KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Feb 9 2021 (IPS) – Refusal to temporarily suspend several World Trade Organization (WTO) intellectual property (IP) provisions to enable much faster and broader progress in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic should be grounds for International Criminal Court prosecution for genocide.
Jomo Kwame Sundaram
Making life-saving vaccines, medicines and equipment available, freely or affordably, has been crucial for containing the spread of many infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, HIV-AIDS, polio and smallpox.
Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine, insisted that it remain patent free. Asked who owned the patent 65 years ago, he , “The peo…
Zwein during one of the 2019 protests in Beirut. Credit: Victoria El-Khoury Zwein
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Mar 12 2021 (IPS) – The fight for equality around the globe has taken a few steps forward in some countries which provides a glimmer of hope for future generations for increased female participation and representation. However, that particular fight is taking new shapes and forms in multiple corners of the world, where women are still persecuted, silenced, threatened, killed, harassed, and stripped off their basic human rights on a daily basis. The question today is, when will the world become a safer place for women and girls?
While the degree of severity …
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 3 2021 (IPS) – Hopes for an inclusive global economic recovery are fast fading. As rich countries have done little to ensure poor countries’ access to vaccines and fiscal resources, North-South “” will certainly widen.
Enhancing relief, recovery, transformation
While the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has rich countries’ recovery prospects upward, the United Nations (UN) notes formidable challenges, especially for developing countries, due to the pandemic.
Anis Chowdhury
The of more setbacks for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), already behind schedule before the pandemic. Grim recovery prospects have be…