Peace & Justice

Photo: Miroslav Lajvak, President of the General Assembly at the special meeting of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. UN Photo/Kim Haughton

UNGA Adopts Six Resolutions on Palestine, Middle East

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Seventy years since the United Nations adopted the Partition Plan for Palestine as Resolution 181 (1947) on November 29, 1947 a hectic debate in the General Assembly has reaffirmed that peace in the Middle East is nowhere on the horizon.

In fact, several delegates voiced concern that the texts of six resolutions the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted on November 30 "perpetuated a one-sided view that isolated and targeted a single Member State," Israel. Two of the resolutions declared Israel’s actions in the Syrian Golan and East Jerusalem "null and void."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 01 December 2017

Photo: Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary Prasad Kariyawasam. Credit: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Sri Lanka.

In Sri Lanka, Development Begins with Reconciliation

By Prasad Kariyawasam

Prasad Kariyawasam is Sri Lanka's Foreign Secretary. Following are extensive excerpts from his address to the UN's Peacebuilding Commission at the UN Headquarters in New York on November 20, 2017. – The Editor

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Sri Lanka is known, perhaps mostly, as the place where Ceylon Tea originates from, or as the land which was torn by conflict for several years, or the country where the famous science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke lived.

But, we are also so much more, and our history also has a bearing on current peacebuilding in our country.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 28 November 2017

Photo: Briefing by Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority. UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe

UN Envoy Expresses Hope and Concern About the Gaza Accord

By Santo D. Banerjee

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A senior United Nations official has emphasized the urgency to resolve the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and to return the enclave to full civilian and security control of the Palestinian Authority (PA) as agreed in the Cairo accord on October 12, 2017, described as a "landmark development".

According to media reports, the agreement between the Fatah and Hamas factions allows the Palestinian government to resume its responsibilities in Gaza. A statement released by Egypt, which facilitated the accord, said the Palestinian government should assume its full responsibilities to manage the enclave by December 1, 2017.

: Santo D. Banerjee; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 21 November 2017

Photo: A new road being constructed in Bamyan in 2013. Credit: UNAMA

Religious Scholars Discuss Peace-building in Afghanistan

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Religious leaders came together in support of efforts to build a culture of tolerance and non-violence in Afghanistan at an event organized by the Bamyan regional office of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA).

More than 30 scholars, including female scholars from different religious institutions attended the event to discuss and review their role in building a peaceful society, UNAMA reported on November 20, 2017.

"Religion is a key factor in peace-building," said Ibrahim Khalili, a scholar, stressing that religious leaders, by virtue of their standing in communities, can be a positive force for building peace among local communities.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 20 November 2017

More Steps Forward on Human Rights than Backwards

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - When Donald Trump stretched his hand across our television screens on Sunday (November 12) to shake the hand of the Philippines’ president, Rodrigo Duterte, and then said he had “a great relationship” with him I felt my gorge contracting.

Having tasted the great, if sometimes flawed, (remember the totally counterproductive policy of arming the Afghani mujahedeen against the Soviet invaders) campaign of another U.S. president, Jimmy Carter, to put human rights at the centre of American foreign, to see this bald regression is a bitter fruit to swallow.

: Jonathan Power; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 14 November 2017

Photo: A view of the Vatican Conference on November 10-11, 2017. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Vatican Conference Underlines Nexus Between Sustainable Development and Nuclear Weapons Ban

By Ramesh Jaura

VATICAN CITY (IDN) – When world leaders approved 'Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development', as an outcome document of the United Nations summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development two years ago, they designated it as "a plan of action for people, planet and prosperity" that "also seeks to strengthen universal peace in larger freedom".

The document, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets, is based on a consensus emerging from protracted discussions within the Open Working Group. It meticulously avoids words such as "a world free of nuclear weapons".