HIComment on UN-Habitat Review
In advance of a high-level meeting of the General Assembly on 5 and 6 September 2017, HIC and HLRN have reviewed the High-level Independent Panel assessing the performance and capacity of UN-Habitat and posing recommendations
Published : 05 September 2017
India: What Exactly Is a Smart City?
What exactly is a smart city? The Indian government does not want you to know. It thwarted the Bureau of Indian Standards’ plan to fix clear criteria for defining a smart city, and came out
Published : 04 September 2017
India: `Demolition Man` Becomes Minister
`Great surprise, thrilled,` says bureaucrat-turned Minister KJ Alphons. Induction of former bureaucrat KJ Alphons in the ministry is expected to ensure representation from Kerala. NEW DELHI—A "thrill" and a "surprise" - that`s how KJ Alphons, the
Published : 03 September 2017
The Cost of Land Grabbing in Mozambique
The cost of land grabbing in Mozambique`s Tete Province Tete Province is very rich in coal. An estimated 23 billion tons of mostly untapped coal lies beneath Tete. It is expected to become the region’s energy
Published : 31 August 2017
UN Finance-for-development Reform
KUALA LUMPUR—Growing global interdependence poses greater challenges to policy makers on a wide range of issues and for countries at all levels of development. Yet, the new mechanisms and arrangements put in place over the
Published : 30 August 2017
Tanzania: Forced Evictions of Loliondo Maasai
“Forced evictions of Maasai people in Loliondo, Tanzania”: Urgent Alert from the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs The International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) last week put out a short report about the violent
Published : 30 August 2017
Anatomy of ISIL in the Middle East
Most concerned observers and analysts have deplored the phenomenon known as ISIL, a movement in the Middle East asserting a particularly abominable form of governance that deviates majestically from the norms of international law and
Published : 29 August 2017
Houston Drowning—in Its Freedom from Regulations
We do value our freedom here in Texas. As I write from soggy Central Texas, the cable news is showing people floating down Buffalo Bayou on their principles, proud residents of the largest city in
Published : 28 August 2017
Rohingya `Clearance,` Despite UN Demands
The Kofi Annan-led Advisory Commission on Myanmar`s Rakhine State has urged the National League for Democracy government to grant birth certificates and citizenship to Rohingya children born there. The commission was created last year by the
Published : 26 August 2017
