India’s foreign policy think tank ‘Gateway House’ based in Mumbai sifted through the speeches of Prime Minister Narenda Modi during his visits abroad in 2015 to assess the terms—such as cooperation and economy—he used most frequently. As the terminology pattern shows, India’s foreign policy is now focussed on forging new and improved global partnerships. And as the most-travelled head of state in the world, Modi’s words indicate India’s new global positioning.
Asien: Journalisten vor neuer Aufgabe – Frieden stiftender Kommunikationsansatz
Von Kalinga Seneviratne*
BANGKOK (IDN) – Anti-Stress-Seminare für Eltern, Bewusstseinstrainings für Manager oder Kurse für “achtsames Führen”. In den USA werden in den vergangenen Jahren immer mehr Kurse und Workshops angeboten, die sich den Grundlagen der sogenannten Achtsamkeit verschrieben haben. Auch in Europa versuchen gestresste Arbeitnehmer zunehmend, ihren Alltag mit Hilfe von Achtsamkeitstrainings zu bewältigen.
Treaty to Ban Nuclear Weapons High on UN Agenda in 2016
By Jamshed Baruah | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – An open-ended working group of the United Nations General Assembly for achieving a nuclear-weapon-free world is, along with the Sustainable Development Goals, an important agenda item that the year 2015 has bequeathed to 2016.
African Bank Upbeat About Sustainable Development
By J C Suresh | IDN-InDepthNews Feature
TORONTO | ABIDJAN (IDN) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) is upbeat about 2016 and hopes to build on unprecedented development in 2015 which in its view would go down in history as a year “when the world decided that the time had finally come to set aside individual differences and to forge a new development paradigm for the planet”.
Ban Ki-moon Unhappy With UN’s 5.4 Billion Dollar Budget
By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis
A wide view of the General Assembly. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas (file)
NEW YORK (IDN) – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is far from satisfied with a budget of $5.4 billion the 193-member General Assembly adopted on December 23 for the United Nations to carry out its vital work in 2016 and 2017. This two-year budget is less than 7% of the $77.7 billion preliminary budget New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed for 2016 in February 2015.
UN Condemns Destruction of World Heritage Sites as ‘War Crimes’
PARIS (IDN) – With extremist assaults continuing unabated on striking symbols of Syria’s cultural diversity, the United Nations has condemned archaeological devastation of yet another major World Heritage site. Earlier, in October, it had declared such acts as “war crimes” and assured that those responsible “would be tried and punished”.
After the destruction of Palmyra’s ancient temple of Baalshamin in August, of the Arch of Triumph in Palmyra in October, yet another World Heritage site has fallen prey to fighting in Syria. According to the Syrian Directorate of Antiquities and Museums, parts of the ancient city of Bosra were severely damaged during combats on December 22, 2015.
UN Condemns Destruction of World Heritage Sites as ‘War Crimes’
By Jaya Ramachandran | IDN-InDepthNews Feature
Ancient City of Bosra, Syrian, World Heritage site. Photo: ©UNESCO/Véronique Dauge
PARIS (IDN) – With extremist assaults continuing unabated on striking symbols of Syria’s cultural diversity, the United Nations has condemned archaeological devastation of yet another major World Heritage site. Earlier, in October, it had declared such acts as “war crimes” and assured that those responsible “would be tried and punished”.
G20’s Role in Development Cooperation as China Takes Over
By Thomas Fues & Maike Saltzmann*
BONN (INPS | GDI) – China took over the presidency of the group of the twenty leading industrial and emerging countries (G20) on December 1. In spite of its impressive economic success, the country continues to regard itself as a developing nation and its government intends to place particular emphasis on the interests of all developing countries.
Following up on China’s leadership, Germany can use its chair of the G20 in 2017 to promote implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
UN Sees Key Role for Women in Post-2015 Development Agenda
UNITED NATIONS (IPS) – The United Nations, which has launched an intense world-wide campaign to ensure the full implementation of its post-2015 development agenda, is unequivocal in asserting that gender equality and women’s empowerment are indispensable to the realization of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders last September.
And Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is emphatic in his resounding political message: the world will never achieve 100 percent of its development goals until and unless 50 percent of its people — namely women—are treated “as full and equal participants in all realms.”
Reaffirming this message, Assistant Secretary-General Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of UN Women, told IPS gender equality and women’s empowerment are indispensable to the realization of sustainable development. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE
Doha Can Survive A Severe Blow If Developing Nations Unite
GENEVA (IDN | TWN) – When the WTO’s Nairobi Ministerial Conference (MC10) ended on December 19, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo and Kenya Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed were beaming that they had pulled off a coup of sorts in a successful Conference, with a Declaration and decisions – with the U.S. and the EU, acclaiming both of them.