By Jones Ntaukira KAPITA, Malawi (IDN) — Most development agencies fail because they don’t listen to the people and end up imposing projects on people. This is an important lesson I learned over 10 years working as a development worker here with Empower Malawi. I joined the Empower Malawi team in 2010 as a fresh […]
The Story of China’s Development Miracle
Viewpoint by Siddharth Chatterjee UN Resident Coordinator* in China Siddharth Chatterjee, formerly the Resident Coordinator in Kenya, considers how China’s admirable rise can provide valuable lessons for developing nations looking to improve livelihoods for their citizens. The ‘story’ first appeared on UN News on March 20, 2021. BEIJING | GUANGZHOU (IDN) — Arriving in Guangzhou […]
Congo Opposition Candidate Dies of COVID-19
By Lia Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Another African leader has lost the fight for his life—this time in a private hospital in Brazzaville, where he was last seen lifting up his oxygen mask and warning his supporters that he is “fighting death.” Family members of Guy Brice Parfait Kolelas—the leading opposition […]
Stop Arms Sales—Open Markets for Middle East Exports Wider
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN) — The Middle East is going to hell in a handbasket. Israel is about to hold its fourth election in two years. After having effectively quashed the notion of a two-state solution, the favourite for the premiership is the long-serving Benjamin Netanyahu, the principal living architect of the […]
UN Campaigns to Make Vaccines a Global Public Good
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — New research has cautioned against the growing trend towards “vaccine nationalism” where countries prioritize their own vaccine needs. The study warns that in monopolizing the supply of vaccines against the Covid-19 pandemic, wealthy nations are threatening economic destruction which will hit affluent countries nearly as hard as those […]
The US-Russia Relations Hit Rock Bottom
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) — The United States-Russia relations that flourished for decades—even during the Cold War—and benefited both parties have irreversibly damaged. Tensions between the two superpowers escalated over allegations that range from the Russian interference in US elections, the SolarWinds cyberattacks, and Washington’s demands that Russia free the jailed Kremlin […]
Toddler’s Death Highlights Perils of Crossing the Atlantic
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — The sight of refugees clinging to leaking boats, barely floating in frigid waters, or worse, washing up lifelessly on sandy shores, almost fails to shock after these images repeat over and over, year after year. But consciences were re-awakened when a two-year toddler from Mali […]
Egyptian Feminist Writer, Activist and Physician Dies
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) — Over the course of a lifetime spent fighting for women’s rights and equality, Nawal El Saadawi inspired generations of women even while she faced threats against her life and imprisonment. Aged 89, she died on March 21 in a Cairo hospital after a long illness.
The UK Defies Nuclear Treaties and Strengthens Atomic Arsenal
By Jamshed Baruah GENEVA (IDN) — Within three months of the UK’s complete withdrawal from all institutions of the European Union and from the European Atomic Energy Community on January 31, 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has decided to increase by 40 per cent to 260 the country’s nuclear arsenal to “continue to be the […]
Expert Groups Prepare Roadmap for Universal Energy Access
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) — The virtual launch of the High-level Dialogue on Energy 2021 Process: A Year of Energy Action on March 10 succeeded in generating a wave of enthusiastic support from key players in the energy field who committed to help drive impactful results at the September summit-level Dialogue event, according […]