Viewpoint by Marcelo Colussi* GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – Rodrigo Londoño Echeverri, known by his nom de guerre ‘Timochenko’, of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) has recently announced that he intends to run for the presidency of his country. It is difficult to predict what will happen in the next presidential elections in May […]
Cuban Youth Mastering the Art of Economic Improvisation
By Julia Rainer
TRINIDAD, Cuba (IDN) – Trinidad, one of the most popular cities in Cuba, is a place where time seems to stand still. At least that is what the thousands of tourists who come here every year from all over the world are made to believe.
Colonial cathedrals and majestic houses have been guarding the city for hundreds of years and are beautifully restored as if time had never passed. Indeed, the picturesque city – together with the marvellous surrounding sugarcane plantations – were declared UNESCO world cultural heritage in 1988.
It is part of Trinidad’s unique charm that nothing is supposed to change – a concept that can be transferred to Cuba’s tourism strategy as a whole.
Giving Visibility – and Land Rights – to the Indigenous
By Fabíola Ortiz
STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Indigenous peoples are all but invisible on the development agenda but a hoped for change is on the cards with the launch of the world’s first and only funding institution to support the efforts of local and native communities to secure rights over their lands and resources.
“Include us, so that we can protect our lands for our children and protect the planet’s biodiversity for all the world’s children,” said by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples during the launch. Recognising the land rights of native and traditional peoples is a low-cost solution toward achieving the world’s development, environment and climate agendas.
Environmental Risks Behind Peace Accords in Colombia
By Fabíola Ortiz
CARTAGENA, Colombia (IDN) – The peace deal with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) – signed in November 2016 and ratified early December by the Colombian Congress – ending five decades of conflict now poses enormous threats for the environment, according to scientists and experts at the International Congress for Conservation Biology (ICCB 2017) held in Cartagena July 23-27.
The global forum gathered almost 2,000 scientists to address ecological challenges and present new research in conservation science and sustainable practices.
Colombia, a country with 40 million people, is one of the 17 world’s megadiverse nations concentrating 10 percent of biodiversity with 59 national parks and other protected sites covering an area of 23 million hectares.
Caribbean Must Equalise to Grow and Grow to Equalise – ECLAC
By Desmond Brown
KINGSTON | NEW YORK (ACP-IDN) – If they are to meet commitments agreed under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its sustainable development goals (SDGs), the countries of the Caribbean must focus on closing the structural gaps they still have – particularly with regard to gender equality and financial and fiscal sustainability (due to their high debt level) – and mitigating the effects of climate change, .
Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), spoke in this regard during the ‘African-Caribbean Cross-Regional Exchange’ at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) which ended July 19 at United Nations headquarters in New York.
Caribbean Calls for Reducing Economic Burden of NCDs
By Desmond Brown
ST GEORGE’S, Grenada (ACP-IDN) – Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) make a significant contribution to mortality and morbidity in the Caribbean and continue to represent an economic burden for most of the region’s countries.
Addressing the latest meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) held here from July 4-6, St Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris – who has responsibility for health in the organisation’s Quasi-Cabinet – called for urgent action to reverse the situation.
Citing the findings of a 2016 study on the economic dimensions of NCDs in Trinidad and Tobago, Harris noted that an estimated 5 percent of that country’s gross domestic product (GDP) is being lost through the impact of preventable diabetes, hypertension and cancer.
Hubs and Spokes Initiative for Promoting ACP Trade Extended
By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (ACP-IDN) – The Hubs and Spokes Programme, an innovative trade initiative for expanding opportunities for business, employment and prosperity in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries, is to be extended until February 2019.
Through the Programme, which is a joint initiative of the European Union (EU), ACP Group Secretariat, Commonwealth Secretariat and Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie (OIF), trade advisers are placed in government ministries and regional organisations to provide support and build local capacity to develop trade policies.
Where Forced Child Pregnancy is Not Fiction
By Phil Harris
ROME (IDN) – She is 10-years-old when she is raped by her mother’s companion and becomes pregnant. Extremely ill, undernourished and underweight during her pregnancy, her mother requests an abortion and although the law permits termination of a pregnancy if authorities deem the carrier’s health is in danger, the request is denied by the State.
The girl’s mother is arrested and temporarily imprisoned for failing in her duty of care to her daughter, despite having previously reported the abuse to the police, who did not act.
Meanwhile, the State sends the girl to an institution against her wishes, where she is made to stay until the birth of her child. She is not allowed any visitors, apart from an aunt who is allowed to come once a week for two hours.
Ecuador Annuls 16 Investment Treaties To Duck Costly Disputes
By Daniel Uribe*
GENEVA (IDN | SOUTHNEWS) – Ecuador has unilaterally withdrawn from its remaining 16 bilateral investment treaties (BITs). With this decision, Ecuador has concluded the termination of 26 BITs signed by the country since 1968.
The 16 BITS which Ecuador is withdrawing from had been signed with the Netherlands, Germany, Great Britain, France, Spain, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, Canada, the United States, China, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela, and Chile.
The Ecuadorian move is part of similar measures taken in recent years by a growing number of developing countries to withdraw from their bilateral investment treaties. These include South Africa, Bolivia, Indonesia and India.
Barbados Takes Legal Stride on Gender Equality
By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (ACP-IDN) – The tiny Caribbean island of Barbados has taken a major step towards ensuring gender equality in its judicial system with the development of a draft gender equality protocol for magistrates and judges.
The document, being hailed as the first of its kind within the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), will support the judiciary in using gender analysis to ensure that both women and men have equal access to justice.
“If gender stereotypes are unconsciously held, if they are not the product of a deliberate intention to discriminate, how can we as judges avoid falling prey to them? This is where the establishment of this protocol is so important,” said Justice Adrian Saunders, a judge at the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ).