By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) — A new report titled “Impacts of the current drought on wildlife in Kenya” by Wildlife Research and Training Institute gives a devastating picture of the high mortality of wildlife across the East African nation whose animal kingdom has been the backbone of tourism […]
UN Climate Panel Warns of Sea ‘Swallowing’ Alexandria and Other Historic Cities
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The Egyptian coastal resort of Sharm el-Sheikh is brimming with delegates, organizers and observers – here to take part in the UN Climate Conference, better known by its acronym “COP27” (Conference of the Parties). This year’s conference will be an “African COP” where the positions […]
Egyptian Civil Rights Activists View COP27 as a Carefully Managed Theatre
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | SHARM EL-SHEIKH (IDN) — Some civil rights activists suspect this year’s UN climate conference, held in a country reputed for holding thousands of political prisoners, will give the host country a great opportunity to remake its image and position itself as the voice for the Global […]
UN’s Development Goals are Not Far Behind COP27
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — When the two-weeklong COP27 climate summit began negotiations November 6, the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were not far behind. At the conference centre in the Egyptian coastal town of Sharm el-Sheikh, the UN’s Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) is hosting an SDG Pavilion for […]
COP 27: An ‘Implementation COP’ To Save People and the Planet
By Meena Raman The author is a Senior Researcher at the Third World Network in Penang, Malaysia. SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (IDN) — The annual climate conference under the United Nations Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement kicked off in the Egyptian coastal resort city of Sharm El-Sheikh on November […]
Thailand: Education at Fingertips for the Disabled
By Pattama Vilailert BANGKOK (IDN) — Quality Education and Reduced Inequalities are two Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With 3.3 per cent of Thailand’s population categorized as “disabled”, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) has come up with an innovative program to provide a new lease of life to people who would otherwise be left behind in […]
Thailand: Secularism Hinders Buddhists to Address Mental Health Crisis
By Kalinga Seneviratne BANGKOK (IDN) — Wile the massacre of 37 people that included 26 preschool children in a remote north-eastern township of Thailand on October 7 has shocked the nation and exposed the inadequacy of the public mental health system, it is yet to trigger a debate about whether Buddhism could step in to […]
Drone Warfare: The Battlefield of the Future
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The deployment of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)—more commonly known as drones—largely by US and Russian military forces has highlighted a weapon that is being increasingly deployed in war zones in the Middle East, Asia, Africa and most recently Ukraine.
A UN Security Council Committee Meets in India to Commit to Fight Digital Terror
By Aar Jay NEW YORK | NEW DELHI (IDN) — In a two-day meeting of the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee in India, member states have decided to counter the use of new and emerging technologies for terrorist purposes. The non-binding document, known as The Delhi Declaration, was adopted in the Indian capital on October […]
UN Climate Conference Must Make Funds for Poor Nations A Priority
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Water stress, withering droughts and devastating floods are hitting African communities, economies and ecosystems hard. Rainfall patterns are disrupted, glaciers are disappearing and key lakes are shrinking. In South Africa, the extreme rainfall that triggered one of the country’s deadliest disasters of this century was […]