Reduced Inequalities

Photo: Law students of USMBA, university named after Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah, a 18th century Sultan of Morocco, participate in skills-building workshops in preparation for opening a law clinic. February 2020, High Atlas Foundation.

The Forgotten Victims of COVID-19 Amid Migration Crisis

By Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts

As the Coronavirus pandemic sweeps the globe, closing cities and shutting borders, migrants fleeing violence, persecution, and seeking a new life are stuck in the midst of a health and economic crisis. In this article, Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts investigates how current conditions could affect the future of migrants impacted by the pandemic and what NGOs and governments can do to help. She is a Global Studies undergraduate student at the University of Virginia.

: Europe Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 14 July 2020

Photo: Cape Coast Castle's 'Door of No Return' that slaves would pass through right before they were put on ships to the Americas and elsewhere. Source, Wikimedia Commons.

'Black Lives Matter' Continues to Spur Changes in Africa

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – As Americans explore the renaming of army bases, statues, streets, and schools that honour racist slave-holders or portray demeaning relationships between whites and Black, Brown and Latinx citizens, similar efforts are underway in Senegal and Liberia most recently.

Goree, an island in Senegal linked closely with slave trade, has decided to rename one of its main squares in response to the anti-racist movements around the world.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 07 July 2020

Collage: Backdrop population and environment image from Kullabs with photo of Malthus from Brittanica.

Malthus Revisited: Close Relationship between Population and Environment

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – The total human population and economy have imposed excessive weight on the global environment, as discussed in my new book circulated and freely downloadable from http://eacpe.org/app/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Malthus-Revisited-by-John-Scales-Avery.pdf

Thomas Rpbert Malthus' "Essay on The Principle of Population", the first edition of which was published in 1798, was one of the first systematic studies of the problem of population in relation to resources. Earlier discussions of the problem had been published by Boterro in Italy, Robert Wallace in England, and Benjamin Franklin in America.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 05 July 2020

Photo: Anthony Quintano | Black Lives Matter Protest Times Square New York City June 7 2020. CC License via Flickr. Source: UN Dispatch Podcast.

How the Black Lives Matter Movement Went Global

By Mark Leon Goldberg, UN Dispatch Podcasts

NEW YORK (IDN ) – The Black Lives Matter movement has spread quickly around the world. Over the last several weeks, there have been BLM demonstrations in nearly every major city in Europe. Tens of thousands of people showed up for protests in Berlin, Amsterdam, Paris, and London, just to name a few. There were also many protests across Latin America, Australia – even Asian cities like Seoul and Tokyo saw Black Lives Matter protests.

So how did the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota spark an anti-racism and civil rights movement that extends far beyond the United States?

: UN Bureau; HUMAN RIGHTS; Racism; 18 June 2020

Photo: Protests in New York on killing of George Floyd. Credit: Anadolu Agency of Turkey.

US Protests Unmask The 'Torch-Bearer' Of Human Rights

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – "The United States (US) has always taken pride in calling itself the 'Land of the Free' and appointed itself to be the global cop to punish others who violate human rights. … It has poked its nose in the affairs of almost all countries, all the time presenting itself as the torch-bearer of human rights", noted India's WIONEWS TV.

In addition to the murder of African-American George Floyd by the police in broad daylight, police cars have been shown to ram into unarmed protestors.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 12 June 2020

Photo: Northern end of The Centre, Bristol, showing Cenotaph and statue of slave trader Edward Colston following MetroBus-fCC BY-SA 4.0 under public realm improvements, March 2018. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Capping Week of Protests, UK Activists Topple Slave Trader's Statue

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – Years of inaction over the fate of an 18-foot statue of Edward Colston, a 17th century slave trader with the Royal African Company (RAC) was decided on June 7 with the toppling of Colston’s bronze statue in Bristol, England.

The statue was pulled down by a group of protestors at a demonstration in solidarity with Black Lives Matter and George Floyd. The figure was dragged to the Bristol harbour and flung into the River Avon.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 08 June 2020

Photo: Lorie Shaull/Flickr – Xena Goldman, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Niko Alexander and Pablo Hernandez (artists)

Racism and Exceptionalism Are Backbones of Trump Doctrine

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – Elimination of excessive economic inequality makes societies happier and better, underlines the incontrovertible evidence that a new freely downloadable book presents.

Going back to history, the Age of Reason or the Enlightenment was an intellectual and philosophical movement that dominated the world of ideas during the 17th to 19th centuries. Sir Isaac Newton's rational explanations for cosmic phenomena demonstrated that reason is better than superstition.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 June 2020

Photo source: Global Voices. Credit: Rajesh Balouria from Pixabay.

Nine Countries' UN Missions Concerned About Impact of COVID-19 on Migrants

A Joint Statement of Solidarity Initiated

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – Nine Permanent Missions to the United Nations in New York have expressed concern about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants, and initiated a joint statement requesting endorsement by representatives of all other countries accredited to the UN Headquarters. Once finalized, they will transmit the statement to Secretary-General António Guterres and relevant UN agencies, as well as distribute it through social media.

The nine permanent missions accredited to the UN are: Bangladesh, Benin, El Salvador, Fiji, Ireland, Mexico, Morocco, the Philippines and Portugal.

: UN Bureau; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 04 June 2020

Caribbean Leaders Urge Global Response to COVID Pandemic

Call for Addressing Inequality, Unsustainable Debt and Socio-Economic Disparities

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS | NAIROBI (IDN) – Caribbean leaders have joined the United Nations in calling for solidarity and increased funding, as some of the world’s most vulnerable countries scale up their efforts to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. At a virtual summit in Kenya's capital city, Nairobi, they have highlighted the need for "a truly global response" to the pandemic which is devastating the economic systems around the world, particularly impacting 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states. They also are stressed the need to "strengthen the multilateralism for development", and engage "our institutions to consider innovative solutions".

: Reinhard Jacobsen; THE WORLD; Latin America & the Caribbean; 04 June 2020

Photo: A mural of George Floyd by Jonathan Perry adorns the Art Wall in Manette on Monday June 1, 2020. Credit: MEEGAN M. REID / KITSAP SUN

The Unravelling of America: You've Gotta Watch to Cry

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview magazine based in Abuja, Nigeria.

ABUJA (IDN) – I first watched the movie in the lockdown. At the beginning, it was funny when the pair was fiddling with their entrée in the restaurant and wondering why they had both avoided each other until now.

A few minutes after they left the restaurant, trouble started. The movie, entitled “Queen & Slim,” is the love story of two black Americans drawn to each other by tragedy even before their love story began.