By Elena Goh, Al Jazeera English
Presence of Trump shifts topic of debate from cyber-security to providing aid for LEDCs affected by terrorism.
The discussion initially started with the milder topic of internet censorship in preventing the spread of extremist ideologies, with delegates proposing solutions of website-bans and greater governmental surveillance to tackle this issue. However, this quickly took a turn with the appearance of the infamous USA president, Mr Trump himself.
Many suggestions had been brought up on the ways to combat terrorism through the internet. How do we respect internet privacy and yet counter terrorist networks?
By Jensen Koh, The New York Times
In today’s technological landscape, terrorist networks have found an effective tool to propagate their extremist ideologies. The internet. With an increasing role that social media has in our lives, more individuals have become exposed to terror-related ideologies. Many terrorist networks have grown and a greater number of terrorist attacks have taken place as a result of many individuals being radicalized by the large number of terror-related content online.
By Belinda Zhao, Xinhua News Agency
Delegate of China making his speech on the problems that the agricultural sector in China faces
Almost everyone is exposed to certain types of pesticides through food, water, air, or direct contact with such pesticides or residues. On a global scale, it is estimated that approximately 1.8 billion people in the agricultural sector use pesticides to protect the food and commercial products that they produce. There are as many as 25 million agricultural workers worldwide who experience unintentional pesticide poisonings each year. Hence, the delegates of the World Health Organisation set out to deal with this issue of pesticide use in food production.
By Calista Tan, Al Jazeera English
PHOTO: Diplomat of Namibia is speaking on the unfriendly amendment introduced by Diplomat of Angola.
“Delegate, please remain calm” The chairs comfort Diplomat of Germany as he flusters in front of the council
With less than 3 hours till the end of the final council session, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) seems to be far from coming up with a resolution to the African Water Crisis.
By Liang Yuyue, Al-Jazeera English
Delegates working on innovative solutions
Pesticide exposure has done many harms to the biological system and human health. Thus, the WHO members have come together to discuss possible methods to be used to tackle this problem. Some innovative proposals were seen in the council room.
By Tay Jie Qi, Xinhua News Agency
The African Union(AU) has resumed discussion of public education on corruption, dropping the solution of an oversight body to enforce transparency in AU countries after concerns of sovereignty has been raised. However, the African Union(AU) has been slammed for its ineffective discussion on solving corruption by the AU Commissioner.
Four countries in the Arab League have imposed blockades on Qatar due to fake news that Qatar supports terrorism
By Soh Iwin, Al Jazeera English
The emir of Qatar defending Qatar during the council session, adding on Qatar’s hopes in the Arab League
The tiny gulf state rich in oil and gas, Qatar, got blocked by four countries in the Arab League- Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Bahrain and Egypt. The country was accused of supporting terrorism, and this fake news was aired on several UAE and Saudi-owned networks in the Gulf, resulting in the other countries imposing a blockade on Qatar on air travel, shipping, and newspaper agencies like Al Jazeera.
Delegates of the African member states continue debate over public sector corruption in the African region.
By Lauren Tan, The New York Times
June 1, 2018.
One of the major challenges to development and growth of governance in the African region is public sector corruption, which has hindered economic growth and perpetuated income inequality and poverty in many countries on the African continent. Public sector corruption in African nations is a particularly pertinent issue, however, it has shown difficult to resolve. Efforts to combat corruption at both the regional and international level have been a struggle. For example, previous attempts by NGOs and the United Nations have been pushed back by various nations, that are often corrupt themselves. This is done through methods of excessive government surveillance and strong limitations placed on various activities in the country. As this is such, the African Union so far has failed to establish an anti-corruption policy in Africa, and African states continue to fail to adhere to the measures advocated by the African Union Convention on Preventing and Combatting Corruption in Africa.
By Nathaniel Kuan, Agence France-Presse
This video on the farmer who arrived in the World Health Organisation (WHO) council to share his view on the issue of pesticides. At that point, the delegates had been sharing ideas on what should be used as an alternative to pesticides. Their discussion included the mention of bio-pesticide, organic farming, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO), and environmentally friendly pesticides. The farmer upon arrival proceeds to express his woes in dealing with fines for using pesticides that harmed the environment and stated the financial woes he experienced. Following his speech, there was a Q&A where the delegates questioned the farmer.
By Nicole Lim, The New York Times
The emir of Qatar has made his stance on the council’s discussion of economic diversity clear; The delegate of Qatar has not sufficiently represented the agenda of Qatar- the removal of blockades implemented by Saudi Arabia.
Confrontation of Delegate of Qatar and Emir of Qatar
Press Corps 2018 