Hail and farewell with UNanswered questions

The United Nations Secretary General (UNSG) Ban Ki-moon visits Sri Lanka on Wednesday for what is a virtual farewell call as he completes his term of office at the helm of the 193- nation world body. According to unconfirmed reports he is now a possible contender for the Presidency of his native land, South Korea.

The tragedy in Yemen

While the slaughter of Yemenis continues, the world remains silent in response to their screams. Why is that? Has the world lost its senses, especially to feel the sufferings of the tormented? In an alleged effort to defeat the Houthi rebels, a coalition of Arab states led by Saudi Arabia, supported by the United States and the United Kingdom have been bombarding Yemen, already one of the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with air-strikes since March 2015, sending it literally back to the stone-age.

High poverty levels

SENATOR Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan Nasar’s comments about poverty — and the divine logic supposedly underpinning inequality — were obscene. However, they have stirred much-needed debate about poverty in Pakistan. One hopes the senator’s shameless remarks, which revealed the perversity of privilege among our political elite, drive some introspection among our policymakers and lead to more thoughtful discourse on poverty alleviation.

Quest for solutions

COMMENTS on a number of my recent articles have stated that I have focused on delineating/diagnosing issues and have not given solutions. This is an attempt at starting that conversation.

A storyline for 17 sustainable development goals

Who can remember the original 8 Millennium Development Goals? We may be able to name them—but what about the 17 Sustainable Development Goals?

Increased regional cooperation – Promising prospects in troubling times

The World Bank (WB), at the end of April this year, had some very encouraging things to say about the Bangladesh economy. In its Bangladesh Development Update report, the bank highlighted that the “economy continues to do well” despite external and internal hurdles, but that “weak private investment rates continue to be a concern with its contribution to gross domestic product (GDP) growth declining from 1.5 percentage point to 1.3 percentage point”. Since then, the economy has had to endure quite a few punches including the Gulshan attack that has shrouded businesses with fear and uncertainty.

Not our kids

THE numbers should shock and shame Pakistan but they are unlikely to. According to data produced by Sahil, an NGO that monitors child abuse in Pakistan, reported child abuse cases have increased by 36 per cent in Pakistan in the first half of 2016, as compared to the same period last year. If this were not horror enough, there is more: the number of reported gang rapes of children (classified as under 18 years old) has increased by 71pc as compared to the same time last year. Increases are also seen in the number of attempted rapes and in the number of abuse cases of the very youngest of children, those between 0-5 years of age.

The Chinese trail

“Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come” — Victor Hugo THE concept of balancing economic development with environmental resource conservation has been a part of global discourse for over two decades, but has remained inconclusive and vague. The year 2015, however, changed that when the Sustainable Deve­lopment Goals (SDGs) clearly laid out globally agreed upon signposts for the future.

Drug killings an international issue now

First Read Because in the first draft of this column, I used the word “Draconian” to describe the unprecedented measures that President Duterte has adopted in his war on drugs, I was led by my research to the story of Draco, from whose name the word was taken.

Policing the ‘moral police’

No punishment including physical violence and/or mental torture in any form, can be imposed or inflicted on anybody in pursuance of fatwa,” reads the Supreme Court verdict regarding fatwas. The landmark verdict also made it clear that no one can be forced to abide by a fatwa, and that such verdicts cannot in any way violate the rights or reputation of any person.

Refugees’ return

UNTIL recently, Pakistan was home to the largest refugee population. For decades, the country won much praise for giving sanctuary to vulnerable people who had to flee their homes. When far wealthier countries showed a callous indifference towards those people seeking safety — tightening border controls while pleading lack of capacity — the example of Pakistan shamed them.

Moving toward sustainable development goals

Exit: Millennium Development Goals or MDGs as of 2015. Enter: Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs for 2016-2030.

The marginalised

“I knew that my portion of the American galaxy, where bodies were enslaved by a tenacious gravity, was black and that the other, liberated portion was not.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates

Woman caned 101 times – Allegation extramarital affair

A woman has been caned 101 times and a man 20 times over an alleged extramarital affair in Rangpur, in a clear violation of a Supreme Court verdict on religious edicts.

Not too late to apologize to Goldberg and the US

Just as he had apologized to Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno for using harsh words in a recent exchange with her, President Rodrigo Duterte could gain some goodwill if he were to apologize to US Ambassador Philip Goldberg, the US government and the LGBT community for referring to him as “gay…son of a bitch.” The imprecation (for that’s what it was) has no place in the language of governments, especially between two friendly governments; it is not just politically incorrect, it makes for “hate speech.” The remark was offensive not only to the ambassador and his government, but even to his LGBT supporters.