By Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Daisaku Ikeda

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Adolfo Pérez Esquivel and Buddhist philosopher Daisaku Ikeda‘s son Hiramasa Ikeda, SGI Vice President presented this appeal at a press conference at Rome’s Foreign Press Association on June 5. Together with five youth from different countries, Esquivel and Hiromasa Ikeda also presented the statement at a Youth Convention on the evening of June 6 at the popular Ex Dogana performance space in the city. Organized by the Italian affiliate of SERPAJ and Soka Gakkai Italy, it was attended by 800 young people of diverse faiths including representatives of the Young Jewish Union of Italy, the Italian Buddhist Union, the Catholic Church, the Community of Sant’Egidio, the Islamic community of Italy (COREIS) and other local institutions and NGOs. Participants enjoyed music from a traditional Afghan group, “Voice of Nature,” the Soka Millennium Ensemble and DJ Massimiliano Mascaro.…

By Kalinga Seneviratne

JAKARTA (IDN) – Indonesian women activists, fighting an uphill battle to reverse a 20-year old water privatization project signed by former authoritarian ruler Suharto with French and British companies with the support of a $92 million loan from the World Bank, argue that the United Nations and the international human rights community need to prioritize ‘right to water’ as a major human right.

“We are seeing that a lot of communal resources like land, water, even the air, are not belonging to the community anymore. It’s a shifting of the perspective,” argues Dinda Nuur Annisaa Yura, National Program Coordinator, the Coalition of Jakarta Residents Opposed to Water Privatization (KMMSAJ).…

By Julia Payne

MARRAKECH (IDN) – As a society, we have hopes and dreams for the future; for our children, our countries, and the global community. These aspirations rest on the shoulders of the young generation. August 12, 2018 marked the 18th celebration of the UN’s annual International Youth Day.

This awareness day was a unique opportunity to reflect on youth’s challenges and to celebrate and support the world’s future leaders. This year’s theme, ‘Safe Spaces for Youth’ highlighted the importance of youth’s engagement, participation, and freedom of thought.…

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Fifteen years ago, a bomb attack on the Canal Hotel in Iraq’s capital Baghdad killed 22 humanitarian aid workers, including the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello. The Brazilian United Nations diplomat had been working for the world body’s humanitarian and political programs for more than 34 years.

“The Canal Hotel bombing was,” according to Secretary-General António Guterres, “a massive loss for the United Nations and the humanitarian community, and it marked a turning point for the need to increase the protection of humanitarian operations in Iraq and worldwide.”…

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) – The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) – Singapore’s leading gender equality advocacy group – has called upon the government to provide free childcare to low-income families to enable, especially single mothers, to find sustainable employment.

In a report titled ‘Why are you not working?‘ based on interviews with 47 mothers from low-income families – most of whom come from the minority Malay and Indian communities – AWARE said that the rise of precarious employment, gradual withering away of family backing and lack of public support for caregiving has made it impossible for mothers of low-income families to balance work and caring for the children.…

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Almost two thirds of 193 United Nations member States demonstrate a high-level of e-­government development with EGDI (the E-­Government Development Index) values above in the range of 0.5 and 1, finds a new survey, which also draws attention to the widening ‘digital divide’ between the industrialized and least developed countries.

The share of countries with low e-­government levels, in the range of 0 to 0.25, has dropped by a significant 50 percent, from 32 countries in to 16 countries in 2018, says the 2018 UN E-Government Survey.…

By Sean Buchanan

LONDON (IDN) – As governments across the globe crack down on citizen groups, stifling their ability to speak out and hold governments to account, the role of civil society is more important now than ever.

With his in mind, activists from more than 600 civil society organisations and more than 45 countries worldwide gathered in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from August 6 to 7 for the sixth annual Civil 20 summit. The meeting came at a critical time prior to the meeting of the Group of Twenty (G20) in November.…

By Ntsoaki Nkoe

MASERU (IDN) – Lesotho has launched a landmark project with the European Union willing to provide Euros 12.5 million (approx. USD14.4 million) and the United Nations USD 2 million. Known as the Lesotho National Dialogue and Stabilization Project (LNDSP), the initiative aims to stimulate a comprehensive national reforms process the southern African country is undertaking.

Explaining the genesis of the project, UN Resident Coordinator Salvator Niyonzima said the launch of the project was the result of several months of consultations, project formulation and fund raising going back to September 2017 when Prime Minister Thomas Thabane wrote to the UN Secretary-General requesting UN support to Lesotho’s long-anticipated national reforms.…

By Billy Ntaote

This report is part of a series on Human Trafficking by MNN Centre for Investigative Journalism in Lesotho.

MASERU (IDN) – For people living in the rural parts of the country, early child marriage doesn’t exist – but when a teenager is impregnated, families rush to organise a traditional wedding ceremony and it’s a deal done.

This common, yet cruel practice perpetrated on the girl child continues in rural parts of Lesotho with the unsuspecting victims – socialised to believe it is their only way out of poverty and hunger – married-off in exchange for either a herd of cattle or cash in bride-wealth. It remains a generally common practice that girls below the age of 18 are wedded-off with the consent of parents though such practices   laws protecting children rights like Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2011 and Sexual Offences Act.…