IDN-InDepthNews

News for a Sustainable World, Peace and Security

IDN-InDepthNews
Africa

Familiar Waste and Excess in Nigeria’s ‘Record Budget’

NEW YORK | ABUJA – Critics who examined Nigeria’s budget for 2016 are shaking their heads in disbelief at the sight of excess and waste so familiar from previous regimes.

A 37.8 million naira item appears over 369 times, and money for the presidential clinic exceeds that for all 17 of the country’s teaching hospitals combined, according to Oluseun Onigbinde, partner and co-founder of BudgIT, a Nigerian group that campaigns for transparency in public spending.

In some instances, BudgIT found, the same purchase of vehicles, computers and furniture are replicated 24 times, totalling 46.5 billion naira ($234 million), 795 million naira is set aside to update the website of one ministry, while no purpose is assigned to a 10 billion naira provision in the education ministry’s spending plan. A report on the budget appeared in Bloomberg News.

Africa

Iran Deal Brings Bonus for Kenyan Tea Planters

NEW YORK | NAIROBI – Kenya’s tea planters are in for a much-needed lift with or without caffeine as trade with one the world’s 10 biggest tea-consuming nations comes on line.

East African tea exports to Iran are expected to jump more than fivefold by 2019 as trade with the Persian Gulf nation normalizes after western sanctions are lifted, a regional tea traders’ association said.

UN INSIDER

UN Stresses Need to End Use of Child Soldiers

NEW YORK (IDN) – Tens of thousands of boys and girls are associated with armed forces and groups in conflicts in more than 20 countries around the world, says Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

In a press release marking the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, observed every February 12 since 2002, she said that an upsurge in global conflicts and brutal war tactics continues to make children extremely vulnerable to recruitment and use by armed groups.

UN INSIDER

Advisors Hired to Make UN System Fit for 2030 Development Agenda

NEW YORK (IDN) – An independent team of 12 advisors headed by two former senior UN officials has been tasked with making the United Nations development system fit for supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that took effect on January 1.

The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Bureau – headed by Oh Joon, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea – announced on February 12 the establishment of the team to support the second phase of the ECOSOC Dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS

UN Stresses Need to End Use of Child Soldiers

J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Report


NEW YORK (IDN) – Tens of thousands of boys and girls are associated with armed forces and groups in conflicts in more than 20 countries around the world, says Leila Zerrougui, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

In a press release marking the International Day against the Use of Child Soldiers, observed every February 12 since 2002, she said that an upsurge in global conflicts and brutal war tactics continues to make children extremely vulnerable to recruitment and use by armed groups.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS

Advisors Hired to Make UN System Fit for 2030 Development Agenda

By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Report


NEW YORK (IDN) – An independent team of 12 advisors headed by two former senior UN officials has been tasked with making the United Nations development system fit for supporting the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that took effect on January 1.

The UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Bureau – headed by Oh Joon, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea – announced on February 12 the establishment of the team to support the second phase of the ECOSOC Dialogue on the longer-term positioning of the UN development system in the context of the 2030 Agenda.

SYNDICATION, UNITED NATIONS

Countries, Not UN, Responsible for Implementing 17 SDGs

By J Nastranis | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis


NEW YORK (IDN) – Since all the world’s governments adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015 and it took effect on January 1, two important questions being discussed around the world are: How will we measure progress in translating the Agenda into practice, and who is responsible for achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

GLOBAL ISSUES

Countering Religious Hardliners Through Dialogue

By Monzurul Huq | IDN-InDepthNews Analysis


TOKYO (IDN) – Religious identity, which in a broader context is perceived as belonging to a certain faith, is a topic of heated debate these days, mainly because a religious sense of belonging is directed toward achieving a certain goal by inflicting harm on others. The ongoing debate has been intensified in recent years with the concept of a clash of civilizations winning support among a group of Western academics and intellectuals.

It has received further impetus with the involvement of Western governments in the process of toppling regimes that the leaders of the Western world termed as “evil empires” – and thus paving the way for a blowback in the form of emergence of various religious-based terrorist groups claiming the righteousness in the name of divinity.

UN INSIDER

Countries, Not UN, Responsible for Implementing 17 SDGs

NEW YORK (IDN) – Since all the world’s governments adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in September 2015 and it took effect on January 1, two important questions being discussed around the world are: How will we measure progress in translating the Agenda into practice, and who is responsible for achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

According to a Blue Paper, progress in implementing the Agenda will be measured with the help of ‘SDG Indicators’. Though, the list of SDG Indicators as published on January 28 will not be the last word on this matter; but it is certainly the first.

Peace & Security

Countering Religious Hardliners Through Dialogue

TOKYO (IDN) – Religious identity, which in a broader context is perceived as belonging to a certain faith, is a topic of heated debate these days, mainly because a religious sense of belonging is directed toward achieving a certain goal by inflicting harm on others. The ongoing debate has been intensified in recent years with the concept of a clash of civilizations winning support among a group of Western academics and intellectuals.

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