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Photo: UN Secretary-General António Guterres (at podium, right) and Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, address the press following the signing of a Joint UN-AU Framework for Enhancing Partnerships on Peace and Security in April 2017 at UN headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

UN, African Union Partnership Key to Success of Peacekeeping

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Strong partnership between the United Nations and African Union is a key to the success of peacekeeping operations of the Joint Task Force on Peace and Security, particularly in view of an increasingly complex nature of conflict and the lack of progress of political processes, a consultative meeting at the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has stressed.

The Task Force welcomed the determination of the African Union to continue developing its compliance framework in line with the African Union Peace and Security Council communiqué of May 30, 2017.

: J Nastranis; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 February 2018

Photo: Survivors of Namibia’s Herero tribe surrendering after a battle with German forces. Ullstein Bilderdienst Berlin/Supplied

Reparations Suit Over German Colonial Massacre Significant for the UN Genocide Convention

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – In its first formal response to a class-action suit filed by the Herero and Nama people of Namibia, Germany has asked a New York judge to throw out the suit as “inadmissible” because of “the principle of state immunity.”

Representatives of the communities directly affected by the 1904-1908 genocide in Namibia have taken the German government to court in New York, demanding damages to be paid directly to the descendants of the Ovaherero and Nama genocide survivors.

In 1904 and 1905 the Ovaherero and Nama of central and southern Namibia rose up against colonial rule and dispossession in what was then called German South West Africa.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 February 2018

Photo: The entrance to Holot immigration detention centre, Negev desert, Israel. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Decision to Deport African Immigrants Sparks a Debate in Israel

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Under a so-called “infiltrator’s law”, more than 1,000 African asylum seekers in Israel face deportation from Israeli detention centres starting in March.

Speaking at a recent Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the harsh enforcement policy. “We are not acting against refugees,” he said. “We are acting against illegal migrants who come here not as refugees but for work needs. Israel will continue to offer asylum for genuine refugees and will remove illegal migrants from its midst.”

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 01 February 2018

What Prosperity for Central America Under US Hegemony?

Viewpoint by Marcelo Colussi*

GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – Between 50 and 60 percent of the inhabitants of the three countries of the so-called Northern Triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras) live below the poverty line, and this structural and chronic poverty is compounded by alarming rates of delinquent violence (largely a product of this state of impoverishment).

In past decades, the entire region has witnessed bloody armed conflicts (Guatemala with 245,000 victims, El Salvador 75,000 and Honduras serving as the base of operations for the Nicaraguan Contras), which has strengthened a culture of violence that has become "normal" to a very large extent, given that the respective States have not adequately dealt with the after-effects of war.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 31 January 2018

Image: The Birth Control Necklace consists of 30 drop-shaped beads (average length of a woman's monthly cycle), whereby each bead represents one day in a woman's monthly menstrual cycle. Credit: Aktion Regen

Ensuring Access to Sexual and Reproductive Rights – A Global Challenge

By Julia Zimmerman*

This is the fifth in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goal 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) organized this Conference co-ordinated by Heather Wokusch. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Of the numerous and significant challenges currently facing women and girls globally, access to sexual and reproductive rights is high on the list. Experts in the field of women’s sexual and reproductive health are trying to assure access and to spread knowledge about harmful practices.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 31 January 2018

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson (here shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu before their working dinner at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., on February 14, 2017) believes that “Iran seeks dominance in the Middle East and the destruction of our ally, Israel”. [State Department photo/ Public Domain]

Trump Appears to be Getting Ready to Wage War in Syria

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – President Donald Trump said it would never happen. Now it is. During the election he said he did not want more interventions – no more Iraqs, no more Afghanistans, Libyas or Syrias.

A year into his presidency the American military is involved in all these places and he’s aching to get boots on the ground in North Korea and perhaps even Iran. At least he’s not thinking about it in Ukraine – that would really set the cat among the pigeons.

Last week his secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said that waging war in Syria is “crucial to our national defence”. This is a big deal but few seem to be talking about it. The pundits and congressmen are either asleep at the switch or taking a holiday.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 30 January 2018

Photo: Writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Credit: V. Lebrun-Verguethen

Bookshops and Race: Nigerian Writer Speaks Out

By SWAN

PARIS (IDN | SWAN) – “Are there bookshops in Nigeria?”, asked a French journalist of famous Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, igniting a firestorm on social media following an event in Paris on January 25.

Many outraged observers accused the journalist of racism and ignorance, while lauding Adichie’s response

“I think it reflects very poorly on French people that you have to ask this question. Come on, it’s 2018,” Adichie replied, after the journalist qualified her question by saying French people knew little about Nigeria, apart from hearing about Boko Haram and violence.

: A.D. McKenzie; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 January 2018

Photo: A general view of the Vienna UN Conference. Credit: Robert Bosch AG/APA-Fotoservice/Schedl

Women's Path to Leadership: Are We at a Turning point?

By Darline Giraud*

This is the fourth in a series of reports on the Vienna UN Conference from January 10-12, 2018, which discussed actions and challenges linked to the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly 5 (SDG 5) and in the spirit of SDG 17. The Vienna Liaison Office of the Academic Council on the United Nations System (ACUNS) organized this Conference co-ordinated by Heather Wokusch. – The Editor

VIENNA (IDN) – Women face unique challenges in attaining leadership positions. To determine multidisciplinary threads, a recent UN Vienna conference panel invited female leaders at different career phases to share their experiences and discuss means of creating opportunities for future generations.

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 30 January 2018

Nuclear-Weapons Ban Will Help Usher In Peace, Human Rights

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK | TOKYO (IDN-INPS) – Eminent Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda, president of the Soka Gakkai International (SGI), has welcomed the July 2017 adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) as a turning point in the global history of efforts to achieve peace and disarmament, emphasizing that while nuclear weapons exist, a world of peace and human rights will remain elusive.

According to a press release highlighting major aspects of his proposal issued in Japanese on January 26, Ikeda outlines strategies for gaining support for the Treaty from the nuclear-weapon states and nuclear-dependent states, and calls on Japan to declare its readiness to consider becoming party to the TPNW: "Having experienced the reality of nuclear weapons, Japan cannot turn away from its moral responsibility."

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 29 January 2018

Photo: António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, at the Security Council meeting on Non-proliferation/Democratic People's Republic of Korea on December 15, 2017. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

Doomsday Clock Warning Makes UN High Level Conference Even More Important

By Alyn Ware*

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the symbolic Doomsday Clock to 2 Minutes to Midnight, on January 25, indicating that the threat of a nuclear war through accident, miscalculation or intent has risen to an alarming level, and that climate change is not being averted.

The Bulletin highlighted nuclear threats between the U.S. and North Korean governments, including "hyperbolic rhetoric and provocative actions on both sides." They also lamented "the decline of U.S. leadership and a related demise of diplomacy under the Trump administration".