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Photo: Members of CNDD-FDD rebel forces surrender their weapons and ammunition to United Nations Operation in Burundi (ONUB) peacekeepers in Mbanda, southern Burundi. 03 February 2005. UN Photo/Martine Perret.

Burundi Threatens to Deal a Severe Blow to UN Reputation

Viewpoint by Paula Donovan and Stephen Lewis

Paula Donovan and Stephen Lewis are Co-Directors of AIDS-Free World and its Code Blue Campaign, which seeks to end impunity for sexual offences by UN personnel.

NEW YORK (IDN) – It is a matter of extreme urgency that Burundi's presidential, legislative, and local elections, scheduled for May 20, be postponed. Admittedly, it's the eleventh hour, but the contagion of violence, and the viral contagion of COVID-19, make rescheduling imperative.

Three events of the past several days make an incontrovertible argument:

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; Africa; 16 May 2020

Photo: Gustavo Zlauvinen of Argentina, president-designate of the 2020 NPT Review Conference (meanwhile postponed to 20201), addresses the UN Security Council in February. Credit: Evan Schneider/UN).

Postponement of NPT Review Conference Offers an Opportunity

Antagonisms, Conflicts and Nuclear Risks After the Pandemic

A Pugwash Document

Signed on May 6 by Sergio Duarte (President of Pugwash), Paolo Cotta Ramusino (Secretary-General of Pugwash), Steven Miller (Chair of the Pugwash Executive Committee), and Saideh Lotfian (Chair of the Pugwash Council). Download a copy [PDF]. As of May 10, 135 eminent personalities including ministers had endorsed the document.

ROME | GENEVA | WASHINGTON | LONDON (IDN) – The new coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has already inflicted great damage on a number of nations and on the world at large, resulting not only in many tens of thousands of deaths but also in economic, financial and social crises.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 15 May 2020

Image credit: The German Medical Association

Close Encounters of the COVID Kind

The what, where, when, why, who, and how of the coronavirus pandemic

Viewpoint by Dr. Dilkhush Panjwani *

TORONTO (IDN) – Humanity is facing close encounters with the unfolding crisis of the novel coronavirus SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, and many other essential service providers are on the frontline, risking their lives to save lives through their selfless and dedicated service in their communities and hospitals. These frontline heroes are facing many challenges in performing their noble tasks. Notwithstanding the shortage of personal protective equipment (PPE), and ventilators in intensive care units (ICUs), they face the risk of contracting the COVID-19 disease due to extensive exposures in their line of duty.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 15 May 2020

Photo: Mozambican musician and environmental defender Feliciano dos Santos supports local communities in Niassa Province to develop their skills in sustainable natural resource management. He is founder and the executive director of the NGO ESTAMOS, and was awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize in 2008, for his use of music to promote the need of improving water and sanitation infrastructure in northern Mozambique. Credit: ESTAMOS/Mozambique.

Communities in Mozambique Inspired to Curb Deforestation

By Mariane Almeida and Sofia Barbeiro

The two writers are part of a team of Young Environmental Journalists covering Africa.

RIO de JANEIRO | LISBON (IDN) – In Mozambique's province of Gaza, 9,240 tons of charcoal are produced every year placing pressure on the region's natural resources. Wood burning for charcoal production has led to high rates of deforestation.

Unfortunately, what is happening in the Gaza province mirrors a nationwide trend. Data from the Global Forest Watch show that Mozambique has lost nearly 3 million hectares – or 10 per cent – of its forests since 2000.

: Africa & ME Editor; SUSTAINABILITY; Forests, desertification, land degradation & biodiversity; 15 May 2020

Image: Collage of pictures about biomedical research. Source: Delhi Posr

COVID-19: An Opportunity to Fix Dysfunctional Biomedical R&D System

Viewpoint by Sreenath Namboodiri*

The author is Assistant Professor of Law at School of Ethics, Governance, Culture & Social Systems, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth (deemed to be university), Ernakulam, Kerala, India. He can be reached on twitter @SnathNamboodiri

NEW DELHI (IDN) – Failures of the patent system to meet the public health priorities demand a new approach in research and development (R&D) financing and incentive to pharmaceutical innovations. An R&D model delinking the cost of R&D from the price of the product is the way forward.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 14 May 2020

Image: Abstract image of the impact of covid-19 on the economy. Source: SciencesPro

COVID-19 To Push More Than 34 Million People into Extreme Poverty in 2020

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) — The COVID-19 pandemic is threatening to deal a huge blow to global efforts for eradicating extreme poverty and hunger, two of the vital goals of the 17 SDGs. A new UN report expects more than 34 million people to fall below the extreme poverty line in 2020. 56 percent of them will be in African countries. An additional 130 million people may join the ranks of people living in extreme poverty by 2030.

: Santo D. Banerjee; COVID-19; 14 May 2020

Photo: "You should ask China," said Trump and terminated press conference on May 12 after clash with reporters – video

In Africa, Trump’s Fate Is Worse Than a Laughingstock

Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene

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

ABUJA (IDN) – In a recent article in The Atlantic also widely used elsewhere, American journalist, Anne Applebaum, described the pathetic meltdown of US President Donald Trump, especially since the outbreak of the global health crisis, COVID-19.

On April 29, the US President phoned his Nigerian counterpart, Muhammadu Buhari, and promised to help with some ventilators. The next day, an irreverent mascot in a cartoon strip in Leadership, a Nigerian newspaper, asked if Trump was also going send “Dettol vaccines,” a sarcastic reference to the President’s claim that disinfectants could mitigate the effect of Coronavirus.

: Africa & ME Editor; OPINION; 14 May 2020

Our Oceans Keep Our Health, The Economy and Our Lives Above the Waves

Healthy oceans: keeping Asia and the Pacific afloat

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

The writer is the United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ESCAP.

BANGKOK (IDN) – Memories of idyllic beaches and sonorous waves may seem far away while we remain at home. Yet, we need not look far to appreciate the enduring history of the ocean in Asia and the Pacific. For generations, the region has thrived on our seas. Our namesake bears a nod to the Pacific Ocean, a body of water tethered to the well-being of billions in our region. The seas provide food, livelihoods and a sense of identity, especially for coastal communities in the Pacific island States.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 13 May 2020

Photo: Religious leaders in an online meeting. Credit: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas

UN Chief Appeals to 'Common Humanity' Across All Faiths to Tackle COVID-19

By UN News

NEW YORK (IDN) – Our shared vulnerability to the coronavirus pandemic reveals “our common humanity”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told religious leaders in an online meeting to discuss the role they can play in limiting the damage caused by COVID-19.

Speaking during the meeting on May 12, Guterres said “it lays bare our responsibility to promote solidarity as the foundation of our response – a solidarity based on the human rights and human dignity of all … and it highlights the crucial role of religious leaders in your communities and beyond.”

: UN Bureau; UN INSIDER; 13 May 2020

Photo: Transporting new migrant workers to Doha, Qatar. Source: tellmemoreblogger.com

COVID-19: Should Economy Have Priority Over Migrant Workers' Health?

Viewpoint by Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – Many critics have described labour migration as the 21st-century slave trade and Covid-19 crisis has exposed this stark reality. Eastern European migrant labour in Europe. Unpaid construction workers on the brink of starvation in the Middle East. Hundreds of South Asian dormitory locked down migrant labourers infected with Covid-19 in Singapore. Global economy’s lack of compassion for the migrant workers that drives its engines is very much in display today.

Speaking on Al Jazeera’s Inside Story, Thulsi Narayanasamy, head of labour rights at the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC) argued that the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the structural inequalities that face migrant workers all over the world.