Peace & Justice

Photo: Emmerson Mnangagwa speaking in Headlands on Didymus Mtasa as Vice President of Zimbabwe in 2015. CC BY 3.0

'Skulduggery' Foils Zimbabwe Inauguration Of Mnangagwa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | HARARE (IDN) – The hastily organized inauguration of Emmerson Mnangagwa as president of Zimbabwe has hit a brick wall.

Invitations to the heads of diplomatic mission, international organizations and consulates were pulled back after challenges to July 30 general election put a question mark around the slim victory of Mnangagwe over his rival Nelson Chamisa.

Mnangagwa allegedly beat Chamisa with 50.8 percent of the vote to Chamisa’s 44.3 percent.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 August 2018

Photo: UN Peacekeepers serving with the Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in the Central African Republic (MINUSCA) patrol the city of Bangui in 2017. UN Photo/ Hervé Serefio

Security Council Calls for Better UN Agency Cooperation in Central Africa

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In view of "the volatile and fast‑evolving nature of the political, security and social situation" in Central Africa, the United Nations Secretary-General has asked the Security Council to extend by three years from September 1, 2018 to August 31, 2021 the mandate of the UN Regional Office for Central Africa (UNOCA).

Created on January 1, 2011, and operating under the purview of the Department of Political Affairs, UNOCA covers the 11 member States of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS): Angola, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Rwanda, and Sao Tome and Principe.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Africa; 13 August 2018

Photo: Casa Rosada, executive mansion and office of the President of Argentina, viewed from Plaza de Mayo. CC BY-SA 3.0 nl

G20 Anti-Corruption Commitments At Risk

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – As governments across the globe crack down on citizen groups, stifling their ability to speak out and hold governments to account, the role of civil society is more important now than ever.

With his in mind, activists from more than 600 civil society organisations and more than 45 countries worldwide gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from August 6 to 7 for the sixth annual Civil 20 summit. The meeting came at a critical time prior to the meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) in November.

Civil 20 (C20) is one of the seven engagement groups of the G20, conceived as an instrument through which civil society organisations (CSOs) from different parts of the world can contribute in a structured and sustained manner to the G20, thus ensuring that world leaders listen not only to the voices representing the governmental and business sectors, but also to the proposals and demands of civil society as a whole.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 12 August 2018

Photo: Uniformed children in class in Ha Nqabeni primary school, Lesotho. CC BY-SA 2.0

UN Supports Comprehensive Reform Process in Lesotho

By Ntsoaki Nkoe

MASERU (IDN) – Lesotho has launched a landmark project with the European Union willing to provide Euros 12.5 million (approx. USD14.4 million) and the United Nations USD 2 million. Known as the Lesotho National Dialogue and Stabilization Project (LNDSP), the initiative aims to stimulate a comprehensive national reforms process the southern African country is undertaking.

Explaining the genesis of the project, UN Resident Coordinator Salvator Niyonzima said the launch of the project was the result of several months of consultations, project formulation and fund raising going back to September 2017 when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane wrote to the UN Secretary-General requesting UN support to Lesotho’s long-anticipated national reforms.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 12 August 2018

Photo credit: Lesotho's MMN Centre for Investigative Journalism.

Thirteen-Year-Old Defies Family, Escapes Forced Marriage

By Billy Ntaote

This report is part of a series on Human Trafficking by MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism in Lesotho.

MASERU (IDN) – For people living in the rural parts of the country, early child marriage doesn't exist – but when a teenager is impregnated, families rush to organise a traditional wedding ceremony and it's a deal done.

This common, yet cruel practice perpetrated on the girl child continues in rural parts of Lesotho with the unsuspecting victims – socialised to believe it is their only way out of poverty and hunger – married-off in exchange for either a herd of cattle or cash in bride-wealth.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 11 August 2018

Photo: Michelle Bachelet of Chile, newly-appointed as the next UN High Commissioner for Human Rights by Secretary-General António Guterres. UN Photo/Jean-Marc Ferre.

Kudos and Criticism for New UN Human Rights Chief

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Moments after the UN General Assembly unanimously agreed on August 10 to appoint Chile's former President Michelle Bachelet as the seventh UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Secretary-General António Guterres tweeted: "Ms. Bachelet is a pioneer, a visionary, a woman of principle, and a great human rights leader for these troubled times." He had had put forward her candidacy to the General Assembly on August 8.

The United Nations Association – UK (UNA-UK) Executive Director, Natalie Samarasinghe, agreed: she is "certainly a strong choice", and added: "She has experience at the highest level of government in Chile, at the highest level of administration within the UN system as the first head of UN Women, and of working with civil society under the shadow of oppression."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 10 August 2018

Photo credit: Transparency International

Stakes High in Returning Nigerians' Stolen Millions

By Kwame Buist

LONDON (IDN) – Of the estimated 20-40 billion dollars stolen annually from developing countries and hidden abroad every year, a small proportion is sometimes successfully confiscated and returned to the country it came from.

However, where institutions of accountability do not work well, this poses a complex problem: how to make sure that the money is not embezzled again, and actually benefits the real victims of corruption – the ordinary people whose state finances were plundered.

Take one case, Nigeria, where plans are under way to distribute 322 million dollars recovered in Switzerland from the late General Sani Abacha, the country’s former military ruler who is suspected of looting between three and five billion dollars in public money.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 August 2018

Photo: High Representative Izumi Nakamitsu reading he UN Secretary-General‘s message in Hiroshima on 6 August 2018.

Rising Nuclear Tensions Call For Elimination Of Atomic Weapons

Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu

Ms Izumi Nakamitsu is High Representative, United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). Following is the text of the message she delivered to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Service on 6 August 2018 on behalf of the UN Secretary-General. – The Editor

HIROSHIMA (IDN-INPS) – It is a privilege to pay tribute to the citizens of Hiroshima and all those who perished in the blinding flash of nuclear destruction, and in the weeks, months and years that followed, and to stand in solidarity with the Hibakusha and their families.

What occurred in Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 cannot and must not ever happen again. The future of our children and of our children’s children depends upon it.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 06 August 2018

Photo: EU and Western Balkans Summit: Strengthening cooperation at all levels to support the region’s transformation. Credit: eeas.europa.eu

EU-Facilitated Dialogue Vital For Kosovo-Serbian Accord

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the second report from Kosovo, stressing the importance of an EU-facilitated dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade. The first is titled Kosovo Looks Forward To UN Membership. – The Editor

BERLIN | PRISTINA (IDN) – In the wake of the Kosovo War, in the whirl and muddle of Yugoslav Wars, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, Kosovo, as part of Serbia and Yugoslavia, was placed under United Nations administration UNMIK by virtue of the Security Council Resolution 1244.

NATO launched the bombing campaign against Yugoslavia on March 24,1999 because "efforts to achieve a negotiated, political solution to the Kosovo crisis" had failed. But it did so "without seeking explicit Security Council authorization".

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 03 August 2018

Photo: Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj (second from left) talking to a media team end of June 2018 at his office in Pristina. He is flanked by Kosovo government officials. Credit: Cia Pak | Scannews.

Kosovo Looks Forward To UN Membership

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the first of two reports from Kosovo, on its efforts to garner international recognition in the aftermath of unilateral declaration of independence in February 2008 subsequent to the breakup of Yugoslavia after Josip Broz Tito's death in the 1980s. – The Editor

BERLIN | PRISTINA (IDN) – The United Nations Security Council has engaged with the situation in Kosovo and its relations with Serbia three times already this year. But when the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly opens on September 18, 2018, Kosovo will be missing. It is the only among seven breakaway states of former Yugoslavia that is not yet a member of the UN.