Viewpoint by Katherine O’Neill* MARRAKECH (IDN) – The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has the lowest female employment rate of anywhere in the world. Though most countries in the MENA region, including Libya and Iran, have seen gradually increasing rates of working women, Morocco’s female labour force participation (FLFP) rate has actually decreased since […]
Stories Behind IFAD’s Focus on Africa
By Kwame Buist ROME (IDN) – In its recently released Annual Report 2017, the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) – a specialised agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries – promises to leverage core resources of 1.2 billion dollars to fund a programme […]
Climate Change Threatens Bhutan’s Development Gains
By Ramesh Jaura UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The Buddhist kingdom Bhutan’s report to the United Nations High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) on Sustainable Development was in many ways exceptional. The holistic goal the landlocked country on the Himalayas’ eastern edge has set itself is the pursuit of Gross National Happiness (GNH). The principal guiding philosophy behind […]
Asia-Pacific May Achieve Only One Out Of 17 Goals By 2030
By Ramesh Jaura UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) spanning an area home to 4.1 billion people, or two thirds of the world’s population, sprang a surprise when it admitted that at the current rate of progress in the region only one of the […]
Why Must President Biya Follow President Robert Mugabe?
By LIsa Vives | Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Cameroon’s President Paul Biya is seriously considering a re-election bid despite having served 36 years in the job and despite approaching 90 years of age. The President-for-Life syndrome is sadly alive and well. An editorial in the Liberian Daily Observer expressed on July 16 […]
Elections Pose Yet Another Challenge To Pakistan
By Sajjad Ashraf* ISLAMABAD (IDN-INPS) – Though some legal challenges on constituency delimitation remain, Pakistan is well on its way to a general election. Caretaker Prime Minister Nasir-ul-Mulk took the oath of office at the beginning of June, setting the stage for elections to take place on July 25, 2018. Punjab province is the main […]
Mahathir Appears To Be Setting The Stage For A New Malaysia
By Shankaran Nambiar* KUALA LUMPUR (IDN-INPS) – Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad appears to be setting the tone for a revision of Malaysia’s geo-economic policy, if the bilateral meetings with his Indian and Japanese counterparts in the early days of his administration are anything to go by. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on Mahathir not […]
Eritrea and Ethiopia End Two Decade Long War
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ASMARA (IDN) – “And into ploughshares beat their swords. Nations shall learn war no more.” With those words of Isaiah, Ethiopia and Eritrea announced the end of a futile war and agreed to normalize ties, drawing the curtain on a 20-year military standoff on the Horn […]
Iran Sandwiched Between ‘Regime Change’ Threat and Menacing Discontent Within
By Mortezagholi Raissi BERLIN (IDN) – Plagued by domestic turmoil and the Trump Administration threatening regime change, not only the government in Iran but the entire theocratic regime too are faced with a far from envious situation, according to political observers. What started off as protests spurred on by the deteriorating economic conditions in Iran […]
UN Will Continue Support Of Africa’s Transformation Under Way
By Amina Mohammed Following are extensive excerpts from UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed’s remarks to the 31st ordinary session of the African Union in Nouakchott, Mauritania, on July 1, 2018. – The Editor. NOUAKCHOTT, Mauritania (IDN-INPS) – The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, places great importance on our long-standing but new-found strategic partnership […]