By Alyn Ware

The author is Coordinator of the World Future Council Peace and Disarmament Program, Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament, and International Representative of Aotearoa Lawyers for Peace (the New Zealand affiliate of the International Association of Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms).

GENEVA (IDN) – The threat or use of nuclear weapons is “incompatible with respect for the right to life” and “may amount to a crime under international law,” warns the UN Human Rights Committee’s new General comment No. 36 (2018) on Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), on the right to life, adopted on October 30, 2018.…

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana and Natalia Kanem

Ms. Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP). Dr. Natalia Kanem is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

BANGKOK (IDN) – Ministers and senior policymakers across Asia and the Pacific are gathered in Bangkok up to November 28 to focus on population dynamics at a crucial time for the region. Their goal: to keep people and rights at the heart of the region’s push for sustainable development. They will be considering how successful we have been in balancing economic growth with social imperatives, underpinned by rights and choices for all as enshrined in the landmark Programme of Action stemming from the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, or ICPD.…

By Justus Wanzala

NAIROBI (IDN) – Achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) is crucial  in attainment of not only health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS) but also all SDGs.

Participants in the Medical Women’s International Association (MWIA) Regional Conference 2018, that was held in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, from November 11-15, noted that achieving UHC can aid in tackling the growing disease burden and extreme poverty in Afrcan countries and other poor nations. 

Christine Sadia, President of Kenya Medical Women’s Association (KMWA)  said governments, policy makers, donors and development partners should not waver in supporting women’s health issues with the aim of alleviating problems that face women and girls across the globe.…

By UN Women

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – To commemorate this year’s International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, the Secretary-General’s UNiTE Campaign is calling upon us to stand in solidarity with survivors and survivor advocates and women’s human rights defenders who are working to prevent and end violence against women and girls. Our duty is not only to stand in solidarity with them but also to intensify our efforts to find solutions and measures to stop this preventable global scourge with a detrimental impact on women’s and girls’ lives and health. JAPANESE…

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Ark of Return by Rodney Leon, an American architect of Haitian descent, at the UN Headquarters in New Yok honours the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade that was perpetrated for over 400 years.

The permanent memorial was erected on March 25, 2015 – the International Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. The Day also aims to raise awareness about the dangers of racism and prejudice manifesting itself in racial discrimination in the hands of populists in several European countries and the U.S. JAPANESE…

Viewpoint by Karim Ismail on behalf of G-77

The following are extensive extracts from the statement on behalf of the “Group of 77”, comprising 134 member countries including China, by Karim Ismail, First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Egypt to the United Nations, at the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) of the UN General Assembly on 15 November 2018, urging the Secretariat to ensure that the  world body’s staff reflects equitable geographic representation, as more women and young people are hired to shape a dynamic Organization with a mobile and multitalented workforce. – The Editor…

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – The African, Caribbean and Pacific-European Union Natural Disaster Risk Reduction Program (ACP-EU NDRR) launched in 2011 has worked to build climate and disaster resilience in ACP countries, where the impacts of climate change are increasingly visible, says a new report.

The Program is an initiative of the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) Group of States, in partnership with the European Union (EU), and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).

According to the Activity Report 2017-2018 for Fiscal Year 18 (1 July 2017-30 June 2018), development stakeholders, governments, and civil society organizations have become increasingly aware of the importance of partnerships in meeting these challenges.…

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Finally, finally, the over-long, ten year trials of the leaders of the murderous Khmer Rouge leadership of Cambodia, are over. The two defendants, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, were each given a life sentence at the end of the first trial in August 2015 for crimes against humanity. Now they have been convicted of genocide.

Of the other three that were tried, one, the ex-foreign minister, Ieng Sary died in 2013, one, Ieng Thirith, the wife of Ieng Sary, was too ill with Alzheimer’s to appear and one, Kaing Guek Eav (“Duch”), voluntarily confessed three years ago and was sent to jail for 35 years.…