Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – It’s been an odd couple of months for southern Africa. No one predicted last year that in almost the same breath the long-serving dictator of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe, and the super-corrupt president of South Africa, Jacob Zuma, would be soon overthrown – and non-violently to boot. In […]
Equal Rights to Economic Resources Vital to Gender Equality
By Heather Wokusch* This is the eighth and last in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United […]
Obiang Restores Death Penalty in Bid to Save Unpopular Regime
By Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The Central African Equatorial Guinea, under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, is reviving the odious death penalty against 147 opposition activists accused of “rebellion, attacks on authority and public disorder”. The activists include leaders of Citizens for Innovation (CI), many of whom were rounded up after a […]
Ethiopian Resignation Triggers Anxiety, Anger and Emergency
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ADDIS ABABA (IDN) – The Ethiopian government has given itself sweeping new powers – from restrictions on freedom of assembly and free expression to the deployment of combat-ready troops in civilian centers. The newly imposed state of emergency is expected to last six months. The harsh […]
UN Turns To ‘Unite Ideas’ In Support Of The Global Goals
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations is on way to improving tools available for designing sustainable development policies, and building a search engine for people working on solutions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for accessing relevant knowledge on science, technology and innovation. The UN Office of Information and Communications […]
UN Chief Warns of a Repeat of the League of Nations’ Fate
By Ramesh Jaura BERLIN | MUNICH (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres has warned against a repeat of what happened with the League of Nations and the threat of a nuclear conflict, stressed the need for breaking the Gordian knot in the “broader Middle East”, called for establishing an international legal framework for “cyberwars between […]
Palestine President to Address Security Council Amid ‘Eroding’ Consensus on Two-State Solution
By J Nastranis UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – In the run-up to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority, addressing the Security Council on February 20, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warned that global consensus on the question of Palestine “could be eroding, making effective concerted action more difficult to achieve, at a time when […]
Kazakh President Lauds China’s Silk Road Initiative
By KazInform ASTANA (IDN) – China’s plans to establish the Silk Road Economic Belt, also known as the One Belt and One Road Initiative, are “great”, according to President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, reports Kazinform international news agency. In an interview aired by China’s CCTV-13 channel, Nazarbayev stressed the importance of the state visit to […]
From Tlatelolco to the UN Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty
By Jorge Alberto López Lechuga Jorge Alberto López Lechuga is Research and Communication Officer of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL). The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of OPANAL and its Member States. – The Editor MEXICO (IDN) – On February […]
Religious Leaders Plan Action Against Inciting Atrocity Crimes
By Jaya Ramachandran VIENNA (IDN) – The United Nations has taken an important step towards preventing incitement to violence that could lead to atrocity crimes. More than 150 religious leaders from around the world, member states and UN officials, gathered in Vienna to discuss the implementation of the Plan of Action launched by Secretary-General António […]