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Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) — UN experts are warning that Afghanistan's future is bleak if more is not done to reverse the deteriorating human rights situation, particularly for women and girls. They call on the international community to intensify efforts to urge de facto authorities to adhere to basic human rights principles.
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — Celebrated every year on August 12, the theme of this year's International Youth Day is "Intergenerational Solidarity: Creating a World for All Ages", which UN Secretary-General António Guterres noted, reminds us of "a basic truth" that "we need people of all ages, young and old alike, to join forces to build a better world for all".
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — A bill before parliament in the Ivory Coast would upend monogamy and restore polygamy—a marriage that includes one husband and at least two wives. Outraged women’s groups call it a return to inequality.
The move mirrors setbacks worldwide, including the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Roe vs Wade. The bill, proposed by Yacouba Sangare of the ruling Rally of Houphouetists for Democracy and Peace, would acknowledge a widespread practice across the country and, therefore, he says, one that should be legally permitted.
By Farai Shawn Matiashe
MUTARE, Zimbabwe (IDN) — Cyberbullying and online sexual harassment are some dilemmas that young women trying to rise in Zimbabwe’s patriarchal and male-dominated political space face.
What started as a debate on the opposition party, Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC), led by young and charismatic politician Nelson Chamisa not having structures, ended up with CCC spokesperson Fadzayi Mahere fighting cyberbullying from the ruling party, Zanu PF sympathisers in courts.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The warnings came from the highest echelons of the United Nations, from UN Secretary-General António Guterres and President of the 193-member General Assembly Abdulla Shahid.
The message was clear: the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) desperately need help for their very survival, eight years ahead of their 2030 deadline for full implementation.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The UN’s 17 heavily-promoted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have long been undermined by the three-year-old Covid-19 pandemic and the devastation caused to the world economy by the after-effects of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24.
But now a third factor is threatening to derail the implementation of the SDGs: a projected rise in world population which is expected to reach 8 billion by November this year, according to the latest figures in a new UN report titled “World Population Prospects 2022” released July 11 by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA).
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — Until she asked, I didn't know it was a problem. Her problem, I mean. When people say whatever gets your time and attention gets you, it’s often true.
For as long as I can remember, 36 weeks every year, this thing gets my time and attention.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) — The former prime minister and a frontrunner in the August 9 presidential election, Raila Odinga, has tapped Martha Wangari Karua, a former justice and constitutional affairs minister, as his running mate—making her the first woman in Kenya to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket.
It is believed she can pull in a decisive number of votes among her Kikuyu people, the country’s largest ethnic group.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — In Africa, where the risk of dying from an unsafe abortion is the highest in the world, Roe v Wade has long been an important weapon in the arsenal of those fighting to liberalize abortion laws and make the procedure safer for women and girls despite it rarely being invoked by name.
Human rights lawyer Stephanie Musho, a Kenyan, pointed to the case of Tunisia which liberalized their law limiting abortions just nine months after the Roe v Wade ruling—allowing women to access the service on demand.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A new study concludes that investments in girls’ education have failed to deliver economic equality for women.
The researchers found that while such investments have delivered many other benefits—including better health outcomes for women and their families—the economic returns are often disappointing.
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.