By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 20 December 2024 (IDN) — Six UN agencies have called for enhanced funding for transforming and strengthening agrifood systems, address inequalities, and ensure that healthy diets are affordable and accessible to all in the Near East and North Africa as a new report warns that the Arab region remains off-track […]
Internet Governance Forum Weighs Pros and Cons of AI
By Bernhard Schell RIYADH, Saudi Arabia | 19 December (IDN) — More than 11,000 participants gathered at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Riyadh from 15 to 19 December 2024 and addressed the transformative opportunities and risks posed by rapid advancements of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other digital technologies. They agreed that while AI presents […]
Sudan: Funding Women-Led Organizations Is Critical Amid Surging Gender-Based Violence
By UN Women NEW YORK | 18 December 2024 (IDN) — As the crisis in Sudan continues to deepen, UN Women has just published a new Gender Alert on the impact of the conflict on women and girls. More than 11 million people have been displaced as of October 2024, with more than half (54 per […]
UN Forum Sets Out Vision for Inclusive, Equitable Digital Future
By Bernhard Schell RIYADH, Saudi Arabia |16 December 2024 (IDN) — As the world navigates rapid digital transformation, the 19th United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has convened in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under the theme “Building Our Multistakeholder Digital Future.“ The programme will feature over 300 sessions, with four sub-themes: (1) Harnessing innovation and balancing […]
UN Charts in Riyadh a Path for Global Action on Land, Drought
By Bernhard Schell RIYADH, Saudi Arabia | 15 December 2024 (IDN) — The nearly 200 countries convening at the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)have committed to prioritize land restoration and drought resilience in national policies and international cooperation as an essential strategy for food security […]
Empowering Indian Street Vendors to Transition from Single-use Plastics
By Satyarupa Shekhar and Om Prakash Singh* NEW DELHI | 14 December 2024 (IDN) — With the intergovernmental negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty now over, it is opportune to discuss India’s approach to plastic pollution. The single-use plastic ban (SUP ban) by the Indian government came into effect from 1 July 2022. What the country needed […]
The First Element of a North Korean Nuclear Proliferation Network
By Robert Kelley* VIENNA | 13 December 2024 (IDN) — On the night of 6 September 2007 Israeli jets bombed a building in Northen Syria. The building was alleged to be a nuclear reactor under construction to support a nuclear weapons program. The reactor was reported to be a copy of the small plutonium production […]
Syria: They Made a Desert, And Called It Peace
By Jeffrey D. Sachs* This article was published in Common Dreams and is being republished with the author’s permission. NEW YORK | 12 December 2024 (IDN) — In the famous lines of Tacitus, Roman historian, “To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call […]
UN Expects 305 million People to Seek Life Saving Help in 2025
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 11 December 2024 (IDN) — A record number of armed conflicts and increased frequency and severity of climate-induced disasters are set to force a staggering 305 million people seek “urgent humanitarian assistance and protection” in 2025. 190 million of them will be facing “life-threatening” needs. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) […]
Colombia: Women-Led Fish Farming Is Offering an Alternative to Drug Crops
By Iñigo Alexander* BOGOTÁ, Colombia | 11 December 2024 (IDN) — The Amazon rainforest in southern Colombia stretches lush and green across the horizon, but beneath its dense canopy lies a shifting reality. The southern province of Putumayo—a remote region bordering Ecuador, at the edge of the country’s Amazon—has long been dominated by coca plantations […]