COVID-19

Doubts Whether Return to Exceptionalism Will Serve Perceived U.S. Interests

Viewpoint by M.K. Bhadrakumar

The writer is a former Indian diplomat. This article was produced in partnership by Indian Punchline and Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute where it first appeared.

NEW DELHI (IDN) — In a statement marking the “return” of the United States to the United Nations Human Rights Council on February 24, Secretary of State Antony Blinken disclosed that the Biden administration is placing democracy and human rights at the centre of American foreign policy.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 02 March 2021

Photo: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. (file) Credit: UN News/Daniel Johnson

UN Concerned About the Impact of COVID-19 and Human Rights Violations

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) — Providing a global update to the Human Rights Council, Michelle Bachelet has said that as the COVID-19 pandemic gathers pace, people worldwide are “being left behind — or pushed even further behind”; they are being excluded from not only development but also opportunities. At the same time, civil society activists are being denied the right to voice opposition to the government.

“This makes us all weaker”, she warned the Council's virtual meeting on February 26. “It heightens grievances that are destabilizing. It means we miss perspectives and expertise that could inform and strengthen our initiatives. It shields corruption and abuses, by silencing feedback.”

: Jamshed Baruah; UN INSIDER; 26 February 2021

Image: Sunrise, Fog, Landscape, Mountains, Mist, Morning, Dawn as in diplomacy. Source: Pixabay.

The Great Game of Vaccination Diplomacy Targets Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) — Russia is committed to helping eradicate the rapidly increasing coronavirus infections in Africa amounting to approximately 3.8 million with its latest developed Sputnik V vaccine. Such a step will enable Russia to reassert its geopolitical influence that involves a keen competition with other foreign players on the continent.

An official media release in mid-February said that the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team — set up by the African Union to acquire additional vaccine doses so that Africa can attain a target immunization of 60% — has received an offer of 300 million Sputnik V vaccines from the Russian Federation.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Africa; 25 February 2021

Image: Collage of Munich Security Conference and G7 logos by IDN-INPS

Two Major Conferences Resolute in Combating COVID-19

Viewpoint by Somar Wijayadasa*

NEW YORK (IDN) — The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) and the Munich Security Conference (MSC) held two meetings virtually on February 19, 2021, as these had to be postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The G7 countries — Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States — meet annually to discuss major world crises issues and to resolve global problems. The virtual meeting was hosted by the UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson.

: Somar Wijayadasa; OPINION; 24 February 2021

Photo: Some countries using COVID vaccine to enhance their soft power. Credit: UN Photo/Loey Felipe

Response to COVID-19 Embedded in Global Power and Diplomatic Wrangles

Viewpoint by Michael Jennings*

LONDON (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to various new, repurposed or newly popular terms. The newest entry to the pandemic lexicon might be “vaccine diplomacy”, with some countries using their jabs to strengthen regional ties and enhance their own power and global status.

In early February, half a million doses of the Chinese Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Pakistan, before soon also reaching 13 other countries including Cambodia, Nepal, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe.

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 24 February 2021

Photo: Scores killed in a stampede at a church crusade in Tanzania. Source: africanquarters.com

Tanzania President Acknowledges the Menace of COVID-19

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — For months, Tanzanian President John Magufuli stuck to a controversial stand that COVID-19 would only be defeated by prayer.

This Sunday (February 21), the President amended his position. He urged citizens to wear masks — only locally made ones — and take other preventive measures against the virus.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 February 2021

Photo: Workers construct a solar panel array structure in Malawi. CC BY-SA 4.0

An Inclusive Energy System Key to COVID-19 Recovery

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — The past year is one that few of us will forget. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have played out unevenly across Asia and the Pacific, the region has been spared many of the worst effects seen in other parts of the world. The pandemic has reminded us that a reliable and uninterrupted energy supply is critical to managing this crisis.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Poverty; 22 February 2021

Photo: Munir Akram, Seventy-sixth President of the Economic and Social Council. Credit: UN ECOSOC

UN's ECOSOC Chief Calls for Backing Up World's Poor Fight COVID-19

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Munir Akram has called for a 'Coalition of the Willing' to promote agreement at the global level, on a specific set of early actions to provide fiscal space and supplementary liquidity to developing countries suffering the disastrous impact of COVID-19.

In an email interview with IDN, Mr Akram said speedy actions should include comprehensive debt suspension, debt restructuring for countries in current or potential debt distress, creation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $500 billion and redistribution of unutilized SDR quotas to developing countries.

: Ramesh Jaura; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 22 February 2021

Photo: Brazil is seen as the epicentre of COVID-19 outbreak in Latin America. Credit: Anadolu Agency.

Bolsonaro May Well Emerge Unscathed from Brazil’s Disaster

Viewpoint by Robert Muggah*

RIO DE JANEIRO (IDN) — It was once fashionable to describe Brazil as the country of the future. What a difference half a decade makes. In recent years, a democratically elected president was stripped of power and ultimately replaced by an authoritarian strongman. Today, Latin America's largest country is suffering from a “triple crisis” — a raging pandemic, economic turmoil and political turbulence. It wasn't supposed to be this way. So what accounts for Brazil's malaise?

: Phil Harris; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 20 February 2021

Photo: Dr S. Jaishankar. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Looking Forward to A Pluralistic and Rebalanced World

Viewpoint by S. Jaishankar

A return to normalcy in 2021 will mean safer travel, better health, economic revival and digitally-driven services. They will be expressed in new conversations and fresh understandings, writes Dr S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs of India and author of "The India Way: Strategies for an Uncertain World." The views expressed in this article are the writer's own. This opinion piece first appeared in the Newsweek Magazine with the headline "Reimagining Diplomacy in the Post-COVID World: An Indian Perspective".