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Photo: Morocco's Villes Sans Bidonvilles Programme aims to upgrade shantytowns and douar and prioritises relocation of their inhabitants. Credit: Maroc Diplomatique

Morocco: Addressing Shantytowns in an Emerging Democracy

Viewpoint by Wajiha Ibrahim*

BOSTON (IDN) – What peaked in 2011 as a series of political protests sweeping the Middle East and North Africa is today an opportunity to celebrate and evaluate how various regimes mould their path towards democracy. A noteworthy component of these transitions includes the shifting role of the informal sector.

While many countries have increased political participation, achieved macroeconomic stabilisation and restored growth, millions of people remain excluded from political and economic systems.

: IDN-INPS Middle East & Africa Editor; THE WORLD; Middle East & North Africa; 24 July 2017

Photo: Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, who believes that the region “must equalise to grow and grow to equalise, fostering investment and gender equality”. Credit: ECLAC Public Information Unit

Caribbean Must Equalise to Grow and Grow to Equalise - ECLAC

By Desmond Brown

KINGSTON | NEW YORK (ACP-IDN) – If they are to meet commitments agreed under the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its sustainable development goals (SDGs), the countries of the Caribbean must focus on closing the structural gaps they still have – particularly with regard to gender equality and financial and fiscal sustainability (due to their high debt level) – and mitigating the effects of climate change, .

Alicia Bárcena, Executive Secretary for the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), spoke in this regard during the 'African-Caribbean Cross-Regional Exchange' at the High-Level Political Forum (HLPF) which ended July 19 at United Nations headquarters in New York.

: Desmond L. Brown; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 23 July 2017

Image: World map showing the member countries of the G20. Credit: www.g20.org

The G20 Need to Return to their Roots

By Inge Kaul

BERLIN (IDN-INPS) - When the finance ministers of the G7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) proposed the G20 in the late 1990s, a good sense of realism prevailed. They recognized that addressing issues of global finance required the political support from – and involvement of – emerging market economies.

This view proved prescient in seeking policy responses to the 2007–2008 global financial crisis. The leaders of the G20 met at their first summit in Washington D.C. in 2008 to agree on measures to resolve the crisis through dialogues among the “systemically relevant” countries.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of Twenty (G20); 22 July 2017

Photo: Religious Leaders from Israel and Palestine pose with UN Secretary-General António Guterres (6th from left) and UNAOC High Representative Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser (6th from right). Credit UN Photo

Inter-Religious Coalition Aims For Peace in the Middle East

By Joan Erakit

NEW YORK (IDN) - There is a famous bible passage that alludes to the unfortunate kinship between siblings; a child is questioned by God about his brother and he, at the time having killed his brother, denies allegiance by asking: “Am I my brothers keeper?”

Some may interpret the parable about Cain and Abel as follows: being humans, we are brothers by birth meant to look out for one another, yet circumstances have arisen that have turned us against each other. In the end, it is religion that is called upon to solidify bonds, bringing people from various backgrounds and points of view, together on the same page.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 21 July 2017

Photo (left to right): Commander Robert Green (UK Royal Navy, retired), Bill Kidd (Member of the Scottish Parliament and PNND Co-President), Alyn Ware (PNND Global Coordinator), and Jonathan Granoff (President of the Global Security Institute) at the press conference at the UN on July 5 at which the Parliamentary Action Plan was released.

The Ban Treaty and the Nuclear-Armed States: From Irrelevance to a Game-Changer

By Alyn Ware

Alyn Ware, Global Coordinator of Parliamentarians for Nuclear Nonproliferation and Disarmament (PNND), examines how to use the ban treaty to impact on the policies and practices of the nuclear-armed States and their nuclear allies.

NEW YORK (IDN) - When the gavel came down at the United Nations on July 7 to confirm the adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a cheer arose amongst the negotiating countries and civil society observers. 122 countries had voted in favour of the treaty, demonstrating a clear and unequivocal acceptance of the majority of UN members never to use, threaten to use, produce, possess, acquire, transfer, test or deploy nuclear weapons.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 July 2017

Veterans Ask US.to Sign UN Treaty Abolishing Nuclear Weapons

By Brian Trautman, Gerry Condon, Samantha Ferguson

NEW YORK | SAN FRANCISCO | ST. LOUIS (IDN) - On July 7 2017, the United Nations, in a historic decision, approved a legally binding instrument to ban nuclear weapons, the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Months of negotiations involving over 130 countries began in March 2017, culminating in a final draft endorsed by 122 countries. The treaty marks a significant milestone to help free the world of nuclear weapons.

The treaty emphasizes “the catastrophic humanitarian consequences that would result from any use of nuclear weapons.” It forbids participating states “to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 July 2017

Photo: A session of the Astana Economic Forum with the Kazakh Prime Minister. Credit: The Astana Times | primeminister.kz

Astana Economic Forum Focuses on Sustainable Energy

By Ramesh Jaura

This is the sixth in a series of articles from Kazakhstan which being geographically located both in Asia and Europe, considers itself a Eurasian country. The articles are based on information gathered during a visit from June 7 to June 15 on the occasion of the opening of EXPO 2017 in Astana. Video clips accompany the articles in this series. – The Editor

BERLIN | ASTANA (IDN) – Renewable energy and green economy as well as sustainable economic growth, world trade and infrastructure were the principal themes of the recent Astana Economic Forum (AEF) that is widely acknowledged as a platform for dialogue on issues related to economic development in Central Asia and the world at large.

Though an annual event held in the capital of Kazakhstan since 2008, the Forum held on June 15-16 distinguished itself in more than one way. Over 4,000 participants from 100 countries participated in the tenth Astana Economic Forum that focused on 'New Energy – New Economy'.

: Ramesh Jaura; EURASIA Focus; 19 July 2017

Photo: The Dzong in the Paro valley, built in 1646. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Bhutan: A Buddhist Development Model Worth Emulating

Viewpoint by the Venerable Dr Omalpe Sobhitha Mahathera*

This article is the 16th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate.

ENBILIPITIYA, Sri Lanka (IDN) – There will be many answers to the question: which is the country where the happiest people live? In response many famous, developed nations will come to mind, but you will be surprised that the name of a little-known country could be the right answer to this question. It is Bhutan, the wonderful and amazing country that beats all others on the happiness index.

Bhutan has been so identified following a worldwide survey on Gross National Happiness (GNH) – not Gross National Product (GDP). Its capital is Thimpu, which reminds us of the peace talks held there between the Sri Lanka Government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) separatists in 1985.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 19 July 2017

Image: Polish mural in Warsaw, reading "Solidarity with Liu Xiaobo". Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

Liu Xiaobo’s Death Holds China to the Light

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - China, since the days in 1793 and the mission of Earl Macartney, emissary of King George 11, has kept its distance from the West, preferring to be “as self-contained as a billiard ball”, to quote the great historian Alain Peyrefitte.

It was Peyrefitte who argued in “The Collision of Civilizations” that Macartney’s decision not to kowtow to the emperor gave the Chinese the impression that their civilization was denied. They withdrew into their bunker and have remained for the last two centuries prickly, ultra-sensitive, quick to take offence and too ready to assume the worst of West’s motives.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 18 July 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.