By Sean Buchanan LONDON (IDN) – As governments across the globe crack down on citizen groups, stifling their ability to speak out and hold governments to account, the role of civil society is more important now than ever. With his in mind, activists from more than 600 civil society organisations and more than 45 countries […]
UN Supports Comprehensive Reform Process in Lesotho
By Ntsoaki Nkoe MASERU (IDN) – Lesotho has launched a landmark project with the European Union willing to provide Euros 12.5 million (approx. USD14.4 million) and the United Nations USD 2 million. Known as the Lesotho National Dialogue and Stabilization Project (LNDSP), the initiative aims to stimulate a comprehensive national reforms process the southern African […]
Thirteen-Year-Old Defies Family, Escapes Forced Marriage
By Billy Ntaote This report is part of a series on Human Trafficking by MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism in Lesotho. MASERU (IDN) – For people living in the rural parts of the country, early child marriage doesn’t exist – but when a teenager is impregnated, families rush to organise a traditional wedding ceremony and […]
Kudos and Criticism for New UN Human Rights Chief
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – Moments after the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed on August 10 to appoint Chile’s former President Michelle Bachelet as the seventh UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted: “Ms. Bachelet is a pioneer, a visionary, a woman of principle, and a great human rights leader […]
Advancing Disarmament Within the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu The author is Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. This article first appeared in UN Chronicle, Vol. LV No. 2 2018 | August 2018. NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – The idea that disarmament and arms control are connected to development is not new. Article 26 of the Charter of the United […]
Empower Indigenous Women, Strengthen Communities
No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis, No More Hibakusha
Viewpoint by António Guterres The survivors of the atomic bombings, known in Japanese as the hibakusha, have become global “leaders for peace and disarmament”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said at the Nagasaki Peace Memorial Ceremony in Japan on 9 August 2018, commemorating the 73rd anniversary of that devastating day. Following are extensive extracts from […]
Trump and Putin Can Put the Brakes on a New, Potentially More Dangerous, Arms Race
Viewpoint by Thomas M. Countryman, Kingston A. Reif and Daryl G. Kimball The following analysis is the Arms Control Association’s latest Issue Brief with the caption Can Trump and Putin Head Off a Nuclear Arms Race? authored by Thomas M. Countryman, former Acting Under Secretary Of State for Arms Control and International Security and Chairman of the […]
Empower Indigenous Women, Strengthen Communities
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – August 9 is International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples. On this occasion, UN Women calls on each of us to commit to making the voices of indigenous peoples, and indigenous women, louder and more impactful than ever before: http://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2018/8/statement-un-women-international-day-of-the-worlds-indigenous-peoples. At a time of unprecedented human mobility, indigenous […]
The ACP Group Deepens Ties with the EU for Global Actions
By Phil Pascal The writer is a Caribbean journalist and Commentator on development issues. This is the second article in a two-part Series on the next stage of ACP-EU relations in the Post-Cotonou Agreement with the EU. In the earlier commentary the writer explained the principles and processes by which the ACP Group has set […]