World affairs by topic
World affairs includes the following topic areas. Please click the links to access lists of publications by topic:
Africa
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Global gender equality in political life
As part of its sustainable development goals, the United Nations (UN) has called for women to achieve full and effective participation in political life by 2030. Currently, women account for 25.5% of national representatives worldwide. The UN has said that with the current rate of action gender parity will not be reached for another 130 years. This article considers which countries are leading on political gender parity and what barriers to full participation remain.
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Rwanda 2021: Looking ahead to the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
In 2020, the Commonwealth postponed its 26th Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has since announced that the meeting will take place in June 2021.
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Current Affairs Digest: World Affairs (March 2021)
Catch up on world affairs with a selection of articles you may have missed. Articles this month include a look at faith in Nigeria, and the lasting impact of the Arab Spring.
Americas
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Global gender equality in political life
As part of its sustainable development goals, the United Nations (UN) has called for women to achieve full and effective participation in political life by 2030. Currently, women account for 25.5% of national representatives worldwide. The UN has said that with the current rate of action gender parity will not be reached for another 130 years. This article considers which countries are leading on political gender parity and what barriers to full participation remain.
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UK Bilateral Defence Cooperation
The Government has said that it intends to publish its integrated review on security, defence, foreign policy and development this month. As part of this, the Government is considering how the UK can work more effectively with its allies. The UK engages in various bilateral defence relationships. This article considers some of those relationships and highlights details of the integrated review.
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Covid-19 and the US election: The presidential inauguration
President Joe Biden began his term as US president on 20 January 2021. Due to the coronavirus pandemic and heightened security concerns, his inauguration looked different to those before. This article outlines some key information about presidential inaugurations in the US and looks at how recent events impacted this year’s ceremony.
Asia and Oceania
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Global gender equality in political life
As part of its sustainable development goals, the United Nations (UN) has called for women to achieve full and effective participation in political life by 2030. Currently, women account for 25.5% of national representatives worldwide. The UN has said that with the current rate of action gender parity will not be reached for another 130 years. This article considers which countries are leading on political gender parity and what barriers to full participation remain.
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Rwanda 2021: Looking ahead to the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
In 2020, the Commonwealth postponed its 26th Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has since announced that the meeting will take place in June 2021.
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UK Bilateral Defence Cooperation
The Government has said that it intends to publish its integrated review on security, defence, foreign policy and development this month. As part of this, the Government is considering how the UK can work more effectively with its allies. The UK engages in various bilateral defence relationships. This article considers some of those relationships and highlights details of the integrated review.
Defence
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UK Bilateral Defence Cooperation
The Government has said that it intends to publish its integrated review on security, defence, foreign policy and development this month. As part of this, the Government is considering how the UK can work more effectively with its allies. The UK engages in various bilateral defence relationships. This article considers some of those relationships and highlights details of the integrated review.
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Armed Forces Act (Continuation) Order 2021
Each year, both Houses of Parliament are required to approve legislation which allows the armed forces to continue to operate throughout the world. This statutory instrument extends the current legislation until the end of 2021. It is expected that a new Armed Forces Act will come into force before the end of the year.
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National Security and Investment Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages
The aim of the National Security and Investment Bill is to reform how inward investment in the UK is investigated to ensure hostile governments or other entities do not use this to undermine the UK’s national security. The second reading of the bill is scheduled to take place in the House of Lords on 4 February 2021. This briefing provides a summary of the bill and its passage through the House of Commons.
Europe
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Global gender equality in political life
As part of its sustainable development goals, the United Nations (UN) has called for women to achieve full and effective participation in political life by 2030. Currently, women account for 25.5% of national representatives worldwide. The UN has said that with the current rate of action gender parity will not be reached for another 130 years. This article considers which countries are leading on political gender parity and what barriers to full participation remain.
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Rwanda 2021: Looking ahead to the 26th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting
In 2020, the Commonwealth postponed its 26th Heads of Government Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda, due to the coronavirus pandemic. It has since announced that the meeting will take place in June 2021.
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UK Bilateral Defence Cooperation
The Government has said that it intends to publish its integrated review on security, defence, foreign policy and development this month. As part of this, the Government is considering how the UK can work more effectively with its allies. The UK engages in various bilateral defence relationships. This article considers some of those relationships and highlights details of the integrated review.
Institutions
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Covid-19 Vaccine: Access for low and middle income countries
Almost 200 Covid-19 vaccine candidates are currently being developed. However, only a tiny percentage of these will ever be mass-produced and distributed. Concerns around ‘vaccine nationalism’ have grown, as high-income countries pre-order hundreds of millions of vaccine doses. This article looks at this problem and examines what solutions are being put in place to ensure low and middle income countries receive adequate supplies of any successful Covid-19 vaccine.
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Covid-19: How has it affected the sustainable development goals?
The Covid-19 pandemic has affected health, education and livelihoods around this world. This article gives an overview of some of the ways the pandemic is expected to impact progress towards meeting the Sustainable Development Goals. This is the subject of an oral question in the House of Lords on 22 July 2020.
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Current Affairs Digest: Constitution (May 2020)
Catch up on articles you may have missed on the constitution, government and parliament from May 2020. Articles this month take a closer look at Covid-19 and human rights legislation.
International law
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Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill: Briefing for Lords Stages
On 18 March 2020, the Government introduced the Overseas Operations (Service Personnel and Veterans) Bill in the House of Commons. It completed report stage and third reading in the Commons on 3 November 2020. Second reading in the House of Lords is scheduled to take place on 20 January 2021.
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UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement
On 24 December 2020, the UK and the EU reached agreement on a Trade and Cooperation Agreement (the TCA) setting out their future relationship. The UK Parliament passed the European Union (Future Relationship) Act 2020 in one day on 30 December 2020. The TCA has been provisionally applied by both parties from 1 January 2021. The House of Lords is due to debate the TCA on 8 January 2021.
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‘Killer robots’: Should lethal autonomous weapons be banned?
In recent years, there has been extensive international debate about lethal autonomous weapons, referred to by some as ‘killer robots’. With disagreements regarding how they should be defined and if they should be banned, this article explores these issues as well as the UK’s stance on them.
Middle East
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Current Affairs Digest: World Affairs (March 2021)
Catch up on world affairs with a selection of articles you may have missed. Articles this month include a look at faith in Nigeria, and the lasting impact of the Arab Spring.
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Safeguarding the rights of the global LGBTI+ community
Covid-19 has impacted the work of LGBTI+ organisations around the world. This article looks at a recent report by the Baring Foundation which calls for increased spending by the UK Government on global LGBTI+ rights and outlines the current spending commitments in this area.
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Sanctions (EU Exit) (Consequential Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2020
Since the passage of the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, the Government has been preparing for the UK to implement sanctions once it is no longer covered by the EU’s legal framework. The draft Sanctions (EU Exit) (Consequential Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2020 would amend existing sanctions regulations made under the 2018 act to ensure that references in other pieces of primary and secondary legislation are up to date.
