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By (Grandson) Kojo, on behalf of the Annan family
GENEVA | ACCRA (IDN-INPS) – On August 18, the world lost a leader and a statesman: Kofi Atta Annan.
And we lost a brother, a husband, a father, a grandfather, and an uncle – a man of deep conviction who was as committed to instilling the values of fairness, integrity, kindness, and service in each of us, as he was to advocating for peace and human rights around the world.
By The Elders
LONDON (IND-INPS) – The Elders are shocked and deeply saddened at the passing of their dear friend and colleague Kofi Annan, who was the globally admired and respected Chair of The Elders.
The Elders are shocked and deeply saddened at the passing of their dear friend and colleague Kofi Annan, who was the globally admired and respected Chair of The Elders.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifteen years ago, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Iraq's capital Baghdad killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. The Brazilian United Nations diplomat had been working for the world body's humanitarian and political programs for more than 34 years.
"The Canal Hotel bombing was," according to Secretary-General António Guterres, "a massive loss for the United Nations and the humanitarian community, and it marked a turning point for the need to increase the protection of humanitarian operations in Iraq and worldwide."
By Kofi Annan
Beneath the surface of states and nations, ideas and language, lies the fate of individual human beings in need. Answering their needs will be the mission of the United Nations in the century to come, said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Following are extensive excerpts form his lecture – which is widely considered his legacy – at the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony on December 10, 2001 in Oslo. – The Editor
NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Today, in Afghanistan, a girl will be born. Her mother will hold her and feed her, comfort her and care for her – just as any mother would anywhere in the world. In these most basic acts of human nature, humanity knows no divisions. But to be born a girl in today’s Afghanistan is to begin life centuries away from the prosperity that one small part of humanity has achieved. It is to live under conditions that many of us in this hall would consider inhuman.
By Sean Buchanan
LONDON (IDN) – As governments across the globe crack down on citizen groups, stifling their ability to speak out and hold governments to account, the role of civil society is more important now than ever.
With his in mind, activists from more than 600 civil society organisations and more than 45 countries worldwide gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from August 6 to 7 for the sixth annual Civil 20 summit. The meeting came at a critical time prior to the meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) in November.
Civil 20 (C20) is one of the seven engagement groups of the G20, conceived as an instrument through which civil society organisations (CSOs) from different parts of the world can contribute in a structured and sustained manner to the G20, thus ensuring that world leaders listen not only to the voices representing the governmental and business sectors, but also to the proposals and demands of civil society as a whole.
Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu
The author is Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. This article first appeared in UN Chronicle, Vol. LV No. 2 2018 | August 2018.
NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – The idea that disarmament and arms control are connected to development is not new. Article 26 of the Charter of the United Nations recognizes disarmament as a precondition for durable peace, security and development by calling for the maintenance of international peace and security with the least diversion of the world’s economic and human resources for arms.
For a long time, however, disarmament has largely slipped off the development agenda. This is despite overwhelming evidence that excessive arms accumulation diverts needed resources from development and fuels armed conflict and violence, leading to unnecessary death and suffering, social inequality and environmental degradation. Hence, the failure to establish effective disarmament and arms control systems is devastating to socioeconomic development, peace and security, and human well-being.
Viewpoint by António Guterres
The survivors of the atomic bombings, known in Japanese as the hibakusha, have become global "leaders for peace and disarmament", United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan on 9 August 2018, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of that devastating day. Following are extensive extracts from Guterres' remarks. – The Editor
NAGASAKI (IDN-INPS) – I am humbled, as Secretary-General of the United Nations, to be here with you to commemorate the women, men and children killed by the nuclear attack on Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. I convey my deepest respect and condolences to everyone here today, and to all the victims and survivors of the atomic bombs.
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) - August 9 is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. On this occasion, UN Women calls on each of us to commit to making the voices of indigenous peoples, and indigenous women, louder and more impactful than ever before: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/8/statement-un-women-international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples.
At a time of unprecedented human mobility, indigenous women are on the move too, often fleeing violence, environmental disasters and land encroachments that have eaten into their sources of food, water and way of life. The positive economic spin-offs of migration don’t always reach them. Theirs is a move also for justice, as they mobilize to make their voices heard, demand punishment for perpetrators and reparations to restore their dignity.
By Phil Pascal
The writer is a Caribbean journalist and Commentator on development issues. This is the second article in a two-part Series on the next stage of ACP-EU relations in the Post-Cotonou Agreement with the EU. In the earlier commentary the writer explained the principles and processes by which the ACP Group has set about establishing the inclusive and participatory inter-governmental framework for negotiations of a Post-Cotonou Partnership Agreement (PCPA).
BRIDGETOWN (ACP-IDN) –The single undertaking of the new Agreement builds on the successes of the present one signed in Cotonou, Benin in West Africa for a 20-year period. But it also shows evidence of being ready to critique weaknesses and adapt seriously to the changing circumstances – political, economic and cultural – of the 21st century.
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