By Jamshed Baruah
GENEVA (IDN) – Biram Dah Abeid, a descendant of former slaves who has been called "the Nelson Mandela of Mauritania", and Shaparak Shajarizadeh, a prominent Iranian women's rights activist have been honoured for their courage to fight gross violations of human rights
Abeid, founder of the Initiative for the Resurgence of the Abolitionist Movement (IRA), has mobilized tens of thousands of Mauritanians to protest slavery and the government's failure to apply anti-slavery laws. (P31) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TAGALOG | THAI
By Jaya Ramachadran
GENEVA (IDN) —A landmark report focuses on the health and future of children and adolescents worldwide who are under immediate threat from ecological degradation, climate change and exploitative marketing practices that push heavily processed fast food, sugary drinks, alcohol and tobacco at children.
The report by a Commission of over 40 child and adolescent health experts from around the world finds that "children stand on the precipice of a climate crisis" and "no single country is adequately protecting children's health, their environment and their futures". (P30) INDONESIAN | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TURKISH
Viewpoint by Krystyna Swiderska*
COVENTRY (IDN) – Species are being lost at about a thousand times the natural rate of extinction. This is faster than at any other period in human history. Ecosystems – the vital systems on which all life depends – are being degraded across the globe.
This crisis of biodiversity loss is finally receiving some attention. But its connection to another loss – that of indigenous cultures – is rarely mentioned. From animals to insects and plants, biodiversity loss cannot be effectively addressed without tackling the rapid disappearance of indigenous cultures. The two are inextricably linked.
Viewpoint by Katarina Schwarz and Jean Allain, with Andrea Nicholson*
NOTTINGHAM (IDN) – “Slavery is illegal everywhere.” So said the New York Times, repeated at the World Economic Forum, and used as a mantra of advocacy for over 40 years. The truth of this statement has been taken for granted for decades. Yet our new research reveals that almost half of all countries in the world have yet to actually make it a crime to enslave another human being.
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) – With the international community persistently striving for a world free of nuclear weapons, verification systems and methods are crucial to understanding the complex challenges of accurately monitoring and verifying future nuclear disarmament activities which will likely subject countries to more intrusive verification than ever before.
By Ramesh Jaura
BERLIN | TOKYO (IDN) – An eminent Buddhist philosopher and nuclear disarmament advocate has tabled four critical initiatives to "contribute to the creation of a sustainable global society where all can live with dignity and a sense of security". The initiatives cover four major areas: building support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW); multilateral negotiations for nuclear disarmament; climate change and disaster risk reduction (DRR); and education for children in crisis. JAPANESE |
- Ramesh Jaura
- Goal 16
By Ambassador Kairat Umarov
Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) on 8 January for the period 2020-2021. The following are extensive excerpts from the statement of LLDC Chair Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York, at the First 2020 Meeting of the LLDCs at the Ambassadorial level.
COP25 Ignored Demands for Climate Justice
Viewpoint by Mary Church*
EDINBURGH (IDN) – The outcomes of the longest ever meeting in the history of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the COP25 negotiations in Madrid – have failed to reflect the urgency of the crisis or any grasp of the real solutions to the climate emergency.
Rather, governments around the world continued to ignore both the undeniable science and the rising tide of peoples’ movements demanding radical action on climate.
Viewpoint by Michael W. Lodge
The writer is Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. ISA headquarters are in Kingston, Jamaica.
Viewpoint by Andrew Walter*
MELBOURNE (IDN) -- The bushfires now ravaging Australia’s flora, fauna and rural communities on an unprecedented scale underline the country’s exceptional vulnerability to global heating and its strong interest in global climate change mitigation and adaptation. Decarbonisation should be taken as an economic opportunity and it could elevate Australia’s leading role in Asia for years to come.
