By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 9 January 2025 (IDN) — The United Nations flagship report, World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2025, has stressed the need of harnessing the potential of critical minerals for sustainable development. It argues that rapidly reducing dependence on fossil fuels and accelerating the transition to renewable energy remains the most […]
The Next UN Secretary-General — Must be the Turn of a Woman
By Dr Palitha Kohona Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN and Former Ambassador to China COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 8 January 2025 (IDN) — With Antonio Guterres’s term of office tapering off, there is increasing chatter in the corridors of the United Nations in New York regarding his potential successor. The interest in […]
Robots to the Rescue: Can AI Clean up Household Labour Gaps?
By Jessica Henn & Channe Lindstrom Oguzhan, ESCAP* BANGKOK, Thailand | 7 January 2025 (IDN) — Imagine a world where cooking, cleaning and grocery shopping are no longer all-consuming recurrent chores. This vision is fast becoming a reality as the rapid evolution of automation and artificial intelligence transforms households across the Asia-Pacific region. These advancements […]
Book Review: Saving the World from Nuclear War
By Eric Ross, University of Massachusetts Amherst* AMHERST, Massachusetts, USA | 6 January 2025 (IDN) — In Saving the World from Nuclear War, Vincent J. Intondi offers a concise yet comprehensive examination of the context and legacy of the June 12, 1982, Nuclear Disarmament Rally. Against the backdrop of a period of heightened nuclear anxiety […]
Israel’s Attacks Have Devastating Impact on Gaza’s Hospitals
By Volker Türk* GENEVA | 4 January 2025 (IDN) — A human rights catastrophe continues to unfold in Gaza before the eyes of the world. Israel’s means and methods of warfare have killed tens of thousands of people, inflicted vast displacement, and laid waste to the territory. This has raised utmost concerns about compliance with […]
U.S. Congress Members Face a Lawsuit for Funding Israel’s War on Gaza
By Norman Solomon* SAN FRANCISCO, USA | 4 January 2025 (IDN) — On the last day of 2024, the deputy general counsel for the House of Representatives formally accepted delivery of a civil summons for two congressmembers from Northern California. More than 600 constituents of Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson have signed on as plaintiffs […]
How Prosecutors Work Against Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling
UNODC Report VIENNA | 4 January 2025 (IDN) — “If countries do not cooperate, we will never be able to effectively combat human trafficking and migrant smuggling,” said Patrick Gomez, Prosecutor and Principal State Counsel in Gambia. Gomez was speaking on the sidelines of the first International Forum of Prosecutors countering human trafficking and migrant […]
Sustainable Clean Energy Remains a Distant Dream
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | 3 January 2025 (IDN) — The world continues to advance towards sustainable energy targets, but not fast enough. About 685 million people still live in the dark. Four in five are in Sub-Saharan Africa. 2.1 billion people are cooking with dirty fuels that create unhealthy indoor smoke, causing over 3.2 […]
The Climate Crisis: Five Things to Watch Out for in 2025
By Conor Lennon NEW YORK | 2 January 2025 (IDN | UN News) — The Amazonian city of Belém, Brazil, will be the global focus of efforts to tackle the climate crisis in November 2025, when it hosts one of the most significant UN climate conferences in recent years. However, throughout the years there will […]
UN Considers Haiti’s Destiny ‘Bright’ Despite Terrifying Escalation of Violence
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | 28 December 2024 (IDN) — Haiti is faced with a multifaceted crisis including rising gang violence, political instability, the displacement of over 700,000 people as well as widespread hunger. UNICEF has reported a sharp increase in the recruitment of minors by armed gangs, with the number of child recruits […]