By Busani Bafana NAIROBI | 23 September 2024 (IDN) — Africa stands on the edge of a severe water crisis, threatening its ability to meet critical Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), a new report reveals. Despite the continent’s vast water resources, poor management, overexploitation, and the escalating effects of climate change are fueling widespread water insecurity. […]
Digital Transformation Accelerates, But Gaps Underscore Need for New Framework
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | NEW YORK | 22 September 2024 (IDN) — A new UN report has found a significant upward trend in the development of digital government worldwide as a result of increased private investment in resilient infrastructure and cutting-edge technologies. But the African region, least developed countries, and Small Island Developing States […]
South Asian Workers in Europe Face Harrowing Working Conditions
By Aju John* BERLIN | 22 September 2024 (IDN) — On 19 June of this year, an agricultural labourer from India named Satnam Singh lost his life on a melon farm in Latina, Italy. He had been crushed by a machine that severed one of his arms and fractured his legs — horrific injuries, but, […]
Opinion: What Does Solidarity with Ukraine Mean?
By Ingar Solty The writer is Senior Fellow for Peace and Security Policy at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation. BERLIN | 22 September 2024 (IDN) — On 17 March 1981, the German comic book artist Rötger Feldmann gave himself a birthday present by publishing the first volume of his Werner comics. The series chronicles the adventures […]
If the Summit is to Achieve Change, the UN Chief Needs to Play Hard Ball
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 21 September 2024 (IDN)—The United Nations is hosting one of the most important events in the history of the world body. This is the importance that Secretary General António Guterres has placed on the Summit of the Future September 22-23. The meeting is supposed to endorse key blueprints like […]
A Cultural Feast of Folk Songs That Unveils the Soul of Sri Lanka
Reviewed by Nandi Jasentuliyana, former Deputy Director-General, United Nations. LOS ANGELES, USA | 21 September 2024 (IDN) — If you have yet to experience the mesmerizing performances of the Ranwala Balakaya, you’re missing out on a cultural feast that stirs the soul and celebrates Sri Lanka’s rich heritage. Fans of traditional Sri Lankan arts packed […]
Exceptional AI-Powered Art Brings Digital Environmentalism to the UN
World renowned media artist Refik Anadol’s work on nature highlights transformative power of technology during UN General Assembly NEW YORK | 21 September 2024 (IDN | UN) — At the United Nations headquarters, where world leaders will gather to address critical global challenges during the General Assembly (UNGA) high-level week, they will have a unique […]
Summit of the Future: The Importance of Youth and Future Generations
By Bisma Qamar* UNITED NATIONS | 21 September 2024 (IDN) — The Summit of the Future, best described by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to bring together political leaders to discuss the world’s pressing challenges, is aimed at negotiating solutions. Under the theme “Multilateral Solutions for a better tomorrow,” the Summit is […]
Sri Lanka Must Pivot to the BRICS for a New Dawn
Need to De-dollarize to De-colonize after Elections By Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake* COLOMBO | 20 September 2024 (IDN) — In the run up to elections the post-Marxist National People’s Party (NPP), has run a high-gloss, foreign-funded, election campaign to market its policies as a ‘new dawn’. Remarkably, the NPP and rival political parties alike had ignored wider […]
The Four Psychological Dimensions Behind Hamas’ Attack and Israel’s Retaliation
By Alon Ben-Meir* NEW YORK | 20 September 2024 (IDN) — Hamas’ attack and Israel’s retaliatory war are the dire by-products of decades-long psychological impediments—historical, ideological, religious, and humanitarian—that have hindered any progress toward a solution while making the conflict ever more intractable Hamas’s savage October 7 attack on Israel and the latter’s massive retaliatory […]