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Refugees and Migrants: A Crisis of Solidarity

This September, the United Nations General Assembly will bring together world leaders to address one of the leading challenges of our time: responding to large movements of refugees and migrants.

War, human rights violations, underdevelopment, climate change and natural disasters are leading more people to leave their homes than at any time since we have had reliable data.Ìý More than 60 million people -- half of them children -- have fled violence or persecution and are now refugees and internally displaced persons.Ìý An additional 225 million are migrants who have left their countries in search of better opportunities or simply for survival.

But this is not a crisis of numbers; it is a crisis of solidarity.Ìý Almost 90 per cent of the world's refugees are hosted in developing countries.Ìý Eight countries host more than half the world's refugees.Ìý Just ten countries provide 75 per cent of the UN's budget to ease and resolve their plight.

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NYU Shanghai hosts Conference on Sustainability Challenges and Solutions

Focusing on environmental issues from a global perspective, the NYU Shanghai Sustainable Development Conference took place on Saturday, 16 April 2016 with an aim to share information about current environmental issues and practical, evidence-based solutions.

NYU Shanghai students recognize that 2016 is a pivotal year for sustainable development, as world leaders are uniting in an effort to establish different kinds of social and economic structures to manage climate change. Green Shanghai, NYU Shanghai's organization for environmental issues and sustainability, carefully crafted a noteworthy lineup of experts and influencers who armed the participants with new strategies, insights and guidelines for how they can be part of the change.

Applications now open for International Bioethics Summer School in NYC!

'Today is an historic day,' says Ban, as 175 countries sign Paris climate accord

22 April 2016 – As 175 world leaders signed theÌýÌýat United Nations Headquarters today,ÌýÌýBan Ki-moon said the next critical step is to ensure that the landmark accord for global action on climate change enters into force as soon as possible.

Today is an historic day, Mr. BanÌýÌýreporters at a press conference following the opening ceremony of the signing event. This is by far the largest number of countries ever to sign an international agreement on a single day.

'We are in a race against time,' says Ban, as leaders sign landmark Paris climate accord

22 April 2016 – With their signatures of the landmark Paris climate accord, governments made a covenant with the future,ÌýÌýBan Ki-moon said at the end of a United Nations ceremony that saw the largest single-day turn-out for such an event, and which puts the world on a path towards low-carbon growth and a more sustainable future.

Yet, while today's signing is a vote of confidence in a new approach to climate change, it is imperative that the strong political momentum continues to grow, the UN chief stressed, in concluding remarks to the day-longÌýÌýfor theÌý.

The Race is On to Choose the Next UN Secretary-General!

This year marks the last year in office for United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, which means that the race is on to selected a new SG to lead the organization for the next five years. ÌýThe post of Secretary-General has been described as the most impossible job in the world, while the official UN says the job is Equal parts diplomat and advocate, civil servant and CEO. Ìý

In the past the selection of the Secretary-General has been done via a process shrouded in mystery and not accessible to the average citizen.Ìý But this year the process is moving into the 21^st century with candidates participating in town halls and taking questions submitted via social media from people all over the world.Ìý Ìý

Government of India Donates $200,000 to help UNAI Engage, Inform and Empower Academic & Research Communities

The Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations has donated $200,000 to United Nations Academic Impact to support UNAI's outreach, engagement and advocacy initiatives with education and research communities around the world.

This is the fourth year the Government of India has contributed financially to the work of UNAI, activities that Ambassador Syed Akbaruddin, Permanent Representative of India to the UN, says are integral to achieving Agenda 2030. UNAI's focus on weaving academic work throughout the world to contribute to overall development can play a critical role in realizing the Sustainable Development Goals, and we hope this contribution will help UNAI in its mission.ÌýÌýÌýÌý

The UNAI trust fund helps the initiative offer a broad platform to over 1,000 member institutions in more than 120 countries to share resources, ideas and innovations for the purposes and principles of the United Nations agenda.

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Youth for Peace International Law Competition Open for Submissions!

UNAI member institution, , one of the oldest universities of Republic of Belarus, is pleased to announce the call for applications for its international law competition Youth for Peace, the culmination of which will be a conference from 26 to 29 September 2016 in Minsk, Belarus.

Youth for Peace is an annual student competition on international law in Eastern Europe which attracts student teams from all around the world. In previous ten years, students from more than 38 countries have attended the competition.

This unique competition will provide an opportunity for students to enrich and extend their knowledge in international humanitarian law, international public law and human rights law through participation in the simulated armed conflict.

What is Past is Prologue: Lessons Learned from Combating Pan-Epidemics

By Daniel R. Lucey

A appointed 2 AprilÌý2015 by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moonÌýstated in its 25 JanuaryÌý2016 report titledÌý that, The Ebola outbreak in West Africa was a preventable tragedy. If the outbreak had been detected faster, and concerted international action had been mounted more rapidly, the spread of the disease could have been contained, and thousands of lives could have been saved.

The Human Rights Dimensions of Zika

By Alexandra Phelan & Lawrence O. Gostin

Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases reveal the root causes of ill-health worldwide: poverty, inequality, and discrimination. The current Zika virus outbreak is no different, exposing systemic injustices in global health. How can we safeguard human rights during the Zika epidemic and beyond, including international law, justice, and health equalities?

Promoting Gender Equality for Innovation

In September 2015 the international community adopted the 2030 Agenda, which included 17 Sustainable Development Goals. ÌýWhile these goals cover a range of issues almost all of them have goals related to gender embedded in them. ÌýThis is in large part due to the realization by governments, civil society and other stakeholders that when women are included across all sectors of society communities benefit. Ìý

World Meteorological Day: as extreme weather becomes 'the new normal,' UN urges bold climate action

23 March 2016 – Observing the World Meteorological Day, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned today that extreme weather events are becoming the new normal and bold climate action is needed to face the future now.

Only by responding decisively to the climate challenge can we avoid the worst impacts of climate change and lay the foundations of a world of peace, prosperity and opportunity for all, the UN chief said in a message on the Day.

The window of opportunity for limiting global temperature rise to well below two degrees Celsius – the threshold set under the Paris Agreement adopted last December – is narrow and rapidly shrinking, Mr. Ban warned, noting that the effects of a warming planet will be felt by all, including rising sea levels, and extreme weather events, which are becoming the new normal.

World Water Day Reminds Us of the Value of a Precious Resource

World Water Day is commemorated each year on 22 March and serves as a time to remind people of the precious resource that we often take for granted.ÌýÌý Some 650 million people, almost one in 10 of the world&rsquos population, do not have the access to improved sources of drinking water and one in three lacks improved sanitation, putting them at risk of infectious diseases and premature death.

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When Home is Where the Harm Is: Combating Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in the Home

For many people the home is a safe space where they feel protected and secure, but for too many women and girls around the world, home is where they face violence and abuse at the hands of family members. ÌýA recent conference entitled When Home Is Where the Harm Is: Family Law Reform to Challenge Gender-Based Violence sought to explore solutions to this problem that impacts millions of women globally.

Happy International Pi Day!

Pi Day is celebrated today, 14 March,Ìýround the world. Pi (Greek letter Ï€) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.ÌýPi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi's infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.

In this postÌýDr. Balkrishna Shetty, former Ambassador of India to Bahrain, Senegal and Sweden, looks back on his life with Pi.