IDN-InDepthNews

Peace & Security2017-04-082023-07-10

On the Right of Peoples to Self-Determination

Analysis by Pier Francesco Zarcone*

ROME (IDN) – Well-meaning people of various countries have long tried to introduce the rule of law in relations among States, placing their trust for this purpose in the instrument of international law.

This is an imperfect, fragile instrument which is part conventional and part covenantal in nature, and works only by leveraging the fear of effective retaliation by other States.

In the context of today, talk of international law more than ever smacks of a joke, given that under the “new world order” of imperialism the issues of legality and illegality have now been relegated to the level of study and discussion for specialists in law, but without any practical relevance. Today, those who can do what they want.

Asia-Pacific2017-04-072023-07-10

Drought Forcing Sri Lanka’s Tea Producers to Seek Greener Pastures

By Stella Paul

RATNAPURA, Sri Lanka (IDN) – The deafening sound of half a dozen rolling machines in the Rilhena tea factory feels like a hard punch on the head, but for factory workers Bihita Madura and Rajakaxmi Chandrakumar this is sweet music.

Their noise-belching, black dust-spewing machine symbolises what matters most: another day at work. “It’s a normal day for us,” says Madura, watching Chandrakumar feed a shovel of black tea leaves into the giant rolling machine.

Both in their forties, Madura and Chandrakumar have good reason to be relieved: the Rilhena factory, owned by Khawatte Plantations of tea major Dilmah, is one of the country’s best-performing tea producers. But elsewhere in the country, the industry has been battling a series of problems: drought, dry spells, erratic rain, degrading land, eroding soil, crashing tea prices, low yield, labour migration and closure of factories.

OPINION2017-04-062023-07-10

Banning Nuclear Weapons – An Auspicious Start

By Sergio Duarte, former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs*

NEW YORK (IDN) – Despite being shunned by the nine possessors of nuclear weapons and most of their allies, the first part of the negotiations mandated by the United Nations General Assembly on a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination, ended on an optimistic tone on March 31.

Delegations from 120-plus States will return to New York in mid-June to start discussing the draft treaty to be presented by the President of the Conference, Ambassador Elayne Whyte-Gomez of Costa Rica.

UN INSIDER2017-04-052023-07-10

UN and EU Urge Vigilance As Somali Pirates Return

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – With the Somali pirates back after a lull of five years, the United Nations and the European Union anti-piracy taskforce (EU Naval Force) are urging greater vigilance and asking ships to continue to follow the advice of navies and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) when planning passage off Somalia.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Executive Director Yury Fedotov said: “After . . . attacks, following a lull of five years, it is clear that Somali pirates are resurgent and intent on continuing attacks on commercial shipping. I urge the international community to be vigilant, to work in close partnership and to hold the Somali pirates accountable.” Fedotov was speaking after a spate of recent piracy attacks off Somalia.

UN INSIDER2017-04-042023-07-10

U.S. Reasoning Behind Cutting Funds to UNFPA Challenged

By J Nastranis

This is the second in a series of reports analysing U.S. policy towards multilateralism in general and the UN in particular. The first was published on March 16, 2017. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – Voicing “deep regret” at the United States decision to cut financial support to the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appealed to donors to increase their support for the UN Population Agency to allow it to continue its critical work.

Strongly criticising the U.S. decision, Catholics for Choice said the announcement of the decision in the same week as the 50th session of the Commission on Population and Development (Aprll 3-7) is “a deliberate slap in the face of women as the UN considers the importance of family planning for sustainable development.”

Africa2017-04-042023-07-10

Local Construction Materials Hold the Key to Jobs Across Southern Africa

By Ronald Joshua

BRUSSELS | MAPUTO, Mozambique (ACP-IDN) – Once neglected minerals and materials may hold the key to millions of jobs across Southern Africa at a time when oil and metal exporting countries are grappling with low commodity prices.

Mega infrastructure projects agreed by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Heads of State are projected to draw in 986 billion dollars in investments over the next ten years, ramping up the demand for construction materials exponentially. Estimates from the African Development Bank indicate that for each billion invested in African infrastructure, between 3-7 million jobs are created.

OPINION2017-04-042023-07-10

Turkey and the Waxing Dangers of Populism

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The long talked-about referendum in Turkey will happen on April 16. In effect voters have to decide whether the president, Recep Erdogan, in theory the incumbent of a relatively modest political post, should now be given the powers of the president and prime minister together.

Combined with a large majority in Parliament he would have enormous power to shape Turkey around his pro-Islamic agenda. Although working within a democratic system, Erdogan is in many ways a populist, rather in the mould of President Donald Trump.

OPINION2017-04-032023-07-10

How U.S. Policies Are Perpetuating Wars

Viewpoint by Ann Wright*

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Fourteen years ago on March 19, 2003, I resigned from the U.S. government in opposition to President George W. Bush’s decision to invade and occupy Iraq, an oil-rich Arab/Muslim country that had nothing to do with the events of September 11, 2001, and that the Bush Administration knew did not have weapons of mass destruction.

In my letter of resignation, I wrote of my deep concerns about Bush’s decision to attack Iraq and the predictable large number of civilian casualties from that military attack. But I also detailed my concerns on other issues: the lack of U.S. effort on resolving the Israel-Palestinian conflict, the U.S. failure to engage North Korea to curb nuclear and missile development, and the curtailment of civil liberties in the United States through the Patriot Act.

UN INSIDER2017-04-022023-07-10

Ban Treaty Should Stop Funding Nuclear Weapons Production

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Prohibiting the financing of nuclear weapons production was one of the issues discussed at the first session of the UN conference to negotiate a nuclear weapons prohibition treaty from March 27 to 31 at the world body’s headquarters in New York.

The proposal has its origins in a working paper submitted by the Dutch peacebuilding NGO PAX to the Open Ended Working Group (OEWG) in 2016: Closing our wallets to nuclear weapons: the necessity of including explicit language on financing in a nuclear weapons prohibition treaty or framework of agreements. This led to the inclusion of this concept in the final document of the OEWG, which includes explicit language raised in the working paper.

UN INSIDER2017-04-012023-07-10

Women NGOs Warn of UN’s Loss of Credibility in the Middle East

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – While warning UN Secretary-General António Guterres of a growing lack of trust in the Security Council throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), a group of Women Civil Society Organisations has proposed far-reaching measures “to advance women’s rights and set the UN back on track as an Organization that works for the common interests of our shared humanity.”

In an open letter, Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF) and 25 MENA Women Civil Society Organisations state that popular feeling in the Middle East and North Africa “is one characterised by a lack of faith in the United Nations’ ability to implement its mandate in line with the principles of the Charter.”