By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – In a joint statement, ninety-one women’s organizations from Iraq, Libya, Palestine, Syria and Yemen have joined a global appeal issued by UN Secretary-General António Guterres at the outset of the pandemic. 

On March 23, Guterres urged warring parties across the world to lay down their weapons in support of the bigger battle against COVID-19: the common enemy that is now threatening all the humankind.

A Grassroots Movement of Local Actions Has Been Credited for Success.

Viewpoint by Dan Sanchez

The writer is the Director of Content at the Foundation for Economic Education (FEE) and the editor of FEE.org. The article was originally published on FEE.org. It is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

ATLANTA, GA | U.S. (IDN) – Japan’s nationwide state of emergency was officially lifted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on May 25, who declared COVID-19 to be under control in the country. In his announcement of the move, Abe said, “Recently, new infection cases have fallen below 50 for the entire nation, and what was once nearly 10,000 hospitalized cases — that has now fallen below 2,000.”

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – In opening remarks to the Africa Dialogue Series on “COVID-19 and Silencing the Guns in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said: “The pandemic has exposed the fragility of our societies.  It is a global problem that demands a coordinated global response built on unity and solidarity”. He commended African Governments for having responded swiftly.

By Yadul Krishna*

NEW DELHI (IDN) – The left-ruled Indian State of Kerala remains in the global spot for its effective and efficient measures in tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. The state subjugated the Indian news headlines, projecting its potential, strength and humane approach to the outer world, leaving an operative model that other states can follow.

The government’s apt and adaptive state-interventionist strategy even garnered widespread attention across the world, with international media and academic journals, including that of MIT and Oxford, praising the robustness of the ‘Kerala Model’ of development.

UN Agencies Call for a Joint Effort to Safely Deliver Routine Immunization

By Jaya Ramachandran

GENEVA | NEW YORK (IDN) – Ahead of the virtual Global Vaccine Summit on June 4 in London, the World Health Organization WHO), UNICEF and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, have warned that COVID 19 is disrupting life-saving immunization services around the world. Consequently, millions of children – in rich and poor countries alike – are faced with the risk of diseases like diphtheria, measles and polio.

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.

Viewpoint by Eva Cossé, Human Rights Watch

The writer is Western Europe researcher, works on issues related to discrimination, migration, asylum and minority rights, with a focus on Greece. This article first appeared on Human Rights Watch and is being reproduced with the author’s permission.

LONDON | ATHENS (IDN) – The Greek government has begun easing lockdown measures, given the country’s success in keeping Covid-19 under control. Starting last week, people could leave their homes without authorization, most shops have re-opened, and older students have returned to the classroom.

By Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sr Lanka President

The following is the text of the Sri Lankan President’s address on May 4 to the online summit meeting of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) under the theme “United Against COVID-19”:

COLOMBO (IDN) – I am pleased to be participating at this summit, in support of global solidarity, unity and renewed multi-lateral cooperation in overcoming COVID-19.

Sri Lanka firmly believes that this Summit will serve as an important platform for the NAM Member States to support collective global action in combating this deadly virus and sharing best practices and lessons learnt.