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Image: Community members demonstrate how to test water quality using the testing kits supplied by WaterAid, India. Credit: WaterAid/ Sharbendu De

New Research Raises Alarm for Our Most Precious Buffer to Climate Change: Groundwater

Viewpoint by Vincent Casey

The writer is Senior WASH Manager – Water, WaterAid UK

LONDON (IDN) – WaterAid’s newly released water security research has uncovered an alarming lack of global governance and grave mismanagement of the world’s precious groundwater reserves, needlessly putting millions of lives at risk.

Hundreds of millions of people rely on groundwater for their daily water needs. As global populations continue to grow and climate change threatens water security, groundwater extraction seems the obvious answer to boosting food production and industry.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 31 October 2020

Five BRICS Countries Accentuate UN's Central Role in International Affairs

Parliamentarians Pledge Partnership for Global Stability

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) – Parliamentarians of five BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) have pledged to join hands in combating COVID-19, facing the challenges and threats that each member state currently faces, and strengthening cooperation, including at the inter-parliamentary level.

In view of the coronavirus pandemic, the Sixth Parliamentary Forum on October 27 was organized via video conference. Its main theme was "BRICS Partnership for Global Stability, Shared Security and Innovative Growth: parliamentary dimension".

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 30 October 2020

The Need to Engage Youth Social Entrepreneurs to Accelerate the SDGs

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Ms. Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was Professor of Economics at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia.

BANGKOK (IDN) – This year, the United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary – a milestone of extraordinary economic and social progress in Asia and the Pacific. While the Organization enjoys a lifespan almost equal to the world’s improved average life expectancy, the future lies with those who have recently embarked on theirs: our young people.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 30 October 2020

Win or Lose, Trump Is Africa's Dangerous Example

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – If Donald J. Trump were president of Wakanda on the eve of an election, that country would have received several warnings from the US State Department on the need for free and fair polls, and the necessity for all parties to play by the rules. [Wakanda a fictional country appearing in American comic books.] But what is playing by the rules if parties will not accept an orderly transfer of power?

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 29 October 2020

Photo: Chief Justice John Roberts administers the judicial oath to Judge Amy Coney Barrett on October 27, 2020. Judge Barrett's husband, Jesse M. Barrett, holds the Bible. Wikimedia Commons.

The Politicization of the United States Supreme Court

An affront to the Independence of the Judiciary and American Democracy

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United States Senate confirmed President Donald Trump’s nominee, Judge Amy Coney Barrett, as a Justice of the Supreme Court. Despite the partisan rancor, Barrett’s confirmation was a forgone conclusion. The Court now has a conservative majority of 6-3 that could fundamentally reshape America. More on this later.

This year 2020 may go down in modern history as the worst year ever that faced an extraordinary set of challenges.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 29 October 2020

Photo: Setsuko Thurlow, Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Setsuko Thurlow: The TPNW – A Game Changer in Nuclear Disarmament

The following is the text of the Statement by Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and long time campaigner for nuclear-weapons abolition, as the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) reached the 50 states parties required for its entry into force. ICAN, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons published the Statement on its website.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons has entered into force! This truly marks the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons! When I learned that we reached our 50th ratification, I was not able to stand. I remained in my chair and put my head in my hands and I cried tears of joy. I have committed my life to the abolition of nuclear weapons. I have nothing but gratitude for all who have worked for the success of our treaty. I have a powerful feeling of solidarity with tens of thousands of people across the world. We have made it to this point.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 October 2020

Photo: Collage of ICAN, NCNP and WSLF pictures.

The U.S. Should Embrace TPNW's Vision of a More Democratic World

The following is text of the Statement of Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (LCNP) and Western States Legal Foundation (WSLF) are affiliates of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms (IALANA), a partner of the 2017 Nobel Peace laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN).

NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifty states have ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). By its terms, the treaty will enter into force in 90 days, becoming legally binding for states that have joined the treaty.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 October 2020

Photo: Collage of the pictures of Dr Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan, Blue Banner NGO against the backdrop of the Mongolian Capital.

Mongolian NGO Greets 50th Ratification of TPNW

ULAANBAATAR (IDN) – Blue Banner, Mongolian NGO and a partner organization of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), welcomes the 50th ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) on October 24 as a major political impulse and a step in making this most dangerous weapon of mass destruction illegal under international law.

: Europe Editor; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 28 October 2020

Photo: The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) inspectors conduct safeguards inspections at URENCO (an international supplier of enrichment services and fuel cycle products for the civil nuclear industry) in the Netherlands. Credit: IAEA/Dean Calma.

Soon Nuclear Weapons Will Be Prohibited

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

The writer is President of Pugwash. Former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The 50th instrument of ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) was deposited on October 24 – coinciding with the 75th anniversary of the United Nations Charter. In accordance with its Article 15, the Treaty will enter automatically into force 90 days after that date. When in force, the TPNW will become part of the corpus of positive international law as the first multilateral agreement that comprehensively prohibits nuclear weapons and also addresses the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use and testing, including assistance to victims. Besides, it is the first treaty that explicitly forbids its members from hosting nuclear weapons belonging to other states.

: Sergio Duarte; OPINION; 27 October 2020

Why Joe Biden Should be Elected and Not Trump Despite Foreign Policy Successes

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Any day now the news will come that the US and Russia have decided to renew the important nuclear arms reduction of around 1000 warheads each that was agreed by Presidents Barack Obama and Dimitri Medvedev. Another feather in Trump’s foreign policy hat? Yes, indeed.

In fact, his record on foreign policy is said by his supporters to be better than both the Democrat and Republican presidents before him. Most important, he has not started any new wars.