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Photo: People living along the Kenya-Uganda border are amongst the poorest in the region. Credit: WFP.

Kenya and Uganda Partner With the UN to Achieve SDGs

By Siddharth Chatterjee and Rosa Malango

UN Resident Coordinators in Kenya and Uganda, Siddharth Chatterjee and Rosa Malango respectively report in a blog how the two East African neighbours have kick-started a Decade of Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by partnering with the UN to address challenges that transcend country borders. The UN Resident Coordinator (RC) is the highest-ranking representative of the UN development system at the country level. In this first of occasional series, UN News is inviting RCs to blog on issues important to the United Nations and the country where they serve. UN News carried this blog on 1 January 2020.

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 02 January 2020

WISHING US ALL AND OUR PLANET PEACE & SECURITY

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 01 January 2020

Image credit. Peterson Institute for International Economics.

Trump Fighting the Wrong Battle in A Tit-For-Tat Confrontation with China

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, Sherlock Holmes lectures Watson on the unlikely subject of free trade.

Holmes: “Capital article this on free trade. Permit me to read you an extract from The Times: ‘You may be cajoled into imagining that your own special trade or your own industry will be encouraged by a protective tariff, but it stands to reason that such legislation must in the long run keep wealth from the country, diminish the value of our imports, and lower the general condition of life in this island.’”

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 31 December 2019

Photo: Graduation Ceremony at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) Africa. Credit: CMU

Ugandan Writer Discovers Many Reasons for Africa To Be Happy

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – While its soundtrack may have been grim and pessimistic, Africa has more than a few reasons to be happy, asserts prominent author, journalist and former editor of The East African, Charles Onyango-Obbo of Uganda.

“There are many good stories in East Africa,” he begins. “East African citizens continue to travel in record numbers in the region, embracing the sinful joys of music and other festivals”.

: Global Information Network; Africa; 31 December 2019

Photo: Renowned Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o reads excerpts from his recent work in both Gikuyu and English during a presentation in the Coolidge Auditorium, May 9, 2019. Photo by Shawn Miller/Library of Congress.

Eminent Kenyan Writer Urges Africa ‘To Do Things for Itself’

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Over the last 100 years, Africa has been the eternal donor to the West but has been represented as always reliant on aid from the Western community.

“We must find a way of reversing this by becoming makers of our own raw materials,” asserts Kenyan author and academic Ngugi wa Thiong’o who picked up a distinguished German Peace Prize named for Erich Maria Remarque this year.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 31 December 2019

Photo: Secretary-General António Guterres is photographed by a student during a visit to a school run by the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) at Baqa’a Camp in Jordan. Credit: UN

UN Chief Regards Youth As the ‘Greatest Source’ Of Hope

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – With “uncertainty and insecurity all around”, Secretary-General António Guterres has described young people as “the greatest source of hope”. In welcoming the New Year, he said: “The United Nations stands with you and belongs to you”.

According to the UN chief, the current situation is characterized by: Persistent inequality and rising hatred. A warring world and a warming planet. Climate change is not only a long-term problem but a clear and present danger, he said. “We cannot afford to be the generation that fiddled while the planet burned.”

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 30 December 2019

Photo: Indian President Ram Nath Kovind (left), Iranian President Hassan Rouhani (centre) and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 February 2018 in New Delhi. The three-day “substantive and productive” talks helped boost cooperation in areas of defense and security, trade and investment, and energy. Rouhani and Modi also deliberated on regional situations in their wide-ranging talks. Credit: media.mehrnews.com

Iran Turns to China and India In the Face of US Sanctions

Viewpoint by Mohammad Soltaninejad

Mohammad Soltaninejad is Assistant Professor of Middle East studies at the University of Tehran. This article appeared in the most recent edition of East Asia Forum Quarterly, ‘Economics and security’, Vol. 11 No. 4.

TEHRAN (IDN-INPS) – In the face of the United States withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal and adopting a ‘maximum pressure’ policy against Iran, Tehran is turning to China and India to circumvent US sanctions. In response, the United States is trying to deny Iran’s access to Chinese and Indian resources to pressure Iran into returning to the negotiation table.

: Asia Editor; OPINION; 30 December 2019

Photo: Bisi Silva, Nigerian contemporary art curator based in Lagos (2012) CC BY-SA 2.0

‘Season Africa 2020’ Recalls Much Loved Nigerian Curator

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – One of the more ambitious exhibits of African art to showcase French-speaking, English-speaking and Portuguese-speaking Africa, including North Africa, is scheduled to open June 2020 and run for six months.

The occasion will also mark the passing this year of Bisi Silva, an adventurous curator who, with her own money, founded a nonprofit art gallery and education center in Lagos, Nigeria, that has nurtured the growth and recognition of contemporary African artists. Silva died on February 12 in a hospital there. She was 56.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 30 December 2019

Photo: Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala at the launch of his book ‘Sri Lankan Son and Global Diplomat’. Credit: ft.lk

‘Sri Lankan Son and Global Diplomat’ Jayantha Dhanapala

Viewpoint by HMGS Palihakkara*

The following are extensive excerpts from the remarks by Sri Lankan civil servant, diplomat and former Governor of Northern Province, Hewa Matara Gamage Siripala Palihakkara, at the launch of the book ‘Sri Lankan Son and Global Diplomat’ about one of the country’s most outstanding public servants and internationally recognized diplomats, Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala. The book has been edited by Randy Rydell and Neluni Tillekeratne. Published by Sri Lanka Unites (2019). 204 pages.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 29 December 2019

Photo: The second training on Conflict Prevention through Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-proliferation jointly organized by UNODA and the OSCE in May 2019 at Vienna International Centre. Credit: UNODA, Vienna Office.

Youth to The Front for Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his Agenda for Disarmament on May 24, 2018 underlined the need to establish a platform for youth engagement. This would include “a cadre of youth from around the world,” who will work assiduously to promote disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control in their communities.

Engaging with youth groups and community organizations in support of the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals with synergistic linkages to youth, disarmament and non-proliferation education and conflict prevention is the second pillar of the platform for youth engagement.