By Taro Ichikawa TOKYO | SEOUL | 6 June 2024 (IDN) — Three decades after Japan organised the First International Conference on African Development (TICAD)—in collaboration with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the African Union Commission (AUC), and the World Bank—its immediate neighbour and former colony (South) Korea convened its first […]
Mexico Elects First Woman President with A Thumping Majority
By Yesko Quiroga* MEXICO CITY | 5 June 2024 (IDN) — It came as no surprise that Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo was elected Mexico’s new president on Sunday (June 2). For a year now, the candidate of the ruling coalition has had a lead of between 50 and 60 per cent in most polls. The surprise […]
Promotion of Technology Will Not Help the Poor to Access Water
By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK | 4 June 2024 (IDN) — The recently concluded 10th World Water Forum (WWF) in the Indonesian tourism island of Bali focused on adoption of technology—that will include desalination plants and solar power—as the savior to provide safe drinking water to millions of the poor communities across the world. But activists […]
South African Activists Win Prestigious Environmental Prize
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 2 June 2024 (IDN) — Indigenous activists Nonhle Mbuthuma and Sinegugu Zukulu of South Africa are among this year’s recipients of the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize. The prize celebrates grassroots leaders who prove that ordinary people can have an extraordinary impact on the environment. The South […]
For The First Time, ANC Loses Its Parliamentary Majority In Historic Election Defeat
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 2 June 2024 (IDN) — The African National Congress, South Africa’s liberation party, appears to have lost its parliamentary majority for the first time in a historic election defeat. Results show that after 30 years as the majority party, the ANC tallied only around 40% of […]
Sudan: Deteriorating Situation in El Fasher, Health System Collapsing Nationwide
UN News NEW YORK | 1 June 2024 (IDN) —The humanitarian situation for some 800,000 civilians in El Fasher, Sudan, and surrounding areas in North Darfur continues to deteriorate amid ongoing clashes between rival military forces, the UN reported on Friday. The fighting has reportedly forced thousands of people to flee since 10 May and […]
Turning Development Challenges into Opportunities
By Amanda K Serumaga The author is the UNDP Resident Representative, Mauritius and Seychelles. VICTORIA| 30 May 2024 (IDN) — An archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, Seychelles has a population of just over 100,000 in an area covering 457 square kilometres. But while it is classified as a high-income country, this Small […]
Boosting Manufacturing Capacity Is Crucial for Vaccine Security in Africa
By Busani Bafana BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe | 29 May 2024 (IDN) — Africa’s limited vaccine manufacturing capacity means heavy reliance on imports to respond to outbreaks. However, boosting manufacturing capacities on the continent can change this, says Petro Terblanche, the CEO of Afrigen Biologics and Vaccines, a biotechnology start-up company aiming to expand vaccine equity in […]
South Africans Weigh Gains and Losses Ahead of Voting
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 27 May 2024 (IDN) — As South Africa’s democracy turns 30, Nelson Mandela’s ANC party faces its toughest election yet. While the streets may be plastered with campaign posters of smiling politicians promising “A Job In Every Home” or to “Rescue South Africa”, many things have […]
Wealth of Nations and the Poverty of Theory: Debt Restructuring as Rocket Science
By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake* COLOMBO | 26 May 2024 (IDN) — Calls for divestment from BlackRock and other International Sovereign Bonds (ISB), have echoed across Columbia, Yale and many non-Ivy League universities in the United States recently. BlackRock is heavily invested in weapons companies fueling a genocidal war in Palestine. However, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF), […]