COLOMBO (IDN) – In an unusually mild Paris in December 2015, over 195 countries agreed on a set of broad measures to address the gathering threat to human existence of global warming and climate change.
A beaming UN Secretary-General, for whom climate change has been “one of the defining priorities of his tenure”, described the Paris Accord as heralding a generation with climate hope and a “monumental triumph for people and the planet”.
TOKYO – In his annual peace proposal released on January 26, titled “Universal Respect for Human Dignity: The Great Path to Peace,” Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Buddhist association, calls for intensified efforts to respond to the needs of humanity’s most vulnerable, including those displaced by conflict in Syria and elsewhere or by natural disasters.
Ikeda welcomes the adoption of the UN’s new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their ambitious aim of leaving no one behind. He applauds the fact that the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development explicitly includes the protection of the dignity and fundamental human rights of displaced persons and international migrants.
He urges renewed focus on the protection of children uprooted by conflict and their educational needs, as well as further support to countries that have taken in large numbers of people fleeing armed conflict and persecution.
NEW YORK | TUNIS – Thousands of Tunisian police rallied for pay raises on January 25, joining a growing movement of Tunisian citizens turning up the heat on Prime Minister Habib Essid with demands for “work, freedom and dignity”.
Once hailed as the success story of the Arab Spring for its democratic progress, Tunisia has become a poster child for the dangers in ignoring economic malaise, alienation and frustrations of North African youth.
Five years ago, a college graduate turned fruit vendor, Mohamed Bouazizi, ended his life after he faced abuse from police. On January 24, a copycat suicide ended the life of Ridha Yahyaoui who was refused a job. His action sparked riots in some of the same impoverished towns that brought down the previous regime.
NEW YORK – China has received a green light from Djibouti to build its first overseas military base in that Horn of Africa nation. The question is: will they get a welcome basket from neighbors France, Japan and the U.S.? All three have military bases there as well.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said the new facility will give logistical support to China’s fleet that performs escort duties in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast.
NEW YORK | ACCRA – Compassion was not in the hearts of Ghana’s religious leaders for two detainees flown to freedom this month (January) after 14 years in Guantanamo prison behind bars.
The Rev. Joseph Osei Bonsu, President of the Catholic Bishops Conference, scolded President John Dramani Mahama, saying the two Yemeni ex-detainees did not deserve any compassion from Ghanaians.
LONDON – Life, said Martin Luther King “is a long and desolate corridor with no exit sign”. He must have said that when his spirits were flagging as most of the time he was optimistic about making the world a better place.
I was reminded of this when reading a new report, “Freedom in the World, 2016”, written by the U.S.-based Freedom House. For the tenth consecutive year, it says, freedom has declined. 72 countries slipped back in the amount of political, civil rights and press freedom they allowed their citizens. 43 countries made gains.
However, to keep it in proportion, the number of countries which are free is much higher than when the Cold War ended. Moreover, the overwhelming majority of countries going backwards have small populations.
By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
NEW YORK (IDN) – The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan is widely acknowledged as an unrelenting champion of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The country’s latest accomplishment is the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly along with the Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World.
NEW YORK (IDN) – The Central Asian Republic of Kazakhstan is widely acknowledged as an unrelenting champion of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The country’s latest accomplishment is the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly along with the Universal Declaration on the Achievement of a Nuclear-Weapon-Free World.
By Martine van Bijlert
KABUL – In a brief press conference on January 18, 2016, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) announced the date for Afghanistan’s next vote: October 15, 2016. But the preparations for the elections – for the lower house of parliament and, for the first time, district councils – are complicated by ongoing controversies over the legitimacy of the current IEC, the nature of the electoral reforms that need to precede the elections as well as who will be organising them and under which amended laws.
By Alina Inayeh*
BUCHAREST, Romania (IDN | GMF) – History repeats itself, giving us the chance to avoid repeating our mistakes. The Ukrainian story should have taught us a lot about the short-sightedness of supporting a bad government for geopolitical reasons.
Now, as protests against Moldova’s newly formed government are drawing many thousands, is the moment for political leaders in Europe and the United States to take a deep breath and recall this lesson before showing their support to the Moldovan government, known to be controlled by the country’s most powerful oligarch and with little, if any, credible interest in promoting the reforms Moldova needs.
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