Decent Work & Economic Growth

Photo: Russia prepares for opening of St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2019) on June 6, 2019. Credit: SPIEF 2019.

Russia Considers Ways of Boosting Tourism

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – On the eve of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2019), government officials and tourism experts have been looking at systematic ways to remove barriers, adopt marketing strategies to improve the current inbound tourism figures and get effective institutional organizations to promote Russia’s image.

The SPIEF-2019, which has the theme 'Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda,' will take place on June 6-8 in St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with 5 million inhabitants in 2012.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; SUSTAINABILITY; Decent Work & Economic Growth; 02 June 2019

EU and International NGOs Exploit Aid to Fortify Forced Labour in Eritrea

Viewpoint by Makeda Saba

BRUSSELS (IDN) – The Dutch Foundation Human Rights for Eritreans, an organization of exiled Eritreans, is taking legal action against the European Union. It is demanding of the EU to immediately stop funding a project in Eritrea which involves use of forced labour and enslavement.

The European Union has allocated €20 million for the project aimed at “reconnecting Eritrea and Ethiopia through rehabilitation of the main arterial roads in Eritrea”. It will finance the reconstruction of the Nefasit-Dekemhare-Senafe-Zalembessa road, the main route that allows the easy transportation of goods between landlocked Ethiopia and Eritrea.

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 March 2019

Photo: Open-pit mine Montepuez, considered the world’s most lucrative ruby operation. Source: Gemfields

African Villagers Tortured For ‘Blood Rubies’ Worn by Stars

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A British mining company has agreed to pay over $7 million to settle claims including allegations of torture and murder at ruby mines in the northeast of Mozambique. The brilliant red stones, worth millions, have been worn by international actresses Mila Kunas, Bel Powley, and Sophie Cookson, among others.

The company, Gemfields, chose to pay community members living near its Montepuez ruby mine on a “no admission of liability” basis that settles a claim of human rights abuses over a decade brought against it by local villagers.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 February 2019

Photo: Bangladesh. Rohingya refugees who fled Myanmar to safety in Cox's Bazar. Credit: UNHCR/Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo

Rohingya Refugees Remain in A Perilous Situation

Viewpoint by Vincent Auger*

United Nations aid agencies and partners launched an appeal on February 15 to raise $920 million to assist more than 900,000 refugees from Myanmar and the more than 330,000 vulnerable Bangladeshis hosting them.

MACOMB, Illinois, USA (IDN-INPS) – Eighteen months after being driven from their homes in Myanmar by what UN officials described as a campaign of genocidal violence by the military, the situation facing Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh remains perilous. Hundreds of thousands of people live in camps (the camp in Kutupalong alone houses more than 600,000 people), relying on aid from the World Food Program and help from the government of Bangladesh.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 16 February 2019

Photo: Numbers of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean may have dropped in 2018, but at a heavy human cost. Source: MSF Sea.

Europe’s Invisible Wall Whets Human Trafficking

By Klara Smits

BRUSSELS (IDN) – After his visit to Austria, Libya’s foreign minister Mohammed Sayala told the Kuwaiti News Agency on January 31 that Libya’s southern borders have now become Europe’s borders. Illegal migration could not be stopped at the Mediterranean Sea, he argued. Therefore, he promised that on the February 20, Libya will present the EU with a policy to cooperate on ‘protecting’ those southern borders. The plan will also include border agreements with Chad, Niger and Sudan.

: Klara Smits; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 14 February 2019

Photo: President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. Credit: GhanaWeb.

African Leaders Put Rich Nations on Notice That Days of Cheap Resources Are Ending

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | CAPE TOWN (IDN) – African leaders had a new message for foreign companies seeking the diamonds, gold, rubies and emeralds so plentiful in desperate dirt-poor countries and so pricey when polished and sold in New York, Paris and Switzerland.

We’re no longer a cheap date. That message – in so many words – was heard again and again at this year’s posh African Mining Indaba (February 3-6) – a glittering conference in Cape Town, South Africa, that unites investors, mining companies, governments and stakeholders from around the world with the single goal of advancing mining on the African continent.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 February 2019

ILO Connects With The Public On World Of Work Issues

By ILO News

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – To coincide with its 100th year, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has announced a Global Campaign, “Taking the ILO to the people”, that demonstrates the relevance of the Organization’s founding mandate to contemporary challenges and its central role in helping build a fairer future for all.

“Work and the search for it touches all of our lives, yet many don’t know the international organization that has helped shape the world of work since 1919. Our objective, through a unified global outreach effort, is to show how the ILO has benefited and continues to benefit people’s world of work experience,” said ILO Communications Director Martin Murphy.

: UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 10 January 2019

3,500 Lose Jobs As New Currency Shortage Hits Zimbabwe

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Over 3,500 youth officers have been laid off as part of the nation’s shortage of currency amid efforts to streamline the wage bill. It was explained that the layoffs would save the country a substantial amount while the nation’s economy is limping.

Public Service Commission secretary Jonathan Wutawunashe said the layoffs were in line with the transitional stabilization program as announced by Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube in the 2019 national budget last November.

The measures, Ncube said, "will yield annual financial savings to be channeled to critical areas of health and education, as well as infrastructure".

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 January 2019

Photo: Coal-fired power plant. Credit: ozone.unep.org

New Agreement Seeks To Resist Powerful Greenhouse Gases

By Devendra Kamarajan

NAIROBI (IDN) – A new agreement signed in Kigali, the capital city of Rwanda, promises to fight global warming. Known as the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, came into force on January 1, 2019.

According to UN Environment, it will reduce the projected production and consumption of powerful greenhouse gasses termed as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) by more than 80 per cent over the next 30 years.

: Devendra Kamarajan; UN INSIDER; 06 January 2019

Photo: Obtaining a quality education is the foundation to creating sustainable development. Credit: UNIC Tunis.

UN Keen To Progress Towards 17 Global Development Goals

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A series of events, including two High-level Political Forums (HLPFs) and the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit on the margins of the 74th General Assembly underline the vital importance of 2019 that marks the fourth year of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit on September 25, 2015.

The first HLPF in July will be held under the auspices of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), completing its first cycle, and the other in September at the summit level during the General Assembly.