IDN-InDepthNews

UN INSIDER2016-02-042023-07-10

Devastated Timbuktu Mausoleums Rebuilt

PARIS (IDN) – The Timbuktu mausoleums, destroyed by radical Islamists four years ago, are back on their feet now, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director-General Irina Bokova told the people of Mali on February 4.

The UNESCO chief’s message coincided with a consecration ceremony of the Timbuktu mausoleums, last held in the 11th century, celebrated at the initiative of the local community. It marked the final phase of the United Nations-backed cultural rebirth of the age-old Sahara city after the destruction wrought by radical Islamists in 2012.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-02-042023-07-12

Devastated Timbuktu Mausoleums Rebuilt

By Anusha Meyer | IDN-InDepthNews Report

UN INSIDER2016-02-042023-07-10

Narcotics Board Calls for Closing the Global Pain Divide

BERLIN | VIENNA (IDN) – About 92 percent of morphine used worldwide is consumed by only 17 per cent of the world population – predominantly in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, Australia and New Zealand.

While consumption in those countries has increased significantly since the early 1990s and there is growing concern about prescription drug abuse, more than 75 per cent of the people in several low and middle-income countries have no medical access to narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances.

With this in view, the International Narcotics Board (INCB) has warned countries that inadequate access contradicts the notion of article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, including the right to medical care, which also encompasses palliative care. This warning comes ahead of the Special Session of the UN General Assembly on the World Drug Problem (UNGASS), which will take place in New York in April 2016.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS2016-02-042023-07-12

Narcotics Board Calls for Closing the Global Pain Divide

By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis

Global Goals2016-02-042023-07-10

Ein machbarer Weg aus chronischer Armut

Von Prof. Kazuo Takahashi *

TOKIO (IDN) – Armutsbekämpfung stand seit den frühen 1970er Jahren auf der Tagesordnung der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit: Robert McNamara erklärte im Jahr 1973, die Mission der Weltbank sei, die Armut bis zum Jahr 2000 zu beseitigen und drei Jahre später hat der Entwicklungshilfeausschuss (DAC), bestehend aus den weltweit wichtigsten Gebern, den Grundbedürfnisse-Ansatz übernommen. Aber die große Herausforderung für die Entwicklungs-Community ist das Finden einer effektiven Methode, um wesentliche Erleichterungen für die Armen und Bedürftigen zu gewährleisten.

Für einige Zeit wurde diese Frage ideologisch betrachtet, als Wahl zwischen Wachstum und Verteilung. Der letzte Versuch zur Schaffung eines politischen Rahmens aus ideologischer Perspektive war die DAC-Erklärung von 1996: Das 21. Jahrhundert gestalten – Der Beitrag der DAC-Geschäftspolitik zur Entwicklungszusammenarbeit (Shaping the 21st Century: The Contribution of Development Cooperation).

Religion2016-02-032023-07-10

Buddhist Revival in China Fuels Animal Welfare Movement

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

This article is the first in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Feature and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

SINGAPORE (IDN | Lotus News Features) – A Buddhist revival in China is fuelling a growing animal welfare movement across the country with the Chinese government poised to revise the decades-old animal welfare act. In January, the National People’s Congress (NPC) started soliciting public comments on four draft laws. One is the revision of the Wildlife Protection Law, which came into effect in 1989.

This law created a system of wild animal breeding permits, issued by what is now called the State Forestry Administration. The belief was that the best way to protect threatened wildlife was by developing a wild animal breeding and training sector. China’s success at breeding captive pandas is the global poster child for the success in this sort of conservation.

DEVNET2016-02-032023-07-10

Geothermal Energy for the Future – “Geo-Max”

This advertorial is part of IDN’s media project jointly with Global Cooperation Council and DEVNET Japan.

TOKYO – The increased occurrence of severe hot weather and record heat waves is creating disastrous situations for many people, but in some areas they do not possess sufficient resources – such as air-conditioning facilities and electricity to run those facilities – for protecting themselves. Solving the lack of access to air-conditioning systems will help thousands of people cope with global warming.

GLOBAL ISSUES2016-02-032023-07-10

Buddhist Revival in China Fuels Animal Welfare Movement

By Kalinga Seneviratne*

This article is the first in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Feature and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

ARTS & CULTURE2016-02-032023-07-10

A Poet Takes Her Verse to the People with Slam

PARIS – To those who like to say that poetry is dead, Elizabeth Acevedo has a ready answer: poetry is by no means dead, it’s just constantly taking on new forms. And slam is one of these transmutations, where poets recite their work on stage, engaging directly with the audience.

“I see hundreds of young people at slam performances,” says Acevedo, a prize-winning writer and performer based in Washington, D.C. “But some people would like to dismiss this as just yelling. That makes me want to rebel.”

Acevedo was a member of the Beltway team that won the 2014 National Poetry Slam in the United States, by delivering impassioned, uncompromising verse. Since then she has been touring colleges, conducting workshops and giving lectures.

Individual Journalists, SYNDICATION2016-02-022023-07-12

Brazil has Seen the Future, and it Works

LONDON – “Brazil has a great future, and always will,” said Charles de Gaulle, the president of France in the 1960s. In truth it is not difficult to be cynical about Brazil. It is a large land of both great potential and many lost opportunities – and yet whenever I visit it, as I have regularly over 40 years, I find the positive changes are immense.