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By Arjun Kumar, Anshula Mehta, Simi Mehta and Kuldeep Singh
NEW DELHI (IDN) — Vision loss and impairment affects more than how people see; it has implications for inequities in employment, healthcare access, and income. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), it has been estimated that 80% of vision loss is preventable or treatable. Yet, many populations do not have access to good-quality, affordable eye care.
By Jaya Ramachandran*
GENEVA (IDN) — The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) has urged the international community to extend sufficient and predictable financial support to the Palestinian people to alleviate suffering and prevent a deep socioeconomic crisis from worsening.
The latest report by UNCTAD on its assistance to the Palestinian people shows that the economy of the Occupied Palestinian Territory grew by 7.1 per cent in 2021, following an 11.3per cent contraction in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 shock.
By UN News
NEW YORK (IDN) — A flagship UN poverty study released on October 17, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, finds that significant poverty reduction is possible, and new ways of calculating the problem can help humanitarians and governments better target aid.
By Ramu Damodaran
The author is Senior Fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP).
NEW YORK (IDN) — I was in Athens three years ago this week, on what was to be my last trip outside New York, where I am based, before the pandemic; I have not travelled after that. My journey was to attend the International Conference on Energy and Climate Change, which the Energy and Policy Centre (KEPA) at the National and Kapodistrian University had organized.
By Thalif Deen
UNITED NATIONS (IDN) — A coalition of over 1,000 civil society organizations (CSOs) from 127 countries, under the umbrella of the Global People’s Assembly (GPA), has declared that the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be best achieved—and on its 2030 deadline—only with the active participation of civil society.
“Seven years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals—almost halfway to the 2030 deadline—the visionary promise of social justice and a rights-based, equitable and ecologically just world for all appears to be a distant dream,” warns the coalition.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — A Black climate activist, who found her picture snipped out of a news photo of young environmental activists (all white) at a U.N. confab, is finally getting a serious platform for her important work.
Vanessa Nakate, the Ugandan-born fighter for climate protection has been selected by UNICEF, the UN aid and development agency for children, to travel around the continent as their new goodwill ambassador. Other ambassadors included Serena Williams, popular actor Amitabh Bachchan, and Katy Perry.
By Radwan Jakeem
NEW YORK (IDN) — Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, two-thirds of countries have cut their education budgets. “But education is the building block for peaceful, prosperous, stable societies,” says the UN Chief.
“Reducing investment virtually guarantees more serious crises further down the line”. Secretary-General António Guterres spelt out: “We need to get more, not less, money into education systems”.
Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana
Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is an Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP)
BANGKOK (IDN) — Most of the 2.1 billion strong workforce in Asia and the Pacific are denied access to decent jobs, health care and social protection, but there is an array of policies and tools that governments can use to remedy these deficiencies and ensure that the rights and aspirations of these workers and their families are upheld and that they remain the engine of economic growth for the region.
WHO Media Release
GENEVA (IDN) — At the six-month mark of the war in Ukraine, the country’s badly affected but still-resilient health system is taking stock of lessons learned in providing life-saving care with the support of the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners as it prepares for a challenging winter ahead.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — Americans aren’t alone in turning purple over the car's skyrocketing costs for housing, food, medical care and fuel.
Last month in Sierra Leone, women street vendors gathered peacefully to protest the soaring cost of living. A few days later, the number swelled to the hundreds as many more protestors turned out, clashing with police and demanding the president’s resignation over the government’s perceived failure to address the rising prices.
IDN-InDepthNews offers news analyses, features, reports and viewpoints that impact the world and its peoples. It has been online since 2009. Its network spans countries around the world.