SINGAPORE, May 26 2020 – Despite all the preoccupation with the current raging pandemic, it sadly appears that there has been no let-up in the global arms race among the major powers. In mid-May, the United States President Donald Trump, at an event for his new Space Force at the White House made a significant announcement, It was that the US was building right now an “incredible” new missile which would travel faster than any other in the world “by a factor of almost three”. This was obviously a response to the latest Russian ‘Avangard’ missile, which Russian President Vladimir Putin claims in invincible, with a speed of twenty times that of sound. The Chinese, reportedly are also feverishly working on their own hypersonic counterparts. All these would be strategic tools to…
Credit: UNFPA
UNITED NATIONS, May 7 2020 (IPS) – The world’s poorer nations, reeling under an unrelenting attack on their fragile economies by the COVID-19 pandemic, have suffered an equally deadly body blow: being buried under heavy debt burdens.
Abiy Ahmed, prime minister of Ethiopia who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, said last week that in 2019, 64 countries, nearly half of them in sub-Saharan Africa, spent more on than on health.
Ethiopia alone, he said, spends twice as much on paying off external debt as on health. “We spend 47 percent of our on debt servicing”, he wrote in an oped piece in the New York Times.
According to the UK-base…
NEW YORK and WASHINGTON D.C. , Sep 2 2020 (IPS) – On 27 August the that it will suspend the Doing Business Report over data irregularities, until it conducts a review and audit. The halting of the report was welcomed by trade unions, academics and human rights groups.
The World Bank’s ranks countries based on business regulations in 190 economies. The more regulations are slashed, the better a country does in the ranking. Most indicators are based on a standardized case study such as the conditions facing a small firm in the largest commercial city -this study characterizes the country.
Isabel Ortiz
Global reports that present comparable internation…
“Social cohesion is built over years and is the result of policies that allow everybody in society to share in its sustainable prosperity,” Ahunna Eziakonwa, Director – UNDP Africa
Women in Nigeria collect food vouchers as part of a programme to support families struggling under the COVID-19 lockdown. Credit: Damilola Onafuwa/WFP
UNITED NATIONS, Jul 27 2020 (IPS) – As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in Africa, countries are simultaneously dealing with the health and socio-economic impacts of the pandemic, and how and when to ease lockdowns and curfews imposed to stop the disease spreading and get onto the path of recovery.
However, some government…
Reaching remote communities. Credit: UnSplash / Ashwini C.
NEW YORK, Oct 26 2020 (IPS) – The coronavirus pandemic has impacted the way people value working from home, career building, and their overall approach to utilising downtime.
It has blurred out the lines between hobby, casual reading, and how time is spent away from work.
Despite a myriad of negative impacts, it has opened doors to career reboots and gaining skills for people who otherwise would have been left out.
COVID19 has made work from home the ‘new normal’, and around the globe, people are adapting to a life where a significant portion is spent online.
About two-thirds of b…
Masooma Ranalvi is the founder of WeSpeakOut and has campaigned to end FGM/C.
NEW DELHI, India, Jan 28 2021 (IPS) – Survivors of female genital mutilation or cutting (FGM/C), are determined to share their stories to end this practice – even though they face ostracisation by their communities.
Masooma Ranalvi, an FGM/C survivor and founder of ‘WeSpeakOut’, an organisation committed to eliminating FGM/C or khafd/khafz/khatna explains that FGM/C is practised by various communities in India but is prominently practised among the Dawoodi Bohras.
However, speaking out against the harmful practice has not been easy for Ranalvi and the many others who have dared to r…
During Yasmine Sherif’s visit to UNRWA schools in Ein El Hilweh, Lebanon, she told children, “I believe in you, and I believe in your strength.” ECW continues to support Palestine refugee children in Lebanon to overcome the impact of COVID-19 on their education. Credit: ECW/Fouad Choufany
BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec 15 2020 (IPS) – Education and health care were high on the agenda when the United Nations vowed to work toward a better future by setting 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to be met by 2030.
The global COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with harsh socio-economic challenges over the past few years, have led to several countries being off track to meet th…
Stop Islamophobia
NEW DELHI, India, Jun 3 2021 (IPS) – A Muslim call centre operator at a COVID-19 ‘war room’, who once saw himself a COVID-warrior, is now unemployed after being falsely branded by a top politician as a key member of a bed-for-bribe scam. He is a victim of the rise in Islamophobia in India as the country grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic – with scant evidence of condemnation from the authorities, say activists.
Early in May, a member of Parliament for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Tejasvi Surya, stormed into a COVID-19 ‘war room’ ostensibly to expose an alleged bed-for-bribe scam.
In a video live streamed on his social me…
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres believes “our solidarity based on the human rights and human dignity of all highlights the crucial role of religious leaders in our communities and beyond”. He cited previous public health crises, including HIV/AIDS and Ebola, noting how spiritual leadership had been a positive benefit in terms of community values, attitudes and actions.
Religious leaders. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas
NEW YORK, Jul 22 2021 (IPS) – The UN High Level Political Forum (HLPF) came to a conclusion on July 15th. Another HLPF, another series of declaration, and commitments and concerns articulated by governments.
All of which are…
A market vendor sells produce at Victoria Market in Port Victoria, Seychelles. Credit: UN Women/Ryan Brown
BRIGHTON, UK, Sep 20 2021 (IPS) – COVID-19 has exposed numerous fractures in global food systems that leave millions at risk of food insecurity. Like the numerous political failures in dealing with COVID, the repercussions of food system failings are experienced by rich and poor countries alike, with the poorest and most marginalised paying the greatest price.
To be clear, while the numbers of those who are undernourished remain shamefully high, this is a food crisis that is not just about hunger or famine. There is also a silent and growing crisis of an estimate…