HUMAN RIGHTS

Photo: Geneva Liaison Office Opening Photo: UN Women/Elma Okic

UN Women Geneva Office to Expand Crucial Partnerships

By IDN-INPS UN Bureau

GENEVA (IDN) - Keen to provide strategic support and boost efforts for gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls worldwide, the New York based UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, has opened its Geneva Liaison Office.

Explaining the decision to open the Office on October 6, UN Women said in a media release: "Serving as a gateway to development stakeholders, Geneva is host to over 40 United Nations (UN) entities, more than 400 non-governmental organizations, some 35 international organizations as well as renowned academic institutions, several of which support the promotion of women’s rights and gender equality."

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 06 October 2016

Photo: A group photo of the participants of the conference of nuns and monks. | Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Gender Equality Gathers Momentum Among Asian Buddhists

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 11th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) - The first ASEAN Buddhist Conference held on September 22-23 at Nakhonpathom Rajabhat University, about 100 km from Bangkok, brought together Buddhist Bhikkunis (nuns), Bhikkus (monks) and lay Buddhists from across Asia in a bid to form alliances to empower the increasing community of Bhikkunis in Asia.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 02 October 2016

Address Multiple Drivers of Migration As ACP, EU Do

Viewpoint by Dr Patrick I Gomes

Dr Patrick I Gomes is the Secretary-General of the ACP Group of States based in Brussels. Following is a slightly abridged version of his statement at the United Nations Summit on Refugees and Migrants in New York on September 19, 2016.

NEW YORK (IDN) - The 79 Member States of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) welcomes this timely and relevant meeting on migration. The ACP-European Union Cotonou Agreement provides for an on-going dialogue on migratory flows which is jointly pursued to address protection of human rights, non-discrimination in treatment of third country nationals, and of strategies to reduce poverty, the basic issue of the ACP-EU Dialogue on Migration.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 20 September 2016

Photo: A wood carver in Solomon Islands. Credit: IUCN | Stuart Chape.

South Pacific: Foreign Logging Spurs Child Sex Fears

This is the first in a series of features on the South Pacific produced in collaboration with Wansolwara, an independent student newspaper of the University of the South Pacific.

SUVA, Fiji (IDN) - Two women’s rights activists have raised alarm bells about the need to protect Solomon Island children, especially girls, from being exploited by foreigners, who are involved in the South Pacific island nation’s logging industry.

The activists, Sister Doreen Awaiasi and Lynffer Maltungtung, say there are countless incidents in which under-age girls and young women are given to foreigners by their parents, or are lured by riches, but not much is being done to stop these or to educate the locals against engaging in such illegal acts.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 20 September 2016

Photo: Doro refugee camp, in Maban, South Sudan. Credit: ©FAO/UNHCR Albert Gonzalez Farran

FAO Against Migration Being a Desperate Last Resort

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) - While migration has throughout history been a driver for development, the cost becomes too high when people find that leaving their homes is their only alternative, according to FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva.

"Migration should be an act of choice, and not a desperate last resort," Graziano da Silva said during the UN Summit for Refugees and Migrants on September 19.

Bolstering the opportunities that allow rural people in developing countries to remain at home is a critical component of any plan to tackle the contemporary migration crisis,

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 19 September 2016

IFAD Launches $110 Million Facility For Refugees

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - An unprecedented 65 million people worldwide have been affected by the current global crisis of forced displacement, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than one-third of the displaced – or 22.2 million – are in the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region.

With this in view, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has announced the establishment of a new financing facility amounting to $110 million to assist refugees, displaced people and their host communities to address the increased pressure put on rural areas by the influx of millions of people.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 19 September 2016

Photo: Children from the Central African Republic in the 2014 photo at Primary School 1 in UNHCR Mole Refugee Camp, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Photo: UNHCR/Sebastian Rich

Millions of Refugee Children ‘Missing Out’ on Education

by Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) - Refugee education is in crisis, the UN refugee agency has warned, stressing that more than some six million school-age children under mandate of the United Nations refugee agency have no school to go, and refugees are five times more likely to be out of school than the world average.

“This represents a crisis for millions of refugee children,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a news release issued by his Office (UNHCR).

“Refugee education is sorely neglected, when it is one of the few opportunities we have to transform and build the next generation so they can change the fortunes of the tens of millions of forcibly displaced people globally,” he added.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 17 September 2016

Photo: A young South Sudanese refugee tries to get a signal on his mobile phone in Nyumanzi refugee settlement, Adjumani, northern Uganda, in this 2014 file photo. Photo: UNHCR/Frederic Noy

Mobile Connectivity Critical Lifeline for Many Refugees

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - A large number of refugees view access to a mobile phone and the Internet as being as critical to their safety and security as food, water and shelter, according to a new report based on research undertaken in 44 countries on four continents.

The finding come at a moment when wars and persecution have driven more people from their homes than at any time since the UN refugee agency UNHCR began keeping records. At end of 2015, 65.3 million people are displaced worldwide, of whom 21.3 million are refugees.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 17 September 2016

Photo: Edna Valdez. Credit: UN Women/Norman Gorecho

Why Focus on Women Refugees and Migrants

By IDN-INPS UN Bureau

NEW YORK (IDN) - Ahead of the first-ever high-level summit for refugees on September 19 at the UN Headquarters in New York, UN Women, the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, has drawn attention to the fact that women represent almost half of the 244 million migrants and half of the 19.6 million refugees worldwide.

The remittances sent by women migrant workers improve the livelihood and health of their families and strengthen economies, says UN Women. In 2015, international migrants sent $432.6 billion in remittances to developing countries – nearly three times the amount of Official Development Assistance, which totalled at $131.6 billion.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 September 2016

Buddhists Concerned About Mindfulness 'Marketing'

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

This article is the eighth in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN | Lotus News Features) - Mindfulness, the meditative practice, which has its roots in Buddhism as Vipassana Bhavana, encourages people to focus on the present, rather than on the anxieties of the past or future.

In the previous decade, however, it has become somewhat of a fad around the world. Particularly in the U.S., it is now everywhere: in schools, law firms, banks, governments, and even in the U.S. military. They are all offering mindfulness sessions to staff.