UN Forum Calls for Closing ‘Digital Divide’ for 4 Billion
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations Internet Governance Forum (IGF) has underlined the urgency to bridge socio-economic inequalities that impact access to or use of information and communication technologies and called for concerted actions to ensure that all people in all countries are able to reap the benefits of the Internet.
According to figures released at the 11th annual IGF in Jalisco, Mexico, the current “digital divide” is adversely affecting some four billion people or two out of three households in developing countries that simply do not have access to Internet.
Oil Price Decline Might Force Timor-Leste Stay Put as LDC
By UNCTAD
GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – Covered in steep hills and tropical forest, the tiny almost-island nation of Timor-Leste (East Timor) faced an uncertain future when it became independent from Indonesia in 2002.
But using its newly discovered oil for the benefit of its 1.2 million population, the fledgling democracy halved its infant and child mortality rates, boosted literacy, and saw national income rise from $810 per capita at independence to $3,940 in 2012.
The nation might have been eligible to graduate from its least developed country (LDC) status – a UN designation – by late 2021. But it depends heavily on its oil and gas exports, and tumbling oil prices have halved national income to $1,920 per capita in 2015, putting graduation into doubt.
New Report Says ‘Circular Economy’ Will Fetch India Billions
By Devinder Kumar
NEW DELHI | GENEVA (IDN) – As India takes a prominent place in the globalised economy, it can choose its development path, and look beyond a linear ‘take, make and dispose’ model of growth by embarking on a circular economy transformation, and thus create economic, environmental and social value for its businesses and population, says a new report.
All the more so because “in an interconnected world predicated largely on a linear economic model, India’s development faces resource challenges and negative externalities – yet this scenario is not inevitable, and many opportunities can be derived from adopting a value-preserving model”, says the report produced by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation in association with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
Nalanda University’s New Chance for a ‘True’ Revival
By Kooi F Lim*
KUALA LUMPUR (IDN-INPS) – The Nalanda University website introduces the institution as the University that is “inspired by and aspires to match the ancient Nalanda which was an undisputed seat of learning for 800 years till the twelfth century, CE”.
But not all is well with the reincarnation of this famous ancient university.
On November 23, Nobel laureate Prof Amartya Sen resigned from the governing board. He was the inaugural chairman of the Nalanda Mentor Group (NMG), which governed the establishment of Nalanda University.
Mining Deepening South Africa’s Climate Change Crisis
By Jeffrey Moyo
JOHANNESBURG (ACP-IDN) – Mariette Lieferink has been dubbed South Africa’s climate change hero and she is prominently featured as the country’s leading environmental activist in South African media.
Now, moved by the heavy contribution of the country’s mines to climate change, Lieferink, who heads the Federation for a Sustainable Development (FSE), is working flat out to clean up the hugely polluted mining areas of Johannesburg, South Africa’s largest city, which is also one of the world’s 50 largest urban areas.
According to Lieferink, climate change is a potential disaster, poised to trigger the ‘toxic time bomb’ left by over 120 years of mining, particularly across Johannesburg, which is also South Africa’s industrial hub.
UN Focuses on 60 Years of Separation on Korean Peninsula
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – In the midst of mounting political tension on the Korean peninsula, a new report from the United Nations human rights wing has drawn attention to more than 60 years of “involuntary” separation between families from the two Koreas and called for multifaceted steps in order to encourage reunion and alleviate the suffering of families.
The report, published on December 7 by the UN Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), documents the experiences of families who have been torn apart since the 1950-1953 Korean War through displacement, forced disappearance and abductions, and as a result of those fleeing the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), official name of North Korea.
The Poorest Are a Fast Decreasing Breed
By Jonathan Power
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – President-elect Donald Trump is about to make the American rich even richer with his plan to cut their taxes. A cause for shame. Nevertheless, the history of America is that poorer people have done better than is commonly thought over the last two centuries.
Today they have indoor plumbing, heating, electricity, smallpox and tuberculosis-free lives, adequate nutrition, much lower child and maternal mortality, doubled life expectancy, increasingly sophisticated medical attention, the availability of contraception, secondary level schooling for their children and a shot at university, buses, trains and bicycles, much less racial prejudice, longer retirement, a rising quality of the goods they buy, better working conditions and the vote.
Indian Business Makes Common Cause with UN Women
MUMBAI (IDN | UN Women) – Unveiling a new partnership, UN Women and the IMC Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IMC) organized (on December 6) a high-level event to underline the critical link between women’s economic empowerment and ending violence against women, and the need for urgent and adequate investment in the twin themes.
UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka on a visit to India was the Chief Guest at the conference titled “WeUNiTE: Investing in Planet 50-50”. Private sector leaders, UN officials, gender experts and activists explored how skill development, entrepreneurship and innovation could help achieve gender equality and women’s economic empowerment.
Geneva Conventions Prevent Wars from Getting Worse
By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) – A new survey finds that an overwhelming number of people living in countries affected by wars believe in the pressing need to impose limits on armed conflicts. Nearly half of those surveyed in conflict-affected countries are convinced that the Geneva Conventions prevent wars from getting worse.
But people in five countries that are permanent members (P5) of the UN Security Council appear to be more resigned to civilian casualties and suffering as an inevitable part of warfare:
The survey titled People on War was published by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on December 5, 2016. It sought to find out how people around the world perceive a range of issues related to war.