IDN-InDepthNews

UN INSIDER2016-07-142023-07-10

Recalling Mandela’s Contribution to Culture of Peace

By Lisa Vives

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – On July 18, the international community will observe the ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ – formalised by the UN General Assembly in November 2009 – to recall the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.

For 67 years Nelson Mandela, who was born in a village named Mvezo of South Africa in 1918, devoted his life to the service of humanity – as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa, recalls the UN.

He was the first black South African president who reigned from 1994 to 1999. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his contribution to make South Africa free and bringing peace in and around Africa.

Africa2016-07-142023-07-10

‘Zombie Money’ Draws Scorn from Cash-Strapped Zimbabweans

HARARE (IDN | GIN) – With exports down and scarce dollars hidden away under pillows, banks in Zimbabwe are running out of legal tender. At the same time, some ATMs have been shuttered, leaving minimum wage workers, normally paid in cash, with IOUs as employers struggle to withdraw notes.

“We’re importing more than we’re exporting and we can’t print money because we use mainly the U.S. dollar,” explained Sam Malaba, CEO of the Agricultural Bank of Zimbabwe.

In May 2016, in a bid to relieve the cash shortage, Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya announced the printing of “bond notes” – usable within the country but worthless outside – to begin circulating in October. However, the new currency is widely rejected as “monopoly money” by the population.

UN INSIDER2016-07-142023-07-10

African Nations Split with UN over Gender Identity Vote

GENEVA (IDN | GIN) – The United Nations Human Rights Council has voted to appoint an independent monitor to help protect gay and transgender people around the world from violence and discrimination, but not without fierce resistance from African and Muslim countries.

The June 30 vote was called “a historic victory for the human rights of anyone at risk of discrimination and violence because of their sexual orientation or gender identity,” said Human Rights Watch and other rights groups in a coalition.

The independent monitor will report annually to the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly on best practices to minimise discrimination against sexual orientation and gender identity. It will work with states, UN agencies and other organizations.

UN INSIDER2016-07-132023-07-10

UN Agenda 2030: Civil Society Holds Governments Accountable

Analysis by J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the United Nations High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development started its first review of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) July 11-20, civil society coalitions from around the world brought to New York their own findings, calling on member states to take note of these.

Because the Forum is the UN’s central platform for the follow-up and review of the 2030 Agenda adopted by world leaders on September 25, 2015. It is slated to adopt a Ministerial Declaration to provide political leadership, guidance and recommendations on the 2030 Agenda’s implementation and follow-up; keep track of progress of the SDGs; spur coherent policies informed by evidence, science and country experiences; as well as address new and emerging issues.

UN INSIDER2016-07-132023-07-10

The 2030 Agenda: A Fresh Start Towards Global Sustainability?

Analysis by Jens Martens

Jens Martens wrote this analysis on behalf of the Reflection Group* on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It is part of Spotlight on Sustainable Development 2016, a Reflection Group Report.

NEW YORK (INPS | IDN) – The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted unanimously at the United Nations by world Heads of States and Governments in September 2015 is highly ambitious. If taken seriously it has the potential to change the prevailing development paradigm by re-emphasizing the multidimensional and interrelated nature of sustainable development and its universal applicability.

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