Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
The writer, Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana, is United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).
BANGKOK (IDN) – Developing countries of Asia and the Pacific are experiencing unbalanced tolls of the COVID-19 pandemic. Grim milestones in infections and deaths have left countlessly devastated. Yet, we must look at the economic and social impacts in small island developing States (SIDS), where setbacks are likely to undo years of development gains and push many people back into poverty.
Viewpoint by Richard Kozul-Wright
The writer is Director of Globalization and Development Strategies, UNCTAD.
GENEVA (IDN) – The COVID-19 crisis is stress testing the capacity of governance arrangements to deal with unexpected shocks.
Results point to considerable variation at the national level, but it’s difficult to give anything above a B minus to the response at the multilateral level.
UNCTAD’s Trade and Development Report Update sets out how South-South cooperation, though not a substitute for a proper international response to the crisis, can point towards a better future.
Viewpoint by Roberto Azevêdo and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Following is the text of a joint statement by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on April 20.
GENEVA (IDN) – COVID-19 has rapidly progressed to become a global pandemic, causing unprecedented, far-reaching impact on the health, social and economic well-being of communities around the world.
Viewpoint by Tom Goodfellow*
SHEFFIELD (IDN) – Big infrastructure projects are always controversial. Yet in parts of the world associated with severely deficient infrastructure, the positive value of major infrastructure investments is often taken as a given.
This assumption needs to be subjected to much greater scrutiny, as I argue in new research that explores the narrative of Africa’s “infrastructure gap” and why different bodies are rushing to “plug” it.
By Bernhard Schell
CAIRO (IDN) – “I stand here on behalf of the United Nations system and reaffirm our strong commitment to the member states and the people of Africa,” Secretary-General António Guterres told the 30th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU), adding: “I strongly believe Africa is one of the greatest forces for good in our world.”
By Jutta Wolf
BERLIN (IDN) – Germany and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have agreed to strengthen their partnership towards the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). During high-level strategic talks in Berlin, hosted by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) on November 26-27, Germany and UNIDO underlined the importance of each other as partners.
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
MOSCOW (IDN) – Over the years, African Union officials have repeatedly urged African leaders to prioritise Africa’s Agenda 2063 – a strategic framework for delivering on Africa’s goal for inclusive and sustainable development – and the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The 15-member UN Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution welcoming AU initiatives for infrastructure development and pledging support for "African solutions to African problems" in an attempt to achieve the SDGs.
By Rita Joshi
BERLIN (IDN) – A new report has called on Germany and the European Union to convene a United Nations summit on 'Digitalization and Sustainability' in 2020 – 30 years after the UN Conference on Environment and Development, widely known as the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The central theme of the summit should be reaching agreement on the necessary fundamental steps to be taken to achieve digitally supported sustainable development and to avoid the risks involved in digital change, say the authors of the report entitled 'Towards our Common Digital Future', presented by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) to Federal Minister of Education and Research Anja Karliczek and Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze on April 11, 2019.
By Reinhardt Jacobsen
VIENNA (IDN) – Japan will contribute more than US$5.8 million for sustainable development projects in Ethiopia, Gabon, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Liberia, South Sudan, the State of Palestine and Syria. The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) has welcomed an official announcement to this effect.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – A British mining company has agreed to pay over $7 million to settle claims including allegations of torture and murder at ruby mines in the northeast of Mozambique. The brilliant red stones, worth millions, have been worn by international actresses Mila Kunas, Bel Powley, and Sophie Cookson, among others.
The company, Gemfields, chose to pay community members living near its Montepuez ruby mine on a “no admission of liability” basis that settles a claim of human rights abuses over a decade brought against it by local villagers.
