African Agro-Processors Call for Policies Conducive to Local Manufacturing

Experts at the Africa Food Systems Forum (AGRF) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, have called on African governments to make and review existing policies to protect the processing and agro-industrialisation of locally produced agricultural products.

The Vast Potential of the Human Spirit

With hope and courage, we must rise to the challenges before us. We must rise to the challenge of a world set afire by climate change, forced displacement, armed conflicts and human rights abuses. We must rise to the challenge of girls being denied their right to an education in Afghanistan. We must rise to the challenge of a global refugee crisis that is disrupting development gains the world over. We must rise to the challenge of brutal and unconscionable wars in places like Sudan and Ukraine that are putting millions of children at risk every day.

How a UN General Assembly Meeting is Organized

The General Assembly and ECOSOC Affairs Division has around 40 staff members, with the combined role to facilitate the deliberations and decision-making of intergovernmental bodies such as the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council and their subsidiary organs.

Mexico Turns to Military Entrepreneurs

Courage, sadness and impotence are expressed by Mayan indigenous activist Sara López when she talks about the Mayan Train (TM), the Mexican government's biggest infrastructure project, which will cross the town where she lives and many others in the Yucatan Peninsula.

UN Report Offers Solutions for Decarbonization of Buildings, Construction Sector

The building sector may be overdue for a significant overhaul of the processes in which infrastructure is built to be more environmentally conscious and reduce carbon emissions, a new UN report reveals.

Six Issues to Watch at the UN General Assembly 78

Another UNGA (UN General Assembly High-Level Week, September 18-23, 2023) is almost here. Leaders and other senior representatives of the world body’s 193 Member States will gather again for this truly one-of-a-kind annual congregation in New York for high-stakes diplomacy and plenty of domestic political posturing.

A Global Survey of Democracy Finds Both Sobering and Alarming Results

The recent epidemic of coups in Africa -- including military take-overs in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Gabon-- have triggered the inevitable question: Is multi-party democracy on the retreat? The Open Society Barometer, an annual global survey from Open Society Foundations, launched September 12, reflects the positive and negative aspects of the state democracy worldwide.

Gabon: The End of a Dictatorship… and the Beginning of Another?

On 26 August, Gabon went through the motions of an election. Official results were announced four days later, in the middle of the night, with the country under curfew. Predictably, incumbent President Ali Bongo, in power since the death of his father and predecessor in 2009, was handed a third term. Fraud allegations were rife, as in previous elections. But this time something unprecedented happened: less than an hour later the military had taken over, and the Bongo family’s 56-year reign had ended.

Human Trafficking: Women Lured by Promise of Jobs, Sold as Brides

It has been over a decade since 32-year-old Rafiqa (not her real name) was sold to a villager after being lured by the promise that she would be employed in the handicrafts industry of Indian-administered Kashmir.

Enhancing Mining Revenue

The commodity boom early this century was mainly driven by mineral prices. Yet, mining’s contribution to developing countries’ revenue has been modest, largely due to massive tax evasion and avoidance.

The Africa Climate Summit: Anti-Colonial Rhetoric Meets Green Colonialism

In the wake of the recent Africa Climate Summit, which convened in Nairobi from September 4-6, 2023, the world’s attention was drawn to the pressing challenges facing the African continent as it grapples with the devastating effects of climate change.

Global Governance for Achieving the SDGs From Viewpoint of Sociology of Domination

 

SDGs and global governance Sustainable development is the challenge of how to build a society in which humanity can live with dignity in this global environment. The SDGs set 17 goals and 169 targets to achieve sustainable development. Goals 16 and 17 are aimed precisely at building global governance through the formation of global rules. Goal 16 lists 10 specific targets, while Goal 17 lists 19 targets.

What Happens in the Arctic Does Not Stay in the Arctic

While climate change is relentlessly progressing, threatening life on earth, world leaders continue to meet while planning for a future where this immense menace to human existence remains a minor item on the agenda.

African Women’s Reproductive Rights under Threat: Global Pushback Puts Lives at Risk

Almost 30 years ago in 1994, the world witnessed a historic event as 179 nations convened on African soil, in Cairo, for the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD).

World Leaders Offered “15 Minutes of Fame” at UN’s High-Level Meeting

Everyone in this world is entitled to 15 minutes of fame-- is a legendary quote mis-attributed to the American pop icon Andy Warhol. Over the years, the United Nations has laid down its own 15-minute rule for world leaders addressing the UN General Assembly.

Security & Safety Service During the UN General Assembly Week

The United Nations Security and Safety Service is the Division charged with the strategic management of safety and security operations at Headquarters, Offices away from Headquarters, Regional Commissions, and International Tribunals.

Elevating Farmers’ Income Through Organic Poultry Rearing

Even after toiling hard for an entire year, Shivaji Rao, a 37-year-old farmer, would find it hard to cover the basic expenses of his family. He cultivates maize from his one-and-a-half-acre land in India’s Southern State of Telangana.

ECW’s New Report Shows Successful Education Funding Model for Crises-Impacted Children

In a world set on fire by climate change and brutal conflict, millions of children in emergencies and protracted crises need educational support. Children in 48 out of 49 African countries are at high or extremely high risk of the impacts of climate change, particularly in the Central African Republic, Chad, Nigeria, Guinea, Somalia, and Guinea Bissau.

Diversify American Cropping and Food Systems

A few weeks ago, my husband and I drove from Illinois to Iowa to visit a friend. I was excited about my over 5 hours’ drive. Sadly, 60 minutes into the drive, my excitement fiddled out. I was bored.  Field after field, as far as my eyes could see, all I saw was either corn or soybean. I also noticed that the field margins were empty-with no sight of wildflowers.

World’s Richest Countries Must Set More Ambitious Climate Change Goals, Report Finds

Individually and collectively, member countries of the G20 are falling far behind in their greenhouse gas reduction goals and are failing to make the significant cuts on emissions that would be needed to keep global temperatures low, despite possessing the technological and financial capabilities for reducing emissions.

Safe, Regular & Orderly Migration for Inclusion and Sustainability

In Asia and the Pacific, migration is again on the rise. In 2020, almost 109 million people lived in a country other than that of their birth. They represented 2.3 per cent of the region’s population in 2020 and almost 38 per cent of the world’s international migrants.