Speaking Out for People, Planet and Peace

By Ambassador Kairat Umarov

Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) on 8 January for the period 2020-2021. The following are extensive excerpts from the statement of LLDC Chair Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York, at the First 2020 Meeting of the LLDCs at the Ambassadorial level, 

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Following an exhaustive review of petitions submitted by the opposition, judges of the Malawian Constitutional Court ruled against Peter Mutharika whose presidential victory in May 2019 was attributed to massive fraud.

Veteran diplomat Vernon Mwaanga of neighboring Zambia said the Court raised the bar for African countries where elections are plagued by irregularities.

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Do we know how to end poverty in the Third World? Do we know why some economies expand and others don’t? Not really. There is no clear formula for growth. The two Nobel economics prize winners of last year, the husband and wife team of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, write in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “The uncomfortable truth is that the economics profession still doesn’t have a good sense of why some economies expand and others don’t”.

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A stirring call to action was delivered this week in the august hall of the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, spoken by the incoming AU president Cyril Ramaphosa to distinguished members of the continental a continental union consisting of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa.

In his presentation at the AU’s 33rd summit, the South African President wove history with commentary into a tapestry of hope for a continent which has had its share of strife and downfalls.

COP25 Ignored Demands for Climate Justice

Viewpoint by Mary Church*

EDINBURGH (IDN) – The outcomes of the longest ever meeting in the history of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the COP25 negotiations in Madrid – have failed to reflect the urgency of the crisis or any grasp of the real solutions to the climate emergency.

Rather, governments around the world continued to ignore both the undeniable science and the rising tide of peoples’ movements demanding radical action on climate.

Viewpoint by Michael W. Lodge

The writer is Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. ISA headquarters are in Kingston, Jamaica.

KINGSTON (IDN) – As we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February 2020, we are reminded of the need to renew our commitments to improve access for women from developing States to education and training, and ensure their increased participation in the field of ocean science, particularly in deep-sea scientific research.

Viewpoint by Nicola Sturgeon

The following are extensive excerpts from the address of Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the European Policy Centre, a leading Brussels-based think tank, on February 10. She was in Brussels for a series of engagements to make Scotland’s voice heard in Europe.

BRUSSELS (IDN) – This is the first time I have been here – or indeed anywhere outside Scotland – since the UK left the European Union ten days ago.

Brexit was a sad matter for me, and for many people in Scotland and indeed across the UK.

Viewpoint by Andrew Walter*

MELBOURNE (IDN) -- The bushfires now ravaging Australia’s flora, fauna and rural communities on an unprecedented scale underline the country’s exceptional vulnerability to global heating and its strong interest in global climate change mitigation and adaptation. Decarbonisation should be taken as an economic opportunity and it could elevate Australia’s leading role in Asia for years to come.

Viewpoint by Michael Keating*

ABERDEEN (IDN) – Choppy waters lie ahead for both defending and defeating the union that is the United Kingdom, with Scotland and England having diverged sharply in their choices at the recent general election (December 2019).

Campaigns in both countries focused on Brexit but in Scotland equal prominence was given to the prospect of a second referendum on independence. In 2014, Scots voted by 55 percent to remain in the UK after a campaign in which both sides shared the wish to stay in the European Union. Two years later, Scotland voted by 62 percent to remain in the EU.

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – While significant progress in eliminating the practice has been made in the last 30 years, approximately 200 million girls and women alive today have had their genitals mutilated. This can lead to long-term physical, psychological and social consequences, warns a joint statement by UN Women, UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO.

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Bob Dylan in "Blowin' in the Wind", one of the 'Greatest Songs of All Time', poses a series of rhetorical questions about peace, war, and freedom. The refrain "The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind" has been described as "impenetrably ambiguous: either the answer is so obvious it is right in your face, or the answer is as intangible as the wind".

This applies, albeit partially, to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres´ brief to journalists at the UN headquarters in New York on 4 February on the work of the organization and priorities for 2020 which marks a milestone for the United Nations – its 75th anniversary.

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from the UN Secretary-General’s remarks to the General Assembly on 22 January on his priorities in 2020.

NEW YORK (IDN) – 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. I draw tremendous strength from all that we represent and all that we have achieved together. Yet anniversaries are not about celebrating the past; they are about looking ahead.

We must cast our eyes to the future with hope. But we must also do so without illusion. Today I want to speak to you in stark and simple terms about the challenges we face.

I see “four horsemen” in our midst — four looming threats that endanger 21st-century progress and imperil 21st-century possibilities.

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA (IDN) – Two important steps have been taken to combat further spread of the new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak in China and globally. On the one hand, the international community has launched a US$675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020. On the other, the World Health Organization (WHO) is convening a global research and innovation forum at its headquarters in the Swiss city on February 11-12.

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery *

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – I would like to announce the publication of a book, which deals with the world's failure to adequately address the existential danger of catastrophic climate change. The book consists mainly of book chapters and articles that I have previously published, although a considerable amount of new material has been added. It can be freely downloaded and circulated from the following link: http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Climate-Change-Means-Lifestyle-Change-John-Scales-Avery.pdf