Quality Education

Photo (front l to r): High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez serving as Chairperson-Rapporteur, Human Rights Council President Vojislav Šuc, Permanent Representative of Slovenia. Credit: Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to UN in Geneva.

Sri Lanka Chaired UN Forum Focuses on Sport to Promote Human Rights

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – The Social Forum of the UN Human Rights Council serves since 2008 as a unique space for open and interactive dialogue between civil society actors, representatives of Member States, and intergovernmental organizations, on a theme chosen by the Council each year. The 2018 Social Forum, with Sri Lanka's Permanent Representative Ambassador A.L.A. Azeez as the Chairperson-Rapporteur, distinguished itself in more than one way.

It focussed on "the possibilities of using sport and the Olympic ideal to promote human rights for all and to strengthen universal respect for them". High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet emphasized at the opening the importance of sports as a tool for social and human empowerment.

: Jamshed Baruah; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; United Nations; 05 October 2018

Photo: Winners of the 'SDGs and Her Competition' awards: Lucy Odiwa, owner of Tanzania-based WomenChoice Industries (right); and Mukuru Clean Stoves of Kenya owner, Charlot Magay (left). Credit: Sumaya Agha/UNDP

Sustainable Development Award Winners Celebrated at UN

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK(IDN) – Tanzania-based WomenChoice Industries and Mukuru Clean Stoves of Kenya are the global winners of the SDGs and Her Competition that seeks to increase knowledge about the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their potential impact on women, as well as to encourage private sector partners and share best practices and innovative ideas.

They were celebrated at a side-event on September 24, 2018 during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly. The contest – co-sponsored by the World Bank Group, UNDP, UN Women, and the Wharton School Zicklin Center – showcases women micro-entrepreneurs who are helping to achieve the SDGs through their businesses.

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 September 2018

Photo: Kalabia, a floating environmental education program engaging THE NATURAL CURIOSITY OF CHILDREN TO TEACH conservation in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia. Credit: nebula.wsimg.com

UNESCO-Japan Prize for Organizations in Namibia, Indonesia and Estonia

By Robert Johnson

PARIS (IDN) – UNESCO , the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, has nominated three non-profit organizations in Namibia, Indonesia and Estonia for outstanding projects aimed at promoting the role of education in connecting the social, economic, cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainable development, known as Education for Sustainable Development (ESD).

The initiative was launched within the framework of the Global Action Programme (GAP) and officially announced at the UNESCO World Conference on ESD from November 10-12, 2014 in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan. The GAP calls for scaling up of ESD action at all levels as a means of implementing all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

: Robert Johnson; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 24 September 2018

Photo: Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues: First Informal Interactive Hearing with Indigenous Peoples. 17 April 2018. United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Indigenous Peoples in the Grip of 'Criminalization', Warns New UN Report

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – A new United Nations report warns that "in a wide variety of countries," both physical violence and legal prosecution are used against Indigenous Peoples defending their rights and lands. They are "criminalized".

The report by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, to the UN Human Rights Council describes how private sector interests collude with governments in coveting the lands of Indigenous Peoples for economic development projects.

She was Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues from 2005 to 2010, and actively engaged in drafting and adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 28 August 2018

Photo: Students in Marrakech planning change for their university community. Credit: The High Atlas Foundation.

Morocco Provides 'Safe Spaces' for Youth

By Julia Payne

MARRAKECH (IDN) – As a society, we have hopes and dreams for the future; for our children, our countries, and the global community. These aspirations rest on the shoulders of the young generation. August 12, 2018 marked the 18th celebration of the UN's annual International Youth Day.

This awareness day was a unique opportunity to reflect on youth's challenges and to celebrate and support the world’s future leaders. This year’s theme, 'Safe Spaces for Youth' highlighted the importance of youth’s engagement, participation, and freedom of thought.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 19 August 2018

Photo credit: The University of Lincoln.

UK University Launches Distance Learning PhD For Diplomats

An affordable Professional Doctorate for G-77 diplomats and personnel of international organizations

By Robert Johnson

LONDON (IDN) – Personnel of United Nations agencies and international organizations as well as accredited diplomats now have an excellent opportunity to pursue a globally recognized postgraduate academic degree DProf (Professional Doctorate) that has the same status as a PhD, while attending to their fulltime professional and personal commitments.

The University of Lincoln, a public research university based in the cathedral city of Lincoln in England, has launched a two-year distance learning Professional Doctorate to empower the next generation of international scholar practitioners. With origins tracing back to 1861, the institution achieved university status in 1992.

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 17 August 2018

Photo: Nobel Laureate V. S. Naipaul, speaking in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in November 2016. CC BY-SA 4.0

A Nobel Laureate who was 'the Most Homeless, Rootless Person'

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LONDON (IDN) – "V.S. Naipaul's legacy is complex – but his writing must be celebrated," writes essayist Amit Chaudhuri. "His comments about Islam, women and Africa were often unjustified, unpleasant and untrue – but that can be acknowledged alongside his gifts."

Novelist Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul, known as V.S. Naipaul, died on August 11, 2018 at his London home at the age of 85. Born in Chaguanas, Trinidad, in 1932, in a family with Indian roots, he wrote more than 30 books including A Bend in the River and his masterpiece, A House for Mr Biswas.

: Global Information Network; ARTS & CULTURE; 15 August 2018

Photo: AIDS-2018-march. Credit: smugmug.com

AIDS 2018 Conference Trying To Break Barriers, Build Bridges

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | AMSTERDAM (IDN) – The International Conference on AIDS (AIDS 2018) – the largest gathering on any global health issue in the world – opened in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on July 23 under the title Breaking Barriers, Building Bridges.

With hundreds of scheduled talks and roundtables, the five-day 22nd International AIDS Conference has defined its goal as promoting human rights-based and evidence-informed HIV responses tailored to the needs of people living with HIV, displaced populations, gays, people who use drugs, sex workers, transgender people, women and girls and young people – and collaborating in fighting the disease beyond country borders.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 25 July 2018

Photo: The Aboghlou women’s cooperative meets outside in Ourika Valley, Morocco.

Education Isn't the Only Key to Female Employment in Morocco

Viewpoint by Katherine O’Neill*

MARRAKECH (IDN) – The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has the lowest female employment rate of anywhere in the world. Though most countries in the MENA region, including Libya and Iran, have seen gradually increasing rates of working women, Morocco’s female labour force participation (FLFP) rate has actually decreased since 1999, now sitting at 26 percent, according to Brookings.

This decline not only contradicts global and regional trends, but also comes despite significant efforts both by the Moroccan government and NGOs to increase women’s education, in hopes of improving their employment opportunities. The World Bank estimates that higher FLFP rates could result in a 25 percent average increase in household income, something which would dramatically improve the lives of men, women, and youth in the region.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East; 23 July 2018

Photo: From Left to Right (front row): Jayathma Wickramanayake, UN Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth; Karunarathna Paranawithana, Deputy Minister of Science, Technology, Research, Skills Development 7 & Vocational Training and Kandyan Heritage; Dr. Rohan Perera, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York; Francisco António Duarte Lopes, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Portugal to the UN in New York; Guy Ryder, Director-General ILO; Marie Paule Roudil, Director UNESCO. Credit: Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

291 Million Youth Live With No Electricity, No Computers, No Printers – UN Laments

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – When the United Nations commemorated World Youth Skills Day on July 16, there was one strong underlying theme that overshadowed the event.

Despite marked progress in the role of youth in a society increasingly characterized by high technology and artificial intelligence, the new generation, particularly in the developing world, was still lagging far behind in the fast-moving digital world.

Addressing a High-Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development on July 16, the UN’s Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed pointed out a realistically depressing fact: globally, over 291 million children attend primary schools without any electricity.