By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden. 19 September 2023 (IDN) — “What did these vain and presumptuous men intend? How did they expect to raise their lofty mass against God, when they had built it above all the mountains and clouds of the earth’s atmosphere?” This is St. Augustine writing about Babylon in his “City of […]
Ghanaians Take to The Streets Over Intolerable Living Costs
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — “Mr President, where is our money? The high cost of living will kill us.” Those were the cries that filled the streets of Accra as the usually peaceful people of Ghana could no longer stop their anger and frustration over intolerable living costs, record inflation, […]
A New Report Reveals the Economic Power of Africa’s Cities
By Jaya Ramachandaran PARIS | ABIDJAN | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) — Urbanisation enhances gross domestic product (GDP), finds a new report by the Sahel and West Africa Club (SWAC/OECD) in partnership with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the African Development Bank (AfDB). Africa’s Development Dynamics 2022 The Economic Power of Africa’s […]
The Population Exodus Threatens to Change Hong Kong Forever
By Vera Yuen The writer is Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Hong Kong. HONG KONG (IDN) — Hong Kong has experienced a series of unexpected political developments since 2019. The government proposed a new extradition law that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be extradited to mainland […]
The Significance of the New Signage at the Ouarzazate Tree Nursery in Morocco
By Yossef Ben-Meir Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is President of the High Atlas Foundation and Chief of Party of the USAID Religious and Ethnic Minorities Activity Program in Morocco. MARRAKESCH (IDN) — Twenty-seven years ago, I lived in a village called Amsouzerte in the Tifnoute Valley, the south side of the High Atlas Mountains, closeby to […]
UN Working with Aid Partners in the Wake of Massive Earthquake Hitting Haiti
By UN News NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations is working to support rescue and relief efforts in Haiti following a powerful earthquake that reportedly left hundreds dead, with perhaps even more injured and missing, and caused massive damage in the south-western part of the country. UN chief António Guterres said that he is […]
Asian Sports Should Be Better Represented in Olympics
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Japan was the first Asian country to host a summer Olympic Games in 1964 and this year became the only Asian country to host it twice. The Olympics that concluded on August 8, included very few sports that could be called Asian, and the question begs whether Japan had […]
SDG 11 and the Crucible of Sustainable Development Success
Viewpoint by Jaffer Machano The writer is Global Programme Manager, Municipal Investment Finance, United Nations Capital Development Fund. This article first appeared 18 February in UN Chronicle, a digital magazine of the United Nations, produced by the Department of Global Communications. NEW YORK (IDN) — The lexicon of sustainable development includes an oft-used term: market […]
E-Government Favours Sustainable and Resilient Societies, Finds UN Survey
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Almost two thirds of 193 United Nations member States demonstrate a high-level of e-government development with EGDI (the E-Government Development Index) values above in the range of 0.5 and 1, finds a new survey, which also draws attention to the widening ‘digital divide’ between the industrialized and […]
Mayors, Innovators Explore Solutions for City Sustainability
By A.D. McKenzie
PARIS (IDN) – As thousands of Parisians headed to work on a recent Monday morning, an underground train in the Eiffel Tower area clanked to a halt, with the driver announcing an accident involving a member of the public on the tracks. Commuters had to quit the vehicle, scrambling to find alternative means of getting to their destinations.
The irritation and confusion were palpable, as streams of people exited the station. But for those who could cycle, Paris provides a public bike-sharing system, and dozens rushed to the bicycle stands, even as others headed to nearby bus stops or made the decision to walk.