GLOBAL ISSUES – Page 150 – IDN-InDepthNews

Conventional Arms2017-04-262023-07-10

UN Commission Adopts Measures on Conventional Weapons

By Katherine Prizeman | UN Office for Disarmament Affairs

This report by Katherine Prizeman first appeared on April 24, 2017 on the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) website under the title ‘UN Disarmament Commission adopts by consensus “Practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional weapons’, – The Editor

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – For the first time since 1999, the United Nations Disarmament Commission adopted consensus recommendations for transmittal to the General Assembly. The final report of the 2017 Commission contains recommendations on practical confidence-building measures in the field of conventional arms.

The 2017 substantive session of the Commission was chaired by Argentina’s Gabriela Martinic.

Latin America & the Caribbean2017-04-262023-07-10

Triumph of the Left in Ecuador, Setback for Latin America’s Right?

Analysis by Marcelo Colussi*

GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – The triumph of left-wing candidate Lenin Moreno in the presidential elections at the beginning of April is a breath of fresh air and a sign of hope for the people of Ecuador, who can expect to see a continuation of the social measures initiated previously by the government of Rafael Correa.

Had right-wing candidate Guillermo Lasso won, these policies would have been radically suppressed, and society as a whole would have been led towards models of the most savage capitalism with semi-feudal nuances, as had been the case for centuries in the country.

The triumph of Moreno means that the progress recorded in recent years will be maintained and, in this sense, transmits hope.

Middle East & North Africa2017-04-252023-07-10

Why Jordan’s Move to Repeal ‘Stone Age’ Rape Law Matters

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – Many girls and young women in a number of countries still live in fear of what has been called “stone age” legislation that allows men to rape and then marry them to avoid prosecution.

One such country is Jordan, where the plight of these actual and potential victims is expected to take a turn for the better after the Jordanian Cabinet recommended repeal of Article 308 of the country’s penal code on April 15.

That recommendation – which would abolish a provision under which sexual assaulters can avoid imprisonment provided they marry their victims – now awaits final approval by Parliament and King Abdullah II.

EU & Europe2017-04-252023-07-10

France Signals a New Lease of Life for Europe

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The result of the first round of the French presidential election has given the Euro-pessimists a knock over the head. About time too. The European Union is not going to face break up.

Big crises come, but they also go. The Euro currency crisis was not dealt with as well as it should have been – austerity was the policy of the long way round – but it passed. The great immigration crisis has been contained, and the number of would-be refugees has fallen sharply.

USA and Canada2017-04-242023-07-10

U.S. to Test Launch an Unarmed Minuteman III ICBM

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – At a time of extraordinary tension between the U.S. and North Korea, with each side flexing its military muscle and making implicit and explicit threats, the U.S. has announced the test launch of an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on April 26.

Commenting the announcement, David Krieger, President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF), said: “When it comes to missile testing, the U.S. is operating with a clear double standard: It views its own tests as justified and useful, while it views the tests of North Korea as threatening and destabilizing.”

EU & Europe2017-04-212023-07-10

UN’s First Female Force Commander Talks Gender Equality in the Military

By Shana L. Childs* | Reproduced courtesy of PassBlue

NEW YORK (IDN | Passblue) – Maj. Gen. Kristin Lund made history in 2014 when she was appointed the first female force commander of a United Nations peacekeeping mission – in this case, Cyprus. Still in active duty in the Norwegian military, General Lund, 58, gives lectures and advises the Norwegian Defense University College in Oslo. Although she is proud to have made history and wants to see more women in the world’s militaries, General Lund has no silver bullets for peace.

Latin America & the Caribbean2017-04-152023-07-10

Sport as a Tool for Achieving SDGs

By Desmond Brown

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (IDN) – Investing in sport can help reduce spiralling health costs and promote education, social cohesion and gender equality, says a new guidebook published by The Commonwealth.

The recommendations of the guidebook, titled ‘Enhancing the Contribution of Sport to the Sustainable Development Goals’, are important to the Caribbean, where chronic and communicable diseases are devastating to individuals and community, threatening the quality of life and becoming an increasingly negative factor in the region’s development.

USA and Canada2017-04-112023-07-10

Trump Shows His Muscles

Analysis by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

LISBON (IDN) – Not knowing what will happen next, commenting in the immediate wake of the U.S. missile attack on the Shayrat airbase in Syria on the night of April 7 is risky but not sterile, at least to try to understand a bit more than the pre-packaged “petty lessons” of the mouthpieces of the United States, in Italy and elsewhere, were quick to recite.

Coincidentally, the muscular display of [U.S. President Donald] Trump comes shortly after the publication by IDN of an article the essence of which was the substantial uselessness of international law, given that the great powers violate it continually

Nuclear Weapons2017-04-102023-07-10

Three NGOs Urge Ban on Funding Nuclear Weapons Production

By J Nastranis

This is a revised version of the report titled ‘Ban Treaty Should Stop Funding Nuclear Weapons Production‘ carried on April 2, which inadvertently failed to source quotes properly. In a separate report, we will discuss the origins of the proposal to prohibit the financing of nuclear weapons production. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – Global consensus on a legally-binding treaty on prohibiting the production of nuclear weapons has yet to be achieved. But three non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are pressing for a ban on the financing of atomic arsenals when such a legal instrument is agreed.

ARMAMENTS2017-03-312023-07-10

A Shift in the Public Conversation to Ban the Bomb

Viewpoint by Alice Slater

Alice Slater is New York Director of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, who serves on the Coordinating Committee of World Beyond War.

NEW YORK (IDN) – This week (March 27-31) the UN General Assembly held the opening session of a ground-breaking conference “to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” just as the world has already done to ban biological and chemical weapons as well as landmines and cluster bombs.

The historic conference began with a bizarre Trumpian boycott on its first day, when Nikki Haley, Trump’s newly appointed U.S. Ambassador to the UN , flanked by the ambassadors from the UK and France stationed in front of the closed doors to the UN General Assembly, where 132 nations were about to start negotiations, staged a press event, with no questions permitted.