Goal 3 - SDGs for All

Sustainable Development Observer Issue 4 Focuses on Global Health Crisis

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — This fourth issue of Sustainable Development Observer focuses on the global health crisis that has been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and pharmaceutical industry’s greed—at the cost of peoples' health. While the world’s media has gone berserk about a new "Omicron" variant of the COVID virus, the World Trade Organisation has quietly postponed a ministerial conference that had as its main agenda item, an Indian and South African initiative supported by over 100 countries to waive patents on COVID vaccines and other medical testing systems and equipment.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 07 January 2022

Photo: According to a UNDP survey, the textile, tourism, hospitality, and construction sectors have been particularly hard hit by the pandemic and the political upheaval, as have small and medium enterprises. Credit: UNDP Myanmar.

Urban Poverty Rates in Myanmar Set to Triple, Warns New UN Survey

By Caroline Mwanga

NEW YORK | YANGON (IDN) — By early 2022, nearly half of Myanmar’s 55 million population—some 25 million people—will be living below the national poverty line, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). A survey leaves no doubt that the country’s poverty headcount is likely to return to levels not seen since 2005, effectively erasing 15 years of pre-pandemic economic growth.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 1; 28 December 2021

Photo: A woman selling locally grown rice in a market in Luang Prabang. Credit: Kalinga Seneviratne".

New Laos-China Rail Link Opens Up Southeast Asia for Trade and Tourism

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SINGAPORE (IDN) — A new 414 kilometres high-speed rail link between China and Laos has finally opened landlocked mountainous Laos to the region and made it possible for trade and tourism to expand across Southeast Asia. This link has technically facilitated rail travel from China to Singapore, and land-based trade that could make the South China Sea less important for regional trade. (P25) CHINESE | JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | KOREAN

: IDN-INPS Editor; Project Articles; 16 December 2021

The Outbreak of Omicron: Scientists and Leaders Call for Collaboration with Africa

By Reinhard Jacobsen

BRUSSELS (IDN) — International scientists and leaders have urged a "global response of collaboration with Africa on COVID-19 following Omicron outbreak". Over a hundred academics and leaders from Europe, Africa, the US among others say in a joint letter to the European Commission and the World Health Organization (WHO) that they are "concerned with the lack of action for vaccination in Africa and solidarity with Africa".

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 29 November 2021

Nations Protecting "Greedy" Pharma Companies Threaten Global COVID-19 Recovery

By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — The European Union (EU), United Kingdom, Japan and Australia are holding the world hostage by refusing to support a waiver of COVID-19 vaccine patents for the world to recover from the pandemic. The World Trade Organization (WTO) remains at an impasse for one year.

Then, India and South Africa applied for approval of a waiver over Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) for COVID-19 vaccines so that they could produce the vaccines—especially Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines—to help their countries as well as many developing countries to recover faster from the pandemic.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 23 October 2021

As Asia Grapples 'Living With COVID-19' Media May Need to Shed Adversarial Culture

Viewpoint By Kalinga Seneviratne

SYDNEY (IDN) — Indonesia’s popular tourism islands of Bali opened for tourism October 14, while Thailand announced that from November 1 vaccinated travellers from 19 countries will be allowed to visit the kingdom including its tourism island of Phuket. Both those countries’ tourism industry, which is a major revenue earner, has been devastated by over 18 months of inactivity that have impacted on the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of people.

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 15 October 2021

Image credit: The High Atlas Foundation,

Women’s Empowerment and Yoga in Rural Morocco and in Your Life

Viewpoint by Catrin Waters

The writer is a student at University of Virginia in the U.S. and a volunteer with the High Atlas Foundation, a U.S./Moroccan non-profit organization focused on sustainable development.

VIRGINIA, USA (IDN) — Before you read this, I challenge you to pause and ask your body the question: how do you like the thoughts I think about you?

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 07 October 2021

Photo: The educational disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the crucial role of teachers in maintaining learning continuity. © UNICEF/Jannatul Mawa

COVID-19 & the Global South: From Crisis Response to Sustainable Development

By Rachel Gisselquist

Rachel M. Gisselquist, a political scientist, is a Senior Research Fellow with the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) and a member of the institute’s senior management team. She works on the politics of developing countries, with particular attention to inequality, ethnic politics, state building and governance and the role of aid therein, democracy and democratization, and sub-Saharan African politics.

: Kalinga Seneviratne; Goal 3; 06 October 2021

Clollage of pictures: (left) Shuttered massage parlours in Pratunam area and Rachanee: With massage business down, Rachanee sells BBQ pork in the pavement outside her apartment. Credit: Pattama Vilailert.

Without Tourists Thailand’s Famous Massage Industry on The Brink of Collapse

By Pattama Vilailert

BANGKOK(IDN) — Thailand’s famous tourist industry has been synonymous with its traditional massage parlours and treatment centres. But the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns are having a serious impact on the industry and may force foreign takeovers. The continuous lockdowns have impacted savagely on the spa and massage business. (P18) JAPANESE TEXT VERSION PDF | TAGALOG | THAI

: IDN-INPS Editor; Goal 3; 02 October 2021

Photo: (Left) An older woman learning computer skills in Bosnia and Herzegovina. (Right) An elderly woman sits outside a health clinic in rural Nepal. Credit: Left: Amer Kapetanovic/UNFPA Bosnia and Herzegovina. Right: © Aisha Faquir/World Bank

Enable Digital Equity For All Ages

Viewpoint by Armida Salsiah Alisjahbana

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

BANGKOK (IDN) — The growing number and share of older persons in Asia and the Pacific represent success stories of declining fertility and increasing longevity; the result of advances in social and economic development.