Home - IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

A Workshop Helps Fill the Basket of Knowledge on the Pacific

Climate Change, Human Mobility and Peacebuilding Draw the Focus

Viewpoint by Volker Boege

Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission.

BRISBANE, Australia (IDN) — While UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his opening speech at this year’s COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh on November 7 stated that humanity is “on the highway to climate hell with our foot on the accelerator”, a workshop held in Wellington, New Zealand, just a few days before, explored the consequences of this hellish trip for the security and peace of communities and countries in the Pacific region.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 29 November 2022

Slim Possibility of Asia-Pacific Getting on Track to Net-Zero

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — The recent climate talks in Egypt have left us with a sobering reality: The window for maintaining global warming to 1.5 degrees is closing fast and what is on the table currently is insufficient to avert some of the worst potential effects of climate change.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 28 November 2022

Photo: Recent floods in Pakistan covered a third of the country, with devastating consequences for families and the economy. Credit: UNDP Pakistan floods

Finding The Right Money for Vulnerable Countries

The Importance of Loss and Damage Fund (LDF)

Viewpoint by Inge Kaul

The author is a fellow at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany. Comments are welcome and can be addressed to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

BERLIN (IDN) — For decades, there have been non-conclusive deliberations regarding how the international community can support poor and vulnerable countries in their efforts to cope with and recover from the havoc wreaked on their territory by the ill-effects of global warming, such as severe droughts, floods, storms, or rising sea levels.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 27 November 2022

The 34th World AIDS Day: “Achieving Equity to End HIV”

By Somar Wijayadasa*

Last year, every two minutes one person got infected with HIV, and every minute one person died of AIDS-related causes.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Every year on December 1, people throughout the world commemorate World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection.

The day is earmarked to educate people about the disease’s causes and early symptoms, to eliminate the stigma associated with it, to support those who are HIV positive, and pay tribute to those who lost their lives to the disease.

: Somar Wijayadasa; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 27 November 2022

Myanmar Junta Craves Legitimacy Amid Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes

Viewpoint by Jan Servaes

BRUSSELS (IDN) — Since the February 1, 2021 coup, Myanmar's military has committed a variety of atrocities that, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, may amount to "crimes against humanity and war crimes".

To consolidate its power against widespread popular resistance, the self-proclaimed State Administration Council (SAC) led by Min Aung Hlaing has killed at least 2,465 people, conducted indiscriminate airstrikes in ethnic areas and razed hundreds of villages. The country has plunged into chaos and teeters on the brink of a failed state.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 27 November 2022

Photo: The colour orange is used to represent a brighter future, free from violence against women and girls. Source: UN Women

Push Forward—Act Now to End Violence Against Women & Girls

Viewpoint by Sima Bahous

The following is the text of the statement by Ms Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2022.

NEW YORK (IDN) — Five years ago, the global #MeToo movement brought new urgency and visibility to the extent of violence against women and girls. Millions of survivors came forward to share their experience. They forced the world to recognise a reality that shames every one of us. Their courage and voice led to a powerful collective activism and a sea-change in awareness.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 25 November 2022

AfDB and OECD Join Hands for Low-Carbon Transition in Africa

By Jaya Ramachandran

PARIS (IDN) — The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the OECD Development Centre are joining hands efforts to implement the Equitable Framework and Finance for Extractive-based Countries in Transition (EFFECT), which was launched on November 15 at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Industrialisation; 25 November 2022

COP27 Agreement (Is it Really?) on Compensation Fund

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Welcome to our 15th issue of Sustainable Development Observer, focusing almost exclusively on COP 27—or what is known as the annual UN climatic change conference.

Three decades after small island states introduced the term "loss and damage" to the United Nations, the world has finally agreed to set up a fund to help vulnerable countries cope with climate risks. But who pays, who receives and how much money should be raised are all open questions to be settled in the next year or so (at COP28?). At this year’s talkfest, rich nations insisted that the payments should not be seen as an admission of liability.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 24 November 2022

Image: Visual illustration of the nuclear-weapon-free-zones. Source: United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs

A Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Middle East Remains a Fantasy

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A longstanding proposal for a nuclear-weapons-free-zone (NWFZ) in the politically and militarily volatile Middle East has been kicked around the corridors—and committee rooms—of the UN since the 1960s.

A joint declaration by Egypt and Iran in 1974 resulted in a General Assembly resolution. But it never reached the stage of political reality.

: Thalif Deen; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 23 November 2022

Photo: Training on mycotoxin analysis in food samples at the Veterinary Public Health Laboratory in Malaysia. Credit: M. Modzi/Veterinary Public Health Laboratory, Malaysia.

UN Agencies Help Enhance Food Safety and International Trade in 14 Countries

By Joanne Burge, IAEA Office of Public Information and Communication

VIENNA (IDN | IAEA) — Animal diseases and crop pests can badly affect food supply and economies. Managing these problems can result in farming practices that involve the use of chemicals, which can lead to another problem: unsafe levels of chemical residues and contaminants in foods.

To help countries enhance food safety and adhere to the stringent requirements of import and export controls, the IAEA and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recently completed a regional project in Asia and the Pacific with laboratories in 14 countries to help establish or improve their food safety testing capabilities.