Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN) — High moments aside, do we know what happiness is? Is the world becoming a happier place? Are we happier than our parents’ or grandparents’ generations? What could give us a little more happiness? “Homo Sapiens has been around for about 8,000 generations, and for most of that […]
New Report Identifies Five Key ‘Digital Divides’
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana 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) — Asia and the Pacific is the most digitally divided region of the world, and South-East Asia is the most divided subregion. The […]
Edward Carpenter and the Healing of Nations
Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens GENEVA (IDN) — Edward Carpenter (1844-1929) born on August 29, was an English writer, educator and pacifist, socialist reformer. Carpenter came from a middle class intellectual family and studied at Cambridge University. As with some of his fellow students who were interested in philosophy and ideas, […]
UN Review Conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Declared a Failure
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The alarm bells have been ringing right across Europe as the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not only triggered nuclear threats by one of the world’s major nuclear powers but also set off emergency drills outside a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia which has come under fire. Against […]
Growing Anger Over Soaring Prices in South Africa
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | PRETORIA (IDN) — “We cannot breathe, comrades. We cannot breathe when today it costs more than $277 to buy food for a family of just four people. No!” That was Moalusi Tumane, a schoolteacher in Palm Ridge, east of Johannesburg, speaking to some 1,000 workers who […]
High Prices Spark Rare Street Disturbance in Sierra Leone
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — The crisis of inflation taking a toll on the poor and middle class has spread to Sierra Leone, where rare protests shook the capital of Freetown. Workers have been clearing broken glass from downtown restaurants. “It was an explosion of violence,” said Mohamed […]
Japan Strengthens African Ties with Generous Pledge of Investment
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — African heads of state and a Japanese delegation are meeting to discuss “African-led” development at a meeting in Tunisia. Financial aid was discussed. Tunisian President Kais Saied welcomed the participants to the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development—or TICAD— from August 27-28 in Tunis, […]
A ‘Rousing Manifesto and Poignant Memoir’
Ugandan Activist’s New Book By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A young climate activist from Uganda about to address the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, faced one final indignity from western media when they staged a photo op of her with her white climate colleagues and then clipped her out […]
A Four-Week Festival of Double Standards
Hypocrisy & Outright Lying by Nuclear-armed States By Jackie Cabasso The writer is Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation, who participated in the Tenth NPT Review Conference, which concluded on August 26. NEW YORK (IDN) — The 10th NPT Review Conference didn’t fail because it couldn’t produce a final document. It failed because the nuclear-armed […]
UN Can Model Innovative Ways to Engage Youth
Time for a National Forum or Assembly By Simone Galimberti The writer is the Co-Founder of ENGAGE, a not-for-profit NGO in Nepal. He writes on volunteerism, social inclusion, youth development and regional integration as an engine to improve people’s lives. KATHMANDU (IDN) — One of the pillars of Our Common Agenda, the UN Secretary-General’s global […]