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Photo: Opening session of the fifty-sixth session of the Commission for Social Development. Credit: UN

Social Development Commission Stresses Global Goals

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – While progress has been achieved in realizing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by the United Nations in September 2015, Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed has warned that "the drop in extreme poverty remains uneven across regions, within countries and between various social groups."

Addressing the opening of the fifty-sixth session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD56), she however remarked: "At the global level, we have experienced impressive reductions in extreme poverty. Significant progress has also been made in improving access to schooling and healthcare, promoting the empowerment of women, youth, persons with disabilities, older persons and indigenous populations."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 25 February 2018

Photo: Jean-Luc Stalon, UNDP Country Director in Senegal (in September 2012). Credit: UNDP

Ending Persistent Inequality in Africa a Top Priority

Viewpoint by Jean-Luc Stalon

Jean-Luc Stalon is UNDP Country Director in Senegal. This article first appeared on January 31, 2018 on Africa Review. – The Editor.

DAKAR (IDN-INPS) – The defeat of Keynesianism in the 1980s witnessed an increase in income and social inequalities associated with the domination and monopoly of neoliberalism.

Neoliberalism advocates a free market that would promote growth through public spending cuts, deregulation of the economy, lower taxes on business, reduction of restrictions capital movement and global open markets.

Consequently, it seemed to have conquered the world through the transfer of power from the public to private sector.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 25 February 2018

Photo: Protestors wear masks of Gautam Adani and Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull, depicting the unpopular billion dollar government subsidy. Credit: Stop Adani Alliance

Australians Mobilise to Stop Indian Coal Project

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – A peoples’ movement is gathering steam across Australia to stop a project by an Indian company to establish Australia’s biggest ever coal mining project that is supposed to create 10,000 jobs in a remote region of northern Queensland.

The protest movement – which distrusts politicians – argues that Australia needs to cut greenhouse gas creating coal exports rather than opening more mines.

“The more I tried to engage in democracy the more I found democracy to be broken,” said Lilli Barto, member of the ‘Stop Adani’ Sydney campaign team addressing a film screening and a protest meeting at inner-Sydney Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on February 22, that was attended by over 200 people.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 24 February 2018

Photo: Panel Debate about Veiling/Unveiling at UN Office in Geneva

Experts Stress Acceptance of Headscarf in Abrahamic Faiths

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – The headscarf that sparks heated debates in Europe is a source of commonality between the three main Abrahamic religions Islam, Christianity and Judaism, according to experts who participated in a debate at the United Nations office in Geneva.

The event on February 23 focused on: Veiling/Unveiling: The Headscarf in Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Geneva Centre for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue (Geneva Centre) and the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the UN in Geneva organized the discussion in the run-up to the 37th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council scheduled for February 26 to March 23, 2018.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 23 February 2018

Photo: Night at Seomyeon, Busan, South Korea. Credit: Flickr, author Carey Ciuro. Creative Commons.

South Korea Urged to Keep Increasing Development Aid

By Tae Han Goo

SEOUL (IDN) – South Korea, often cited as a leading example of how sound economic policies can drive growth and development, blazing a trail from poverty to advanced industrialisation throughout the 1970s and 1980s, will have a greater impact on international development cooperation if it manages to produce a clear plan to increase aid volumes in line with its stated ambitions, according to a new OECD Review.

All the more so because building on its reputation as a development success, the country – officially known as the Republic of Korea – now plays a highly valued role on the global stage, sharing its knowledge with others and helping to bridge the divide between developing and developed country interests.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 22 February 2018

Photo credit: Transparency International

Beware of Branding Africa as the World's Most Corrupt Region

By Jutta Wolf

This is the first in a series of reports highlighting salient aspects of Transparency International's latest analysis on challenges posed by corruption around the world as well as successes and failures of efforts targeting a scourge that eats into the vitals of human rights. – The Editor.

BERLIN (IDN) – Though Africa is widely regarded as the world's most corrupt region, Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2017 points to a more hopeful future for the continent.

The index, released by the global civil society organisation leading the fight against corruption, on February 21 reveals that despite attempts to combat corruption around the world, the majority of countries are moving too slowly in their efforts.

: Jutta Wolf; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 February 2018

Photo: Belgian activist Dyab Abou Jahjah. Credit: A.D. McKenzie.

Scholars Explore Violence in ‘Postcolonial, Neocolonial World’

By A.D. McKenzie

LIEGE (IDN | SWAN) – While scholars discussed “Violence in the Postcolonial and Neocolonial World” at a conference in this eastern Belgian city, news of various acts of violence filled the airwaves, underlining the extent to which people have to deal with the issue on a constant basis.

The Liège meeting, February 15-16, focused on both systemic violence (resulting from colonialism and oppression) and individual acts, with discussions highlighting the consequences for society, including ethnic divisions and paranoia.

: A.D. McKenzie; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 21 February 2018

Photo: U.S. President Donald J. Trump addresses the General Assembly’s annual general debate on 19 September 2017. Credit: UN Photo/Cia Pak

Trump Breaks Nuclear Taboos, Strives For Supremacy

By Daryl G. Kimball and Kingston A. Reif

Daryl G. Kimball is Executive Director of the Arms Control Association and Kingston A. Reif its Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy. This article appeared as Issue Brief on February 15, 2018 with the caption 'The New U.S. Nuclear Strategy is Flawed and Dangerous. Here’s Why.' It is being reproduced with permission from the Association. – The Editor.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – In December 2016, President Donald Trump tweeted that the United States “must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability” and later told MSNBC that he would “outmatch” and “outlast” other potential competitors in a nuclear arms race. The comments mostly prompted condemnation in the United States and around the world and raised concerns about the direction the president would take U.S. nuclear weapons policy.

: Daryl G. Kimball; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 21 February 2018

A Revolutionary Change is Sweeping Across Southern Africa

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – It’s been an odd couple of months for southern Africa. No one predicted last year that in almost the same breath the long-serving dictator of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, and the super-corrupt president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, would be soon overthrown – and non-violently to boot.

In Zimbabwe the army did trigger Mugabe's demise, but it was a sort of passive coup, a non-violent withdrawal of support. In South Africa Zuma was compelled to stand down as leader of the African National Congress because of a majority vote against him in an assembly of the ANC, the party of black protest against former minority white-led rule. Again, all done non-violently.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 20 February 2018

Equal Rights to Economic Resources Vital to Gender Equality

By Heather Wokusch*

This is the eighth and last in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) organized this Conference co-ordinated by Heather Wokusch. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Women across the world face discrimination in accessing economic resources. As the resulting disparity hinders a range of development goals, such as reducing poverty and improving the welfare of children, a multidisciplinary conference at the United Nations Vienna recently explored possible solutions.