IDN-InDepthNews – Page 689 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

OPINION2017-03-222023-07-10

‘Innovative Volunteerism’ Key to Africa’s Development Blueprint

By Ngala Killian Chimtom

NAIROBI (ACP-IDN) – Africa’s present is defined by its vast but unexploited potential but the picture could be changed by leveraging catalytic sectors in which the continent holds comparative advantage, through dedicating available resources.

Dr Richard Munang, Africa Climate Change and Development Policy expert with the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) believes that these resources – both physical (technological, institutional, financial and demographical, the dividend to be derived from having most of its population under the age of 25) and non-physical (including intellectual, partnerships, policies and networks) – could be utilised for a comparative advantage with a global competitive edge through what he calls “innovative volunteerism”.

OPINION2017-03-212023-07-10

‘We Must Succeed in Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons’

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

NEW YORK (IDN) – For the first time since the foundation of the United Nations the majority of the international community seems prepared to take a bold and fundamental step leading to the abolition of nuclear weapons. On December 27, 2016 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted Resolution 71/258 convening a Conference to negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading to their total elimination.

It is befitting to recall a similar effort undertaken in 1946 when the first Session of the United Nations General Assembly decided to establish a Commission to “deal with the problems raised by the discovery of nuclear energy and other related matters”, and to present proposals “for the elimination of atomic weapons from national armaments”.

Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture2017-03-212023-07-10

The Poor are Keen to Make Progress Despite Famine

By Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Once again the media is presenting us with the images of the mother of all famines – stretching from the Yemen to Somalia, to Sudan and South Sudan, to the Central African Republic, to northern Nigeria.

It’s a bad famine but there have been bad famines in the not so distant past – the great Ethiopian one in 1985, which triggered the rock star, Bob Geldorf, to organise a massive world-wide popular response. (I remember running with tens of thousands of other campaigners in London’s Hyde Park.) Before that, in 1974 at the World Food Conference, there was a real feeling that the world was running out of food and dramatic new policies must be put in place by the richer countries.

UN INSIDER2017-03-202023-07-10

Mainstreaming South-South Cooperation in the UN System

Interview with Jorge Chediek, Director of the UN Office for South Cooperation (UNOSSC)

NEW YORK (IDN) – South-South and triangular cooperation forms an integral part, complementing North-South Cooperation, of the global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by Member States of the United Nations on September 25, 2015 to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all.

How is the UN Office for South Cooperation (UNOSSC) – as the global and United Nations system-wide focal point for South-South cooperation – engaging in advocacy, policy development, knowledge sharing and innovative programmatic activities? Ramesh Jaura, Editor-in-Chief and International Correspondent of IDN, flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate group, asked UNOSSC Director Jorge Chediek this and related questions in an e-mail interview. Read the Q&A in full:

UN INSIDER2017-03-192023-07-10

Women Still Trail Behind Men in All Aspects of Life, Says UN

By Shanta Roy

Women make 77 cents for every dollar men earn. Up to 90 percent of women workers are informally employed. Advancing women’s equality in total could bring a potential boost of 28 trillion dollars to global annual gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The statistics unveiled at an annual meeting of women at the UN were disturbingly revealing: On a global average, women only make 77 cents for every dollar men earn.

There is still a “myriad of laws” in over 150 countries which openly discriminate against women, affecting more than three billion worldwide – and relating to virtually every aspect of women’s lives.

UN INSIDER2017-03-192023-07-10

UNESCO Pits Media Development Against Fake News

By Guy Berger

Guy Berger is Director, Division of Freedom of Expression and Media Development at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). He is responsible for the Organization’s global work on press freedom, safety of journalists, internet freedom, media pluralism and independence, gender and media, media and information literacy, and journalism education.

PARIS (IDN) – While global controversies around “fake news” continue unabated, UNESCO is holding two events at its Paris HQ, which will give more insight into the issues.

First up is an annual meeting on media development, held by the eight UNESCO Member States who serve on the Bureau of the International Programme for the Development of Communication (IPDC).

UN INSIDER2017-03-182023-07-10

Security Council Stresses Need to Fight Human Trafficking

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – With conflicts driving the desperation and disorder that enables human traffickers to thrive, Security Council has held an open debate on human trafficking, modern slavery and forced labour and highlighted the need for three P’s: Prevention, Protection, Prosecution.

The dimensions of the challenge are huge. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) suspects victims in 106 countries. The International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that 21 million people around the world are victims of forced labour and extreme exploitation. The perpetrators of such crimes cash profits of some $150 billion annually.

UN INSIDER2017-03-172023-07-10

Challenges and Opportunities for the Next WHO Chief

By Germán Velásquez*

GENEVA (IDN-INPS) – The World Health Organization (WHO) is in the most critical crossroad of its history but actions can and should be taken, to ensure its public health mission. This is the challenge for the new Director-General to be elected in May 2017.

This year is the last year of the mandate of the current Director-General, Margaret Chan, who fought for 9 years, to maintain a public agenda for the organization, that a small group of industrialized countries and philanthropic foundations had difficulty in accepting and supporting.

UN INSIDER2017-03-162023-07-10

UN Is Committed to Reform But Warns of Abrupt Funding Cuts

By J Nastranis

This is the first in a series of reports analysing U.S. policy towards multilateralism in general and the UN in particular. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN) – While United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has expressed strong disapproval of President Donald Trump’s plans to slash funding to the world Organization, an eminent Jewish leader has warned that the budget proposal embodies “dangerous bias against diplomacy, hurts Americans and Israelis”.

The scathing criticism comes from Jeremy Ben-Ami, President of ‘J Street’, “the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want Israel to be secure, democratic and the national home of the Jewish people”.

UN INSIDER2017-03-162023-07-10

Global Meeting Decides to Protect Sea Cows and their Habitats

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | ABU DHABI (IDN) – There is a glimmer of hope for Dugongs, also known as sea cows, and their seagrass habitats. The endangered species, which has been under threat by human activity such as entanglement in fishing gear, collision with boats and habitat loss, occurs across the East coast of Africa, South-East Asia, Pacific Islands and Australia.

Governments of 23 out of the 40 countries that are home to the Dugong have agreed in Abu Dhabi to work with the Dugong and seagrass research and conservation community to undertake more standardized research and monitoring activities as a prerequisite for devising tailored conservation measures in their own countries. They were guided by the conviction that better coordination of surveys and data exchange on Dugong populations between countries will improve transboundary protection.