By Klara Smits | IDN-InDepthNews Report
BRUSSELS (IDN) – Though not on top of the international agenda, the importance of connectivity for promoting development in Africa drew the focus at a discussion event during the June 2-3 European Development Days (EDD), designed as a flagship event of the European Year for Development (EYD).
By Jamshed Baruah | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – The forthcoming 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August is an appropriate occasion to start developing a legally binding instrument prohibiting nuclear weapons. This, according to experts, is the distinct message emerging from the four-week long United Nations conference, which ended without an outcome document on May 22.
By Shin Mee | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
SEOUL (IDN) – In run-up to the UN High-Level Summit in September in New York, a milestone United Nations conference in South Korea has highlighted the need for a new vision for education, which it aims to realise by 2030 with a view to fostering global citizenship by inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all.
IDN-InDepthNews Interview with Daisaku Ikeda*
By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – As things appear to fall apart and decision-makers around the world grapple with ways out of manifold crises, an eminent Buddhist philosopher and peace-builder has stressed the need for building a “sustainable global society” in which all peoples’ rights are protected and the international community agrees on a path that leads toward a nuclear weapons free world.
In an exclusive interview with IDN, Soka Gakkai International president Daisaku Ikeda expressed the hope that the adoption of sustainable development goals (SDGs) by the United Nations General Assembly in September will “energize a new round of mutual striving to contribute to a world free of needless suffering”.
The email interview in full follows:
By Mirjam van Reisen* | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The European Council is expected to formulate a coherent European response to the continuing humanitarian disaster in the Mediterranean on April 23. The tragic deaths of more than 1000 men, women and children as well as the recognition that the situation is spiralling out of control, seem to have finally alerted Europe to the scale of the crisis. EU High Representative Federica Mogherini for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – who is also Vice-President of the European Commission – and her staff deserve commendation for their determination and commitment to get things moving.
By Mirjam van Reisen* | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint
BRUSSELS (IDN) – Despite one of the largest humanitarian disasters of recent years unfolding on their doorstep, and another 700 deaths on April 19, the EU and its Member States seem totally paralyzed and incapable of providing an urgent and appropriate response. The deaths of men, women and children only seem to promote further rounds of discussion. These will – in due course – no doubt result in yet another political declaration and yet more empty promises.
The urgency of the situation demands action, not words.
After several years of intense debate, the EU seems further away from providing any tangible and effective response to the crisis than ever before. Europe has proved totally incapable of agreeing to anything that could halt the loss of life in the Mediterranean. While the diplomats and politicians talk interminably the death toll is increasing remorselessly. The deliberate downscaling of search and rescue operations, and the blunt refusal to respond to even the most basic requests for international protection, have caused the death and suffering of some of the most vulnerable and desperate people.
By Shailendra Singh* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
SUVA, Fiji (IDN) – Prominent Pacific Island anti-nuclear campaigners want a revival of their once-robust movement to support the international effort against ‘nuclearism’. Their call coincides with a major international meeting at the United Nations in New York – the 2015 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) from April 27 to May 22, 2015.
By Martin Khor* | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
GENEVA (IDN) – Access to medicines, even if a person is too poor to afford it, is a cornerstone to the realization of the right to health and life. There has been significant progress in new and better medicines. However prices of the medicines are often priced so high so as to be out of reach of the poor or even the middle classes in many countries, not only in developing but also in developed countries.
A major reason for this is the monopoly granted to drug companies through patents, which prevents competition. Sometimes the prices are so astronomical so as to make super profits for the companies. The latest example is the new drug for hepatitis C, sofosbuvir, which is sold for USD84,000 for a 12 week course, or USD1,000 a pill. Profits for the company Gilead have run at many billions of dollars already.
By Mel Frykberg | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
RAMALLAH (IDN) – Regional reactions to the April 2 framework agreement on Iran’s nuclear programme have been mixed both in Israel and its Arab neighbourhood. Vested interests including geopolitical ambitions, economic competition, religious ideology, personal political ambition, and strategic alliances have all played their part in this mixed reaction.
By Jamshed Baruah | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN | SENDAI (IDN) – Tearing down ideological barriers and overcoming historical animosities, civil society organisations from Japan, China and the Republic of Korea participated in a landmark trilateral forum during the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR).
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