COVID-19

Photo: The educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the crucial role of teachers in maintaining learning continuity. © UNICEF/Jannatul Mawa

COVID-19 & the Global South: From Crisis Response to Sustainable Development

Rachel M. Gisselquist, a political scientist, is a Senior Research Fellow with the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and a member of the institute’s senior management team. She works on the politics of developing countries, with particular attention to inequality, ethnic politics, state building and governance and the role of aid therein, democracy and democratization, and sub-Saharan African politics.

: Opinion Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 06 October 2021

Photo: WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (centre) speaks to hospital staff at the Wazir Mohammad Akbar Khan National Hospital in Kabul, Afghanistan. Credit: WHO/Lindsay Mackenzie

Hunger Stalks Afghanistan, Healthcare System on Brink of Collapse

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) — While Afghanistan’s health system is on the brink of collapse, as the head of the World Health Organisation, WHO, has warned, families on the streets of Kabul are suffering from hunger. The fate of the drought-stricken in rural parts of the country is no better.

: Caroline Mwanga; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 03 October 2021

Clollage of pictures: (left) Shuttered massage parlours in Pratunam area and Rachanee: With massage business down, Rachanee sells BBQ pork in the pavement outside her apartment. Credit: Pattama Vilailert.

Without Tourists Thailand’s Famous Massage Industry on The Brink of Collapse

By Pattama Vilailert

BANGKOK(IDN) — Thailand’s famous tourist industry has been synonymous with its traditional massage parlours and treatment centres. But the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns are having a serious impact on the industry and may force foreign takeovers. The continuous lockdowns have impacted savagely on the spa and massage business.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 02 October 2021

Photo: (Left) An older woman learning computer skills in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Right) An elderly woman sits outside a health clinic in rural Nepal. Credit: Left: Amer Kapetanovic/UNFPA Bosnia and Herzegovina. Right: © Aisha Faquir/World Bank

Enable Digital Equity For All Ages

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

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

BANGKOK (IDN) — The growing number and share of older persons in Asia and the Pacific represent success stories of declining fertility and increasing longevity; the result of advances in social and economic development. This demographic transition is taking place against the backdrop of the accelerating Fourth Industrial Revolution. But COVID-19, with its epicentre now in Asia and the Pacific, has exacerbated the suffering of older persons in vulnerable situations and demonstrated the fragility of this progress.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 01 October 2021

Photo: Mrs Baptista S. Gebu, Executive Director of ProHumane Afrique International.

Africa Needs to Do a Lot More to Combat Gender Discrimination and Violence

Interview with ProHumane Afrique International's Executive Director

MOSCOW (IDN) — Globally, violence against women and girls persists. Besides, there are all kinds of gender discrimination. Some governments are steadily making efforts to eradicate violence and discrimination using legislation, and supporting public platforms devoted to discussing these. In this interview with Kester Kenn Klomegah* of IDN-InDepthNews, Mrs. Baptista S. Gebu, Executive Director of ProHumane Afrique International, discusses the situation of women and girls in the Republic of Ghana in West Africa.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; OPINION; 30 September 2021

Photo: NAM process in South Asia and in the Middle East. NAM summit in Iran. CC BY 4.0.

Foreign Policy: Sri Lanka and South Asia and the Conundrum to Resolve

By A. L. A. Azeez*

COLOMBO (IDN) — Whenever the foreign policy of the government of Sri Lanka is explained, the familiar refrains that are bandied around are ‘non-alignment’ and ‘neutrality’. No other South Asian country today has the burden of clarifying its foreign policy in terms of such ideals or any other as much as Sri Lanka seems to have demonstrated as of late.

: A. L. A. Azeez; OPINION; 29 September 2021

Photo: Prime Minister of Fiji addressing the UN General Assembly virtually on September 25, 2021. Source: PM's official Website.

Security Challenges We Face Are Climate and Disease, World Leaders Need to Rise Up

By Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama

Fiji Islands Prime Minister Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama is the current Chair of the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum. Addressing the UN General Assembly virtually on September 25, he called on the global community to embrace Fiji's vision of a better, greener, bluer and safer future for humanity.

SUVA (IDN) — The United Nations report to the UN General Assembly this year is titled “Our multilateral challenges: UN 2:0” a Common Agenda the blueprint for a future that is better, greener, and safer—and I would humbly add, “bluer”.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; OPINION; 28 September 2021

Photo source: People's Coalition on Food Sovereignty.

Tale Of Two Peoples’ Summits – Who Can Help to Feed the World?

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — There were two “Peoples’ Food Summits” held on September 23, one hosted by the United Nations from New York with some world leaders appearing virtually, while the other was hosted completely virtually with peoples’ movements bringing grassroots voices to the world.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Food security, nutrition & sustainable agriculture; 26 September 2021

Photo: On the second day of the high-level UN session on September 22, the General Assembly Hall was virtually empty due to corona virus restrictions. But at least one delegate was tested positive.

UN Jolted by Single Corona Virus Infection at a Meeting of World Leaders

By Thalif Deen

NEW YORK (IDN) — Amid fears of the current General Assembly sessions in danger of being a “super spreader” of the Delta virus—among hundreds of delegates attending a two-week long meeting through end September—the United Nations has alerted its staff about an unnamed delegate testing positive.

: Thalif Deen; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 23 September 2021

Photo: Bhikkhu Bodhi. Source: Buddhistdoor

Tackling Global Hunger at Its Roots

Viewpoint by Bhikkhu Bodhi

Tackling global hunger requires that we identify its fundamental causes and remove these at the roots. This necessitates not only the adoption of transformative policies, but a fundamental change in our own values and attitudes, writes Bhikkhu Bodhi.

NEW YORK (IDN) — The Buddha teaches that to effectively solve any problem we have to remove its underlying causes. While the Buddha himself applies this principle to the ending of existential suffering, the same method can be used to deal with many of the challenges we face in the social and economic dimensions of our lives.