IDN-InDepthNews

Asia-Pacific2016-04-302023-07-10

India Sends Mixed Messages to Beijing and Washington

Analysis by Shastri Ramachandaran*

BEIJING (IDN) – If New Delhi’s intention is to keep Beijing and Washington guessing as to who it favours, then the mixed signals during recent high-level exchanges with both are right on point. Neither Washington nor Beijing can, at a given stage or on a specific issue, say with any certainty which way New Delhi may swing.

The matter of mixed signals is best illustrated by developments surrounding the second visit of U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to New Delhi; the three-high-level official exchanges between India and China – two in Beijing and one in Moscow; and, the wholly avoidable flip-flop in first granting and then revoking the visa to Dolkun Isa, whom Beijing says is a terrorist leader.

Earlier in April, India’s Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar was in China on a five-day visit. Parrikar’s visit was not only a high-level one, but the first by a defence minister in the National Democratic Alliance government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. He was received at a high level and had meetings with his Chinese counterpart General Chang Wanquan of the People’s Liberation Army and top defence officials.

Gender Equality2016-04-292023-07-10

Adolescent Girls in Bangladesh Defend Right to Learning

News Feature by Naimul Haq

COX’S BAZAR | Bangladesh (IDN) – Many young girls drop out from schools in Bangladesh largely due to poverty and poverty related causes. But strong motivations for continuing education have changed the scenario over the past few years.

Despite the practices of patriarchy and traditional beliefs against girls’ education and employment in mostly poor families in the rural areas, adolescent girls in many regions of Bangladesh have demonstrated how defying such traditions can actually benefit their lives.

Shonglap – or dialogue that calls for capacity building or developing occupational skills and offers livelihood opportunities for marginalised groups of people in the society – has made a positive impact encouraging them to learn.

Ummey Salma, who quit school in 2011 due to extreme poverty, has joined Shonglap in South Delpara of Khurushkul in coastal Cox’s Bazar district. In a group of 29 adolescent girls, Ummey, who lost her father in 2009, has been playing a leading role among the girls who meet six-days a week in the Shonglap session held at a rented thatched home in suburb Delpara.

UN INSIDER2016-04-282023-07-10

UN Study Pleads for Inclusive Instead of Export-led Development

Analysis by Devinder Kumar

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Continued exclusive reliance on export-led development is “futile”, says the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) in its flagship publication Economic and Social Survey for Asia and the Pacific 2016 launched on April 28 in Bangkok.

“Prospects of an export-led recovery in developing Asia-Pacific economies remain broadly subdued due to the weak economic outlook for the European Union and Japan alongside the somewhat better growth performance that is expected in the United States,” explains the study.

For many exporting economies in the region, particularly commodity-dependent economies, this challenge is compounded by moderating growth of the Chinese economy, which has been partly driven by much-needed rebalancing to sustain growth in the medium term, adds the report.

Press Freedom2016-04-282023-07-10

Little to Rejoice on World Press Freedom Day

Analysis by J Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – In run-up to World Press Freedom Day on May 3, a new report has come up with a shocking revelation that global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, “as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power”.

An important exception to this trend, according to Freedom of the Press 2016, Freedom House’s annual report on media freedom worldwide, was Sri Lanka, which experienced a marked improvement in press freedom conditions after a new government took power in early 2015.

Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.

The report reveals another encouraging trend: Despite the many threats to press freedom, journalists and bloggers worldwide have shown resilience, often at great risk to their lives.

UN INSIDER2016-04-282023-07-10

Brazilian Social Scientist, Polish NGO Bag UN Population Award

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A Brazilian social scientist and a Polish organization have bagged the 2016 United Nations Population Award. Established by the UN General Assembly in 1981, the award recognizes outstanding achievement in the fields of population and health.

Dr Carmen Barroso, a Brazilian social scientist has won the award for her long commitment to population causes. The ‘Childbirth in Dignity Foundation’, a Polish organization is being honoured for promoting improved quality of care for Polish mothers and new-borns.

The award is scheduled to be presented at the United Nations on June 23.

Dr Barroso’s contributions to population questions and their solutions had a great impact through her leadership of major organizations, according to documents submitted to the Population Award Committee. In Brazil, she was a pioneer in gender studies while working at the Chagas Foundation and teaching at the University of Sao Paulo.

UN INSIDER2016-04-272023-07-10

UN Special Adviser Determined to Implement SDGs for All

Masimba Tafirenyika interviews David Nabarro

David Nabarro is the new special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on sustainable development goals (SDGs), a plan of action for ending poverty adopted by UN member states in September 2015 to replace the Millennium Development Goals. Dr. Nabarro will work with member states to implement SDGs by 2030. The following are excerpts of his interview with Masimba Tafirenyika for Africa Renewal. IDN-InDepthNews is republishing the interview by arrangement with Africa Renewal.

Your main task will be to work with member states and other stakeholders to implement the 2030 Agenda. What does this involve?

Most of the work to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is going to be done by the member states themselves —governments and the different institutions within countries. We’re already seeing signs that countries are moving fast to get their national plans aligned with this agenda. They’ll be supported by the UN and backed by a big movement of civil society, business, faith organizations, academic groups, the media and others. My job is to help the secretary-general keep an eye on who’s doing what and where he can put his energy to try and advance the process.

ARTS & CULTURE2016-04-272023-07-10

Tributes Pour in For Papa Wemba

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – To some, he was the King of Congolese rumba – a sound that layered luscious Cuban rumba with African instruments and beats.

Papa Wemba, or Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba, was rebellious, prolific, a style icon, at times notorious and always innovative.

“The world of popular music has lost a giant—a consummate musician, a shape-shifter who challenged norms and rewrote the rules of his nation’s music repeatedly over four decades, who spearheaded a fashion movement, and now has left us suddenly and far too young,” wrote ethnomusicologist Banning Eyre on the website Afropop.

ARTS & CULTURE2016-04-272023-07-10

Somali-British Poet Penned Verses in ‘Lemonade’

NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – Beyonce’s pick for lyrics setting off her latest production, LEMONADE, was Warsan Shire, a poet of Somali-British parentage.

A 27-year-old born in Kenya to Somali parents, who published her first pamphlet Teaching My Mother How to Give Birth in 2011, Shire went on to win the inaugural Brunel University African Poetry Prize in 2013.

“I tried to change/Closed my mouth more/Tried to be softer, prettier – less awake” – uttered as Beyoncé spins under water, her eyes open as if in a trance – is adapted from “For Women Who Are Difficult To Love.”

CTBTO2016-04-272023-07-10

UN Chief Calls CTBTO 20 Anniversary ‘a Call to Action’

Addressing a CTBTO Panel in Vienna, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on April 27: “When I was serving as the representative of the Republic of Korea I had the honour of presiding as Chairman of CTBTO. While assuming my chairmanship, I made small talk, saying: “My name is Ban Ki-moon; it is pronounced Ban, it is spelled B-a-n. While I will encourage constructive dialogue, I will ban using my name [for] nuclear tests”. Since then, my nickname has been “Mr. Nuclear-Test-Ban”. So, I will still carry that name, so I will try to ban any nuclear test. So, we ask [for] your strong commitment on this.”

Asia-Pacific2016-04-272023-07-10

China Triggers Regional Divisions On South China Sea

Analysis by Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – Announcement by China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi in the Laotian capital Vientiane on April 23 that a four-point agreement has been reached with three ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) member states on the disputes over some islands, rocks and shoals in the South China Sea (SCS) ahead of a China-ASEAN summit in Singapore, has exposed divisions among the 10-member regional grouping on the issue.

The SCS dispute which first entered ASEAN forums during the 2010 ASEAN Summit in Vietnam, when the then U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton raised the issue during a speech, has increased in intensity in recent years with the U.S. and Japan along with its ally the Philippines fanning the flames, while China has responded with some aggressive moves of its own.