By António Guterres, UN Secretary-General
Following are extensive excerpts from UN Secretary-General António Guterres' remarks at open debate of the Security Council on 'Addressing complex contemporary challenges to international peace and security' on December 20, 2017 during Japan's presidency of the Council for the month. – The Editor
UNITED NATIONS (IDN-INPS) – I would like to make three main points today. First, we are seeing not only a quantitative but also a qualitative change in threats to international peace and security. The perils of nuclear weapons are again front and centre, with tensions higher than they have been since the end of the Cold War.
By Rodney Reynolds
NEW YORK (IDN) – The politics of the Trump administration are being increasingly governed by the twin policies of unilateralism and isolationism.
After Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016, he withdrew from a historic 2016 climate change agreement signed by 195 countries – and the only signatory to do so.
And this year, he announced plans to dilute the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal signed by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council (UNSC), namely the U.S., UK, France, China and Russia, plus Germany and the 28-member European Union (EU) – much against warnings by all the other signatories. (P37) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN TEXT VERSION PDF
By Jaya Ramachandran
GENEVA | TOKYO (IDN) – Nearly half of the world's population of 7.6 billion lacks access to essential health services at present and for almost 100 million people health expenses are high enough to push them into extreme poverty.
Against this perturbing backdrop, revealed by a recent report, a global Forum in Tokyo has underlined the need to extend by 2023 the health services coverage to 1 billion additional people and halve to 50 million the number of people being pushed into extreme poverty by health expenses.
The year 2023 is the midpoint towards 2030, the target date for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), says the 'Tokyo Declaration on Universal Health Coverage' emerging from the global Universal Health Coverage Forum 2017 from December 12-15.
By J Nastranis
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Despite an upsurge in world economic growth, which has reached 3 per cent – the highest since 2011 – very few least developed countries (LDCs) are expected to reach the Sustainable Development Goal target for GDP growth of "at least 7 per cent" in the near term (SDG 8.1), says a new United Nations report.
Goal 8 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals – with 169 targets – adopted in September 2015 by the international community envisages promoting "inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all". Its target 1 stresses the need to "sustain per capita economic growth in accordance with national circumstances and, in particular, at least 7 per cent gross domestic product growth per annum in the least developed countries." (P36) ARABIC | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TURKISH
By A.D. McKenzie
PARIS (IDN) – Financing is key in the fight against climate change, said delegate after delegate at the One Planet Summit in Paris December 12, and this meeting was all about the money: where to invest it and where not.
The World Bank Group announced that it would not be financing upstream oil and gas after 2019, except for certain projects in the “poorest countries”, where there is a clear benefit in terms of energy access for those in need. “The policy will change and change dramatically,” said World Bank president Jim Yong Kim.
The One Planet Summit – with many participants sporting “#make our planet great again” buttons – was held on the second anniversary of the Paris Agreement on climate change, bringing together heads of states and representatives from more than 100 countries, businesses, civil society, youth and the world’s media. (P35) FRENCH | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF |
By Justus Wanzala
NAIROBI (IDN) – African and Asian countries face a huge challenge in protecting their wildlife from the illegal killing and trafficking that has already endangered some species.
Over the years, national and regional efforts to combat the threat have met with mixed success and wildlife and their products continue to be sold in many countries around the world.
Figures released in March 2017 by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) under its Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) programme showed that by 2016 the trend in poaching of African elephants – which had increased steadily since 2006, peaking in 2011– had been halted and stabilised. Nevertheless, the levels of illegal killing still remained unacceptably high overall.
By Justus Wanzala
NAIROBI (IDN) – Amid a cacophony of voices, interests and expectations, the third high level United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), held in Nairobi from December 4-6, had a common denominator – a sense of strong desire and willingness among delegations for action to ensure a pollution-free world.
Some walked the talk. Indeed, in a bid to support the war against pollution, the European Union, Finland, Germany, Norway, Republic of Korea, Sweden and Switzerland committed 35 million dollars to the Partnership for Action on Green Economy (PAGE), a partnership of five UN agencies to support countries in greening their economies and tackling environmental challenges, while promoting better jobs and stable economic growth.
By Toung Eh Synuanchanh
This article is the 19th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.
BEUNGSANTHUENG, Laos (IDN) – A quiet revolution is taking shape in rural Laos, where environmentally-conscious village Buddhist monks are teaching people morality and meditation to spearhead a movement mobilising the people to economically develop their communities for living in harmony with nature rather than destroying it in the name of development.
At the Ban Beungsanthueng community, in Nongbok District in Khammouane Province of Laos, about 400 km south of the capital Vientiane, monks educate the villagers in Sila (Buddhist morality) and the way to live a good life (Right Livelihood), while protecting the environment. In this nominally communist country, the monks explain the linkage between humans and nature to villagers, and its importance to their livelihoods and well-being.
By Jacques N. Couvas
ANKARA (IDN) – "Solutions for the South by the South” was the recurring theme that resounded throughout the duration of the Global South-South Development Expo 2017 (GSSD Expo) from November 27 to 30, 2017 in Antalya, the largest Turkish city on the Mediterranean coast.
This landmark event of the United Nations (UN) system solely for the global South was held in the lead up to the Second High-level UN Conference on South-South Cooperation to be convened in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in March 2019. The Conference will mark the 40th anniversary of the Buenos Aires Plan of Action (BAPA+40) for Promoting and Implementing Technical Cooperation among Developing Countries. A High-Level Forum of National Directors-General for Development Cooperation discussed during the Expo insights and proposals for the preparatory process of the 2019 conference.
By Ramesh Jaura
VIENNA (IDN) – "We are in a time when multilateralism is being challenged. Your participation in this General Conference reaffirms the relevance of UNIDO's work to your governments and the people on the ground," said Miroslav Lajčák, Slovakia's Foreign Minister and President of the 72nd session of the UN General Assembly until September 2018.
Lajčák was speaking at the opening session of the conference in Vienna, on November 27, nearly one month before the central European country ceases to be a member of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). In a letter signed by him as Foreign Minister, Slovakia had denounced the UNIDO convention in December 2016. Subsequently, it will cease to be a member of the Organization on December 31, 2017.
- UNIDO Chief Has A 'Dream', Urgently Needs Funds
- Industrial Development is About a Decent Life for All People
- Need to Perceive Africa from an African Point of View
- The Global Fund To Fight AIDS Asked to Change Criteria Discriminating Poor Countries
- COP23 Finally Provides a Platform for Indigenous People on Climate Talks
