By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Munir Akram has called for a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ to promote agreement at the global level, on a specific set of early actions to provide fiscal space and supplementary liquidity to developing countries suffering the disastrous impact of […]
Bolsonaro May Well Emerge Unscathed from Brazil’s Disaster
Viewpoint by Robert Muggah* RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN) — It was once fashionable to describe Brazil as the country of the future. What a difference half a decade makes. In recent years, a democratically elected president was stripped of power and ultimately replaced by an authoritarian strongman. Today, Latin America’s largest country is suffering from […]
Rural Voices to Be Heard at Food Systems Summit
By Kwame Buist ROME (IDN) – The United Nations is to involve millions of rural people in the 2021 Food Systems Summit as part of an ambitious public engagement process, in which indigenous communities, family farmers, rural women and youth are among those invited to take a seat at the table during Independent Dialogues to […]
Deportation of Africans Cancelled After Reports of Torture by the US Immigration Service
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A plane carrying Cameroonian, Angolan and Congolese asylum seekers due to take off from Alexandria, Louisiana, was cancelled with minutes to spare after advocacy groups published affidavits by detainees of torture by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. The affidavits listed a host of violent […]
Chocolate Multinationals Collude with Mali’s Child Slavery Rings
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — A federal class-action suit filed on behalf of eight Malian citizens against Nestle SA, Cargill, Hershey and Mars, Inc. among others for their alleged complicity in the trafficking and forced labour of African children, is now under review by the US Supreme Court. The plaintiffs […]
Gender Bias Against Women Career Scientists Upsets UNESCO
By Jaya Ramachandran PARIS (IDN) — “Even today, in the 21st century, women and girls are being sidelined in science-related fields due to their gender,” warns the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Audrey Azoulay. Women need to know that they have a place in science, technology, engineering and mathematics and that […]
New German Law Seeks Corporate Accountability for Rights Violations in Global Supply Chains
An Important Step Towards Implementing UN Guidelines By Rita Joshi BERLIN (IDN) – After protracted negotiations, Germany’s coalition government has announced an agreement on a German ‘mandatory human rights due diligence law’ focusing on corporate accountability for human rights violations in global supply chains. In doing, it has taken into account the UN Guiding Principles […]
Youth Movement Leads for Food Systems Transformation
By Ronald Joshua ROME (IDN) – A wave of self-organised youth-led groups across the world has joined the growing momentum behind the 2021 UN Food Systems Summit, which will peak in September. The UN Food Systems Summit was announced by the UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, on World Food Day last October as a part of […]
Space Junk Poses Exponential Risks for Near-Earth Collisions
By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) – Space debris is an issue of global concern that threatens our continued use of near-Earth space for the benefit of humankind. The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the European Space Agency (ESA) have joined forces to create a series of infographics and podcasts that tell […]
The 1961 Feature Film Continues to Stimulate Chinese Women
On the eve of the Communist Party of China’s centenary in July 2021, the story of the country’s first women’s military brigade in the 1930s continues to find life in popular culture and the imagination of the Chinese people. Viewpoint by Tings Chak * HAVANA (IDN) – “Are you a proletarian?” asks the brigade commander. […]