Global Partnerships

Graphic source: sustainabledevelopment.un.org

The Need to Revitalize Global Partnership in Trade

Viewpoint by Mukhisa Kituyi

The following are extended excerpts from UNCTAD Mukhisa Kituyi's Secretary-General blog on UNCTAD Website. In the face of barriers and protectionism, says the writer, the multilateral trade rulebook needs to be revised to ensure that it can deliver its full development potential.

GENEVA (IDN) –The multilateral trading system provides a unique international regime that regulates the conduct of sovereign nations in trade policy. Its norms, principles and institutions have served many of its member countries to overcome the so-called ‘prisoners’ dilemma’ in their strategic interaction with trading partners, where individually rational behaviour leads to collectively inefficient outcomes. This has helped increase international cooperation in multilateral market-opening and rule-making and has boosted trade flows around the world.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 06 July 2019

Serious Doubts about Sustainable Development Goals being Achieved by 2030

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the international community started implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), efforts on some of the Goals have been successful “in a number of areas”, but on the whole “progress has been slow or even reversed”, notes the UN, adding that the most vulnerable people and countries continue to suffer the most and the global response has not been ambitious enough.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 01 July 2019

Graphic: Technology Fuels Fast-moving Local Newsrooms. Credit: Dataminr

UN Partners with Dataminr to Keep UN Teams Abreast of Crises

By Felicia Vacarelu

The writer is Communication Specialist of UN Global Pulse – a flagship innovation initiative of the United Nations Secretary-General on big data – on which appeared the following as blog.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – This is the age of citizen journalism, where anyone armed with a smartphone and a social media account can report from the scene of an incident well before authorities have been notified. Receiving such real-time information in a humanitarian crisis, or in the middle of a conflict zone, can save lives and help keep our UN staff safer.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 01 July 2019

EU-Mercosur Trade Deal Worries 79-Nation ACP Group

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The 79-nation ACP Group of States and the Least Developed countries (LDCs) are concerned about the free trade agreement (FTA) between the European Union (EU) and the South American trade bloc Mercosur announced on June 28, 2019. The agreement has been concluded after 20 years of negotiations.

The agreement is perceived as a thorn in the flesh of the ACP Group and LDCs, which includes 180,000 metric tonnes of tariff-free access for sugar in the under the existing 334,054 tonnes CXL quota at 98 €/t for Brazil. In other words, the first 180,000 tonnes of access would be duty-free each year, and also an additional 10,000 tonnes duty-free quota for Paraguay.

: Robert Johnson; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 30 June 2019

Russia and Africa Gearing for Inter-Parliamentary Conference

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW, (IDN) – With high optimism, Russian legislators plan to use the forthcoming Russia-Africa inter-parliamentary conference scheduled for July 3 to discuss effective ways of strengthening Russia-African relations with a focus on new mechanisms for exploring business opportunities in Africa.

More than 30 African countries will take part in the conference in Moscow, an indication that African governments have a renewed interest in and looking forward to developing policy ties that could foster greater economic engagement and investment in sustainable development on the continent.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 21 June 2019

Photo: Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-19). Credit: Russian President's Website.

SDGs Offer Russia New Opportunities in Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-19) that brought together thousands of foreign delegates, including those from Africa, prioritized "sustainable development" as the key theme. It offered an opportunity to discuss in-depth the significance, challenges and prospects of sustainable development, and cooperation among state institutions and businesses as well as between countries in achieving the global development goals endorsed by world leaders in September 2015 at the UN Headquarters in New York.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 10 June 2019

Photo: High level participants and representatives from the least developed countries following the opening session of the Global Conference on Scaling-Up Energy Access and Finance in the Least Developed Countries on May 30. Credit: UN-OHRLLS.

Boosting Energy Access and Finance in Poorest Countries

Viewpoint by Youba Sokona

The following are extensive extracts from keynote remarks by Youba Sokona, South Centre's Senior Adviser on Sustainable Development, at the Global Conference on Scaling-up Energy Access and Finance in Least Developed Countries in Beijing, China. The United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and the Global Energy Interconnection Development and Cooperation Organization (GEIDCO) organised the conference with the support of the UN system on May 30-31, 2019.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 June 2019

79-Nation ACP Moving into a New Era of Global Partnerships

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – To bring "Asia and the Americas into closer bonds of friendship" with the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and "strengthen South-South solidarity", Secretary-General Dr. P. I. Gomes is keen to "build bridges with India on technical cooperation" and initiate a "new partnership" with Peru. He was speaking at the 'ACP Day' celebrations.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 June 2019

Volunteering Kicks Up a Notch in Kenya

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) – One of the biggest cross-nation collaborations currently, is between the European Union and Kenya. This unusual pairing provides Kenya with the resources to implement development strategies with a Sh8 billion line of credit (USD 78.922.800,00) from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

While the loan is earmarked for the private sector to improve development, there is a definite need for support in all areas to make these funds go even further. One of the biggest cost items for any development project is labour. While paid labour will still be a component, a large form of relief is through skilled volunteers.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 05 June 2019

ACP-EU Projects Assist Africa to Unlock Innovation Potential

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (ACP-IDN) – The world’s first green power generator which can produce electricity using radio frequencies, an electric powered car which does not consume fuel, a multi-fueled helicopter: by any stretch of imagination, innovations like these will not be attributed to an African. But Maxwell Chikumbutso has meanwhile been recognized as an exception to the rule. The United States government has given him new home in the populous state of California.

In an interview with a Zimbabwean independent online media organization, Chat263.com, Chikumbutso expressed disappointment that Africa did not see what the U.S. Government saw in his ground-breaking inventions.