IDN-InDepthNews

By International Press Syndicate

GENEVA (IDN) – As Thailand prepares to vote on a final draft Constitution, the United Nations human rights chief has expressed growing concern about the military’s deepening role in the country’s civilian administration as well as tight curbs on dissent. The draft is scheduled to be put to a national referendum on August 7, 2016.

“An open and dynamic public debate on the draft Constitution would foster national unity, strengthen the legitimacy and acceptance of the Constitution and provide a sense of collective ownership,” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement.

“I urge the Government to actively encourage, rather than discourage, dialogue and engagement on the draft Constitution. This would be an important step in establishing a solid foundation for a sustainable democracy in Thailand,” he added.

Analysis by J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Group of 77 and China, representing 134 members from developing countries, has expressed “disappointment” at the outcome document emerging from the three-day United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Forum on Financing for Development Follow-up – FfD Forum – at UN Headquarters in New York.

Underlining the importance of the Forum, G77 and China Chair Virachai Plasai, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Thailand, explained that the developing countries’ fates “still heavily depend on how to meet the financing gap in order to achieve the goal to end poverty and hunger, as well as Sustainable Development Goals in its three dimensions”.

However, the FfD Forum is not only essential to developing countries but also to the overall global community since it takes stock of the implementation of Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA), which is an integral part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and supports as well as complements the latter with concrete policies and actions.

By International Press Syndicate

NEW YORK (IDN) – Asia-Pacific countries have reaffirmed the importance of a regional action-oriented follow-up plan for financing the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development at a high-level event organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

The event was co-organised with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Korea on the sidelines of the ECOSOC Forum on Financing for Development from April 18 to 20 in New York.

It provided a platform for discussion on innovative financing source modalities and priorities in Asia and the Pacific for implementation of the 2030 Agenda. It also considered key regional issues with special reference to the least developed countries, landlocked developed countries, and Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Analysis by Fabíola Ortiz

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN) – Investing in forests has become the next big thing as an essential segment of the development solution, whether for meeting climate goals, coping with extreme weather, boosting livelihoods, greening supply chains or carbon sinking. However, the world has lost 50 soccer fields of forests every minute, every day, over the last twenty years.

“This is a great tragedy,” says Andrew Steer, President and CEO of the World Resources Institute (WRI), a global research organization that works in more than 50 countries. Managing forests has been difficult, he adds. Around one fifth of the global population (1.3 billion people) relies on forests for livelihoods.

According to the World Bank, about 350 million people live within or close to dense forests depending directly on them for their subsistence. And of those, nearly 60 million people – especially indigenous communities – are completely dependent on forests.

Analysis by J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Mekong Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Drug Control, a framework that incorporates law enforcement, criminal justice, alternative development, and health responses in six countries in East and Southeast Asia continues to be of critical importance more than twenty-five years after it was signed.

Despite significant efforts, the six MOU countries – Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam – that constitute the Greater Mekong Sub-region continue to face challenges in stemming the flow of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals in, to and from the area.

After a decade of steady declines, the illicit cultivation of opium poppy has increased each year since 2006. Today, cultivation is concentrated in Myanmar and Lao PDR. Synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine in pill and crystal forms, have emerged as the primary drug threat in the Sub-region. The diversion and subsequent trafficking of precursors chemicals, and the emergence of new psychoactive substances, also continue to impact the area. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE

A UN Women News Feature

NEW YORK (IDN | UN Women) – On April 25, 2015, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Nepal, followed by another powerful 7.3-magnitude quake on May 12. In the ongoing response to the earthquakes in Nepal, UN Women has worked side-by-side with government, UN OCHA and other UN agencies, and women’s group to highlight the distinct needs of women and girls, including protection and resilience, and to promote their role as meaningful participants in eventual recovery, reconstruction and development. As we approach the one-year mark since the earthquakes, UN Women spotlight on Nepali women and girls, their stories and their solutions.

In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, UN Women through its established partnerships with women’s groups, established five multi-purpose women’s centres, by women’s groups in collaboration with local government, and three information centres. UN Women targeted recognized groups of vulnerable women, including widows, disabled women, female household heads, Dalit women, and women with other vulnerabilities, reaching approximately 42,703 affected women so far.