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UN Assembly President Abdulla Shahid Highlights Hope For Billions Around the World

NEW YORK (IDN) — The incoming President of the General Assembly says that hope is desperately needed for those billions around the world struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic, devastation, and strife. In his first major interview, he told UN News that the General Assembly, as the UN’s most representative body, is ideally placed to give shape to that hope.

“The General Assembly is the only body which has the 193 countries represented and this body, when it speaks unanimously, when it decides on a matter, that is the international conscience,” Abdulla Shahid said, ahead of the 76th General Assembly session, which started on 14 September.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 16 September 2021

Photo: G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors gathered in Venice for their third official meeting under the Italian G20 Presidency on July 9-10, 2021.

The G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative Is a Fiasco

Viewpoint by William N Kring

The writer is the Assistant Director for the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University. This article first appeared on EastAsiaForum on September 7, 2021.

BOSTON (IDN) — As the more lethal and contagious Delta variant of COVID-19 rips across the globe, the prospects of multilateral efforts to combat the virus, tackle the looming global debt crisis and mount a sustainable economic recovery are dim. Nowhere is the insufficiency of the multilateral response more apparent than on the issue of debt relief.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 September 2021

Photo: Asian Nobel prize winner, Muhammad Amjad Saquib, the founder of Pakistan’s biggest community development network Akhuwat. Credit: Akhuwat.

Alternative Noble Prize Recognition for Pakistan's Islamic Community Development Pioneer

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — One of the five winners of this year’s Ramon Magsaysay Awards—known as Asia’s Nobel Prizes—is Dr Muhammad Amjad Saquib the founder of Pakistan’s biggest community development network Akhuwat that is based on Islamic principles of sharing and brotherhood.

Launched in 2001, hundreds of thousands of poor families have been supported through Akhuwat’s interest-free microfinance loans. Islamic law prohibits interest on loans, but Islamic teachings that encourage followers to set aside a portion of one’s wealth to help the needy assist to finance this model.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 September 2021

Photo: Two women are shown better farming techniques at one of a hundred gardens in Cape Town made possible through the Albalami Bezehkaya voluntary association, supported with funding from Australia. The gardens help improve food security through improving production and generating income for the farmers involved. Kate Holt/AusAID

USAID’s Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems

By Henry Prillaman

The writer is a student at the University of Virginia and an Intern at the High Atlas Foundation.

NAIROBI, Kenya (IDN) — I attended the 2021 pre-summit for the world’s premier forum for African agriculture, the Agricultural Transformation for Sustainable and Resilient Food Systems (AGRF). The forum consisted of many great speakers and commentators discussing different parts of African agriculture, from the fiscal and political side to the implementation and community side.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 15 September 2021

Photo: Ambassador Azeez chairing the UNCTAD Trade and Development Commission in Geneva, 12-14 November 2018. Credit: UNCTAD.

Ambassador Azeez Agrees to Support IDN as Multilateral Diplomacy Advisor

By Ramesh Jaura, DG and Editor-in-Chief

BERLIN (IDN) — The Non-profit global media agency International Press Syndicate, with IDN-InDepthNews as its flagship, is pleased to announce that beginning 1 October former Sri Lankan Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez has agreed to support us as “Multilateral Diplomacy Advisor”, with an additional honour of charge as “Editorial Coordinator” for South Asia and Middle East. Mr. Azeez left Sri Lanka’s Foreign Service on 31 August 2021.

Ambassador Azeez chaired in 2014 the Group of 77 (G-77) in Vienna in its 50th anniversary, followed by his election as the President of the General Conference of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In 2017, he contributed to the renegotiation of Sri Lanka’s access to the EU GSP + benefit after the country had lost it in 2010.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; 15 September 2021

Photo: Grand Synagogue of Edirne, Turkey. The Ottoman Empire created by Turkish tribes in Anatolia (Asia Minor) grew to be one of the most powerful states in the world during the 15th and 16th centuries. CC BY-SA 4.0

The Western Debate About Islam Is Frankly Uninformed, Sometimes Infantile

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — Once again the CIA and MI6 are publishing dire warnings of the vitality of Al Qaeda. Once again the Islamic world as a whole is being tarnished by association. Are we returning, as we sadly commemorate the destruction of New York’s Twin Towers on 9/11, to what the late U.S. presidential contender John McCain said: “America needs a leadership to confront the transcendent challenge of our time: the threat of radical Islamic terrorism".

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 14 September 2021

Photo: King Mohammed VI appointed Akhannouch Prime Minister Friday, two days after the RNI party swept the 2021 general election. Photo Credit: Atalayar.

Billionaire To Lead Morocco After Defeat of Islamists

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A billionaire appointed by Morocco’s King Mohammed VI, will lead a new government after long-ruling Islamists were defeated in parliamentary elections.

Businessman Aziz Akhannouch of the National Rally of Moroccan Independents (RNI), one of the country’s richest men with a fortune estimated at $2 billion, called his victory a win for democracy.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 September 2021

Photo: Alpha Conde, surrounded by soldiers of the Special Forces who carried out his "arrest", Sunday, September 5, 2021. Credit: The African Report.

Guinean Soldiers at The Helm After Autocratic President Is Detained

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Young military officers who ousted Guinea’s President Alpha Condé on September 5 are wasting no time taking on the duties of heads of state.

Meetings have been scheduled with leaders of political parties and religious groups to be followed by civil society organizations and representatives of diplomatic missions.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 September 2021

Photo: Dr. Firdausi Qadri. Credit: Dhaka Tribune

Bangladesh's "Affordable Vaccine Pioneer" Wins Asia's Nobel Prize

By Amitava Chowdhury

KOLKATTA (IDN) — One of 2021 Ramon Magsaysay Awards—known as ‘Asia’s Nobel Prize’—has been awarded to the Bangladeshi scientist Dr Firdausi Qadri who has played a “key role” in creating more affordable vaccines to combat cholera and typhoid, the Manila-based award foundation said in a statement on August 31.

The 70-year-old female scientist has dedicated a lifetime to help the poor overcome sickness and disease with her research at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research (ICDDR) at Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 13 September 2021

Photo: Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez (left) and former ACP SG Dr. P.I. Gomes (right).

Former Ambassador of Sri Lanka and Ex-ACP Secretary General Join to Support as Advisors

BERLIN (IDN) — The Non-profit global media agency International Press Syndicate, with IDN-InDepthNews as its flagship, had invited two renowned international relations practitioners and diplomats to join it to support its global mission and outreach activities. We are pleased to announce that the former Sri Lankan career Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez and the former Secretary General of the Organization of ACP States Ambassador Dr. P.I. Gomes have accepted our invitation.