THE WORLD – Page 190 – IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2016-10-022023-07-10

Gender Equality Gathers Momentum Among Asian Buddhists

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 11th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) – The first ASEAN Buddhist Conference held on September 22-23 at Nakhonpathom Rajabhat University, about 100 km from Bangkok, brought together Buddhist Bhikkunis (nuns), Bhikkus (monks) and lay Buddhists from across Asia in a bid to form alliances to empower the increasing community of Bhikkunis in Asia.

Asia-Pacific2016-09-202023-07-10

South Pacific: Foreign Logging Spurs Child Sex Fears

This is the first in a series of features on the South Pacific produced in collaboration with Wansolwara, an independent student newspaper of the University of the South Pacific.

SUVA, Fiji (IDN) – Two women’s rights activists have raised alarm bells about the need to protect Solomon Island children, especially girls, from being exploited by foreigners, who are involved in the South Pacific island nation’s logging industry.

The activists, Sister Doreen Awaiasi and Lynffer Maltungtung, say there are countless incidents in which under-age girls and young women are given to foreigners by their parents, or are lured by riches, but not much is being done to stop these or to educate the locals against engaging in such illegal acts.

Africa2016-09-152023-07-10

Tanzanian Women Getting an Upper Hand Over Land

By Kizito Makoye Shigela

VILABWA, Tanzania (IDN) – At a small village south of Tanzania’s largest city, Dar es Salaam, women rarely talk about land issues because customary norms keep them at bay. “We don’t have the voice, its men who decide everything,” said Saada Hassan a resident of Vilabwa.

The 55-year-old farmer is among many women in the village who have long been campaigning against male dominance in land affairs. “They simply don’t believe a woman can be a good leader or make informed decisions,” she said.

Africa2016-09-152023-07-10

Private Sector Key to Attainment of SDGs in Kenya

Justus Wanzala interviews UN Resident Coordinator Siddharth Chatterjee

NAIROBI (IDN) – Kenya held a national official launch of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on September 14 in an event presided over by President Uhuru Kenyatta. A day to the launch, the government and partners in the private sector and civil society finalised a national road map to guide implementation of the SDGs.

This happened just a month after the appointment of Siddharth Chatterjee as the United Nations Resident Coordinator to the East African Nation. Chatterjee coordinates 25 UN agencies in the country and at the same time serves as the Resident Representative of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Before his appointment, Chatterjee was the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Kenya.

THE WORLD2016-09-132023-07-10

The G-20 Fiddles While Rome Burns

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The G-20 Summit in China took place when our world is more divided than ever before, and multi-millions suffer from wars and other calamities.

One showpiece of the Summit – even before it started – was the decision by United States President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping to ratify the Paris Agreement of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, a significant achievement considering the fact that U.S. and China are world’s two biggest greenhouse gas emitters that cause global warming.

Asia-Pacific2016-09-112023-07-10

Obama’s Final Asian Tour ‘Unpivots’ US War Crimes in Asia

Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne

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

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) – President Barack Obama’s ‘pivot to Asia’ policy that realigned U.S. relationship to Asia, is largely regarded favourably in this region. Yet, his farewell visit to Asia ‘unpivoted’ a darker side of America’s involvement in Asia – of horrendous war crimes committed by the U.S. in Laos in the 1960s and 1970s for which Washington is yet to be held accountable.

Africa2016-09-102023-07-10

People Key to Sub-Saharan Africa’s Sanitation Challenges

By Justus Wanzala

STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Rapid population growth in sub-Saharan Africa is leading to increased urbanisation resulting in high volumes of both solid and water waste, and making compliance with sanitation regulations and standards a major issue.

To face up to the challenge, participants in a session on sustainable urban sanitation during the World Water Week conference held in Stockholm, Sweden, from August 28 – September 2 called for a multi-pronged approach involving all stakeholders to achieve the goal of sustainable urban sanitation.

Africa2016-09-082023-07-10

Fight Against HIV/AIDS Brings Hope to Lesotho

By Sechaba Mokhethi

QACHA’S NEK, Lesotho (IDN) – Mampiti Mohapi, a local chief of very remote Ha Nkoko village, travels ten kilometres every month to receive her antiretroviral therapy (ART) medication to counter human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).

She was diagnosed with HIV in 2006 at the age of 62 but was not started on ART treatment immediately because at the time such treatment was not administered to people unless they had a CD4 count of 500 or less, which was not her case.

A CD4 count reports the number of cells in a cubic millimetre of blood, and a normal CD4 count ranges from 500 to 1,500 cells per cubic millimetre.

Asia-Pacific2016-09-042023-07-10

Railways May Build the New ASEAN Community

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

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

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) – The leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will gather in the Laotian capital Vientiane from September 6-8 for their first summit meeting since the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) came into being at the beginning of this year. However, one item which is crucial to such community building, the construction of new rail lines linking most of the 10 member nations may not be a major agenda item.

Africa2016-09-022023-07-10

Zimbabweans Become Weapons Against Climate Change

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – Carrying a gigantic sack full of plastics debris picked up from rubbish pits, 33-year-old Herbert Mbedzi trudges around downtown Harare, the Zimbabwean capital rummaging dustbins for some more plastic waste for resale to recyclers.

Mbedzi claims that he has never been employed in his life and has now found a reliable source of income in dumped plastic junk, which has become “like gold” to him. “I have realised that my earnings each week from selling the plastics that I collect come to around 80 dollars because I have found reliable and constant customers like local firms involved in recycling plastics products,” Mbedzi told IDN.