With its global representation, one would expect the UN General Assembly to touch on many diverse issues. And it does. But talks have repeatedly come back to one unifying call: if we want to save ourselves, our planet, and our future, we must act now. In his remarks at the UN
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Poverty & hunger eradication targeted to miss UN’s 2030 deadline
When the UN’s 193 member states reviewed the current status of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger by 2030, the verdict was mostly failures—and with little or no successes. The hunger/poverty nexus was best characterized by Alvaro Lario, President of the International Fund
Barriers to movement are the never ending normal for Palestinians
Sundus* scans the news before she heads home, checking for signs that her 30-minute commute could turn into a four-hour-long slog. Any incident could make travel difficult. Sometimes Sundus waits for her father to call and tell her if the checkpoints around their home are open. After living in Hebron, a
Reality is governments not truly held accountable to implement SDGs
Why root crops are the future of food security in Africa
Despite the dominance of the “Big Three” cereal crops and a steady rise in meat consumption, an overlooked food sector is projected to become ever more central to Africa’s food security and rural economic growth between now and 2050. Over the next three decades, the remarkable yet humble yam, sweetpotato, cassava
Is the Khalistan movement sparking India-Canada a diplomatic feud?
The diplomatic fallout continues to worsen over Monday’s shocking accusation by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that India was behind the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a prominent Sikh leader and Canadian citizen, outside a Sikh temple in Canada earlier this year. Trudeau said Tuesday after the Canadian government expelled a
We must act to bridge the gap between words and deeds
In today’s increasingly interconnected world, marked by grave economic, environmental, and security crises that transcend global boundaries, it’s abundantly clear that our interdependence is an undeniable reality. These challenges loom large as countries from across the world gather at the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Our world is under
Deepening democracy in an AI-enabled world
In 2002, the Human Development Report (UNDP) focused on ‘Deepening Democracy in a Fragmented World’. It was an important discourse then [and still is] that evoked lot of insightful cross-regional exchanges of ideas. It reiterates that politics matter for human development because people everywhere want to be free to determine
Can Pakistan-India Nuclear Deterrence Hold?
Halfway to 2030: Our 5 asks at the SDG Summit
At the UN SDG Summit in New York, the Forus global civil society network is calling for decisive action on SDG implementation. Clearly, as we hit the midpoint towards the “finish line” of the Agenda 2030, progress is stagnating. The 2023 Special Edition of the SDG Progress Report emphasized that we’re