IDN-InDepthNews

OPINION2016-06-082023-07-10

Not Cold War But Some Wise Western Leadership is the Need of the Hour

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – George Orwell, the author of “Animal Farm” and “1984”, was the first person to use the phrase “Cold War” in a 1945 newspaper article, written just after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

He argued that “the surface of the earth is being parceled off into three great empires, each self-contained and cut off from contact with the outer world, and each ruled, under one disguise or another, by a self-elected oligarchy. He counted the U.S. and Western Europe as one, the Soviet Union as the second and China as the third. He concluded that, “the atomic bomb is likeliest to put an end to large-scale wars at the cost of prolonging indefinitely a peace that is no peace”.

Peace & Security2016-06-072023-07-10

New Study Faults Lack of Transparency in Arms Trade

By Rodney Reynolds

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study on the international trade in small arms and light weapons confirms the long standing traditional secrecy in the global market place.

Released June 6 – to coincide with the Sixth Biennial Meeting on the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms – the study pointedly says “export authorizations remain the most opaque dimension of small arms reporting”.

The 2016 Transparency Barometer, which evaluated the reporting practices of 49 countries, identified only three countries – Germany, the UK and the Netherlands – as “the most transparent major small arms exporters”.

UN INSIDER2016-06-062023-07-10

NEWSBRIEFS: World’s First Illegal Fishing Treaty Now in Force – UNIDO Reports Sluggish Manufacturing Growth – CTBTO 20th Anniversary Ministerial Meeting

ROME – The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has announced that a groundbreaking international accord aimed at stamping out illegal fishing went into effect on June 5 and is now legally binding for the 29 countries and a regional organization that have adhered to it.

“This is a great day in the continuing effort to build sustainable fisheries that can help feed the world,” said FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva in a press release.

The Agreement on Port State Measures to Prevent, Deter and Eliminate Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated Fishing (PSMA) – adopted as an FAO Agreement in 2009 after a years-long diplomatic effort – is the first ever binding international treaty that focuses specifically on illicit fishing. The threshold to activation of the treaty – which called for at least 25 countries to adhere to it – was surpassed last month, triggering a 30-day countdown to today’s entry-into-force.

Health & Well Being2016-06-062023-07-10

Global Health Situation Needs Multiple Actions

Analysis by Martin Khor *

GENEVA (IDN | SOUTHNEWS) – The global health situation is facing many critical challenges, and multiple actions must be taken urgently to prevent crises from boiling over. This is the impression one gets from this year’s World Health Assembly held in Geneva on from May 23 to 28.

The WHA is the world’s prime public health event. This year 3,500 delegates from 194 countries took part, including Health Ministers of most countries. The one-week session provided a snapshot of the major medical problems and the actions being taken or proposed to deal with them.

In her opening speech, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Dr. Margaret Chan gave an overview of what went right and what is missing on the global health front.

Gender Equality2016-06-052023-07-10

Zimbabwe Makes Headway in Achieving Gender Equality

Analysis by Jeffrey Moyo

HARARE (IDN) – Despite the hurdles women continue to face in Zimbabwe, this country has made significant headway in achieving gender equality in line with Goal 5 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be attained by 2030.

There is improved women parliamentary representation and increased numbers of girls in university than their male counterparts now – and this as more women have also taken up once male-dominated jobs.

According to UN Women, the United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of women, women’s representation in Zimbabwe’s Parliament more than doubled from 17 per cent following the 2008 general elections, to 35 per cent in the elections on July 31, 2013.

UN INSIDER2016-06-042023-07-10

79 Countries Crave Influential Role at the UN and Elsewhere

Analysis by Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | PORT MORESBY (IDN) – The heads of State and Government of 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries are asking the United Nations to take two important initiatives commended by their eighth Summit in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

The Group is calling for earliest adoption of a United Nations General Assembly Resolution to develop an international legal framework governing human rights and climate change with a view to protecting the human rights and interests of people displaced by impacts of climate change internally and across borders.

It is also proposing that a joint conference be convened by the UN and international financial institutions with the support of the European Commission and its Member States to discuss “strategies for financing multiannual development programmes of the ACP countries”.

Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity2016-06-042023-07-10

If Wildlife Crime Makes You Wild – Get Wild for Life

By Dr Bradnee Chambers *

BONN (IDN) – Unless the science fiction of Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” becomes science fact sometime soon, extinction will continue to mean gone forever; and if we want to avoid losing more species, we must start learning from the mistakes of the past; unfortunately the evidence suggests that all too often we seem determined to repeat them

Humans have hunted animals for food since time immemorial and taking “one for the pot” was not sport but quite simply the only way to feed one’s family. The artisanal methods using bow and arrow or nets made from home-spun twine and the level of the harvest meant such hunting was entirely sustainable. But now things have changed. In addition to other threats, man-made and natural, such as climate change, habitat loss, collisions with vehicles, power lines and wind turbines, wildlife faces another totally avoidable danger: illegal wildlife trade.

UN INSIDER2016-06-022023-07-10

Conference Adopts Global Education Action Agenda to Implement SDGs

Analysis by Ramesh Jaura and Katsuhiro Asagiri

GYEONGJU, South Korea (IDN) – Five months after the international community began implementing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed by world leaders in September 2015, representatives of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and academia have finalized and adopted a global education action agenda.

The agenda affirming the importance of Sustainable Development Goal 4 – ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong opportunities for all – is spelt out in the Gyeongju Action Plan.

It was agreed at the 66th United Nations Department of Public Information (DPI) / NGO Conference that concluded on June 1, 2016 after three days of deliberations in Gyeongju, a city on South Korea’s southeast coast.

Gender Equality2016-06-012023-07-10

A Violent Gang Rape in Rio: Zero Retribution to Zero Tolerance

Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director

NEW YORK (IDN | UN Women) – The drugging, abduction and violent gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, calls us all to turn the tide of sexual violence against women and girls in Brazil and in every country in the world.

Her silence was broken by the men who boastfully posted their images of the rape, deepening her abuse by showing her body to the world, in the confident expectation of approval by their peers and impunity from punishment.

This is Brazil’s moment to shake that confidence to its core and reassert the rule of law and its respect for human rights. This is the time for zero tolerance for violence against women and girls.

Asia-Pacific2016-05-312023-07-10

Asia-Europe Meeting Spurs Media Dialogue on Connectivity

Analysis by Shastri Ramachandaran

GUANGZHOU | China (IDN) – Twenty years of striving to strengthen understanding, trust and cooperation between two continents through political dialogue, economic cooperation and socio-cultural exchange is a remarkable effort.

In the course of these two decades, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), as the pre-eminent trans-regional forum in this part of the world, has come a long way for its modest beginnings in Bangkok in 1996 attended by 25 Asian and European leaders.

Today, it has 53 members, and more than 200 of their representatives gathered in Guangzhou on May 9-10 for the Media Dialogue on Connectivity held for Promoting Public Awareness and Partnership. It was a milestone on the eve of the ASEM’s 11th Summit scheduled in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia, in July 2016.