THE WORLD – Page 179 – IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2017-05-312023-07-10

Aboriginal Australians Press For Constitutional Recognition

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – In 1967, in a historic referendum, some 92 percent of Australians voted for the original inhabitants to be recognized as “people” to be counted in the census.

Exactly 50 years later, over 250 Indigenous Australians met in a historic summit overlooking the sacred Uluru rock in Central Australia May 24-26 and called upon the Australian government to change the constitution to give them a voice in parliament and a treaty to recognize their relationship to the land.

Australian Aborigines have come a long way since the 1967 referendum that allowed them to be considered as people like the rest of the Australians.

Africa2017-05-282023-07-10

UN Chief Underscores the Need to Invest in Africa’s Youth

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN | TAORMINA (IDN) – The Group of Seven (G7) leaders has in its ‘Taormina Communiqué‘ underscored that “Africa’s security, stability and sustainable development are high priorities”. But it has yet to respond to UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ specific call for the need to invest in young people, with stronger investment in technology and relevant education and capacity building in Africa.

The two-day G7 summit in Italy, in which the leaders of six other industrial nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.S. also took part, concluded on May 27 in Taormina, a hilltop town on the east coast of Sicily, Italy.

Africa2017-05-272023-07-10

Blazing the Trail with Coffee Culture in Cameroon

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

YAOUNDE (ACP-IDN) – Hermine Tomaino Ndam Njoya is arguably Cameroon’s largest coffee farmer. Her farm spans some 150 hectares, and she depends on the labour of a whole village to keep the farm alive.

But what sets her apart is not just the size of her farm. What makes her different is that she is a woman excelling in a venture generally reserved for men.

Growing up in her native Noun commune in Cameroon’s West Region, she saw her parents tend their coffee farm with great care. “So I fell in love with coffee,” she says, smacking her lips after a sip of the aromatic drink.

Asia-Pacific2017-05-232023-07-10

Why India Stayed Away From China’s OBOR/BRI Forum

NEW DELHI (IDN) – India was one of the eminent absentees from high-level spate of events organised by China as part of its efforts to help revive the ancient trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa.

Responding to a query on participation of India in OBOR/BRI Forum, the official spokesperson of India’s Ministry of External Affairs said that connectivity projects such as the one launched by China must be pursued in a manner that respects sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Asia-Pacific2017-05-232023-07-10

Global Development Through China’s New ‘Silk Routes’

Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) – When China hosted a two-day conference in May to help revive the ancient trade routes from Asia to Europe and Africa it was greeted with scepticism by most of the western media. But in much of Asia the mood was more of optimism and opportunity.

CNN reported that “some countries raised concerns over the project seen as boosting Beijing’s global clout on trade and geopolitics” – a reoccurring theme in many of the western media reports. While pointing out that the U.S., Japan, India and most of the European leaders had boycotted the meeting BBC described it as a Chinese bid for global leadership. Australia’s ABC said that China wants its ‘new Silk Routes’ to dominate world trade.

Africa2017-05-192023-07-10

Lion Conservation at Odds with Zimbabwe’s Villagers

By Jeffrey Moyo

HWANGE, Zimbabwe (IDN) – “On the fateful night, I heard the lions roaring and coming closer to my cattle kraal and when I got up to find out what was happening, I saw Verikom being pulled to the ground by about five lions. I was afraid and just ran back into my bedroom hut,” says Mehluli Ncube.

“My wife begged me not to go outside again that night and the following morning we found Verikom’s carcass lying about 45 metres from our kraal, with half of the animal gone. We could only take what meat was left to eat at home.”

Verikom was the name of Ncube’s bull, and it had fallen victim to a pride of stray lions that had pounced on his kraal in Magoli, a village in Hwange in Zimbabwe’s Matabeleland North Province.

Africa2017-05-172023-07-10

Foreign Aid Not the Answer for Africa

By Ntsoaki Nkoe

MASERU, Lesotho (IDN) – Research indicates that the African continent as a whole receives roughly 50 billion dollars of international aid each year – yet instead of drastically improving the living conditions of those living below the poverty line, this aid often makes the rich richer, the poor poorer and hinders economic growth, not to mention catalysing the vicious cycle of corruption.

Economist Dr. Moeketsi Majoro – former Minister of Economic Planning in Lesotho who has also worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) – believes that after the many mistakes made in aid operations, donor countries have now learned lessons about how their generosity had been turned into supporting dictatorships, undermining domestic economic activity and creating dependencies.

Asia-Pacific2017-05-172023-07-10

Modi’s Buddhist Diplomacy Fails to Dispel Sri Lankan Suspicions

Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 15th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN) – The May 11-12 visit to Sri Lanka by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to attend the UN Day of Vesak festival as a special guest was designed to woo Sri Lanka’s Buddhist majority, but reactions in the Sri Lankan media indicate that it has not succeeded in dispelling their suspicions about “Indian colonialism” of their small neighbour.

“Mahindra and Sanghamitra, the worthy children of King Ashoka made their journey from India to Sri Lanka as Dhamma-doot to spread the biggest gift of Dhamma,” said Modi in his keynote speech to hundreds of international and Sri Lankan delegates at the Chinese-built BMICH convention centre on May 12, referring to the bringing of Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE.

Asia-Pacific2017-05-102023-07-10

Planting Churches and ‘Saving Souls’

By Janaka Perera*

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – Sri Lanka is celebrating the 2561st year of Vesak on an international scale starting on May 10. The question however is whether the organizers and the foreign participants in the event will pay sufficient attention to the facts highlighted in a recent report of the Bangkok-based World Buddhist University (WBU) on the socio-economic and cultural challenges facing Asian Buddhists with a case study in Sri Lanka.

Designed to give an insight to the challenges facing Sri Lanka’s grassroots, the study was undertaken by Communications & Media Specialist Dr. Kalinga Seneviratne assisted by Samanmalee Swarnalatha.

Africa2017-05-102023-07-10

Access of African Youth to Labour Market Receives Boost

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – The African Union (AU) in collaboration with the government of Germany has established an initiative to help young Africans acquire practical skills for meeting the needs of labour markets.

The aim is to strengthen their occupational prospects in view of the continent’s unemployment crisis.

Most hit are young people, with around 60 percent of the unemployed under the age of 25. Key players in implementation of the initiative are the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the German government’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation, as well as the German KfW Development Bank. NEPAD is a socio-economic development flagship programme of the AU.