Health & Well Being

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".

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 20 February 2021

Photo: A seven-month-old baby displaced with his mother due to conflict in Tigray eats a high energy biscuit to boost his nutrition levels. Credit: UNICEF/Esiey Leul Kinfu

Children Experiencing Severe Harm in Ethiopia's Tigray Region

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS | NEW YORK (IDN) — A United Nations agency had drawn attention to the dire situation of children in Ethiopia’s Tigray region, where fighting continues between Government troops and regional forces of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF).

As more supplies and emergency personnel reach the area, “an incomplete but troubling picture” is emerging which reveals children are experiencing severe and ongoing harm, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported on February 12.

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Horn of Africa; 14 February 2021

Image: Global Supply Chains. Source: PYMNTS.com

New German Law Seeks Corporate Accountability for Rights Violations in Global Supply Chains

An Important Step Towards Implementing UN Guidelines

By Rita Joshi

BERLIN (IDN) – After protracted negotiations, Germany's coalition government has announced an agreement on a German 'mandatory human rights due diligence law' focusing on corporate accountability for human rights violations in global supply chains. In doing, it has taken into account the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). These also address the human rights risks and identify the human rights impact of their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

: Rita Joshi; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 13 February 2021

Photo: People fleeing conflict are particularly exposed to the threat of COVID-19. Credit: Giorgos Moutafis/Oxfam

Refugees and Pandemic: An Opportunity to be Seized?

Viewpoint by James Milner*

OTTAWA (IDN) – December 2019 was a time for cautious optimism for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They were celebrating the results of the first Global Refugee Forum, during which a wide range of states and other actors made pledges to enhance refugee support and share good practices.

Only a year later, on its 70th anniversary, the UNHCR issued a statement saying it was “in no mood to celebrate” given that conditions for refugees were getting markedly worse, not better.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 10 February 2021

Photo: Rohingya refugees in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh, protesting against what they view as a dangerous repatriation to Myanmar. Credit: Jafor Islam-VOA. Created: 23 February 2018.

Rohingya Continue to Suffer Even After Escaping to Supposed Safe Land

By Bahauddin Foizee*

DHAKA (IDN) – The horrible scenes of hungry, tired and almost lifeless Rohingya refugees entering Bangladesh shocked the world in 2017. Even today, many Rohingyas are attempting to make the journey from Myanmar to Bangladesh, believing that a foreign land (Bangladesh) would be safer than their homes (Myanmar). Although they aren’t migrating in large numbers now unlike what they did in 2017, their journey today is as unsafe, horrifying and terrible as it was three years earlier.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 07 February 2021

Image: Are we really all in this together? ‘Vaccine nationalism’ must be addressed to ensure equitable distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine. Credit: Pixabay.

Even the IMF Is Being Forced to Rethink Its Callousness to the Global South

It could cost as much as $5 trillion if rich countries don’t help vaccinate the rest of the world.

Viewpoint by Prabir Purkayastha*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The world seems to have turned topsy-turvy when the undisputed voices of global capital start talking about the virtues of “cooperation” among nations and “universal distribution of vaccines” to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 07 February 2021

World Bank Commits $12b for Covid-19 Vaccinations in Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) – The World Bank has expressed readiness to commit US$12 billion as concessional loans to assist African countries access foreign vaccines.

During a virtual meeting on the Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Financing and Deployment Strategy, the World Bank informed that the emergency vaccine financing projects in Africa, include Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, Mozambique, Tunisia, Eswatini and Cabo Verde.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 03 February 2021

Photo: Two boys making paper masks at the Al-Tah IDP camp in Idlib Governorate, Syria. Credit: United Nations

UN Chief Explains How to Make 2021 A Year of Transformation

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has told the UN’s 193 Member States that in the wake of an “annus horribilis” of death, disaster and despair, 2021 must be a year of transformation. “We need to move from death to health; from disaster to reconstruction; from despair to hope; from business as usual to transformation.”

Mr Guterres outlined his four priorities for the months ahead. Now is the time to secure the well-being of people, economies, societies and the planet, he accentuated, speaking from the podium in the General Assembly Hall in the UN Headquarters in New York on January 28.