IDN-InDepthNews – Page 671 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

OPINION2017-03-072023-07-10

Sri Lanka: Multi-Ethnic East Cannot Meet Tamil-Majority North

By Sugeeswara Senadhira*

COLOMBO (IDN) – Immediately after announcing the temporary merger of the North and East in July 1987, the then Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene, in a surprising policy dichotomy, declared that he would canvass against the merger during the proposed referendum to be held in the East by December 31, 1987. Fortunately or unfortunately, the said referendum was never held, and it was routinely postponed annually by gazette notifications.

The issue of merger of the Northern Province and Eastern Province surfaced once again in February 2017 when Indian Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar reportedly rejected the suggestion made by the Sri Lankan Tamil politician Suresh Premachandran of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) for Indian intervention in re-merging the two provinces.

Gender Equality2017-03-062023-07-10

The Shameful Epidemic That Is Rape

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – Do legal systems around the world give women and girls true protection from rape and other forms of sexual violence? Do the victims of rape and sexual violence have access to real justice if violence is perpetrated?

The answer is ‘no’, says a report issued March 6 by Equality Now, an international human rights organisation working to protect and promote the rights of women and girls.

Are governments ensuring that adequate laws dealing with sexual violence are enacted, developed and enforced? Are governments living up their commitments to end all forms of violence – including sexual violence – against women and girls?

UN INSIDER2017-03-052023-07-10

Kazakhstan Offers Astana As Venue For Resolving Conflicts

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Kazakhstan fully supports the agenda and priorities of UN Secretary-General António Guterres and has offered Astana as venue to assist in transforming conflicts into peace, advance security and development, protect human rights, and promote the rule of law, according to Roman Vassilenko, the Central Republic’s deputy minister of foreign affairs.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev had spelt out that approach in his address to the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in 2015, he said.

Vassilenko was speaking at the UN Security Council ministerial open debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Conflicts in Europe” on February 21, less than two months after joining as the Council’s non-permanent member for 2017-2018.

Africa2017-03-052023-07-10

Southern Africa’s Khoisan Tribe Victimised by War on Climate Change

By Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (ACP-IDN) – Ndliso-Ndliso Sibanda, a descendant of Southern Africa’s ancient Khoisan tribe, still practises a semi-nomadic life style in Zimbabwe despite his 75 years, and is constantly on the move looking for wood to construct shelter, and wild fruits and tubers when they are in season.

Ndliso-Ndliso, who lives with his family in Tsholotsho, a district in Matabeleland North Province, has continued his life style despite the stringent rules enacted by the government country to protect the environment as it wages war against the impact of climate change.

UN INSIDER2017-03-042023-07-10

UN’s 1st ‘Playable’ Policy Conference on Global Development

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN | BONN (IDN) – Inspired by innovative and forward-looking concepts, the Global Festival of Ideas for Sustainable Development, the first in a series of annual forums to help achieve the United Nations-led Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) wrapped up in the German city of Bonn after intensive debates and ‘game playing’ on March 3.

The UN conference aiming to chart a new way of thinking on addressing some of the world’s most complex development challenges was hosted by the UN SDG Action Campaign in partnership with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) with the support of the German Government. It was the world body’s first ever ‘playable’ policy conference.

UN INSIDER2017-03-032023-07-10

Listen to the People, UN Urged

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – Civil society advocates from around the world are urging newly-appointed UN Secretary-General António Guterres to be a “champion for civil society and take concrete steps to build a more inclusive United Nations”.

In a new report entitled Strengthening Civil Society Engagement with the United Nations, four of the founding members of the 1 for 7 Billion campaign – which led calls for the United Nations to reform the selection process for one of the world’s most important jobs – have collected a range of proposals from its global network of civil society organisations on how this could be achieved.

UN INSIDER2017-03-032023-07-10

Japan Federation to Advance Women’s Economic Empowerment

Note: This article first appeared on UN Women website as part of a series on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2017

NEW YORK (IDN | UN Women) – During their first visit to the United Nations Headquarters in New York on March 2, leading female executives from Keidanren (Japan Business Federation), joined UN Women Deputy Executive Director Lakshmi Puri for a roundtable discussion on women’s economic empowerment.

The Keidanren is the largest Japanese economic federation with a membership of more than 1,300 corporations. The Keidanren Female Executives Mission was led by Haruno Yoshida, the first female Vice Chairman of the Board of Councillors at Keidanren, and includes five additional female executives from various industries in Japan.

UN INSIDER2017-03-022023-07-10

Care Law Catalyses Change and Breaks Stereotypes in Uruguay

Note: This report is part of a series on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2017

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS | UN Women) – Uruguay’s Care Act has changed the concept of “care”. Under the new law, all children, persons with disabilities and elderly persons, have the right to get care. The state not only provides care services, but also guarantees their quality by providing training and regulations.

It is the day before the school year begins at the Child and Family Care Centre of Tres Ombúes, a neighborhood west of Montevideo. Soledad Rotella is mother to one of the 89 children in the neighborhood who attend the centre yearly.

OPINION2017-03-012023-07-10

Immigration: Myths and Real Facts

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The great immigration debate has to become the great re-thinking and re-structuring debate. Charlie Brown is right when he says, “No problem is too big and complicated that it can’t be run away from”.

In both the US and the EU the focus is increasingly on the problem of immigration. President Donald Trump talks of them being criminals, drug traffickers and scroungers. And then he wants to build a very expensive wall on the border separating countries that for a long time have not countenanced war or terrorism against each other. (By the way, there is a funny Mexican joke: “Yes, it’s a good idea to build the wall – it will keep Trump out”!)

OPINION2017-03-012023-07-10

Women in the Changing World of Work: Planet 50-50 by 2030

By Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Women Executive Director

Note: This is the text of message by UN Women Executive Director as part of a series on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2017

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS | UN Women) – Across the world, too many women and girls spend too many hours on household responsibilities – typically more than double the time spent by men and boys. They look after younger siblings, older family members, deal with illness in the family and manage the house.

In many cases this unequal division of labour is at the expense of women’s and girls’ learning, of paid work, sports, or engagement in civic or community leadership. This shapes the norms of relative disadvantage and advantage, of where women and men are positioned in the economy, of what they are skilled to do and where they will work.