IDN-InDepthNews – Page 712 – News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

Asia-Pacific2016-08-042023-07-10

A Young Mayor Upholds the Legacy of Japan’s ‘Holy City’

Feature by Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri

TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – Kennichi Suzuki is the Mayor of Ise, a city home to the Ise Grand Shrine – the most sacred Shintō shrine in Japan, dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu – where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe received the leaders of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union on the occasion of the 2016 annual G7 summit in May.

The city – some 460 kilometres away from Tokyo – was the constituency of the late Yukio Ozaki with the pseudonym ‘Gakudo’, who served in the House of Representatives of the Japanese Diet for 63 years (1890–1953), and is still revered as the “God of constitutional politics” and the “Father of the Japanese Constitutional Democracy“.

UN INSIDER2016-08-042023-07-10

NEWSBRIEF: Kazakhstan Ready as Mediator in Africa

NEW YORK (IDN) – “Kazakhstan always stands ready to build peace in Africa as a steady and trusted mediator and partner”, the country’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Ambassador Barlybay Sadykov told the Security Council during an open debate on ‘Peacebuilding in Africa’.

Kazakhstan was elected on June 28 as non-permanent member of the Security Council for 2017 and 2018.

In a statement on July 28, Sadykov urged the international community to develop and implement a coherent assistance strategy to rebuild Africa and declared that as a Member-Observer of the African Union and strong supporter of Africa’s revival, “Kazakhstan fully supports the vision of Africa 2063 to make the region conflict-free”.

UN INSIDER2016-08-032023-07-10

Youth Skills Development – Today’s Critical Global Challenge

Analysis by Dr Palitha Kohona

Ambassador Dr Palitha Kohona is former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations in New York- He chaired the negotiations on the Colombo Declaration on Youth.

COLOMBO (IDN) – On July 15, the United Nations observed the UN World Youth Skills Day designated by the General Assembly to highlight the need to rapidly develop marketable youth skills. On the same day, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) released the World Youth Report on Youth Civic Engagement. There were many events held around the world to mark this special day.

The UN event was an important milestone in a process that began in 2013 when the then President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa, in his address to the General Assembly, with great foresight, called on the world body to allocate a special day to highlight the need to develop youth skills.

Middle East & North Africa2016-08-022023-07-10

But for Nuclear Option Saudi Arms Purchases Increasing

Analysis by Emad Mekay

CAIRO (IDN) – Though nuclear blustering has remained hollow, Saudi Arabia has again increased its weapons imports and stood as the main catalyst for a climb of 10 percent (or $6.6 billion) in global weapons sales in 2015, according to a recent defence report. The rise is the latest sign betraying the level of anxiety in the conservative kingdom over what Saudi officials say is a threat from Iran.

The Saudis have recently been particularly rattled by the advances of Iranian foreign policy in the Middle East. Especially worrisome were the successes of Iranian-backed militias in Iraq and Syria.

USA and Canada2016-08-022023-07-10

Young African Leaders Trained at State Department Programme

WASHINGTON (IDN | GIN) – With media attention glued to the salacious details of the U.S. election, a signature program of President Obama is flying under the radar, preparing young African leaders with advanced leadership skills to bring home to their countries.

Participants in the Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders are enrolled in an intensive, six-week program on academic excellence and leadership focused on business and entrepreneurship, civic leadership, public management, and renewable energy at U.S. colleges and universities.

OPINION2016-08-022023-07-10

China: A Paper Tiger With a Burgeoning Yet Erratic Economy

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – How far behind the West is China? Is its economy still booming so it could within 20 years overtake America? Is its military becoming of such a strength it will take the big decision to confront the U.S. navy in the South China Sea?

While it is obvious that the Chinese leadership is much more farsighted and cautious than, say, Donald Trump, can one conclude with 100 % certainty that potentially dangerous clashes won’t occur?

The communist leadership believes that before long it will be the world’s biggest economy. Yet if one looks at national income per head it is way down the league table of economic achievers. Size is not everything.

Indigenous Peoples2016-08-012023-07-10

Revelations of Australia’s Abu Ghraib Force Gov’t to Act

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – Screening of secretly filmed shocking footage of abuse of juvenile prisoners in a remote northern Australian prison by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC), renowned investigative reporting program ‘Four Corners’, has outraged thousands of Australians who took to the streets to protest and forced the government to act.

The video material filmed between 2010 and 2014 at the Don Dale youth detention centre in the Northern Territory in Australia and screened on July 25 has drawn comparisons to the treatment of prisoners in the notorious prisons run by the U.S. government in Abu Ghraib in Iraq and Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

UN INSIDER2016-07-312023-07-10

Landmark Omission in UN Resolution Disappoints G77 & China

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Does ‘the inalienable right to self-determination for countries and peoples living under colonialism and foreign occupation’ sound relevant to the 21st century? Yes, says an overwhelming number of 193 member states of the United Nations.

It is not surprising therefore that those member states have expressed “deepest disappointment” at a landmark omission in the UN General Assembly’s resolution on ‘follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development at the global level’.

The resolution, which was adopted in “consensus action” on July 29, disregards reference to the inalienable right to self-determination for countries and peoples living under colonialism and foreign occupation.

OPINION2016-07-312023-07-10

Integrating Modern with Traditional Medicine

Viewpoint by Dr. Teruo Hirose *

TOKYO (IDN) – Under the influence of my father, who was a post-war liberal in Japan, senator, Vice-Minister of Education and Parliamentary Secretary when Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1952, I also aimed to become a diplomat to bring about peace in the societies of the world. However, I soon began to aspire to becoming a physician, which I saw as a profession that could save more lives than just one person. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE

UN INSIDER2016-07-312023-07-10

Security Council Updated on Conflicts Causing Severe Hunger

Analysis by Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | ROME (IDN) – The UN Security Council is faced with a critical if not an unprecedented situation: it has been warned that “protracted conflicts affecting 17 countries” have now driven more than 56 million people into either “crisis” or “emergency” levels of food insecurity and are hindering global efforts to eradicate malnutrition.

At the same time, according to a recent report by UNEP and the World Resources Institute (WRI), about one-third of all food produced worldwide, worth around US$1 trillion, gets lost or wasted in food production and consumption systems.