Category: UNITED NATIONS

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka* | IDN-InDepthNews Viewpoint

NEW YORK (IDN) – Over the past two years, Boko Haram has grown in influence and spread across the West African region with specific impacts on the rights of women and girls. The 500th day anniversary of the kidnapping of the Chibok girls in Nigeria recently passed. Despite a global movement calling for their return, most remain missing, with more women and girls abducted by Boko Haram each week. Millions have been displaced as a result of Boko Haram violence.

In light of this ongoing and deepening insecurity, UN Women welcomes the release of the report this week by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on violations committed by Boko Haram.

We underline the call to affected States and the international community to place gender equality at the heart of interventions. This is the only sustainable, systemic way to prevent and respond to the spread of violent extremism. Empowered women and empowered communities are the best defense against radicalization and further violence. We must engender counter-terrorism.

By Friday Phiri | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

PEMBA, Southern Zambia (IDN) – Using a simple but viable 400 dollar irrigation technology derived from an unconventionally modified motorised machine powered by a 12 volt solar panel, Hosea Mwaana, a small-scale farmer of Sibbuyu Village in Pemba district, waters over one hectare of land.

By J R Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Pope Francis – born Jorge Mario Bergoglio in Buenos Aires in 1936 – has been noted in his home country “for his humility, his emphasis on God’s mercy, his concern for the poor, and his commitment to interfaith dialogue”. But in his wide-ranging address at the United Nations General Assembly on September 25, the Argentine pontiff has proved himself the sole world leader, unfettered by parochial interests of any sort whatsoever.

UNITED NATIONS (IDN | UN News Centre) – The buzz and excitement about global development are intensifying at the United Nations, as world leaders begin arriving in New York to launch a landmark new framework that will aim to end poverty and build a life of dignity for all, leaving no one behind.

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Report

ROME (IDN) – A senior UN official has stressed close links between conflict, imperilled rural livelihoods and migration, pointing out that “rural development and food security are central to the global response to the refugee crisis”.

FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva said in a web posted statement on September 24: “The millions of people who are being forced to flee from war, poverty and other hardships are a tragic reminder of the urgent need for peaceful solutions based on social justice and improved economic opportunities for all. Key to achieving this is the protection of and investment in rural livelihoods.”

By J R Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

NEW YORK (IDN)  – The United Nations General Assembly deliberated on peace and non-violence at the UN headquarters in New York on September 9, making a significant contribution to fostering global citizenship at a point in time when the world is torn apart by multidimensional conflicts in all sectors of the globe.

At the fourth UN High Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, convened by General Assembly President Sam Kahamba Kutesa, senior UN officials and eminent peace advocates pointed out that peace neither meant absence of conflict nor did it automatically result from ending conflict, but rather from building societies that embraced diversity, equality, democratic participation and access to education.

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

NEW YORK (IDN) – When United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon launched the Global Education First Initiative in September 2012, “fostering global citizenship” was one of his three priorities, along with “putting every child in school” and “improving the quality of learning”.

Ban said: “Education is much more than an entry to the job market. It has the power to shape a sustainable future and better world. Education policies should promote peace, mutual respect and environmental care.”

As the international community moves toward adopting the post-2015 development agenda, popularly known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the need for education for global citizenship is becoming increasingly important.

Because none of the goals impacting the Earth and its inhabitants can be achieved without people and governments around the world transcending narrow national interests and acting in the interest of the planet.

By Valentina Gasbarri* | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

ROME (IDN) – Despite significant progress made over the previous decades, persistent and unacceptable levels of malnutrition pose a formidable global challenge.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the prevalence of hunger has declined since 1990. But some 805 million (1 out of 9 persons) remain chronically hungry, FAO data for 2012-2014 shows.

By Jamshed Baruah | IDN-InDepth NewsAnalysis

BERLIN (IDN) – About 22,000 nuclear weapons continue to threaten humankind’s survival nearly 70 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and more than 2,000 nuclear tests have been conducted to date, according to the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). But the world is far from prepared to effectively respond to nuclear weapons detonations, “even at basic levels of preparedness, let alone a large-scale nuclear war”.

This perturbing view has been expressed in a study by the UN Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR) undertaken in cooperation with OCHA (Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) and UNDP (UN Development Programme) ahead of the first International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26.