By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Munir Akram has called for a ‘Coalition of the Willing’ to promote agreement at the global level, on a specific set of early actions to provide fiscal space and supplementary liquidity to developing countries suffering the disastrous impact of […]
Time to Redouble Efforts for Economic Diversification in East Africa
By Devendra Kamarajan NAIROBI (IDN) — When the COVID-19 pandemic crisis started, most people were extremely pessimistic. They thought that the region would drown in terms of trade declining catastrophically. But a new report reveals that the East Africa Community economies — Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda — have, by global standards, […]
Why the U.S. Should Build A New Base in Eritrea
Viewpoint by Daniel Haile* COLLEGE STATION, Texas | USA (IDN) — The United States should abandon its base in Djibouti and build a new military base in Eritrea after the Communist regime in Asmara falls from power. daniel_haile.jpg The communist regime of 78-year-old dictator Isaias Afwerki has an expiration date. When the current government in […]
Bolsonaro May Well Emerge Unscathed from Brazil’s Disaster
Viewpoint by Robert Muggah* RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN) — It was once fashionable to describe Brazil as the country of the future. What a difference half a decade makes. In recent years, a democratically elected president was stripped of power and ultimately replaced by an authoritarian strongman. Today, Latin America’s largest country is suffering from […]
Looking Forward to A Pluralistic and Rebalanced World
Viewpoint by S. Jaishankar A return to normalcy in 2021 will mean safer travel, better health, economic revival and digitally-driven services. They will be expressed in new conversations and fresh understandings, writes Dr S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs of India and author of “The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World.” The views […]
The Choice of Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as WTO Head Makes History
Can This ‘Grandmother’ Save The World Ruled by Gender and Racial Bias? Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA (IDN) — As the World Trade Organization (WTO) formally announced the appointment of Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala as Director-General on February 15, a Swiss newspaper […]
World’s Largest Free Trade Area Opens for Business in Africa
By Kester Kenn Klomegah* MOSCOW (IDN) — The opening of the world’s largest free trade area in Africa on January 1, 2021, is of great interest to Russia. It comes more than one year after the first Russia-Africa Summit in Sochi on the Black Sea. As Russian President Vladimir Putin then said: “The event really […]
Farm Crisis Fuelling India’s Farmers’ Protests
By Manu Moudgil* NEW DELHI (IDN) – On February 6, protesters blocked roads at an estimated 10,000 spots across India as part of the ongoing movement against the new farm laws enacted by the national government last year. For over two months, the most populous democracy in the world has witnessed what is being called one of […]
A Beacon of Hope from A Buddhist Leader in the Face of Crises
Viewpoint by Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) — Like the United Nations, the global community-based Buddhist organisation Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is a beacon of hope to a world shrouded by dark clouds of unprecedented crises. An international association of the Soka Gakkai and an NGO in consultative status with UN ECOSOC, SGI has […]
Global Food Systems Can Only Be Truly Transformed with a People’s Summit
Viewpoint by Agnes Kalibata* NEW YORK (IDN) – Long before the emergence of COVID-19, it was well-accepted that the world was off-course to achieve most of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030, including ending hunger. But recovering from the pandemic to deliver any of the 17 SDGs relies now more than ever on first feeding the […]