Global Partnerships

Photo: Papua New Guinea's Prime Minister Peter O'Neill, right, and China's President Xi Jinping in Port Moresby on November 16.

China Chides U.S. for Portraying Silk Road as 'Trap'

By Devinder Kumar

PORT MORESBY (IDN) – China’s President Xi Jinping has rejected U.S. criticism of Beijing’s Belt and Road Initiative, vowing it is not "a trap" and that it is not designed to serve any hidden geopolitical agenda. The project is also known as Silk Road Economic Belt.

Xi was addressing a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in the capital of PNG and referring to a massive infrastructure and development project spanning Southeast Asia, Central Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Africa, according to Iran's Press TV.

: Devinder Kumar; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 17 November 2018

Japan, Russia Join UNODC to Support Afghanistan's Counter Narcotics Efforts

By Reinhard Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Afghanistan, Japan and the Russian Federation have signed a declaration, highlighting the new development of the Trilateral Cooperation to support counter narcotics efforts of the Government of Afghanistan, according to UN Information Service (UNIS). The declaration also gives an overview of the past achievements.

This cooperation was initiated in September 2012 with the delivery of counter narcotics training provided to law enforcement officials from Afghanistan and its neighbouring countries of Central Asia, conducted at the All-Russian Advanced Training Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, or the 'Domodedovo Training Centre' with the financial and technical support of Japan.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; UN INSIDER; 12 November 2018

Decline in External Finance to Developing Countries Endanger Global Goals

By Krishan Dutta

PARIS (IDN) – "Donor countries have not followed through on their 2015 promise to expand development finance flows," said OECD Development Co-operation Director Jorge Moreira da Silva, launching a landmark report at the Paris Peace Forum.

He was commenting on an important finding of the report that external finance to poor countries is declining, despite a promise by the international community three years ago to increase development finance flows, in particular through private investment.

: Krishan Dutt; SUSTAINABILITY; Global Partnerships; 12 November 2018

Photo: The first migrants from the Aquarius ship arrive at the port of Valencia on an Italian ship, the Dattilo, June 2018. Credit: UNHCR

Migration a Major Issue in EU's Relations with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As the United Nations Global Compact fractures, migration has become a key issue in negotiations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) which kicked off in September 2018 to hammer out a successor to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement set to expire in 2020.

The ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou, Benin, on June 23, 2000, was concluded for a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020. It is the most comprehensive partnership agreement between developing countries and the EU. In 2010, ACP-EU cooperation was adapted to new challenges such as climate change, food security, regional integration, State fragility and aid effectiveness.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; UN INSIDER; 09 November 2018

Photo: Participants in the opening session. Credit: Global Forum on Human Settlements.

Global Forum on Human Settlements Calls for Urban Innovation

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK | BANGKOK (IDN) – The Global Forum on Human Settlements (GFHS) 2018 has called for greater efforts to speed up the transition to green growth through developing a circular economy, scaling-up financing for sustainable urban infrastructure, sustainably managing urban water, applying innovative technologies for smart cities, building enhanced partnership and creating international green model cities.

GFHS enjoys a special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; UN INSIDER; 06 November 2018

Photo: SIDS meeting in Apia, Samoa. Credit: UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States.

Small Island Developing States Reiterate Commitment to Sustainable Development

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Confronted with the increased effects of climate change, natural disasters, and the outsized impacts of global economic shocks on small economies, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have resolved to strengthen their efforts to achieve sustainable development.

The 'Apia Outcome' – adopted at the conclusion of a three-day meeting that ended on November 1 in Apia, Samoa – will serve as the basis for the preparation of the inter-governmentally agreed Political Declaration of the High-level SIDS Midterm Review of the SAMOA Pathway, to be held in September 2019.

: J Nastranis; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 03 November 2018

Photo: The Gradjet website helps government officials in least developed countries understand what it means to leave the LDC category and to plot a course for future action. It’s also aimed at the wider development community and anyone else interested in LDC graduation. Credit: Gradjet.

UN Calls for Ensuring Smooth Transition of Poorest Countries from LDC Status

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the decade 2011–2020 draws to an end and a growing number of world's most vulnerable countries are increasing national earning power and improved access to health care and education, making them eligible to exit the group of least developed countries (LDCs), the United Nations has accentuated the importance of paying increased attention to smooth transition processes, thus ensuring sustainable development and the irreversibility of graduation.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 03 November 2018

Photo: Berlin Wall on Potsdamer Platz, June 1988. CC BY-SA 3.0

Tear Down Walls, Those Manifestations of Superficial Thinking

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At first I was a bit surprised to find that the English admonition, “Good fences makes for good neighbours” exists in many other languages. I shouldn’t have been taken aback. A moment’s reflection should have told me that fences and walls to divide off peoples have been going on for millennia.

There’s nothing in particular new about the fence between the U.S. and Mexico, the Cold War wall between East and West Germany or the one between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank. Look at the Great Wall of China.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 October 2018

Photo credit: University of Zanjan, Iran.

UN Announces 'SDG Hubs' Connecting Universities with 2030 Global Agenda

By Ramesh Jaura

NEW YORK (IDN) – The critical role of academia in general and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in particular in advancing the goals of the United Nations Charter was underlined when the Organization celebrated the 73rd anniversary of its entry into force on October 24.

In view of the fact that universities play a vital role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015, UNAI announced its new SDG Hubs around the world. These are UNAI members selected as models for their innovative engagement related to the SDGs.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 29 October 2018

Photo: Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Md Kamal Hossain visiting Rohingya camp Kutupalong. Credit: Md Mojibur Rahman Rana.

A Crisis Within a Crisis for the Rohingyas

By Naimul Haq

DHAKA, Bangladesh (IDN) – Despite a well-coordinated effort to address the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal town bordering Myanmar, some major challenges still need attention.

The local administration admits that with over one million forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens arriving in such a short time, it is indeed difficult to manage the environmental damages and rising crime rates faced by the local people.

Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Md Kamal Hossain told IDN that in terms of supplies of food, commodities and household basics efforts have been well coordinated. However, “environmental damage and the crimes rising by the day are major concerns but they are being addressed now and hopefully we would soon find solutions.”