NEW YORK, Oct 14 2021 (IPS) – “Now is the time for a stronger, more networked and inclusive multilateral system anchored in the United Nations,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres in his latest report “Our Common Agenda.” Indeed, there is a fork in the road: we can either choose to breakdown or to breakthrough.
Yasmine Sherif
Making this moral choice and adopting this legal imperative is more relevant today than ever. The estimated 75 million children and adolescents caught in emergencies and protracted crisis who suffer from disrupted education has now dramatically increased from 75 million to 128 million due to the pandemic. These vulnerable girls a…
SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 2021 (IPS) – Funding for developing countries to address global warming is grossly inadequate. Very little finance is for the urgent need of countries most adversely affected. Also, adaptation needs to be forward-looking rather than only addressing accumulated problems.
Anis Chowdhury
Suicide pact?
Climate change poses an existential threat, especially to poor countries with little means to adapt. Rich countries’ failure to deliver promised financial support has only made things worse. COVID-19 has dealt another knock-out blow, worsened by rich countries’ “”.
The was undoubtedly a “” and “nowhere near enough…
NEW DELHI, India, Feb 8 2022 (IPS) – The Covid-19 pandemic affected countries and people globally, at the same time exacerbated vulnerabilities such as modern-day slavery. There are over people estimated to be in modern-day slavery, and certain population groups, sectors and geographies such as children, migrant workers, women and girls that were already vulnerable, became more vulnerable to recruitment and exploitation during the pandemic. The has called the pandemic more than a health crisis, “it is an economic crisis, a humanitarian crisis, and a human rights crisis.”
Romy Hawatt
UN Secretary- General António Guterres the world to go into emergency mode in the COVID…
Apr 6 2022 –
ECW: The International Disability Alliance (IDA), Government of Norway and Government of Ghana hosted the second in February. At the summit you called on partners to commit to ensuring children with disabilities can access their inherent human rights, including the right to education. How can we transform the delivery of education in emergencies to ensure no child is left behind?
Minister Anne Beathe Tvinnereim: UN Member States have committed to leave no one behind in their implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Ensuring no one is left behind also means inclusion of persons with disabilities. We have to make sure that children …
Nigerians should not be pushing against global COVID-19 vaccine inequity amid widespread looting of the national treasury. Credit: UNICEF/Nahom Tesfaye
ABUJA, May 24 2022 (IPS) – Nigeria’s accountant-general, the administrative head of the country’s treasury, has been by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for allegedly stealing 80 billion naira ($134 million). This is a staggering theft in a country that has an estimated (48% of the population) and some of the worst health indices in the world.
As a universal health coverage and global health equity advocate, I know that Nigeria s health system would be stronger and work better by blo…
Mask mandates are now over, but health practitioners and scientists say it’s time to use what we have learnt about COVID-19 to manage other epidemics. Credit: IMF Photo/James Oatway
Johannesburg, Aug 18 2022 (IPS) – After two years of economic and social upheaval caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, many countries, including South Africa, have lifted the tough protocols such as lockdowns, the mandatory wearing of masks and social distancing.
COVID fatigue, the global eco…
DAKAR and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 2022 (IPS) – The ongoing plunder of Africa’s natural resources drained by capital flight is holding it back yet again. More African nations face protracted recessions amid mounting debt distress, rubbing salt into deep wounds from the past.
With much less foreign exchange, tax revenue, and policy space to face external shocks, many African governments believe they have little choice but to spend less, or borrow more in foreign currencies.
Ndongo Samba Sylla
Most Africans are struggling to cope with food and energy crises, inflation, higher interest rates, adverse climate events, less health and social provisioning. Unrest is …
Benson Musyoka rides his motorcycle from Kamboo health centre to transport vaccines to Yindalani village. Photo Joyce Chimbi/IPS
NAIROBI, Mar 13 2023 (IPS) – Up until 2019, nurses in three health facilities located in the semi-arid south-eastern Kenya region of Makueni County struggled to bring critical health services closer to a hard-to-reach population scattered across three remote, far-flung villages.
“Kamboo, Yindalani a…
NEW YORK, Sep 2 2022 (IPS) – As we approach this year’s , global leaders can and must prioritize expertise and mobilize political will to support efforts to ensure inclusive and quality education for all, especially girls. This is at the heart of in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, as well as the commitments made in the and the .
Helen Grant
Despite the progress made in recent decades, gender inequality between girls and boys, in all their diversity, is deepening. According to a recent United Nations , the interlinked crises: of armed conflicts, climate change and COVID-19 are putting the 2030 Agenda in “grave danger, along with humanity’s v…
Cyclone damage in Vanuatu. Credit: UNICEF/ReliefWeb
LONDON, Mar 23 2023 (IPS) – Human life is sacred and every individual deserves an equal chance in life. We have a common desire, we all want to lead a free, fulfilling existence, with dignity, where our basic needs are met, with opportunities to advance and equal treatment under the law. These are fundamental human rights, protected by international law, which we all have a shared responsibility to protect.
Out of the horrors and bloodshed of war, we created an international system for cooperation between nations under the United Nations, with our rights enshrined by the Universal Declaration on Human Righ…