IDN-InDepthNews – Page 706 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

Africa2016-08-282023-07-10

Zimbabweans Embracing Solar Energy in Remote Areas

By Jeffrey Moyo

MWENEZI, Zimbabwe (IDN) – Deep in Vesera village in Mwenezi district in Zimbabwe’s Masvingo Province, 34-year-old Albert Chindiro emerges from his pole and dagga thatched hut holding a medium size solar panel which he positions on the roof to recharge solar batteries for lighting when night falls.

The house of neighbour Alphios Mhike is linked to power lines from the state energy utility, the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA), but has long been disconnected from the after Mhike failed to keep up payments for prepaid electricity supplies. He too has now turned to solar energy.

UN INSIDER2016-08-262023-07-10

Liberia Needs Long-term Security Council Engagement

NEW YORK (IDN | UN News Service) – The United Nations envoy for Liberia has stressed the need for long-term, robust engagement by stakeholders, particularly the Security Council, towards a sustainable peace in the West African country.

Briefing the Council on August 25, Farid Zarif, Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), said many Liberians are concerned about the prospect of the Mission’s withdrawal and potential lack of UN support during the October 2017 presidential and legislative elections.

UN INSIDER2016-08-262023-07-10

Reinforcing Nuclear-Test-Ban With Security Council Resolution

Viewpoint by Shervin Taheran*

This article appears in cooperation with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), as part of the initiative ‘Youth for CTBTO’. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the CTBTO. – Editor

WASHINGTON. D.C. (IDN) – Following mass protests against Soviet nuclear weapons testing in Kazakhstan on August 29, 1991, the Kremlin was forced to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, where over 460 nuclear tests were conducted, and declare a moratorium on nuclear testing. This, in turn, opened the way for the United States to halt testing and for negotiations on a global, verifiable Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), which were concluded in 1996.

USA and Canada2016-08-252023-07-10

TPPA May Fall Victim to U.S. Political Dynamics

Analysis by Martin Khor *

GENEVA (IDN | SouthViews) – The Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement has become a political football in the U.S. Presidential elections and with the public mood so against trade agreements, the TPPA faces the real possibility of being discarded.

No country was more active in pushing for the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP). In the five years of negotiations, the United States cajoled, persuaded and pressurised its trade partners to take on board its issues and positions.

Finally, when the TPP was signed in February 2016 by 12 countries, it was widely expected that the agreement will come into force within two years, after each country ratifies it.

NEWSBRIEFS2016-08-252023-07-10

How an Extreme Natural Event Can Turn to a Disaster

BERLIN (IDN) – Inadequate infrastructure and weak logistic chains substantially increase the risk that an extreme natural event will become a disaster, find the World Risk Report 2016 released here on August 25 by the Institute for Environment and Human Security at the United Nations University and Bündnis Entwicklung Hilft – Gemeinsam für Menschen in Not e.V., in cooperation with the University of Stuttgart presented today in Berlin.

Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture2016-08-252023-07-10

Climate Change Threatens USD2.5 trillion Losses in Agriculture

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) – Global warming threatens to cause a huge economic damage to agriculture, adding up to the annual amount of roughly 0.8 percent of global GDP by the end of the century, which translates to losses of $2.5 trillion dollars, warns a new study.

But further trade liberalization in agricultural commodities could reduce financial damage globally by 65 percent, to 0.3 percent of global GDP (Gross Domestic Product), says Miodrag Stevanovićby, lead author of the study by a team of scientists of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK).

UN INSIDER2016-08-242023-07-10

Dutch General to Probe into UNMISS Response to Violence

NEW YORK (IDN) – A distinguished Dutch General has been tasked with probing into the response of the UN mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) to the violence that erupted in the country’s capital Juba in July 2016.

A statement issued by the office of the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Major General (retired) Patrick Cammaert of the Netherlands on August 23 to lead an independent special investigation.

He will review reports of incidents of attacks on civilians and cases of sexual violence that occurred within or in the vicinity of the UN House Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites in Juba.

Africa2016-08-242023-07-10

Tanzania Bailing Out Fistula Sufferers

By Kizito Makoye

DAR ES SALAAM (IDN) – Resting on her bed, Maimuna Saguti recalls the harrowing suffering she went through two months ago when she had to give birth under a mango tree while on her way to hospital.

“I don’t want to remember that day. The waters had broken hours before we reached the hospital,” she told IDN.

The 35-year-old food vendor from the village of Lukanga in Tanzania’s coastal Pwani Region suffered childbirth-related complications that not only caused an obstetric fistula, she also lost her child a few hours after giving birth.

NEWSBRIEFS2016-08-232023-07-10

For Germany Botswana is One of Africa’s Success Stories

By IDN-INPS Africa Desk

BERLIN – Germany regards Botswana as one of Africa’s success stories. The landlocked country is the seat of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and other organisations. Women hold some positions in politics and society, including at the highest levels.

Ahead of the forthcoming 50th anniversary of the country’s independence on September 30, Professor Maria Boehmer, Minister of State at the German Federal Foreign Office said: “In many different ways, Botswana is one of Africa’s success stories.”

UN INSIDER2016-08-232023-07-10

Revisiting the Humanitarian Summit and Looking Ahead

Interview with Stephen O’Brien by Africa Renewal’s Franck Kuwonu

Stephen O’Brien is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator. In May 2016 in Istanbul, Turkey, he oversaw the first-ever global humanitarian summit where representatives of 173 countries as well as NGOs, the private sector and civil society, met to chart a new path for global humanitarian assistance.

Question: What is your overall assessment of the humanitarian summit? Did the UN achieve its goals?

Answer: It really was a gathering with high energy and it exceeded all expectations; it delivered concrete outcomes. I am delighted that it has enabled us to secure the political will to move forward.