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Bring Women at the Peace Table, Build from the Grassroots to the Tree Tops

“Some people change when they see the light; others when they feel the heat”. – Caroline Schoeder, former U.S. Congress member

Viewpoint by Rene Wadlow, President, Association of World Citizens

GENEVA (IDN) – The UN Security Council Resolution 1325 of 2000 is a commitment to work resolutely toward greater protection of women and girls in conflict zones, to appoint more women in UN peacekeeping operations and ensuring that women would increasingly become more active participants in decision-making processes, especially at “peace table” negotiations.

: Rene Wadlow; OPINION; 30 October 2019

Photo: Women of Afghanistan stand outside the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. Credit: Eric Draper | The White House.

The Afghans Have to Find Their Own Way

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – It’s the most repeated maxim in all the reportage on the war in Afghanistan: “The Americans have the watches, we, the Taliban, have the time.”

“Play it again, Sam” was said in “Casablanca”. It should be played, said and listened to in Kabul and Washington today. This is America’s longest war ever – 18 years and counting. It has cost over one trillion dollars and taken 2,500 American lives. President Barack Obama, blind-sided by the generals, he confided later, pumped up the numbers of troops to 100,000.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 29 October 2019

Argentine Diplomat Is New Head of the UN Nuclear Agency IAEA

By Jamshed Baruah

NEW YORK | VIENNA (IDN) – Nearly three months after the death of Yukiya Amano of Japan, Rafael Mariano Grossi of Argentina has been elected as the sixth Director General of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). His election by the majority of the Agency’s board on October 29 nearly coincides with the election of the Centre-left opposition candidate Alberto Fernández as president of Argentina.

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 29 October 2019

UN’s Chemical Watchdog Bashed for Report on Alleged Chemical Attack in Syria

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A panel of experts has bashed the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for “unacceptable practices” in the investigation of the alleged chemical attack in Douma in Syrian civil war on April 7, 2018. The panel was convened on October 15, 2019 in Brussels by the Courage Foundation, “an international organisation that supports those who risk life or liberty to make significant contributions to the historical record”.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 28 October 2019

Photo credit: Roscongress Foundation | Danila Vorobyov

A Glimpse of Russian Policy of Writing Off African Debts

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – President Vladimir Putin hosted the first Russia-Africa summit on October 23-24 in the greatest display of Moscow's efforts to restore its geopolitical foothold on the continent after the historical collapse of the Soviet era.

Russia had played rather a crucial role in the continent during the Soviet era, supporting independence movements and training government leaders in former Soviet client states such as Angola, Ethiopia and a few others. Moscow's relations with Africa deteriorated after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, with China taking over as the continent's key foreign business partner.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 28 October 2019

ACP-EU-IOM Join to Combat Refugee Crisis Across Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

CHIPINGE, Zimbabwe (IDN) – When he fled from his country’s 1994 genocide, now 63-year old Iradukunda Nyaruyonga, a Rwandese national had four teenage children whose education he thought had been prematurely ended by the civil war in the home country. Now, despite having grown up in a refugee camp, Nyaruyonga’s children are counted amongst great achievers domiciled in Zimbabwe.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 October 2019

New Technique Converts Plastic Waste into High-Quality Plastic

By J W Jackie

RENO, Nevada, USA (IDN) – Every year, around eight million tons of plastic makes its way to our oceans, with the yearly input expected to double by the year 2025. The problem is most visible in developing nations (where garbage collection and recycling systems are inexistent or sub-par) but developed nations also often have low recycling rates, and the ‘throwaway culture’ is endangering the lives of countless marine species.

: Admin; SUSTAINABILITY; Responsible Consumption & Production; 27 October 2019

Photo: Sculpture depicting St. George slaying the dragon. The dragon is created from fragments of Soviet SS-20 and United States Pershing nuclear missiles. UN Photo/Milton Grant.

Growing Anxiety About the Crucial 2020 NPT Review Conference

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The survivors of atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Mayors of the two Japanese cities whose inhabitants have experienced first-hand the mind boggling cruelty of nuclear weapons, representatives of other civil society organizations as well as the United Nations are increasingly concerned about the fate of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament.

: Santo D. Banerjee; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 26 October 2019

Photo: Statements by Russian Putin and Egyptian President El-Sissi for media. Credit: Roscongress Foundation | Anatoliy Medved.

Putin and El-Sissy Greet the Outcome of Russia-Africa Summit

By Kester Kenn Klomegah

MOSCOW (IDN) – The first Russia-Africa Summit that brought together African leaders, corporate businesses, academics and other experts in the Black Sea city of Sochi on October 23-24 has agreed an action plan. At the initiative of African participants, a new dialogue mechanism – the Russia-Africa partnership forum – has been created.

Top-level meetings will take place within its framework once every three years, alternately in Russia and in an African state. And, the foreign ministers of Russia and three African countries – the current, future and previous chairpersons of the African Union – will meet for annual consultations.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 25 October 2019

UN Chief Unveils Grand Design for the 75th Anniversary

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In the midst of multiple crises compounded by paucity of funds threatening the very functioning of the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres has announced plans emphasizing the vital significance of the world body. Commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the United Nations in 2020, he said, will feature a large and inclusive global conversation on the role of global cooperation in building the future we want.