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Photo: Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne (right in the front) addressing one day debate at the UN Security Council titled "Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace: Transitional Justice in conflict and post-conflict situations" on 13 February 2020 in New York. Credit: Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York.

Sri Lanka at a Juncture of Transition From Separatist Terrorism to Era of Reconciliation

Viewpoint by Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne,
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

NEW YORK (IDN) — Sri Lanka is presently at a juncture of transition after near three decades of brutal separatist terrorism, to an era of reconciliation and sustaining the hard won peace. Sri Lanka's engagement today is in keeping with the Government's vision, for a country that embodies the universal values of human rights, justice, rule of law and good governance while ensuring economic dividends to its people.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 15 February 2020

Photo: François-Auguste Biard, Proclamation of the Abolition of Slavery in the French Colonies, 27 April 1848 (1849). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Slavery Not a Crime in Almost Half of the World’s Countries

Viewpoint by Katarina Schwarz and Jean Allain, with Andrea Nicholson*

NOTTINGHAM (IDN) – “Slavery is illegal everywhere.” So said the New York Times, repeated at the World Economic Forum, and used as a mantra of advocacy for over 40 years. The truth of this statement has been taken for granted for decades. Yet our new research reveals that almost half of all countries in the world have yet to actually make it a crime to enslave another human being.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 15 February 2020

U.S. Abrogation of Iran Deal Leaves a Puzzling Legacy

By Bernhard Schell

ISTANBUL (IDN) – Iran has been bashed for its January 5 announcement that it would no longer abide by certain "operational restrictions" on uranium enrichment in the nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA. The declaration has also prompted doubts about the regime's activities and intentions and the fate of the nuclear deal.

: Bernhard Schell; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 14 February 2020

Photo: Twenty-two participants from 11 IPNDV partner countries gathered at Forschungszentrum Jülich in Jülich, Germany on September 23, 2019 to participate in the Nuclear Disarmament Verification Exercise, jointly organized by France and Germany. Credit: Forschungszentrum Jülich / Tobias Schlößer.

Towards Nuclear Disarmament with Monitoring and Verification

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – With the international community persistently striving for a world free of nuclear weapons, verification systems and methods are crucial to understanding the complex challenges of accurately monitoring and verifying future nuclear disarmament activities which will likely subject countries to more intrusive verification than ever before.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 14 February 2020

Photo: SGI president Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun

Buddhist Leader Calls for Nuclear Weapons Free Security

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – An eminent Buddhist philosopher and nuclear disarmament advocate has tabled four critical initiatives to "contribute to the creation of a sustainable global society where all can live with dignity and a sense of security". The initiatives cover four major areas: building support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW); multilateral negotiations for nuclear disarmament; climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR); and education for children in crisis.

: Ramesh Jaura; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 13 February 2020

Photo: Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald (centre) with former leader Gerry Adams on the Irish border. Credit: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

What Sinn Féin’s Election Success Means for Irish Relations with the EU and Brexit

Viewpoint by Mary C. Murphy*

CORK, Ireland (IDN) – Ireland’s traditionally centre-right conservative political system has been rocked by a wave of support for Sinn Féin in the February 8 general election. The previously small left-wing republican party, with historic links to the paramilitary Provisional Irish Republican Army, now has legitimate ambitions to form part of the next Irish government in coalition with other parties.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 13 February 2020

Photo: Kazakh Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Chair of the LLDCs Group, speaking at at the Ambassadorial level First 2020 Meeting of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries on 22 Januray. Credit: Kazakhstan Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Kazakh Roadmap for LLDCs as 2020-2021 Chair

By Ambassador Kairat Umarov

Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) on 8 January for the period 2020-2021. The following are extensive excerpts from the statement of LLDC Chair Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York, at the First 2020 Meeting of the LLDCs at the Ambassadorial level,

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 12 February 2020

Photo: Peter Mutharika whose presidential victory in May 2019 was attributed to massive fraud. Credit: Malawi 24.

Malawi Court Tosses Fraud-Riddled Presidential Elections

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Following an exhaustive review of petitions submitted by the opposition, judges of the Malawian Constitutional Court ruled against Peter Mutharika whose presidential victory in May 2019 was attributed to massive fraud.

Veteran diplomat Vernon Mwaanga of neighboring Zambia said the Court raised the bar for African countries where elections are plagued by irregularities.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 February 2020

Image credit: Washington International Trade Association

Economic Growth Is Not The B-All and End-All In The Third World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Do we know how to end poverty in the Third World? Do we know why some economies expand and others don’t? Not really. There is no clear formula for growth. The two Nobel economics prize winners of last year, the husband and wife team of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, write in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “The uncomfortable truth is that the economics profession still doesn’t have a good sense of why some economies expand and others don’t”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 11 February 2020

Photo: African Union Summit participants. Credit: The African Union.

Incoming African Union Chief Announces End of Colonialism

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A stirring call to action was delivered this week in the august hall of the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, spoken by the incoming AU president Cyril Ramaphosa to distinguished members of the continental a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa.

In his presentation at the AU’s 33rd summit, the South African President wove history with commentary into a tapestry of hope for a continent which has had its share of strife and downfalls.