Peace & Justice

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: 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: Kazakh peace troops getting ready for UN mission in Lebanon. Credit: Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.

Kazakhstan Becomes the First Central Asian Country to Join UN Peacekeeping

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – For the first time in the history of Central Asia, a peacekeeping contingent from the Republic of Kazakhstan is participating in a UN peacekeeping operation. 120 Kazakh peacekeepers have arrived in Lebanon to participate in the mission of the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

The peacekeeping operation will continue for 18 months.

The arrival of the Kazakh troops on October 31 brings the current number of the UNIFIL's total military strength to some 10,600 men and women from 42 countries.

: Santo D. Banerjee; CENTRAL ASIA; 05 November 2018

Photo: The Gradjet website helps government officials in least developed countries understand what it means to leave the LDC category and to plot a course for future action. It’s also aimed at the wider development community and anyone else interested in LDC graduation. Credit: Gradjet.

UN Calls for Ensuring Smooth Transition of Poorest Countries from LDC Status

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the decade 2011–2020 draws to an end and a growing number of world's most vulnerable countries are increasing national earning power and improved access to health care and education, making them eligible to exit the group of least developed countries (LDCs), the United Nations has accentuated the importance of paying increased attention to smooth transition processes, thus ensuring sustainable development and the irreversibility of graduation.

: Santo D. Banerjee; UN INSIDER; 03 November 2018

Photo credit: Human Rights Defenders World Summit.

World Summit Pledges To Protect Human Rights Defenders

By Jamshed Baruah

PARIS (IDN) – A diverse group of 150 human rights defenders from around the world, who gathered for a three-day summit in Paris, have agreed on a landmark action plan which will be presented to the United Nations in December.

The plan focuses on how to protect and promote the work of activists fighting for rights, 20 years on from the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.

: Jamshed Baruah; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 01 November 2018

Photo: David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Credit: UN

UN Expert Reiterates Call for Investigation of Khashoggi's Murder

NEW YORK (IDN) – David Kaye, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to freedom of opinion and expression, has reiterated the call for an "independent investigative body" to examine the case of the late Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was reportedly killed in the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul. He stressed the need for a "credible statement about what actually happened."

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 24 October 2018

Photo: Yerzhan Ashikbayev, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan, chairing a side event at the Kazakh Permanent Mission to the UN in New York. Source: UNODA

Kazakh Initiated Forum Underlines Importance of NWFZs

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu has expressed her "gratitude" to the Kazakhstan for their continued partnership with the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), including through a series of Nuclear Discussion Forums (NDF), now in its eighth year.

She was addressing a side event of the UN General Assembly's First Committee on October 18 at the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations. The event featured a panel discussion about Consolidating and Enhancing Cooperation among Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZs). It was chaired by Yerzhan Ashikbayev, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan.

: Santo D. Banerjee; CENTRAL ASIA; 23 October 2018

Photo: Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA). Credit: UNODA

Full Potential of Nuclear Weapon-Free Zones Has Yet to be Recognised

Viewpoint by Izumi Nakamitsu

The following are extensive excerpts from a statement by Izumi Nakamitsu, the UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) at a side event on October 18, 2018, organized by the Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations on Consolidating and Enhancing Cooperation among Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones. – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Between the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which was signed in in 1967, to the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone, which entered into force in 2009, the world has experienced a growing adherence from States to nuclear weapon-free zones treaties.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 23 October 2018

Photo: Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Md Kamal Hossain visiting Rohingya camp Kutupalong. Credit: Md Mojibur Rahman Rana.

A Crisis Within a Crisis for the Rohingyas

By Naimul Haq

DHAKA, Bangladesh (IDN) – Despite a well-coordinated effort to address the Rohingya refugee crisis in Cox’s Bazar, a coastal town bordering Myanmar, some major challenges still need attention.

The local administration admits that with over one million forcibly displaced Myanmar citizens arriving in such a short time, it is indeed difficult to manage the environmental damages and rising crime rates faced by the local people.

Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner Md Kamal Hossain told IDN that in terms of supplies of food, commodities and household basics efforts have been well coordinated. However, “environmental damage and the crimes rising by the day are major concerns but they are being addressed now and hopefully we would soon find solutions.”

: Naimul Haq; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 October 2018

Photo: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet (file photo) ILO/M. Creuset

'To be the Voice of the Voiceless' is Michelle Bachelet's Top Priority

By J. Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – A top priority of the new UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, who replaced Jordan's Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein on September 1, 2018, is "to do what my mandate tells me to do, to be the voice of the voiceless." In addition, it is "also to engage with governments so they respect human rights, protect people from rights violations, and promote human rights."

In an extensive interview with UN News, twice-elected President of Chile and the first head of UN Women describes advancing human rights, a "never ending process". Watch video.