SRSG Pramila Patten, originally from Mauritius, was appointed by UN Secretary-General António Guterres as Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict with the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Her office was established by Security Council Resolution 1888 and introduced by Hillary Clinton. USG Patten succeeded Margot Wallström and Zainab Bangura, both of whom have been guests on Global Connections Television. The United Nations Sexual Violence in Conflict Office confronts some of the most horrendous and complex acts during wartime: violence against women, which is a very underreported crime. The Secretary General’s Annual Report on Conflict Related Sexual Violence has very specific, feasible and logical suggestions how to reduce this problem. A few examples include: need for member states to comply with Arms Treaties; provide access to the reports and documentation of crimes; adopt time-bound commitments; predictable funding levels; enhance accountability. Every war has shown an increase in sexual violence.

Dr. John Barkdull, Texas Tech University Emeritus, taught Political Science at Texas Tech University, established the Global Studies program, taught two years as a Distinguished Visiting Professor at the US Air Force Academy and was a Fulbright scholar in Bangladesh and Southeast Asia. His most recent book is “Confronting Climate Change.” The United Nations has been in the forefront of combating the climate crisis in a multitude of ways, such as the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, the IPCC, the UN Paris Agreement, the SDGs and the UNFCC, just as examples. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres is warning the globe is suffering from global boiling.” Scientists and governments proffered they might control the rapidly rising temperatures through adaptation, mitigation and transformation. If the world is unable to adapt more quickly, it may have to confront Deep Adaptation which is the collapse of the global civilization.

Jerry Glenn is a futurist who serves as the executive director of the Millennium Project. He authors an annual publication titled, “State of the Future.” He was the executive director of the American Council for the United Nations University and the deputy director of Partnership for Productivity International. He was also a Peace Corps Volunteer from 1968 to 1970. The Millennium Project is focused on the future and the myriad of challenges and resources available to deal with these challenges. A key challenge is to manage expectations of the Artificial General Intelligence, which is different from the narrow AI of today. AGI can address novel problems with unique solutions and act immediately. The third type of AI is the Super AI . As it has done in mobilizing the world to battle climate change, The UN will be a major player in understanding and regulating this unknown Super AI resource.