News headlines in 2019, page 58

WASHINGTON DC, Jun 27 (IPS) - Fergus Watt coordinates the civil society-led UN2020 Initiative. Richard Ponzio directs the Just Security 2020 program at the Stimson Center in Washington D.C.

Despite the polarization and stasis that characterizes so much of the present politics at the United Nations, Secretary-General António Guterres is betting that the 75th anniversary of the organization, in 2020, will provide an opportunity for the international community to begin to address the "crisis in multilateralism," and to shape a more robust and effective organization.

SUVA, Fiji, Jun 27 (IPS) - Frank Bainimarama is Prime Minister of FijiSUVA, Fiji, 27 June 2019 (IPS) -- Are the most climate-vulnerable nations of the world right to demand that developed and major economies commit to carbon neutrality by 2050?

Should the poorest nations of the world insist that the "haves" put their significant economic and political resources behind aggressive efforts to combat climate change?

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 27 (IPS) - Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was deliberately killed at the hands of state actors and journalists around the world are increasingly seeing the same fate, said a United Nations expert.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 (IPS) - The feeling in the air at a recent meeting of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) was one of compassion and benevolence.

The focus was on children as Foreign Terrorist Fighters (FTFs), a subject that everyone at the panel discussion argued is delicate and politically sensitive.

ILLINOIS, United States, Jun 26 (IPS) - The U.S Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Mark Green recently concluded a one-week visit to USAID-funded programs at several African countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya and Mozambique. His goal was to promote sustainable paths to self-reliance, including in the context of food security programs.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 (IPS) - Against the back drop of widespread charges of sexual abuse and harassment at workplaces-- including the United Nations-- the International Labour Conference (ILC) last week adopted a "Convention" and a set of "Recommendations" to protect workers and employees worldwide.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 (IPS) - The international community still has a long way to go to chart a new, sustainable course for humanity. But the upcoming climate change meetings provide a renewed opportunity to tackle climate change head on.

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 25 (IPS) - Sivananthi Thanenthiran* is the executive director of the Asian-Pacific Resource and Research Centre for Women (ARROW), a regional feminist NGO based in Malaysia championing sexual and reproductive health and rights in Asia Pacific.

The increase in world population by 2 billion in the next 30 years will present a serious global challenge especially if we do not find new paradigms of development thought and renewed global political leadership.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Jun 25 (IPS) - With growing economic conflicts triggered by US President Donald Trump's novel neo-mercantilist approach to overcoming his nation's economic malaises, many voices now argue that bad free trade agreements are better than nothing.

After US withdrawal following Trump's inauguration in early 2017, there is considerable pressure on signatory governments to quickly ratify the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the successor to the TPP.

WASHINGTON DC, Jun 25 (IPS) - Pinelopi Goldberg is Chief Economist, World Bank Group.

After participating in two events on inequality at the Spring Meetings – Making Growth Work for the Poor and Income Inequality Matters: How to Ensure Economic Growth Benefits the Many and Not the Few, I received a surprising number of emails asking whether my remarks on the importance of addressing rising inequality meant I had abandoned growth as the main priority for developing countries.