Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — By one of those quirks of opportunity, I was able to spend most of the morning of a Good Friday talking with Jose Saramago, that year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, a near neighbour to my daughter’s home in the Canary Islands. The writer, who […]
Worse Flooding in A Decade Takes 600 Lives in Southern Nigeria
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) — Flooding in the southern and coastal states of Nigeria has taken the lives of more than 600 people, displaced 1.4 million and destroyed roads and farmlands. Officials warn that the situation could continue into November. Thirty-one of Nigeria’s 36 states have been affected […]
Palestine Reeling Under COVID-Impact, Enduring Poverty and Unemployment
By Jaya Ramachandran* GENEVA (IDN) — The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has urged the international community to extend sufficient and predictable financial support to the Palestinian people to alleviate suffering and prevent a deep socioeconomic crisis from worsening. The latest report by UNCTAD on its assistance to the Palestinian people shows […]
Despite the Recession Threat, 100 million Can Still Be Lifted Out of Poverty
By UN News NEW YORK (IDN) — A flagship UN poverty study released on October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, finds that significant poverty reduction is possible, and new ways of calculating the problem can help humanitarians and governments better target aid.
Nigerian Court Acquits Biafran Separatist Leader
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) — In a surprise development, Nigeria’s Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has exonerated the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, saying his extradition by force from Kenya and his subsequent arrest by Nigerian authorities had been illegal. Kanu, leader of […]
Africa: Let Us Not Leave Rising Hunger as Our Legacy
Viewpoint by Abebe Haile-Gabriel The writer is the Assistant Director-General and Regional Representative for Africa of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). It was published in Horn Observer on October 13, ahead of World Food Day on October 16. ACCRA (IDN) — More than a billion Africans cannot afford a healthy diet. Africa […]
The Fallacy of Tying the Occupation to Israel’s Security
Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK (IDN) — The opposition to the establishment of a Palestinian state by many Israelis is based on national security concerns, which presumably offers a justification for the continuing occupation. The truth is that the occupation itself—not a Palestinian state—poses the gravest danger to Israel’s security.
Looking Back on the Cuban Missile Crisis Of 60 Years Ago
Viewpoint by Katrina vanden Heuvel* NEW YORK (IDN) — October 16 marks 60 years since the Cuban missile crisis—the 13-day standoff between the United States and the Soviet Union widely regarded as the closest we ever came to global nuclear war. On this anniversary, as we veer terrifyingly close to the brink of Armageddon once […]
Child Massacre Exposes Weaknesses in Thai Society
By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK (IDN) — The massacre of 37 people, 26 of whom were preschool children taking an afternoon nap in their day-care centre, in a remote north-eastern township of Thailand on October 7 has shocked the nation, with many social media postings calling for the extrajudicial killing of those involved in the drug […]
Make Persons with Disabilities Integral Players in Fully Inclusive Societies
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) — Ten years ago, the Asia-Pacific region came together and designed the world’s first set of disability-specific development goals: the Incheon Strategy to “Make […]