Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Xi Jinping, president of China, remains an enigma. You watched him on television reviewing the dancing in Pyongyang in the company of Kim Jong-un and his face is near to expressionless when in repose. He doesn’t stand like an arrogant man and we recall that time when […]
BIOPAMA Launches the 1st Call for Proposals for Medium Grants
By Reinhard Jacobsen BRUSSELS (IDN) – The Biodiversity and Protected Areas Management (BIOPAMA) has launched on June 24 the first call for proposals for medium grants (up to € 400,000) in the frame of its “Action component”. The Programme assists the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to address their priorities for improved management and […]
UN Calls for Bridging Palestinian Refugee Agency’s Funding Shortfall
By Jaya Ramachandan NEW YORK (IDN) – UNRWA, officially the Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, faces a “serious funding shortfall”, the General Assembly President María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés has warned. The agency is $211 million short of the $1.2 billion needed to deliver its aid programmes. She was speaking […]
Families in a Changing World Call for Reality Check
Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka The writer is UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director, of UN Women. NEW YORK (IDN) – What’s a family? Classically, we think of a mother, a father and the children. The father goes out to work, the mother takes care of the children, maybe she works part time, at home or close […]
China Bags Yet Another Trophy with Qu Dongyu as FAO Chief
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | ROME (IDN) – With the election of Qu Dongyu as Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), China has made yet another stride in its unrelenting efforts to take over a signature role in strategic UN organisations and foster its massive ‘Belt and Road’ infrastructure […]
NPT Review Conference Will Benefit from CTBT’s Entry into Force
By Jamshed Baruah VIENNA (IDN) – Strongly pleading for a legally binding universal prohibition of nuclear tests, CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo has said that an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in a state of limbo for 23 years will positively influence the outcome of the 2020 NPT Review Conference. […]
Science & Technology Can Contribute to Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation
Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu The following are extensive excerpts from the statement by Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) at the High-Level Panel “CTBT: Science and Technology in a Changing World” on 24 June at Hofburg Palace, Vienna, in the opening session of the Science and Technology Conference2019 (SnT2019) 24 June-28 June […]
Climate Change Finds Its Way to the ‘Rooftop’ in Tajikistan
By Alisher Kukanbekov* PAMIR, Tajikistan (IDN) – The great mountains of Pamir that have been known as the ‘Roof of the World’ over the centuries is now falling victim to climatic change. One of the largest glaciers here, Garmo glacier, has retreated by a staggering 7 kilometers in the past few decades with the annual […]
Economic Growth Makes Africa Highly Popular with Investors
Viewpoint by Dmitry Medvedev The following are extensive extracts from the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev’s remarks on June 21, 2019 to the Russia-Africa Conference and the general meeting of shareholders of the African Export-Import Bank, a leading regional financial institution. This was only the second meeting of the Bank’s shareholders outside the African continent. […]
Russia-Africa Economic Partnership Under the Spotlight
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) – Squeezed between European and American sanctions, Russia has stepped up efforts to elevate its existing relationship, mostly focusing on trade, investment and economic cooperation with several African countries, to include areas spanning the financial sector, energy, the mining industry, railway infrastructure, digital technologies, cybersecurity, healthcare, education, and food […]