By Dario José Mejía Montalvo* The writer is Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues NEW YORK | 1 April 2024 (IDN) — The recent sessions of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) have addressed crucial issues and persistent and emerging challenges for the realization of Indigenous Peoples’ rights. For […]
Multilateral Development Banks Play Crucial Role in Financing Global Public Goods
By José Antonio Ocampo and Karla Daniela González, Columbia University This article was first published in the 2023/2024 UNDP Human Development Report – Breaking the Gridlock: Reimagining cooperation in a polarized world –on 13 March 2024. NEW YORK | 14 March 2024 (IDN) — There is broad-based agreement among the United Nations and the Group […]
Activists Confront Uganda Over Oil Pipeline Financed by China
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 6 November 2023 (IDN) — As the world tightens its belt to use less dirty oil and more solar and other clean energies, one country on the African continent is moving full speed ahead in the opposite direction. Uganda recently signed on to one of the […]
Vienna Conference Considers Boundaries and Frontiers in Human Trafficking
By Aurora Weiss VIENNA | 29 October 2023 (IDN) — Combatting Trafficking in Human Beings remains a global phenomenon that requires intensive collaboration between governmental and non-governmental entities. Interdisciplinary cooperation, awareness raising, and proactive efforts on national, regional, and international levels are essential in this context. An effective preventive measure is the professional exchange of […]
The New EU List of Tax Havens: Much Ado About Nothing
By Jan Servaes* BRUSSELS | 25 October 2023 (IDN) — The European Finance Ministers recently revised the European list of tax havens. They added Antigua, Barbuda, Belize and Seychelles to the blacklist and removed the British Virgin Islands, the Bahamas, Costa Rica, Cayman Islands and the Marshall Islands. The list includes Russia, Panama, and other […]
Will World Bank Boss Be Allowed to Reform the Bank?
By Kalinga Seneviratne SINGAPORE. 22 October 2023. (IDN) — “Economic growth in much of the developing world is retreating,” warned World Bank’s new President Ajay Banga in his keynote speech at a meeting of the World Bank (WB) and IMF (International Monetary Fund) from 9 to 15 October in Marrakech. Pointing out that the world […]
India Refuses to Be Coerced into Dumping Its Independent Foreign Policy
By M K Bhadrakumar * NEW DELHI. 1 October 2023 (IDN) — The sombre mood at the Council on Foreign Affairs in New York during External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s talk on 26 September was only to be expected against the backdrop of the India-Canada diplomatic spat over the killing of a Sikh secessionist in […]
Washington Supports International Law When It Serves US National Interests
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden. 26 September 2023 (IDN) — There is little doubt that Russia broke international law with its attempted take-over of Ukraine and, earlier, of Crimea. It is not only observers in the West who say this but a good number of Russians. Nevertheless, the Kremlin is right to say the West […]
The Global South Gains Strategic Impact After BRICS XV Summit
By P.I. Gomes *The writer is a former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, Caribbean & Pacific States (OACPS). PORT OF SPAIN, Tobago. 22 September 2023 (IDN) — When the XVth Summit of the BRICS—Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa—concluded with the Johannesburg II Declaration, it agreed that six new members would join the group […]
Caribbean Leaders Want Urgent Reform of the Global Financial Structure
By Linda Hutchinson-Jafar PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad. 21 September 2023 (IDN) — In a resounding call to action, leaders in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have urged the international community to swiftly embark on comprehensive reforms of the global financial system to create a conducive environment that empowers developing nations to address inequities and achieve the […]