Viewpoint by Jonathan Power LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Do we, especially our politicians and media, focus more on threats than on opportunities, dwell on loses more than on gains, and learn more from past failures than from successes? When we are children we are frightened of bogeymen. When we are adults we often inflate dangers. […]
Russia and Africa Stay Uninformed about Each Other
By Kester Kenn Klomegah MOSCOW (IDN) – Experts and researchers have observed that, since the collapse of the Soviet-era politics in December 1991, an appreciable level of media cooperation has never been on the side of Russia’s public diplomacy with Africa. In practice, Russian officialdom has not encouraged and supported the idea of media that […]
Global Festival Looks Beyond Promises of Agenda 2030
By Sean Buchanan BONN (IDN) – The SDG Global Festival of Action, which takes place in Bonn every year, is an occasion for bringing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) campaigners and multi-stakeholder partners together for inspiring and broadening the global movement to take action for the SDGs. It provides a dynamic and interactive space to showcase the latest […]
UN Report Calls for ‘Transformative Changes’ to Halt Nature’s Dangerous Decline
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK | PARIS (IDN) – UN biodiversity experts have warned in a hard-hitting report into the impact of humans on nature that “the very foundations of our economies, livelihoods, food security, health and quality of life worldwide” are being eroded. Current efforts to conserve the earth’s resources will likely fail without […]
Not Faith but Manipulation of the Faithful Behind Hate Attacks
By Sean Buchanan NEW YORK (IDN) – Following a recent series of hate-fuelled attacks on places of worship around the world, a forum on intercultural dialogue was told May 2 that “in all these heinous and cowardly attacks… we see a common pattern: hatred of the ‘other’. These criminals are hijacking entire faith communities, pitting […]
Burqa Ban Does Not Absolve Sri Lanka Govt. of Responsibility for Carnage
Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa* NEW YORK (IDN) – One week after the heinous bomb blasts that shattered the calm of an Easter Sunday, the Sri Lankan Sunday Times carried an editorial titled ‘Let’s resurrect ourselves from this catastrophe’. This was a timely advice since only crude opportunists would attempt to hijack “the dastardly attacks by […]
International Aid Flows to Southern Africa after Two Devastating Cyclones
By Jeffrey Moyo HARARE (IDN) – All that she has now is her 12-year old daughter. Her home, and almost all her belongings were destroyed by Cyclone Idai in March. Over a month ago since the tragedy struck, 35-year old Teresa Chizimu who hails from Chikwawa district in Malawi, has sunken deeper and deeper into […]
Faith Communities Sound a Clarion Call for Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Heed the voices of the world’s hibakusha, survivors of atomic bombings, by unequivocally recommitting to achieving a world without nuclear weapons, by supporting the signing and ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). Fifty-three groups and individuals of diverse faiths have joined forces […]
Hate Speech: Tech Companies and World Leaders Opt for Band-Aid Solutions
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) […]
Kazakhstan Calls for Rigorous Implementation of the NPT
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan, an active supporter of nuclear disarmament and strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime, has reiterated its firm support for the strict and complete compliance by all parties of the provisions of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). This was stressed by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yerzhan Ashikbayev, […]