Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). BANGKOK (IDN) – The Pacific Island Developing State of Vanuatu has emerged as one of the region’s great success stories. Vanuatu has joined the […]
Africa Alliance Launched to Combat Misinformation on COVID-19
By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – The World Health Organisation (WHO) has just launched a new alliance, the Africa Infodemic Response Alliance (AIRA), to coordinate actions and pool resources in combating misinformation around COVID-19 pandemic and other health emergencies in Africa. It brings together 13 international and regional organisations, together with fact-checking groups which have […]
US Policing and Militarism Perpetuate Sexual Violence
Viewpoint by Olivia Pace* The original version of this article was published on Waging Nonviolence and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. PORTLAND, Oregon (IDN) – From the forces of policing to the military, these arms of the US state claim to be arbiters of justice and safety in the most superficial […]
Situation Report EEPA HORN OF AFRICA No. 18
Europe External Programme with Africa is a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection and resilience in the Horn of Africa. EEPA has published extensively on issues related to movement and/or human trafficking of refugees in the Horn of Africa and on the Central Mediterranean […]
Human Exploitation of the Biosphere Threatens Mass Extinction
Viewpoint by John Scales Avery* COPENHAGEN (IDN) – According to a recent United Nations report, more than a million species of plants and animals are currently threatened with extinction because of human activities. Rates of extinction today are as much as 1,000 times greater than the normal background rate. As the greenhouse gas emissions of […]
Doubts Whether Space Is Being Used Only for Peaceful Purposes
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – A Soviet cosmonaut and an American astronaut shook hands high above the planet Earth, on July 17, 1975, where the Soviet spaceship Soyuz-19 and the U.S. spacecraft Apollo had met and docked. In a message of greeting, the Soviet leadership described the “joint flight of the […]
Situation Report EEPA HORN OF ARICA No. 17
Europe External Programme with Africa is a Belgium-based Centre of Expertise with in-depth knowledge, publications, and networks, specialised in issues of peacebuilding, refugee protection and resilience in the Horn of Africa. EEPA has published extensively on issues related to movement and/or human trafficking of refugees in the Horn of Africa and on the Central Mediterranean […]
Missile Defence Plans Threaten to Trigger Arms Race
By J C Suresh TORONTO | WASHINGTON (IDN) – President Trump’s legacy is far from inspiring. Joe Biden and his team face numerous crucial decisions. Arms policy experts believe that one of the momentous decisions confronting the new administration is “whether and how to move forward with Trump-era plans to expand the U.S. national missile […]
How the U.S. Is Locking Out China from Latin America and the Caribbean
Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad * NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – On August 20, 2018, El Salvador’s leftist president Salvador Sánchez Cerén announced on national television that El Salvador would break its ties with Taiwan and recognize the People’s Republic of China. This was in accord with international law, said Sánchez Cerén, and it would bring “great […]
The Forgotten HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) – Since the first identification of HIV/AIDS in the United States of America (USA), in 1981, approximately 76 million people have been infected with HIV, and nearly 35 million people have died of AIDS — the highest global death toll of all time — and also one of […]