Viewpoint by Ambassador Palitha Kohona* BEIJING (IDN) — Sitting in the middle of the Indian Ocean at the southern tip of India, Sri Lanka occupies an enviable strategic position. A blessing that it has successfully leveraged to advantage in the past and a curse that will continue to attract the rapacious attention of global and […]
Urban Dwellers in Southern Africa Turn to Backyard Farming
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE, Zimbabwe (IDN) — At unoccupied swathes of land behind houses in Bloomingdale, a medium-income suburb in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, numerous maize fields and vegetable gardens have emerged as urban dwellers enduring economic hardships switch to backyard farming. Zambia, despite emerging from an economic crisis during former President Edgar Lungu’s reign […]
A Workshop Helps Fill the Basket of Knowledge on the Pacific
Climate Change, Human Mobility and Peacebuilding Draw the Focus Viewpoint by Volker Boege Toda Peace Institute issued this article, and it is being republished with their permission. BRISBANE, Australia (IDN) — While UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his opening speech at this year’s COP 27 in Sharm El-Sheikh on November 7 stated that humanity is […]
Slim Possibility of Asia-Pacific Getting on Track to Net-Zero
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana The writer is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). BANGKOK (IDN) — The recent climate talks in Egypt have left us with a sobering reality: The window for maintaining global warming to 1.5 degrees is […]
Finding The Right Money for Vulnerable Countries
The Importance of Loss and Damage Fund (LDF) Viewpoint by Inge Kaul The author is a fellow at the Hertie School of Governance, Berlin, Germany. Comments are welcome and can be addressed to contact@ingekaul.net. BERLIN (IDN) — For decades, there have been non-conclusive deliberations regarding how the international community can support poor and vulnerable countries […]
The 34th World AIDS Day: “Achieving Equity to End HIV”
By Somar Wijayadasa* Last year, every two minutes one person got infected with HIV, and every minute one person died of AIDS-related causes. NEW YORK (IDN) — Every year on December 1, people throughout the world commemorate World AIDS Day to raise awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. The […]
Myanmar Junta Craves Legitimacy Amid Crimes Against Humanity & War Crimes
Viewpoint by Jan Servaes BRUSSELS (IDN) — Since the February 1, 2021 coup, Myanmar’s military has committed a variety of atrocities that, according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, may amount to “crimes against humanity and war crimes”. To consolidate its power against widespread popular resistance, the self-proclaimed State Administration Council (SAC) led […]
Push Forward—Act Now to End Violence Against Women & Girls
Viewpoint by Sima Bahous The following is the text of the statement by Ms Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, on the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November 2022. NEW YORK (IDN) — Five years ago, the global #MeToo movement brought new urgency and visibility to the extent […]
AfDB and OECD Join Hands for Low-Carbon Transition in Africa
By Jaya Ramachandran PARIS (IDN) — The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the OECD Development Centre are joining hands efforts to implement the Equitable Framework and Finance for Extractive-based Countries in Transition (EFFECT), which was launched on November 15 at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
COP27 Agreement (Is it Really?) on Compensation Fund
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Welcome to our 15th issue of Sustainable Development Observer, focusing almost exclusively on COP 27—or what is known as the annual UN climatic change conference. Three decades after small island states introduced the term “loss and damage” to the United Nations, the world has finally agreed to set up […]