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Photo: Civil society at the UN General Assembly First Committee, October 2018

Interfaith Statement Pushes for Abolition of Nuclear Weapons

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – Faith Communities Concerned about Nuclear Weapons – a group of diverse faith-based organizations and individuals committed to a nuclear-weapon-free world – have called for urgent action for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

"As people of faith, we advocate for the right of all people to live in security and dignity; we seek to heed the commands of conscience and the call to justice; we are united in our determination to protect the vulnerable and to exercise the stewardship that will safeguard Earth for present and future generations," says the group in the public statement submitted in October to the UN General Assembly's First Committee in New York.

: Santo D. Banerjee; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 11 November 2018

Photo: Wide view of the General Assembly Hall. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Combative Politics and Hostile Discourse Mark UN Disarmament Initiatives

By Jaya Ramachandran

NEW YORK (IDN) – "If one had to pick a single word to describe this year's First Committee, contentious would be a reasonable contender. The increased volume – in all senses of the word – of accusations and denials has descended as close to name calling as diplomatic forums get," says Ray Acheson, the Director of Reaching Critical Will in an editorial in November 5 issue of The First Committee Monitor 2018.

She is referring to the 73rd session of the UN General Assembly First Committee on Disarmament and International Security which met from October 8 to November 9, 2018 in several sessions.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 11 November 2018

Photo: Sri Lanka (Ambassador Azeez on the left) co-chaired the WHO Global Coordination Mechanism for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (GCM/NCD) along with the host country Switzerland. Credit: Sri Lanka Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva.

WHO Determined to Prevent Noncommunicable Diseases

Sri Lanka Co-Chaired Meeting Focuses on Diseases Killing the Poor

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) pose a serious global development challenge. As the year three of the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) comes to a close, evidence shows that the international community is not on track to meet a vital goal. This is a disconcerting perspective because NCDs are causing far more deaths and disability than any other group of diseases, according to experts.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 10 November 2018

Graphic: Housing affordability is most problematic in EU cities. Credit: World Bank

'Growing Economic Divides' Trouble Europe

By Robert Johnson

BRUSSELS (IDN) – A spectre is haunting Europe – the spectre of Growing Economic Divides, which threaten to create tensions not only between the young and the old but also between employers and employees as well as between the low- and high-income earners. At the heart of the growing divides is housing, and these often play out across regions within countries, says a new World Bank report. High-productivity jobs are concentrated in metropolitan regions where housing prices are inflated and rents are high.

: Robert Johnson; THE WORLD; EU & Europe; 10 November 2018

Photo: The first migrants from the Aquarius ship arrive at the port of Valencia on an Italian ship, the Dattilo, June 2018. Credit: UNHCR

Migration a Major Issue in EU's Relations with 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific States

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (ACP-IDN) – As the United Nations Global Compact fractures, migration has become a key issue in negotiations between the European Union (EU) and 79 countries from Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) which kicked off in September 2018 to hammer out a successor to the Cotonou Partnership Agreement set to expire in 2020.

The ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, signed in Cotonou, Benin, on June 23, 2000, was concluded for a 20-year period from 2000 to 2020. It is the most comprehensive partnership agreement between developing countries and the EU. In 2010, ACP-EU cooperation was adapted to new challenges such as climate change, food security, regional integration, State fragility and aid effectiveness.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; UN INSIDER; 09 November 2018

Photo: U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power meets Northern Province Governor H. M. G. S. Palihakkara at the Governor's Secretariat in Chundikuli, Jaffna, Sri Lanka on 22 November 2015. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Sri Lanka Needs a Consensus Builder – Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Viewpoint by H.M.G.S. Palihakkara *

The author is a Sri Lankan civil servant, diplomat and former Governor of Northern Province. This article first appeared in The Island and is being republished in view of its fervent plea for 'building a culture of consensual governance'. – The Editor.

COLOMBO (IDN-INPS) – Many concerned citizens are seen to describe the current state of our Republic as being at a crossroads. It is not difficult to join this conversation, not least because the challenges involved are multiple and touch upon all strata of our national life.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; OPINION; 08 November 2018

Photo: NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller addressing the Beijing Xiangshan Forum. Credit: NATO

NATO's Gottemoeller Discusses Military Applications of Artificial Intelligence in China

By J C Suresh

TORONTO (IDN-INPS) – "We know that we cannot fight tomorrow's threats with today’s tools. Defending ourselves is no longer about just looking at a map and deciding where to position troops and equipment. We need to defend ourselves in the digital age, and in the age of artificial intelligence," NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller told experts participating in the 8th Beijing Xiangshan Forum in China from October 24 to 26 2018.

: J C Suresh; OPINION; 08 November 2018

Photo: NATO Conference group photo. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Iceland.

Disarmament in Uncertain Times Discussed in Reykjavik

By Lowana Veal

REYKJAVIK (IDN) – With tension rapidly escalating between the United States and Russia – and indeed between these countries and others – a seminar on disarmament held in parallel with the 14th NATO Conference on Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iceland came at an appropriate time.

The idea for the seminar, entitled ‘Practical Approaches to Disarmament in Uncertain Times', surfaced in July when Iceland’s Prime Minister, Katrin Jakobsdottir, was in Brussels for a NATO conference. While inviting NATO officials to Reykjavik, Jakobsdottir said the focus would be disarmament because "disarmament is not discussed enough at NATO meetings,” she told IDN.

: Lowana Veal; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 08 November 2018

Photo: This field visit provided a learning opportunity into two of MLife’s distribution models, micro-entrepreneurs and enterprise associations. Mlife has been in partnership with the Zambia Federation of Associations of Women in Business (ZFAWIB) to provide low-cost funeral insurance services since 2016. Credit: Munich Re Foundation

Insurance Essential for Sustainable Development – But Billions Still Losing Out

By Kwame Buist

LUSAKA, Zambia (IDN) – Billions of uninsured individuals, families and small businesses are exposed to risks which can result in catastrophic losses, delegates to the 14th International Microinsurance Conference (IMC) on ‘Inclusive Insurance for Emerging Markets’ in Lusaka were told.

Despite encouraging signs of increased insurance cover uptake in some markets, climate change and extreme weather events are exposing the poorest and most vulnerable to risk as never before.

: Phil Harris; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 November 2018

Photo: Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Credit: National Daily.

Nigeria's Presidential Candidate Abubakar Hires Trump's Campaign Strategist

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) - Cash money makes things happen. That’s an expression taken from the Urban Dictionary but it may also be the hope of Atiku Abubakar, candidate for President of Nigeria with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which just hired Donald Trump’s lobbying firm at an astronomical price.

Abubakar was Nigeria’s vice president from 1999 to 2007 and a former ally of current president Muhammadu Buhari.