Quality Education

Photo: A H/mong hill tribe woman in a village of Sin Chai, Sapa, Viet Nam. Women’s labour accounts for the two-thirds of subsistence agriculture in developing countries, yet they often have no rights over the land. Credit: UN Photo/Kibae Park

Indigenous Women Still Face Huge Rights Challenges

By Phil Harris

ROME (IDN) – Almost ten years have come and gone since the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13, 2007, but indigenous people continue to face discrimination, marginalisation and major challenges in enjoying their basic rights.

“The Declaration, which took more than twenty years to negotiate, stands today as a beacon of progress, a framework for reconciliation and a benchmark of rights,” according to a joint statement on the occasion of International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples on August 9 issued by Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Chairperson of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, and the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 16 August 2017

India at 70 – II: The Paradigm for Citizen Friendly E-Governance

By R S Sharma

India celebrated 70 years of Independence from British colonial rule on August 15, 2017. This is the second in a series of three sponsored articles on India at 70. R. S. Sharma is Chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). - The Editor

NEW DELHI (IDN-INPS) - Building trust between governments and citizens is fundamental to good governance. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has been recognized as an essential tool for achieving the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set by United Nations for the welfare of mankind. It is globally recognized that ICT promotes good governance.

: IDN-INPS Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 15 August 2017

Education Key to Promoting Sustainable Development

By Shanta Rao

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – Speaking of the UN’s post-2015 development agenda, the President of the UN General Assembly Peter Thomson of Fiji last year zeroed in on a home truth: very few human beings in the world, he said, know anything about the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

So, he argued, SDGs should be part of every school curriculum. The UN will make a big push for it and youth should be taught about the importance of SDGs in the development agenda, he told reporters.

“If every school curriculum in the world incorporates the Sustainable Development Goals, every school teaches them, and every young person on the planet is made aware of them as rights and responsibilities, the world will stand a very good chance of attaining the Goals by 2030,” he declared.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 18 July 2017

New UN Report Shows the Way to Achieving Agenda 2030

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – A new United Nations study has warned that the current growth curve in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 Global Financial Crisis "does not provide the enabling environment" for supporting progress in achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals.

According to the latest World Economic and Social Survey, the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development requires "greater and deeper international coordination in key policy areas including fiscal, monetary and trade."

But the Report launched by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) finds that "such challenges are not insurmountable." In the last 70 years, says the Survey, the world has witnessed episodes of economies experiencing remarkable economic development, which include: Germany and Japan in the 1950s and 1960s, followed by the Asian Tigers – Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China, Republic of Korea, Singapore and Taiwan.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 18 July 2017

UN Development Agenda Found Falling Behind in Reaching Goals

By Shanta Rao

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – As part of its the Agenda for Sustainable Development, the United Nations is determined to “to leave no one behind” in its strong commitment to ensure the elimination of extreme poverty and hunger by the year 2030, which is an integral part of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by world leaders in September 2015.

But in a new report released July 17, the UK-based Overseas Development Institute (ODI) points out that only 25 of the 44 countries presenting their progress on SDGs at the UN’s High Level Political Forum (HLPF), which concludes July 19, are ready to meet the central commitment of “leaving no-one behind.” The report has been released to coincide with the UN’s 10-day HLPF.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 17 July 2017

Photo: Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivers a congratulatory speech during a ground-breaking ceremony for the Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute at the Handong Global University in Pohang, 374km southeast of Seoul, on July 11, 2017. Credit: Yonhap

UN Chief Welcomes Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute

By J Nastranis

NEW YORk (IDN) - UN Secretary-General António Guterres has welcomed the ground-breaking ceremony for the Global Education Institute (GEI) initiated by his predecessor Ban Ki-moon on July 11 2017 at Handong Global University – in Pohang, 374km southeast of Seoul – the hub of UN Academic Impact (UNAI) for capacity-building in higher education.

"I am pleased to greet all those attending the ground-breaking ceremony for the Ban Ki-moon Global Education Institute," said Guterres in a message, adding: "The opportunity to enjoy an inclusive and equitable quality education is a prerequisite for improving lives and ensuring sustainable development."

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 15 July 2017

Photo: CTBTO Youth Group with Executive Secretary Dr Lassina Zerbo. Credit: CTBTO.

Youth Determined to Push Through UN Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the first in a series of two reports on the Science and Technology Conference of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) from June 26 to June 30, 2017 in Austria's capital Vienna. – The Editor

NEW YORK | VIENNA (IDN) – “As youth, we are the future leaders of the world, the ones who will inherit and live in the world left behind for us, and the bearers of the hopes and dreams for our children and their children after them," declared a group of young people who are members of the CTBTO Youth Group.

"Twenty years after the opening of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) for signature, we regret that this Treaty, which would establish a legally binding, comprehensive prohibition on nuclear explosive testing, has yet to enter into force," said the Group in a joint statement.

: Ramesh Jaura; UN INSIDER; 04 July 2017

Photo: Quran Roundabout in Sharjah, which has been named World Book Capital 2019. Credit: TripAdvisor

Sharjah Named World Book Capital 2019 by UNESCO

By Phil Harris

ROME | PARIS (IDN) – Signalling a major achievement for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the Arab world, Sharjah has been named World Book Capital 2019 by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

The honour is recognition of the emirate's pioneering role in supporting and expanding the local and regional publishing industries, promoting reading to become an intrinsic cultural practice, as well as embracing intercultural, knowledge-based dialogue.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 30 June 2017

Photo: Jayathma Wickramanayake. Credit: UN

Sri Lanka's Jayathma Wickramanayake New UN Envoy on Youth

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) - Jayathma Wickramanayake of Sri Lanka is the new UN Envoy on Youth. She succeeds Ahmad Alhendawi of Jordan. Announcing this appointment, Secretary-General António Guterres said he was grateful for Alhendawi's dedicated service in addressing the needs and rights of young people, bringing the work of the United Nations closer to them.

The success of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development depends on empowering young people as rights-holders, agents of change and torchbearers, Guterres said.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 26 June 2017

UN Turns to Developing Country Youth to Lead Climate Action

BONN (IDN) – Two United Nations agencies, the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat and the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) have launched a significant initiative aimed at preparing young developing country professionals to lead climate action. It will get under way following the UN Climate Change Conference, which runs to May 18.

The fellowship initiative will offer work experience in a vibrant international policy environment at the UNFCCC Secretariat, according to a media release.. The UNU-EHSwill help identify and recruit the young professionals, and provide them with an exciting research environment, the media release added.