COVID-19

Photo: With the lockdown to fend off the spread of COVID-19, many Southern Africans, have lost their jobs and switched to vending on the streets where they engage in cat and mouse games with police enforcing lockdown rules. Consequently, the game to survive still remains tough for most Africans as they battle to support their children amid schools closure. Credit: Jeffrey Moyo | INPS-IDN

COVID-19 Derails Education in Southern Africa

By Jeffrey Moyo

MUSINA, South Africa (IDN) – His three teenage children play home-made paper ball on the dusty streets of Musina, exercise books scattered on the veranda of their rented home in the South African border town with Zimbabwe. Yet Gerald Gava, the children's 47-year old father, lies on a reed mat spread on the veranda, apparently with nothing to do after he stopped working three months ago as the lockdown took toll on the construction company that employed him.

Gava, who is a migrant from Zimbabwe, said even his children have had to remain home as schools also shut down, thanks to the coronavirus that has pounded the entire globe.

: Jeffrey Moyo; THE WORLD; Africa; 18 August 2020

Media and Artists Join UN in Fighting COVID-19 Fake News

By Franck Kuwonu *

NEW YORK (IDN) – Aissata Diop, a Senegalese mother of four, living in Pikine on the outskirts of the capital city Dakar, had long heard that consuming garlic and lemon could have health benefits.

So, when her friend, Ramatou, displayed a message on her phone saying that drinking a daily bowl of boiled garlic and lemon could keep people from contracting COVID-19, Aissata wasted no time stocking up on her daily market run.

: Africa Renewal; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 17 August 2020

Chronic Underfunding of Public Health and Racist Policies Responsible for the Impact of COVID-19 in the US

Viewpoint by Marshall Auerback

The writer is a market analyst and commentator. This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

NEW YORK (IDN) – It is understandably tempting to drop all the blame for America’s catastrophic response to COVID-19 on the big desk in the Oval Office. But there’s more to the story than epic incompetence, grift and delusion at the highest levels of government. The stark divide in the level of health care from testing to treatment is divided by wealth and the legacy of systemic racism.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 16 August 2020

Photo: Lockdown hasn't stopped Luz Marina Bernal's activism. Credit: UN Women

Pandemic Yet Another Test for Colombian Human Rights Defenders

Viewpoint by Luz Marina Bernal*

This article was originally published on openDemocracy. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDN-InDepth News

BOGOTA (IDN) – I am Luz Marina Bernal. I live in Soacha, a municipality neighbouring Colombia’s capital, Bogotá, which is the main destination for displaced people from the rest of the country.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown have made things very difficult for me as I work on the ground with people and communities, but I live alone.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 14 August 2020

Photo: The sculpture Non-Violence by Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd, in front of UN headquarters at New York City. CC BY-SA 3.0

The UN at 75: A Glass Half Full or One Draining Through the Cracks – Part Two

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

This is the second of a two-part article by Dr Palitha Kohona, Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Former Chair of the UNGA Sixth Committee and the Former Co-Chair of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on BBNJ. Click here for Part One.

COLOMBO (IDN) – The way UN’s constitution (The Charter) is formulated ensures that its powers are strictly constrained. At the same time the rights and privileges of those who won the Second World War are well and truly entrenched in a blatantly undemocratic manner in the Charter, causing much disenchantment in a world where the political, economic and social power centres have shifted significantly.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; OPINION; 13 August 2020

Photo: A view of the Secretariat Building, with Members States’ flags flying in the foreground, at United Nations headquarters in New York. UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

The UN at 75: A Glass Half Full or One Draining Through the Cracks – Part One

Viewpoint by Dr Palitha Kohona

This is the first of a two-part article by Dr Palitha Kohona, Former Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka to the United Nations, Former Chair of the UNGA Sixth Committee and the Former Co-Chair of the UN Ad Hoc Committee on BBNJ.

COLOMBO (IDN) – As the United Nations enters its 75th year, faded photographs stare down at corridors emptied by Covid 19 and ageless memorabilia faintly glisten in the semi darkness. Almost a sad reflection of the lofty dreams and aspirations of its founders not fully realised.

: Dr. Palitha Kohona; OPINION; 12 August 2020

Death Cult Appears to Be Part of Trump's Reelection Strategy

Viewpoint by Sonali Kolhatkar

This article was produced by Economy for All, a project of the Independent Media Institute. Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of “Rising Up With Sonali,” a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations.

LOS ANGELES (IDN) – When President Donald Trump was challenged by Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan to respond to the fact that, “a thousand Americans are dying a day” due to COVID-19, the president responded as though the grim tally was perfectly acceptable, saying, “They are dying, that’s true. And it is what it is.”

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 11 August 2020

Photo: WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during the closing session of the 73rd World Health Assembly on 19 May 2020. Credit: WHO.

Trump Managed to Lead the World With the Worst Response to COVID-19 Pandemic

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad *

This article was produced by Globetrotter, a project of the Independent Media Institute.

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – Six months ago, on January 30, the director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, announced a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC). Ten days before this, the Chinese government had said—to great alarm—that the coronavirus could be transmitted from human to human. The contagiousness of this virus led the WHO to make the declaration, which came a month after the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention told their counterparts in the United States about the virus.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 August 2020

Photo: ICAN has campaigned for a ban treaty on nuclear weapons, inside and outside the United Nations headquarters, for over a decade, Credit: ICAN

Unlike the Pandemic, Nuclear War Can Be Blocked before It Begins

Viewpoint by Marina Martinez*

This article was originally published on WagingNonviolence and is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nuclear weapons have been posing a threat to humanity for 75 years – ever since the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

These days, our focus is understandably on the COVID-19 virus and the threat it poses to human life. But as we commemorate the anniversary of these bombings, it is important to acknowledge that unlike the coronavirus, nuclear weapons can only be remediated with prevention. Millions of people could be killed if a single nuclear bomb were detonated over a large city, and the added threats of radiation and retaliation could endanger all life on Earth.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 05 August 2020

We Need A One-World Monitoring System to Watch and Destroy Viruses

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Almost forgotten in the story about the Coronavirus is the story of AIDS. The drive to deal with it, the search to find medicine to cure it, and the self-discipline by homosexuals only began in 1981, when the disease was discovered, and its causes understood.

It was a stroke of luck that AIDS was discovered so quickly. Another five or ten years could have easily passed before it was detected. Then it would have rampaged through societies all over the world.

Long before AIDS became known, the human immunodeficiency virus HIV was at work. Scientists do not know exactly for how long, but it was probably around for decades. With better warnings and more time, we could have got a grip on the virus before it travelled around the globe.