By Thalif Deen* UNITED NATIONS | 24 July 2024 (IDN) — Tarzie Vittachi, a renowned Sri Lankan newspaper editor and one-time deputy executive director of the UN children’s agency UNICEF, once recounted the story of an African diplomat who sought his help to get coverage in the US media for his prime minister’s address to […]
Norway – A Global Peace Aspirant, Environmental Champion, and a Wealthy Quiet Achiever
By Dr Palitha Kohona* OSLO, Norway | 24 July 2024 (IDN) — A few days in Norway’s summer swept capital Oslo, on the way to the Arctic via Tronso with an expedition ship presented a mixed bag of surprises. Contrary to expectations, Norway was not full of rich, blonde or red haired and blue eyed […]
Entire Social Fabric of Haiti is Unravelling as Displacement Continues
By J C Suresh TORONTO | 24 July 2024 (IDN) — Insecurity and gang-related violence has disentangled entire social fabric of families in the Caribbean Island nation, Haiti. The number of people forced to flee their homes has jumped from 362,000 in early March when violence spiked in the capital Port-au-Prince to over 578,000 in […]
NGOs Call for Breaking the Impasse on Disarmament
By J. Nastranis NEW YORK | 23 July 2024 (IDN) — A joint statement for the Second Preparatory Meeting for the 2026 NPT Review Conference by nearly 50 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) —which focus on arms control negotiations—delivered on July 23 by Daryl G. Kimball of the Arms Control Association, calls for “Breaking the Impasse of […]
Samantha Power Should Resign
By James E. Jennings* ATLANTA, Georgia | 20 July 2024 (IDN) — Samantha Power is a moral coward and a disgrace to the US. She should resign as head of USAID. Anyone who has read her famous book on genocide, A Problem From Hell, knows that she is a fierce opponent of genocides past, but […]
South Korea, Under Nuclear Threat from the North, Reiterates its Commitment to NPT
By Tariq Rauf* VIENNA, Austria | 19 July 2024 (IDN) — Nuclear weapons were first introduced in the Korean Peninsula by the United States. Starting in January 1958, the US deployed 11 types of nuclear weapons in South Korea over the years until 1991 when they were withdrawn under the US/USSR Presidential Nuclear Initiatives. At one […]
Call for Effective Follow-Up Tools for Proposed UN Pact for the Future
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 19 July 2024 (IDN) — The Summit of the Future on 22-23 September at the UN headquarters in New York “presents both an important milestone and another step in the long journey toward greater justice, security, and sustainable development for all nations and peoples”, says an open letter to […]
A New Battle Front in Gaza: Israel vs UNRWA
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 18 July 2024 (IDN) — The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is the only agency of the world body which focuses solely on humanitarian assistance to millions of Palestinian refugees—and more so, during the current military conflict between Israel and Hamas. But as the […]
In Memoriam, Ambassador Sérgio Duarte (1934-2024)
By Ramesh Jaura* BERLIN | 17 July 2024 (IDN) — We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of Ambassador Sérgio Duarte, former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a friend and supporter of IDN. I met him first at the 25th UN […]
Remembering Nelson Mandela
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 17 July 2024 (IDN) — “Nelson Mandela showed us the extraordinary difference one person can make in building a better world,” says UN Secretary-General António Guterres, ahead of this year’s Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July—which reminds us, he adds that “combatting poverty and inequality is in our […]