Peace & Justice

Photo: The Vatican Conference in session. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS.

Landmark Vatican Conference on Nuclear Disarmament Brings a Breeze of Expectation

By Ramesh Jaura

The following article is based on an interview with Hirotsugu Terasaki, the Director General of Peace and Global Issues of the lay Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai International (SGI), in Tokyo, Japan. SGI was the sole Buddhist organization that participated in the Vatican Conference on nuclear disarmament on November 10-11, 2017.

BERLIN | ROME (IDN) – There was an air of surprise when religious leaders and representatives of civil society, officials of State and international organizations, eminent academics, Nobel Laureates, and students, gathered in the Vatican City against the backdrop of an escalating face-off between the U.S. and North Korea.

Surprise because for the first time the Vatican's newly created Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development was hosting a Conference on the 'Perspectives for a World Free from Nuclear Weapons and for Integral Disarmament'.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 05 January 2018

Photo: Ambassador Kairat Umarov (centre, on dais), Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN and President of the Security Council for the month of January, briefs journalists on the Council’s programme of work for the month on January 2 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Credit: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe.

Security Council under Kazakh Presidency has a Content-Rich Agenda for January

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Two days after the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued "a red alert for our world", the new Security Council President Kairat Umarov has presented a content-rich agenda for the January programme of work of this vital organ of the world body which bears primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.

Umarov is Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN in New York – the first Central Asian country ever to chair the Council for January. Kazakhstan joined the Council as non-permanent member on January 1, 2017 for two years.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 03 January 2018

Photo: Roberto Savo, the author. Credit: Opera Mundi.

A Time Bomb Waiting to Explode

Viewpoint by Roberto Savio

The following is a slightly modified version of an article which first appeared on Other News, published by the writer, an eminent proponent of "information that markets eliminate". You may read his articles and comments on Facebook @robertosavioutopia.

ROME (IDN) – In the year that has just ended, the world's 500 richest people increased their wealth by one trillion dollars, rising by 23 percent to top a comfortable five trillion dollars, outstripping even the US federal budget which stands at 3.7 trillion dollars.

What lies behind the figures for the world’s billionaires published in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index is the not widely known fact that the amount of money circulating stays the same …no new money has been printed to accommodate these 500 billionaires but, more importantly, this means that the rest of world’s population actually lost those trillion dollars!

: Roberto Savio; OPINION; 03 January 2018

Photo: António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, at the Security Council meeting on Non-proliferation/Democratic People's Republic of Korea on December 15, 2017. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias.

UN Chief Issues 'Red Alert,' Calls for Defending Shared Values

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has issued "a red alert for our world" in his message on the occasion of 2018 New Year. It's probably the first time ever a UN Chief has done so.

He does not explicitly refer to the nuclear muscle-flexing between the United States and North Korea, but warns: "Global anxieties about nuclear weapons are the highest since the Cold War."

Red alert is "a state of alert brought on by impending danger". The full text of his message on December 31 explains why he perceives a sword of Damocles hanging over our heads. But there is something the international community can undoubtedly do to avert the impending danger. Here the full text of Guterres' video message:

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 31 December 2017

Photo: The Security Council unanimously adopts resolution 2397 (2017), condemning in the strongest terms the ballistic missile launch conducted by the DPRK on 28 November 2017 in violation and flagrant disregard of the Security Council's resolutions on non-proliferation. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

UN Chief Expects New Sanctions To Help Make 2018 'A Pivotal Year' for the Korean Peninsula

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres desires to make 2018 "a pivotal year" for the achievement of sustainable peace on the Korean Peninsula.

In a statement attributable to his spokesperson, following the adoption of a new Security Council resolution (UNSCR 2397), he said: "The only way forward for a comprehensive peaceful and political solution requires de-escalation and open communication channels, now."

The resolution was approved on December 22 in response to the latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), widely known as North Korea, on November 28.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 26 December 2017

Photo: United Nations General Assembly hall in New York City. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Proposed Cuts in UN Budget Worry Civil Society and NGOs

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Civil society and non-governmental organizations have expressed "deep concern" over the proposals for substantial cuts to the United Nations (UN) biennial budget for 2018-2019.

Known for their longstanding support for the UN, the organizers of NGO dialogues and international cooperation met in New York and Geneva to discuss the financing of the UN and "the perils and challenges of a shrinking UN budget".

In a letter to the Chair of the General Assembly's Administrative and Budgetary Committee, known as the Fifth Committee, they have urged Member States to resist the anticipated cuts and to affirm the importance of a budget that can adequately support the UN and its vital work for peace, development, climate, human rights and social justice.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 24 December 2017

Traumatised Rohingya Women Bear the Brunt of Persecution

By Naimul Haq

COX’S BAZAR, Bangladesh (IDN) – Shefali Aktar, mother of three, fled her home in Thaphanbin, a tiny village overlooking the Arakan Mountains in Rakhine state in Myanmar.

The 22-year-old pregnant woman escaped near death when her neighbour helped her and her children to hide in the nearby forest the night after the entire population of about 600 families in her village was wiped out.

“I went back to my village the next evening to find my husband. Instead, I found dead bodies,” says Shefali, breaking down in tears as she continues to narrate the horror.

: Naimul Haq; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 21 December 2017

Photo: The scale of destruction in Aleppo is massive and heavy equipment is urgently needed to remove debris. Credit: UNHCR/Bassam Diab

Focus on Prevention As Conflicts Become More Intractable

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.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; OPINION; 20 December 2017

U.S. Politics Increasingly Governed by Policy of Unilateralism

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.

: Ramesh Jaura; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 20 December 2017

Photo: Secretary-General Antonio Guterres addresses the Security Council on non-proliferation / DPRK. UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Security Council Highlights DPRK's Humanitarian Needs, Agrees on Importance of Communication Channels

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - While expressing his profound concern over the risk of military confrontation on the Korean Peninsula, "including as a result of miscalculation," United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has stressed the need to disassociate the peace and security situation in the DPRK (North Korea) from the humanitarian needs in the country.

Seventy per cent of the country’s population is affected by food insecurity and 40 per cent are malnourished and some $114 million is needed to meet urgent requirements. However, the 2017 DPRK Humanitarian Needs and Priorities appeal is only 30 per cent funded, he told the Security Council on December 15.