By Nadine Kaddoura* An Open Letter to Mr. Guy Ryder, Under-Secretary-General (USG) for Policy and Head of the UN80 Taskforce. LEUSDEN, Netherlands | 21 August 2025 (IDN) — I write to register a formal objection to the UN80 Task Force’s deployment of “early separation” agreements containing waiver clauses of sweeping breadth. Such provisions are inconsistent with […]
Sérgio Vieira de Mello: Achievements in Post-Conflict State-Building and Lessons for UN at 80
By Chimdi Chukwukere* ABUJA, Nigeria | 21 August 2025 (IDN) — August 19 marked both World Humanitarian Day and the 22nd anniversary of the death of Sérgio Vieira de Mello, UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, who was killed in a bomb blast while on duty in Baghdad, Iraq. This piece honors his transformative achievements, […]
US-Russia Talks: The Choice Between Pursuing Peace and Escalation
By Medea Benjamin and Nicolas J. S. Davies* NEW YORK | 17 August 2025 (IDN) — Donald Trump came into office promising to end the war in Ukraine in 24 hours. Now, six months later, his high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin in Alaska may have put the United States and Russia on a new path […]
Nigeria’s Oil Industry and Its Administrators
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and the author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA, Nigeria | 14 August 2025 (IDN) — The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) is an animal that eats its curator for lunch. To survive it, either do not get close […]
Sri Lanka at the Human Rights Council: “Engage to Disengage”
By A.L.A. Azeez* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 14 August 2025 (IDN) — Time is ticking off. And it is ticking off on Sri Lanka’s human rights and accountability front, in Geneva. In less than a month from today, the question of promoting reconciliation, accountability and human rights in Sri Lanka will come up for consideration […]
How to Empower Youths? Give Them the Key to Decision Making
By Simone Galimberti* International Youth Day is an awareness day designated by the United Nations on 12 August. The purpose of the day is to draw attention to specific cultural and legal issues surrounding youth. The first IYD was observed on 12 August 2000. KATHMANDU, Nepal | 13 August 2025, (IDN) — This year’s International […]
Israel Keeps on Going the Wrong Way
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 12 August 2025 (IDN) — Recall Shakespeare’s great work of dramatic art, The Merchant of Venice, where Shylock was treated as an unpleasant Jew (with a lovely, self-effacing daughter) who dealt mainly in shady usury. His speech to the court is one of Shakespeare’s most remembered: “Hath not a […]
Leveraging Trump’s Tariff Shock: Diversify Products and Markets — Industrialise
By Darini Rajasingham Senanayake* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 12 August 2025 (IDN) — Real and staged crises present opportunities to reorient, innovate and think outside the box. Trump’s tariff ‘shock’ presents Sri Lanka’s business sector and national policy makers an opportunity for short, intermediate and long-term economic and industrial policy shift out of the current […]
Malawi’s Youth Urged to Shun Political Violence Ahead of September Elections
By Joseph Kayira LILONGWE, Malawi | 11 August 2025 (IDN) — With Malawi’s general elections set for 16 September 2025, the stakes are high. Political parties, the Malawi Electoral Commission (MEC), and civic bodies are racing to maintain the electoral calendar, ensure voter participation, and safeguard democratic integrity. But amid rising political tension in this […]
Seizing the Global Momentum for a Two-State Solution
Palestinians and Israel, with the unwavering support of the US, must seize on the growing international momentum in support of an independent Palestinian state by heeding France’s and Saudi Arabia’s call, initiated in the recent United Nations High-Level Conference. By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 9 August 2025 (IDN) —The unfolding horror in Gaza has galvanized […]