This article was produced as a part of the joint media project between The Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group and Soka Gakkai International in Consultative Status with ECOSOC.
IDN-INPS Editor-in-Chief and Director-General Ramesh Jaura met with Jorge Chediek, Director of the UN Office for South Cooperation (UNOSSC) at his office in New York on February 17, 2017 to acquaint himself with activities of this important constitutent of the UN system.
Among the issues discussed was what South-South Cooperation really means.
Simply put: South-South Cooperation is a broad framework for collaboration among countries of the South in the political, economic, social, cultural, environmental and technical domains. Involving two or more developing countries, it can take place on a bilateral, regional, subregional or interregional basis. Developing countries share knowledge, skills, expertise and resources to meet their development goals through concerted efforts. Recent developments in South-South cooperation have taken the form of increased volume of South-South trade, South-South flows of foreign direct investment, movements towards regional integration, technology transfers, sharing of solutions and experts, and other forms of exchanges.
Collaboration in which traditional donor countries and multilateral organizations facilitate South-South initiatives through the provision of funding, training, and management and technological systems as well as other forms of support is referred to as triangular cooperation.
IDN-INPS Editor-in-Chief and Director-General Ramesh Jaura had a stimulating meeting with Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Dr. Kairat Umarov, on February 8, 2017 at the Central Asian country’s Permanent Mission to the UN in New York.
Before moving to New York, he was in Washington serving as Ambassador to the U.S. since January 2013 – after serving as Kazakhstan’s Deputy Foreign Minister since 2009. Prior to the Deputy Foreign Minister’s post, Dr. Umarov was Ambassador to India and Sri Lanka for five years.
His appointment as PR to the UN coincides with the beginning of Kazakhstan’s two-year (2017-2018) tenure as non-permanent member of the Security Council.
Yet another 2017 highlight is Expo 2017 (between June 10 and September 10, 2017) in Astana, which would not only demonstrate the future energy, but also the problematic issues of developing countries. Expo’s theme is “Future Energy”, and aim is to create a global debate between countries, nongovernmental organizations, companies and the general public on the crucial question: “how do we ensure safe and sustainable access to energy for all while reducing CO2 emissions?”
Map of countries affected by Executive Order 13769, issued by President Donald Trump, that restricts both the travel and immigration of people in said countries./ JayCoop – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
グテーレス事務局長は、アフリカ諸国は世界で最も寛容に難民を受入れている、と称賛した。
Chadian Foreign Minister Moussa Faki Mahamat/ Par Foreign and Commonwealth Office
In a warm-hearted meeting on February 7, 2017 at the United Nations headquarters, Ramesh Jaura, Editor-in-Chief and International Correspondent of IDN-InDepthNews introduced the International Press Syndicate (INPS) Group of which IDN is flagship agency to Ms Cristina Gallach, UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Department of Public Information (DPI).
In the ensuing interview, the DPI Chief answered questions such as: What has happened since the UNDPI / NGO Conference that concluded on June 1, 2016 in Gyeongju, South Korea? What role are youth groups playing in the second year of implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) endorsed by the international community in September 2015? Will there be a DPI / NGO conference in 2017 despite a new Secretary-General and management team taking office in January? What does it mean serving as Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information at the United Nations?