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By Thalif Deen
NEW YORK (IDN) — Amid fears of the current General Assembly sessions in danger of being a “super spreader” of the Delta virus—among hundreds of delegates attending a two-week long meeting through end September—the United Nations has alerted its staff about an unnamed delegate testing positive.
Viewpoint by James W. Carden
This article was produced by Globetrotter in partnership with the American Committee for U.S.-Russia Accord. James W. Carden is a writing fellow at Globetrotter and a former adviser to the U.S. State Department. Previously, he was a contributing writer on foreign affairs at the Nation, and his work has also appeared in the Quincy Institute’s Responsible Statecraft, the American Conservative, Asia Times, and more. Source: Globetrotter
Viewpoint by Neville de Silva
A veteran Sri Lankan journalist, Neville de Silva was Assistant Editor of the Hong Kong Standard before working in London for Gemini News Service. Later he was Deputy Chief-of-Mission in Bangkok and Deputy High Commissioner in London.
LONDON (IDN) — Thankfully it was only a verbal update on Sri Lanka by United Nations Human Rights High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet. Had it been an extensive report on the country’s performance since the UN human rights body passed a highly critical resolution in March, then Sri Lanka might have well ended up like our struggling cricketers at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo—eating humble pie.
By Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY (IDN) — The Heads of State and Government from more than 90 countries are expected to announce their commitments to transform food systems to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the historic UN Food Systems Summit this week held virtually from New York. But many civil society and farmers' groups are sceptical about the international community being able to recognize the rights of small-scale farmers to their land and peoples access to affordable food, which are essential to achieving food security and associated SDGs.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN) — What do we in the West know about Islam? Perhaps more than we did before 9/11 but not much. Now the US and NATO have withdrawn from Afghanistan we are again reminded how little we understand about Islamic fundamentalism and how its adherents justify their beliefs, not least their use of violence.
When Tony Blair was prime minister of the United Kingdom, he was photographed walking along holding the Koran. I wonder how much of it he read. Did he read the verses on violence?
By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury
Following is the text of Inaugural Keynote Address by Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury, former Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations and Founder of The Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), at the First Annual Peace Education Day Conference organized virtually by The Unity Foundation and Peace Education Network.
By Yossef Ben-Meir, Emily Oksen, and Kristin O’Donoghue
Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is President of the High Atlas Foundation and Chief of Party of the USAID Religious and Ethnic Minorities Activity Program in Morocco. Emily Oksen and Kristin O’Donoghue are students at the University of Virginia and interns with HAF.
MARRAKESCH (IDN) — It is human nature to wish to be remembered. We have an innate desire to leave behind a legacy or some tangible proof of our existence that outlasts our fleeting time on Earth. Groups comprised of individuals who share an identity also long for this recognition. Collective experiences, achievements, and histories of people have been lost, sometimes systematically through institutionalized inequity, and others through tragic, but often unavoidable, cycles.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
New York (IDN) — False or misleading posts on Facebook and Instagram are being blamed for enabling human traffickers who recruit African women to be ferried to Saudi Arabia and other countries with promises of visas and jobs.
Instead, the women are held captive, denied access to food and forced to perform sex acts in massage parlours, according to internal investigations published recently in the Wall Street Journal.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
New York (IDN) — On February 5, 1820, the first organized group of emigrating freed slaves departed from New York to Freetown, Sierra Leone, in West Africa.
Next year, Liberia will mark the date with a bicentennial celebration beginning January 2022 and running through December 2022, according to a recent announcement by President George Manneh Weah.
Viewpoint by Bhikkhu Bodhi
Tackling global hunger requires that we identify its fundamental causes and remove these at the roots. This necessitates not only the adoption of transformative policies, but a fundamental change in our own values and attitudes, writes Bhikkhu Bodhi.
NEW YORK (IDN) — The Buddha teaches that to effectively solve any problem we have to remove its underlying causes. While the Buddha himself applies this principle to the ending of existential suffering, the same method can be used to deal with many of the challenges we face in the social and economic dimensions of our lives.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.