personnel based in North Korea (essentially choosing a position of even greater isolation from the outside world in the fight against the pandemic). Having officially recognized the first case of coronavirus infection in the country only in May 2022, 3 months later, in August of the same year, North Korea declared a complete victory over COVID-19. However, the real situation with COVID-19 in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea is not obvious: in contrast to the many unreliable statements and propaganda news reports, there are studies by external experts, as well as UN reports, which seem to reflect a more realistic situation behind the Iron Curtain. Such conclusions can also be drawn from the fact that no COVID-19 vaccination campaigns have been officially conducted, and food insecurity caused by various factors, including prolonged sanctions, border closures and adverse climatic conditions, may also have hindered the ability of the population to overcome COVID-19 as successfully as claimed by the DPRK. In this article, we will try to analyze in more details the methods of countering the coronavirus in North Korea based on available official sources and assess their effectiveness, as well as their impact on the civil liberties of the DPRK population.

Philosophical Analysis of Moral and Existential Implications of Climate Change

Besides other challenges such as the economic crunch and the threat of possible World War III orchestrated by conflict between Russia and Ukraine and the war in the Middle East, climate change appears as a major challenge facing our world today. This phenomenon tends to shape the global narrative and influences many government policies as well as dominating most global organizations’ debates. There is a consensus among scientists that climate change is largely anthropogenic, that is, it is largely caused by human activities that emit enormous greenhouse gases in the atmosphere leading to austere heating of the earth’s surface. This being the case, we realize that climate change raises both existential as well as moral concerns. A critical peek on the various UN and WHO reports on the extent and reality of climate change, backed by evidence of extreme and unpredictable weather patterns witnessed across the globe such as heavy floods in various parts of the world and/or extreme temperatures in many parts of Europe point to a situation that threatens not only the very existence of man and other organisms through death and extinction but also a disturbance to societal moral values, prompted by such questions of climate justice and responsibility of the contemporary generation for future generations. This situation unsettles any critical mind not only to be conscious of the reality and severity of disasters caused by climate change but also to think of possible ways to formulate a framework that addresses the need for mitigation and adaptation but also to preserve the world for future generations. It is the view of this write-up that as a problem that needs a solution, and enlightened by the philosophical problem-solving skills, climate change catastrophe needs a clear and precise definition, hence the need to explicate the real existential as well as moral crises it raises. This paper therefore becomes richly informative and brings to the consciousness of everyone the great risks we are faced with today due to climate change.

ANALYSIS OF EMPLOYMENT IN THE EDUCATION SYSTEM OF THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC IN 2003-2022

At the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit of the 78th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2023 President of the Kyrgyz Republic S.N. Zhaparov declared Kyrgyzstan’s readiness to undertake concrete commitments to accelerate the achievement of SDGs by 2030 and its desire to become one of the top 30 countries by 2030. According to the UN Report on Sustainable Development in 2023, the Kyrgyz Republic took 45th place out of 166 countries studied. At the summit, the "Education" SDG-4 was identified as Kyrgyzstan’s main commitment to achieve the SDG by 2030, which in turn should have a multiplier effect on the achievement of other SDGs. The article studies the dynamics of the indicators of the employed population in the main work by types of economic activity and territory in the education sector, covering all seven regions of the republic and the city of Bishkek from 2003 to 2022

Exploring the Impact of Wars on Children: A Case Study of the Russia-Ukraine War

In the background of the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine, people are suffering from the brutality of war. However, it is not obvious that the minority children are actually the most affected among people other than soldiers, politicians and other civillians. This paper will be a review on the existing problems children face and how they are still prevalent nowadays. This research will attempt to move the spotlight on the war itself, where people are not directly engaged with, to the lives of children, whom people could care about and actually put effort in it to help the situation to get better. In Ukraine, children face the risk of diseases, psychological illness, halt of or experience education with misinformation. This study uses the method of case study and aims to create a gather of scattered information in news, UN reports and volunteer interviews to showcase the lives of children in current Ukraine.

World Population Growth: A Once and Future Global Concern

The challenge posed by global population growth has been clear to most scientists since at least the 1950s. In the 1970s, it became conventional wisdom that “the population explosion” constituted a threat to humanity and to sound social, economic and ecological development. This conviction was clearly demonstrated at UN conferences on the environment (1972) and population (1974). It was also confirmed in the important UN report Our Common Future, presented by the Brundtland Commission in 1987. Since the 1990s, international interest in population issues has decreased dramatically and has even become a taboo in certain academic and political discourses. This paper will try to analyze some of the reasons for these changes in attitudes and will present proposals on how to push the population issue back on to the international agenda.

Nutrition knowledge and practices in children under two years of age in Huila, Angola

Abstract Background The 2021 UN report indicated 149 million children under 5 years suffering malnutrition. African continent has the highest prevalence of stunting. Angola has a persistent nutritional crisis. Improving child-feeding practices is essential to ensure good nutrition. This is the preliminary analysis of baseline data of MuCCUA trial aimed to study household Caregiver's (C) knowledge and practices regarding nutrition of children under two years of age in two communes of Huila, Jamba and Libongue. 381 caregivers were interviewed. A bivariate analysis of the sociodemographic variables was carried out and differences between communes were evaluated with a Chi-square test. To identify socioeconomic factors associated with good knowledge and practices we did forward logistic regressions. Poisson regressions with robust variance were performed to calculate the incidence ratio and 95% confidence intervals. Results 98.2% C. were women, 69.6% were 20-39 years old and 45% had no education. In Libongue the caregivers had a lower educational level (p < 0.05) and a lower socioeconomic level (p < 0.05) compared to Jamba. Only 27% of households had a drinking water tap and only 20% had latrine. 36.2% had high nutrition knowledge and 37% had good practices. 50% caregivers considered important to breastfeed immediately after birth but only 36% breastfed immediately after birth. In Jamba, 48% of the children stopped being breastfed within a year, vs 23% in Libongue (p < 0.05). The number of people in the house (RI 1.167 CI: 1.167-1.276) and high level of knowledge (RI 2.02 CI: 1.3-3.1) were factors associated with good practices. Conclusions The percentages of good knowledge and practices in nutrition have been low. However, Knowledge was a predictor of good practices in these communes. It is necessary to improve caregiver nutrition knowledge if we want to improve child-feeding practices in Huila, Angola. Key messages • The percentages of good knowledge and good practices in nutrition have been low. • Knowledge was a predictor of good practices in these communes. It is necessary to improve caregiver nutrition knowledge if we want to improve child-feeding practices in Huila, Angola.

Conflict and antagonism within global psychiatry: A discourse analysis of organisational responses to the UN reports on rights-based approaches in mental health.

Between 2017 and 2020, the UN Special Rapporteur (SR) Dainius Puras published three reports that called for significant changes to organisation, funding and service provision in mental health care in ways that emphasise inclusive, rights-oriented, democratic and sustainable community health services. This article aims to examine formal organisational responses to the UN mental health reports and consider the underlying arguments that either support or delegitimise the SR stance on the need for a paradigmatic shift towards a human rights-based approach to mental health. By combining several different search strategies to identify organisational responses across the web, a total of 13 organisational responses were included in the analysis. Given the political nature of the responses, concepts from discourse theory were used to analyse the responses. The analysis showed how the responses articulated two binary positions and contesting articulations of good mental health care, which formed a backdrop for rejecting the SR reports in defence of psychiatry. The discussion elucidates how the responses tend to resemble previous ways in which critique has been dealt with mainly by 'biological psychiatry', but that the counter-critical nature of the medical and psychiatric organisational responses remains in contrast to the broader reception within the UN community.

Transforming Cultural Tourism in Dali, Yunnan: Harnessing Digitalization for Smart Sustainable Heritage Experiences

This research article aims to identify and develop a strategy for the emergence of smart, sustainable tourism in Dali. Smart tourism refers to the use of ICT mechanisms to facilitate tourist access to tourism amenities as a major component of tourism. Arguably, the article uses literature such as published articles and books to show tourism as a global industry that accounts for about 9% of the global GDP and a major employment service industry. Furthermore, the study provides a descriptive analysis methodology to shed light on the different data collection methods employed in the study, as well as graphs and later analyses of the research data. Covid- 19 has recently affected the tourism sector more than any other industry. According to the findings of this study, smart tourism creates an environment that is conducive to the growth of visitors, enabling them to have positive experiences. A UN report states that 1.9 billion people will travel worldwide by 2030. This highlights the importance of facilitating peace and promoting major tourist destinations as potential destinations. Thus, tourism as an industry has, over the years, undergone various transformations concerning shifting its focus on advances in technology, such as ICT. This has helped to improve its capacity and thus ensure improved service.

The Role of the Libyan Agricultural Sector in the Development: an Analytical Study

Background: The Libyan economy depends on oil, which contributes more than 45% of GDP and earn the country more than 90% of its foreign exchange. While Agriculture activities producing only 3- 5% of the GDP and employs around 6% of the workforce. The low agricultural productivity of most of the crops cultivated together with rising demand for food has turned Libya into a net food importer.
 Objectives: an advanced development of productivity of food crops especially cereals, olives and date palm needs a very trusted data that enhance the efforts of agriculture development. So the present study aims to analyze the UN data.
 Data collection: data were collected from FAO and another UN reports.
 Results: the agriculture sector shared only (0.7 – 1.1%) of the total Libyan GDP during the period of 2000 - 2018. The highest ratio recoded in 2000 and 2005 gaining 1004.4 and 1268.5 USD million dollars. the crop land area ranged between (2,050,000 – 2,150,000 ha) during the period 2000 – 2018. The per capita crop land ranged (0.31 0.4 ha). The percentage of area equipped for irrigation in land area ranged (2.6 – 3.0%). The area of agriculture land ranged (15,350,000 – 15,450,000 ha) during the same period. While the area of forest land recorded (217,000 ha) during the same period. the total percentage of workforce in agriculture sector ranged between (18.4 – 24%). The percentage of women share in agriculture employment recorded (35.9 – 40.8 %) of the total agriculture workforce during the same period. the percentage of gross fixed capital formation (agriculture, forestry and fishing) as a share of value added recorded (6.9 -15.7%). the pesticide use per cropland area recorded (0.51 – 1.34 kg per ha) during the period 2000 - 2018. the total consumption of chemical fertilizers ranged (8.3 -25.6) (kg per ha) during the same period. fruits recorded the highest amount of the total agriculture production (696,000 tons) followed by vegetables (682,000 tons). the total agriculture production recorded (2,210,000 tons) in 2018. the total food exports, 2018 recorded (43 USD millions), fish recorded the highest value (36 USD millions) followed by fruits and vegetables (6 USD millions). the total food imports recorded (3167 USD millions), cereals recorded the highest value (975 USD millions) followed by dairy (420 USD millions) while, beverage was the lowest (81USD millions). Wheat recorded the highest amount among cereal crop imports (1461.8 thousand tons) followed by maize (784.3 thousand tons) and rice (101.2 thousand tons). Moreover. water stress percentage ranged (615.4 – 817.1%) during the period 2000 – 2018

Tax Moral on the Compliance of the Individual Taxpayers in Qardho District, Somalia

This study assessed the role of knowledge on the compliance of individual taxpayers, as well as impact of tax moral on the compliance of individual taxpayers and explored strategic solutions to cope tax moral on the compliance of individual taxpayers. The study applied a qualitative research method the data was collected sample size of 80 respondents including business owners, employees, local government staff, and unemployed through questionnaires were self-administrated with used likert scale. The procedure selected in this study will be simple random sampling method. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics by SPSS to determine the demographic information relevant to the study were asked the respondents their ages as the data indicates, a huge number of the participants 24 (29.6%) fall in the 20 and 30 ages range. This means more than 78% of the survey respondents were youth, and it is quite understandable because, according to UN reports, more than 75% of the Somali population is less than 30 years old. The majority respondents Out of the 80 respondents, 47, or 58.0%, were males compared to 32 females, or 39.5%. This indicates a male domination of the study; there are cultural issues in the country that allow male to outnumber females in the job opportunities. The study has pointed up the role of knowledge on the compliance of individual taxpayers were not met a good moral tax administration, that may cause the taxpayers to be lack of coherent social contract and then that encouraged on refuse paying taxes, at the moment the poor tax moral system it that may lead non-compliance, and also emphasized tax administration teams faced more challenges as effected evasion of taxes, corruption, lower of income level, administration sanctions and lack of accountability. The study suggests that the local government should prioritize creating written laws of taxes, also must be done enforcement together efforts of the effectiveness of tax system in both the government and taxpayers, Furthermore government should interest structuring tax laws to minimize non-compliance is essential.

Misconceptions of Religious Freedom: Toward an Empirical Study of Religious Freedom Awareness

This article offers an overview of the most common misconceptions about religious freedom, with reference to the 2017 UN Report by Mr. Shaheed and the perspectives of other human rights scholars and experts. It proceeds with the operationalization of a selected list of misconceptions about this subject for empirical research of religious freedom awareness. We discuss the primary results from a survey on social perceptions of religious freedom collected from a convenience sample of university students in Northern Italy (N = 1035), offering, first, a new scale of religious freedom awareness (RFA), and second, a consideration of its association with various dimensions of religious freedom and other human rights. The findings show that awareness of religious freedom serves as a robust predictor of endorsement of a broader set of human rights by participants, including those potentially antithetical to religious freedom claims, such as gay and women’s rights. We discuss these findings against a holistic approach to human rights and empirical evidence that other variables (political engagement, passive secularism views, and spiritual identity) contribute to the endorsement of rights culture in Italian society.

Traditional Building Knowledge Systems - A Path to Sustainability

In architecture and planning domain, sustainability has been considered as a core strategy for over three decades now. The modern era of globalisation, led to homogenisation in architecture, thus widening the gap between modern and Traditional Building Knowledge systems (TBKS) worldwide. This gap is widening at an alarming speed and alienating the architectural concepts from the context and its people, by ignoring the sustainability aspects. The TBKS has evolved in line with the environmental, cultural, technological, economic, and historical context within which it exists. The current study provides an overview of the concepts involved in sustainability and TBKS and how TBKS is addressed in the international forums and UN reports, and ancient treatises that formed the basis of TBKS in the Indian context. The four pillars of sustainability i.e., environmental, social, economic, and cultural dimensions were considered as the parameters to measure how far the sustainability has been achieved in the built environment. From the extensive review of literature, a set of design indicators was identified for the TBKS. Further, its applicability was also analysed based on the case examples. The current study reveals that such indicators, mentioned in the TBKS, are context-specific in nature. Hence, it helps in achieving sustainability at the building level. The paper concludes by identifying the co-relation between TBKS and sustainability and calls for more studies upon using the Traditional Building Knowledge Systems as a potential tool to achieve sustainability.

Defenders of an Imagined Empire. The Russian Diaspora as a Tool of Propaganda and Anti-Democratic Politics in the Central and Southeast Asian Region

The article analyzes the role of the Russian diaspora in the policy of the Russian Federation authorities during Russia’s war in Ukraine. The author analyzes the mechanisms of centralization, consolidation and instrumentalization of organizations of so-called compatriots outside Russia, in the area of Central and Southeast Asia. The process of institutionalization of the diaspora and the creation of a coherent system of economic, cultural and repatriation policy management by the central authorities of the Russian Federation are critically analyzed. Russia, working with the diaspora, is extremely effective in exploiting the potential of its human capital, which, according to UN reports, is estimated at 11 million people, the second largest diaspora in the world after the Indian diaspora.

Through the Looking-Glass: The IOM Recasting the Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration Narrative at the UN and in West Africa

ABSTRACT The stated aim of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM) is to facilitate ‘safe, orderly and regular migration’. Yet, plain meaning alone fails to reveal who is shaping this formative narrative. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) has played a crucial role in the preparatory phase of the GCM and is coordinating its implementation. In this article, we shed light on two out of the IOM’s global roles – a first one of coordinating the United Nations Network on Migration and the other role of organising the first International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) of the GCM. Hence, the IOM’s institutional upgrade leads us to question to what extent the IOM has designed the GCM’s narrative of ‘safe, orderly and regular migration’. Through a non-systematic document analysis of UN and IOM reports and briefs, we find evidence that the IOM adjusts the meaning behind the ‘safe, orderly and regular migration’ depending on whether a global, respectively, regional mandate is at stake. To this end, we investigate the IOM’s activities in West Africa where it faces an increasingly divided mission that lies at the intersection of its global and (trans-) regional roles. A closer look at how the IOM applies the narrative at global and West African levels reveals that it deliberately rearranges the order of the adjectives ‘safe, orderly and regular’ to produce different meanings for different policy purposes. Viewed strategically, we find the IOM generates such word combinations to either pursue its abovementioned multilevel strategy, or to affirm its new position among UN agencies. Hence, one and the same adjective deployed at the global and regional level amounts to a different meaning, with implications for policy attribution. In result, the IOM’s strategy to recast the narrative of ‘safe, regular and orderly migration’ depending on whether it is fulfilling a regional or global role, ultimately leads to greater tension within the IOM as a whole.