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Photo: Relieved and happy to be released from detention, a refugee hugs UNHCR staff as they meet at the Gathering and Departure Facility in Tripoli, Libya. © UNHCR/Mohamed Alalem.

European Union Lambasted for 'Externalising' Migration Policy

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – More than twenty African and international organizations have signed a letter which slates the European Union and its member states for externalizing migration policy through direct and indirect cooperation with regimes and militia forces that are utterly unaccountable for their actions, and violating its constitutional values and international obligations, including the responsibility to protect.

The letter to the European Council President Donald Tusk, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, European Parliament President Antonio Tajani, and High Representative of the European Union, Federica Mogherini, appeals for "an EU external policy framework based on European values".

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 19 June 2019

Photo: U.S. Navy convoy in the Strait of Hormuz on July 21, 2016. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Send in to the Persian Gulf a Flotilla Under the UN Flag

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – In 1980 in his State of the Union address President Jimmy Carter said: “Any attempt by any outside force to gain control of the Persian Gulf will be regarded as an assault on the vital interests of the United States and such an assault will be repelled by any means necessary, including military force.”

Dear President Donald Trump: We’ve been here before and it’s as ludicrous this time as it was nearly 40 years ago. Why on earth are you sending in a flotilla of ships and 2,500 troops? Why are you so convinced that the mines that exploded on two oil tankers, neither of which were American, in the Persian Gulf are the work of the Iranians?

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 18 June 2019

Photo: Karakul Lake, Tajikistan. Credit: UNCCD

Pressing Need to Put Degraded Lands Back to Life

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | ANKARA (IDN) – Profoundly concerned that "desertification and drought are problems of global dimension in that they affect all regions of the world," the international community adopted the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Paris on June 17,1994. Twenty-five years later, on the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) on June 17 celebrated this year in the Turkish capital Ankara, the 'Hama Arba Diallo Foundation for the Environment and Education' has been launched at a special event.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 18 June 2019

Photo: Mary Robinson and Deon Shekuza. Credit: GlobalGoalsUN

Former Irish President Joins a Namibian Youth in Conversation on Climate Justice

From GlobalGoalsUN

This article is part of reports by the UN SDG Media Compact of which IDN is a member. Watch video.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Science continues to show that as the impacts of climate change accelerate, extreme weather events are taking a major toll in developing countries, particularly in Africa and Asia, home to some of the world’s largest youth populations.

Global warming of 2˚C would put over half of Africa’s population at risk of undernourishment, as as of today, we have already reached about 1°C above pre-industrial levels (1850–1900). Global warming is likely to reach 1.5°C between 2030 and 2052 if it continues to increase at the current rate.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 18 June 2019

Photo: UNEP Chief Inger Andersen (left) and her deputy Joyce Msuya. Credit: UN Environment

Danish Environmentalist Takes Over as UNEP Chief

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) – Danish economist and environmentalist Inger Andersen, who took over as Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme, brings to the role a passion for conservation and sustainable development, promising to prioritize greater action on climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution during her four-year tenure.

“I am proud and excited to begin work at the UN Environment Programme in beautiful Kenya at a critical time for humanity,” she said. “Good environmental stewardship has never been more important. Climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution in all its forms pose a clear and present danger to human and planetary health, and to prosperity."

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 18 June 2019

Photo: Portrait of Pardhi tribal community members, Maharashtra, India (7 June 2019). Credit: UNICEF | Sri Kolari

World Population Expected to Reach Nearly 10 Billion by 2050

Yet Another Challenge to Global Goals

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) – Compared to 7.7 billion today, around 8.5 billion people are expected to inhabit the planet Earth within little more than a decade, and almost 10 billion by 2050, with only a few countries accounting for most of the increase, says to new United Nations report.

The World Population Prospects 2019: Highlights, published by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), provides a comprehensive overview of global demographic patterns and prospects. The study concludes that the world’s population could reach its peak around the end of the current century, at a level of nearly 11 billion.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 17 June 2019

Trump Administration Should Rethink its Failing Iran Policy

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport and Daryl G. Kimball

Iran has announced that it will exceed a limit on enriched uranium set by the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The following is the text of a statement by Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy and Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Iran’s decision to breach caps imposed by the accord is a troubling but predictable response to the Trump administration’s systematic campaign to deny Iran any benefit from the nuclear deal over the past year.

: Jaya Ramachandran; OPINION; 17 June 2019

Photo: Sergio Duarte, then UN High Representative for Disarmament, opening the 6th Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), on 24 September 2009, in New York. Photo # 411972. Credit: UN Photo/Sophia Paris.

Resist Erosion of NPT to Rid the World of Atomic Bombs

Crumbling Security Landscape Ahead of the 2020 Review Conference

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

Ambassador Sergio Duarte is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. He was president of the 2005 Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The forthcoming 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides the opportunity to look for lessons to be learned from its history and from its review cycles.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 17 June 2019

Photo: Review and Extension Conference of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Opens at UN Headquarters in New York. Seated on the podium from left to right are: Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali; Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), President of the Conference; Prvoslav Davinic, Secretary-General of the Conference. 17 April 1995. Photo # 68537. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference in Retrospect

Viewpoint by David Krieger

The author is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. The following article originally appeared on the organisation's website on April 9, 2019.

SANTA BARBARA, CA | USA (IDN-INPS) – The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was opened for signatures in 1968 and entered into force in 1970. Despite its name, the NPT sought not only to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, but also, in Article VI, called for good faith negotiations for an end to the nuclear arms race at an early date, for nuclear disarmament, and for general and complete disarmament.

: David Krieger; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 16 June 2019

Photo: Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov (right) welcoming Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali, Tiébilé Dramé (let), on June 10 in Moscow.

Russia, Mali to Strengthen Economic and Military Cooperation

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – As Russia and Mali prepare to mark their 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations next year, Moscow has reaffirmed its unreserved preparedness to strengthen economic cooperation and provide support in bringing political stability to Mali and other African countries threatened by or gripped in conflicts.

"Over these decades, we have gained extensive positive experience, which we have agreed to actively use to promote cooperation in various areas on a mutually beneficial basis in the modern era," Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov said, welcoming Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Mali, Tiébilé Dramé, to a diplomatic meeting in Moscow.