By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria. ABUJA | 09 April 2024 (IDN) —The words of President Bassirou Diomaye Faye were honey to taste. Following the bitter ending of the 12-year rule of Macky Sall, highlighted by the widespread belief that France is at the heart […]
Kenyan Doctors’ Strike Enters Third Week As Gov’t Stonewalls Talks
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 8 April 2024 (IDN) — Kenya’s health sector, underfunded and understaffed, is closed for business until the government makes good on salary arrears and agrees to hire badly needed trainee doctors as promised to the union. The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists, and Dentists Union (KMPDU) also […]
New Leadership in Senegal Inspires a Continent Seeking Change
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 8 April 2024 (IDN) — A firebrand politician and a young tax inspector opposed to French colonialism have taken the government of Senegal by storm, say journalists inspired by the electoral victory of Bassirou Diomaye Faye, 44, and Ousmane Sonko, 49, on a platform of major […]
Indian Ocean “Zone of Peace” Sinking in Troubled Waters
By Thalif Deen* UNITED NATIONS | 8 April 2024 (IDN) — Just after a group of mercenaries tried to unsuccessfully oust the government of the Maldives in 1979, I asked a Maldivian diplomat, using a military jargon, about the strength of his country’s “standing army”. “Standing army?”, the diplomat asked with mock surprise, and remarked […]
A Flame of Remembrance for Victims of the Rwandan Genocide
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 7 April 2024 (IDN) — Rwandans are marking the 30th anniversary of a genocide that took the lives of an estimated 800,000 mostly ethnic Tutsis over 100 days between April and June 1994. President Paul Kagame and First Lady Jeannette Kagame laid wreaths at the Kigali […]
Are Voluntary National Reviews Helping Achieve UN’s Development Goals?
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU, Nepal | 7 April 2024 (IDN) — What do jargons like “whole of government” or “whole of the society” approach or really mean when we talk about implementing the SDGs? What about “multi stakeholders’ engagement”? These are some key questions that UN policymakers should ask when they encourage member states to […]
WHO Urges Additional Funds to Ensure Primary Health Care in Poor Countries
By Jaya Ramachandran GENEVA | 6 April 2024 (IDN) — The World Health Organization (WHO), a United Nations agency, has launched “My health, my right” campaign to champion the right to health of everyone, everywhere—urging an additional US$ 200–328 billion a year globally, to scale up primary health care in low- and middle-income countries. Because of necessary […]
Diplomatic Debate Over Autonomous Weapons Heats Up
By Michael T. Klare* This article was issued by Arms Control Today and is being republished with their permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. | 6 April 2024 (IDN) — Diplomatic activity concerning the regulation of autonomous weapons systems is accelerating. The United States convened a conference on the subject in March, Austria has scheduled one for April, […]
Japan Chairs a Rare UN Security Council Disarmament Debate
By Shizuka Kuramitsu and Daryl G. Kimball* This article was issued by Arms Control Today and is being republished with their permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. | 5 April 2024 (IDN) — Japan chaired a rare, high-level UN Security Council meeting on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation on March 18. Although the meeting underscored the urgency of addressing […]
Abusive Gender Practices “Tragically Embedded” in American Life
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS | 5 April 2024 (IDN) — The United Nations has continued a longstanding campaign against female genital mutilation (FGM) and child marriages, both still prevalent, mostly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. According to the UN children’s agency UNICEF, FGM refers to “all procedures involving partial or total removal […]