By Stéphanie Fillion, Passblue NEW YORK (IDN) — The presidency of the Security Council is always a high time for a country’s diplomacy, but for India right now, it’s more than that. In August, the country is going to try to show the world why it deserves a permanent seat in the United Nations’ most […]
UN Notes ‘Stalled’ Progress on Nuclear Disarmament
By UN News NEW YORK (IDN) — The world needs the continued moral leadership of the people of Hiroshima, the top United Nations disarmament official said, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of the atomic bombing that devastated the city while lamenting that after decades of momentum towards a nuclear-free world, “progress has stalled.”
Call for ‘Immediate Signing’ of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty
By MATSUI Kazumi, Mayor of the City of Hiroshima Every year on August 6, the City of Hiroshima holds a Peace Memorial Ceremony to pray for the peaceful repose of the victims, for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and for lasting world peace. During that ceremony, the Mayor issues a Peace Declaration directed toward the […]
Affordable Clean Cooking Technology Important To Achieving Sustainable Energy Access
By Kalinga Seneviratne SYDNEY (IDN) — In the Asia-Pacific region which is home to about 60 percent of the global population, some 1.6 billion people primarily rely on open fires or simple stoves fueled by kerosene, coal, or biomass such as wood, dung and agricultural residues for their daily cooking needs, that impacts on climatic […]
Rwanda Using Surveillance Spyware Against Activists, Journalists, Politicians
By Lisa Vives NEW YORK (IDN) — A coalition of news outlets says it has unearthed evidence that Rwandan authorities are among the governments using a powerful surveillance tool to spy on thousands of activists, journalists and politicians through their cellphones. The spyware, developed by Israeli hackers for a company called the NSO Group, has […]
The Climate Crisis: Where our Capacity for Cognition, Collaboration, Creativity and Chronology Collide
Viewpoint by Bill Dahl* This is the fourth in a series of four articles. Click here for the third in the series. QUERETARO, Mexico (IDN) — In my last piece, we touched on the third critical challenge regarding the climate crisis; creativity. In the first piece in this series we addressed the first challenge; cognition. […]
Russia Decides to Join UNESCO-Led Program for Free and Pluralistic Media in Developing Countries
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW (IDN) — The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced that it would allocate US$1 million to an international program that promotes free media in developing countries over the next five years. The funds will go toward UNESCO’s International Program for the Development of Communication (IPDC) at US$250,000 per year […]
For Sesenieli Donu, The Fijiana Sevens Rugby Triumph in Tokyo Thrills Home Village
By Josefa Babitu* SUVA, Fiji (IDN) — It might have been just a bronze medal to some people but for the Fijiana team—especially Sesenieli Donu—it was the fruit of sacrifice and a token of appreciation for her village of Vatukarasa in Nadroga. After an intense competition for the bronze medal with Great Britain at the […]
Japan Should Take the Initiative in Proposing New Security Alternatives to Nuclear Deterrence
Interview with Mr. Tetsuo Saito, Vice Representative, Komei Party By Katsuhiro Asagiri TOKYO (IDN) — Hiroshima and Nagasaki mark the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs on August 6 and 9 for the first time since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) came into force on January 22. The survivors […]
Sustainable Development through Mother Tongue and Multilingualism
Viewpoint by Yossef Ben-Meir and Ellen Hernandez Dr. Yossef Ben-Meir is President of the High Atlas Foundation in Morocco. Professor Ellen Hernandez teaches in English at Camden County College in the United States. MARRAKECH (IDN) — When community meetings are held to determine priority development projects in villages, in neighborhoods, in schools, in agricultural fields—wherever […]