SUSTAINABILITY

The Winner-Takes-Most Menacing Democracy, Multilateralism

By Ravi Kanth Devarakonda

GENEVA (IDN) - Securing a fourth term as German Chancellor is not an easy feat. But Angela Merkel is returning to a different Bundestag (German Parliament) after the dramatic rise of the far right in the German election on September 24. Its emergence as the third largest force in Germany is a wake-up call signifying the erosion of trust in the political establishment.

The AfD or Alternative für Deutschland (Alternative for Germany) in many ways comes close to Donald Trump’s White Supremacists in the United States, the PiS (Law and Justice) right-wing nationalist Party in Poland, and the "Knicker-Dharis" of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in India. (The Knicker-Dharis is the term coined by the historian Sanjay Subrahmanyam in "Is Indian Civilization A Myth?", are the extreme right-wing nationalists in India who are known for their “fear-mongering against minorities and immigrants.”). They all have a common ideology and political mission: "Getting back our country and our Volk!"

: Ravi Kanth Devarakonda; UN INSIDER; 28 September 2017

Photo: Delegations attending the 41st Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China held at the UN headquarters in New York on 22 September 2017.

G77 and China Stress South-South and North-South Cooperation

By Adriano José Timossi*

NEW YORK (IDN) - A review of the economic situation with a focus on the recent developments in the world and the economic, social and environmental challenges faced by developing countries in particular was the main topic in the deliberations and declaration adopted at the 41st Ministerial Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 (G77) and China on September 22 at the UN headquarters in New York on the side-lines of the UN General Assembly.

Ministers were deeply concerned about the uneven progress achieved in fulfilling the interrelated internationally agreed commitments made at numerous UN conferences in the economic, social and environmental fields and by the lack of satisfactory progress in this regard.

: South Centre; UN INSIDER; 27 September 2017

Photo: President Lenín Moreno of Ecuador and Chair of the Group of 77 and China in 2017 (centre) opened the 41st Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs on September 22. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (right), and the UN Secretary-General António Guterres (left) were also present and spoke at the session.

UN Chief and General Assembly President Praise G77 and China

By Devendra Kamarajan

NEW YORK (IDN) - Ecuador plans to host a Dialogue on Culture of Peace, according to President Lenin Moreno of Ecuador and Chair of the Group of 77 (G77) and China. This event will gather personalities of the South to “reflect on the aspirations of unity and solidarity that motivated the 77 countries to unite their voices in 1964,” he told the meeting of ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group that meanwhile represents over two-thirds of the 193 United Nations membership.

The Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group gathered in New York for their annual meeting on September 22, traditionally held on the sidelines of the high-level week of deliberations by world leaders at the UN General Assembly during its 72nd session that convened on September 12.

: Devendra Kamarajan; UN INSIDER; 27 September 2017

Reminiscing 'War Criminal' McNamara as Trump Spits Out 'Fire and Fury' on North Korea

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) - Out of the blue the war in Vietnam is in the news. Yet it is not the fiftieth anniversary of America’s defeat in Vietnam when North Vietnam caused it to flee. It’s only the forty-second.

Part of this must be fearful parallels with the moral and strategic blindness of President Donald Trump who seems to believe in uttering his life and death rhetoric, akin to President Richard Nixon’s on Vietnam, hoping to frighten the enemy into submission – in this case North Korea. Many people are worried that Trump is ready to fight America's biggest war since Vietnam. As did Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor, he appears to be considering the use of nuclear weapons.

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 26 September 2017

Photo: UNIDO DG LI Yong addresses a special event, “Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (2016-2025): From political commitment to actions on the ground". 21 September 2017. Credit: UN Photo/Manuel Elias

Making the 3rd Industrial Development Decade for Africa a Reality with Actions on the Ground

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – When the United Nations General Assembly adopted a Resolution to declare 2016-2025 as the Third Industrial Development Decade for Africa (IDDA III) in August 2016, it stated: "Africa remains the poorest and the most vulnerable region in the world." And this despite the two previous decades.

The Resolution A/RES/70/293 noted "the need for the continent to take urgent action to advance sustainable industrialization as a key element of furthering economic diversification and value addition, creating jobs and thus reducing poverty," and contributing to the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

: J Nastranis; UN INSIDER; 24 September 2017

Photo: The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons opened for signature at United Nations headquarters in New York on 20 September 2017 and will remain open indefinitely. Once 50 nations have ratified or acceded to it, it will enter into force. Credit: ICAN

UN Treaty Signing a Significant Step Towards a World Free of Nuclear Weapons

By Shanta Roy

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) -- The international community took its first significant step towards a world free of nuclear weapons when over 50 countries signed a landmark treaty, which was adopted by UN member states on July 7.

The signing ceremony, which began September 20 on the sidelines of the 72nd session of the General Assembly, is expected to continue, as more countries will join the list of signatories to a treaty that was overwhelmingly voted on by 122 countries, with one against (Netherlands) and one abstention (Singapore).

The treaty has taken added significance against the backdrop of a possible military confrontation – and triggered by nuclear threats – by two nuclear powers, the United States and North Korea.

: IDN-INPS UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 21 September 2017

Photo: Applause for adoption of the UN Treaty Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons on July 7, 2017 in New York. Credit: ICAN

Opening for Signature of the UN Treaty a Milestone for Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons

By Sergio Duarte, Ambassador, former U.N. High Representative for Disarmament Affairs*

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - The opening for signature of the Treaty on the Prohibitions of Nuclear Weapons on September 20 at the United Nations in New York marks a milestone in the long history of efforts by the international community to eliminate the most destructive and cruel of all weapons invented by man.

The wide adherence to the negotiating process of the Treaty, carried out with the strong support of civil society organizations, reflected a growing global recognition that a ban on nuclear weapons is an integral part of the normative framework necessary to achieve and maintain a world free of such weapons. It is not a hasty or impromptu movement born out of frustration for the protracted lack of concrete progress on nuclear disarmament or by humanitarian considerations. Rather, it responds to a longstanding aspiration of humanity.

: Sergio Duarte; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 20 September 2017

Photo: Dr. Daisaku Ikeda. Credit: Seikyo Shimbun.

Heed the Voices of the Hibakusha Urging All States to Sign the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

By Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, President, Soka Gakkai International (SGI)

TOKYO (IDN) - The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopted this past July at the United Nations, will soon be opened for signature. The negotiations that produced this Treaty saw the participation of nearly two-thirds of all UN member states, and it is deeply moving to witness the first concrete steps toward the Treaty’s entry into force. I earnestly hope that the initial 122 countries that supported its adoption will be joined by other states becoming signatories to the Treaty, so that it can become international law as quickly as possible.

The quest for a world without nuclear weapons was the focus of the first UN General Assembly Resolution adopted in January 1946, soon after the birth of the United Nations. In the more than seven decades since, nuclear disarmament has been the subject of repeated resolutions.

: Daisaku Ikeda; OPINION; 18 September 2017

Over 110 Countries Commit to Halt Land Degradation

By Jaya Ramachandran

BERLIN | ORDOS CITY, China (IDN) – Land degradation is one of the planet’s most pressing global challenges. A third of the world’s land is degraded. But the good news is that by the end of the 13th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on September 16, 2017 in China's Ordos City, 113 countries had agreed to specify concrete targets, with clear indicators, to reverse degradation and rehabilitate more land.

A new global roadmap to address land degradation was also agreed. The UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is regarded as the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast swathes of degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and to reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations.

: Jaya Ramachandran; UN INSIDER; 16 September 2017

Photo: Opening of 72nd Session of the UN General Assembly: Miroslav Lajčák (centre), President of the UNGA 72, gavels open the session’s first meeting. He is flanked by Secretary-General António Guterres (left) and Catherine Pollard, Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. 12 September 2017. Credit: UN Photo/Kim Haughton

R2P Back on the UN General Assembly's Agenda After 12 Years

By J Nastranis

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) - For the first time in twelve years, the UN General Assembly has included – with the recorded vote of 113 in favour to 21 against, and 17 abstentions – “The Responsibility to Protect" in the agenda for its 72nd session that kicked off on September 12.

The protractors of the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) consider it a global political commitment, which was endorsed by all member states of the United Nations at the 2005 World Summit to prevent genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Yet, as a "not an official record" of the General Assembly's plenary on September 15 points out, several delegations took the floor to express their concerns about formally adding the item to the agenda.