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Viewpoint by Herbert Wulf
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission.
Three developments contribute to the fact that 2023 could indeed become India's global political year: India's chairmanship of the G20 countries, interestingly its role in the war in Ukraine, and the increasingly widespread critical view of China.
By António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General
The following are extensive excerpts from the UN Chief's address to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, on 18 January 2023. The focus of the Forum (16-20 January) is on 'Cooperation in a Fragmented World'.
NEW YORK | DAVOS (IDN) — [The Forum's] theme perfectly sets out the dilemma of today’s world: We need cooperation, yet we face fragmentation.
By Navdeep Suri
Observer Research Foundation published this article. The writer has had a 36-year-long career in the Indian Foreign Service. He served, among others, in India’s diplomatic missions in Cairo, Damascus, Washington, Dar es Salaam and London.
NEW DELHI (IDN) — The decision to invite President Abdel Fattah al Sisi of Egypt as the Chief Guest on Republic Day (January 26) is an important gesture and should go a long way in imparting fresh momentum to India’s ties with the largest country in the Arab world. Egypt matters.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) — The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) comprising 169 targets, which are an urgent call for action by all—developed and developing in a global partnership.
Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar
This article was issued by Indian Punchline.
NEW DELHI (IDN) — The Brazilian news agency reported that Lula da Silva’s inauguration as the new president on January 1 for a historic third term amidst a carnival-like backdrop was attended by over five dozen foreign delegations, composed of heads of government, vice presidents, foreign ministers, special envoys and representatives of international organisations. It was the largest event with high-level international figures in Brazil since the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Children's agency UNICEF has pledged to continue to support children and families facing humanitarian crises across the globe in 2023. "Today, there are more children in need of humanitarian assistance than at any other time since the Second World War," says UNICEF.
Worldwide, children and their families are facing a deadly mix of crises, from conflict and displacement to disease outbreaks and soaring rates of malnutrition. Climate change is making these crises worse and unleashing new ones.
By Shastri Ramachandaran
MELBOURNE (IDN) — The unprecedented benefits expected to flow both ways from the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement (ECTA), which came into force on December 30, are by now well-known in the two countries.
Both India and Australia are upbeat about the ECTA, called the Unity Agreement, as a ground-breaking measure for intensifying bilateral commerce across a range of sectors and taking economic cooperation to an altogether new level.
By Robert Johnson
PARIS (IDN) — Though ODA-official development assistance from members of the OECD’s DAC-Development Assistance Committee rose to a new high last year, it amounted to the equivalent of only 0.33 per cent of their combined GNI-gross national income, thus falling short of a United Nations goal to reach an ODA/GNI ratio of 0.7%.
The biggest ODA givers by volume in 2021 were the United States (USD 47.8 billion), Germany (USD 33.3 billion), Japan (USD 17.6 billion), the United Kingdom (USD 15.7 billion), and France (USD 15.5 billion).
Viewpoint by Dan Steinbock
The writer is the Founder of the Difference Group. The following are extensive excerpts from the article, originally published by China-US Focus on December 16, 2022.
NEW YORK (IDN) — In a recent Foreign Affairs commentary, Mohamed A. El-Erian warned that we are not facing just extraordinarily challenging business-cycle fluctuations but structural and secular long-term pressures. As a result, “the global economy may never be the same.”
Viewpoint by Alexander Kozul-Wright*
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) hosted its biennial debt management conference on December 5-7. The forum brought together governments, international organizations and academia to share views on the current debt landscape in developing countries.
LONDON (IDN) — Covid-19 shuddered the world economy to a halt, and the impact on developing countries was particularly severe. A combination of informal working conditions, underfunded healthcare systems and limited fiscal space constrained policy responses to the virus. By the end of 2020, sharp falls in export earnings and remittance inflows had pushed tens of low-income countries to the economic brink.
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