By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — Last year, Australia was among the first countries to successfully battle the Covid-19 pandemic with lockdowns and efficient contact tracing, but, with the rapid transmission of the Delta variant, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, the politicians’ fetish for lockdowns is now being questioned with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and […]
UN Experts Call for Protection of Journalists in Afghanistan
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA (IDN) — “Journalists and media workers, in particular women, are facing heightened risks since the Taliban’s political takeover of Afghanistan,” a group of UN human rights experts has warned and called on all States to provide urgent protection to Afghan journalists and media workers who fear for their lives and are […]
The Population Exodus Threatens to Change Hong Kong Forever
By Vera Yuen The writer is Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Hong Kong. HONG KONG (IDN) — Hong Kong has experienced a series of unexpected political developments since 2019. The government proposed a new extradition law that would have allowed Hong Kong residents to be extradited to mainland […]
Fiji Keen to Ease US-China Rivalry in the Pacific
By Denghua Zhang, ANU and Shivan, University of Fiji While Denghua Zhang is a Research Fellow at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, The Australian National University (ANU), Shivani is Lecturer in the School of Law at the University of Fiji. CANBERRA | SUVA (IDN) — As strategic mistrust between the United States […]
Geo-political Regionalism Challenges Multilateralism, Fobs Off the Global South with Empty Promises
Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes Dr P.I. Gomes is former Secretary-General of the Organisation of African, the Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS), previously the ACP Group of States. PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) — The commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the United Nations in January 2020 was acknowledged world-wide and accompanied by the […]
Achieving SDG7 Will Put Us on A Pathway to Net-Zero
Viewpoint by Damilola Ogunbiyi The writer is CEO and Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Sustainable Energy for All (SEforALL) and Co-Chair of UN-Energy. VIENNA (IDN | UNDESA) — The energy transition story is a story of energy access. I’ve often said this, and it’s worth repeating. The climate crisis and the energy access […]
Russia Needs A Comprehensive African Agenda and Economic Diplomacy
Kester Kenn Klomegah* interviews Dr. Babafemi A. Badejo, former Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia. MOSCOW (IDN) — The scramble for the multidimensional control of the African continent by global players is a geopolitical reality. In order to be part of this geopolitical arena, foreign players have been devising different mechanisms for […]
Climate Change — Emerging Human Adaptations
Viewpoint by Bill Dahl* QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) — In August 2021, NBC News published a piece about the renewed interest in schools providing survival skills and urban disaster preparedness. The increase in attendance in these schools have one thing in common: climate change. Furthermore, the most common demographic is families with young children. I explore […]
Together, We Can Change the Way We Power the World
Viewpoint by Alok Sharma, President of COP 26 Climate Conference LONDON (IDN | UNDESA) — Solar changed Neville’s life. I saw this for myself when, as UK Secretary of State for International Development, I visited his home in Kenya, and he told me how off-grid solar power was helping him to study for his degree.
ADB Warns Covid-19 Threatens Asia’s Progress Towards Achieving Global Development Goals
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — A new report released by the Manila-based Asian Development Bank (ADB) says that an estimated 75 to 80 million people in the developing regions of Asia have been pushed back into poverty last year threatening to derail the region’s progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).