Global Partnerships

Photo: Pope Francis delivering his inaugural keynote speech at the Seventh Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions in the Kazakh capital on September 14. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | INPS-IDN Multimedia Director

Kazakhstan, the Centre of a New Route of Global Relationships?

By Kalinga Seneviratne

NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan (IDN) — Pope Francis has raised the prospect of Kazakhstan becoming the centre of a new route connecting the East and West, but this time a route that builds on human relations and respect.

Kazakhstan was once the meeting place of traders and travellers travelling from the East to the West, known as the Silk Route. In the 21st century, the Chinese are trying to revive these routes via railways and highways to promote trade across the world known as the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 17 September 2022

Photo: Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev speaking at the closing ceremony of the Seventh Congress of the Leaders of World and Traditional Religions on September 15 in the Kazakh capital. Credit: Akorda press service.

Kazakhstan: A Bridge Between West and East

By Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of Kazakhstan

As Kazakhstan hosted on September 14-15 the Congress of Leaders of World and Traditional Religions, an influential US magazine National Interest published an article by the Kazakhstan President where he dwells on the significance of the two-day congress amid rising global tensions. The following text was re-published by The Astana Times newspaper.

BERLIN | NUR-SULTAN (IDN) — At times like this, we need to build bridges, not walls.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 September 2022

Despite Many Setbacks, The World Is Becoming Happier

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) — High moments aside, do we know what happiness is? Is the world becoming a happier place? Are we happier than our parents' or grandparents’ generations? What could give us a little more happiness?

"Homo Sapiens has been around for about 8,000 generations, and for most of that time, life has been rather unpleasant. Most humans who have ever lived have done so under despotic regimes," wrote Stephen Krasner in Foreign Affairs in March 2020. Life expectancy, he points out, didn’t begin to increase until 1850, just seven generations ago, and accelerated only after 1900. It is still accelerating.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 August 2022

Photo: TICAD8 participating heads of delegations pose for the official family photo. TICAD Tunisia.

Japan Strengthens African Ties with Generous Pledge of Investment

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — African heads of state and a Japanese delegation are meeting to discuss “African-led” development at a meeting in Tunisia. Financial aid was discussed.

Tunisian President Kais Saied welcomed the participants to the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development—or TICAD— from August 27-28 in Tunis, where Japan promised $30 billion in investment in African aid to be delivered over three years, with smaller amounts also available for African food security.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 29 August 2022

Photo: India's Foreign Minister speaking at Chulalongkorn University. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne

India Is Moving Up From 'Look East Policy' To 'Act East Policy'

By Kalinga Seneviratne

BANGKOK (IDN) — External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has emphasized that India is keenly interested in the countries to its East, spreading right across East Asia into the Pacific. Speaking at Thailand's prestigious Chulalongkorn University on August 18, he explained "India's Vision of the Indo-Pacific" and indirectly went on to distance itself from the US military priorities for Indo-Pacific.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; South Asia; 20 August 2022

Image: A collage of Tim Peake, an astronaut of the International Space Station by the British/European Space Agency (timpeake.com), with a special apple tree grown from seeds taken into space. The tree was planted on the Vienna International Centre (VIC) grounds on 26 September 2021 to inspire future generations of space scientists.

Bringing the Benefits and Peace of Space to Humanity

A new UNOOSA head is to be appointed soon

By Aurora Weiss

VIENNA (IDN) — Legend has it that a young Isaac Newton was sitting beneath an apple tree contemplating the mysterious universe. Suddenly —"boink!''—an apple unexpectedly hit him on the head. He experienced his "aha moment!". In a flash of light, he understood that the same force that brought the apple crashing toward the ground also keeps the moon falling toward the Earth and the Earth falling toward the sun: gravity. We are talking about real space Affairs in practice, which debuted in his book Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy (1869).

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 16 August 2022

Photo: Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, chairman of the Group of 77 and China.

A Briefing on Carbon Capture Technology and Sustainable Energy Transition

By Razeena Raheem

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The Group of 77 and China, the largest single coalition of developing nations, hosted an Ambassadorial-level briefing on carbon capture technology at the United Nations. The briefing, which took place August 1, was titled "Carbon Capture Utilization & Storage—Technology Essential for an Equitable Energy Path Forward."

Addressing the meeting, Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, chairman of the G77, said: "I think our goals as the Group of 77 and China are clear."

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 08 August 2022

Coalition Calls for Securing Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Viewpoint by Galina Angarova (Buryat), Executive Director, Cultural Survival

CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts, USA (IDN) — On August 9, 2022, the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Indigenous leaders will launch a new site—www.sirgecoalition.org—as part of the official public announcement of a new coalition to Secure Indigenous People’s Rights in a Green Economy (SIRGE Coalition).

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 August 2022

Photo: No progress has been made since April 2021, when Chief Negotiators of the EU and OACPS concluded their deliberations and initialled an agreed text for the successor Agreement to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement that expired on February 29, 2020. Credit: OACPS Secretariat

OACPS-European Union Post-Cotonou Negotiations Process in a Stalemate

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — The 79 member-country Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS) is asking the European Commission to explain the long lapse that had occurred since April 2021, when chief negotiators of the EU and OACPS concluded their deliberations and initialled an agreed text for the successor Agreement to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement that expired on February 29, 2020.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; OACPS; 27 July 2022

Image: A port terminal in Barcelona, Spain. © Arthur C.C. Hsieh/ Shutterstock. Source: UNCTAD

Global Trade Hits Record $7.7 Trillion in First Quarter of 2022

This article was issued by UNCTAD and is being republished courtesy of them.

GENEVA (IDN) — The value of global trade rose to a record $7.7 trillion in Q1 2022, an increase of about $1 trillion relative to Q1 2021, according to UNCTAD’s Global Trade Update published on 7 July.

The growth, which represents a rise of about $250 million relative to Q4 2021, is fuelled by rising commodity prices, as trade volumes have increased to a much lower extent.