OPINION

Photo: Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne (right in the front) addressing one day debate at the UN Security Council titled "Peacebuilding and Sustaining Peace: Transitional Justice in conflict and post-conflict situations" on 13 February 2020 in New York. Credit: Permanent Mission of Sri Lanka to the UN in New York.

Sri Lanka at a Juncture of Transition From Separatist Terrorism to Era of Reconciliation

Viewpoint by Ambassador Kshenuka Senewiratne,
Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations

NEW YORK (IDN) — Sri Lanka is presently at a juncture of transition after near three decades of brutal separatist terrorism, to an era of reconciliation and sustaining the hard won peace. Sri Lanka's engagement today is in keeping with the Government's vision, for a country that embodies the universal values of human rights, justice, rule of law and good governance while ensuring economic dividends to its people.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 15 February 2020

Photo: François-Auguste Biard, Proclamation of the Abolition of Slavery in the French Colonies, 27 April 1848 (1849). Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Slavery Not a Crime in Almost Half of the World’s Countries

Viewpoint by Katarina Schwarz and Jean Allain, with Andrea Nicholson*

NOTTINGHAM (IDN) – “Slavery is illegal everywhere.” So said the New York Times, repeated at the World Economic Forum, and used as a mantra of advocacy for over 40 years. The truth of this statement has been taken for granted for decades. Yet our new research reveals that almost half of all countries in the world have yet to actually make it a crime to enslave another human being.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 15 February 2020

Photo: Kazakh Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Chair of the LLDCs Group, speaking at at the Ambassadorial level First 2020 Meeting of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries on 22 Januray. Credit: Kazakhstan Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Kazakh Roadmap for LLDCs as 2020-2021 Chair

By Ambassador Kairat Umarov

Kazakhstan assumed the chairmanship of the Group of Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs) on 8 January for the period 2020-2021. The following are extensive excerpts from the statement of LLDC Chair Ambassador Kairat Umarov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York, at the First 2020 Meeting of the LLDCs at the Ambassadorial level,

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 12 February 2020

Image credit: Washington International Trade Association

Economic Growth Is Not The B-All and End-All In The Third World

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Do we know how to end poverty in the Third World? Do we know why some economies expand and others don’t? Not really. There is no clear formula for growth. The two Nobel economics prize winners of last year, the husband and wife team of Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, write in the current issue of Foreign Affairs, “The uncomfortable truth is that the economics profession still doesn’t have a good sense of why some economies expand and others don’t”.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 11 February 2020

COP26 Will Be the Litmus Test of The Paris Agreement

COP25 Ignored Demands for Climate Justice

Viewpoint by Mary Church*

EDINBURGH (IDN) – The outcomes of the longest ever meeting in the history of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) – the COP25 negotiations in Madrid – have failed to reflect the urgency of the crisis or any grasp of the real solutions to the climate emergency.

Rather, governments around the world continued to ignore both the undeniable science and the rising tide of peoples’ movements demanding radical action on climate.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 11 February 2020

Photo: An adolescent girl conducts an experiment during a chemistry class in Kamulanga Secondary School in Lusaka, Zambia. Credit: UNICEF Photo/UN0145554/Karin Schermbrucker

Strengthening Women & Girls Participation in Ocean Science

Viewpoint by Michael W. Lodge

The writer is Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), an autonomous international organization established under the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the 1994 Agreement relating to the Implementation of Part XI of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. ISA headquarters are in Kingston, Jamaica.

KINGSTON (IDN) – As we celebrate the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on 11 February 2020, we are reminded of the need to renew our commitments to improve access for women from developing States to education and training, and ensure their increased participation in the field of ocean science, particularly in deep-sea scientific research.

: Opinion Editor; UN INSIDER; 10 February 2020

Photo: Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the European Policy Centre in Brussels on 10 February. Source: The Minister’s twitter account.

Looking Forward to Scotland’s Return to EU Membership

Viewpoint by Nicola Sturgeon

The following are extensive excerpts from the address of Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon at the European Policy Centre, a leading Brussels-based think tank, on February 10. She was in Brussels for a series of engagements to make Scotland’s voice heard in Europe.

BRUSSELS (IDN) – This is the first time I have been here – or indeed anywhere outside Scotland – since the UK left the European Union ten days ago.

Brexit was a sad matter for me, and for many people in Scotland and indeed across the UK.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 February 2020

Photo: Australian bushfires: Source: East Asia Forum.

Australia’s Exceptional Vulnerability to Climate Change

Viewpoint by Andrew Walter*

MELBOURNE (IDN) -- The bushfires now ravaging Australia’s flora, fauna and rural communities on an unprecedented scale underline the country’s exceptional vulnerability to global heating and its strong interest in global climate change mitigation and adaptation. Decarbonisation should be taken as an economic opportunity and it could elevate Australia’s leading role in Asia for years to come.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 10 February 2020

Photo credit: The conversation.Photo credit: The conversation.

Towards a Constitutional Crisis: Scotland and Britain After the General Election

Viewpoint by Michael Keating*

ABERDEEN (IDN) – Choppy waters lie ahead for both defending and defeating the union that is the United Kingdom, with Scotland and England having diverged sharply in their choices at the recent general election (December 2019).

Campaigns in both countries focused on Brexit but in Scotland equal prominence was given to the prospect of a second referendum on independence. In 2014, Scots voted by 55 percent to remain in the UK after a campaign in which both sides shared the wish to stay in the European Union. Two years later, Scotland voted by 62 percent to remain in the EU.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 February 2020

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres (left) briefs the UN General Assembly on his Priorities for 2020 and the Work of the Organization. Credit: UN Photo/Mark Garten.

2020 Priorities and the Work of the United Nations

Viewpoint by António Guterres

The following are extensive excerpts from the UN Secretary-General’s remarks to the General Assembly on 22 January on his priorities in 2020.

NEW YORK (IDN) – 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. I draw tremendous strength from all that we represent and all that we have achieved together. Yet anniversaries are not about celebrating the past; they are about looking ahead.

We must cast our eyes to the future with hope. But we must also do so without illusion. Today I want to speak to you in stark and simple terms about the challenges we face.

I see “four horsemen” in our midst — four looming threats that endanger 21st-century progress and imperil 21st-century possibilities.