By Jan Servaes* BANGKOK, Thailand | 18 January 2025 (IDN) — The Human Rights Watch Report 2025 was recently launched in Bangkok under the title “2024: A Year of Reckoning”. The press conference, which can also be followed via YouTube, started with a video message from Tirana Hassan, HRW Director General, who tried to put […]
Tanzania President Steps in to Cure Maasai Wounds in Ngorongoro
By Kizito Makoye NGORONGORO, Tanzania | 8 December 2024 (IDN) — On the rolling plains of Ngorongoro, 74-year-old Maria Shauri knelt among a sea of red, blue, and purple shawls, her arms raised in prayer. “God, hear us,” she muttered, her breath visible in the cold air. Each word escaped her lips in a puff […]
A New Report Finds Israel’s Warfare Methods in Gaza Consistent with Genocide
By J Nastranis NEW YORK |14 November 2024 (IDN) — A UN Special Committee has found that Israel’s warfare in Gaza is consistent with the characteristics of genocide, with mass civilian casualties and life-threatening conditions intentionally imposed on Palestinians there. The report of The United Nations Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human […]
COP16: A Disappointment, as Expected
By Anusa Karki and Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 6 November 2024 (IDN) — The recently concluded COP 16 on Biodiversity held in Cali, Colombia, (21 October to 1 November) was largely a disappointment. Unsurprisingly, it was largely expected to end up in this way. Yet, despite the gloom, in Cali, an important new conversation […]
Migration Can Be a Catalyst for Africa’s Sustainable Development
By Busani Bafana ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia | 12 October 2024, (IDN) — Migration can be a catalyst for Africa’s sustainable development, a review meeting held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia has heard. The meeting underscored the potential for migration to drive sustainable development through harnessing the skills and investments of migrants. Speaking at opening of the […]
Arctic Indigenous People, Traditional Culture: Potentials for Tourism Development
By Professor Maurice Okoli* MOSCOW | 2 October 2024 (IDN — The Arctic region is a geographic region spreading around the North pole. It is the Northernmost region of the earth characterized by distinctively polar conditions of climate, plant, animal life, Physical features and breathtaking landscapes and unique ecosystems which is home to diverse Indigenous […]
US Supports UN Cybercrime Treaty but With Reservations
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 12 August 2024 (IDN) — Amid strong protests from a coalition of over 110 human rights groups and civil society organizations (CSOs), the UN Ad Hoc Committee on Cybercrime adopted—by consensus on August 8—a global cybercrime treaty. Described as “broad in scope” with insufficient human rights safeguards, the treaty […]
Nepal: Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities Maintain Symbiotic Bonds with Forests
By Devinder Kumar NEW DELHI | 10 August 2024 (IDN) — Nepal is richly endowed with forest resources, with a coverage of about 6.4 million hectares. Between 1992 and 2016, the country nearly doubled its forest cover, moving from 26 percent to 45 percent of its land area. The progress in forest regeneration and improvement […]
UN Projects World Population to Rise: from 8.2 to 10.3 billion in mid-2080s
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 11 July 2024 (IDN) — The world’s population is expected to rise—from the current 8.2 billion people to around 10.3 billion in the mid-2080s—and eventually stabilize at around 10.2 billion by the end of the century. The new projections were released on July 11 by the United Nations in […]
Fifty Years On, A Fight for Land Rights in Suriname Continues
By Jason Pinas* This article was issued by Dialogue Earth and is being republished under the Creattive Commons license. PARAMARIBO, Suriname | 7 July 2024 (IDN) — Ever since Suriname’s independence from the Netherlands nearly fifty years ago, the country’s Indigenous and tribal people have been fighting to have their land rights recognised. “We are […]