Fears over violence in the African nation bring its leader to a crossroads.
Some UN peacekeepers stand accused of sexual offences against children in the Central African Republic. An overhaul of the UN’s peacekeeping operations is needed to tackle the problem.
Reuters/Media Coulibaly
A UN report has found that in half of 12 country studies done on child sexual exploitation during armed conflict, the arrival of peacekeeping troops resulted in a rapid rise in child prostitution.
Humanitarian aid arrives.
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation
The Paris climate summit was historic as a political achievement but it’s not clear how and when the hard problems of emission cuts and climate finance get tackled.
Saleemul Huq (left) says the world’s vision should be to help everyone with climate change - even the very poorest.
IIED/supplied
A majority of countries want visionary action rather than pragmatism at the Paris climate talks, says the International Institute for Environment and Development’s Saleemul Huq.
A maturing relationship. Chinese President Xi Jinping at the opening of the China-Africa summit in Johannesburg.
EPA/Elmond Jiyane
For the grand plans unveiled at the China-Africa summit to succeed, Africa will have to cooperate more extensively. The larger and more successful nations need to become sub-regional leaders.
Maintaining law and order in Burundi is proving increasingly difficult as the number of militias organised along ethnic lines increases.
Reuters/Goran Tomasevic
The “quick fix” nature of the Arusha Peace Agreement seems to have come back to haunt Burundi. Ethnic protests threaten to tear the country apart, leading it to the path of a failed state.
There is still lots of detail to be hammered out before the sun sets on the Paris conference.
Reuters/Stephane Mahe
At the halfway mark in the Paris climate talks, progress is still frustratingly slow as the negotiations risk falling prey to old stalling tactics.
Presidents Hollande and Obama. Is it still possible for nation states to build a global alliance against organisations such as Daesh?
Reuters/Jonathan Ernst
To save mankind from the scourge of war… These eight words drawn from the preamble to the Charter of the United Nations have been ringing in my head for the past week. Most believe that they were penned…
Vanuatu is among the countries calling for much more ambitious climate action.
Reuters/Dave Hunt
The world is generally not safe for women. But some projects in North Africa provide a glimpse of hope as the world marks the UN’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.
Key player in Paris: Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
Denis Balibouse/Reuters
For as long as the United Nations has been holding climate summits, protesters have been gathering outside them to bemoan the rate of progress and call for tougher action.
On the rebound: a number of cities, including Chicago, are becoming magnets for a growing number of professionals.
Jamie McCaffrey/flickr
To many Americans, it feels as if the world is becoming a more violent place. Besieged nightly with video of conflicts across the Afghanistan, Nigeria, the Middle East and Ukraine, it would be easy to…
I’d like to build the world a home…
Reuters/Eduardo Munoz
The United Nations was born 70 years ago, emerging from the horrors of World War II. After the failure of its predecessor, the League of Nations, the UN heralded the dawn of a new era, with the promise…
The Copenhagen talks generated huge interest - but an underwhelming result.
EPA/Jens Norgaard Larsen
The stakes could scarcely be higher at December’s climate summit in Paris, described as the world’s best chance of averting climate catastrophe. The Conversation will be there to see if the talks can deliver.