By Jaya Ramachandran NEW YORK (IDN) – The India-UN Development Partnership Fund, a dedicated facility within the United Nations Fund for South-South Cooperation established in 2017, has drawn the focus following the announcement by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the launch of a US$50 Million Commonwealth window. This support, announced at the Commonwealth Heads of […]
UN Debates Impact of ‘Fintech’ Revolution on Asia-Pacific
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the adoption of the Addis Ababa Action Agenda in 2015, significant efforts have been undertaken to mobilise funds for effectively pursuing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Estimates suggest that low and lower-middle income countries around the world may need sizeable additional investment running into trillions of dollars yearly […]
Africa Sends a Strong Message for Global Climate Negotiations
By Rita Joshi BONN | NAIROBI (IDN) – Africa has generated a distinct message for the next round of international climate negotiations in Poland from December 3 to 14, 2018, which states: Action on climate change and sustainable development together is the way forward for Africa. This top-line message emerged from deliberations during the Africa […]
South African Women Honoured For Anti-Nuclear Effort
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Using the knowledge gained in the anti-apartheid struggle, two South African women challenged a secret, multibillion-dollar nuclear deal that would have dotted South Africa with nuclear power plants from Russia. The women, Makoma Lekalakala and Liziwe McDaid, waged a five-year court battle against the plants. […]
‘Sri Lanka Unites’ Prepares Leaders for Tomorrow
By Jayantha Dhanapala This article was first carried by The Island, a Sri Lankan newspaper, on 21 April 2018. KANDY (IDN-INPS) – On a hot Saturday afternoon, I sat in the Father Mervyn Fernando Auditorium at the Subodhi Institute, Piliyandala to observe the concluding session of the Sri Lanka Unites Leadership Development Program “Let Them […]
Africa Grapples With Financing Climate Change Programmes
By Justus Wanzala NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – African countries are faced with the huge challenge of funding climate change mitigation and adaptation programmes to ensure sustainable development. Hard hit by the impacts of climate change manifested in persistent droughts, floods, storms, rising sea levels and other forms of disasters, they are linking actions on tackling climate […]
Modi Government’s Plan to Interlink Rivers Splits the Nation
By Sudha Ramachandran BANGALORE (IDN) – As another scorching summer grips India and rivers begin running dry, the government’s Interlinking of Rivers (ILR) program to solve the country’s water problems is being heatedly discussed. Drawing attention to the water shortage and unequal distribution of water in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a strong champion […]
Japan Funds UNIDO Project to Boost Employment in Lebanon
By Reinhardt Jacobsen VIENNA | BEIRUT (IDN) – The Government of Japan has announced that it will fund a project to create jobs in the carpentry and construction sectors in northern Lebanon. This is one of eight new projects implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, […]
Press Freedom Becoming Increasingly Vulnerable in Liberia
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | MONROVIA (IDN) – Liberia’s new government under President George Weah is not having a honeymoon with the media though he has endeavoured to reassure journalists that they would have a “200 percent freedom of expression and press freedom under my government”. The one-time soccer star, who […]
Experts Slam Syria, Slate Trump and Favour a UN Mechanism
By J C Suresh WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – The Trump administration’s latest missile strikes in response to Syrian chemical weapons use is not embedded within a broader U.S. strategy to deter further chemical weapons use, protect Syrian civilians caught in the horrible Syrian civil war, and bring a political resolution to the seven-year misery of […]