News briefs compiled by Suresh Jaura* TORONTO | NEW DELHI (IDN) – The focus of news in Indian media in the second half of June was on the start of human trials by India’s ‘first’ indigenous COVID-19 vaccine, a nod to Indian start-ups to participate in space activities, emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi on June […]
Wanted ‘Information Volunteers’ to Halt Viral Spread of COVID-19 Misinformation
By J Nastranis NEW YORK (IDN) — Never before has there been a more pressing need for accurate, verified information as in the current situation marked by the Coronavirus spreading its tentacles around the world. Like the virus itself, Misinformation about COVID-19 spreads rapidly from person-to-person and heightens the risk to health disseminating fear and […]
Boris Johnson’s Merger of DFID – Will it Massacre UK’s ODA?
Viewpoint by Patrick I Gomes The writer, Dr Patrick I Gomes, was Secretary-General of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States for five years until Angola’s Ambassador to the European Union, Mr. Georges Rebelo Pinto Chikoti, took over on March 1. The 79-nation inter-regional body officially became the Organisation of African, Caribbean and […]
Concerted Efforts to Offset Damage Caused by Arctic Shipping
By Lowana Veal REYKJAVIK (IDN) – The polar region located at the northernmost part of Earth is warming at an accelerating rate and as sea ice continues to melt away, Arctic waters are becoming increasingly navigable to vessels carrying heavy fuel oil (HFO). HFO, which is one of the world’s dirtiest fuels, is not only […]
Conference Raises $130m for UN Palestinian Refugee Agency
By Bernhard Schell AMMAN | STOCKHOLM (IDN) – Seventy-five governments and non-governmental organisations have pledged $130 million in financial commitments to sustain the operations and services of the acutely underfunded United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). They gave the assurance at an extraordinary global meeting at the […]
A UN Day Will Address Serious Concerns of Widows Worldwide
Viewpoint by Roseline Orwa * BONDO, Kenya (IDN) – COVID-19, the deadly pandemic that has upended our world, is also, according to a new report, “a widow-making machine”. The emerging scientific evidence that many more men than women are dying from COVID-19 shows that the coronavirus crisis is creating new widows even as global economic […]
Arab Women’s Organizations Join the UN Chief Urging a Global Ceasefire in the Face Of COVID-19
By Caroline Mwanga NEW YORK (IDN) – In a joint statement, ninety-one women’s organizations from Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen have joined a global appeal issued by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the outset of the pandemic. On March 23, Guterres urged warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons in support of the bigger […]
UN Helps Conserve Migratory Waterbirds and Protect Biodiversity in 119 Countries
“Now Is the Time to Invest in and Step Up Action for Nature” By Rita Joshi BONN (IDN) – At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. These include diversity within species, between species, and between ecosystems. The richer […]
South African Leader Condemns Latest Surge of Violence Against Women
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Calling it a “dark and shameful week,” South African president Cyril Ramaphosa denounced the latest surge in violence against women, including the murder of a woman eight months pregnant. “Gender-based violence thrives in a climate of silence,” he said. “By looking the other way because […]
Women in The Pacific Confront the Dual Impact of a Pandemic and A Tropical Cyclone
By UN Women NEW YORK (IDN) – Although the Pacific has largely been spared by the spread of the disease relative to other regions around the world – with Fiji hardest hit of the six countries the UN Women’s Ending Violence Against Women and Girls programme works in, at 18 confirmed cases – all of […]