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Photo: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov addressing a nonproliferation conference in Moscow on 8 November 2019. Source: Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Russia Frustrated About U.S. Stance on New START

By Kingston Reif and Shannon Bugos*

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN | Arms Control Association) – Top Russian Foreign Ministry officials have issued a fresh set of warnings about the future of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) because, they say, the Trump administration continues to refuse to engage in talks on extending the treaty.

Washington “is evading any serious discussion, making public discouraging signals regarding the future of this treaty,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov November 8 at a nonproliferation conference in Moscow. Lavrov’s deputy, Sergey Ryabkov, voiced similar criticisms at the conference saying, “[It] looks as if the United States is dragging its feet, if not downright, looking for an excuse to get rid of New START right after tearing up the [Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces] Treaty.”

: Arms Control Association; THE WORLD; Russia; 15 November 2019

Photo: Partners in the Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh.

Concern That Daesh/ISIS May Not Have Suffered 'Enduring Defeat'

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN) – The broad-based Global Coalition to Defeat Daesh claims to have “liberated Iraq and northeast Syria from Daesh/ISIS’s grip” over five years of “military and civilian engagement”. At its peak, Daesh/ISIS controlled nearly 110,000 square kilometers of territory, including major cities in both Iraq and Syria and attracted more than 40,000 Foreign Terrorist Fighters. According to the communique emerging from the Ministerial Meeting on November 14 in Washington DC. The Coalition campaign has liberated approximately 7.7 million people from Daesh/ISIS’s control.

: J C Suresh; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 15 November 2019

Photo: Soil erosion is a major problem for Benin's farmers. Nuclear techniques help scientists find its exact causes, so that they can tackle erosion. Credit: E. Fulajtar | IAEA.

Two UN Agencies Reveal High Rate of Soil Erosion in Benin

By Emil Fulajtar and Joanne Liou*

VIENNA (IDN) – Harmless traces from nuclear testing more than half a century ago are helping researchers assess soil erosion rates. In Africa, about 65 percent of the continent's farmland is affected by erosion-induced losses of topsoil and soil nutrients, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Benin is among those countries severely impacted by soil erosion, which poses a major problem for economic development since agriculture represents approximately 35 percent of the country’s GDP and 80 percent of its export income. A recent study applied a nuclear technique to assess rates of soil erosion and support land conservation in Benin.

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 14 November 2019

Photo: The containment area inside Belgian Reactor 2, one of the oldest research reactors in Western Europe. Credit: SCK•CEN.

IAEA Ensures Effectiveness and Sustainability of Ageing Research Reactors

By Joanne Liou*

VIENNA (IDN) – As over two thirds of the world’s operating research reactors are now over 30 years old, operators and regulators are focusing on refurbishing and modernizing reactors to ensure they can continue to perform in a safe and efficient manner. This is also one of many topics that will be discussed from November 25 to 29 at the International Conference on Research Reactors of the UN nuclear watchdog International Atomic Agency’ (IAEA) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 14 November 2019

Photo: Omid, ten months malnourished child suffering from pneumonia is treated in Mofleh Pediatric Hospital in the province of Herat province, west of Afghanistan on January 29, 2019. © UNICEF/UN0280720/Hashimi AFP-Services

Pneumonia the Number One Killer Disease of Children

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YOK (IDN) – Pneumonia, an entirely preventable disease, claimed the lives of 800,000 children – or one child every 39 seconds – under the age of five last year, but funding to improve survival rates continues to lag, according to a new analysis.

Most deaths occurred among children under the age of two, and almost 153,000 within the first month of life, says a UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) analysis produced in September 2019, based on estimates from the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Maternal and Child Epidemiology Estimation Group (MCEE) and the United Nations Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 13 November 2019

Photo: Proceedings instituted by the Republic of The Gambia against the Republic of the Union of Myanmar on 11 November 2019. Source: ICJ.

The Importance of Gambia Invoking Genocide Convention Against Myanmar

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – The Government of Gambia on November 11, 2019 has brought to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague a complaint against the Government of Myanmar (formerly Burma) for violation of the 1948 Convention on Genocide concerning actions against the Rohingya. Under the rules of the ICJ, Member States can bring action against other Member States over disputes alleging breaches of international law, in this case the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

: Rene Wadlow; OPINION; 13 November 2019

Photo credit: Institute for Security Studies.

$78 Billion a Year Will Suffice to Abolish Extreme Poverty

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

“Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere” is the first of 17 Goals of the United Nations. The latest data indicate that it would cost only $78 billion a year – less than 0.1% of Global GDP – to abolish extreme poverty. Indeed, there is an argument for giving the abolition of the worst poverty priority over funding the combating of global warming. It’s a much, much cheaper cause than what is being estimated as necessary for stalling global warming – $2.5 trillion each year on the energy issue, overwhelmingly targeted on renewables.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 12 November 2019

Photo: Rohingyas at the Kutupalong refugee camp in Bangladesh, October 2017. CC BY 4.0

Gambia Sues Myanmar at UN Court with Rohingya Genocide

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Few countries are standing up to Myanmar, formerly Burma, for its mistreatment of the Muslim community known as Rohingya. On November 11, Gambia – the smallest nation in mainland Africa – came to the defense of the persecuted minority, filing a lawsuit with the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, charging Myanmar with genocide.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 November 2019

Photo: Afro-Latinos. Source: World Bank.

Fulfil the Rights of Afro-descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean

Viewpoint by Natalia Kanem

Following are extensive extracts from the Statement by UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem at the High-level Meeting on "Accelerating global action for the fulfilment of rights for Afro-descendant people in Latin America and the Caribbean", San José, Costa Rica, in October 2019.

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Leave no one behind – that is the global community’s ambitious pledge. And the Sustainable Development Goals call on us to reach those furthest behind first.

How do we accelerate global action to fulfil the rights of Afro-descendants, who are often among those furthest behind in Latin America and the Caribbean?

How do we combat discrimination, inequalities and the root causes of exclusion?

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 11 November 2019

Photo: Agnès Callamard, the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, OHCHR. Source: UN News.

The UN Experts Shining a Light on Human Rights Violations

By Sean Buchanan

NEW YORK (IDN) – The experts who fan out across the world to research, hold consultations and gather information on a vast range of human rights violations often find themselves caught in the crosshairs of international and domestic politics. Independent of governments and institutions – including the UN’s Human Rights Council which appoints them.

They occupy a unique investigative role that allows them to shine a light on alleged violations perpetrated across the world, with mandates to “report and advise”, both as specialists focusing on specific forms of abuse of international human rights law such as torture, human trafficking or the right to privacy, but also to carry out country-specific investigations.