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By Jamshed Baruah
PARIS (IDN) – A diverse group of 150 human rights defenders from around the world, who gathered for a three-day summit in Paris, have agreed on a landmark action plan which will be presented to the United Nations in December.
The plan focuses on how to protect and promote the work of activists fighting for rights, 20 years on from the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
By Jaya Ramachandran
NEW YORK | BALI (IDN) – The Government of the Republic of Seychelles, an archipelago of 115 granite and coral islands in the Indian Ocean, off East Africa, has been acclaimed for showing "the leadership to create the world's first sustainable Blue Bond".
The pioneering financial instrument was launched within four weeks of the High-Level Forum the government of Seychelles organised together with the 79-member African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States at the United Nations headquarters in New York focusing on the emerging new "blue economy" underlining the protection and preservation of the world's heavily-exploited oceans.
By Katharine Pulvermacher*
The author is Executive Director of Microinsurance Network.
LUXEMBOURG (IDN) – Life is hard enough for small-scale farmers, businesses, families and communities who live with the daily threat of losing everything to natural disasters, extreme weather or other catastrophes. Even if you are insured, it can be tough to start again after drought has taken your cattle, pests have destroyed your crop or the main breadwinner has died in an accident. But for the four billion people around the world who have no access to financial services, insurance remains a distant dream.
Viewpoint by Ben Good*
The author is CEO of Energy 4 Impact, a London-based non-profit organisation working with local businesses to extend access to energy in Africa, particularly East and West Africa.
LONDON (IDN) – Digital technologies are helping sub-Saharan African countries tap new sources of capital as they seek ways to close the energy access gap.
Last year, the Tanzania-based social enterprise Simusolar raised 50,000 dollars to finance its work selling solar powered systems to farmers and fishermen in rural areas traditionally excluded from mainstream energy provision.
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*
LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At first I was a bit surprised to find that the English admonition, “Good fences makes for good neighbours” exists in many other languages. I shouldn’t have been taken aback. A moment’s reflection should have told me that fences and walls to divide off peoples have been going on for millennia.
There’s nothing in particular new about the fence between the U.S. and Mexico, the Cold War wall between East and West Germany or the one between Israel and the Palestinian West Bank. Look at the Great Wall of China.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Balloons and fireworks will have to wait as the longtime President of Gabon has been hospitalized at the King Faisal hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, suffering from severe fatigue.
The party of President Ali Bongo Ondimba had just “coasted to victory” in a second round of legislative elections in October 2018 when the President fell ill. A medical and a diplomatic source both told the Reuters news agency that the president had suffered a stroke, but government officials disputed the story.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – “Congratulations Madam President! Women do make a difference. We are proud of you!” That was the excited message from María Fernanda Espinosa Garces, President of the United Nations General Assembly, to UN Under-Secretary-General Sahle-Work Zewde on her election as the first female president of Ethiopia.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres received a phone call on October 24 from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who informed him of the news, said Farhan Haq, Guerres' deputy spokesman.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – The world’s largest air pollution hotspot is not where you might think. No, it’s not in New Jersey. But if you said South Africa you’d be right, according to a newly-released study by the environmental group Greenpeace.
With coal and transport as the two principal sources of air pollution, Eastern Mpumalanga province in South Africa has the most polluting cluster of coal-fired power stations in the world, producing record levels of nitrogen dioxide, according to the Greenpeace report.
By Ramesh Jaura
NEW YORK (IDN) – The critical role of academia in general and the United Nations Academic Impact (UNAI) in particular in advancing the goals of the United Nations Charter was underlined when the Organization celebrated the 73rd anniversary of its entry into force on October 24.
In view of the fact that universities play a vital role in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015, UNAI announced its new SDG Hubs around the world. These are UNAI members selected as models for their innovative engagement related to the SDGs.
Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu
Following are extensive excerpts from remarks by Under-Secretary-General Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), at the Roundtable Discussion on the Nuclear Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) hosted by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies and the Permanent Mission of Malaysia to the United Nations on 25 October 2018. Ambassador Dato' Sri Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob of Malaysia has been appointed as Chair of the Third Preparatory Committee session of this NPT review cycle from April 29 to May 10, 2019 in New York. – The Editor
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.
