Goal 3 - SDGs for All

COVID-19 and Lessons from Traditional Chinese Medicine

Viewpoint by Jayasri Priyalal*

SINGAPORE (IDN) – They are fighting an invisible enemy taking a warpath. Many countries grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic interpret the situation like a war. Frontline heroes are found in battlefield scenarios.

These heroes come from different professions, medical and healthcare workers being the binding force, the rest including, security, transport, postal logistic, financial service providers, and employees attached to retail industries etc. Aside from them, many unsung heroes are working in hospitals, morgues, in burial grounds and the health and sanitary service providers who provide an invaluable essential service to keep the communities together. (P22) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 22 November 2020

New Report Sparks Anxiety About COVID-19 Wrecking UN's 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | GENEVA (IDN) – UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi has stressed the need to address the frailties of globalization that led to the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and its uneven economic impacts, gravely wounding the world economy with serious consequences for everyone. He hopes that the situation would prove to be 'course-altering' and a catalyst for change. "We need to reshape global production networks and reset multilateral cooperation for the better," he says.

: Ramesh Jaura; Goal 3; 20 November 2020

Reclaiming Public Development Banks to Finance a Sustainable & Equitable Recovery Post Covid-19

Viewpoint by Thomas Marois and Maria Jose Romero *

BRUSSELS (IDN) – Those who work in the world’s public development banks will meet virtually on November 11-12 to discuss their response to the Covid-19 pandemic and their role in a more sustainable future.

This new summit, which they have called ‘Finance in Common’ (FiC), will also bring together the governments that own them and other key stakeholders from the public and private sectors, civil society, think tanks and academia.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 08 November 2020

Photo. Mauritanian students return to school after several months of school closures due to COVID-19. Credit: UNICEF/Raphael Pouget

Financing and Political Will Critical to Avert A ‘Generational Crisis’ Triggered by COVID-19

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – The world is at risk of suffering “a generational catastrophe”, as COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the education of students globally, the Secretary-General António Guterres has warned.

In a video message to the UN Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) Global Education Meeting (GEM), on October 22, he reminded delegates that the pandemic had had a “disproportionate impact on the most vulnerable and marginalized children and youth”.

GEM was sponsored by Norway, Britain and Ghana.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 23 October 2020

Photo: Nurses working in a South African COVID-19 clinic, based on a train, which travels to reach different communities. Credit: EPA-EFE

COVID-19: Europeans Can Learn from Developing Countries

Developed Countries Should Change Their Mindset

Viewpoint by Maru Mormina and Ifeanyi M. Nsofor*

OXFORD | WASHINGTON (IDN) – Nine months into the pandemic, Europe remains one of the regions worst affected by COVID-19. Ten of the 20 countries with the highest death count per million people are European. The other ten are in the Americas. This includes the US, which has the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths in the world.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 18 October 2020

Photo: Migrants on board a boat headed for Tripoli in July 2019. Critics say the EU should not be helping the Libyan Coast Guard to intercept and return people to a war-torn country where they face abuse and extortion. (Filippo Rossi/TNH)

Migrants Face “Double Threat” Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

By Jacqueline Skalski-Fouts*

This article discusses the economic and social impacts of the coronavirus pandemic with a particular focus on refugees, asylum seekers, and migrant workers.

VIRGINIA, USA (IDN) – Migrant workers have been at the forefront of the world economy during the COVID-19 pandemic, as essential workers. And this with enormous risk to themselves. They are facing what the International Rescue Committee refers to as an “unimaginable double emergency”. (P20) INDONESIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF

: IDN-INPS Editor; Project Articles; 16 October 2020

Image: The UN says that corruption is criminal, immoral and the ultimate betrayal of public trust. UN News/Daniel Dickinson

UN Concerned About Corruption in The Midst of COVID-19

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK (IDN) – The United Nations is concerned about corruption in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, which it says is proving "to be even more damaging in its impact on the most vulnerable".

UN Secretary-General António Guterres described corruption as "criminal, immoral and the ultimate betrayal of public trust. It is even more damaging in times of crisis – as the world is experiencing now with the COVID-19 pandemic".

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 15 October 2020

Photo: Online shopping will never be the same after the coronavirus pandemic. Source: UNCTAD

UN Survey Finds COVID-19 Has Enhanced Online Shopping

By Jamshed Baruah

GENEVA (IDN) – "The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world. The changes we make now will have lasting effects as the world economy begins to recover," says Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

The acceleration of online shopping globally underscores the urgency of ensuring all countries can seize the opportunities offered by digitalization as the world moves from pandemic response to recovery, he adds. (P19) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TURKISH

: IDN-INPS Editor; Project Articles; 09 October 2020

Photo: The virus highlighted the world’s structural dependence on cheap, exploitable labour. Source: salud-america.org

COVID-19 Highlights the Global Structural Dependence on Exploitable Labour

Viewpoint by Randall Hansen*

TORONTO (IDN) – In November 2019, a federal government official visited the University of Toronto’s Munk School and asked its faculty to delineate coming global threats. We spoke of inequality, hunger, climate change, sanitation, and plastic pollution, among others. No one mentioned a microbe; a discussion of the threat of immunity to antibiotics was as close as we got.

Four months later, everyone in that room was under lockdown. COVID-19 hit the world as a freight train hits a car stalled at a railroad crossing. The virus has shredded the rhythm of our daily lives, and it will reconfigure our economies and politics.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 07 October 2020

Image: Members (dark blue) of the Pacific Islands Forum. CC BY-SA 3.0 Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Fiji’s Tourism Workers Turn to Farming and Fishing As COVID-19 Ravages the Industry

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) – The COVID-19 crisis has hit tourism-dependent Pacific Island countries severely. Fiji, the largest of these states, is feeling the impact badly, with laid-off workers of tourism-related industries, such as hotels and travel companies, turning to farming and fishing for survival. Because of its larger land mass and fishing grounds in the sea, Fiji’s population is trying to cushion the impact depending on their natural resources.