Reporting the underreported about the plan of action for People, Planet and Prosperity, and efforts to make the promise of the SDGs a reality.
A project of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group with IDN as the Flagship Agency in partnership with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC.
By Mahinda Seneviratne*
SYDNEY (IDN) — As twilight approaches, Rakesh (not his real name) mounts his bicycle with a large thermal backpack over his narrow shoulders. He lost his regular job at a small suburban restaurant when the family business could not sustain itself during the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown. With the recent shocking road deaths of three food delivery riders heavily on his mind, Rakesh pedals cautiously into the growing traffic lanes to commence his first home delivery gig.
By Busani Bafana
BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (IDN) — The long-awaited African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)—set to be the world’s biggest free-trade zone by size—which entered into force on January 1, 2021, promises a new era for African trade.
An Africa-wide free-trade pact could bolster the region’s income by $450 billion and lift 30 million people out of extreme poverty by 2035, if accompanied by significant policy reforms and trade-facilitation measures, according to the World Bank. When fully operational, the Free Trade area will create a market of 1.2 billion and drive a combined GDP of $2.5 trillion. (P02) GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SWAHILI
Viewpoint by Anusha Jaura-Sindhwani*
Human trafficking is one of the United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with 169 targets endorsed by the international community in 2015. Goal 8.7 aims at "immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms". Anusha's Canadian perspective is based on 20 years of experience in the child welfare sector. She is also on the Human Trafficking Committee which looks at prevention and supporting youth at risk of trafficking.
Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar*
LOS ANGELES (IDN) – India’s farmers are revolting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in a mass movement that has drawn international attention. The world’s largest democracy is witnessing a collective groundswell of protest as hundreds of thousands of farmers, largely from the states of Punjab and Haryana, have laid siege to the outskirts of the capital of New Delhi, determined to occupy the edges of the city until Modi reverses unpopular new laws that they say are anti-farmer.
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Ms. Alisjahbana, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) was Professor of Economics at Universitas Padjadjaran in Bandung, Indonesia.
BANGKOK (IDN) – This year, the United Nations is marking its 75th anniversary – a milestone of extraordinary economic and social progress in Asia and the Pacific. While the Organization enjoys a lifespan almost equal to the world’s improved average life expectancy, the future lies with those who have recently embarked on theirs: our young people.
By Richard Jacobsen
VIENNA (IDN) – A new UN report has documented the interlinkages between trafficking in persons and marriage, and specified steps for governments and other authorities to strike back. Published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the report points out that across the world, girls as young as 12 are being forced or tricked into marrying men who exploit them for sex and domestic work, in what the UNODC has called an "under-reported, global form of human trafficking".
By Caroline Mwanga
NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report by the United Nations is pleading for the immediate introduction of a Temporary Basic Income for the world’s poorest people, arguing that this could slow the current surge in COVID-19 pandemic cases by enabling nearly three billion people to stay at home.
A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) report estimates that it would cost from $199 billion per month to provide a time-bound, guaranteed basic income to the 2.7 billion people living below or just above the poverty line in 132 developing countries. JAPANESE
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
The writer, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
BANGKOK (IDN) – Developing countries of Asia and the Pacific are experiencing unbalanced tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grim milestones in infections and deaths have left countlessly devastated. Yet, we must look at the economic and social impacts in small island developing States (SIDS), where setbacks are likely to undo years of development gains and push many people back into poverty.
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA (IDN) – The world of work is deeply suffering from the impact of COVID-19 pandemic. Almost all of the planet's workers, some 94 per cent, were living in countries with some type of workplace closure measures in place in May 2020, according to the UN Secretary-General's Policy Brief on the World of Work and COVID-19 prepared with the International Labour Organization (ILO).
UN Chief António Guterres has, therefore, called for a three-phased response to the situation.
Viewpoint by Richard Kozul-Wright
The writer is Director of Globalization and Development Strategies, UNCTAD.
GENEVA (IDN) – The COVID-19 crisis is stress testing the capacity of governance arrangements to deal with unexpected shocks.
Results point to considerable variation at the national level, but it’s difficult to give anything above a B minus to the response at the multilateral level.
UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report Update sets out how South-South cooperation, though not a substitute for a proper international response to the crisis, can point towards a better future.
