How It Works

Here you will find explanatory journalism and other timely, useful information about how international organizations work.

Virtual Davos targets pandemic-era mistrust
By Arete News - January 18, 2021

Thousands normally descend on Davos this time of year. But with the pandemic still raging, WEF will meet virtually to take on mistrust and division.
WTO delays IP waiver proposal for pandemic
By Arete News - December 28, 2020

A proposal for WTO to suspend IP protections of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments is set to expire this month, kicking the issue over to 2021.
WTO subsidy talks to curb overfishing drag on
By Arete News - December 14, 2020

Diplomats failed to meet an end-of-year deadline for a deal on halting government subsidies that contribute to overfishing, WTO officials said.
WMO says CO2 levels again at record high
By Arete News - November 23, 2020

Atmospheric CO2 levels reached a record high in 2019 and are expected to keep rising this year despite an economic slowdown due to the pandemic.
OSCE ‘grave concerns’ at Trump election ploys
By Arete News - October 22, 2020

OSCE election observers reported widespread concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to uncercut voter confidence in the presidential election.
Eight nations agree on rules to develop Moon
By Arete News - October 13, 2020

Seven nations joined the U.S. in signing agreements to reinforce and use international rules for peacefully cooperating on and around the Moon’s surface.
U.N. virus tracker shows deficit of gender policies
By Arete News - September 28, 2020

Just 25 nations, or 12 percent of the world, have comprehensive measures in place to protect women against the pandemic, a new U.N. data tracker found.
Trump shuns multilateral vaccine effort
By Arete News - September 1, 2020

The Trump administration said it will steer clear of a multilateral effort to accelerate the development and production of COVID-19 vaccines.
WHO chief urges unity over ‘vaccine nationalism’
By Arete News - August 18, 2020

WHO’s chief said nations must band together and stop competing over access to future supplies of a potential vaccine if they want to beat the pandemic.
Virus and climate shape €1.8 trillion E.U. budget
By Arete News - July 21, 2020

European Union leaders sent a €1.8 trillion seven-year budget plan to European Parliament that includes a proposed €750 billion coronavirus recovery fund.
U.S. chided for ‘rapid decline’ in freedoms
By Arete News - June 29, 2020

Crackdowns on protesters and journalists landed the U.S. on a global alliance’s updated watchlist of nations dogged by “serious concerns” for civic freedoms.
U.N. forecasts foreign investments plunge
By Arete News - June 16, 2020

New business investment globally will likely drop by up to 40 percent this year and 10 percent in 2021 from the COVID-19 pandemic, UNCTAD reported.
WHO warns pandemic’s first wave not over
By Arete News - May 25, 2020

As nations ease coronavirus lockdowns, WHO officials cautioned the first wave of the pandemic has not ended and a “second peak” may occur.
Irish ‘pay forward’ Choctaws’ 1847 charity
By John Heilprin - May 11, 2020

The Navajo Nation thanked Irish people for repaying a 173-year-old favor that was an early use of an international organization to deliver humanitarian aid.
IRENA says renewable energy boosts GDP
By Arete News - April 20, 2020

Governments could use energy transformations to create jobs, meet climate targets and produce GDP gains of US$98 trillion by 2050, according to a new report.
Uprooted 70 million at risk in virus spread
By Arete News - March 30, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic threatens to disproportionately harm more than 70 million people who have been forcibly displaced by wars and violent crises.
Europe’s mixed progress toward U.N. goals
By Arete News - March 17, 2020

Air pollution levels exceed recommended health limits in all but 10 mainly European countries, but most lowered carbon emissions and expanded forest cover.
U.N. issues ‘call to action’ on human rights
By Arete News - February 24, 2020

U.N. leaders challenged nations, businesses and citizens to respond to a “call to action” for greater efforts to withstand a rising tide of human rights abuses.
A.U. seeks new ways of ‘silencing the guns’
By Arete News - February 10, 2020

A.U. leaders pledged to devote more resources to mediating an end to regional violence from a surge in civil wars and conflicts among warring groups.
U.N. panel bolsters climate asylum seekers
By John Heilprin - January 21, 2020

Ioane Teitiota lost his case against deportation, but in its ruling the U.N. Human Rights Committee said people fleeing climate change may claim asylum.
Decade of rising attacks on kids in conflicts
By Arete News - December 30, 2019

Conflict-fueled attacks on children that authorities could verify tripled worldwide in the past decade to an average of 45 per day, UNICEF said.