IDN-InDepthNews

UN INSIDER2016-07-122023-07-10

NEWSBRIEF: UN Allows People Worldwide to Volunteer Online

BONN (IDN) – United Nations Volunteers will officially launch a new online volunteering service on July 15. The service allows organizations in need of volunteers and people willing to volunteer online from around the world to connect with one another, so that volunteers can remotely support non-profit organizations that are working to promote peace and development around the world.

“Volunteerism is a global force for change,” said Richard Dictus, Executive Coordinator of the United Nations Volunteers Programme. “Now, with our new Online Volunteering service, it is easier than ever to make a difference without ever leaving your home. Along with the refreshed look and feel of the site, we are also building stronger partnerships with the corporate sector in online volunteering. We are certain that this revamped service will spark a growth in volunteering around the world.”

OPINION2016-07-122023-07-10

Why Blair and Bush Can Be Accused of War Crimes

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The crime of aggression (“planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression”) was described by the Nuremberg Tribunal that tried Nazi leaders as “the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole”.

President George W. Bush and British prime minister, Tony Blair, have been accused by many as war criminals for starting the war against Iraq and, second, for not watching carefully enough to make sure that war crimes carried out by individual soldiers were not covered up, and for the torture that Bush initiated and Blair appeared to tolerate.

ARMAMENTS2016-07-122023-07-10

Ignoring Iraq Report Lessons Will Be Catastrophic – Pugwash

GENEVA (IDN) – Reacting to the Report of the Iraq Inquiry headed by Sir John Chilcot, published early July, the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize winning Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs have stressed the critical importance of heeding the lessons of the inquiry.

“In a world where nine countries possess over 15,000 nuclear warheads and global military expenditure is at a staggering US $1676 billion, while terrorism fuelled by extremist ideologies adds to the toxic mix of the traditional causes of war, the folly of not heeding the lessons of Chilcot will be catastrophic,” the Pugwash Conferences’ leaders warn.

The statement released on July 12 is signed by Jayantha Dhanapala, President, Paolo Cotta-Ramusino, Secretary General, Saideh Lotfian, Chair, Pugwash Council, Steve Miller, Chair, Executive Committee, and Tatsujiro Suzuki, Pugwash Executive Committee.

ARMAMENTS2016-07-122023-07-10

European Parliaments Demand ‘No-First-Use’ – Obama’s Nuclear Agenda Analysed

IDN | INPS Special Report

Alyn Ware and Jean-Marie Collin analyse the Declaration of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) early July, calling for taking nuclear weapons off high alert and adopting no-first-use policies. In this context, they explore whether President Obama’s reported plans along the same lines would fly.

BERLIN | PARIS | WELLINGTON (IDN | INPS) – The Parliamentary Assembly of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE PA) convened in Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, July 1-5 and called on all OSCE States with nuclear weapons or under extended nuclear deterrence relationships to reduce the risks of a nuclear war by taking nuclear weapons off high alert and by adopting no-first-use policies.

This plea was part of the Tbilisi Declaration, which was adopted by the OSCE PA on July 5. The Declaration also highlighted the risks of nuclear confrontation between Russia and NATO, welcomed the UN Open Ended Working Group on Taking Forward Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament Negotiations (OEWG) and supported the commencement of such negotiations in 2017.

DEVNET2016-07-112023-07-10

UN Spurs Sustainable Development in North and Central Asia

By Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Within days of being elected as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council for two years beginning January 1, Kazakhstan has affirmed its “commitment to work in partnership to address the critical social and economic development needs of the people of North and Central Asia”.

An agreement for the purpose was signed on July 11 in Bangkok between the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Government Kazakhstan. GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE | SPANISH

UN INSIDER2016-07-112023-07-10

ACP Joins UN to Advance South-South Cooperation

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN | BRUSSELS (IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) have agreed to embark on concrete joint initiatives to foster South-South and triangular cooperation amongst their mutual constituencies, according to the ACP Press Office.

The ACP Secretary General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes and the Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for South-South Cooperation and UNOSSC Director Jorge Chediek exchange letters at the ACP headquarters in Brussels on July 11.

The agreement outlines the key areas of cooperation such as: fostering South-South and triangular cooperation among the two parties’ mutual constituencies, as well with other developing countries to support intraregional and regional integration; and deepening institutional partnerships to scale up knowledge-sharing, showcasing and scaling up of development solutions, and technology transfer.

UN INSIDER2016-07-112023-07-10

UN Spurs Sustainable Development in North and Central Asia

By Devinder Kumar

An agreement for the purpose was signed on July 11 in Bangkok between the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) and the Government Kazakhstan.

Under the Agreement, which supplements the Host Country Agreement, the Government of Kazakhstan has committed to provide the premises for the ESCAP’s Subregional office for North and Central Asia (SONCA), along with a recurring annual grant for operational and programme costs of the office.

Asia-Pacific2016-07-112023-07-10

China Pivots to Iran as U.S. Gets Caught Up in Sanctions

Analysis by Debalina Ghoshal *

NEW DELHI (INPS-IDN | Yale Global) – Since the signing of the controversial Iranian nuclear deal that lifted most international sanctions, China has emerged as a principal beneficiary. This is as much a result of aggressive Chinese push as it is difficulties faced by the West. China has pursued opportunities in the Iranian nuclear energy market, increased investment and expanded influence, with what could be rightly called a Middle Eastern pivot.

The country predicted to become the world’s largest energy consumer by 2030, is wasting no time in availing itself of Iran’s energy resources. China’s demand for oil imports is expected to grow from 6 million barrels per day to 13 million by 2035, and Iran, ranked fourth in the world with proven oil reserves and second with reserves of natural gas, is considered a reliable supplier.

OPINION2016-07-102023-07-10

New Global Power Equations Emerging Slowly But Surely

Viewpoint by Shastri Ramachandaran *

BEIJING (IDN) – Tashkent and Seoul were both in the news in the last week of June, for events which may have set in motion changes with far-reaching consequences for power equations in Asia and the Asia-Pacific. Hence, the two cities may well be remembered as the trigger-point of developments on which Sino-Russian strategic partnership may have an impact.

Seoul was the venue for the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) plenary, which frustrated India’s attempts to gain entry. Around the same time, although Tashkent was witness to more momentous events, the bilateral meeting between Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping stole the thunder. Only because the Modi-Xi meeting was about India’s bid for NSG membership, widely publicized as enjoying unstinted U.S. support.

Asia-Pacific2016-07-102023-07-10

RANDOM THOUGHTS: Hillary Clinton and Sri Lanka

By Palitha Kohona *

COLOMBO (IDN) – During the 25-year war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Sri Lanka’s traditional arms suppliers imposed restrictions. The government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) had to look elsewhere – and China was willing to help.

Following the defeat of the LTTE in May 2009, the former Mahinda Rajapaksa regime chose to focus on rapid economic revival and development of infrastructure. The U.S. reneged on its commitment to provide $500 million from the Millennium Development Account for road development.

The recently-released e-mails reveal that then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton tried to block an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan to GOSL and that the IMF did not like it.