By Rebeca Grynspan The writer is the Secretary-General of UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD). The following are extensive excerpts from her Statement to 14th session of the three-day International Debt Management Conference on 17 March 2025. GENEVA, Switzerland | 21 March 2025 (IDN) — The Romans had a god named Janus—the deity of thresholds, beginnings, […]
Global Trade in Flux: Navigating Policy Volatility and Structural Shifts
BY UN DESA NEW YORK | 20 March 2025 (IDN) — International trade is once again in the spotlight. A new Monthly Briefing from UN DESA examines the evolving dynamics, offering insights into both the risks and potential opportunities ahead. Structural shifts in global trade Global trade is undergoing profound changes, with globalization evolving along […]
Call for Debt Reforms to Prevent ‘Defaults on Development’
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 19 March 2025 (IDN) — UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretary-General Rebeca Grynspan has urged reforms to prevent the current debt crisis from derailing progress. “Behind us lies a system that needs reform; before us, the chance to build one that serves people and stability, long-term development, not recurring […]
Rethinking Climate Finance to Work for Women in Nepal’s Coffee & Pashmina Value Chains
By Elena Mayer-Besting, Duygu Cinar, and Darshni Nagaria* KATHMANDU, Nepal 18 March 2025 (IDN) — Women in Nepal, who are the backbone of the agriculture sector, are faced with an escalating challenge: the climate crisis. For rural farmers like Gnaga Maya Adhikari, the impacts of climate change are already a harsh reality: “Over the past […]
Iran Calls Trump’s Proposed Negotiation A “Deceptive Tactic”
By Abdul Rahman DHAKA, Bangladesh | 16 March 2025 (IDN) — Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Sayyed Ali Khamenei said on March 12 that the US offer to talk with Iran is not credible. He claimed since the Trump administration is neither ready to address Iranian concerns nor willing to lift its illegal unilateral sanctions to […]
Latin America Prepares New UN Climate Plans as Emissions Rise
By Fermín Koop* BUENOS AIRES, Argentina | 15 March 2025 (IDN) — Every five years, parties to the Paris Agreement on climate change must submit action plans that increase their level of ambition in meeting its goal: to halt the average global temperature rise at 2C above pre-industrial levels, if not 1.5C. The current slate […]
Diplomatic Pressures and Bangladesh’s Military: Unraveling the Debate
By Mujtoba Ahmed Murshed The writer is an analyst, researcher, and journalist. He has served in Japan and Germany’s foreign ministries and worked as the Advisor at the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). DHAKA, Bangladesh | 14 March 2025 (IDN) — In the aftermath of Bangladesh’s political transition on […]
African Union Peacekeepers in Somalia Accused of Widespread Abuse
By Mohamed Gabobe* MOGADISHU, Somalia | 14 March 2025 (IDN) — A new African Union peace enforcement mission, known by its acronym AUSSOM, was launched at the beginning of the year to support a fragile Somali government that has struggled against a jihadist insurgency entrenched in the countryside. AUSSOM is the third iteration of a multinational combat […]
Men Continue to Dominate Politics
By J Nastranis NEW YORK | 11 March 2025 (IDN) — New data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and UN Women underscores the critical need for immediate action, as progress toward gender equality in political leadership at the start of 2025 has been unacceptably slow. According to the 2025 edition of the IPU-UN Women Women […]
A Momentous Occasion for Humanity
By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury* NEW YORK | 9 March 2025 (IDN) — This year’s International Women’s Day has been celebrated by the world as we observe two major anniversaries — the 30th for the Beijing Platform for Action adopted in 1995 and the 25th for the UN Security Council Resolution 1325 adopted in 2000. […]