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Image: The Peace Tree. Credit: Kulanshi Art Gallery’s press service. Source: The Astana Times.

World Religious Leaders to Discuss Creative Initiatives in Kazakh Capital

By Saniya Bulatkulova

This article was published in The Astana Times

NUR-SULTAN (IDN) — The five-meter-tall Peace Tree will be built at the capital’s Palace of Peace and Reconciliation as a symbol of the upcoming seventh Congress of World and Traditional Religions, scheduled for September 14-15, reports Khabar TV channel.

The tree reflects the congress concept: the roots represent people’s history, the trunk represents universal human values, and the branches represent the multilateral development of inter-ethnic relations.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 11 September 2022

Photo: IAEA chief Grossi and mission team members inspecting the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant on 1 September 2022. CC BY 2.0

Russia is Using a Nuclear Power Plant as a Weapon, Warns Ukrainian President

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — The seven-month-old war between Russia and Ukraine has notched up a rare first: a nuclear power plant in the middle of a devastating battlefield.

At a Security Council briefing on the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP) on September 6, Ambassador Barbara Woodward of the UK said by choosing to invade a nuclear power plant, and putting ZNPP in the crossfire, Moscow is playing "Russian roulette" with nuclear safety.

: Thalif Deen; Nuclear Powers; 11 September 2022

Image: The Astana Times. Credit: Press Service of the Congress

Congress of World and Traditional Religious Leaders to Address Social Status of Women

Staff Report in The Astana Times

NUR-SULTAN (IDN) — The seventh Congress of World and Traditional Religious Leaders, scheduled for September 14–15, will hold a special session devoted to the social status of women for the first time in the congress’s 20-year history, reported the congress’s press service on September 8.

The congress will focus on the role of leaders of the world and traditional religions in mankind’s spiritual and social development in the post-pandemic period.

: Asia Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 10 September 2022

Culture of Peace: An Answer to Intolerance, Hatred, Conflicts & Terrorism

By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A High-Level Forum on the Culture of Peace, which took place on September 6, had an explicit message to the world at large.

The Forum underlined the importance of peace at a time when Ukraine, a sovereign nation-state, is being annihilated by Russia, one of the world’s major nuclear powers and a permanent member of the Security Council.

: Thalif Deen; UN INSIDER; 09 September 2022

Photo: Opponents of the proposed constitution celebrate its rejection. Credit: EFE

Chile's New Constitution Rejected in a Bewildering Vote

Viewpoint by Taroa Zúñiga Silva* and Vijay Prashad**

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

SANTIAGO DE CHILE | NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) — On September 4, 2022, more than 13 million Chileans—out of a voting-eligible population of approximately 15 million—voted on a proposal to introduce a new constitution in the country. As early as March, polls began to suggest that the constitution would not be able to pass.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 09 September 2022

Image: Cover of the 'Social Outlook for Asia and the Pacific: The Workforce We Need'. Credit: UNESCAP

Protecting the Asia-Pacific Workforce by Ensuring Its Rights

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)

BANGKOK (IDN) — Most of the 2.1 billion strong workforce in Asia and the Pacific are denied access to decent jobs, health care and social protection, but there is an array of policies and tools that governments can use to remedy these deficiencies and ensure that the rights and aspirations of these workers and their families are upheld and that they remain the engine of economic growth for the region.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 08 September 2022

Photo: Kenya's new president William Ruto. Wikimedia Commons

Lessons Africa Might Learn from the Election of Ruto as Kenya's President

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) — In six African countries, the heads of government have been in power for 20 years or more. Attempts to replace them by ballot have either been stalled, frustrated or crushed.

In a few, like South Africa, where the ruling African National Congress (ANC) has been in power for 28 years, new heads of government have been produced more by incest than by the ballot.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 08 September 2022

Photo: Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III, Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov attend the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, Sept. 8, 2022. Credit: Chad J. McNeeley, DOD.

Momentum Builds for Ukraine Defense Contact Group

By Jim Garamone , DOD News

This article was issued by U.S. Department of Defense.

RAMSTEIN, Germany (IDN) — U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III said nations of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group are even "more united and resolved to keep up our support for Ukraine's right to defend itself."

The secretary and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, briefed the media at the conclusion of the contact group meeting at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on September 8.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 08 September 2022

Full Gender Equality Still Centuries Away, Warns New UN Report

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — The latest available Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 data show that the world is not on track to achieving gender equality by 2030. At the current rate of progress, it may take close to 300 years to achieve full gender equality, according to the new report by the UN Women and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), titled Progress on the Sustainable Development Goals: The Gender Snapshot 2022.

: Caroline Mwanga; SUSTAINABILITY; Gender Equality; 07 September 2022

UN Seeks to Protect Critical Infrastructures Against Terrorist Attacks

By Radwan Jakeem with UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) — The United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT) has launched five new specialized guides (modules) aimed at the protection of particularly vulnerable targets against terrorist attacks. "Vulnerable targets" refers both to critical infrastructure (for example, public transportation systems, energy sector) and public places or 'soft targets' (for example, tourist venues, urban centres, and religious sites). These guides focus on soft targets.