A project of the Non-profit International Press Syndicate Group with IDN as the Flagship Agency in partnership with Soka Gakkai International in consultative status with ECOSOC
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.…
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
…
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”.…
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) – Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg has at least two African partners stepping up on the global stage and telling world leaders to “wake up” and recognize the dangers to women and girls of climate change.
In a speech broadcast as part of the Desmond Tutu International Peace Lecture, Ugandan activist Vanessa Nakate tied climate change to poverty, hunger, disease, conflict and violence.…
Viewpoint by Yossef Ben-Meir
Dr Yossef Ben-Meir is president of the High Atlas Foundation, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to sustainable development in Morocco.
MARRAKECH (IDN) – October 17 marks the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. The commemoration of this day suggests that the way to end poverty is not a matter shrouded in mystery. In fact, its celebration denotes that, at a minimum, the manner to end poverty is most likely established knowledge. While it could withstand further evaluation, its people-centred methodology is tested as plain as day, and it is as well understood as the brutality of en masse denial of the potential of our humanity.…
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
…
By Richard Jacobsen
VIENNA (IDN) – A new UN report has documented the interlinkages between trafficking in persons and marriage, and specified steps for governments and other authorities to strike back. Published by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the report points out that across the world, girls as young as 12 are being forced or tricked into marrying men who exploit them for sex and domestic work, in what the UNODC has called an “under-reported, global form of human trafficking”.…
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.…
Viewpoint by Sreya Banerjea*
LONDON (IDN) – “I tried to escape in the middle of the night,” Mahira** recalled. “With a small packed bag, I tiptoed towards the door thinking that he was asleep. Suddenly, he grabbed me from behind and attacked with a cutlass.” I sat, stunned, as she lifted her saree and revealed a wide scar below her knee.
In north India, there is a particular history of purchasing brides from other states due to the “male marriage squeeze”: there is an excess of eligible men but not enough local women for marriage. This is caused by an imbalanced child sex ratio caused by sex-selective abortion and female foeticide.…
Viewpoint by Finn Grundmann *
GÖTTINGEN, Germany (IDN) – Forests capture more than carbon! While plants are experts at retrieving carbon dioxide from the air, they have also perfected strategies to retain water in their natural surroundings. When thinking of the benefits of future forests, it is crucial to think beyond the tree level.
Tree roots loosen the soil, and by creating macropores, they drastically increase infiltration rates and help recharge groundwater levels. The effect of just one tree on those soil properties can be measured within a radius of 25 meters around the tree crown. Therefore, by planting just a hundred trees, an area as big as 32 full-size football fields can be restored.…
