Goal 3 - SDGs for All

Photo: Workers construct a solar panel array structure in Malawi. CC BY-SA 4.0

An Inclusive Energy System Key to COVID-19 Recovery

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana is Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).

BANGKOK (IDN) — The past year is one that few of us will forget. While the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have played out unevenly across Asia and the Pacific, the region has been spared many of the worst effects seen in other parts of the world. The pandemic has reminded us that a reliable and uninterrupted energy supply is critical to managing this crisis.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 22 February 2021

Photo: Munir Akram, Seventy-sixth President of the Economic and Social Council. Credit: UN ECOSOC

UN's ECOSOC Chief Calls for Backing Up World's Poor Fight COVID-19

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) — UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) President Munir Akram has called for a 'Coalition of the Willing' to promote agreement at the global level, on a specific set of early actions to provide fiscal space and supplementary liquidity to developing countries suffering the disastrous impact of COVID-19.

In an email interview with IDN, Mr Akram said speedy actions should include comprehensive debt suspension, debt restructuring for countries in current or potential debt distress, creation of new Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) worth $500 billion and redistribution of unutilized SDR quotas to developing countries. (P 30) CHINESE | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN | P0RTUGUESE | TURKISH

: Ramesh Jaura; Project Articles; 22 February 2021

World Bank Commits $12b for Covid-19 Vaccinations in Africa

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW (IDN) – The World Bank has expressed readiness to commit US$12 billion as concessional loans to assist African countries access foreign vaccines.

During a virtual meeting on the Africa COVID-19 Vaccine Financing and Deployment Strategy, the World Bank informed that the emergency vaccine financing projects in Africa, include Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Niger, Mozambique, Tunisia, Eswatini and Cabo Verde.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 03 February 2021

Photo: Two boys making paper masks at the Al-Tah IDP camp in Idlib Governorate, Syria. Credit: United Nations

UN Chief Explains How to Make 2021 A Year of Transformation

By Radwan Jakeem

NEW YORK (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has told the UN’s 193 Member States that in the wake of an “annus horribilis” of death, disaster and despair, 2021 must be a year of transformation. “We need to move from death to health; from disaster to reconstruction; from despair to hope; from business as usual to transformation.”

: Ramesh Jaura; Goal 3; 31 January 2021

Mixed Feelings in Kenya's Pumwani Slums as Schools Open

By Francis Kinyua*

NAIROBI (IDN) – After being closed for nine months, schools in Kenya reopened to start a new term and resume the school year that was disrupted in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. On the morning of January 4, the streets were swarmed with elated children wearing colourful uniforms marching to their schools. (P29) GERMAN | HINDI | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | THAI

: IDN-INPS Editor; Project Articles; 27 January 2021

Superare le disuguaglianze del vaccino e facilitare il recupero post-Covid19 dei piccoli Stati

Profilo di P. I. Gomes*

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad e Tobago (IDN) – Il "catastrofico fallimento morale" verso la quale il mondo è indirizzato, secondo il Direttore Generale dell'Organizzazione Mondiale della Sanità (OMS), Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, può essere facilmente inteso come se avesse la sua base ideologica nel principio insensibile del "profitto prima delle persone per un valore ottimale degli azionisti".

: IDN-INPS Editor; Languages; Italian; 27 January 2021

Photo: Africa needs timely access to safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines. Credit: WHO

COVID-19 Decimating Ranks of Zimbabwe’s Government

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – The coronavirus is reaping a “grim harvest” in Zimbabwe. Those were the words of President Emmerson Mnangagwa acknowledging the deadly reach of the virus in the nation’s highest ranks of government.

Zimbabwe’s transport and foreign ministers both succumbed to the coronavirus less than two days of each other. Four ministers have died so far, with several more reportedly fighting for their lives in hospital.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 25 January 2021

Overcoming Vaccine Inequities and Enabling Small States' Post-Covid19 Recovery

Viewpoint by P. I. Gomes*

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago (IDN) – The “catastrophic moral failure” into which the world is seen as heading, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, can readily be understood as having its ideological basis in the callous principle of “profits before people for optimum shareholder-value”. (P28) ARABIC | ITALIAN | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | SPANISH

: IDN-INPS Editor; Project Articles; 23 January 2021

Photo: FAO DG Qu Dongyu. Credit: WTOCC BY-SA 2.0

People’s Movement Launched in South Africa To Defeat Covid-19

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) – A call to action endorsed by over 500 organizations and individuals in South Africa is aiming to unite millions of the nation’s citizens in order to acquire 40 to 80 million doses of vaccine to defeat the coronavirus pandemic.

“The pandemic is wreaking havoc,” organizers proclaimed in a recent letter published in the Mail&Guardian. “Vaccinating a significant part of the population is the only way to defeat the pandemic.”

: Ramesh Jaura; Goal 3; 19 January 2021

Photo: Virtual One Planet Summit: Credit: First Channel of German TV

One Planet Summit on Biodiversity Pledges Action Commitments

By Jaya Ramachandran

PARIS (IDN) – The global health crisis of the COVID 19 came as a dramatic reminder of the importance of Nature for our daily lives and economies: biodiversity is our life insurance. Yet, the damage to ecosystems is unprecedented and will have major consequences on our lifestyles in the decades to come.

According to knowledgeable sources, reversing this trend is a major challenge for the coming decade. This global challenge requires concerted action at all levels (international, national, local) and by all actors (governments, international organizations, businesses, associations, citizens, etc.).