UN Agenda Research Articles

The environmental impact of agriculture: An instrument to support public policy

Agriculture is a key activity in guarantying food security, one of the Sustainable Development Goals set by the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development. However, agriculture can be an environmental impacting activity when it is managed without attention towards its environmental efficiency. Thus, the assessment of eco-efficiency in agriculture is a crucial tool to evaluate this economic activity in terms of both natural resources exploitation and revenue generation. To address the complex issues associated with this problematic trade-off, the application of a Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) has been to assess the environmental and economic performance of agriculture in terms of eco-efficiency. DEA has been applied the Italian case study at regional level, to provide policy-makers with a synthetic indicator of agricultural sustainability, when implementing funding policies. In particular, the analysis of the case study has taken into account the implementation of the European Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), as implemented through the Rural Development Plans. Our approach is a first step in the direction of assessing the long-lasting issue of developing benchmarking policies between the different Italian regions. This works paves the way to future and more in-depth studies needed to determine the eco-efficiency at local scale and, thus, the possibility to identify specific forms of agriculture as nature-based solutions.

Assessing the Energy and Climate Sustainability of European Union Member States: An MCDM-Based Approach

Topics related to sustainable economic development are currently important issues in the modern world. However, the implementation of this concept and related operational strategies raises many controversies. On the one hand, it offers hope for ecological, safe, and independent economic development, while on the other hand, it raises public concerns about the costs of such changes. These problems are widely appreciated in the EU, which is the undoubted leader in implementing the concept of sustainable economic development. With regard to this issue, this paper presents the developed methodology for assessing the sustainable energy and climate development of the EU-27 countries. The basis of this assessment is 17 selected indicators characterizing the most important areas related to this development. Their selection was conditioned by the assumptions of the Europe 2020 Strategy and the goals (7 and 13) of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030. Five widely used methods for multi-criteria analysis supporting management processes (CODAS, EDAS, TOPSIS, VIKOR, and WASPAS) were used for the study. In order to carry out an unambiguous assessment and determine the final ranking of countries in terms of energy and climate sustainability, a methodology was developed to specify the normalized value of the Final Assessment Score (Asfinal). Based on it, the sustainability of individual EU-27 countries in 2010, 2015, and 2020 was assessed, and this assessment formed the basis for dividing these countries into four classes (levels) in terms of sustainability. The results confirmed the high differentiation of the EU-27 countries in terms of sustainability, indicating leaders as well as countries with low levels of sustainability. The countries with the highest and most stable levels of sustainable development of the economy are Sweden and Denmark. The results provide opportunities for their interpretation, both in terms of analyzing changes in individual indicators and in terms of the global assessment of sustainable development in individual countries. These results should be used when developing an energy and climate strategy for the next few years for the EU as a whole and for individual countries.

Implementing post-normal science with or for EU policy actors: using quantitative story-telling

There is increasing recognition of the wicked nature of the intertwined climate, biodiversity and economic crises, and the need for adaptive, multi-scale approaches to understanding the complexity of both the problems and potential responses. Most science underpinning policy responses to sustainability issues, however, remains overtly apolitical and focussed on technical innovation; at odds with a critical body of literatures insisting on the recognition of systemic problem framing when supporting policy processes. This paper documents the experience of implementing a mixed method approach called quantitative story-telling (QST) to policy analysis that explicitly recognises this normative dimension, as the methodology is part of a post-normal science (PNS) toolkit. The authors reflect on what was learnt when considering how QST fared as a tool for science–policy interaction, working with European Union (EU) level policy actors interested in sustainable agriculture and sustainable development goal 2. These goals—also known as UN Agenda 2030—are the latest institutionalisation of the pursuit of sustainable development and the EU has positioned itself as taking a lead in its implementation. Thus, the paper illustrates our experience of using PNS as an approach to science policy interfaces in a strategic policy context; and illustrates how the challenges identified in the science–policy literature are amplified when working across multiple policy domains and taking a complex systems approach. Our discussion on lessons learnt may be of interest to researchers seeking to work with policy-makers on complex sustainability issues.

Устойчивое развитие в стратегиях регионов: выбираемые подходы и решения

The adoption of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development by the Russian Federation in 2016 requires the introduction of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into na-tional strategies and policies. As most SDGs are already included in the main strategic planning documents, regional development strategies should be changed accordingly. This emerging practice of regional stra-tegic planning needs to be carefully studied. Based on the analysis of socio-economic strategies of eleven Russian regions included in the Northwestern Federal District, the present study shows the incorporation of the SDGs into regional strategic plans. The findings lead to the following conclusions. The implementa-tion of the SDGs in regional strategies is extremely heterogeneous, ranging from complete abstraction to their recognition as key development benchmarks. However, even the regions, which expressed the inten-tion to follow the UN Agenda in their strategies, did not establish clear plans for its implementation. The economic component of sustainable development is considered a priority, while social and environmen-tal components are underestimated, indicating that sustainable economic growth and related goals are seen as the main direction of regional development. Thus, sustainable development is yet to be achieved in the context determined by the UN Agenda and government strategic planning documents. It is necessary to further examine each region’s motivation for the introduction of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into regional strategies. Government and administrative bodies can use the research find-ings to improve approaches to strategic planning and management of the development of Russia and its regions.

The role and function of digital technologies in the sustainability perspective: Evidence from the football organizations in the Italian context

This paper investigates the Italian football clubs adopting a double perspective: the point of view of sustainability and technology innovation. In the last decades, the increasing implementation and spread of digital technologies worldwide in any economic settings, including the sport industry, especially the football business, has been playing a crucial role in supporting managerial, work out and training processes and making them much more competitive and high performing. At the same time, sport organizations, including football clubs, must achieve the UN Agenda 2030 with its 17 SDGs trying to improve their performance in the sustainability perspective. This paper, through a multiple case study of the Italian football clubs in the Serie A for the year 2021/2022, provides a portrait of these sport organizations and their way to be sustainable and much more technologically advanced in one specific county, where football industry has high relevance for volume of affairs and impact on sustainability. Thus, we match the two perspectives especially considering the role and function of digital technologies in making football clubs much more sustainable. After a brief review of the literature on the topic, we investigate the Italian football clubs mapping them considering their degree of sustainability and technology orientation. Our qualitative research provides useful insights about specific technologies able to improve the overall performance of the sport organizations, as well as knowledge about best practices already adopted by organizations for being sustainable, creating a kind of guideline for operators in the football industry.

Legal foundations of a solidary economy

The global economic system, as well as the planetary civilization, as a whole are experiencing an era of "great changes". The transition is overdue from an economy based on the paradigm of "economic man" — calculating, selfish, competitive, striving to maximize profits — to a regenerative one, based on solidarity and cooperation, built into natural cycles and focused on the welfare of the majority. The solidary economy (SE), which is replacing the existing one, is at the same time a transition to a future regenerative economic system. Its positioning is due to the fact that its institutional design consists of forms of organization integrated into the late modern, but whose potential in terms of prospects for social development goes beyond its limits, crossing the border separating modernity from postmodernity. SE can be understood as an ecosystem of practices that already exist — some old, some new, some still emerging. International organizations consider the solidary economy to be the key to implementing the paradigm shift envisaged by the UN Agenda for the period up to 2030 and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The key understanding of the SE as a system produced by the evolution of the modern economic system, which does not presuppose its revolutionary replacement with forms that constitute an alternative to existing institutions, the authors drew to its description the cooperation that best meets the needs of the transition to a new quality of socio-economic organization

Community Participation and Empowerment in Elementary Education: A Study of Uttarakhand State

The role of School Management Committees (SMCs) in promoting quality elementary education of children indicates that the community has a strong resolve to achieve education for all- goal 4 of the UN Agenda for sustainable development. Community participation and empowerment meaningfully brings the point to fore that schooling system partnering with the local community can provide solutions to many intricate issues. The present paper argues that community (School Management Committee) is an effective instrument to empower the marginalized to voice their grievances and come up with solutions and have a say in decision-making. The study establishes, that SMCs are aware of the policy issues and fault lines therein but their major concern is immediate i.e., to enroll all children, retain them in school and improve the quality of learning. The parents of children find difficult to provide academic support to children as they are pressed by the drudgeries of livelihood along with low level or no education. Therefore, in SMCs meetings they insist on improving school effectiveness, and for the improvement in the classroom, processes are the key to quality education. Thus, in improving access, enrolment, retention of children in schools and the overall monitoring of schools, the SMCs are playing significant role. However, more concentrated efforts are required to improve the classroom processes- resulting in better quality of learning

The discussion of the “Hungarian Question” in the UN and the problem of Hungary’s Exit from the political isolation, 1957–1963

The most powerful uprising in Budapest on October 23, 1956, which immediately threatened the existence of the communist regime in Hungary, and the entry of Soviet troops in order to suppress it caused a wide international resonance, which on October 28 led to the discussions on the Hungarian question at the UN Security Council, and later, in November, at the UN General Assembly. In November, as tensions in the Middle East following the British, French, and Israeli attacks on Egypt, which had nationalized the Suez Canal, eased, discussions of the situation in Hungary came to the fore at the UN. Facing the opposition from the USSR, the adoption by the UN General Assembly in November-December 1956 of numerous resolutions on Hungary did not bring any real effect, with the exception of those that made it possible to improve the situation of 200,000 Hungarian refugees who rushed to Austria and Yugoslavia after the suppression of the revolution. In 1957, the General Assembly discussed the report of the special UN committee on Hungary, formed to study the situation in the country that had developed as a result of the Soviet military intervention. In the subsequent years, the United States and their allies used the discussion of the “Hungarian question” in the UN for propaganda purposes, in an effort to weaken the Soviet influence on the countries of the awakening “Third World”. At the same time, it occupied an increasingly peripheral position every year. Its subsequent fate was directly dependent on the further evolution of the János Kádár regime. The removal of this issue from the UN agenda in 1963 was a response to the announced general amnesty for the convicted participants of the 1956’s uprising. It finally brought Kádár’s Hungary out of the diplomatic isolation, in which the country found itself after the illegal change of power with the direct Soviet military support in November 1956.

The Second United States – Africa Leaders Summit (13–15 December 2022)

The article is devoted to the second U.S.-Africa Leaders Summit, which was convened by Biden’s Administration and took place in Washington on 13–15 December 2022. 47 African countries were invited. 35 state presidents and 12 prime-ministers and ministers of foreign affairs participated in the work of the Summit. The African Union was represented by its chairperson, president of Senegal M.Sall. In the course of the first day of the Summit, the key spheres of cooperation were considered at 7 sessions. Business Forum was held on the second day. On the third day – “Leaders Day” – the heads of delegations discussed the ways of partnership in implementation of the African Union Agenda 2063. The author analyses the speeches by J.Biden, Vice-president K.Hurris and the Secretary of State A.J.Blinken as well as a joint statement of J.Biden and the African Union chairperson, president of Senegal M.Sall “Vision for U.S.-Africa Partnership”. The following vectors of U.S.-Africa cooperation are reviewed: policy, economy, food security, democracy, security and stability, environment, climate, clean energy, healthcare, Afro-American diaspora, youth, and women. The peculiarity of the conceptional design of the Summit is its non-confrontational spirit. It was decided in Washington that, in order to strengthen the US positions on the continent, it is advisable not to make obvious attempts to draw Africa into anti-Russian and anti-Chinese alliance, but to act under the guise of benevolent and impartial partner. This foresight and flexibility helped the US to give the Summit a constructive image and gain some political points.

Through Laws and Arguments that Prejudice Children’s Economic Ingenuity in Africa

Recent verses of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and that of the African Union Agenda 2063 emphasize the wellbeing of persons who are usually excluded from participating in development. These vulnerable persons include children. On the point of marginalization, this study considers children’s freedom of economic ingenuity and the arrays of caretaker activities that prohibit or postpone this liberty. This research is done through a qualitative analysis of primary and secondary sources of law, including cultures. Contrary to common arguments against child employment, this paper posits that “work” is a germane process for human development. Invariably, postponement of economic ingenuity in young persons in favour of formal education may justify dimensions, where unavailability or inadequacy of white collar jobs” disable millions of persons who have spent their childhood, (not less than 18 years) participating in full time schooling. This study argues that anti labour legislations should contain less restrictions on children’s economic freedom. Efforts should rather focus on creating safe work environment and fair wages for children, in manners that do not affect their other developmental rights negatively. Laws should also focus more on eliminating exploitative mentalities, policies and cultures from adults.

The Impact of Satellite Communications on Environmental Hazard Control: Tool for the Realization of African Union Agenda 2063 Aspirations

The Impact of Satellite Communications on Environmental Hazard Control: Tool for the Realization of African Union Agenda 2063 Aspirations

Changes in the energy supply strategy of the EU countries amid the full-scale Russian invasion

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine could have a profound impact on short-term solutions to the energy crisis (due to the loss of long-term contracts for additional volumes of Russian gas). It could block a unified agenda because of diverging interests of European countries, reduce European negotiating power, and therefore, weaken Europe’s resistance to Russian energy coercion in the long term. The article confirms the hypothesis that the European energy crisis leads to a slowdown in production and is caused primarily by smaller gas reserves, higher prices and tighter global supplies. Based on the study of a specially developed index and the results of assessing the state of energy independence of the European Union since the beginning of the 21st century made it possible to carry out the task of researching changes in the energy supply system of the EU countries against a background of the Russian war. The demonstration of a map of the most relevant ways of importing pipelines to the EU indicates the need to change the directions of diversification of the energy imports structure. The goal-setting of the directions of implementing the «Fit For 55» programme regarding the reduction of gas consumption by 2030 was studied and the strategy of reducing the dependence of the European Union on Russian gas was analysed.

CHINA'S FOREIGN POLICY SHIFT FROM BELT AND ROAD INITIATIVE TO GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVE: IMPACTS ON MARITIME GEOPOLITICS OF THE INDIAN OCEAN REGION

China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the foreign policy strategy that has changed world politics. It has compelled states to revisit their foreign policies either in favour of BRI or countering it. BRI has created a difficult situation for international power structure and status quo states due to transitioning power from west to east and emerging geopolitical reconfiguration. However, in September 2021, President Xi Jinping announced China's Global Development Initiative (GDI) at the opening session of the UN General Assembly, which renewed debate about the impacts of China's strategy. As China has a strong foothold in the Indian Ocean region through BRI, the undertaken research is an endeavour to study the effect of shifting China's foreign policy from BRI to GDI over the maritime geopolitics of the region. This research aims at determining GDI's role in supporting UN Agenda 2030 through focused efforts on sustainable development goals in the maritime domain. It is an exploratory and qualitative research conducted through deductive reasoning to seek an explanation of the core proposition. This research has used secondary sources for determining these upshots with potential changes in the maritime geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region. Bibliography Entry Khan, Maliha Zeba, and Zohaib Altaf. 2022. "China's Foreign Policy Shift from Belt and Road Initiative to Global Development Initiative: Impacts on Maritime Geopolitics of the Indian Ocean Region." Margalla Papers 26 (2): 14-27.

Türkiye’nin Afrika Ülkeleriyle İlişkilerinin Gelişmesinde Kıbrıs Meselesi ve İyi Niyet Heyetlerinin Rolü

II. Dünya Savaşının sona ermesinin ardından oluşan barış ortamından faydalanmak isteyen ve henüz tam bağımsızlıklarını kazanamamış ülkeler, self-determinasyon yani milletlerin kendi geleceklerini kendilerinin tayin edebilme düşüncesiyle bağımsızlık mücadelelerini güçlendirdiler. Türk ve Rum halklarının birlikte yaşadığı Kıbrıs adasında da bu yıllarda Rum halkı ve Yunan hükümetinin ortaklığında bir ayrılık hareketi başladı. Yunan hükümetinin desteğiyle mesele kısa sürede büyüdü ve 1954 yılında BM gündemine taşınarak uluslararası bir sorun haline geldi. Bağımsızlık konusunda ısrarcı olan Başpiskopos Makarios liderliğindeki Kıbrıs Rum halkı ve Yunan hükümeti, meseleyi BM üzerinden uluslararası platforma taşıyarak istediklerini almaya kararlıydılar. Bu kapsamda özellikle Makarios’un Bağlantısızlar Hareketi ile temasa geçip onların desteğini almak istemesi Kıbrıs meselesinin uluslararası camiaya duyurulması ve taraftar kazanılması açısından oldukça önemlidir. Kıbrıs Rum tarafı ve Yunan hükümetinin bu girişimleri karşısında bu zamana kadar etkili bir dış politika programı ortaya koyamayan Türkiye, ABD ve NATO’dan da beklediği desteği bulamayınca uluslararası destek arayışına girişti. İlk olarak 1963’te hükümet programında yer alan Afrika ülkeleriyle ilişkilerin geliştirilmesi hedefi, Kıbrıs meselesiyle ilgili uluslararası alanda destek arama çabasının ilk yansıması olmuştur. Hükümet, 1965 yılında siyaset adamları, diplomatlar, öğretim üyeleri ve gazetecilerden oluşan yedi ayrı iyi niyet heyetini Orta Doğu, Asya, Afrika ve Lâtin Amerika memleketlerine ziyaret için görevlendirdi. Heyetler, ziyaret edecekleri yetmişten fazla devlete cumhurbaşkanının mesajını iletecek, bu devletlerle Türkiye arasındaki münasebetlerin geliştirilmesi ve kuvvetlendirilmesi imkânlarını inceleyecek ve Kıbrıs hakkındaki görüşleri de izah edeceklerdir. Bu çalışmada Kıbrıs meselesine uluslararası destek aramak amacıyla başta Afrika ülkeleri olmak üzere dünyanın birçok ülkesine gönderilen bu iyi niyet heyetlerinin Kıbrıs sorununun çözümüne ve Türkiye ile Afrika arasındaki ilişkilerinin gelişimine katkısı incelenmiştir.

THE AFRICAN UNION’S AGENDA 2063 FOR AFRICA’S DEVELOPMENT: POSSIBILITY OR RUSE?

When Africa emerged from the chains of colonialism, there was great hope for post-colonial African leaders to consolidate the spirit of Pan-Africanism and use Africa's vast resources to spur inclusive socioeconomic development. The Organization of African Unity also supported this vision, as did the Lagos Plan of Action and the New Partnership for Africa's Development. Great emphasis was placed on continental integration and African unity. However, post-colonialism, Africa has been engulfed by never conflict, fragmentation of governance, political instability, and unstable relations between African countries, thus defeating the need for unity and collective development. The African Union Agenda 2063 is Africa's blueprint for achieving inclusive and sustainable socioeconomic development. It seeks to ensure, amongst others, peace and economic and political stability. However, there have been questions about whether the AU can achieve this. This doubt has been driven by the plethora of socioeconomic and political problems currently consuming Africa. This paper reviews current literature to examine the practicality of AU agenda 2063. It seeks to understand whether this agenda can be a possibility or just another plan with little if no substance. The following question will guide this paper: to what extent can the AU's agenda 2063 become realizable, considering the current socioeconomic and political challenges engulfing Africa?

Child Rights Law, Adoption Policy and Orphanage Management in Lagos: Implications for Responsible Citizenship and the Actualization of the African Union 2063 Agenda

This paper examines the nexus between orphanage management in Child’s Rights and Adoption Policy in Lagos State, Nigeria, as a gauge of how much Nigeria strives to meet the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. The research methodology includes sourcing informed views of resourceful scholars and workers on the subject matter; library search; relevant government documents, journal articles and conference proceedings. The findings of the study indicate that the situation of orphans and vulnerable children is escalating and beyond the capacities of many traditional families which necessitates institutional care and its role in an inclusive society for all children. The study is relevant in understanding the plight of orphans, vulnerable children and how States can support families and communities for improved developmental outcomes and as such produce wholesome individuals who will birth Africa’s renaissance.

Towards ‘Racialising’ the Union Agenda on the Front Lines of Healthcare Professions

A persistent problem in trade unions is the discrepancy/tension that exists between their progressive national equality-seeking agenda and the translation of equality principles into workplace activism and their application to members’ everyday working lives. Building on the notion of ‘feminising’ the union agenda, this article explores professional unions’ efforts towards ‘racialising’ the agenda, which is a neglected equality focus in extant literature. The study is located within nursing and midwifery in NHS workplaces where the existence of racism has long been recognised by all employment relations actors. It investigates how the national union anti-racism project is implemented by workplace union representatives. While it reveals recognition of the existence of workplace racism among union representatives, a degree of denial and discomfort also exists. This, combined with the absence of the empowering union strategies that might be expected, hinders the delivery of a racially inclusive union agenda on the front lines of healthcare.

Do farmers’ socioeconomic status determine the adoption of conservation agriculture? An empirical evidence from Eastern and Southern Regions of Cameroon

The African Union's Agenda 2063 and the Malabo Declaration recognize agricultural development as one of the most effective means of combating extreme poverty. Conservation Agriculture Practices (CAP) have been asserted to have the potential to boost agricultural output, improve livelihood and contribute to the conservation of natural resources. This study thus seeks to advance knowledge about Conversation Agriculture by assessing the factors determining the adoption and intensity of CAP among Cameroon's smallholder farmers. Data collected from 351 farmers in the South and East regions of Cameroon were used to study the social, economic, ecological and biophysical factors that determine the adoption of CAP. The study considered agroforestry, intercropping, crop rotation, cover crop, mulching, and zero-tillage as the CAP under investigation. According to the multivariate probit analysis employed, the results showed that gender, age, family size, extension services, use of modern farm technology, distance from house to farm, livestock owned, and infertile soil all significantly influenced CAP adoption. Results on adoption intensity revealed that gender, distance from house to farm, and the number of livestock owned were critical drivers of CAP adoption intensity. Promoting the adoption of CAP, policymakers and concerned stakeholders should consider farmer, institutional, socio-economic, ecological, biophysical aspects as well as relational values. However, already existing extension services need to be improved upon.

African women entrepreneurs and COVID-19: Towards achieving the African Union Agenda 2063

Research on the challenges facing African women entrepreneurship and the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is scant. This article explored the challenges and the impact of COVID-19 on African women-owned businesses and the effect thereof on the 17th goal of the African Union (AU) Agenda 2063. African women entrepreneurs experience many social inequalities, ranging from cultural norms to family to legal and regulatory measures to accessing finance. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these challenges as many African women entrepreneurs have been forced out of business because of measures taken by African governments to halt the spread of the disease. The article reviewed current literature on African women entrepreneurs and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic using two databases and is based on a total of 104 published articles. The article provided a foundation for post-COVID-19 policy directives in Africa. The authors recommend measures to mitigate these challenges and discuss strategies for policymakers to re-position African women entrepreneurs for the post-COVID-19 era towards achieving AU Agenda 2063 and realising the Africa we all want.Contribution: The study aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of ending poverty in Africa and the AU Agenda 2063 goal of achieving gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls to achieve the Africa we all want.

Machine Learning as a Diagnosis Tool of Groundwater Quality in Zones with High Agricultural Activity (Region of Campo de Cartagena, Murcia, Spain)

Groundwater is humanity’s freshwater pantry, constituting 97% of available freshwater. The 6th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of the UN Agenda 2030 promotes “Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all”, which takes special significance in arid or semi-arid regions. The region of Campo de Cartagena (Murcia, Spain) has one of the most technified and productive irrigation systems in Europe. As a result, the groundwater in this zone has serious chemical quality problems. To qualify and predict groundwater quality of this region, which may later facilitate its management, two machine learning models (Naïve-Bayes and Decision-tree) are proposed. These models did not require great computing power and were developed from a reduced number of data using the KNIME (KoNstanz Information MinEr) tool. Their accuracy was tested by the corresponding confusion matrix, providing a high accuracy in both models. The obtained results showed that groundwater quality was higher in the northern and west zones. This may be due to the presence in the north of the Andalusian aquifer, the deepest in Campo de Cartagena, and in the west to the predominance of rainfed crops, where the amount of water available for leaching fertilizers is lower, coming mainly from rainfall.