SUSTAINABILITY

Photo: South Island of Lake Turkana, Kenya © Doron CC-BY-SA IGO 3.0

UN Sounds Alarm About Ethiopian Dam Threatening World Heritage Site

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Lake Turkana, the reputed birthplace of mankind, has been designated an endangered environmental hotspot by a UNESCO panel. Designated a World Heritage Site in 1997, Kenya’s Lake Turkana stands among such treasures as the Taj Mahal, the Grand Canyon and the Great Wall of China.

It’s the world’s largest desert lake, a spectacular site whose fossil finds have contributed more to the understanding of human ancestry than any other site in the world. Turkana is an outstanding laboratory for the study of plant and animal communities.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 03 July 2018

Photo: A weaver. Credit: Toung Eh Synuanchanh

Lao Women Village Weavers Pursue Moderate Livelihoods

By Toung Eh Synuanchanh

This article is the 24th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

BUNGSANTHUENG, Laos (IDN) – The consciousness of finite resource and traditional wisdom are inspiring a group of women in the Southeast Asian country to pursue business practices based on the Buddhist concept of Right Livelihood, the art of responsible and sustainable living.

The women weavers of Ban Bungsanthueng, Nongbok District, Khammouane Province of Laos – about 400 km south of the capital Vientiane – have formed a women handicraft group that draws upon longstanding traditional and cultural knowledge of sard-phue (reed mat) weaving.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 03 July 2018

Image: Amazon forest landscape. Credit: Ecuador Government

Forests Comprise Large Part of Climate Solution But Receive Meagre Investment

By Fabiola Ortiz

OSLO (IDN) – It has been a decade now that the mechanism for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation – known as REDD+ – has been included in climate negotiations, however investments have not been sufficient for bringing them down.

“Even though science tells us that forests represent thirty percent of the solution to climate change in terms of the mitigation potential of greenhouse gas emission, we are only spending less than two percent of climate finance on forest,” according to senior fellow Frances Seymour of the World Resources Institute (WRI).

: Fabiola Ortiz; UN INSIDER; 02 July 2018

Photo: ACP Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes addressing the United Nations Summit for the adoption of Agenda 2030 for global development on 26 September 2015, United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Amanda Voisard.

79-Nation ACP Exercises Decisive Influence Globally

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

Following is the text of foreword by Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes, the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), to 'Striving for People, Planet and Peace – 2018 Report of the Joint Media Project of INPS-SG-IDN'. Prior to taking up the position of ACP SG, he served as Guyana’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Community and as Guyana’s representative to WTO and FAO. – The Editor.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The ACP Group of States, established by the Georgetown Agreement on 6 June 1975, consists of 79 developing countries composed of 48 from Sub-Sharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific/Oceania region, accounting for a population of more than one billion persons.

: Dr. Patrick Gomes - ACP Seretary-General; OPINION; 01 July 2018

Photo: The home of Shumona (right) in Bangladesh has been destroyed by storms four times in the past five years. Credit: Mahmod/ActionAid.

Real Money Crucial for Success of Paris Climate Pact

By Harjeet Singh

The writer is Global Lead on Climate Change at ActionAid International and is based in New Delhi. The commitment and sincerity of developed countries to provide climate finance will determine whether the Paris Agreement will succeed in combating climate change, he warns. Views are personal. This article first appeared on 'India Climate Dialogue' on 22 June 2018, and is being reproduced with due acknowledgement. – The Editor

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – The home of Shumona, 9, and her grandmother in Patuakhali in southern Bangladesh has been destroyed by storms four times in the past five years. She and millions of climate change victims like her in the developing world remain oblivious to the fact that behind her suffering is unthinking industrialisation.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 29 June 2018

Photo: Bora Bora, French Polynesia. CC BY 2.0

UN Warned Against Taking a Case-by-Case Approach to Self-Determination

By Kwame Buist

NEW YORK (IDN) – A case-by-case approach to the issue of the world's remaining 'non-self governing territories' must not be misinterpreted as a rationale for legitimising the political and economic inequality of dependency status, the recently concluded session of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation was told.

The committee concluded its 2018 session on June 22, having approved a series of draft resolutions and decisions after hearings on the situation regarding lingering self-determination issues in 'non-self governing territories' throughout the world.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 29 June 2018

Photo: Kevit Desai, the Principal Secretary in Kenya‘s State Department of Vocational and Technical Training, speaking during the launch of BEAR II project in Nairobi. Credit: Justus Wanzala | IDN-INPS

Kenya and UNESCO Partner to Upgrade Training and Tackle Unemployment

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Soaring unemployment and loud rumblings of discontent from the labour market about the mismatch between skills offered in learning institutions and industry needs in Kenya and the East African region has led stakeholders to swing into action to reverse the trend.

One approach is being spearheaded by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) which, in collaboration with Kenya’s Ministry of Education, is promoting and supporting Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) systems in the country and the Eastern Africa region.

: Justus Wanzala; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 June 2018

Photo: Whether adding a constant background din or sudden bursts of explosive noise, this pervasive form of pollution is taking its toll on marine animals. Source: CMS.

Underwater Noise – The Not-so-Silent Killer

By Bradnee Chambers

Marine experts gathered at the United Nations Headquarters in New York from June 18-22, 2018 to discuss anthropogenic underwater noise. Dr. Bradnee Chambers, Executive Secretary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS), describes the impacts of this type of pollution on marine wildlife and sets out some of the solutions.

BONN (IDN) – Humanity's achievements are incredible – the Pyramids of Egypt, the Great Wall of China, literature, music, telecommunications, medicine and a few decades after the first powered flight, Neil Armstrong walked on the moon.

: Dr. Bradnee Chambers; OPINION; 22 June 2018

Photo: Jacek Czaputowicz (left), Minister for Foreign Affairs of Poland and President of the Security Council for the month of May, chairs the Security Council meeting on 29 May 2018. At right is Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Kazakhstan Pleads for Resolving Ukraine Conflict Through Peaceful Means

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan has expressed concern for "the unpredictable and volatile situation" in eastern Ukraine and the frequent ceasefire violations, which have a direct impact on the civilian population. "These violations result indeaths and injuries, along with many humanitarian consequences," said Ambassador Kairat Umarov, the Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

He was addressing the Security Council meeting on May 29, 2018 which discussed the situation in Ukraine in the face of civilians bearing the brunt of four-year-old conflict in Ukraine, bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Belarus to the northwest, Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia to the west, Romania and Moldova to the southwest, and the Black Sea and Sea of Azov to the south and southeast, respectively.

: J Nastranis; CENTRAL ASIA; 21 June 2018

Photo: Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, to be seen in the middle. Danielle Bell, head of UNAMA Human Rights, presenting the report.

UN Report Faults Access to Justice of Afghan Women

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI | KABUL (IDN) – Though a law on the elimination of violence against women has been in place in Afghanistan since 2009, Afghan women’s access to justice remains severely inadequate, says a new report released by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

Entitled Injustice and Impunity: Mediation of Criminal Offences of Violence against Women, the report documents the individual experiences of Afghan women, survivors of violence across the country, between August 2015 and December 2017, and identifies the human rights implications of the widespread use of mediation in cases of violence against women.