 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
By Caroline Mwanga
NEW YORK (IDN) — It is "dangerous to assume that Omicron will be the last variant, or that we are in the endgame" of the pandemic. "On the contrary, globally, the conditions are ideal for more variants to emerge," exactly two years and a day since he declared the deadly virus a public health emergency of international concern, says Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the UN's World Health Organization (WHO).
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) — The World Health Organization (WHO) a specialized agency of the United Nations, has warned that fundamental and life-saving primary health care services in Afghanistan are under severe threat. It is, therefore, making an urgent appeal to international donors to rapidly finance the Sehatmandi programme, as they have done for almost two decades.
The programme is the backbone of Afghanistan’s health system, providing care for millions of people through 2 331 health facilities.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — A massive new complex housing Amazon’s proposed South African headquarters along with a hotel and other businesses continues to face stiff opposition from indigenous Khoisan, environmental and community groups despite city officials already approving of construction of the nine-story construction.
Opponents say the project will ruin a historically significant riverside site in Cape Town and harm the environment. The Khoisan were some of the country's first inhabitants and their presence in the southern tip of Africa dates back thousands of years.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Nature conservancies, with the stated goal of protecting wilderness and endangered wildlife, have enabled the removal of tribal peoples from their ancestral homelands in Africa to allow superior “western” models of conservation to prevail, according to the activist group Survival International.
Under the western model, half of all land must be kept in a natural state to protect Earth, as the National Geographic Society recently declared on its magazine pages, if a stable climate and high quality of life are to be preserved in the near future.
By Jan Servaes*
BRUSSELS (IDN) — This remarkable quote appears on page 6 of Howard French's latest book, published in October 2021, "Born in Blackness. Africa, Africans, and the Making of the Modern World. 1471 to the Second World War". In doing so, he casts a lot of doubt on traditionally held opinions about Africa over the centuries.
Howard French, professor of journalism at Columbia University in New York and former bureau chief of the New York Times in the Caribbean and Central America, West and Central Africa, Tokyo, and Shanghai, tries to make it clear that the way we think about history is often wrong.
Viewpoint by Sugeeswara Senadhira
The writer is a senior Sri Lankan journalist and political commentator.
COLOMBO (IDN) — “Solicitation of foreign interference in an election represents a betrayal of public trust because it threatens to undermine the people’s right of self-determination—a foundational norm of our Constitutional order,” said Dean of Cornell Law school, Jens David Ohlin in his book ‘Election Interference’ published by Cambridge Press.
Viewpoint by Orria Goni and Luckystar Miyandazi
Orria Goni is SDG Financing and South-South Cooperation Advisor, UNDP, and Luckystar Miyandazi is Regional Tax Specialist, UNDP. This article was posted on UNDP Blog.
NEW YORK (IDN) — On October 30, 2021, the leaders of the world's 20 largest economies, the G20, endorsed a two-pillar blueprint to address the tax challenges arising from the digitalization of the economy. The agreement includes partial reallocation of taxing rights to market jurisdictions and a 15 per cent global minimum tax for multinational enterprises (MNEs).
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — My wife occasionally jokes that my stressful, high-strung lifestyle could mean I’ll die before her. I’ve hardly paid any attention, until recently. Three weeks ago, we both visited a friend who lost his father on New Year’s Day. The deceased was over 90.
We went in company with my friend and neighbour who also came along with his wife. We met two other friends at the home of the bereaved family.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah*
MOSCOW (IDN) — Many Africans remember Fidel Castro and Ernesto Guevara, internationalist symbols in the struggles for the independence of the peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean. Africa and Cuba have maintained cordial relations for decades, before and after the Cold War.
Viewpoint by Alexey Gromyko*
This article was issued by the European Leadership Network on January 20, 2022.
MOSCOW (IDN) — The current discussions between Russia and NATO pivot on Russia’s requirement for the Alliance to provide legally binding security guarantees: specifically, that the alliance will not expand east, which will require revoking the 2008 NATO Bucharest summit decision that Ukraine and Georgia “will become members of NATO”.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.