By Kwame Buist GENEVA (IDN) – Two months since hundreds of thousands of people fled violence in north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN humanitarians have warned that armed militia continue to make their safe return impossible. Briefing journalists in Geneva on August 16, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Babar Baloch said that staff […]
Rohingya Refugee Children Want to Learn, Says UNICEF
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – The daily struggle to survive for Myanmar’s Rohingya people in some of the world’s largest refugee settlements has caused overwhelming despair and jeopardised the hopes of an entire generation, according to the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Henrietta Fore. In a report marking two years since […]
Remembering and Paying Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
UN Chief Calls for Long-Term, Multi-Faceted Support By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to the second International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has underlined that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations remains a global challenge. “It causes lasting damage to […]
Women and Girls Severely Impacted by Crises
Many Work in Some of the Most Dangerous Corners of the Globe By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – An unprecedented number of people are living through humanitarian crises today. Armed conflict, natural disaster, disease and violent persecution have forced more than 70 million people from their homes, notes UN Women. While women and […]
UN To Commemorate 20th Anniversary of the Culture of Peace Declaration
Interview with Ambassador Anwarul K. Chowdhury* NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted, by consensus and without reservation, its pioneering and norm-setting resolution 53/243 on the Declaration and Programme of Action on a Culture of Peace in 1990. The forthcoming UNGA is convening on September 13 the High-Level Forum on the […]
New Initiative Helps Tackling Clean Cooking Crisis in Rwanda
By Kizito Makoye KIGALI (IDN) – At a bustling neighbourhood, nestled on the rolling hills of Nyamirambo, southwest of the Rwandan capital city, Kigali every woman has a story to tell about a smart cooker and how it has removed hardship when someone is preparing a meal. “It’s such a good stove, it doesn’t emit […]
The Unique Sights & Sounds of Sri Lanka Come Alive in America
By Nandasiri (Nandi) Jasentuliyana The writer is Former Deputy Director General, United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV), Director, the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, and President Emeritus, International Institute of Space Law & Policy. NEW YORK (IDN) – When the annual Sri Lanka Day was celebrated in the historic city of Pasadena, Sri […]
ACP Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation Established in Equatorial Guinea
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific Information Centre for South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SS&TrC) has been formally established in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The Centre is a gift of President Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the government and the people of the country in Central Africa, to the people and […]
The Slow Process That is Evolution
Viewpoint by Dr S.S. Sira* TORONTO (IDN) – Evolution is a slow process. It is surprisingly orderly. Everything that is observed obeys laws that have been enunciated by science. Only in the last 100 years much progress has been made. Physics of the structure and the properties of the atom have been worked out. The […]
Kashmir Crisis Forebodes a New World Order in the Making
Viewpoint by James M. Dorsey James M. Dorsey – a senior fellow at Nanyang Technological University’s S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, an adjunct senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s Middle East Institute and co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture – offered this viewpoint to IDN. SINGAPORE (IDN) […]