By J Nastranis NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) – Eminent scientists, Nobel laureates, artists, ministers, parliamentarians, industry and business leaders, young game changers in the science and business communities, heads of United Nations entities and civil society representatives participated in the UN Science-Policy-Business Forum on the Environment at the UN Headquarters in Nairobi from March […]
World Religions Prepare for Global Development Summit
By Ramesh Jaura VATICAN CITY (IDN) – Nearly six months before the heads of state and government convene to review the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the UN General Assembly’s ‘SDG Summit’ in September, the world religions have tasked themselves with elaborating “a road map or lines of action that can […]
Food Sans Essential Micronutrients Causes ‘Hidden Hunger’
By Brenda Wawa This article first appeared on Africa Renewal, December 2018-March 2019 issue. NAIROBI (IDN | INPS) – For years, boosting agricultural production was believed to be the solution to world hunger and malnourishment. But years of intensive farming with chemical fertilizers and pesticides has done little to move the needle on food insecurity, […]
Women Leaders Call for Gender Equality and Inclusion
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – In the lead up to International Women’s Day on March 8, twenty-six high ranking female officials who have worked across the United Nations have penned an open letter to world leaders calling for greater investment in policies and legal and social frameworks to achieve gender equality and inclusion. […]
Ghana Hosts Africa Climate Week as First of Three Regional Climate Events
By Rita Joshi BONN (IDN) – The Africa Climate Week, which is being hosted by Ghana from March 18–22 in Accra, is the first of three annual regional climate events this year – the latter two being the Latin America & Caribbean Climate Week and the Asia Pacific Climate Week. According to the Secretariat of […]
Shrinking Biodiversity of Plants Cultivated for Food Poses Severe Threat
By Jaya Ramachandran ROME (IDN) – In the first-ever report of its kind FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, has presented surging and perturbing evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing – putting the global population’s health, livelihoods and environment under severe threat. FAO’s State of the […]
Democracy Under Threat From Corruption
By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – Amid a deterioration of trust in democracy, people around the world clearly disillusioned with formal political institutions are turning their anger into protest. Besides being self-seeking, the political class is seen as riddled with corruption, leading to a situation where democratic progress has slowed to a near halt. Indeed, […]
India To Host UN Conference On Land Degradation
By Jutta Wolf BONN (IDN) – India will host the global Conference on desertification, land degradation and drought from October 7 to 18, 2019 in New Delhi. Participants from 197 Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will have access, for the first time, to a wealth of vital new scientific data, says […]
UN Nuclear Watchdog Helps Countries Combat Climate Change
By Noah Mayhew, IAEA VIENNA (IDN) – Climate change is one of the biggest environmental challenges affecting humanity today, causing a dangerous rise in sea levels and disturbances to the water cycle and leading to more frequent extreme weather events. The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) helps Member States combat climate change on a variety of […]
In Quest Of A Charter Of Humanity
By Sean Buchanan This is the first of a two-part report on ‘The Agora of the Inhabitants of the Earth’, organised to find a new paradigm that overcomes the political and ideal gap in which we are living. ROME (IDN) – Some years ago, Riccardo Petrella, an Italian economist, political scientist and a leading figure […]