Global Partnerships

Donors Spend Less on Refugees, More on Poorest Countries

By Rita Joshi

PARIS (IDN) – Foreign aid from 30 opulent nations, designated as "official donors", totalled USD 146.6 billion in 2017, signifying a small decrease of 0.6% from the previous year in real terms because they spent less money on refugees hosted by them. But countries most in need of aid received more funds.

Aid, formally labelled as Official Development Assistance (ODA), constitutes over two thirds of external finance for least-developed countries. The Development Assistance Committee (DAC) of the OECD, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is pushing for ODA to be better used as a lever to generate private investment and domestic tax revenue in poor countries to help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Global Partnerships; 13 April 2018

Photo: This picture, taken at Ankor Wat and depicts the Hindu influence in Mekong/Cambodian architecture, shows the 'churning of the ocean' (samudra manthana in Sanskrit), which is one of the best-known episodes in the Hindu mythology. It explains the origin of the nectar of immortality (amrita). Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne | IDN-INPS

Ganga Initiative Brings Culture Into New Asian Trade Routes

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 23rd in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BANGKOK (IDN) – A recent conference at Thammasat University in Bangkok brought together Indian and Southeast Asian scholars to discuss re-building cultural links along two major rivers in Asia – the Ganges and the Mekong – that in ancient times provided transport links to build great civilizations influenced by Hindu and Buddhist philosophies and promote cultural flows.

The celebration of the New Year April 14 in the region based on astrology and harvesting cycle epitomizes these cultural links.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 11 April 2018

Photo (left to right): ACP Secretary-General P. I. Gomes; President of Guyana, Brigadier David A. Granger addressing the ACP Committee of Ambassadors; and Ethiopian Ambassador Teshome Toga Chanaka, Chair of the ACP Committee of Ambassadors for the period 1 February 2017 - 31 July 2017. Credit: ACP

ACP Group Looks Forward To Becoming 'Effective Global Player'

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – While preparing for talks on future relations with the European Union (EU) after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP) is engaged in concerted efforts to reshape itself into "an effective global player" serving as a catalyst and an advocate for defending, protecting and advancing multilateralism, within the overarching framework of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

An important factor for this objective to be achieved, as the ACP Secretary-General, Dr. Patrick I Gomes, told IDN's 'UN Insider', is the Revision of the Georgetown Agreement named after the capital of Guyana, where it was signed in 1975. The Revision would allow the ACP Group to deepen and widen its foundations.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 08 April 2018

Photo: Flags of CARIFORUM Member States. Credit: SKNIS

Caribbean States Share Common Values & Interests with Other ACP Countries

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – As the African, Caribbean, and Pacific Group of States (ACP) girds up its loins for talks on future relations with the European Union (EU) after the Cotonou Agreement expires in February 2020, the Caribbean Forum of the ACP States (CARIFORUM) has resolved that a new pact must take into account "the inherent and exogenous vulnerabilities" of the Caribbean region as critical elements in the negotiations.

The ACP Group of 79 States, constitutes 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean region and 15 from the Pacific. Together they make up nearly 41 percent of 193 member countries of the United Nations. Besides, Africa with a population of 1.28 billion is home to 16.64 percent of the world population and accounts for more than 87 percent of 55 members of the African Union. Nearly 44 million people who live in the Caribbean countries make up 0.58 percent of the world population.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; ACP Group of States; 01 April 2018

Photo: Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed visits a rehabilitation centre for disabled children in Belarus. © Egor Dubrovsky/UN Photo

Realising the SDGs Will Require Action in Five Key Areas

By Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations

This article first appeared in Sustainable Development Goals: Delivering Change, UNA-UK publication providing analysis and recommendations in achieving Sustainable Development Goals on 19 March 2018. – The Editor

LONDON (IDN-INPS) – In this third year of global efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, there are encouraging signs of momentum. The hope that accompanied the Agenda’s adoption in 2015 is still with us. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have captured the imagination of leaders and general public alike. Member States are showing strong ownership – including through personal engagement by heads of state and government – and are aligning their plans and strategies accordingly.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 31 March 2018

Photo: UNIDO Director General LI Yong and Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna. Credit: UNIDO

Japan Supports Human Security Projects in Eight Countries

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – Japan has announced that it will support eight UNIDO projects aimed at ensuring human security for the most vulnerable populations in Ethiopia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Nigeria, Somalia and the Syrian Arab Republic.

Ambassador Mitsuru Kitano, the Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, affirmed on March 28 that the projects will "help individuals to live under healthy conditions, consolidate their livelihoods and with all of this gain optimism for their future."

: Reinhard Jacobsen; SUSTAINABILITY; Global Partnerships; 29 March 2018

Social activities with NGOs - GBSH Consult - Johannesburg (South Africa)

The Role of NGOs in Africa: Are They a Force for Good?

By Sally Matthews

Dr. Sally Matthews is Senior Lecturer in Politics, Rhodes University, South Africa. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

JOHANNESBURG (IDN) – Non-governmental organisations have become key actors in responding to poverty and related suffering. In Africa, NGOs play a leading role in providing health care and education.

The non-profit sector continues to grow rapidly in Africa and around the world. In South Africa alone, there are more than 100,000 registered non-profit organisations and in Kenya the number of NGOs grew by over 400% between 1997 and 2006. And for most observers, they seem to be well-intentioned actors who do a lot of good on the continent.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 26 March 2018

Economic Cooperation in the Indian Ocean Region and the One Belt One Road Initiative: A Threat or an Opportunity?

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

The writer is former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations and former Foreign Secretary. – The Editor

COLOMBO (IDN) – The Indian Ocean region is experiencing a fondly anticipated luxury. Almost every one of the economies of the region is expanding at a rate that gives hope to the entire region, especially to its poor and marginalised. The promise of prosperity enthusiastically proclaimed at independence from colonial rule, so many decades ago, may at last become a reality. India is powering ahead with an anticipated growth rate of 7.3% and now is ahead of China.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 19 March 2018

Photo: Boy stands in front of debris as hurricane Irma moves off from the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. Credit: UNICEF

Caribbean Faith Leaders Call for Debt Relief and More

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – Ahead of the next hurricane season in the Caribbean, faith leaders are calling for action from government leaders, the United Nations system, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and regional development institutions.

A statement signed and endorsed by 22 religious leaders from Grenada to Saint Lucia is urging the establishment of debt relief as an instrument for emergency support and reconstruction.

"Across the Caribbean, we still see immense suffering from the hurricanes that landed last year," said Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte who endorsed the statement. "Islands that are struggling to recover after natural disasters and meet basic needs of their people should not be making debt payments."

: J C Suresh; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 18 March 2018

Photo: Opening session of 61st Session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on March 12, 2018 in Vienna by UNODC Executive Director Yury Fedotov (fourth from left). Credit: UNODC

UN Achieves Consensus on Addressing the Drug Menace

By Jaya Ramachandran

VIENNA (IDN) – Enhancing international cooperation to combat the synthetic opioid crisis, removing stigma as a barrier to the availability and delivery of health care and social services for people who use drugs is part of eleven resolutions the 61st session of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND) has endorsed. The five-day gathering from March 12-16 in Vienna also started preparations for the CND's ministerial segment at the 2019 session.

Secretary-General António Guterres said in a video message at the opening session of the 61st Commission on Narcotic Drugs: "With the UN General Assembly special session consensus as our blueprint, we can promote efforts to stop organized crime while protecting human rights, enabling development and ensuring rights-based treatment and support."