UN procurements favour developing countries

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 27.06.2018 (SciDev.Net): Nearly 59 per cent of the United Nations (UN) procurements in 2017 worth US$11 billion were from developing countries, least developed countries (LDCs) and countries with economies in transition, according to a UN official statistical report released last week (21 June).

Asia remained the region with the highest procurement volume but saw a US$129 million reduction compared to 2016 — the largest decrease in absolute terms of any region. Three developing countries — India with total procurement of US$907 million, UAE with US$797 million and Kenya with US$503 million — were among the top 10 supplier countries in 2017. Combined, the three countries accounted for nearly 12 per cent of the total UN procurement for 2017. The US remains the largest supplier to the UN with US$1.7 billion largely on the back of management and services.

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Fall by the Side: The natural wonder of Horizontal Falls

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Horizontal Falls. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Horizontal Falls (Western Australia), 03.06.2018 (The Indian Express): A starlit sky and a lone street lamp are my sole companions as I wait for the Horizontal Falls Seaplane Adventures (HFSA) tour bus outside my hotel in Broome. At 5am, the bus arrives, packed with travellers — some excited, others wary of boarding a small Cessna Amphibian seaplane.

At the airport, young Tonnia meticulously weighs us and our bags, and assigns seats, before fastening herself into the pilot seat. It is a picture-perfect day to fly low over Broome, the Dampier Peninsula, and hundreds of islands of the Buccaneer Archipelago in Australia’s pristine north-western Kimberley region.

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ICAN Expects Nuclear Ban Treaty to Enter into Force soon

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By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 28.05.2018 (IDN-InDepth News): As the world witnesses an increase in nuclear sabre-rattling in 2018, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) is supporting global public movement to put pressure on governments to sign and ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. ICAN’s Treaty Coordinator Tim Wright (TW) spoke to IDN’s Neena Bhandari (NB) about disarmament, raising awareness about the risk and consequences of nuclear weapons, and why the world needs a nuclear ban treaty more than ever before.

Wright expects the Treaty to enter into force in 2019. He commends South Korea’s “great leadership” role by initiating the inter-Korean dialogue. “But true peace must be based on the total rejection of nuclear weapons by all nations, not just North Korea.” The rejection by President Donald Trump of the Iran nuclear deal, he says, “undermines the non-proliferation efforts.”

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