Home - IDN-InDepthNews | Analysis That Matters

Image: Collage of pictures from UNCTAD and Deutsche Bank Research.

Trade Wars Threaten Food Security to the Detriment of the Poor

Viewpoint by Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, UNCTAD Secretary-General

GENEVA (IDN) – International trade has proven to be a critical mechanism for growth and development. It helps build stronger value chains, mitigate conflict and provides access to higher quality and quantities of goods and services.

It has also provided consumers with access to a more diversified and nutritious food basket. However, for trade to improve food security to the greatest number of people across the globe, greater international cooperation is necessary.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 24 January 2020

Image: With a U.S. administration under Trump, European unity and leadership is the only hope for driving China's climate ambitions at COP26 in Glasgow. As the UN Environment Programme’s latest report on the ‘emissions gap’ shows the targeted emission reductions need to be three times more than agreed in Paris in 2015. Source: UN Environment Programme.

Sino-EU Duo Is Crucial to Driving the Global Climate Ambition

Viewpoint by Adam Tooze*

NEW YORK (IDN) – There are turning points in history. Moments that matter, that mark beginnings and ends. As Martin Luther King reminded us: "There is such a thing as being too late". It is that which can give politics its fierce urgency. As far as global climate politics is concerned, 2020 may be such a moment — and it is vital that Europe should not be late.

The latest round of United Nations-sponsored global climate talks, COP26, to be hosted in Glasgow from November 9 to 19, was always going to be important. This is the moment, when the Paris agreement of 2015 is scheduled for another round of updated national commitments that reflect the ever-more alarming reality of the climate emergency.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 24 January 2020

Photo: The Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands), seat of the International Court of Justice. Credit: Jeroen Bouman - Courtesy of the ICJ.

UN Court Censures Myanmar for Violating Genocide Convention

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – On January 23, 2020, a panel of 17 judges of the World Court (ICJ) voted unanimously calling on Myanmar (formerly Burma) to take all measures in its power to prevent genocide of the remaining 600,000 Rohingya that the Court stated were extremely vulnerable to violence at the hands of the military. The Court calls for emergency provisional measures in order to respect the requirements of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

: Rene Wadlow; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 23 January 2020

Image credit: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Russia Exhorts US to Extend New START Without Preconditions

By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Russian officials repeated in late December and early January President Vladimir Putin’s call for extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) as soon as possible, though Washington continues to remain silent on the future of the accord, which is scheduled to expire in just over 12 months.

: Arms Control Association; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 23 January 2020

Photo (left to right): Collage of pictures (from public domains) of U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visiting Sri Lanka in January 2020. Credit: IDN-INPS

World Powers Come to Woo Sri Lanka

By Kalinga Seneviratne

COLOMBO (IDN) – Two months after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa assumed office on November 18, 2019, the Indian ocean island republic of Sri Lanka has had the unique distinction of hosting top diplomats of three world powers – the United States, China and Russia. One of the president’s first significant announcements was that Sri Lanka would follow a staunchly non-aligned independent foreign policy.

January 14 was a busy day for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, his brother Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and Foreign Minister Dinesh Gunawardena when they had a series of meetings with three foreign dignitaries: the U.S. Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Alice Wells, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 23 January 2020

Photo: Millions of people are not benefiting from progress, with the gap set to widen unless deep-rooted development barriers, including discrimination and unequal political participation, are tackled. Credit: UNDP Peru/Mónica Suárez

High Levels of Inequality Can Escalate Political Instability

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the United Nations prepares to mark its 75th anniversary in September, the Organisation has yet to fulfil the obligation enshrined in the mandate of the Charter: “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom“ by employing “international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples“.

The authors of the landmark World Social Report 2020 point out that fifteen years ago, the Report on the ‘World Social Situation‘ had warned that growing inequality could jeopardize the achievement of internationally agreed development goals.

: Santo D. Banerjee; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 22 January 2020

Photo: The number of people living in extreme poverty has risen in several sub-Saharan African countries and in parts of Latin America and Western Asia. Credit: UN/Logan Abass

Broad-based Deterioration of World Economy Threatening Sustainable Development

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI | BANGKOK (IDN) – Prolonged trade disputes and wide-ranging policy uncertainties have catapulted the world economy into a significant and broad-based deterioration in 2019. This threatens to hamper efforts to reduce poverty, create decent jobs, broaden access to affordable and clean energy, and achieve many other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to the United Nations World Economic Situation and Prospects (WESP) 2020 report, gross product growth slipped to 2.3 per cent in 2019—the lowest rate since the global financial crisis of 2008-2009.

: Devinder Kumar; UN INSIDER; 22 January 2020

Image: Nigerian currency Naira. Credit: Umaizi

New Currency Stemmed as Six West African Countries Object

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – French-speaking countries will have to put the cork back in the champagne bottle after six member countries of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) comprising Nigeria, Ghana, Gambia, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, have rejected the adoption of 'Eco' as the name of the proposed single currency for West Africa.

At a special meeting, five English speaking countries in West Africa in the Nigerian capital Abuja met on January 15 and put the kibosh on adopting the Eco as African common currency as desired by mostly , French-speaking states.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 January 2020

Photo: An olive tree planted in a schoolyard in the Marrakech region of Morocco. Credit: High Atlas Foundation.

Morocco Fails to Mobilize Rural Communities to Advance SDGs

Viewpoint by Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir

The writer is a sociologist and president of the High Atlas Foundation, a Moroccan-U.S. not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development in Morocco.

MARRAKECH (IDN) – In recent years, Morocco has put in place the right frameworks for mobilizing rural communities to advance the nation’s Sustainable development Goals (SDGs), yet it falls woefully short when it comes to implementation. As someone who has been engaged in rural development in Morocco for the past 26 years, I have analyzed how these frameworks can work together and complement each other.

: Opinion Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 21 January 2020

Photo: Showing a HIV self-test. Credit Zuberi Mussa

Tanzania Passes Law on HIV Self-Test to Tame the Deadly Virus

15-Year Old Children Can Self-Test Without Parental Consent

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (IDN) – Perched on a plastic chair at his shop in the bustling Sinza suburb in Dar es Salaam, Abdul* is anxiously looking at a small kit containing liquid and a stick.

“I want to know my HIV status,” says Abdul while glancing at his watch.

A moment ago, the 28-year-old trader briskly swiped a plastic swab across his upper gum to draw some fluid and slotted it into the kit for testing.