Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana 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) — As the Second Global Ocean Conference opens today in Lisbon, governments in Asia and the Pacific must seize the opportunity to enhance […]
African Abortion Rights Now at Risk After US Supreme Court Decision
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — In Africa, where the risk of dying from an unsafe abortion is the highest in the world, Roe v Wade has long been an important weapon in the arsenal of those fighting to liberalize abortion laws and make the procedure safer for women and girls […]
Asia Pacific Peace Groups Vow to Oppose US-Incited Impending War
By Devinder Kumar MANILA (IDN) — Peace advocates from Japan, Australia, India, South Korea, and the Philippines, gathered to manifest their unity to oppose all kinds of “imperialist aggression” in the region, have in a global press conference held in Manila on June 24, called for just peace as they sounded the alarm on the […]
Myanmar Military Junta’s War Crimes
Viewpoint by Jan Servaes BRUSSELS (IDN) — During decades of internal conflict, the Myanmar military has been repeatedly accused of atrocities and war crimes. Except between 1948-1958 and 2010-2021, the army ruled Myanmar with absolute control for 73 years. Thanks to social media, the international community is now better informed about the atrocities perpetrated by […]
Does Constitution or Selective Interpretation of Civilization Bind India?
Viewpoint by Dr Ram Puniyani This article is the 21st in a series of joint productions of South Asian Outlook and IDN-InDepthNews, the flagship of the International Press Syndicate. The writer is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (now Mumbai) and meanwhile […]
The Abraham Accords’ Implications for The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Viewpoint by Alon Ben-Meir Dr Alon Ben-Meir is a retired professor of international relations at the Center for Global Affairs at New York University (NYU). He taught courses on international negotiation and Middle Eastern studies for over 20 years. NEW YORK (IDN) — The Abraham Accords have been in the making for several years; what […]
US Declares an Exception to Its New Policy Against the Use of Landmines
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The anti-landmine treaty, which came into force in 1999, has more than 160 signatories who pledged to ban the use of these weapons, along with the destruction of remaining stocks, and clearance of mined areas, and assistance to victims. But at least seven key countries—including the US, Russia, […]
Addressing the Challenges Confronting the Oceans
Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona BEIJING (IDN) — I was the co-chair, along with Dr Liesbeth Lijnzaad of the Netherlands, of the United Nations ad hoc Working Group on Biological Diversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ). Since handing over our conclusions and recommendations in 2015, a negotiating process has begun with a view to finalizing a […]
SGI Amplifies Voices of Youth, Faith Communities and Nuclear Victims
By IDN-INPS Team VIENNA | TOKYO (IDN) — From June 21–23, at the historic First Meeting of States Parties (1MSP) to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), held in Vienna, Austria, the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) joined civil society groups calling for universalization of the Treaty, cohosting workshops highlighting perspectives of […]
ICRC Accentuates the Vital Importance of Nuclear Disarmament
Following are excerpts from the text of ICRC President Peter Maurer’s statement at the TPNW MSP1 on February 21, 2022. VIENNA (IDN) — A decade ago, this may have seemed illusory. Today, a global, unequivocal, comprehensive prohibition of nuclear weapons—the most catastrophic weapons ever created—is a reality. We owe this reality to the tireless efforts […]