By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The coronavirus is reaping a “grim harvest” in Zimbabwe. Those were the words of President Emmerson Mnangagwa acknowledging the deadly reach of the virus in the nation’s highest ranks of government. Zimbabwe’s transport and foreign ministers both succumbed to the coronavirus less than two days […]
Overcoming Vaccine Inequities and Enabling Small States’ Post-Covid19 Recovery
Viewpoint by P. I. Gomes* PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The “catastrophic moral failure” into which the world is seen as heading, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General, Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, can readily be understood as having its ideological basis in the callous principle of “profits before people for optimum […]
UN Chief Welcomes the US Move to Re-Enter the Paris Accord as Biden and Harris Are Sworn in as New Leaders
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warmly welcomed President Joe Biden’s “steps to re-enter the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and join the growing coalition of governments, cities, states, businesses and people taking ambitious action to confront the climate crisis”. Biden signed an executive order accepting the Paris […]
2021 Yet Another Testing Year for COVID-19 Hemmed Sri Lanka’s Economy
Viewpoint by Dushni Weerakoon The writer is the Executive Director and Head of the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka. COLOMBO (IDN) — The unprecedented disruptions of COVID-19 are causing a geopolitical reset — and as the global order is redrawn, small emerging market economies like Sri Lanka are vulnerable to the fallout. Sri […]
People’s Movement Launched in South Africa To Defeat Covid-19
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – A call to action endorsed by over 500 organizations and individuals in South Africa is aiming to unite millions of the nation’s citizens in order to acquire 40 to 80 million doses of vaccine to defeat the coronavirus pandemic. “The pandemic is wreaking havoc,” organizers […]
Transformation of Agri-Food Systems Crucial for FAO in 2021
By Ronald Joshua ROME (IDN) – Director-General QU Dongyu of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations has declared 2021 a key year to move forward the transformation of agri-food systems, marked by big events, particularly the UN Food Systems Summit in New York, the Pre-Summit in Rome, and FAO’s Youth World […]
One Planet Summit on Biodiversity Pledges Action Commitments
By Jaya Ramachandran PARIS (IDN) – The global health crisis of the COVID 19 came as a dramatic reminder of the importance of Nature for our daily lives and economies: biodiversity is our life insurance. Yet, the damage to ecosystems is unprecedented and will have major consequences on our lifestyles in the decades to come. […]
UN Chief Warns Against ‘vaccinationalism’ As 2 Million Die of COVID-19 Pandemic
By Radwan Jakeem NEW YORK (IDN) – “Our world has reached a heart-wrenching milestone: #COVID19 has now claimed two million lives. Sadly, the impact of the pandemic has been made worse by the absence of global coordination. In the memory of those two million souls, the world must act with far greater solidarity,” tweeted UN […]
Landmark World Social Forum Meets Virtually
By Jaya Ramachandran ROME (IDN) – Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the international edition of the World Social Forum (WSF) will take place virtually this year from January 23 to 31, marking the 20th anniversary of an extraordinary global gathering. The forthcoming WSF will be the longest ever held since the first World Social Forum […]
A New UN Report Calls for Living in Balance with The Planet
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) – As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly pointed out, humanity is faced with a “defining moment”, a warning that is highlighted in the 30th-anniversary edition of the Human Development Report (HDR), The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene. Though humankind has achieved incredible progress, we have […]