IDN InDepthNews

By Rita Joshi BONN (IDN) – In 2015, countries from around the world adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. In November 2016, the Paris Agreement on climate change entered into force, addressing the need to… »

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – At the European summit on June 28-29 the leaders spent most of the time discussing immigration restrictions. Yet the Syrian rush through the Mediterranean is now a trickle. The African migration is down by 95 percent. No wonder that Emmanuel Macron, the… »

By Shastri Ramachandaran* NEW DELHI (IDN) – By any yardstick of human and social development, Kerala in South India is ahead of most Indian states. It provides social security to all sections of employees and workers through schemes that are superior to what obtains in most other states. Its labour… »

By Kalinga Seneviratne BONN (IDN) – ‘Global Inequalities’ was the theme of this year’s Global Media Forum (GMF) hosted by the German public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle, and much discussion focused on whether the digital media tools are a panacea or a hindrance to achieving a more equitable world. »

By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – For the first time ever, the UN Security Council has put human traffickers on an international sanctions list by imposing sanctions on six leaders operating networks in Libya. Four are Libyans, including the head of a regional coast guard unit, and two… »

Viewpoint by Franz Baumann This article is based on Talk given to the UN Association of New York 23 May 2018. Dr. Franz Baumann joined the UN Development Program in 1980 and began working in the UN Secretariat in 1985. He retired in 2015 as an assistant secretary-general, special adviser… »

Viewpoint by Marzhan Nurzhan The CTBTO Youth Group (CYG) holds its second international conference in Kazakh capital city Astana from August 28-30, 2018. The author is a CYG member from Kazakhstan, a convener of Abolition 2000 Youth Network and a PNND Coordinator for CIS countries. This article… »

Viewpoint by Zi Yang* SINGAPORE (IDN) – On March 21, 2018, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released its ‘Plan for Deepening Reform of Party and State Organs’. Among the 60 items added to China’s reform agenda, four were related to state media. That month, the CCP greatly increased the power… »

By Sergio Duarte The writer is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs. NEW YORK (IDN) – On July 1, 2018 the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will celebrate the fiftieth aniversary of its opening for signature. Although criticised as… »

By Joshua Masinde NAIROBI (IDN) – Productive use of energy holds the key to livelihood transformation in Africa’s rural areas. Small industries could improve their production processes and efficiency if they had better access to electricity and technologies. Without electricity, rural micro-enterprises make do with labour intensive and time-consuming manual… »