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IDN-InDepthNews

 

CENTRAL ASIA

   

 

Acronym of the Year

    

UN INSIDER
Photo: ACP Secretary-General Dr. Patrick I. Gomes addressing the United Nations Summit for the adoption of Agenda 2030 for global development on 26 September 2015, United Nations, New York. Credit: UN Photo/Amanda Voisard.

By Dr. Patrick I. Gomes

Following is the text of foreword by Dr. Patrick Ignatius Gomes, the Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP), to 'Striving for People, Planet and Peace – 2018 Report of the Joint Media Project of INPS-SG-IDN'. Prior to taking up the position of ACP SG, he served as Guyana’s Ambassador to Belgium and the European Community and as Guyana’s representative to WTO and FAO. – The Editor.

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The ACP Group of States, established by the Georgetown Agreement on 6 June 1975, consists of 79 developing countries composed of 48 from Sub-Sharan Africa, 16 from the Caribbean and 15 from the Pacific/Oceania region, accounting for a population of more than one billion persons.

OPINION

Photo: Flags of the Iran Deal Negotiating Partners. Source: Arms Control Association

By Kelsey Davenport

The author is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association (ACA). This article was part of the ACA's Newsletter of June 29, 2018.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the nuclear deal with Iran is at a “crossroads” and expressed his deep regret over U.S. President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the agreement and reimpose sanctions.

Guterres also called upon all states to support the nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), saying “it is important that the withdrawal of one country not impede the ability of others to fully implement their commitments under the [JCPOA] or to engage in activities consistent with resolution 2231.”

UN INSIDER

Photo: Young talented composers and musicians from Afghanistan, Turkey, the United States, Austria, and Japan with IOM Regional Director Argentina Szabados and Bärli Nugent, Assistant Dean and Director of Chamber Music of the Juilliard School, and UNIS Vienna Director Martin Nesirky. Credit: Lanna Walsh / IOM

By Reinhardt Jacobsen

VIENNA (IDN) – The first-ever musical event of its kind at the United Nations in Vienna has showcased the richness of culture and art that migration brings. Co-hosted by the UN migration agency (IOM) and the United Nations Information Service (UNIS), the 'Voices of Migration' concert at the Vienna International Centre on June 28, featured powerful performances. These included two world premieres by migrant composers from Iran and Turkey, performed by a diverse group of world-class musicians.

UN INSIDER

Photo: President Trump Meets with President Putin at G20 summit in Hamburg, Germany. July 7, 2017. Credit: YouTube

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – "We are on the brink of a new cold war," warned UN Secretary-General António Guterres on May 24, 2018 adding that there are no negotiations under way between the U.S. and Russia for further strategic nuclear arms reductions. Whether presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin would turn over a new leaf when they meet in Helsinki, Finland on July 16 remains to be seen.

However, the U.S. Arms Control Association (ACA) is of the view that the two nuclear giants would discuss nuclear risk-reduction and arms control – in particular the future of the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which will expire in 2021 unless extended by mutual agreement, and the compliance dispute over the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty.

ARMAMENTS
Nuclear Weapons

Photo: The home of Shumona (right) in Bangladesh has been destroyed by storms four times in the past five years. Credit: Mahmod/ActionAid.

By Harjeet Singh

The writer is Global Lead on Climate Change at ActionAid International and is based in New Delhi. The commitment and sincerity of developed countries to provide climate finance will determine whether the Paris Agreement will succeed in combating climate change, he warns. Views are personal. This article first appeared on 'India Climate Dialogue' on 22 June 2018, and is being reproduced with due acknowledgement. – The Editor

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) – The home of Shumona, 9, and her grandmother in Patuakhali in southern Bangladesh has been destroyed by storms four times in the past five years. She and millions of climate change victims like her in the developing world remain oblivious to the fact that behind her suffering is unthinking industrialisation.

OPINION

Photo: Bora Bora, French Polynesia. CC BY 2.0

By Kwame Buist

NEW YORK (IDN) – A case-by-case approach to the issue of the world's remaining 'non-self governing territories' must not be misinterpreted as a rationale for legitimising the political and economic inequality of dependency status, the recently concluded session of the UN Special Committee on Decolonisation was told.

The committee concluded its 2018 session on June 22, having approved a series of draft resolutions and decisions after hearings on the situation regarding lingering self-determination issues in 'non-self governing territories' throughout the world.

UN INSIDER

Photo: Police and stone-throwing demonstrators clash on a street in Srinagar, Kashmir. July 2016. Credit: VOA News | Wikimedia Commons.

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – In its first ever report on the human rights situation in Indian- and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir, the UN has listed human rights violations and abuses on both sides of the Line of Control, and highlighted a situation of chronic impunity for violations committed by security forces.

"There is an urgent need to address past and ongoing rights violations and abuses and deliver justice for all people in Kashmir, who for seven decades have suffered a conflict that has claimed or ruined numerous lives," says the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner in a press release issued on June 14.

THE WORLD
Asia-Pacific

Photo: Malvinas War Memorial in Buenos Aires, with permanent honor guard. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

By Kwame Buist

NEW YORK (IDN) - The UN Special Committee on Decolonisation has approved a draft resolution calling for a peaceful and negotiated settlement of the dispute between Argentina and the United Kingdom concerning sovereignty over the Falkland/Malvinas Islands as the only way to end the “special and particular” colonial situation of the islands.

The resolution calls for the governments of both countries to consolidate the current process of dialogue and cooperation by resuming negotiations in order to find a peaceful solution to the sovereignty dispute as soon as possible.

UN INSIDER

Image: 70 years of peacekeeping operations spanning across four continents. Credit: UN.

By Timo Smit

The author is a Researcher with the SIPRI Peace Operations and Conflict Management Programme. He is currently in charge of maintaining SIPRI’s database on multilateral peace operations (including data-collection), and conducts research on trends in peacekeeping. This article first appeared on June 20,2018. – The Editor

STOCKHOLM (IDN-INPS) – This year it is 70 years since the United Nations Security Council established the first UN peacekeeping operation. On May 29, 1948 it authorized the deployment of military observers to supervise a cessation of hostilities in the First Arab-Israeli War and to support Count Folke Bernadotte in his role as UN mediator.

THE WORLD
Africa

Photo: Marcelo Colussi. Credit: Plaza Pública

Viewpoint by Marcelo Colussi*

Users of pornography users only watch a well-edited video. They do not see what goes on behind the scenes, the girls who are crying and sent out of the recording studio because they cannot stand the violent sexual acts they are asked to take part in. (Shelley Lubben, former porn actress)

GUATEMALA CITY (IDN) – Sexuality is the Achilles heel of human beings. There is no "normal" sexuality; it is always problematic. Why should we hide the external genital organs if not? Why the prohibition of incest? It is quite obvious that sexuality, unlike what happens in the animal order, does not correspond to reproduction.

OPINION

  1. Remembering the Berlin Airlift 70 Years On
  2. EU Summit Must Conquer Misleading Immigration Policies
  3. 13,000 Africans Left to Die in the Sahara
  4. Kenya and UNESCO Partner to Upgrade Training and Tackle Unemployment
  5. The South Indian State of Kerala Shows the Way By Embracing Migrant Workers

About IDN

IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.

IDN-InDepthNews serves as flagship agency of the International Press Syndicate and its partner, the Global Cooperation Council, established in February 1983.

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