By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – At a critical moment when allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse from within the United Nations are mounting, and a leaked UN staff survey shows fears over whistleblowing and ethical accountability, Secretary-General António Guterres has in his message for International Women’s Day on March 8, called for […]
Africa’s Mounting Thirst for Foreign Direct Investment
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – He was just 17 when his country Zimbabwe gained independence. Now, 38 years later, Trynos Hove is over half a century old and what he remembers is persistent underdevelopment and repeated calls for foreign investment. Without meaningful foreign direct investment in this Southern African nation, says Hove, […]
A Compelling Book on ‘Humanity’s Success in Ruining Nature’
NEW YORK (IDN) – Across the globe, geologists, climate scientists, biologists, chemists and physicists are alarmed, and if there are uncertainties these are whether danger is in the offing very soon or in a few years; about whether our prospects are calamitous or only troublesome. The lack of dread among the general public about the […]
Staff Unions Threaten UN-Wide Work Stoppages Over Pay Cuts
By Shanta Roy GENEVA (IDN) – A proposed salary cut – resulting from an “austerity agenda” – has triggered temporary work stoppages in UN offices in Geneva, Bangkok and Addis Ababa and is threatening to spread system-wide, including field operations. The protest is led by three staff unions – the Coordinating Committee of International Staff […]
The Focus Turns To Corruption in 2018
By Joe Powell The writer is Deputy CEO of Open Government Partnership (OGP). This article first appeared in Transparency International‘s blog Voices for Transparency. – The Editor WASINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Corruption continued to dominate headlines across the world in 2017. It ended political careers, motivated citizens to organize and advocate for reform, and was […]
On the Use – or Abuse – of “Politically Correct”
Viewpoint by Marcelo Colussi* GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – Although it is not very clear – or not at all clear – what the “correct” in “politically corrrect” consists of, there is a general consensus that we must practice “correctness”, that we must be “politically correct”. Pushed by this trend, then, we cannot say “blacks” but “people of colour” and […]
Independent Media and Civil Society Under Assault
By Sean Buchanan This is the fifth in a series of reports highlighting salient aspects of Transparency International‘s latest analysis on challenges posed by corruption around the world as well as successes and failures of efforts targeting a scourge that eats into the vitals of human rights. – The Editor. LONDON (IDN) – Civil society organisations […]
Corruption and Crackdowns on Civil Society Continue in Arab States
By Sean Buchanan This is the fourth in a series of reports highlighting salient aspects of Transparency International‘s latest analysis on challenges posed by corruption around the world as well as successes and failures of efforts targeting a scourge that eats into the vitals of human rights. – The Editor. LONDON (IDN) – In a region […]
Striving to Build a Broader Support for the Nuclear Ban Treaty
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – The second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference in April and the UN High-Level Conference on Nuclear Disarmament in May will draw the focus of the international community in the coming weeks as it moves toward paving the way for a nuclear-weapons […]
Patchy Progress on Fighting Corruption across Asia-Pacific
By Sean Buchanan This is the third in a series of reports highlighting salient aspects of Transparency International‘s latest analysis on challenges posed by corruption around the world as well as successes and failures of efforts targeting a scourge that eats into the vitals of human rights. – The Editor. LONDON (IDN) – When it comes […]