By Aleksandra Gadzinski KATOWICE (IDN) – Independent experts of the UN Human Rights Council, are calling on States to fully integrate human rights standards and principles in the rules for implementing the Paris Agreement on climate change (the Paris Rulebook) adopted by the international community. In the run-up to the 70th anniversary of the Universal […]
Sri Lanka Chaired UNCTAD Commission Boosts Multilateralism
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) – “We need to look at how best multilateralism can be advanced and strengthened rather than at theories that suggest a ‘doomsday’ scenario or the ‘dawn of an era of post-multilateralism’,” said Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez, Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to United Nations in Geneva. He was addressing the 10th […]
Blue Economy Conference: Kenya Keen to Stimulate Global Conversations and Partnerships
By Jaya Ramachandran NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) – The first ever Sustainable Blue Economy Conference (SBEC) opens on November 26 in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya. Canada and Japan are co-hosts of the three-day landmark event. It builds on the momentum of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), […]
UN Reviews Education Programme on Slave Trade, Warns of Racism
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – The Ark of Return by Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent, at the UN Headquarters in New Yok honours the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade that was perpetrated for over 400 years. The permanent memorial was erected on March 25, 2015 – […]
Conserving Biodiversity is Key to Mitigating Climate Change
By J C Suresh TORONTO (IDN) – An area almost the size of Australia – up to 724 million hectares in all – will be required by 2050 for cultivating bioenergy, according to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Platform on Climate Change (IPCC) on limiting climate warming to 1.5C. Models foresee that demand for […]
Reconciliation Continues to Evade Serbia-Kosovo Relations
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – One hundred years after the end of the First World War, which was triggered by a crisis in the Balkans, peace in the region is nowhere within reach yet. This has been highlighted by a senior United Nations official in his regular briefing to the UN Security Council […]
Japan, Russia Join UNODC to Support Afghanistan’s Counter Narcotics Efforts
By Reinhard Jacobsen VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghanistan, Japan and the Russian Federation have signed a declaration, highlighting the new development of the Trilateral Cooperation to support counter narcotics efforts of the Government of Afghanistan, according to UN Information Service (UNIS). The declaration also gives an overview […]
Combative Politics and Hostile Discourse Mark UN Disarmament Initiatives
By Jaya Ramachandran NEW YORK (IDN) – “If one had to pick a single word to describe this year’s First Committee, contentious would be a reasonable contender. The increased volume – in all senses of the word – of accusations and denials has descended as close to name calling as diplomatic forums get,” says Ray […]
Migration a Major Issue in EU’s Relations with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As the United Nations Global Compact fractures, migration has become a key issue in negotiations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) which kicked off in September 2018 to hammer out a successor to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement set to […]
Global Forum on Human Settlements Calls for Urban Innovation
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK | BANGKOK (IDN) – The Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) 2018 has called for greater efforts to speed up the transition to green growth through developing a circular economy, scaling-up financing for sustainable urban infrastructure, sustainably managing urban water, applying innovative technologies for smart cities, building enhanced partnership and […]