IDN-InDepthNews – Page 697 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

Climate Action2016-10-162023-07-10

Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland Discusses Sustainability

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – With over 2,000 participants, including 400 speakers, the fourth Arctic Circle Assembly in Iceland’s capital Reykjavik was a hive of activity and networking on everything to do with the Arctic. The event has become the largest Arctic event globally.

The concept of the gathering October 7-9 was devised by Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, who until a few months ago had been President of Iceland and had put considerable time into Arctic matters and climate change. Grimsson still plays a central role in the Assembly.

UN INSIDER2016-10-162023-07-10

Faith Groups Reiterate Call for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Faith groups have called on the United Nations General Assembly to heed the voices of the survivors of atomic bombings 71 years ago (hibakusha) urging the abolition of nuclear weapons, and vote in favour of the resolution submitted by Austria, Brazil, Ireland, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa.

Dr. Emily Welty, Vice Moderator of the World Council of Churches Commission on International Affairs, introduced the joint statement during the civil society presentations at the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security on October 12.

UN INSIDER2016-10-152023-07-10

3 Women, 2 Men in New UN Chief’s Transition Team

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Though there are more than two months to go before António Guterres takes over as the United Nations Secretary-General from Ban Ki-moon, he has started preparing himself for the world’s most challenging job.

One day after the 193-member General Assembly appointed him on October 13 as the new Secretary-General for a five-year period, ending December 31, 2021, he has announced the composition of a transition team to prepare for the world’s top diplomatic job.

According to a press release, issued by the UN Spokesperson’s office, the Transition Team will interact with UN officials, Member States and civil society to ensure an informed and smooth transition. The five-member team – three women and two men – comprises nationals of the Republic of Korea (ROK), USA, Jamaica, Portugal and Tunisia.

UN INSIDER2016-10-142023-07-10

Need for Food and Agriculture to Adjust to Climate Change

By Ronald Joshua

GENEVA | ROME (IDN) – Climate change, hunger and poverty must be addressed together in order to achieve the sustainable development goals set by the international community: this is the clarion call emerging from this year’s World Food Day celebrations in Rome and in many countries.

At the global World Food Day ceremony on October 14, FAO Director-General José Graziano declared: “Higher temperatures and erratic weather patterns are already undermining the health of soils, forests and oceans on which agricultural sectors and food security depend.”

UN INSIDER2016-10-132023-07-10

Sustainable Development at Risk in E. Europe, Central Asia

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – Unless adequate steps are taken with relentless determination, the core objective of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) agreed by all member states of the United Nations in September 2015, which recommend that “no one be left behind”, will not be achieved in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

This is the crux of a United Nations report titled ‘Progress at Risk‘, published on October 12 in Brussels. Goals 8 and 10 of the SDGs – aiming to “promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all” and “reduce inequality within and among countries” – are being ignored.

UN INSIDER2016-10-132023-07-10

Nuclear Disarmament – A Challenge for the New UN Chief

Analysis by Alyn Ware*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations General Assembly has on October 13 affirmed António Guterres, the former Prime Minister of Portugal and UN High Commissioner for Refugees, as the next United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG). The UN Security Council had on October 5 nominated him for the position after considering 13 candidates.

Guterres will have a number of challenges as he prepares to take up the UNSG position in January 2017. These include implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals, addressing climate change, managing the continuing global refugee crisis, ensuring progress on disarmament, curtailing armed conflicts in a number of countries and regions, and reducing the tensions between Russia and the West, and between China and its neighbours in East Asia.

ARMAMENTS2016-10-132023-07-10

The Legacy of the Reykjavik Summit – The Road Ahead

By Jayantha Dhanapala*

This is an expanded version of thoughts expressed by the author at a conference organized by the International Peace Institute (IPI) with the Foreign Ministry of Iceland on October 10-11 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the Summit meeting between U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev.

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – Richard Rhodes, the famous author of several books on nuclear weapons, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning “The Making of the Atomic Bomb” (1986), has written a play entitled “Reykjavik” dramatizing the famous Summit. At the conclusion he has Gorbachev say, “Reykjavik is not a failure – it’s a breakthrough”.

ARMAMENTS2016-10-132023-07-10

Gorbachev: ‘Worst Thing” Collapse of Trust Between Major Powers

REYKJAVIK – At an IPI seminar in Reykjavik, Iceland on October 11, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev said via video, “I would like to emphasize something, with all the emotions I have in my soul: the worst thing that has happened over the past few years is the collapse of trust in relations between the major powers, which, according to the UN Charter, bear primary responsibility for maintaining international peace and security, and which still have enormous stockpiles of nuclear weapons and must reduce them, up to and including their elimination.”

UN INSIDER2016-10-122023-07-10

Staff Unions Censure Outgoing UN Secretary-General

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – During his farewell visit to Geneva early October, the outgoing United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was told by Prisca Chaoui, deputy executive secretary of the staff union: “As you leave the UN, you leave behind civil servants who are full of concern and apprehension about their future.”

Painting a black picture, Chaoui said the staff feared job cuts after the introduction of an expensive software (Umoja – meaning “unity” in Swahili) designed to unite UN employees scattered around the globe and another efficiency initiative aimed at streamlining administrative services.

Africa2016-10-122023-07-10

Fellowships to Help Avert Brain Drain in Africa

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A Fellowship Program will fund 69 new projects at African universities in the coming months, bringing 52 professors and scholars from universities in the U.S. and Canada to universities in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda as visiting Fellows.

Together, the teams will develop curricula, conduct research, teach graduate students, and train and mentor students and professors in priority areas that were proposed by the African universities. The program is also accepting new applications from host universities and diaspora scholars for projects to be conducted in 2017. Deadline is December 8.