UN in Focus Newsbrief N0. 8/2013 Quick Links FES NY Highlights FES NY Publications More About Us 2013 Dear Colleagues and Friends, December Greetings from FES New York and best wishes for the upcoming new year! Today we release a joint study with Initiative for Policy Dialogue at Columbia University on"World Protests 20062013," which analyzes 843 protests between 2006 and mid2013 in 87 countries covering over 90% of world population-policymakers at all levels should pay close attention to its conclusions about the state of justice and democracy worldwide. We have had a very busy autumn, both at the UN in New York and at the Bretton Woods Institutions in Washington. Sovereign debt restructuring mechanisms, the UN's role in global disarmament and proposals for drug policy reform were all on the agenda. Moreover, just as the UN debates formulation of a post-2015 development agenda and how to finance it, we hosted our eighth annual Fall Academy, "How to Make Best Use of UN Capacities" for young international policy analysts from eleven countries in four continents to learn how the UN system works, as well as new concepts for development beyond the Millennium Development Goals. As usual, I hope this Newsbrief will make for informative reading and I look forward to receiving your feedback. With best wishes from New York,

Michèle Auga Director Friedrich Ebert Stiftung- New York Office Launch of New Publication:"World Protests 2006-2013" 11- 12 December 2013, New York FES, Initiative for Policy Dialogue(IPD) and UN-Non Governmental Liaison Service convened a 2-day conference with protest organizers from around the world to discuss the new FES/IPD working paper,"World Protests 2006-2013," and its findings that 1) numbers of protests are rising worldwide and 2) protests demanding"real democracy" and economic justice are coming from every kind of political system. The paper, a joint effort of FES and IPD, analyzes 843 protests during those years, in 87 countries covering over 90% of world population. The paper focuses on:(i) major grievances driving world protests(ii) who is demonstrating, what protest methods they use, and who are they opposed to(iii) achievements and repression of social movements in the short term, and(iv) the main policy demands of world demonstrators. The paper calls for policy-makers to listen, whether messages are articulate or communicate only through frustration and violence. Download Publication Download Executive Summary Download FES Publication"Whose Development, Whose UN?" FES and IPD invite distribution through websites and blogs; the executive summary and paper may be distributed without alteration with an attribution statement about the authors and their institutions and a clickable link to the original. Past Event:"Realizing a Vision for Transformative Development" 9 December 2013, New York, ECOSOC Chamber, UN Headquarters On the occasion of the 20 th anniversary of the Vienna World Conference on Human Rights, the High Commissioner for Human Rights launched a book entitled"Realizing the right to development: Essays in Commemoration of 25 Years of the United Nations Declaration on the Right to Development." The book comprises essays of 25 distinguished scholars who elaborate on the UN Declaration on the Right to Development and how its key demand, a people-centered vision transformative development, can be realized. Linked to this launch, FES New York co-hosted a discussion meeting with a select group of 10 co-authors on the publication and the

importance of people-centered development in the post-2015 development agenda. Download Program Download Concept Note Download"Right to Development" Book Past Event:"FES New York 2013 Fall Academy:' How to Make Best Use of UN Capacities' 11- 15 November 2013, New York From 11- 15 November 2013, FES New York hosted its eighth annual Fall Academy "How to Make Best Use of UN Capacities" for young international policy analysts. 16 participants from 11 countries and 4 continents attended discussions about the work of the Security Council and other main UN bodies, financing of the UN, peace and security issues, as well as new concepts for development beyond the Millennium Development Goals. They gained first- hand experience in meetings with UN Secretariat representatives, Member States diplomats and NGO experts. The training provided the participants with the opportunity to obtain in-depth knowledge of the capacities of the UN to deal with policy issues that are also relevant for their work at home. Download Program Download Photo Gallery Past Event:"Transparency in International Arms Transfers: Has the Arms Trade Treaty Killed off the UN Register of Conventional Arms?" 28 October, 2013, German House One of the stated purposes of the Arms Trade Treaty(ATT) is to promote cooperation, transparency and responsible action in the international trade in conventional arms. At the same time, the already existing mechanism for transparency in international transfers of conventional arms, the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms(the Register) has reached a low point: Submission by UN Member States dropped to its lowest ever level in 2012. At the debate some of the Group of Government Experts that recently reviewed the UN Register presented their viewson the future of the Register and the impact of the adaption of the ATT. Download Program Past Event:"From Repression to Regulation: Proposals for Drug Policy Reform" 17 October, 2013, UN Building

There is a growing international consensus that the war on drugs has failed. Problems created by drug trafficking have been exacerbated increasingly by the negative side effects of prohibitionist policies. Over the last two years therefore, the Cooperation Program on Regional Security in Latin America and the Caribbean of the FriedrichEbert-Stiftung(FES) has conducted debates about and developed proposals for alternative public policies and a different international drug regime. These debates resulted in the book"From Repression to Regulation: Proposals for Drug Policy Reform" and a condensed publication with policy recommendations. The authors propose to differentiate the regulation of the whole value chain(production, trade, and consumption), according to drug type and informed by scientific evidence. Two of the authors were present during this launch of the publications at the UN and discussed their proposals. Download Program Download Book Download Perspective Past Event:"Why the Bank and Fund Have Provided Too Little Debt Relief Too Late, and What Can Be Done About It" 12 October, 2013, World Bank In a remarkable stock taking effort, the IMF has stated that in its management of sovereign debt crises it has often provided insufficient debt relief. There are numerous reasons for this, some technical, some more political in nature. This event, with Jürgen Kaiser(Erlassjahr), Matthew Martin(Debt Relief International), Gail Hurley(UNDP), Timothy Antoine(Ministry of Finance, Grenada) and Anna Gelpern(Georgetown University) provided space for a frank discussion of why the IFIs have performed so poorly and what can be done to improve sovereign debt workout processes in the future. Download Program Download FES Publication"Resolving Sovereign Debt Crises" 2nd edition, by Jürgen Kaiser Past Event:"The United Nations' Role in Global Disarmament Efforts: The European Perspective" 7 October, 2013, New York, UN Headquarters In this Luncheon Event"The United Nations' Role in Global Disarmament Efforts: The European Perspective" a group of high level European politicians, including Massimo D'Alema(Former Prime Minister of Italy) and Boris Tadic(Former President of Serbia) discussed with Angela Kane(Pictured, UN High Representative for Disarmament) and

Ambassador Mayr-Harting(PR of the EU to the UN) about European perspectives on the United Nation's current achievements in disarmament. Download Remarks Angela Kane Month Year Forward email b fes.associate@fesny.org| Update Profile/Email Address| Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe ™ | Privacy Policy. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung| 747 Third Avenue, Suite 22B| New York| NY| 10017