SUSTAINABILITY

Photo: "Wet market" in Indonesia. Credit: Kalinga Seneviatne | INPS-IDN

COVID-19 Could Lead to Better Protection of Biodiversity and Wild Animals

By Kalinga Seneviratne

This article is the 38th in a series of joint productions of Lotus News Features and IDN-InDepthNews, flagship of the International Press Syndicate. Click here for previous articles.

SYDNEY (IDN) – A positive outcome of the COVID-19 pandemic could be a better understanding of protecting biodiversity and a global ban on the trade in wild animals for food. The belief that COVID-19 began at a "wet market" in Wuhan in China, where wild animals were being sold for human consumption, has led to the Chinese government banning the trade in wild animals and a growing international campaign for this to be made into an enforceable international law.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; COVID-19; 10 April 2020

Photo: Screenshot of with statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women. The video was posted on 8 April 2020.

Violence Against Women Is the Growing Shadow Pandemic

Viewpoint by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka

Following is the statement by Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women on 6 April 2020.

NEW YORK (IDN) – With 90 countries in lockdown, four billion people are now sheltering at home from the global contagion of COVID-19. It's a protective measure, but it brings another deadly danger. We see a shadow pandemic growing, of violence against women.

As more countries report infection and lockdown, more domestic violence helplines and shelters across the world are reporting rising calls for help.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 09 April 2020

Photo: Outdoor restaurant in central Stockholm, Sweden, 26 March 2020. Credit: EPA-EFE/Janerik Henriksson

COVID-19: Why the Nordics are Our Best Bet for Comparing Strategies

Viewpoint by Paul W. Franks*

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Daily updated graphs illustrating the rising COVID-19 death rates in different countries raise hopes that we can understand impact of the virus and work out how to stop it from spreading further. But when comparing countries as different as South Korea, China, Italy and the UK, we may find the impression of how different interventions work is obscured by many other factors.

These countries differ in many important ways, including demographics, civil disobedience, population density, patterns of social interactions, air quality and genetics. Italy, for example, has regions with older populations than many other countries. And European societies are unlikely to ever accept the draconian interventions used in China and South Korea.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 09 April 2020

Photo: CMS Executive Secretary Amy Fraenkel. Credit: Florian Keil.

Far from Being Our Enemies, Bats Need Protection Now More Than Ever

Viewpoint by Amy Fraenkel

The writer is the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS) based in Bonn, Germany.

BONN (IDN) – As efforts are stepping up around the world to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there are alarming reports that some communities and governmental authorities are targeting the wrong enemy: bats.

Not only will killing bats not stop COVID-19; it could also do irreparable harm to a mammal which poses no risk to human health in its natural environment, and which provides enormous benefits including pollination, seed dispersal and pest control.

: Opinion Editor; UN INSIDER; 08 April 2020

A Resilient and Sustainable Future Needs Asia-Pacific Response to COVID-19 and Climate Emergency

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

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

BANGKOK (IDN) – The unprecedented public health emergency triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic and its multi-faceted impact on people's lives around the world is taking a heavy toll on Asia and the Pacific.

Countries in our region are striving to mitigate the massive socioeconomic impact of the pandemic, which is also expected to affect the region's economic health. In its annual Economic and Social Survey of Asia and the Pacific 2020 launched on May 8, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) expects growth in Asia-Pacific developing economies to slow down significantly this year.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 08 April 2020

Image: Collage of resources from the Internet.

COVID-19 Crisis: The Group of 77 Call for Strengthening South-South and North-South Cooperation

Applause for UN Chief's Leadership While Missing Out His 'Global Ceasefire' Plea

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – Short of referring to the clarion call by UN Secretary-General António Guterres on March 23 for "an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world", in support of the bigger battle against the devastating pandemic, the Group of 77 (G77) has in a statement congratulated him for his "strong leadership in this time of crisis" and welcomed the launch of the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund "to strengthen health systems and assist vulnerable populations across the globe".

: J Nastranis; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; The Group of 77; 07 April 2020

Photo: Numbers of deaths have halved in the last four years, according to the respected Global Terrorism Index. published by the Institute for Economics and Peace. The numbers killed were 33,555 in 2014 but in 2018 were 15,952. Credit: Global Terrorism Index 2019.

COVID-19: A Pandemic of Fear?

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power

LUND, Sweden (IDN) – Let's get death in proportion. True, Coronavirus is an appalling disease but the number of deaths it has caused this year is far lower than deaths caused by either common flue, car accidents, drug taking, alcoholism or cigarette smoking. Governments don't like these things and make an effort to combat them. But they don't get themselves as worked up as they have with Coronavirus. (For starters, why don't they outlaw all smoking?) A Russian friend texted me from Moscow the other day saying the pandemic we should worry about is "the pandemic of fear". Where is our sense of proportion?

: Jonathan Power; OPINION; 07 April 2020

Photo: Collage of images from the Internet.

COVID-19: USA, France and China Crave African Support to Overcome the Pandemic

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The U.S. and France are treading unexpected paths to besiege COVID-19 with African assistance. Striking a different note, the Nigerians have strong reservations about a team of Chinese specialists invited to support them in combating the pandemic in the West African country.

While the desperate USAID relief agency has been seeking personal protective equipment (PPE) from poor countries to safeguard much needed supplies in the U.S., and a French doctor wants to test drugs on Africans. But the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) is bashing the government for inviting an 18-man team of Chinese specialists in helping to combat the COVID-19 outbreak in Nigeria.

: Global Information Network; COVID-19; 07 April 2020

Photo: Police officers and commuters at the Likoni Ferry terminal, Kenya, 27 March 2020. Credit: All Rights Reserved afsee@lse.ac.uk

Kenyans Under Brute Attack Amidst COVID-19 Curfew

By Saida Ali

Saida Ali is an intersectional feminist and an international policy analyst. She is an Atlantic Fellow for Social and Economic Equity. She tweets at @SaidaAaliyah

NAIROBI (IDN) – On March 27, in response to the threat of COVID-19, Kenya instituted a nationwide dusk-to-dawn curfew. That night, a man was beaten by police and later died of his injuries. A few days later, a boy looking out from the balcony of his home was killed by a police bullet.

These are not isolated cases. Kenyan police are killing the poor. At a time when the forces charged with protecting and serving us should be doing their utmost to help, they continue to pathologise people facing multiple and intersecting inequalities, and a daily struggle to earn a living.

: Africa & ME Editor; THE WORLD; Africa; 06 April 2020

Photo: WHO concerned as COVID-19 cases accelerate in Africa. Credit: WHO

COVID-19: Exponential Rise in Africa of Concern to WHO

By Devendra Kamarajan

BRAZZAVILLE (IDN) – With more than 6,000 COVID-19 cases reported in Africa, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the virus threatening fragile health systems on the continent. Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa, said: "Case numbers are increasing exponentially in the African region" – not only between African countries but within different localities in the hardest-hit countries.