By Lisa Vives
NEW YORK (IDN | GIN) – On July 18, the international community will observe the ‘Nelson Mandela International Day’ – formalised by the UN General Assembly in November 2009 – to recall the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom.
For 67 years Nelson Mandela, who was born in a village named Mvezo of South Africa in 1918, devoted his life to the service of humanity – as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa, recalls the UN.
He was the first black South African president who reigned from 1994 to 1999. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for his contribution to make South Africa free and bringing peace in and around Africa.
By J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Women has joined Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in welcoming the “historic” agreement signed in Cuba’s capital Havana between the government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People’s Army (FARC-EP), after 52 years of armed conflict and nearly four years of peace negotiations.
The June 23 accord “marks a definite step on the road to peace”, UN Women Executive Director Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka said. “It is an occasion to be hopeful for the future and to strengthen our resolve to support this exemplary peace process,” she added in a statement on June 24.
UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, assured that it stands in solidarity with the Colombian women who had become an unstoppable force for peace despite suffering so much in the protracted war.
At the UN in Geneva, the Geneva Center for Human Rights Advancement and Global Dialogue with the support of the Permanent Mission of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, arranged this panel discussion for the fight against the scourge of so called “Islamophobia”. Participants included:
By Rodney Reynolds
NEW YORK (IDN) – A new study on the international trade in small arms and light weapons confirms the long standing traditional secrecy in the global market place.
Released June 6 – to coincide with the Sixth Biennial Meeting on the Implementation of the Programme of Action to Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms – the study pointedly says “export authorizations remain the most opaque dimension of small arms reporting”.
The 2016 Transparency Barometer, which evaluated the reporting practices of 49 countries, identified only three countries – Germany, the UK and the Netherlands – as “the most transparent major small arms exporters”.
The Netherlands was among the top three, due to improvements in reporting through its monthly arms export reports, which include new information on re-exports.
Analysis by Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE (IDN) - The right to vote for any party they like has existed in former Yugoslavia for more than a quarter of a century, but genuine democracy remains a dream for many as the region remains split along ethnic lines and lags in sustainable economic development. In fact, that dream seems to be vanishing.
Recent studies in Serbia have shown that only one-third of its 7,2 million citizens believe democracy is better than non-democratic rule.
"Unfortunately, introduction of democracy in 1990 is closely related, among ordinary people, to disintegration of former Yugoslavia, international sanctions that crippled Serbia and an unfulfilled promise of better life," says Djordje Vukovic, head of prominent non-governmental (NGO) organisation CeSID that carried the survey titled "Democracy still does (not) live here".
The first multiparty elections all over former Yugoslavia were held in 1990, with parties calling for independence winning in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Analysis by Jacques N. Couvas
ISTANBUL (IDN) - The gaping absence of a large number of world leaders, including those of most of the Group of 7 (G7) industrial nations, undoubtedly caused profound disappointment. But the first World Humanitarian Summit (WHS) in the 70-year existence of the United Nations will not go down in history as a shameful debacle for international diplomacy, nor will it be the last conference of its kind, according to experts.
While G7 leaders were conspicuous by their absence, with the exception of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, some 9,000 participants from 173 countries joined the event in Istanbul. They included some 60 heads of state and government, mostly from the developing world. (P 13) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE
Analysis by Vesna Peric Zimonjic
BELGRADE (IDN) - The violent split up of former Yugoslavia is more than two decades old. Peace was established in the region back in the 1990s. Yet for those who hardly know about the brutal violence and humanitarian disaster that accompanied the political breakup, little would appear to have changed.
"There is no more arms rattling, but the political rhetoric and lack of profound economic recovery keep people stuck in recent past, with poor view on better future," prominent sociology professor Ratko Bozovic says. "There are new generations all over the former Yugoslavia who know nothing else but how this or that war was fought.”
The professor explained that no real insight into causes, accompanied by little perspective, creates a fertile ground for further confusion among the young who should take their nations into the future. (P12) GERMAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE
Analysis by Rodney Reynolds
ISTANBUL (IDN) - The first-ever World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon proposed as far back as 2012, failed to meet its lofty expectations despite four years of consultations with 23,000 people in over 150 countries.
“This is a 21st century United Nations gathering,” Ban boasted to delegates in his opening remarks. But the two-day summit, which concluded May 24, did not generate any significant funding nor did it receive the whole-hearted political support of the UN’s Big Five – the UK, U.S., France, China and Russia – whose leaders were conspicuous by their absence.
Besides UK, U.S. and France, even the remaining G-7 leaders were missing in action: heads of government from Canada, Italy and Japan shied away from the summit. Only German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Istanbul to represent the world’s seven industrialized democracies. (P11) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | PORTUGUESE
- Ramesh Jaura
- Goal 16
Analysis by J Suresh
TORONTO (IDN) - In run-up to World Press Freedom Day on May 3, a new report has come up with a shocking revelation that global press freedom declined to its lowest point in 12 years in 2015, “as political, criminal, and terrorist forces sought to co-opt or silence the media in their broader struggle for power”.
An important exception to this trend, according to Freedom of the Press 2016, Freedom House’s annual report on media freedom worldwide, was Sri Lanka, which experienced a marked improvement in press freedom conditions after a new government took power in early 2015.
Freedom House is an independent watchdog organization that supports democratic change, monitors the status of freedom around the world, and advocates for democracy and human rights.
The report reveals another encouraging trend: Despite the many threats to press freedom, journalists and bloggers worldwide have shown resilience, often at great risk to their lives.
Analysis by J Nastranis
NEW YORK (IDN) - The Mekong Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Drug Control, a framework that incorporates law enforcement, criminal justice, alternative development, and health responses in six countries in East and Southeast Asia continues to be of critical importance more than twenty-five years after it was signed.
Despite significant efforts, the six MOU countries – Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam – that constitute the Greater Mekong Sub-region continue to face challenges in stemming the flow of illicit drugs and precursor chemicals in, to and from the area.
After a decade of steady declines, the illicit cultivation of opium poppy has increased each year since 2006. Today, cultivation is concentrated in Myanmar and Lao PDR. Synthetic drugs, particularly methamphetamine in pill and crystal forms, have emerged as the primary drug threat in the Sub-region. The diversion and subsequent trafficking of precursors chemicals, and the emergence of new psychoactive substances, also continue to impact the area. SPANISH | GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE
