By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – The world’s people are demanding “transformative change that is fair and sustainable,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said July 16, calling on government leaders to use key United Nations meetings in September to “kickstart a decade of delivery and action for people and planet.” The key meetings are the Climate […]
Damocles’ Sword Hanging Over Netanyahu and Netanyahu’s Over Palestine
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – A sword of Damocles hangs over the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. The sword of Netanyahu hangs over Palestine – and Israel. Which will fall first? A court case approaches. A new election in September approaches. Netanyahu is being accused of a serious crime of corruption. He […]
Times Pummeled Over Job Posting Called Offensive by Africans
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The New York Times is still recovering from the verbal bashing it received from Kenyan writers shocked and angered by the paper’s outdated references to Africa in a recent ad for the job of Nairobi Bureau Chief. How far has Africa come, wondered educator Alice […]
World Heritage Committee Stresses Need to Enhance and Preserve African Heritage
By Krishan Dutta PARIS (IDN) – The World Heritage Committee has inscribed a total of 29 new sites on the World Heritage List – one in Africa, two in the Arab States, ten in the Asia Pacific region, 15 in Europe and North America and one in Latin America. The List now features 1,121 sites […]
New Data Illuminates Inequalities Among the Poor Worldwide
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report released at the UN High-Level Political Forum challenges the traditional concept of poverty and sheds light on the number of people experiencing poverty at regional, national and subnational levels, and reveals inequalities across countries and among the poor themselves. Findings from the 2019 global Multidimensional […]
Quarter of Pacific Islanders Living Below ‘Basic Needs Poverty Lines’
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – While there has been progress on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) over the past four years, some vulnerable small island developing states (SIDs), such as those in the Pacific, are losing momentum in the run-up to 2030. In 2015, the United Nations set out a vision for […]
Intra-Afghan Dialogue Seen as A Step Towards Peace
By R. Maxwell Bone The writer is Vice President for Political Affairs, Democracy, and Governance at the International Institute for Peace, Democracy, and Development (IIPDD). He lives in Washington, DC. Follow him on Twitter @maxbone55. WASHIGTON, DC (IDN) – A broad delegation of representatives from Afghan society partook in an Intra-Afghan dialogue session with the […]
Germany and EU Encouraged by Afghan Talks in Doha
Afghanistan On the Long Road to Trust and Reconciliation By Rita Joshi BERLIN (IDN) – As a friend to Afghanistan, Germany has supported efforts to achieve peace in the country for many years. After 40 years of almost constant violence, the main prerequisites for peace, according to the German Foreign Office, are “a willingness to […]
Many More Than Just Maritime Powder Kegs in the Gulf
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) […]
New Report Warns of Resurfacing Nuclear Risks
By Jaya Ramachandran NEW YORK (IDN) – In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2020, arms control experts have warned that “the risk of nuclear use is increasing and … critical nonproliferation and disarmament norms are eroding”. Assessing Progress on Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament in 2016-2019, the Arms […]