Street checkpoint in Wuhan, China. Credit: UNV
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, May 12 2020 (IPS) – Although Wuhan local authorities undoubtedly ostracized local medical whistle-blowers, notably , who suspected a new virus was responsible for flu-like infections in Wuhan in late 2019, were apparently not delayed, and possibly even expedited, as the novel character of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, responsible for Covid-19 infections, was not immediately self-evident.
On 12 January this year, China publicly shared the genetic sequence for Covid-19 with the world. On 11 February, the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses causing Covid-19 the “severe acute respiratory syndrome…
A displaced Yemeni woman stands outside a makeshift shelter that she shares with her extended family. Courtesy: IOM/O. Headon
UNITED NATIONS, Jun 3 2020 (IPS) – World leaders gathered on Tuesday to pledge $1.35 billion in aid for Yemen, which currently undergoing what many is the world’s “worst humanitarian crisis”, with Saudi Arabia announcing a contribution of $500 million.
At the ceremony, the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Peter Maurer said that reducing aid to Yemen at this time would be “catastrophic.”
Those present at the ceremony repeatedly called for humanitarian access to be made accessible, without…
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Jun 16 2020 (IPS) – The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly impacted most economies in the world. Its full impacts will not be felt, let alone measured, until it runs its course. Many countries are still struggling to contain contagion, while the costs on both lives and livelihoods will undoubtedly have long-term repercussions.
Anis Chowdhury
Back to the future?
The pandemic has exposed economic vulnerabilities building up for decades, especially since the counter-revolution, against Keynesian and development economics in the 1980s, gathered pace with transnational corporation-led privatization, liberalization and globalization.
Angelina Jolie with Syrian refugees. Credit: UNHCR / Laban Mattei
NEW YORK, Jul 14 2020 – We must not leave young refugees by the wayside, urged UNESCO, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and Education Cannot Wait as they urged more support in favour of young refugees’ education during an online debate today, moderated by UNHCR Special Envoy Angelina Jolie, on how best to provide them with improved learning during and after the pandemic.
“Mobilizing for refugees is extremely urgent at a time when they are particularly vulnerable to the Covid-19 crisis and its aftermath,” said UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay, as s…
Yasmine Sherif, Director of Education Cannot Wait
NEW YORK, Aug 19 2020 (IPS) – There are moments when the world has no choice but to come together. Those moments become historic turning points. This is one of them. We are now faced with the greatest education emergency of our time. Over one billion children are out of school. The COVID-19 pandemic has created an unprecedented crisis of such magnitude and depth that the next generation might neither have the capacity and tools, nor the will, to rebuild let alone build back better.
Yasmine Sherif
The world has not planned well for the future. At its worst, education has for too long been underprioritized, and at i…
, IITA Board Member, Former African Union Commissioner for Rural Economy and Agriculture, and Chairperson, HOPE
, Senior Scientist and Gender Research Coordinator, IITA
IBADAN, Nigeria, Oct 12 2020 (IPS) – Africa’s hopes of feeding a population projected to double by 2050 amidst a worsening climate crisis rest on huge investments in agriculture, including creating the conditions so that women can empower themselves and lead efforts to transform the continent’s farming landscape.
Rhoda Tumusiime
As we celebrate the 2020 International Day of Rural Women, Africa needs to reflect more on the role women play in food and nutrition security, land …
Credit: United Nations
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Nov 20 2020 (IPS) – Japan should step up and play a role as a global facilitator for equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines, Dr Daisaku Higashi said at a recent Japan Parliamentarians Federation for Population (JPFP) study meeting.
The country should use the credibility developed in the post-Second World War era as a country with expertise in peacebuilding to ensure that developing countries are included in the vaccines’ rollout.
Higashi, a renowned commentator from Sophia University, warned that only an international effort could solve the pro…
Siddharth Chatterjee with CS Eugene Wamalwa, Heads of Missions from the United Nations Mission and other development partners visited the Frontier Counties Development Council Counties with a view of leveraging on opportunities considering geographic proximities in addressing shared developmental challenges in the marginalized Counties. Credit: West Pokot County, February 2020
NAIROBI, Kenya, Jan 4 2021 (IPS) –
Happy New Year, Kenya.
Several milestones in my personal and professional life have made Kenya a cherished place for me. I started my UNICEF career in Rumbek, South Sudan in June 2000, and my rest and recuperation breaks were in Nairo…
Member of Parliament Juliet Cuthbert-Flynn. Credit: Kate Chappell
KINGSTON, Jamaica, Feb 12 2021 (IPS) – It was a joyful, tearful celebration in the early morning hours of Dec. 30, 2020 for countless Argentinians when they heard the news: the senate had legalized terminations up to 14 weeks of pregnancy. Prior to this, activists have said that more than 3,000 women died of botched, illegal abortions since 1983. And across the Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region, this renewed sense of optimism was compounded after President Joe Biden what is known as the “global gag rule,” which essentially denied funding to international non-profit organizations that …
BANGKOK, Thailand, Mar 16 2021 (IPS) – The COVID-19 crisis poses an unprecedented threat to development in the Asia-Pacific region that could reverse much of the hard-earned progress made in recent years. The good news is we know how to tackle this challenge. Recovery from the pandemic and our global efforts to deliver the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030 must go hand-in-hand. The Goals provide a compass to navigate this crisis, faster and greener, everywhere and for everyone.
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Results from the 2021 edition of the Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report published today by the United Nations Economic …