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
Viewpoint by Andreas Hemp*
BAYREUTH (IDN) – In October 2020, firefighters in Tanzania had to tackle a number of fires on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain and the largest free-standing mountain in the world. The mountain and surrounding forests fall into Kilimanjaro National Park, named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987. Andreas Hemp provides a glimpse into the mountain’s natural environment and the challenges it faces.…
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Migrants around the world are continuing their desperate flights for survival even though rescue efforts have slowed, and rich countries are building higher walls against the asylum seekers.
The deadliest shipwreck of the year occurred most recently off the coast of Senegal where at least 140 people drowned after a boat carrying around 200 migrants sank, according to the UN migration agency (IOM).…
By Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report finds that consumers have an increasing awareness of the planet’s biodiversity and want corporations to protect it. They feel that “companies have a moral obligation to ensure that they have a positive impact on people and biodiversity”. However, more than 70 per cent suggested their trust is higher when a brand’s commitment to the ethical sourcing of biodiversity is independently verified. The report, commissioned by the Union for Ethical BioTrade (UEBT), released on November 11, is based on a survey. The data was published in the 2020 UEBT Biodiversity Barometer, an ongoing set of research updated each year, that has covered more than a decade.…
Viewpoint by P.I. Gomes*
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The Preamble to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development refers to what is called the 5P’s of People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership. They capture with such lucid precision what is referred to as “all areas of critical importance for humanity and the planet.”
These are all areas deserving of concerted attention, but the widespread and insidiously yet blatant impact of violence, as the negation of “peace”, might benefit from some reflections.…
Viewpoint by Thomas Marois and Maria Jose Romero *
BRUSSELS (IDN) – Those who work in the world’s public development banks will meet virtually on November 11-12 to discuss their response to the Covid-19 pandemic and their role in a more sustainable future.
This new summit, which they have called ‘Finance in Common’ (FiC), will also bring together the governments that own them and other key stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, think tanks and academia.…
By Reinhard Jacobsen
BRUSSELS (IDN) – The profound importance of data is underlined by the fact that the United Nations is measuring progress towards the 17 ambitious Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the help of a global network working together to ensure the new opportunities of the data revolution.…
Viewpoint by Dr Darini Rajasingham-Senanayake
The writer is an anthropologist affiliated with the International Center for Ethnic Studies in Colombo. Read also A Hybrid Cold War Unfolding in The Indo-Pacific Beneath the Covid-19 Mask.
COLOMBO (IDN) – Like the Chagossians who were forcibly displaced to Mauritius and Seychelles, Sri Lankan and other Indian Ocean Rim coastal communities tend to experience high rates of poverty, debt and socioeconomic hardship.…
Viewpoint by Vincent Casey
The writer is Senior WASH Manager – Water, WaterAid UK
LONDON (IDN) – WaterAid’s newly released water security research has uncovered an alarming lack of global governance and grave mismanagement of the world’s precious groundwater reserves, needlessly putting millions of lives at risk.
Hundreds of millions of people rely on groundwater for their daily water needs. As global populations continue to grow and climate change threatens water security, groundwater extraction seems the obvious answer to boosting food production and industry.…
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 Santo D. Banerjee
NEW YORK (IDN) – The world is at risk of suffering “a generational catastrophe”, as COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the education of students globally, the Secretary-General António Guterres has warned.
In a video message to the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Global Education Meeting (GEM), on October 22, he reminded delegates that the pandemic had had a “disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable and marginalized children and youth”.
GEM was sponsored by Norway, Britain and Ghana.…
