New York, US | THE INDEPENDENT | As part of its 100th anniversary, the International Labour Organization (ILO) has painted a mural at the Uganda Embassy in New York in recognition of efforts by government to solve youth unemployment. The painting depicts a young woman draped in a headscarf in …
Read More »Behind the Good Country Index
Simon Anholt the co-founder of the Good Country Index has since 2014 been challenging governments around the world to harmonize their domestic with international responsibilities by cooperating and collaborating more without necessarily losing their competitive edge. He shared his views with The Independent’s Ronald Musoke in an email interview What …
Read More »UN: 1 million of Earth’s 8 million species face extinction
UN biodiversity meet wraps up, report due Monday Paris, France | AFP | Diplomats and scientists from 132 nations wrapped up six days of negotiations in Paris Saturday over the wording of a landmark report on the dire state of Nature and its impact on humanity, a UN official told …
Read More »How to fix Nature and avoid human misery
Paris, France | AFP | Revamping global food production, retooling the financial sector, moving beyond GDP as a measure of progress and other “transformative changes” are needed to save Nature and ourselves, a major UN biodiversity report is set to conclude. Delegates from 130 nations wrap up week-long negotiations in …
Read More »A century of international civil service
Why an idea conceptualised a 100 years ago at the League of Nations still matters to the aspirations today COMMENT | HENNING MELBER | This year marks a century since a formal international civil service was introduced into the world. The first time this particular breed of professionals came into existence …
Read More »Here we go again: Earth’s major ‘mass extinctions’
Paris, France | AFP | Most scientists agree that a “mass extinction” event is underway on Earth, with species disappearing hundreds of time quicker under the influence of human activity. But this is not the first: over the last half-billion years there have been five major wipeouts in which well …
Read More »Food, medicine, water: What has Nature done for us lately?
Paris, France | AFP | From the food we eat to the air that we breathe, Nature not only provides mankind with the means to live but also the services to thrive. Ahead of a major biodiversity summit in Paris expected to outline in the starkest terms yet the threat …
Read More »COMMENT: Let’s talk about geoengineering
Deadlock at UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi shows it’s a complex problem without a single solution Project Syndicate | DAVID KEITH | Negotiations on geoengineering technologies ended in deadlock at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, recently, when a Swiss-backed proposal to commission an expert UN panel on …
Read More »Illness costs Africa hundreds of millions every year: WHO
Praia, Cape Verde | AFP | The World Health Organization has estimated that disease strips hundreds of millions of dollars from Africa’s economic output, as the burden of untreated disease hugely outweighs the potential expense of healthcare. In a report published at the end of a three-day UN forum for …
Read More »UN sets sights on exit strategy for DR Congo peacekeeping mission
United Nations, United States | AFP | The UN Security Council agreed Friday to extend the huge peacekeeping operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo until December to allow time for a withdrawal plan to be drawn up. The council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution that asked Secretary-General Antonio Guterres …
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