UN Insider

Possible Deployment of North Korea's Nuclear Weapons: "Automatically and Immediately"

Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf

This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.

BONN (IDN) — In the shadow of the Ukraine war and the extraordinary media attention, the conflict over North Korea's nuclear ambitions is currently receding into the background. For years, the government in Pyongyang has been continuously advancing its program. After numerous missile tests earlier this year, according to the English-language state news agency KCNA, the Supreme People's Assembly passed a law on September 8, "On Policy of the Nuclear Force of DPRK".

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 27 September 2022

Photo: Kenyan youth protest against Global North's failure to reduce CO2 emissions.

Kenyan Youth Seek Compensation from Rich Countries Responsible for Climate Change

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets of Nairobi on September 24 to demand that wealthy countries pay more in the fight against climate change.

"We need the Global North to pay for the damages they are causing," said Duncan Omwami, an activist who joined the protest.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 26 September 2022

Image credit: Global Call to Action Against Poverty.

UN Development Goals Can be Best Achieved with Civil Society Participation

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A coalition of over 1,000 civil society organizations (CSOs) from 127 countries, under the umbrella of the Global People’s Assembly (GPA), has declared that the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be best achieved—and on its 2030 deadline—only with the active participation of civil society.

“Seven years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals—almost halfway to the 2030 deadline—the visionary promise of social justice and a rights-based, equitable and ecologically just world for all appears to be a distant dream,” warns the coalition.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 26 September 2022

Photo: SGI Director General for Peace and Global Issues Hirotsugu Terasaki (left) opening the exhibition. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | INPS-IDN Multimedia Director.

Exhibition Educates Youth on Dangers of Nuclear Weapons

By Kalinga Seneviratne

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN) — An exhibition that opened at Keruen Mall, an upmarket shopping centre here on September 16 and continues until the end of the month, uses a novel method to reach out to young people with the message of the dangers of nuclear weapons.

The exhibition depicts over 70 years of nuclear history from the Hiroshima explosion through to today, using photographs, illustrations, and graphs that show the devastating effects of nuclear weaponry on communities.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 25 September 2022

Act Now to Transform Education into 21st Century Learning

Viewpoint by Dr Randa Grob-Zakhary

The author is the Founder and CEO of Education.org

ZURICH (IDN) — At the recent Transforming Education Summit in New York, 130 countries pledged to reboot their education systems and accelerate action to tackle the global learning crisis. Fifty foundations pledged to support those ambitions.

As UN Secretary-General António Guterres outlined, COVID-19 has “dealt a hammer blow” to education systems worldwide. But this has come on top of a much longer term crisis. Too often, education systems “don’t make the grade,” the Secretary-General said, as they are “dependent upon outdated and narrow curricula, under-trained and underpaid teachers, and rote learning”.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 24 September 2022

Photo: Late Ms Avon Mattison (left) with Ambassador Anwarul Chowdhury at the inaugural High Level Forum on The Culture of Peace at the United Nations convened by the 66th President of the UN General Assembly on 14 September 2012.

Women’s Equality Makes Our Planet Safe and Secure

By Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury

Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury is the Founder of the Global Movement for The Culture of Peace (GMCoP), Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN (1996-2001) and Under-Secretary-General and High Representative of the United Nations (2002-2007).

The following is based on his inaugural keynote speech at the first “Exceptional Women of Peace” Awards Ceremony hosted by the Pathways To Peace (PTP) on 13 September 2022 (virtual)

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 23 September 2022

Image: Mitchell Squire/Private Media. Source: Crickey

Democracy: Room for Some Sptimism Despite Setbacks

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — In the year 2000, George W. Bush became the victor of an imperfect presidential election. The less than straightforward way that Bush won and, in particular, how obvious it became that the US Supreme Court had become a political creature, raised the profound worry that this would rub off on many parts of the world.

One can’t prove it, but I suggest that that, together with later shenanigans surrounding the presidency of Donald Trump, including his refusal to accept the election result and the riot of January 6, when his supporters stormed the Capitol, there is some correlation between these events and the decline of democracy in many parts of the world.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 20 September 2022

Photo: Multi-Religious panellists at the Congress. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | INPS-IDN

“God” Needs to Make Way for Global Multi-religious Peace Alliances

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 50th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship agency of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous reports.

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN/LCN) — There were over 250 religious leaders from across the world attending the 7th Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on September 14-15, with over 90 per cent of them representing Islamic and Christian traditions.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Central Asia; 19 September 2022

Photo: Vanessa Nakate, centre, in Turkana County, Kenya with 20-year-old Dorcas Amana and her 20-month-old son Micah Erot and Asinyoni Ekiru with her 14-month-old baby Papos Alos. UNICEF/Translieu/Nyaberi/UN0702702

UNICEF Appoints Climate Activist Vanessa Nakate as Goodwill Ambassador

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — A Black climate activist, who found her picture snipped out of a news photo of young environmental activists (all white) at a U.N. confab, is finally getting a serious platform for her important work.

Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan-born fighter for climate protection has been selected by UNICEF, the UN aid and development agency for children, to travel around the continent as their new goodwill ambassador. Other ambassadors included Serena Williams, popular actor Amitabh Bachchan, and Katy Perry.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 19 September 2022

Photo: Survivors of a devastating earthquake in Afghanistan attend class at a UNICEF-supported community-based education centre in Gayan District, Paktika Province. Credit: UNICEF | Mark Naftalin

UN Chief Considers Financing Education, Imperative for 'Peaceful, Prosperous, Stable Societies'

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) — Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, two-thirds of countries have cut their education budgets. “But education is the building block for peaceful, prosperous, stable societies,” says the UN Chief.

“Reducing investment virtually guarantees more serious crises further down the line”. Secretary-General António Guterres spelt out: “We need to get more, not less, money into education systems”.